After escaping the raiders, the rest of the ride to Burnt Sage proved uneventful. The sun was barely starting to crawl below the horizon and a murky red light filled the land, as they approached Burnt Sage. As they got closer, Jessica could see several large buildings beyond the walls that surrounded the city. The walls were thick concrete barriers that had been stacked to form a continuous wall.

Where there were gaps in the wall, solid plates of metal were lined. Along the wall were several towers where guards kept a close watch making sure no mutant would climb over the walls. As they drove around the city, Jessica could see several rotting carcasses of mutant creatures that had ventured too close to the city.

They found an entrance with several vehicles lined up to get into the city. As they got into line, Jessica noticed above the entrance to the city, was an old sign that had been burnt severely, the only word that could be read from it was Sage. Most likely that was where the city had got its name.

Several miles before they had reached the city, Blaze had pulled over to let Jessica take the wheel. They decided it would be more sensible for Jessica to drive rather than let a blob drive. Who knows how the guards to the city would have reacted to that. After waiting in line for several minutes, Jessica finally pulled up to the entrance of the city.

As a guard wearing thick body armor walked up, Jessica rolled down the window. The Guard lifted up a visor and a weary looking guard looked into the vehicle at Jessica. "There is an entrance toll of Five Arcs per person." Glancing at the red blob sitting in the passenger seat, "Ten Arcs for mutant pets."

Jessica nodded and said "Okay, do we have to pay you? Or someone else?"

The guard nodded and said "Payment is required in full before entry is allowed. Also unauthorized vehicles are prohibited from driving on the main streets of Burnt Sage. You are required to park your vehicle in the parking area. It is ten Arc's per day of parking."

Then he pulled out a pad of paper and wrote some numbers down and handed it to her. "To gain entrance to the city, you need to deposit ten Arcs for your first day. When you leave, hand this paper to the guards and you will be charged for all the day’s you spent inside. If you wish to get your vehicle authorized and have a permanent parking space you will need to visit city hall."

"Got it." Jessica took the paper and placed it on the dashboard.

"If you are caught driving illegally, you will be taken into custody and your vehicle will be impounded. You will face a fine of ten thousand Arcs, if you can't afford to pay, you will face servitude until you earn back the fee."

"Understood." Jessica said, then pulled out the correct amount of Arcs and handed them over to the guard. 

"Very well you have paid the fee. You are free to enter the city. You are responsible for any action your pets take while in the city. They must remain in your area, or be secured in a safe place they can't escape." He flipped down his visor and waved the vehicle through the entrance.

Rolling through the gate, she turned down the road the signs pointed her towards. Soon she was on a road that went down underground. Another Guard stopped her to make sure she had a pass from the entrance before letting her through. Passing row after row of parked vehicles she had to go down several levels.

She finally discovered a space to park and carefully pulled in and parked it. Blaze reached over and pulled a lever at the side and let her know it was the Parking Brake. Turning off the car she looked to the back and said "So here we are, Burnt Sage. You two made it, congratulations."

"Thank you for driving us. We can pay you back for the entrance fee," Sam said.

"It's not a problem." Jessica said. "What will you do now?"

Lisa spoke up and said "We will head to our Uncles. It's probably the best Inn in the city. I can help you get some rooms!"

Jessica thought for a moment and realized they did need a place to stay for the night. Looking over at Melissa she asked "What do you want to do?"

Melissa shrugged and said "It does not matter to me, as long as it is cheap. Remember we came here to earn money not to spend it."

Pushing open the drivers door, Jessica stepped out and found her legs were sore from the long drive. Stretching them, Jessica saw the blobs roll out of the door onto the concrete floor. She turned towards them and said "You need to be on your best behavior. I don't want to get on the bad side of these guards."

Lisa said "I don't remember there being so many guards at the gate before. Wonder if something happened recently."

"Maybe. We can ask your Uncle." Sam said, "we should get going."

Lisa nodded and said "I used to live here for years as a kid, before I left with some friends. I'll show you to the inn." 

Melissa said "Not many get to live within a city, care to explain why you decided to give it up to become a raider?"

Lisa had a flash of shame cross her face and said "My friends joined up with a group and we did some small time projects, mostly dealing drug trafficking. Soon that group got absorbed into a larger group, and that's when I met Sam. Since then it's been the two of us. We decided to get out. Most of my friends are already dead, I didn't want to become yet another one to die."

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"How romantic, two raiders falling in love." Melissa said sarcastically. "Bonding over killing innocent people."

Sam stared stone faced at Melissa and said "We did what we had to survive."

Sensing this was leading to an argument, Jessica interrupted "Enough! Lisa, can you lead us to your uncle's place please?"

Lisa nodded and led them to the far wall, where they found a set of stairs that lead up to the streets above. When they reached the streets above Jessica noticed that most of the area felt dirty and run down. It was hard to tell given the age of the structures, but the place didn't look up like the cities Jessica had seen before.

Confusion washed over Lisa's face and she said "This place does not look the same at all. What happened here? Over there used to be a community farm." Lisa pointed at an abandoned lot.

