(It's) Always There - Ch. 16

The glinting thing... was a wall standing a short way from the bridge - maybe over a minute. It was revealed in whole by a field surrounding it from where Navy approached and to both sides, not a thing but short grass to the riverside and well around to obstruct its size, unmeasurable at that distance but without a doubt... big. On the lower half was blueish and rusted-brown sheet metal overlapping at the corners yet evenly organized, an equally tall upper part made of chain-link fence... with barbed wire entwined in and spooled over it. Distracting her from presumed simple lines on the wall, panels of white lights turned on in a row until one shone on them, bright enough to cover a wide area and be unpleasant to look at, though just not staring into it was enough for her to continue viewing whatever they were approaching.

Another direction was given before the bridge's end. "Get to the side then walk directly at and over the partition. Follow the street after."

Like before she followed Hane's lead and went around whatever the stranger wanted them to. He'd said traps, though even on cracked road she couldn't tell what kind... But anyway, Navy had no intent to step off the line of bricks.

Going along to the left as instructed, she could then read what were actually very clear words (to the point she wondered why they hadn't appeared so to her at first). Repeated over and over with mostly bright green pre-painted metal cut and hung to look like capital letters were the sentences, "COME UNARMED. ALL ARE WELCOME."

A watchtower made of similar materials to the wall faced them, basically a box with a slightly narrower base holding it up behind the defenses, and an overhang shading a nearly full frontside of glass and making it unclear whether she couldn't see inside because it was dark in there, dark outside, or the window was tinted.

Navy passed the initial wall and saw that, perpendicular, there was another twice as long, and a much shorter one looking at her that still couldn't be seen past.

... The place was large enough from this alone to be a town. She didn't know what was being protected, or who lived there. But she thought of the man with a gun pointed at her. She thought of an explosion.

...

Again, instinctually, her right arm resettled. It clenched in pain, and the tiger kept walking.

Their path went on a while. They passed that third wall and saw a fourth, again directly intersecting the last... then went well beyond it. At a curve in the road they were told to face ninety degrees right and go that way, onto grass, so that's what she did. Navy wondered how much gunpowder was still in existence. Navy recalled what could be put in a hole in the ground.

They turned the same amount, this time facing a long gate, and went to it.

It had been night for a while. The wall could still be seen... and the towers... all behind a cold wash of light. She wondered if pitch-black would be better than seeing how immense the place was, the sheer vertical metal, top half now identical to the bottom, easily over four times her height; or more. Definitely more.

She couldn't climb it even with both arms.

... The gate opened from the middle, and someone armed walked out. The man in front, who was no older than forty, approached the other stranger and was spoken to in a hushed way so they couldn't hear. No response from this new person implied he thought on what was told for a moment... then, by two now, the three were led into a between space where one gate closed behind as the next was unbarred and opened.

To her, it was paramount she saw who was letting them in - If these were the guys outside, then maybe whoever was living... there...

"Go straight," she was told by the first man... How a heavy threat in his tone loosened - put on, and taken off - to a feeling more relaxed... It reverberated in her; a dozen men with automatic weapons gathered outside a home not far ahead, and this older man felt like he didn't have to keep them in line anymore. He was almost... comfortable.

Other things existed that they walked past, that were around the house across the street, with a warm, glowing light inside. She didn't... couldn't count the number of people staring at her, some out of sight, most glaring with no ambiguity or question as a buffer. To follow Hane inside, Navy had to go through them and...

... Anyway.

A ceiling fixture evenly brightened the... Well, it started with a hallway leading leftward, where the group was directed, with one door on the right... so was it really...? It was painted like a home, pastel and kind of neutral colors, and it was built like a home at least on the outside, but modifications made were masked rather than hidden. Much clearer than the odd formatting was its blatantly makeshift wall to their right, cloth of a roughly equivalent yellow to the home's real wall tacked over.

Not finding herself with the time to wonder what this was for, they arrived at a... waiting area? Six chairs were up to the room's edge, the section acting more like a connector from the first hallway around to another presumably leading out the home's back, the "fake" wall lining the inside of the halls to form a long box.

They sat, Hane in the middle, waiting like they were told. Six men waited with them.

...

Mumbling outside stirred Navy from... wherever. Soon, from the building's rear and out of sight, a group of ten-or-so talking indistinctly shuffled in, and into a room in the box. Once they were shut in, all went silent again, save for someone approaching them.

