Deadman

I woke up before dawn. I wanted to sleep more, but my night was full of bad dreams that made old scars ache. I climbed out of the bus seat I’d curled up in and slung my pack over my shoulders. The added weight of yesterday's loot made me grimace, but it was well worth it. Outside of the bus my cart remained untouched. I got everything together and started back on the road toward Boon.

Even with my brief detour the previous day I was making good time thanks to the shortcut I’d taken through the deadzone. After only about four hours of working on my favorite skill Boon began to come into sight. I’d heard it described by another courier at one point, but seeing it was a different story. The town was about five times larger than Kind had been. It was built on two sides of a river, with the majority of the town on the river itself. Old tourist steamships, small dinghies, and rotting yachts were all strung together across the river and built on top of with wood and scrap metal structures. The shacks on the edges of the river all seemed to be for merchants and security, and I could tell that the outermost boats were fortified in case of attack. Even at the distance I was I could see freshly burnt holes in the walls and barricades that made up the fortification. Whatever weapon had killed the marshall had also been used here.

When I was nearly at the outskirts I realized that there were no traders in the outer part of Boon, only security with guns. I made sure my cart was visible and put my hands up after ensuring my bandana and goggles were covering my face.. They’d definitely been attacked and were likely a little trigger happy, I wanted to appear as friendly as possible.

One of the men saw me and I watched him call for backup. I waited where I was until there were three more men that all approached me with their rifles raised.

When they were close enough I said. “Courier.”

One of the men, who had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, approached me a bit closer and looked me and my cart over. “Slim?”

“Dead.”

“You a deadman?”

“That obvious huh?”

He took a long draw from his cigarette and spat out the butt. “Alright.” He turned to the other armed men. “Let him in.”

I expected some argument, but they just nodded and took places behind the cart so they could escort me into the outskirts of the town. This was in a lot of ways my ideal interaction. Quick, easy, no small talk. Unfortunately, this was the one time I needed more details.

“Security always this tight?” I asked as I started unloading packages onto a table one of the men had dragged out of a nearby shack.

“Should’ve been,” answered the man who’d been smoking as he lit another cigarette. He was older, and had a face the shape of a cinderblock, but meaner. In spite of his looks he held out a cigarette to me.

“No thank you.”

He shrugged and pocketed it. I noticed his men giving me suspicious glares as I continued the work of unloading, but whenever they seemed about to say something, they’d catch themselves and look at the smoking man.

“Something go down recently?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Listen, I’m going to be traveling around here and making deliveries. Any chance I could get some more information?”

The man took a long inhale from his cigarette and blew it into the air. “Raiders. Bout thirty of them. A few of them had some kind of weapon I ain’t seen before. It was like it was shooting pure heat. Burned holes in people, buildings. They rounded up everyone left outside and carted them up north. Not sure exactly where to. I would avoid that whole area if I were you.”

“Alright, thanks.” I finished unloading the boxes and let them know I’d be back in two days to pick up any deliveries they had to head back to Kind. I asked if there was a place I could sleep. They offered one of the most outside buildings. That was typical, but I told them I’d camp out and return later.

I walked out of the settlement and reviewed my notifications.

Excellent work postman! You’ve successfully performed the primary goal of your job 'Delivery’! You’ve earned 173 Patriot Points!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in Investigation! Here in the US we have the right to question everything, except freedom!

Solid gains overall. I wondered if the R.A.S. would distinguish between which jobs the PP belonged to, or if I’d be able to choose how to distribute them. If I could choose that would be very helpful. Since leveling was automatic when one received enough PP it could sometimes leave you with too little to spend, but if I could just avoid choosing where to distribute them it meant I could save PP when I wanted to use it to buy something in a town. Considering how much higher settlements usually charged me than a non-deadman, that could be very helpful.

I had some answers and a general location for where to take my investigation. I also had enough information to make me reconsider what I was doing. Around thirty raiders, powerful unknown weapons, and a mass kidnapping. That was a lot to deal with. The advantages I’d received from the new job were significant, but I’d been doing fine as a postman.

Fine as a postman wasn’t enough though. It had simply been the best of the options I’d had. A job like Marshall felt right, felt like something I could really use. Something that could help me do what I felt needed to be doing when I felt like doing it. There was also the fact they’d kidnapped people, probably to trade as slaves. I knew what it was like to experience that. I might be able to save a few people the way I’d wanted to be. Maybe some of the people I freed would only let out a small scream when they saw who was rescuing them.

