More Than Enough

On this breezy afternoon,

It wasn't every day when the Rangers get to see a stack of maybe 50-100 water jugs. Each can carry about 5-gallon liquids and shaped in a square container, all tucked up in that one cargo box. Their faces lit up when they realized this cargo box just contained portable water, drinking water at that.

Not far from them, Houmin sat on a chair within the cool shade of a tent, looking at them work, as he was in deep thought, the best way he can describe it, that this situation was a work of Magic. Another one of God's bullshit, he thought. He can't help but gave the goat a peek to see if that diety of theirs is smirking from ear to ear. Disappointingly, God wasn't there.

Looking back on the MRT, Houmin studied the report repeatedly. It says that every single jug was refilled just RECENTLY--With a signature report from the synth, Aida. Asking how and when it happened was becoming a headache for him. So, frankly, he pushed it aside; the source part got his attention the most. It states that the water came from the Underground Spring Water, underneath the Sanctuary Bunker, or more likely the Bunker's water reservoir.

How much water does this reservoir have? He took a note of it to make sure to ask about it the next time he came by Sanctuary.

Houmin observed the unloading of the water jugs by both the Division Agents and Rangers from the Cargo Box. Not far from them was Captain Mercaptain taking stocks to everything. Making sure no one had any luck of stealing anything. Water is too precious in this part, after all. So double-checking is a must.

One of the agents opened up the sister box to find a water dispenser. Much like the previous unboxing of the weapons, there's a sister cargo box to it. It includes manufacturing, storage, or something of that sort. The water jug's sister box contains the Water Containers & Water Filtration/Purifiers. Though it's in a disassembled state--it was done this way to save some space.

Houmin laughed as he saw a Ranger dropped one of the Water Dispenser parts and got chewed out by Mercaptain for bending the thing. He enjoyed the view until he looked around a little more and noticed that the refugees were all looking at the water jugs. They wet their lips to keep their dry mouths moist, their eyes ogle at the glistening shine made from the water's reflection. Every refugee stopped and stared at the water, hoping for the ranger's goodness to give them a chance to quench their thirst.

Deciding he wanted to give them some cold water. He put down the MRT, paused everything. And walked off towards the Captain with 3 things in mind: Fix up the bent water dispenser, find an extension cord for the dispenser, and provide cold drinking water to the refugees. Making up his mind as he damn sure wouldn't take no for an answer in helping these people.

As he heads close to where Captain Mercaptan is, he finally got the taste of the "welcoming" tone she's using to grill her fellow rangers.

"What's that? Oh- You'd like to change your rationed water to piss? Probably for the better since you broke the thing that's gonna give cold water for the rest of us, huh." The Captain shouted at the ranger, doing pushups. The veins on her head are bulging out as she continues. "I'm so glad I met such a fine intelligent man like you, Ranger!" She crouched next to the ranger as she breath down on his mistake.

"No- Captain- Not- gonna- happen- again, Captain!" The ranger answered back in a hoarse voice as he continued on with the pushups.

Houmin gave them a minute or two as he weighed in on butting between the two of them. He already inspected the water dispenser and determined that the frame was just out of shape. The internals, such as the cooler and the heater, is still working fine. Making it stand up properly is a problem, though.

"Captain," Houmin called out behind her. "With all due respect, I got a favor to ask."

Mercaptain took a moment to realize that one of the Oldworlders was talking to her. She put a hand on her chin and rubbed it as she relishes the idea of them owing her a favor. "Hold that in the rest position, Pen. If I see you messing it up, you'll be eating goat shit with the side of radiated piss!"

She stood up and dusted her dark green tattered pants before turning to Houmin. She studied him for a bit then gave him a big sigh, "Seems you're the only one in your group that has a lot of time to be asking me some favor." She waited for any reaction from Houmin, but a few seconds have passed, turning the conversation to an awkward pause. She clicked her tongue as she followed, "Alright, ask away."

"I need to borrow 2 jugs of water, that bent up but working water dispenser, and an extension cord," Houmin said without a pause. "And borrow Pen there to help me carry the stuff."

Mercaptain was caught off guard, and she raised an eyebrow at him. She studied his facial expression to get a glimpse for anything when she noticed he was nudging his head to the refugees' tent. It didn't take much for her to understand why they're all looking that way. And to why he was asking for these items.

"Considerate. Uh-huh... That's a commendable action, ranger-- uhh?" Mercaptain paused as she can't remember his name.

