Louie was halfway to the Cage, with her Med bag slung over her shoulder when she heard a pair of hurried footsteps approach. She kept walking without looking back, knowing whoever was behind would catch up. Ryland half staggered to a stop beside Louie, taking a second to catch his breath before talking.

"Hey Lou, what's new?"

Louie didn't bother answering, it was a meaningless greeting.

"So you going to tell me?" Ryland asked, walking beside her, his body pivoted towards her.

"Asking for information in vague terms will get you no where Rye. I won't promise that specifics will get you what you want either, but at least I'll know what you're getting at," Louie said, her tone bland.

"Are you going to tell me what the Doctor and Peyton told you?"

Louie was puzzled for half second until she realized people must have seen her disappear into her office with the two men.

"No."

"Come on Lou, just a little something. It will be just between us," Ryland said, winking at Louie.

Louie didn't respond to the action, just kept walking her face forward, expression blank.

"You're no fun anymore," Ryland said.

"Was I ever fun?"

"No, but now its just more annoying."

"Ryland you will find out what you need to know when you need to know it. It's possible you'll find out during the Council meeting today, but that is entirely up to Chief to decide. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting."

Louie stopped at the entrance to the Cage, not planing on letting Ryland wrangle his way into that meeting.

"I also believe you have Peyton waiting on you. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

Ryland seemed to get an idea and he left without a single word, a determined look in his eye. Louie almost smirked, if there was one person other than her that wasn't easy to wheedle information from it was Peyton. Louie wished  for a moment she could watch as Ryland tried to pry information from Peyton, imagining Peyton's expressionless face and bored tone. But then the notion vanished in an instant and she spun on her heels and headed towards Chief's office.

Her hand was raised to knock when she heard voices emanating from inside. Hesitating for only a second, Louie knocked. The voices ceased and Chief's voice called out "come in". Louie pushed the door open and found Mr. Andrews standing by the chair, opposite Chief's.

"If this is a bad time I can come back later," Louie said, looking between the two men.

"No, we are finished here," Chief said.

Mr. Andrews nodded and side stepped Louie, his footsteps echoing in the Cage, as Louie shut the door. She turned back to Chief, seeing in the split second a worn out expression that he quickly covered up with a smile as he looked at her.

"Hello Elouise, how are you doing?" Chief asked.

Just like that Louie knew that whatever had happened between the two men was not going to be explained to her and knew better to ask.

"I'm fine. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, fine. My leg is giving me some pain, but that's to be expected I suppose."

"I'll give you something for that."

Louie took a chair and positioned it beside his, pulling her Med bag onto her lap.

"Shirt."

Chief started unbuttoning the top buttons, Louie watching him out of the corner of her eye as she grabbed her instruments, looking for the thoughts Chief was holding back from her. She got nothing. They went through their routine in silence, thoughts keeping both their lips sealed. Louie gave a inaudible sigh of relief when she listened to his lungs and noted that they were as strong as ever.

"Okay, you're done."

Chief buttoned up his shirt as Louie repacked her bag and took the seat opposite him. Chief looked over his glasses at her, his eyes seeing beyond the calm expression.

"What new information do you have for me, Elouise?"

"As you probably heard, I visited with the Doctor and Peyton yesterday."

"Yes, that was brought to my attention. What did they have to share?"

Louie took a deep breath and told him everything. She explained first about how the Crawlers worked, what they had learned about them. Then finished with the maps and that fact that there could be a large group making its way close to the Compound. Chief remained silent through the whole thing, his chin resting in his hand, his expression thoughtful. When Louie finished, the room filled with a heavy weight of knowledge as Chief still processed her words.

"You have something you plan to do," Chief said.

It wasn't question, a clear statement that Chief could see pass Louie's neutral expression. Louie nodded, an idea had come to her after Peyton had left her the night before and she walked around for another hour.

"Alright, what is it?"

Louie sat straighter in her chair, her hands clasped together.

