Annie helped lower Chad into a wheelchair. He'd initially protested that he didn't need one -- after all, he had clearly proven that his arm could move him along much quicker than his legs every could. But in order to avoid shooting himself across the countryside again, he eventually agreed to use a chair.

"All good?" Annie asked?

"Yup!" He shifted around to get a little more comfortable. "This ain't too bad."

The idea that he couldn't walk hadn't fully set in while he was lying down. But now, when he was actually trying to use his legs, it felt a lot more real.

Just a week. Maybe less, depending on who the Major brings in to take a look at me. But I can manage.

"Alright." Annie nodded. "Let's go see your gramma."

With a nod, Chad began to wheel himself forward. The wheelchair banked sharply to the left, slamming his knees into the bed.

"Ack!" Squawkers lifted off his shoulder, flapping in surprise. "What was that?!"

Ow. He grimaced. "Whoops. Just, uh... gimme a sec."

He tried to back up carefully, only to make a 180-degree turn in reverse. This time, the back of his chair crashed into the bed.

"Dammit... wait, I got this!"

After a few more rounds of noisily crashing around the room in frustration, Chad realized that this might take a bit more time and effort than expected. It was one thing to limit his right arm's strength. He could do that. But to match it with the significantly lesser strength of his left? That was a bigger issue.

Even all that dexterity didn't prepare me for this. He tried again, much slower this time. The impact rocked the bed sideways. He gritted his teeth in frustration. How am I supposed to move like this?

"Chad?" Annie asked, stepping toward him.

"Yeah?"

"How about I push you for now, until we get outside?"

Chad looked around. He'd made a bit of a mess of the hospital room. His bed lay askew, the disconnected IV halfway across the room. Worse, his knees were red from the repeated impacts.

"...Sure." He nodded. "Probably a good idea. I'll get this down, I just need more practice."

With a small chuckle, Annie grabbed the chair's handles and began pushing. Chad folded his hands awkwardly in his lap, unsure of what else to do with them.

Well, at least I didn't crush the wheel or anything. That's an upside.

As they navigated down the hallways, Chad turned to Squawkers. "So? You made a deal with the Major?"

"Of course!" Squawkers puffed out his chest proudly. "Dare I say, the best deal!"

The parrot gave him a summary of what they'd agreed to. Evidently, Geoffries and the military were willing to give Chad and his group a lot of resources -- leveling support, protection, and access to some of their specialists. Squawkers even managed to get an agreement that Chad's arms and equipment would stay his -- something which he was incredibly thankful for. It meant they wouldn't be trying to repossess the tank anytime soon.

"The main thing we didn't agree on was a base of operations." Squawkers admitted. "He wants us all to go to a military base. I figured you'd want to stay here and protect the town, just in case. Even if they do put some soldiers here, I don't like just up and leaving."

Chad nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same. Why doesn't he want to stay here?"

"Because some of those 'specialists' could be useful back at base, too, apparently." Squawkers scoffed. "Also, he doesn't think he can spare enough forces to really protect the whole town like you probably want. They're stretched thin."

"Alright." Chad sighed. "I get it--"

Squawkers nipped him on the temple. "C'mon! You're just gonna leave it at that?!"

"What? He said he can't do it!" Chad raised his hands placatingly.

"So you're just gonna give up?" The bird shook his head. "You really want to leave everyone here? Especially with the portal shooting out bigger stuff?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Exactly." Squawkers huffed. "So we'll get them to come to us. Don't worry, I'll figure out how to make it happen. This is a negotiation, after all."

Chad chuckled. "Alright. Thanks, buddy."

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As they moved, Chad thought about assigning those new stat points. But something made him hesitate.

Maybe I should hold off on using these yet. I don’t really know where to put them.

The obvious choice was strength, of course. Putting a point each into his hand, forearm, and upper arm would boost his firepower, and that’s what they needed right now. But would he be able to deal with the side effects?

I think I have enough dexterity and constitution to handle things. But if I don’t, I might be in big trouble. Especially if it takes me a while to level again.

He wasn’t too worried about not being able to level, especially if it was going to be his focus from here on. But he was in a wheelchair. So who knew if he even could fight like this.

Chad blinked as a sudden realization struck him. Oh. Couldn’t I just put the points into my legs? Would that fix them up?

He looked down. The damage was just to his calves, and his lower legs were a selectable group… At the same time though, it felt wasteful to spend points on that when he only had to wait a week. Especially if the fate of the planet was on his shoulders.

…I’ll hold onto them for now, he decided. I’ll wait till I have more to play with, then toss as much as I can into strength. If there’s an emergency though, I can always toss ‘em in my legs.

