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[ Kalinda's not paying attention. Or, at least, she's putting on the outward appearance of not paying attention, examining her surroundings far more closely than any of the people in it. She glances the kid's way eventually, but she doesn't get around to it very quickly. ]

Yeah, well. Nice is boring.

[ The boy's expression changes with a quickness that implies affectation (though it's unclear which is the lie -- his smile or his earlier scowl). When he smiles, it's with his entire face: crinkled eyes and spread lips and showing teeth. Usually attitude you earns you jackshit with kids who've got plenty of their own already, but every once and a while, it earns you something.

Or maybe it's just the case of one liar finding another. ]

Which means we're either gonna be peas in a pod or I'm gonna have to kick you the fuck outta my tunnel.

[ In the same way that a little attitude earned Kalinda a better reaction, this statement (boast or promise?) keeps Kalinda's attention focused for longer than it would have otherwise. Her mouth twitches, only barely, and her tone gains a bit of slinking amusement. ]

More than one way into a tunnel. You might have a hard time keeping me out.

We can play hide'n'seek later if you want. But lotsa kids means lotsa little running feet. And I've got plenty. [ Neal mimics the motion of tiny scuttling things with his hands, each rushing around on two fingers like mice scampering to find a corner. ] What do you got goin' for you?

[ Kalinda gives him a look up and down, a little skeptical but mostly assessing, as if trying to weigh up whether there's any real threat here. Her decision, whatever it is, is concealed by her eyes going wide in innocence. ]

Me? [ Her voice also sounds innocent now, but it's not very well pretended, amusement still leaking through. ] Against all of you? Not a thing.

[ Neal tips his head to one side as she gives him the once up and down, hands spreading in a way that seems used to feigning the gesture. (Wasn't me, officer. Just passing through.) ] Y'know ever since the whole world went down the goddamn drain, everybody's lookin' to either slit throats or sing Kumbaya. But you-- [ He taps his fingertip on open air, punctuating the word with a sharp (and not entirely friendly) emphasis. ] --you came all the way down here to toss bullshit.

[ She snorts but unlike the nearly constant wry amusement in her voice, it's hard to tell whether that snort was a laugh or what. Kalinda always found that the best way to keep people from figuring out is to be inconsistent. Make it impossible to get a fix.

She shrugs. ] Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic. Maybe I can get Kumbayas and throat slitting anywhere, but good bullshit's harder to come by.

[ Neal sucks on the insides of his cheeks and shoves his hands deep into his pockets, rocking on the balls of his feet. Unlike most of the kids he runs with, he's never learned how to cultivate a proper slouch; his posture sets him apart from the rest, makes him arguably stick out in a way that says you should be listening to me if you know what's good for you. It's worked for him so far. That's why Kalinda's talking to him instead of Eli. ]

Yeah, well we don't share our bullshit with just anyone -- follow?

[ Kalinda's expression doesn't change but somehow, irregardless, it seems like a silent Oh, really? She never used to be one for trading; most of the time, she could get what she wanted without having to give something up if she just found the right way to go at it. Since the outbreak, she's learned to compromise a bit better. But she still doesn't like it. ]

I guess I'll just be going then.

[ Neal's not so different. He understands conceptually how sharing works, how it generates expectations (favors) that can be called upon later. That was reason number one why Eli was still standing, was the one in the big boy chair, the one that some of his kids now called 'boss'. All good things come to those who wait and all bad things come to those that don't know any better. Still, wheedling away his time to get back his gang isn't the same thing as trading words with an outsider.

The Underground isn't hard to find. Neal suspects she didn't just fall out of the sky. If anything, she has a reason to be here. Question was finding out what. ]

Yeah, sure. You do that.

Sure. [ Kalinda lifts an eyebrow as if to say Sure, no skin off my back, and makes as if to turn. But she tops midway, sticking her hands into her battered jacket and looking back at him, body half-turned away. ]

But just out of curiosity, how many more days of clean water do you figure you have? Ten? Two weeks?

[ The answer is eleven. Eleven days before the Underground runs out, four days until Neal goes over Eli's head and starts enforcing a proper ration. Neal frowns but doesn't answer beyond that. ]

You got somethin' you want up on the table, now's the time to be pitchin' it.

[ It wasn't a hard guess. Water that's okay to drink is one of the things in shortest supply in all the formerly urban areas these days. She turns all the way back around and tips her head back in the direction she was about to walk off in. ]

Found a crate of iodine tablets a couple of days back. I thought you might like to make a deal.

[ Deals aren't really Neal's place to broker. The things that they own belong to everyone -- or at least, that's how Eli's put it -- but he's not about to go running back to the others to take a vote. So he plays fast and loose knowing that, as long as he comes out on top -- no harm, no foul. ]

Maybe, maybe, [ he mulls, even though they both know he's already interested. ] We're not exactly flush, if you get me.

What're you scopin' -- artillery? Home and fuckin' garden?

[ Kalinda tries not to have expectations when she goes in to make a deal. Expectations are limiting. If people don't have what you're looking for, they hurry you off. If they do, they might conveniently forget to tell you about the other treasure they're sitting on. Kalinda used to trade in information, always holding onto one tidbit she could give to anyone she needed a favour from. Now she trades in whatever she can get her hands on; it's surprisingly at least as easy. ]

Hey, I don't ask, I just deliver. Some people will trade a couple months worth of food for a ball of string if they've got food but need string. That's the way things work.

[ Food, they've got plenty of. Which is ironic, given how little they used to get by on, before the shit hit the fan and there was nobody around left to eat it. But food isn't water and water is scarce. Other things too, which is why Neal asks: ]

You got smokes? Spray paint? [ It's a hodgepodge mishmash but he imagines she'll roll with it. What he had for trade wasn't going to go cheap, so he tests out the limits of her collateral. ]

Cigarettes? [ Her surprise, though muted, is genuine and apparent. There were still lots of people who wanted cigarettes out there, but many more seemed set on quitting, not wanting the addiction to slow them down at inopportune moments. She actually shifted nicotine patches faster than cigarettes most of the time, or would if it wasn't for Yves. ]

Sure. No spray paint, but [ she pauses, smiles lightly ] if we make a good deal this time, I can always come back when I find some.

[ Neal doesn't like the idea of hinging the whole deal on 'next time', mostly because the way things went nowadays, you could never really bank on it. But the long-term investment meant good business, or the possibility of it; maybe even an ally. ]

Gotta spare SWAT shield lyin' around. Heavy duty shit.

[ Kalinda considers it. No immediate applications for a SWAT shield spring to mind, but anything that could get cobbled into a fortification is bound to be tradeable somewhere. Hell, Doyle might even want to keep it and find some way to stick it on their truck. ]

For the iodine. I'm going to need a little more if you want the cigarettes too.

[ Neal snorts like there's no way but smokes are smokes and there's nothing the kids chew through more quickly. ]

Half a dozen Sternos for two cartons.

[ Normally, Kalinda would never accept an offer so easily. If there's anything that working with lawyers for as long as she did has taught her, it's that no one offers what they're really willing to part with on the first round.

But it's not unfair, and taking the cut in price means maybe buying herself a new market and a little goodwill in the future. Plus, she thinks, it never hurts to let people underestimate you. ]

Sure, we can do that. Where do you want to make the trade?

How far's your stash? [ he asks neutrally, knowing better than to ask about specifics as to where. Before she can answer, Neal's pursing his mouth to let out a loud high-pitched whistle that echoes down into the recesses of the tunnel behind him -- dark where Kalinda can't properly see. ] Got a guy I can send with if you're not hinky. Help carry the gear an' shit, it's not exactly light.