“Here’s something I learned from my sister, and from Shiloh: right or wrong, people react to cleanliness. I always kept myself clean enough–out in the dirt, you’re going to get messy, and most folks understand that. Dwellers expect scavs to be dirty. When we were with Gallamore’s, everything was always clean, dust wiped off. The teamsters would grumble so much about having to wash the mud off of everything after a storm! And I didn’t blame them.

“And then, when Holly came home and started traveling with us, she insisted that we do the same thing, always cleaning up, washing the dirt off, washing my clothes. She would insist that we wash before going to any new city or town. I fought her on it at first, but now, it’s fine, when we can we just take extra time to stop a few miles from town and clean everything up.

“But do you know what? It does something. It makes a difference. We get better trade. People are friendlier, and they don’t try to cheat us. Swan and Shiloh both say it’s part respect and part intimidation. Dwellers see us, coming in from out of the dirt, from fighting biters and spiders and whatnot to get to them and bring them cargo, and we walk in looking fresh and rested and cleaner than they themselves are sometimes, and they don’t know what to think, that we can just shrug all that bad stuff off so easily. I guess it never occurred to me that scavs could get respect from dwellers?

“Anyway, no, Holly’s skills aren’t useless to us, and don’t ever start thinking that they are.”