It was two, actually. Two people came to meet them.

The woman leading took a place centered before them with her clipboard and a man trailing behind, her, a fennec fox aged over seventy with exceedingly tall and big ears, and him, a white-gray dog of indeterminate type in his late twenties. The elderly woman eyed them over just briefly, then said to Hane, "I apologize for how we've found ourselves here. Truly. Are there-"

She went to one of the men with a hand outstretched. "Scissors, please," was requested in the open, then she whispered annoyedly, "Why didn't you take them off already?"

Their bindings were offered and snipped, the tiger aware how visibly pained she was to move her arm a little and cradle one once they were free. Cerise noticed, looking from her to Hane, "Is anyone hurt? Are there any serious injuries we should know about?"

Hane replied, "No."

With a little pep in her maturity, the fennec disclosed, "Alright then. Well I'm Cerise, and this is Ledger." She thought. "... When I say this, I want you to know we're just going down the hall to that room there; so, me and him will take one of you at a time to go have a talk. Starting with you, miss...?"

Oh, she wanted an answer. "Uh... N-"

... On second thought, that wasn't a good idea. Speaking.

The commander challenged, arms crossed, "Why in there?" Even seated he had to look down to meet her.

"What we'll do is exactly as I said; I want to have a conversation with each of you and that's all. There's only two exits, and you could hear us coming from either down the halls. No weapons, not even physical contact - completely safe." A gesture to everyone around them was made. The woman remarked, "Look where you are. We wouldn't ask if I wasn't telling the truth."

... Hane didn't say something back. Cerise stood patiently until he, or one of them, did.

Nothing really gave it away, but Navy understood him before the sounds bit in her ears. A leading nod and, "... Go," made her feel oddly cold and unwilling, disbelief directed at him switching to a repulsion at the idea of getting up. Navy felt sick... and she'd... Okay. Cerise wasn't wrong that they were already taken there by force, so if...

It was an order. She didn't have a choice. Hane knew what he was doing. They'd leave, talk about... stuff, and come back.

Through great reluctance in her, Navy got up gradually, almost taking a seat again at points and unable to help herself from looking to Hane and Case over and over. At standing height the tiger was well taller than Cerise even counting multiple inches of ear, the five-foot woman guiding with a little smile, "This way."

Down by where they entered the three went into a new room, this one's furnishings - a table with two chairs on one side and one opposite - was lit cool, almost sterile, concrete-tinted cloth "painted" like earlier furthering that, and another door across where she entered. They took their seats so Navy was opposite and a one-way mirror faced her. It... All of it reminded her of an interrogation room. Presumably, the people heard earlier were all there to watch.

"Could I get your name, please?" Cerise asked from directly across.

... That... It was probably fine to say, right? The question was simple, and it didn't give anything up about her or anyone else... so she wouldn't be doing anything wrong. Or maybe if she zipped her mouth shut and didn't respond at all then they'd stop and let her go back, so that... would be better, yeah. Except what if they didn't like her not doing what they wanted? Navy was alone, locked in with them and who-knows behind the glass, too.

Her gaze couldn't settle anywhere - not on the door, or either of them, or...

... Of the two, only Cerise's eyes were fixed on the tiger. Navy's leg bounced. She wanted to leave.

Tempered in volume, the fennec tried once more, "You don't have to say. But... it's a lot easier for us to talk if I knew."

She didn't want to. "N... No. I don't want to."

"... That's fine. How about..." a pause to search, "Could you tell me why you're here?"

Lots of things might count as why she was there, but one seemed the most likely. And... not that Case and Hane would lie about her name, but what took them here specifically wasn't related to her, so they could say anything... so if she did talk, then she ought not lie... Or she would and they'd... Dammit...

If she spoke then maybe she could leave. She had no fucking idea what to do, or what to say, or what not to say... Why'd she have to do this at all? Let alone first, and without help. Too many people were there, and they should go away. Leaveleaveleaveleave...

Her leg was bouncing.

"They..." Navy cleared her throat. "Hane s-said we were going here, so... that's why."

"And who is Hane?"

Fuck fuck fuck. Shit. "I shouldn't have..." Stop. No talking.

...