"It's Houmin, Captain." He replied back. "Just wanted to help the people out."

"Right. Right. Helping the people out.." Mercaptain showed a smirk, "...Aren't WE already helping them?" asking in a condescending tone.

Once Houmin caught on to her tone, he realized that he had to be careful for what reason he had to give her. It was too late to say that he'd overstepped his bounds by doing this. "Just had some time to think, Ma'am." He explains. "We had plenty of water going around, figured that we can also use this chance to test the taste of the water and the equipment while also quenching the refugee's curiosity, ma'am."

"Surprisingly, a Smart Ass, huh." Mercaptain sarcastically replied. Her face immediately turned with a serious expression as she continues. "Hou-min, let me remind you that the Desert Rangers already gave plenty of resources to the refugees--food, said water, medicine, and clean clothes. Even with the "Gifts" from you lot, fantastic stuff, I might add that helping out the refugees too much will make them dependent on the rangers for everything. It won't do us any good if we're the ones that are starving or parched."

"I'm fully aware of the situation, Captain." He assured her. "Besides, they will be staying with us… Not exactly in these circumstances, though, but they wouldn't be a burden to the Ranger's resources."

"Goo- What?!" She answered back with knitted brows. Not sure what he was referring to.

"I think we got plenty of water to go around, Ethil." A voice cut through between them, and the two turned to look before standing at attention. "Giving away one or two jugs wouldn't hurt us that... Stop staring like that. Don't be rude. I'm talking to you."

"Sir!" Houmin quickly saluted the General

Ignoring her superior, Mercaptain's eyes darted between the general and Houmin, and her expression turned from serious to confused. "What the hell is going on, General." She asked in a hushed tone. She picked up some clues just by these few exchanges but not enough to get an idea of the situation. "Where's the vigilant old man we came to know? Not a great time for giving us a laugh, Sir. And you're not the kind to give one anyway…"

Vargas let out a breath as he stares at her with a frown on his face.

"How about this, Ethil. I got with me a story about pre-war things that you're absolutely gonna love. Recent stuff that you're going to like." Vargas said before turning around and waiting for her to accompany him. "Oh, before we go. Just let our Ranger here help out the people. It's better than looking at him reading away his day."

"...Fine, General. I'm listening.." She paused for a second, then followed beside him, "Pen, find me when you're done."

General Vargas and Captain Mercaptain walked away like that, without any other word, much to Houmin's surprise. "The heck just happened?"

"Yeah, that usually happens with the captain when she hears news about pre-war anything; you should've seen her happy face when she had to try out your people's Laptop." The ranger behind him spoke up, catching his breath, "She's the brightest person I ever knew in the rangers… If you just ignore the crazy bits about her."

"Name's Harold, by the way." He added. Offered a hand to Houmin to help pull himself up, "But friends, 'round here call me Pen."

"Well, that's probably why i'm shaking from talking to her," Houmin said

"Houmin," He added. Taking Pen's hand and pulling him up.

"You're not the only one with that, that i'm sure of." Pen gave a chuckle as he stretches his shoulders. "You seem a nice person if you don't mind me telling you… I- Uh, was really hoping you're the strict and, you know, secretive kinda people cause, you know,… you're all a part of a secretive group?"

"Secretive group?" Houmin sniggered, "I guess you can say that… Hmm, I bet you got those ideas from some spy movie."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Pen shyly laughed, "When I heard you guys were an actual super-secret people from the pre-war, Ohh! That really got my hopes up! I told myself that I'm about to see Stoic people, smart people, ready people, and the famous Pen Rocket- Oh, Hey! What's up?"

Houmin put his hand to Pen's shoulder and shook his head, "You kinda lost me there, Pen. Why not help me first then try to swarm me with questions later on? Alright?"

"Uh- Really?" Pen's face turned bright as he asked.

"Yeah," Houmin nods at him, then pats Pen's shoulder, "Help me first with the jugs of water and find us an extension cord we can use. Bring it all in the refugee tent and wait for me there."

Pen excitedly ran towards where the pile of jugs of water while Houmin walked toward the misshapen Water Dispenser.

He first disassembled the main component, only leaving the sheet metal frame. He then laid the Water Dispenser on its side. Positioning himself to get better leverage with his hands and a quick move of both pushing and pulling, he fixed the bent frame back to shape.

