Occams Razor

A short time into the quarantine a rusty pick up truck pulled up and stopped by a row of tents. Lou got out of the passenger seat and pulled a duffle bag and his pole saw out of the back. He placed his belongings on the curb and moved to speak through the window to the driver.

"Hey thanks for the lift man. If you need help with that tractor you were talking about, you let me know. I do more than pour gas into a generator."

He said in a friendly voice, letting his northern New England accent flow. He was lucky to have gotten a ride from from the local. If he had been from Berlin Massachusetts instead of Berlin New Hampshire, chances were he would have been in for a long walk to the quarantine zone. Lou wasn't a fan of being stuck here but heard there was free food and places to sleep. Lou didn't mind roughing, makeshift government tents would do fine for the time. As soon as winter came around though, he would be looking for something more stable. Maybe he could get a gig fixing up the camp. Always one to look on the bright side Lou looked around the camp while the truck drove off. Lou hefted up his bag and slung his pole saw over his shoulder and looked around to see if he recognized anyone from the island.

"So, where's a guy to go to get some grub around here?"

::Tobias heard the old pickup before he saw it, and headed over to the entrance to the camp and was happy to see Lou get out.::
"Hey, lou! Glad to see you! Wasn't entirely sure you made it out, but It's fortunate you were able to limb trim your way out. We can get some food at the mess tent, it tastes a lot like hospital food, but it'll fill you right up."

Lou puts down his duffle bag and gives Tobias a hand shake, greeting him in his overly friendly manner as always.

"Oh you know me, putting his old thing to work. Gonna need to sharpen it soon."

Lou says and taps his pole saw some. He looks over to the mess tent that Tobias had mention and gives it a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I should get something to eat. you should come with, fill me in on what I missed while I was lost in the woods."

Lou said and picked up his duffle bag and motioned for Tobias to join him on his walk over to the mess tent.

Tobias walks with Lou to the tent, delighted to chat with his previous social experiment.
"Yea, we could of used you. Had to pretty much reassemble an entire bus. Also you butcher friend says hi, we needed gas too."

Lou shutters some at the thought of having to deal with the butcher again.

"A broken down bus, a date with the butcher? Sounds like you boys had a wild night huh? Shame I missed it."

Lou said and thought more about it. The idea that there were people who needed him struck him as weird. Being 'needed' was not something he was used to. He walked into the tent and found a table for the two of them to sit at.

"I take it you guys found a way to fix it on your own... Hey, you got a spell for that?"

Lou said with a laugh in a low voice. He was careful to keep it down, in case some of the government men were around.

Tobias sat down next to the handy-man, smiling. Speaking in a similar tone as Lou, He didn't mind telling people about magic, most people would think Lou crazy if he tried to tell others. But government people tended to dissect such things, and the idea was not appealing.
"No, not really. Magic and technology don't mix. We simply salvaged parts from the Island, attached it to the bus, and took a barge across. Oh and secret agent man went crazy."

Lou blinks a few times in surprise.

"The suit? you mean that guy the marshal was about to have it out with? He snapped huh? What happened to him?"

Lou asked. He thought back to the other night on the island and the nasty situation with the inmates. It was a rough night but in the end, Lou had to do what it took to make it out alive. There was a lot of confusion but Lou didn't blame it on the agent. The man struck Lou as little more of than a fall guy. For a moment there it was looking like the folks on the island here about to tear the man apart. Maybe they should have.

"Is he still alive?"

"Dunno, but I doubt it"

The voice comes from further inside the tent, there stands Mason holding a tray with food of questionable quality. His face is serious when he first speaks but then lightens up and offers a smile in greeting to the two men in front of him.

"Glad to see you made it by the way, we were worried about those who didn't make it on the bus. Care to join me?"

Mason gestures at a cheap cafeteria table in front of him while taking a seat.

"When it comes to Agent Cosgrove he was full of crap apparently. He broke his contract with Blackstone and apparently convinced a large number of the Blackstone troops assigned to him to break off from Blackstone and work for him directly. He was trying to exterminate any and all of the escaped convicts and anyone who got even kinda near his way to boot. During the fight he was dragged off by one of these wieeeeeerd sunglass wearing people who had come looking for him earlier. Myself and a few others tried to stop them from kidnapping him, but some strange force pushed us all back. He might be alive... but based on the way he was screaming when he was dragged off... and how the screams ended abruptly, I doubt it."

Lou sees the Marshall and moves to join him and waves Tobias over. He sits with him and looks at the tray of food. As someone who would never turn down free food, the quality didn't seem to matter to him. It certainly beat skipping a meal.

"So, a lot went down with them mercs and the convicts huh? Is that why the G-men are all about this new quarantine camp?"

Lou asks.

Mason shakes his head and his brown furrows

"Not much in the way of the convicts, the ones that stayed ok upstairs laid low. We did come to blows with the Mercs and some crime syndicate to boot. The Quarantine is due to whatever has gotten into the water. Remember all those sick deranged animals? They were all messed up pretty bad and apparently it was due to the exposure to some chemical or something in the water that we think originated in the prison."

Mason looks around before looking back towards Tobias and Lou
"The Feds seem alright to me, I've never even met an FBI agent before, but they seem genuinely concerned about the contagion not spreading and our genuine well-being too. Deputy Director White in particular seems to be a pretty good guy, he willing entered the quarantine and has been advocating for us from what I can tell. Haven't really talked to him much yet though, he seems kinda busy."

Mason pauses for a moment in thought
"Actually I guess I am a Fed too aren't I? The Marshall Service is new gig for me, haven't really gotten used to it yet."