They turned another corner, passing by a few nurses and technicians bustling through the halls. To his surprise, he saw a handful of cats laying on the otherwise pristine white floors. They clustered around the entrance to one of the patient rooms, each a little bit bigger than he remembered. A tabby and a calico sat to either side of the entrance as though guarding it. Squawkers tensed at the sight.

"Guess we found your gramma," Annie muttered.

"I can't believe they let those things in here." Squawkers muttered. "This is a hospital. It can't be sanitary!"

Annie snorted. "Yeah, well it's not like they didn't try to keep ‘em out. Those things’re scary when they hiss. But you're welcome to give it a shot yourself."

They approached the door and knocked. Chad peeked inside to see a room just like his own, but with more cats. It seemed as though every single feline from the house had followed Gram Gram here to gather. The majority of them sat or lay around the woman herself where she sat on a hospital bed.

"Oh, Chadwick!" Her face brightened on seeing him before her brow pinched with concern. "Are you alright, dearie?"

"I'm fine, Gram Gram." He glanced down at his legs. "Nothing that won't heal. How about you?"

She sighed with relief. "Oh, I'm just fine. My ankle feels better than ever. Why, I don't even need a boot! I remember that when Evelyn fell, she could hardly stand for weeks... But look at me, rambling like this."

Gram Gram chuckled at herself, meeting Chad's gaze with a soft smile. "Annie told me a little bit about what's been going on."

Chad blinked, then looked up at Annie. "She did?"

The masseuse nodded pensively. "Only the real general stuff. Sorry. I thought you might wanna tell her yourself, but..."

"Chadwick, dear." The old woman looked at him above her glasses. "You should have told me if there was trouble about!"

"I kind of did," he averted his gaze. "But I didn't want to make you worry too much. Besides, I had it taken care of! Until... well, this."

"Oh, don't worry about that." She waved him off. "I was a little surprised at all this mess, to be sure, but that's neither here nor there. Your Gram Gram is tougher than you think."

Chad bit his tongue. Well that's just not true. I mean, she kinda is now, but still.

"Besides," she continued, "if things are really so bad, then I can just hide away. Your grandfather was quite prepared for things like this, you know."

"Wait, does that mean you knew about the shed?" Annie asked incredulously.

"The shed?" Gram Gram frowned. "No, dearie. Why, I'm talking about the basement."

Chad frowned. "The house doesn't have a basement."

"Oh, I suppose I never told you about that, did I?" The old woman chuckled. "Your grandfather didn't share it with you when you were younger. He was rather insistent that it be used for emergencies only. It's quite the place."

That made Chad think. If it's anything like the shed, then who knows what kinda stuff is down there? Although...

"Well, it's probably gone now." Squawkers sighed. "If the moles didn't get it, then the earthquake probably caved it right in."

Chad flinched. "Yeah... I'm sorry about the house, Gram Gram. I didn't mean for it to..."

"Don't worry, dearie." She leaned over and patted his hand. "It's not about the house, but the memories we made in it. I'm just glad you're alright."

He gave her a strained smile. He wasn't entirely alright, but it was close enough. Soon, he'd be as good as new.

"I'll see if we can salvage any of your stuff," he promised. "I know you had a lot of pictures in there."

"My, how thoughtful." the old woman gave him a wrinkled smile. "I'd appreciate that, Chadwick."

***

There was no real point in sticking around the hospital any longer, so they convinced Major Geoffries to give them a ride back to Gram Gram's house. They were all more than a little curious about Paw Paw's mystery basement. Plus, the forecast suggested it might rain the next day, and Chad had no intention of letting Gram Gram's pictures get waterlogged.

Once they got there, Chad was able to get in a bit more wheelchair practice. The open area made it much easier to maneuver without crashing into something every other second, thankfully. However, it still took him an embarrassingly long time to get himself moving in a straight line.

He couldn't simply spin and release the wheel to propel himself foward. Instead, he ended up having to keep his right hand on the right wheel the entire time, manually rotating it forward a quarter turn at a time. It was a slow process, but it worked.

With that settled, he joined Annie and Squawkers as they rummaged through the debris. The Major and his men stood nearby, keeping watch for any threats and protecting the rest of their group.

"So... any idea where this bunker might be?" Annie asked.

"Gram Gram said there was an entrance in her bedroom." Chad peered through the rubble. "So probably... here?"

He nodded toward the corner of a mattress peeking out from below the fallen roof. Annie blew out a breath. "Well. Time to start diggin', I guess."

"Here, lemme do it." Chad cracked his neck and reached down for the bedpost. With a quick tug, he pulled the entire thing out of the way. There was a crash of shifting wood and tile as the rubble above shifted, but with a few more sweeps of his hand, the floor was clear. There, in its center, sat a strangely undisturbed rectangle of hardwood flooring with a keyhole set into it.