Chapter 492 (1/2)
The group was grim as they readied themselves to depart for the borderlands. As it happened, the new area that Ghost sensed, and the place from which the other energy was emerging was to the Northeast. They couldn’t get quite as close as Alan wanted them to be, but Hank couldn’t do anything about that. He could take his new bike and likely make it there in record time, but he supposed that Ezekiel and Affina were made of more sensitive stuff.
As they were departing, however, they were stopped by a vaguely familiar young woman with a shock of orange hair.
“Have you seen my brother?” She asked. “I know he’s been coming here a lot since you saved him, Sheriff, but he hasn’t come home in a day, and I’m a bit…”
Hank’s eyes widened. Holy shit, that little punk had a right pretty sister.
When the punk had disappeared, Hank hadn’t noticed. And if he was being honest, he was quite pleased to have one less fly buzzing around his shit. As he cast his mind back, he tried to remember anything particular that the kid had said that would have tipped a listener off that the punk had something planned… but he had largely been ignored, by the entire squad.
Hank felt a flash of guilt. There wasn’t much trouble the kid could get up to around here, and that was the problem; no trouble meant no profit. With the kid’s type, he was out to make a mark on the world, to impress upon other people that he was important. No doubt the fool dreamed of the day that he could raise himself from Tier 1 Citizenry.
His face grim, Hank informed the girl that he hadn’t seen him, but the group would be heading North along the outer rail circle. They would ask, and if the kid had gone there, they would find out. Because the real threat, and Hank’s real worry, was that the kid would hear that his group was going into the newly opened borderlands, and get the dumb idea into his head that the Mana Discharge Skill and a plasma pistol meant he could be a hero.
Thirty people dead.
Alan hadn’t bothered to mention the wounded.
The kid wouldn’t last a second.
After bidding the girl goodbye, the group headed for the train. Hank halfheartedly asked at the station, but they hadn’t seen him. Discretely, he sent messages to some acquaintances farther afield, closer to the borders, asking them to keep an eye out. But there was very little to be done: in terms of the grand scales, helping address this huge outside threat was more important than a willful child.
On the train, some of the soberness passed, and Ezekiel left his reflection to return to reality and make some quips. Most of them were forced, and sarcastic to the point of being acidic, but it eased the mood somewhat. Everyone had felt the weight of the abrupt casualties. Although it hadn’t been peaceful in their Zone 1, they had forgotten how dreadful their true adversary was.
It was only an hour on the train, and then a half hour of jogging to a military waystation, where a harried corporal waved them inside. There, they obtained several weeks rations, as well as tents and fire starters. To Hank’s surprise, everyone seemed to have good instincts in regards to what to bring, and he was silent for most of the packing, concerned with storing his own gear in his interspatial watch.
“Don’t underestimate them,” Laurel said quietly to Hank, as the duo headed over to grab bed padding. “They each feel… dangerous. They are bright knives in the dark. Even you are only their peer… I doubt you could overpower any of them easily. You would need to shoot to kill.”
That surprised Hank somewhat, and his eyebrows rose. “Even the blind girl?”
Laurel flashed him a smile. “Especially that one. The Jade Prince might look like a youthful man, but he is old and wily. This girl will be something special to catch his eye.”
Then she turned and walked away, heading towards Affina, who was standing at the canned proteins. Hank scratched his head.
“You didn’t grab a bedroll, Laurel,” Hank called.
She didn’t disappoint, simply turning and giving him a slow wink. To the side, Ezekiel mimed gagging, while Katie chuckled.