Cerise set her arms on the table over her clipboard, hands clasped. "Here... Like I said, you don't have to say anything to me, now or ever. I do, though, think we should talk. You don't trust me - which is fine, I don't expect you to - and you're not comfortable sharing things with me. What I hope you understand is that, from my perspective, three strangers with guns showed up near my home, so I'd like to know why. I'm not going to hurt you or anyone else, I just want to know who you three are personally so we can figure out what to do next."

The fox added, "Would it be easier if you asked me something first?"

... Navy remembered the wall and what was written on it. Lots of thoughts went round, and round, and round... It was too hard to decide.

She wondered what the cost could even be.

"... W-who's back there?"

Pointing back with her pencil, Cerise smiled and said, "Them? They're just here to listen in, and they'll have a talk with me about it later. Nothing to worry about." She allowed, "... Anything more? I'll answer whatever you want."

Ledger, as far as she knew, had stayed mostly fixed to whatever he was writing. "Who's he?"

"Pretty much the same as them. He's here to listen and watch."

...

If Hane or Case were going to lie, she had no idea how, or for what reason. Again she wondered what the cost could even be.

The patient woman would, inevitably, want something back. So... "Um... 'Cause you asked a-already, Hane is the older one... and" fuck, "Case is the wolf."

"And... you?"

Fuck it. "I'm... uh... I'm Navy."

The mood around Cerise turned in a way the tiger couldn't describe, possibly because she was having a hard time paying attention. "So, miss Navy, what specifically brought you here?"

"Well... Hane said somebody told him about a... place in Texas and th-that they should go there. I wasn't with them for it, but, um... I think that guy said he was thrown out of here. If here is actually Ballinger, I guess."

"... I may ask a little more about him later, but what do you mean you weren't, 'with them'?"

Not expecting the pivot, Navy realized she ought to be more clear about things. "Oh, I mean we hadn't met. They were in Ontario and I was still in Pennsylvania by Union Dale, if you know... You wouldn't know where that... *Ahem*."

"So when did you meet?" Cerise was scrawling in neat cursive unreadable from Navy's angle.

"... About... No, exactly twelve weeks ago, so... almost three months. We met in late... April, 'cause it's July now."

"Okay... How did you meet?"

...

It was important to tell her how, Navy supposed. "I was, uh... I was in my home, underground, and they found me. I didn't have a lot of food left, and... Sorry, they..." Enough floundering. Pause a moment... and do the simple task. "I couldn't get food myself, so I went with them."

Navy didn't like how Cerise paused. "Mmhm... You said your home is underground? Could you explain a bit more for me?"

..."I guess so." Fine; if she could go soon, then... yeah, that was fine. "It's a big concrete shelter below a home. I..." Navy wracked somewhat for another thing to mention, but... Her tone went short. "What do you care? Why am I even...?"

"That's alright. We can change course to something more relevant. How about... your trip. Pennsylvania's a long walk away, so what happened? Did you meet anyone?"

"I don't... Yes, I did."

That vigilant, interested, lenient-yet-scrutinizing face all honed on her... was too easy to look at. Feeling it soldered to Navy... A chill ran the wrong direction, and the woman had to know more.

"There were a couple of those fake people... things, and two other groups of people we met. I didn't see all of them but they - Hane and Case, usually - told me they're... dead." Before another query happened, a sound urge to explain came up and out. "They were g-going to hurt us, so if you wanted to ask then... there you go."

... Her talking and moving were different again. "... A little change in direction, I suppose, and you can answer this however you like: what do you think of them?"

As in... were they competent? Nice? Good company? What was the... "I dunno... They're fine? I'm not sure if... Me and them are different, but I-I'd say I... like... them."

She wanted to back away. Cerise wasn't looking at her notes anymore, only her. The woman leaned forward presenting an expression only then the tiger realized had been building for a while; unease and distress, like for a wounded animal. She guided in, "I want you to think about this for as long as you need. I promise to wait, and when you're ready, hear out anything you feel like saying." Cerise gestured at her unusable arm and implored, "Did they hurt you? Did either of them... touch you?"

"Wh... Huh?" Ew. What... Who the hell... "Why would you say that?! You..."

"I've heard lots of stories, Navy. If it hurts to say, then-"

"NO. GROSS. What's wrong with...?!"