"I think we should let Peyton train twenty of our members. Teach them how to fight and protect the Compound." Louie hesitated for a heart beat. "And then I think a small team should go out with Peyton to track the group of Crawlers. Find out where they are located. Make sure that they aren't just over the ridge about to attack."

Chief nodded as he listened, his eyes steady as her looked at her.

"You are part of that team."

Again it wasn't a question.

"I would like to be, yes. I am not leader yet and this could be a chance for me to show that I am capable of looking out for myself. Prove I'm strong enough to run this Compound," Louie's voice was clear and firm as she said this but part of her was slightly nervous about Chief's reaction, his face unreadable.

Chief took another minute to consider what Louie was saying and Louie felt like holding her breath, but knew that was a useless and immature thing to do. Whatever Chief decided it would be for the best.

"I think your plan is wise," he said. "We haven't ever faced a large group before and if there is a chance one is on the way then we should be prepared. As to the second part, I will need more time to think that over. Now, if you will be so kind as to get Mr. Jones, I am interested to see these maps, get an idea what we are looking at."

Louie nodded and rose from her seat.

"And Elouise." Louie paused half way to the door. "Excellent work."

She nodded in thanks and slipped out.

The Compound was filled with the usual hum of activity, voices floating over the thudding of heavy objects and the clanging of pots and pans. Louie strode purposefully through the river of members, her back straight, hands folded behind her. People glanced briefly at her as she passed by, their expression showing very little other than indifference.

Ryland was standing at the entrance to Storage, Peyton beside him. His manner was relaxed, as if he had worked there before and it was just another normal day. Ryland was giving out a command to a burly man when Louie approached. Peyton noticed Louie first and nodded to her.

"Ryland," Louie said.

He turned, crossing his arms over his chest, confident in his domain.

"I need to take Peyton away from you," Louie said.

"What for?"

Louie didn't bother answering that, merely fixing him with a firm look.

"Alright, send him back once you're done."

Ryland turned away, not hiding his annoyance. Louie nodded her head and Peyton fell into step beside her.

"Is everything alright?" Peyton asked, his eyes dropping to the Med bag Louie was still wearing.

She followed his gaze.

"Yes, everything is fine. Chief wants a word with you."

"You told him?"

Louie nodded and nothing more was said between the two of them. As they moved back through the Compound, gazes and smiles fell to Peyton as he passed by, some even adding a wave or hello for good measure. Louie gave him a sideways glance, watching as he took it all in stride, giving brief nods and smiles in return. Though she felt a tinge of irritation, the full force of it was kept at bay, knowing that if anyone deserved respect it was the man beside her.

They stepped inside the office and Louie closed the door behind Peyton. Chief stood, his hand outstretched, a friendly smile on his face.

"Peyton, good to see you. Hope everything is going well?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Right, to business. Peyton, Elouise has explained to me everything that you and John shared with her. I would like to put in a request to see the maps, if that's alright with you?"

Peyton nodded and pulled off his pack, setting it on the table and taking out the collection of worn paper. The map lay sprawled across the desk's surface, as Chief leaned in, his eyes taking in all the markings. He pointed to the group that Peyton had shown Louie the day before.

"I assume this was the group you were tracking?" Chief asked, glancing up.

Peyton nodded.

"Where they are now is anyones' guess," Peyton said. "They don't stick to any form of standard traveling patterns and so they could be a mile away or across the country for all we know."

Chief straightened, his eyes still trained on the map before him, nodding slowly, not really seeing it. After another long moments pause, Chief met Peyton's gaze.

"Peyton, Elouise has already told me that you have agreed to stay with us and train some of our members until we are properly prepared. I have another request I would like to make of you."

Peyton seemed to stand taller and Louie held back the grin at Peyton's respect for Chief.

"We are having a Council meeting today that you would have already been attending with Ryland. What I want to ask you is whether you would be willing to share with the Council your information. I believe it will be better received by its original source and someone they have already learned to trust. So will you do this for me?"

Peyton gave a single nod.

"Of course sir."

****************

Vote. Comment. Follow.