Chapter 25 - Follow the money (2/2)

"I'm… I'm not nervous at all!" said Gray shakily.

Geoff looked ahead, then looked back at Gray and then widened his eyes, pointed over Gray and yelled "OH CRAP LOOK OUT GRAY!"

Gray jerked the steering wheel to the right in a panic and smashed through a generic wooden fence that just happened to be there as he turned his head quickly to look at what Geoff was pointing at.

Nothing… Absolutely nothing.

Gray was fuming. "DUDE! I almost peed my pants thinking we were about to be attacked by something!"

"BAAA HAHAHAHA" Geoff laughed hysterically while pointing at Gray "Not nervous my ass!"

"Ok, I do admit, I would've done the same to you if given the opportunity." Said Gray.

__________

Fortunately the last bit of the journey was uneventful and they were able to reach the city just before dark and park the truck near the entrance of the city.

"Just made it before dark, so uhhh… what should we do?" asked Gray.

"Well, this is a game, so of course we have to check out the pub, or bar, or whatever place it is that people like to gather at for fun!" said Geoff.

"Good idea, if we're lucky maybe we can pick up some quests from NPCs to earn some merits or other rewards!"

The city itself wasn't very large, in fact, calling it a city would be a stretch. The small peninsula the city resided on was blocked off on one side from by a tall metal wall made of varying sizes of metal scraps welded to a heavy iron frame with barbed wire along the top of it. The entrance was opened for them when a guard was able to verify Gray and Geoff's identity as being part of the military. When the guard noticed that Gray and Geoff were players, the guard seemed to switch his personality and suddenly became very helpful.

"Good evening players! Welcome to our humble New Venice! We don't have much to offer but if you would like a map of this town or to arrange for a place to spend the night please proceed north past the old roundabout to the military HQ that is stationed near the old Hospital! If you want entertainment or shopping, our entertainment district is north past the military HQ and smaller various shops and restaurants can be located along the main corrider to the east and west of this entrance."

Gray thought for a moment then asked "Where is the most popular place in town this time of night?"

"Hmmm, I'd have to say that would be the casa di tolleranza" said the Guard.

"The what?" said Geoff.

"According to the translator in my armlet it means 'House of tolerance', weird name for a bar or whatever it is, but let's check it out after getting the map from the military HQ, oh can we bring the truck in?" asked Gray

"Yes, not sure why you didn't in the first place, it's a pain to walk everywhere and the military HQ will let you recharge your energy cells for free for their own vehicles."

"Won't it get crowded once more players come with cars and trucks?" said Geoff.

The guard laughed and said "Yeah, it probably will! Hope you all don't come at the same time!"

Gray and Geoff went out to the truck again and brought it to the military HQ to get a map and let it recharge for a bit.

After Gray and Geoff left, the guard muttered something to himself, and carried on with his duty of watching the front gate. A pair of eyes were watching Geoff and Gray from some building remains as they entered the military HQ. Neither Gray nor Geoff noticed this person watching them as this small framed person in a dirty hooded cloak hopped in to the bed of the truck and pulled the bed cover over themselves without saying a word.