"Wha- wha- how?" Pen said in amazement, "How the heck you pulled that off?!"

"I fixed it." Houmin looked up and sees Pen grabbing a jug on each hand and gave him a shrug, "Well? Did you find an extension cord we can use?"

"I got it, I got it, but YOU'VE got to teach me how you did that someday," Pen pointed to the tangled cable on his person. A black cord with extensive coverage of electrical tape on it, showing the white-yellow original color that faded in the test of time.

"Someday. Yeah, someday." Houmin replied without much of a thought. "You can go on ahead. I'll assemble this thing first before I join you there."

Houmin sighs as he sees Pen went ahead to the Refugee Tent. Looking at him reminded him of stubborn teenagers in the neighborhood back home. Tactless idiots with selfish desires, but they do mean well. Then again, Pen looks like a teenager, though.

As he's finishing up on the screws with the frame, he gave a quick glance towards the Refugee Tent. He frowned, and as anxiety creeps on him, he saw Pen standing there with a redheaded female barking at him. Apparently, he forgot to bring up this idea of his to Skylar. "Oh shit, better save his ass again."

Houmin gathered up his things and briskly walks to the Refugee tent. He can practically guess what's on Skylar's mind right now as she looks at him with that dead stare of hers.

"What are you doing?" Skylar crossed her arms, looking upset, as she asks.

"Nuffin'" Houmin deadpan replied, "You? What are you doing?"

"No!" Skylar scoffs at him as she raises her voice a bit, "I'm asking you what you are doing!"

"Nuh-uh," Houmin replied in an annoying voice, "I answered. It's your turn to answer back."

"Arghh!" Skylar facepalmed and grunts, "Alright- Okay, okay... Stop playing around, Doofus. I'm asking you, fucking asking YOU! What are you going to be doing with the things you're carrying and even dragging someone to this."

"His name is Pen," Houmin pointed at him,

"Ranger Howard Lawn, Ma'am!" Pen saluted.

Skylar glanced at him and said, "Hoo, What did he do to you to deserve this?"

"Uh, What? Ma'am?" Pen asked back in confusion.

Skylar gave Houmin a stern look, thinking to herself that this moron definitely roped this poor ranger to doing this.

"I didn't do anything," Houmin shook his head and placed the dispenser on the ground, "I asked him for help, politely at that, to bring the water here for the Refugees."

"We already have enough water, Idiot," Skylar replied with a smug and put a hand on her hips, "Knowing you," She sighs, "Alright, fork your idea out. Let me hear it."

Houmin looks at Skylar while thinking about how to say it without being called a moron. He tapped on the dispenser, "They look thirsty, so it hit me to help them to some cold water- and! And before you say anything, it's also a way to see if this thing here works."

Seeing Skylar knitted her brows as she heard that, he added, "Them. How are they?"

Skylar pouted for a bit and took off the stethoscope on her neck. "I'm pretty sure someone already beat you some sense about.. overallocation of resources… Cause Doc Tidemann grilled me for it."

"As for them," Skylar turned her head to look at the refugees, "Most of them had some bruises, malnutrition, and dehydration. We already took care of that. There's this one we had to amputee the knee down as it stages to a compartment syndrome, and the stims are not helping anymore.

"Except this one family, the husband rather," She added, "From the village to here, he carried his dead wife, never letting go. Poor guy was in pain… He also neglected his kids, but with Viñia's counseling, he agreed to have his wife buried with the rangers. And had his attention back to the kids."

"Wait a minute," Skylar looked back at Houmin, "You asshole, you had me monologuing."

Houmin gave a smirk, "I'm just jealous you have some way to help them while all I can do is stare at everyone in our tent."

"Uhh, umm, my arms are getting sleepy here." Pen interrupted the two. "Are you two done? Cause I really wanna know where can I put the water jugs?"

Hearing that, Houmin and Skylar looked at each other and started laughing. Hearing that, Pen looked at them annoyed. Skylar raised up two of her finger at Houmin, to which Houmin nods back in agreement. Skylar walked away with a smile while Houmin grabbed the dispenser again, "Pen, just put it down there. Get that extension cord connected to a power line. We'll see if this thing is going to run."

Houmin took one of the jugs and opened the water dispenser's lower cabinet door, showing the hermetically sealed hose. He placed the water jug on the bottle tray. He then works around opening the sealed hose before putting it inside the water jug's cap.

