Chapter 11 - The Woman in the Wasteland (1/2)

Chapter 11 The Woman in the Wasteland

It wasn’t great news to my ears that the looters were in control of the Southern District, as the path I was heading to was that part of St. John City. I should take a long way round if I really couldn’t make it past them, I thought. Perhaps the district controlled by the Gun Team would be much safer.

That said, Fate always made a fool out of all of us.

A fishy stench emanated from the huge river in front of him, and the murky green water looked a little strange. Chain of bubbles kept appearing on its surface, and I wondered if carnivorous fish were the cause of them.

I shook my head helplessly as I gazed at the river. There was no way for me to circle past the Blaze Gang’s territory. I had to take the bridge into the Southern District.

A wooden shack had been raised at the other end of the bridge, and a simple wooden fence was erected outside of it. Two looters, who had pistols tucked into their waistbands, were leaning against the fence, chatting about some unknown topic.

The looters had already taken over control of the only passage in and out of the Southern part of the city, and this would aid them in looting the merchant caravans that passed by and even kill any stragglers.

To be honest I was a little hesitant. Even though I didn’t want any trouble, I wasn’t quite as sure about the other party.

…

The sky turned dark, and there were even tiny clumps of sand in the raging wind. It was about to rain, and I did not have any gear to shield me from its radiation. I had to find a place to hide quickly.

I had no choice but to walk toward the other end of the bridge. I gripped the gun in my hand tightly, luckily the protective plates on my body made me feel bolder as well.

I tried to tread lightly, and it was already dark, but when I reached the middle of the bridge, the two looters still noticed my presence immediately and drew their pistols.

“Who’s there?” the slightly thinner looter shouted in my direction.

How should I reply? In an instant, various names flashed in my mind. “Merchant”, “Dick Town Guard” or “One of you?”

“So-soldier?”

I had a sudden inspiration. Even though I sounded uncertain, I knew that if I identified myself as a merchant, one that was wandering the Wasteland on his own, they would have killed me. What about a Dick Town Guard? They probably would have heard of Dick Town, but what was a Dick Town Guard? I took a look at my gear, and they looked somewhat military, especially the combat armor. Calling myself a soldier… would do for now.

“A member of the Gun Team? Get on your way then!”

The thin looter waved his hand impatiently, hurrying me away.

“Hey! What are you blanking out for? If you don’t go, I’ll strip you clean, even if you’re one of the Gun Team? Get lost!”

I was really stunned. They let me go after only hearing I was from the military? Even though I did really look like a soldier.

Gun Team? I suddenly remembered what the thin man said. So, they had mistaken me for one of the Gun Team. It seemed that these people had a very complicated relationship with each other.

I noticed a few weirdly dressed looters occasionally as I walked on the broken down pavement, and they carried weapons of many designs. There were re-modeled knives, wooden cudgels wrapped with steel wire and even broken beer bottles. I would not be surprised if some of them even carried toilet brushes that were broken off.

Any looter that laid eyes on me would quickly walk away, and this made me feel considerably more assured.

…

“Boom…”

Thunder rumbled and rain finally began falling.

I looked at the abandoned buildings at the sides of the streets and walked toward one with its entrance still intact. Even though the front doors were already hanging by its hinges, the entrance was still covered up. Unexpectedly, it was inhibited—two people, women, to be exact, were sitting by a corner of the wall and looked like they had come indoors for shelter from the rain as well.

Their clothes were a little worn and tattered, and their skin showed underneath the holes. They seemed to have been bruised and their faces were covered in dirt, while their hair was a little unkempt.

I did not have any intention of chatting with them. Conversing with strangers in the Wasteland was not a good practice.

I leaned on the other side of the wall and sat down. I was hungry from walking for many hours and took out a piece of bread to eat.

The women did not keep quiet for long. It was not their mouths that emitted noise, but rather their stomachs, from being starved for too long. I lifted my head to look at them before turning my gaze away again, resuming my meal.

“Can you give us a little of that?”

The short-haired woman asked by the time I had finished eating half my bread. She could no longer contain her hunger, but her voice was weak.

I looked at her and did not speak. The younger woman beside her was looking expectantly at me though.