Chapter 1259 (1/2)

Derek Moss leaned back in his chair and stifled a yawn. The military issue folding chairs had some give in them, but not enough for the movement to feel anything like actual rest. His direct subordinate, and currently the only other person at the security checkpoint along the Western edge of Zone 1, glanced over at him. “Did you say something? Someone finally coming.?”

“Nope. Its still only 1 P.M. and we’ve done fuckall,” Derek responded playfully. His subordinate smirked and shook his head. Both turned their attentions to the paperwork sitting un-appetizingly on the desk in front of each of them. Neither picked up a pen to start filling in the forms despite it being the only thing to do in this room with someone trying to enter Zone 1. Yesterday had been a busy day, where a carefully guarded convoy of individuals from one of the increasingly frequent bubble cities had been moved to Zone 1.

And because Zone 1 was wary of such individuals after what happened with Mexico City, the recorded documents on the people moving into the Zone were exhaustive. Yesterday Derek had just been glad that they weren’t required to do the interview portion; that would happen at a facility further in the interior of the Zone and would take at least a week.

In comparison to yesterday’s frenzy, however, these days where nothing happened were far worse. An entire day of sitting in their little steel structure on top of a hill on the edge of the Zone, and they could only get here by traveling by handcar along a poorly maintained stretch of spare track.

Although he would never admit it, Derek was somewhat thankful for his son getting in trouble at school two days ago. It was the first time all year that Derek had been allowed to leave his post early.

“Wanna bet on how many people will come before the edge of the shift?” The subordinate hesitated as he did some mental calculations. “Let’s set the over-under at three and a half.”

Derek pursed his lips. As far as distractions went, it was a poor one. But it was all they had. And their current number of zero individuals trying to get into Zone 1 was unusually low. It was very likely that it would change before the end of the shift. But Derek supposed the recent drop in numbers could be blamed on the emergence of bubble cities; now the population came in large groups or not at all. Very rare were the small groups that stumbled toward the Zones after surviving their freedom from the timeless borderlands.

Of course, that’s because the borderlands are increasingly far away from the populated Zones… and no one has really expanded outward from our central area o do anything other than harvesting raw materials. Donnyton is setting up forts to the South, but people in other areas…

Clenching his fists, Derek released a steadying breath. Venturing out into the Wildlands and saving those people was risky even at the best of times, which is why the government of Zone 1 refrained from making more of an effort. Especially when they weren’t reaping the political benefits of such a costly endeavor.

Theodora Greyman had proposed a resolution to create a joint force that would patrol and help people freed from the Wildlands at the most recent session of the World Council, but it had been unanimously denied by the rest of the members.

Zone 1 media had since been blasting the other Zones as cowards, but most everyone who paid attention knew that such an accusation was poorly conceived propaganda. Most of the other Zones were already actively working to help save people in the Wildlands. Why would they now allow President Greyman to pass this resolution now and try to take all the credit?

“...I’ll take the over. Let’s get at least four. The more people that come help our Zone grow strong… the better.” Derek said tiredly. He rubbed at his eyes as he thought about the political posturing on which most of the Senators spent their time and effort. He couldn’t help but wince at the knowledge that while Zone 1 was secretly pushing for more image training amongst its armed forces, they refused from publicly acknowledging the strength of images so as to refuse to add to Randidly Ghosthound’s legend.

Then Derek released a sigh. Sometimes, he wished that his mind would just be still. There were some moments in his life that he felt like he was rattling apart at the seams, unable to keep up all of the frustrations of living. His mind operated too violently for his emotions. But Derek knew it was just coming down off the high of constantly fighting for his life in the early days of the System.

It had been so simple then. And now…

“You better not be cheating,” His subordinate teased. He walked up to the window and looked out to the surrounding flatlands. The checkpoint sat on the highest of a series of low hills that provided an excellent vantage over the surrounding area. If anyone headed this direction, they would most likely be spotted by Derek’s checkpoint. After squinting a bit, his subordinate shrugged. “I can’t see anyone, but I know that your Eagle Eye Skill is much higher than mine…”

“No cheating, I promise,” Derek had to stifle a yawn again as the mundanities of their current situation eased his anxious mind. Almost as soon as the bet was made, both men settled back into the helpless state of staring at the paperwork. Because the result of the bet wouldn’t be known for another five hours. But luckily, the subordinate spoke up again before the silence could stretch for too long.

“By the way, I hear you are taking a day off tomorrow?”

This time, Derek smiled with genuine happiness. “Yep. You’ll be with Kenny again tomorrow, sorry to say. And I will be taking my son to the inaugural football game. Honestly, he needs it, because-”

Then Derek froze as his instincts hummed softly. Something was coming. Almost immediately, Derek hopped out of his seat and joined his startled subordinate at the window. His high-Level Eagle Eye instantly magnified his sight so he could see across the long-distance of the arid land surrounding the checkpoint… but Derek saw nothing.

He frowned in confusion even as his instincts continued to gently nudge him. Something was definitely coming, it was just… too far away to see…?

“Something the matter?” The subordinate asked when Derek moved so quickly to stand next to him at the window. The subordinate turned and squinted again out toward the rolling hills around them, but of course, he had even less luck than Derek did.

What is powerful enough that my instincts pick it up even before I can see it…? Derek’s gaze sharpened. The Rakshasi? It’s the only monster from the Epic Dungeon that hasn’t been accounted for… and although people have been hunting it, they recently lost track of it. If it’s coming here now…

“Send a report in to headquarters,” Derek said immediately. “An unknown, Code-1 threat is making its way toward our security checkpoint. Ask for drone support so we can get eyes on the bastard.”

The subordinate nodded and hurried over to the radio. Derek stayed at the window, looking intently out at the dusty ground. With every second that passed, the reaction from his instincts grew steadily stronger. Yet nothing manifested itself visibly, even as almost ten minutes ticked uncomfortably by. Even as his instincts were urging him to be careful, Derek began to doubt himself. It was just as the flying drones zoomed above the security checkpoint that Derek could make out something else in the current situation; the ground was rumbling.

As the rumbling grew louder, Derek could make out a small smudge on the horizon that was rapidly growing larger as it approached. His eyebrows shot sharply upward. If this was an enormous monster… had a Raid Boss been slowly growing in the Wildlands? Something that size was exactly what Mjolnir was designed for, but it might require him to pin the thing down long enough for the blast to arrive.