Reaching out Sam put a hand on Lisa and said "It has been sometime since you've been here." Lisa nodded, and they walked down the street. As they moved, night came, and flickering lights of neon signs came on. A particular atrocious one of a beer pouring down a thick liquid between a woman's chest took over a corner.

"That used to be a school?" Lisa said, confused. The blobs rolled behind them, gathering looks from nearby people, who all looked hard up. Jessica got the sense from some of them, if they got the chance they would straight up rob them. Being careful to keep her head on a swivel, she continued on.

"We are standing out." Melissa said, frowning.

"We need to be careful, not to get robbed..." Jessica said.

They soon made it to a run down building, paint was peeling all over. It held dozens of doors to the outside. One of the doors to a room was hanging on hinges and as they watched a man stumbled out of the room and puked over the railing. A scantily clad woman came out and started to yell at the man for Arcs he owed her for coming in her ass.

Near a sign that said office was another neon light that was flickering with vacancies. Lisa said astounded "This was the inn my Uncle runs."

"What a charming place. You sure this is the best inn in the city?" Melissa said.

Lisa frowned and said "It wasn't this bad when I lived here."

They walked forward and Jessica pulled open the door, and a bell rang waking up a dozing man behind the desk, and he shook his head and said "Thirty arcs for two hours. If you need an extension... Lisa?"

"Hey Uncle Rick. We came to visit."

The man rolled out from behind the desk in a wheelchair and Lisa bent over and hugged Rick. "Lisa! Look at you!" Rick looked at her and said,"Tell me how you've been."

"I decided to move back here Uncle Rick. What happened here? Where's Aunt Fran"

Rick frowned and said "Aunt Fran was killed."

"What?" Lisa said shocked.

"Some raiders entered the inn and rented a room. They got handsy with your aunt, and it didn't end well." He frowned for a moment and then said "Let's head to the back, Just let me close here."

Lisa headed to the back, and Jessica followed her. There was a back room with an old table and some chairs. Lisa sat down in one and her face was saddened. Sam sat next to her and rubbed her back. Jessica took a seat and Melissa decided to lean against a wall. The blobs rolled in and climbed and sat in the chairs.

A few minutes later, Rick rolled in and went to an old fridge. "So do you want something to eat?"

"When did Aunt Fran die?"

Rick pulled out a bottle and popped it's top. "Five years ago. Never a day goes by that I don't think about her."

"Why has the inn got so?"

"Shitty?" Rick said. He sighed and said "The whole city's going down the drain. I just don't have the energy nowadays to keep up the place, and now basically the only customers I get are hookers and druggies."

"What happened to the city?"

"We got a new mayor a few years ago, now corruption seems to be commonplace throughout the city. I have to pay a protection fee nowadays just to keep running. You said you wanted to stay here?"

"Yeah Uncle Rick, this is Sam, my husband, and these two are some friends who helped drive us here."

Sam said "Hello."

Rick looked Sam over and nodded "As long as you keep her happy, that's good enough for me. If you want to help, that will be good." Rick looked at the blobs and said "Some interesting looking animals you got there. Never seen the like before. They safe?"

"They obey orders." Melissa said. "Safe unless someone attacks us or them."

Rick nodded and said "I can give you two a room. Since you're Lisa's friends, I will only charge eighty Arcs for the night."

"That sounds good." Jessica said and handed out the Arcs to Rick.

Rick clutched them and was about to speak when a banging happened up front. Frowning Rick went to investigate. A few minutes later Jessica heard some shouting and went to investigate with Lisa on what was happening. In the front office, Rick was pulled from his wheelchair and a pair of men was standing above him.

Lisa barrelled past Jessica and aided Rick get back into his seat. "What do you two think you are doing?" She said angrily.

"Didn't know you got yourself a girl. Looks almost brand new, maybe I should take her for a spin in one of your rooms eh Rick?" One of the men said with a mouth full of crooked teeth.

"She's not for sale." Sam said, stepping from the back room.

"Every girl is. Just got to find their price." The other man said. "You owe us five hundred more Arcs Rick."

Rick nodded and rolled over to the desk and pulled out the Arcs. "I thought you guys would be coming over next week."

"Change of plans. You going to introduce your guests to us Rick?"

Rick hesitated for a second and said "She's my niece and that's her husband." Rick pointed at Jessica and said "This is a friend of my niece's." He rolled over to Mark and handed the man the stack of Arcs and said "Here you go Mark, all five hundred."

Mark grabbed the Arcs and gave them a look over. "You got a good-looking looking niece Rick. What's your name, girl?'

"Lisa." She said glaring at Mark and continued "I see you do that again to my Uncle, I'll cut off your balls."

Mark grinned and said "Feisty girl. Better keep her on a leash." Mark looked pointedly at Sam. At that point he looked at Jessica up and down. "You're not bad looking either. If you're looking for a job, you can come talk with me at the Bar down the street. Come along bob, we got some more stops to make."

The pair of thugs vacated the building, and Rick said "That was the protection duo. They work for the Scorpion Kings."

Lisa frowned and said "I've never heard of them. Are they big?"

"Big within the city. They run the main brothels and the main drug pushers. They are one of the four major clans within the city."

Melissa came out with Blaze following her and she asked "What are the other three?"