Information hub and Bus Station

A man in a long coat and hat wandered though the area looking for the place to make his drop. His handler told him there was a small space between two buildings that would be safe from prying, curious eyes for his briefcase full of information. He wasn't sure where it was. He had been looking around for several minutes, but the dilapidated structure had so many crumbling spaces he wasn't exactly sure which one his comrade had meant.

Pausing for a moment, he lit a cigarette. Expelling smoke from his lungs he studied his surroundings in the darkness. After a while he noticed a gap in the buildings he at first didn't notice. He approached it carefully, taking a small flashlight out of his pocket and shining it into the gap. At first he saw nothing in the shadows until the eyes of a young boy reflected in the glow. Startled, he dropped his torch and instinctively went for the small Mosin revolver he had at his side.

He heard the child whimper and let go one the handle of the firearm in his pocket. He took a deep breath, shaking off the fright he got seeing him. He took one last drag of his cigarette before putting it out. He set the briefcase down and picked up his flash light. Shining it in again he saw the small boy, seemingly stuck in the gap between the buildings with a massive backpack.

He thought about what to say, only to settle on "What the hell are you doing in there?!"

Cal felt her heart race at the sounds of shouting from not far away.

She was huddled against a wall not too far from the commotion and groaned when she moved. She ached all over, deep into her bones. She'd just been trying to get some sleep but that never came easy these days. Well.. she was awake now. She hoped that everything was alright.. One of the voices sounded like a kid.

She stood, bracing herself against the wall. As her mechanical prosthetics creaked she made her way towards the sounds.
'Are you a cop?'

She stopped a good distance away and listened, knowing that if she got any closer her creaking would give her away and she wanted to hear that answer to that question before she jumped into this mess.

He still wasn't entirely sure of the man, given that he'd never seen him before. Now that he could see his face, he was struck by how nondescript he looked. That was the kind of man who could hide in plain sight and never be found.
He said, "Well sir. I ain't sure how long I'm in here for. I wanted to go and sleep in that there bus shelter, but this thing on my back has everything I need and since it won't go through.." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "I guess I'm here for the night, I reckon."
Then, the normal child in brain started his geasr turning. He was sure he'd heard an accent like that in the free movies the used to show. He asked, loudly and without regard for tact, "Are you a communist? you talk like a communist. " He heard strange squeaking sounds and incoming footsteps, but was too distracted by the thought of meeting a real life scary red to think about it deeply.

He heard the strange man tell him, "I am indeed Russian", and he shivered. Russians, in these parts, were as bad as mutants.
He heard the man scrounge around on the ground for something, and a consistent knock, knock, knock of a hammer.
The walls began to crumble. Suddenly the hammer was coming clear at him, and he ducked. It barely missed him.

The hammering and removal of the building around him set the stage for a scenario he hadn't been in often: one where an adult was giving help instead of harm. When the hole opened up for him to get out, he managed to squeeze through with his backpack. He fell to the ground, but quickly regained his footing. He made sure that his back wasn't turned to the man, and in his mind had already had an escape planned if this man wasn't to be trusted.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed one of his own cigarettes-expensive ones stolen from a rich man, lit it, took a drag and said,
"Uh, thanks, sir, I think. You just passing by when you seen me? You must got the eyes of gosh darn eagle!-"
His words were interrupted by an ache in his blind eye, and then he saw it. The flashes around a shadow roughly the size and shape of the man. They were brilliant and white-no blue, no purple, and the kept on. He stood there for moment, and the cigarette almost dropped out of his mouth. There was an expression on his face like he'd seen a ghost-and then it was gone.

He shook his head and said." Uh, sorry. What's a Russian doing in this shit hole? You hang around here long enough and we're gonna have to paint another number on that sign."
He gestured to the population sign beside him: also broken, and leaned up against the remains of a fence.

At the man's words, he looked at his own tattered clothes and layers of grime. He realized just how exposed he was.
The man was a lot sharper then he had expected. Once again, he made sure to choose his phrases carefully, to be honest without causing suspicion.

"My parents are busy. They've been busy a while I reckon. Like I said, I was gonna go sleep in that there bus shelter."

He pointed at it, behind the man.

"It's better then the squat which is over by where you gotta work. They test weapons there you know, its a law and everything."

He was careful not to elaborate too much on that, there was still the slight chance that this man wasn't all he said he was. He took another drag from his smoke and said
"I ain't never heard of the reds turning a man loose just to work, but you gotta do what you gotta do." He was stopped again by another pain in his eye.

The white flashes were around the man again, and this time they were so intense they he could almost hear the colours instead of see them. He covered his blind eye with his hand, even though there was already a patch on it. He reassured the man, "Don't mind me much, it's just acting up a bit that's all."

He stepped into the gap and grabbed his flashlight, hearing another person call out. He started to feel concern for this mission. It would be safer to leave as soon as possible and go home, alerting his handler the area was compromised.

But, he couldn't just leave the child here...

He replied to the other party, "It seems so, found someone who was in a tight spot."

Well hey! They didn't freak out so that was an improvement and she took it as an invitation to come closer.

These people seemed pretty okay... well. At least not too threatening so that was good. "But everything is okay now?" she asked, just to be sure. Phew she was awkward.

"Well no, but...." The boy said. "That's mighty kind of you."
He really couldn't say much else. The sensation of kindness from a grown person was new to him. Especially from a Russian.
All his life everyone told him, 'don't trust them, they're dirty reds'. But a man who offered him a place to stay wasn't dirty.
The people that kicked him out and made him live here in the first place.

"I mean, if you insist." He said, awkwardly. Two strangers, at least one of them not completely human. One of them not even american.
He was over taken by the mans kindness, but agreed with Cal's skepticism.

"I mean, folks like me aren't always liked around here. You might not like attracting attention to yourself, so I understand if you change your mind. Uh...sir."
He desperately wanted some place warm to sleep for a few days, but didn't expect it from a man who just moments earlier had pointed a gun at him. Who were his enemies?

Cal wasn't really sure what to do and paused, watching as the man started walking. Uh. What should she do? The idea of staying out here was terrible but could she trust this stranger? Then again she couldn't see where he would benefit from taking them in just to cause trouble. And she could definitely defend herself and this kid if need be.... hm.

She looked to the kid to see if he was going, intending to follow him. He seemed to need someone to look out for him a lot more than she did.

(Sorry I didn't know people were posting. I'll try to keep an eye on this better!)