Something was off. Cerise didn't falter, choosing to continue and explain, calm and soothing-like once Navy would listen, "Remember when Hane told you to come to the shed? right before you were brought in? Well... I was told by the man in there with him, who talked to Hane in earnest about this, that he was going to sell you. Verbatim, 'There's a girl with us. We leave, and you can have her. Don't, and she shreds the place.'"

"... I don't want to talk to you-"

"He's a liar. He lied to you."

Navy shouldn't have said anything. What possessed her to think this unbelievable... bitch was more than just that. "He saved my life. And - and! - Case's life, and Red's, over and over and over. He wouldn't do that."

Whatever. There was no point in replying; there's no point in convincing them further. The tiger's opinion had been stated, so there wasn't anything else to do than sink behind her arms, forehead to cold, rigid, uncaring, sharp, gray... metal. Grit put in her joints was put also into her defiant, last statement, "I'm not talking. Go away."

---

"What's your full name?"

Seriously? "Sure. It's, 'Likeyou giveashit'."

Not deviating in any way, Cerise's pencil remained at the ready on the same spot, attitude professional and difficult to get a bead on. "Real answer, please."

... Fine. "C-a-s-e," the wolf spelled, then slowed, "N... e... l... l... o... r" leaving a longer gap between when she finished the last letter and him giving the one after.

Cerise took to him properly. "So how'd you meet?"

No point in lying, and she didn't seem intent to leave him alone. "Two years ago. One of those things broke my arm up in Canada, he shot it, I went with them. Need the scar as proof?" Case lifted his left arm to show a dark line where the humerus had jut out. He let it rest on the table like before. "Or should we skip to where I play nice and suck your cunt so I get to keep my skin when I'm a slave?"

... Her retreat was physical only, an examination of him constant but, as far as he could guess, totally pointless. She wondered at him like someone in a cage who could do nothing back, "What's with the hostility? I said we wouldn't hurt you... or either of them, and we haven't."

"You shot Hane. Not you, but one of you. He also stripped and threatened to kill us - if you can remember that."

Responding came easy, like there was nothing that could be said in turn to it. "He was one man, near his home, and you... had guns."

"My bad. Should I say sorry to him too?" Case elaborated, "We weren't here to kill you. We were here because someone told us there was a town."

"... Who? When? Where...?"

"By Otter Lake above Toronto like... four months ago. He didn't give a name, just said he was thrown out of Ballinger in Texas. So here we are."

... Mouth hanging ajar, suggesting she mulled over whether to speak her mind, Cerise instead brought up, "Long way from there to here for just four months. Couldn't go through Montreal, even though it's where the US and Canada meet land-wise, long river under it and a lot of ground to cover if you avoided it over... Point is, sounds like a lot, especially with a girl for most of it."

If he had to. Wouldn't be happy about it, though. "Hane does the..."

... The wolf reconsidered what the hell he was just asked. "Not my job. Hane leads, I follow, and Navy was fine. Again, 'Why are we doing this?' - can I ask that? Is that fine?"

"You can." She didn't sound annoyed. "I want to know you. And for now, I think you can guess why. I'm not hostile, just curious." Case didn't have further direction for the conversation, rather preferring he could leave. She continued, "How'd you meet Navy?"

Level, uncooperative... but going along with it. "We didn't want someone, probably one of the Burned, following us, so... we followed it. She shot it, we went down, and Hane decided to take her because she'd starve."

..."Navy..." Cerise eyed Ledger a split-second, then turned back to him. "Do the two of you talk much?" An addendum was made before he could speak. "She never mentioned killing someone."

...

"Uh... Not really."

"Okay... Did she say who that was? Did you ask?"

"Yes; Hane did, and Navy didn't know him." Based on the line they were going down it seemed likely Cerise would ask, so he explained, "Navy lived with her mother, so he wasn't keeping her down there. She was there because she wanted to be."

The plain was asked. "So where's her mother?"

"Where are anybody's? She's dead."

... An absentminded sigh puffed out of the woman, eyes drifting as it seemed her thoughts did. "I don't... I don't mean to be abrasive when I say this, but... that means she," the fox emphasized, "Navy, has only been around you, Hane, and Red for... how long? Do you know? Have you ever spoken with her about it, or anything similar? Did it seem like she wanted to?"