I broke from my thoughts and realized I was already heading north. Apparently my feet knew what I wanted better than I did.

…

After a few hours of walking I saw smoke. I drew my new hunting rifle and began treading more carefully. Luckily the area I was walking through was wooded and so I had ample places to hide or take cover.

Eventually I reached the source of the smoke. It was what looked to have been a small encampment in the middle of a clearing. There was a ring of small log cabins and other outbuildings arrayed in neat rows and lines. In front of the structures was a sign that read, “Campsite”. The buildings were riddled with holes. Both bullet holes and the strange burns I’d seen in Boon. I approached cautiously, hiding behind the walls of the building closest to me and slipping from building to building, keeping my eyes and the holes of my ears open and focused as I moved.

Unfortunately, they still got the drop on me. A gunshot rang out and splintered the wood of a cabin wall next to me. I ducked down, just in time for another to ring out. I dove backward and made my way to behind where the cabin sat. The next shot hit the ground next to me. I went to the other side of the cabin and peeked out just in time to see a man on the roof of the opposite cabin line up a shot at me. He fired just as I swung my head back behind cover.

I took a deep breath and considered my options. I could run straight and lose him in the woods, but I needed more information. I could also trade shots, but he was in a much better position than I was. I looked into the cabin window and noticed the door on the other side was mostly closed. I slowly slid the window open and climbed inside, keeping as low as I could.

Once I was inside I heard a noise coming from where I’d just been. I slowly peeked out and saw a second man with a pistol. They’d been trying to flank me.

I slowly made my way to the front of the cabin and peeked out toward the sharpshooter. He was still looking at either edge of the cabin. I backed into the shadows and began lining up a shot with my rifle. Once I was certain, I pulled the trigger.

The first shot narrowly missed and buried itself behind him, but I let off two more before he could react and those two dropped him. I watched his body slump and slide off the roof leaving a trail of blood behind. I leapt through the front door and ducked to the side drawing my pistol. The second man went through the gap between cabins and as he passed me I made a shot low, and caught his knee making him tumble forward, dropping his gun.

I closed the distance between us, my gun still ready, but he’d fallen headfirst on a rock, leaving a bloody head print, and was no longer conscious. I rolled him over. He was still breathing. That was good. I still needed more information, and I didn’t mind earning another point in investigation the hard way.

…

My captive woke up in darkness. I watched him let out a “fuck” as the pain in his knee registered. He started breathing rapidly and straining against the rope I’d tied him to the chair with. I let him struggle for a little bit, let him think he was alone. He couldn’t see in the dark like I could.

I’d covered all the windows to the cabin and searched the rest of them for anything useful. What I’d found was blood, bodies, and burns. The raiders had devastated this small settlement and unlike Boon, it didn’t have nearly the manpower or defense to stop them. I wasn’t in a mood to ask the man questions nicely.

When he was good and scared I placed a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped, “What the fuck!? Who's there!?

I slowly brought my mouth next to his ear. “Me.”

He shook the chair, trying to get away, but all he managed to do was fall over.

“What the fuck do you want?” His voice came out harsh, but I could hear the little twinge of terror in his voice.

I lifted him, chair and all and sat it back up. “Answers.”

“Fuck you!”

I jammed my finger into the bulletwound and twisted it.

He screamed, a little higher pitched than I expected, and once he was done he spat in the direction he thought I was. I walked behind him and drew the cloth I’d hung up to let some light in. I walked around to face him. I removed my mask and goggles. It felt nice not to hide my face.

His eyes widened and a stain spread down his legs.

I brought my face close to his and he jerked back, almost falling over again.

“Give me answers and I’ll let you live.”

He gave a trembling nod.

“How many of you are there? Where is the rest of your group? How many people have you taken? What are the strange weapons you're using?”

“There’s uh, I don’t know thirty, forty of us? Everyone’s up in Porto. We’ve taken, like two dozen? Maybe more. I, I don’t know what the weapons are, Jase found them. Only lets a few people touch em.”

“Did you kill the Marshall?”

“Marshall? The guy with the badge? We shot him, but he ran into a deadzone before we could finish him off.”

“Hmm.” I frowned. I was hoping for more information on their weapons, but it was better than nothing.

“Can I… Can I go?”

“No.” I took my machete and slammed it into his skull. No reason to waste a bullet.