The Paroxysm of Pyromania

Ch. 5~ The Scrapyard

 It had been about six months since Odessa had become the Junker Queen and Jamison was right, Tori was put as head of security for Junkertown. She sat at the gate with a couple of guards and made sure that everyone coming in and out of Junkertown wasn't starting any trouble. The job was extremely boring so a lot of the time she would smuggle Jamison up there with her and the two would just sit on the edge of the big metal gates and watch the outback together. When she would walk around the streets of Junkertown people would say hi and they respected her just as they would Odessa. She had even gotten herself nicknamed, Watchdog was what they called her now. Even Junkertown itself had become more respectable. Odessa had put extra pressure on the schools to be teaching the children the fundamental skills needed to succeed. She had made the town more structured by establishing her own set of rules, there were only five.

No omnics

Pay your share

Finders keepers

Settle your own scores

Troublemakers will be exiled

These rules were not hard to follow and they promoted the people to be more independent. Under Mason's reign, everyone was ridiculed and pushed around, now people were free to handle things themselves. Junker Queen even let non-residents of Junkertown apply for housing, giving them a second chance at life. She just told Tori to keep a sharp eye on them, Roadhog was a good example. He had pissed Odessa off once so now he wasn't allowed to bring any weapons into Junkertown when he visited, and Tori was ordered to pat him down each time. She had learned that he mainly came into Junkertown to buy hogdrogen, a chemical used to reverse the effects caused by radiation poisoning.

It was early in the morning and the sun had just risen maybe an hour or two ago, Tori had just woken up. She sat on the edge of her bed, she had taken their old room from when they were kids and Odessa had opted for their parent's old room. Tori had worked hard trying to make her room as comfortable as it could be. She had a pink rug in the center of the floor and an oil lamp hanging in one of the corners, her dresser was on the smaller side, and on top of it were two different picture frames. One was of her and Odessa, Jamie had taken the picture in front of their overgrown house after their first night of staying with him. He let them stay with him for a month while they fixed up their house and in that month he and Tori became really good friends. The second picture was of her and Jamie of course, but they had made Odessa take it outside of Rocko's place for shits and giggles. They had struggled for hours trying to figure out which pose they wanted to do until they finally agreed on one.

***

"I still think we should do the fistbump!" Tori whined, she had made herself comfortable on Jamie's couch while he paced in front of her.

"No, the fistbump is too lame, plus the height difference will look weird."

"Are you seriously calling me short right now?" Tori asked unamused. Jamison laughed,

"Sheila, don't get offended I'm easily a foot taller than ya. It's just a fact." He merely shrugged and kept pacing.

"Whatever."

"Maybe we can put ya up on my shoulders and you'll be able to touch the sky!" He put his finger up in the air as if it was the greatest idea of his life. She laughed at him,

"Jamie, I don't even know if Dessa would be able to get my head in the frame!"

"Sure she can! Your sister is way taller than me! We'll be fine." He paused and smirked, "We should take it outside of Rocko's."

"Why?" Tori asked.

"Cuz, that's where we first had dinner... Kind of, plus I just think it would piss him off." He explained. Tori contemplated this idea for a moment before finally agreeing with him. They waited until Odessa had come home and begged for her to take the picture. It was sunset by the time they made it to Rocko's. "See sheila, this is the perfect background!" He motioned his arms to the scene in front of them. The sunset was overwhelmingly orange and it illuminated the sign on the restaurant, Rocko's Steakhouse.