His answer from earlier was recalled, so he'd have to say this a particular way to avoid further yammering on things that weren't his business. "She did try to get close to me, but never to talk about that. I tried, it worked until it didn't, and I don't know or care past that. I'm here to protect her because Hane said so." While it occurred to him that he could maybe get off the subject by remarking on if Cerise wanted to know how they fucked next, the fox spoke first.

"That's why you're there, sure. What about Red?"

Unappreciated, irrelevant. Navy must have brought him up because Case knew he hadn't. "Same as me, he just knew Hane longer."

... Notably so, a void in the conversation formed - he certainly had no want to keep it going. Finally her rumination and ordering and shit got done, ideally for good reason.

"Feel free to correct me, but let me finish." Easy. Deal. "You two - you and Red - stay with Hane. Red isn't here right now so I'm guessing he's either dead or maybe gone, but you don't sound mad at him. When you were together, though, based on what you and Navy have said, it seems to me that you did whatever Hane said. That included not just one time but many times where he asked you to kill whoever it might've been or otherwise be ready to; and you did." Concluding, she pried, "What about him made you do that? Why Hane?"

"Because he's good at living."

The point didn't get across. "If you're taking his word on everything, then...?"

She'd allowed a pause for him to speak; as intended, it felt like cutting her off. "I know Hane, and you don't. Ask him yourself."

---

Options narrowed in directions Hane did and didn't want upon seeing the room for himself. It was small, their table would separate them widthwise, only Cerise and Ledger were present, a mirror concealed the people heard before, there were two exits, Ledger was still armed with a handgun and, like Cerise, hadn't gained or lost anything on their person. They all just wore plain clothes.

They'd waited longer to speak with him.

After he took a seat, Cerise queried, "Name?"

"Hane Fields."

Ledger was recording notes. The fox woman stayed on him. "What's your relation to Case, Navy, and Red?"

"No blood-relation. Case we found in Canada two years ago fist-fighting one of The Burned and losing. I shot it, he came with us. Twelve weeks ago we found Navy in a survival shelter underground after she shot and killed someone we were tracking. She was going to starve, so she came with us. Red I met when we served in the military together. He died three-and-a-half weeks ago."

"Why?" she questioned procedurally in tone.

"I made a mistake, so he died to protect Navy and Case."

"Did you tell him to?"

"No. He chose to."

The bait, and here arrived the trap. "Did you tell him to shoot that thing, the Burned, in the arm so it would kill the other group you met?"

"Yes."

... The fox leaned forward, struck out a sentence she wrote with professional elegance, then put some symbol next to it. Hane couldn't read it from where he was. "Why'd you do that? Had they threatened you?"

"We met by chance. They had no idea what to do, so I helped. If it hadn't killed them, it would have killed us. If they didn't die, they would have killed us."

She wasn't impressed. "That doesn't answer my question." Hane gave his explanation, and needed to know what Cerise was searching for. "'They would have; trust me,' is not convincing. You're from Before, so tell it like you're talking to a jury. Convince me 'beyond a reasonable doubt' that you should have let them die."

"Whether you're convinced is irrelevant. I was."

As though leading a child, she prodded, "... Why?"

Gladly. "Because I've lived out there for thirty-five years. Many dozens of soldiers and citizens I traveled with, including General Melanie Fields who led them, taught me how to talk to strangers. I've watched hundreds of men and women, I knew and didn't, have their lives ended by someone they didn't know, person or not, and heard of hundreds more. It's rare someone tries talking it out, and lives anyway - those who do are lucky, and the ones that do it again, and again, and again, have to know when to shoot first."

"... So how do you know?"

"Because I was made to. Some are excellent shots, some are good doctors... I know people."

Once more came the trap. "So you knew The Nashville Gang deserved it?"

"Yes. They threatened Case's life and beat Red unconscious."

"... Did you know the man at Otter Lake deserved it?"

"Yes. He was lying, or, by admission, he was thrown out of a good town. We couldn't have him following us."

Let her. "And you've never been wrong? Never once did you misjudge someone and end up killing an innocent person because you assumed you were right... every time?"

He'd sound crazy. Hane would have to prove it. "... What kills everyone it sees, doesn't care about you, and sets traps wherever it can, just hoping someone will die walking into it?"

"... The Burned."

"What does all of that... and lies?"

Cerise didn't answer, so Hane did for her. "Everyone."