"Everything's connected, Houmin." Pen said. He handed the socket box to him.

Houmin placed the box where it won't get caught around too much. He opened a small compartment on the dispenser's back and pulled out its cable cord, then plugging it in the socket box. He dusted off his hand before pressing the switch on the back, and a slow rumble can be heard from the dispenser.

"Hey, are you sure it's working?" Pen asked worriedly.

"Heh, you're not gonna get in trouble if that's what you're asking," Houmin replied.

A few seconds later, they heard the hose's suction sound along with a low rumbling, indicating the condenser is working. Houmin tried poking both the cold and hot dispenser to see if the water is dripping fine. Satisfied, he showed a big smile to Pen and swerve his head in Skylar's direction, pointing at her and nods.

"Okay, 2 minutes is done," Skylar said to herself. She took a deep breath, calming herself, still struggling to herself that public speaking was never her strong point.

"Excuse me, umm, everyone," Skylar said with an exasperated voice. "Everyone, please hold on to your metal cups because we- uhh, we will giving everyone a glass- I mean a cup of water… A cup of cold water."

Hearing that, the people's mood lightens with the kids cheered in delight.

"It's going to be an arrangement of 3 groups with the children are up first," Skylar added. She gestured with her feet and drawn a line. "Once, I said that it's okay to- to line up. Kindly stop before this line and file in as a single file."

Skylar looks back at Houmin to see progress. Seeing him giving her a thumbs-up means she proceeds ahead. Not knowing that, Houmin cursed under his breath as to why the dispenser is both cooling and heating the water at a fast rate.

The kids line up excitedly, with the younger ones hugging their metal cups. The first ones were a brother and sister duo who cautiously approached Houmin, "Excuse me, Mister. Are we getting the cold water from that machine?" The older sister pointed.

Houmin gave a warm smile, showcasing his clean teeth and blue eyes to the kids. "Yes, you are right!"

"Is it cold like when it turns to bedtime?" The younger one innocently asks, "Will it be enough for everyone? Mama said to save water since it's super important."

"Shh!" The older one scolds her brother, "We agreed I do the talking! Gaz- uggfff."

Houmin laughs as he ruffles the girl's hair, "Don't be too hard on your brother. Before we start, can this big brother know your names?"

The girl grabbed onto his brother's hand tightly, "You are not gonna hurt us, mister?"

"Never!" Houmin maintained his warm smile, "As a Desert Ranger, it is our duty to help the people! Even if it's making sure you two cute little ones have a cold drink of water."

"My name is Gail," The girl said in a low tone, "My brother is Gaz… Can we have some cold water, mister?"

Houmin didn't mind it that much when he saw the kids are suspicious of him. He replied with a nod and reach out to them to take their cups. He placed one of the cups in the cold water drip, pulled on the dispenser, and the water flow can be heard. He filled both of their cups and smiled as he felt on his hands the cold sensation on the cups.

"Here you go," Houmin said to them.

The first one to grab on the cups was Gaz. His expression jumped to joy as he never experienced this sensation before. He looked to his sister for advice, but she too is surprised by the thing she's holding.

"Well? C'mon, drink it. It's going to warm up." Houmin nudged.

"Mister," Gaz asked. "Are you sure it's enough for everyone?"

Houmin felt a sad yet warm feeling to Gaz's questions. He was brought up in a place so unlike this. Hearing it from a child raised in this environment, with an expression of innocence… Gaining some more reason why he has to try even harder for this wasteland.

"Yup!" Houmin replied. "It's more than enough for everyone."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Hidden inside the small canyons in the northwest outskirts of the Ranger Citadel, Jaberon's Gang and the "Affiliated Group" spread themselves in these natural rock formations. They set their camps inside this cave formation to conceal themselves from the Rangers.

Some of Jaberon's Waste Water Gang felt a rise of pride for themselves, knowing they'll be soon be known for outsmarting the rangers as well as being so close to their base.

"Any word to Jaberon?"

"Nothing."

"The Palace?"

"Nothing."

"Anything?"

"Afraid so,"

"Maybe they got high so much, they're late."

"Probably."

"Something's not right."

"And?"

"The Desert Rangers are not acting up as expected."

"You mean? But it's impossible. No way they can do that."

"I'm not sure."

"We need someone to check up on the village."

"With just us and these high-up addicts, I think we might've fucked up."

Felt Tip Pen · Seatbelts · Yoko Kanno