It’s Not Easy Making Money In the Apocalypse – V6 - Chapter 14

“The… Democracy?”

“It’s just a name.” Jacques spat. “They aren’t democratic in the slightest. No one knows much about them. Some believe they are trying to restore the former government, although it’s rather unclear if that’s true. They’ll come into an area like a firestorm and then leave after the place has been reduced to ash.”

“They aren’t clear about what they want?” I asked.

“They use robots. Their planes, tanks, ground units, and everything else they use are remotely controlled. They have factories and continue to gather resources to build machines in the factories, but that’s all anyone has been able to determine from cracking one of them open. Some people even suggest that there is no one running the democracy. It’s just an abandoned system left running in perpetuity. Machines make machines with the sole purpose of constructing more machines. The pinnacle of technology…”

“The best technology in the Wasteland.” Rex cut in. “The government worked closely with Allco. At the end there, some believed there wasn’t a difference between Allco and the government. Thus, they have some of the finest weaponry. If we can salvage enough tech like that, we could propel Cock and Balls to being a significant force in the city.”

“Most of it will be useless, Allco propriety.” One of the cloaked participants stated.

“This is a basic snatch and grab. Let Cock and Balls hackers worry about what is useful. Of course, the more useful something is, the more points you’ll earn.”

Jacques shot me a look but kept his mouth shut. We were thinking the same thing. I could probably unlock a lot of that technology, but it would be useless for most others unless there was another Perco like mine. It left me wondering if Marsh had a means of resetting technology in the same way that I did. However, if that were the case, wouldn’t he be far stronger than the other Raider groups?

“How is that fair?” The guy that arrives with the girl demanded.

“Fair?” Rex snorted. “What fairness exists in the wasteland? You can be as capable as anyone, and without luck, you’ll end up with nothing.”

He wasn’t wrong. If I hadn’t lucked out shortly after arriving in the wasteland by finding a Perco, I’d never have made it as far as I had.

“How recently was this Democracy transport abandoned?” Jacques asked.

Rex nodded at Jacques for asking more relevant questions. “It went down a couple of weeks ago.”

“Weeks.” One of the groups of two men growled. “That might as well be a decade. How would this not be scrapped clean?”

“Isn’t it because something is protecting it?” Jacques offered.

Rex shrugged. “We have little information on why the wreck hasn’t been cleaned out yet, but we do know that everyone who has been sent hasn’t returned.”

“This is suicide then!” The girl cried out.

“We’re not some military outfit, how do you think we can get in there?” One of the cloaked men added.

“It’s your choice to go or not,” Rex responded tightly. “You don’t necessarily have to fight your way through. You can sneak or hack or however, you want. You also don’t need to obtain everything, although whoever obtains the most wins a position. There are the conditions. The coordinates are here.”

He put a small token on a nearby derelict desk, and a hologram appeared with a location. My Perco beeped, automatically receiving the coordinates. Those that didn’t have Percos, pulled their maps and quickly started looking for the spot.

“Oh, one more thing.” Dip declared as everyone was starting to focus. “My job is to observe. I have a vantage spot overlooking the entire wreck zone. In other words, I’ll be watching you the entire time. If someone tries to flee with whatever they get, I’ll shoot you on the spot. If you felt you could just buy your way in by gifting us some random tech you found lying around, we’ll know. This isn’t a charity. The objects you obtain come to us, or they go to waste on the ground.”

“And if he finds something he likes enough, he’ll kill you before you ever can report it and say he found it,” Jacques whispered, grabbing my shoulder. “Come on, kid. The sooner we get moving, the better.”

“Aren’t we working independently?” I asked.

He snorted. “Do you want to fight your way there on your own? We’re all heading to the same spot, so we might as well move together. There is safety in numbers. This holds even among enemies. It’s harder to turn on each other when you’re all together. No one wants to be the next betrayed, so no one is willing to take a side.”

His words were spoken loud enough that the others could hear as well. That was intentional. They all looked at each other and then gave shrugs. It seemed like as good of a plan as any. Any betrayals could wait until after we assessed the situation and started collecting technology. Those betrayals weren’t simply between groups either.

I needed entrance into the Allco R&D. If it came between Jacques, Pick, or me, I would make my choice. I didn’t feel bad about it. I knew that the other two felt the same way. Jacques had taught me that. There were no friends in the wasteland that wouldn’t betray you in the right circumstances.

Does that include Katarina, Kiera, and Raven?

I paused for a moment. Would they betray me if it was advantageous to them? Katarina and Raven were survivors, although the wasteland had pulled them in completely different directions. Katarina had gotten through it while avoiding most of the trauma, hardening her heart and distrusting others. Meanwhile, Raven had faced all the trauma, but she still had those she could rely on. Had she been as closed off as Katarina, could she have avoided her fate?

I shook my head. I couldn’t start worrying about those things right now. We were heading back into the wasteland. I didn’t have time to fret over people who weren’t even present. Instead, I kept my eye on Jacques and Pick. We were soon joined by the remaining six candidates. Each group stuck to themselves, eyeing the others suspiciously, but as Jacques said, it was better if we were in each other’s sights than out of them.

I had Cecelia map me out the ideal course so I knew which way to go, but occasionally our direction would veer as someone used their knowledge to subvert a potential problem. Jacques anticipated most of the problems, but once the male group pointed out a potential blind spot to avoid. Another time, one of the cloaked men showed a hidden shortcut that knocked off two blocks of travel. That might not seem like a lot, but in the Wasteland, every block could be your last.

Finally, we reached the edge of the city. I had reached this area only once before when we headed toward the slave merchant. This was on a different side of the city, and unlike the area I had visited before which had a clear divide in a large dead field and highways, this part of the city seemed to devolve into smaller and smaller buildings until we were walking through suburbs.

Many of those homes had collapsed partially or completely. Very few of them would be considered livable after all of this time. It seemed like the city buildings had been built out of stronger stuff, or perhaps that was just the difference between concrete and wood. The smaller houses and wider streets also meant less cover. We started to crouch more and move from house to house, stopping periodically to take in our surroundings.

“I don’t see anything,” I whispered, searching the immediate area after remaining in hiding for some time.

Even my Perco didn’t pick up any nearby lifesigns besides us.

“Some of the most dangerous things in the wasteland don’t necessarily walk on the ground,” Jacques responded, pointing up.

I squinted in the direction he was pointing, and far in the distance I could see a small grouping of birds. I frowned as I looked at them.

“That doesn’t look so bad.”

At that moment, I saw one of them dive down. When it reach the ground it started flapping back up. In its claws was something struggling. As I squinted to get a better look, I realized that the creature in its talons looked to be some kind of mutated six-legged horse. I realized that the creatures were both farther away and large than I possibly could imagine. Presuming horses were the same size in this world and that one, this would make its wingspan twice that of a human, twelve feet. The second bird grabbed onto part of the horse, and a moment later it was ripped in two, blood spilling down to the ground below. The horse stopped moving though. I could only stare at the grisly scene and gulp.

“Roks.” Pick nearly spat out the name. “Great, we’re heading straight into Rok territory. No wonder no one has managed to take the tech even after all this time. Anyone who continues forward will become bird food.”