Do it. "... Fine. And I should take the word of a man who admitted to lying and caring about no-one that he should be spared after trying to sell a girl for his life. I should take the word of a man who told me how good he is at manipulating that those young people haven't been brainwashed into thinking whatever you want them to? I should believe you murdered them because you're a saint, and you took that girl from her home out of the goodness in your heart?" A scoff, "And I'm certain you're a Tibetan monk who personally nurtured hemp and refined your own brick of hash."

"I've done what I had to."

"Please. I'm over seventy, Hane. I'm a psychologist..." Say it. "And you're a coward."

... Deliberately, with meticulous thought, he stood, knuckles clenched and supporting halfway across the table as he crept up to twice her height leaning forward. Ledger shot upright. "Sir! Plea-"

His gaze would break them. The sound of his voice would make them do as he pleased. "Sit down, boy."

... And he did.

The commander told everyone listening, "I've killed eight grown, trained men with my bare hands. Either of you would be flat on your back, skull split, brain torn and hemorrhaging, and only then would you understand who. you're. talking to." Even, cold, discerning. "One more sound from a faggot who's lived behind a wall too long, and everyone here dies."

... Cerise and Ledger shifted in their chairs. He anticipated both, but counted on it being Ledger.

"Th..." Cool in her voice cracked, so she began from the start, "The gun's not loaded. It's a fake, to see if you'd grab it."

Ledger steeled himself to normalcy, took it out, and dropped its magazine on the table. It was empty as she claimed it would be.

Hane didn't budge.

... The commander lifted from the table, and scolded, "We're done."

---

Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty; thirty-nine minutes.

... Assuming this was where they left the group alone (minus the guards) for an extended period of time to let them stew or otherwise freak out over, "What are they talking about? Is it bad?!" then he'd be counting for a while longer. Boring.

Hane was kept in sight, and he resumed. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

Someone... Two people exited the chamber behind the glass, not a murmur from when it was open to closed. Their faces suggested, "Bulldog," of some kind, though they weren't overly large like some were known to be - they were related somehow, the sameness of their walk and all else visual practically announcing it. Which was odd he got that impression, considering the woman had mostly white fur with brown-ish tan oddly splotched on and under her eyes and ears, and the man was layered black-over-yellow-brown excluding his also perfect-white jaw and front neck. Their ears and jowls were different shapes, too... so Case guessed they were married.

And he had all that time to speculate because they weren't doing anything, rocks propped up to give a stern look-over.

The man gave his name. "I'm Roth, and..." he passed it to the woman, who added, "I'm Fia." She continued, "Follow us, please."

... In a short time Hane decided to go alone with it, so Case stood as well, them three awaiting the lead. Roth and Fia showed them out the front with the same six men behind all of them. Outside they were taken right on the street and up to the wall, where they turned and faced a much longer road. Beside the broad lights on their defenses were no other sources for inside, the place harder to see at night because of the contrast, not so much though that the wolf couldn't tell it was made up of homes and not much else, at least where they were.

Nearly as far from the entrance gate as they could be, Roth and Fia took them up to a front porch, subtly waving for the guards to stay back a bit while they went inside. Pulling a set of keys from his pocket, Roth stopped once they were out, and revealed, "Right now we're making a decision, but it'll take time. For now you can stay here, separated to different rooms with those six inside, watching for the night. You'll be given food and water. Leave your room without asking, and I promise you will be shot without question. There's a bathroom inside, so just ask through the door if you have to use it. They won't be sleeping, nor who's watching the perimeter, but you're free to."

Roth unlocked the door while Fia motioned the other men to come over. She informed the group, "You'll get a knock come morning," then took Roth back to the road.

The home was wider than deep, the entrance smack in its middle and a sliding glass door in the same place at its back. They were taken into the medium-sized house, three equally-spaced doors on the left and one in the top right, just a kitchen and living room - furnished only by two couches - besides. It was plain.

Those escorting them split into groups of two, Case singled out and guided away from Navy and Hane as they were treated to the same. Navy was accompanied to the bottom left, Case the top left, and his commander to the only room on the top right. He was closed and barred inside a bedroom, not knowing where exactly the guards would be staying.

His bed looked serviceable... and at least they wouldn't stay in with him. Food probably wasn't poison, either, so he sat and ate. No matter what he did now, they were fucked; he couldn't even do whatever Hane was planning. The pity-meal tasted fine, though.