As I walked back to my deadzone I thought through the investigation I’d just opened. The Widows had become real players in the wasteland, bold enough to make attacks deep within Horde territory and get away with it, at least for now. The question in my mind was resources. Every time I’d encountered them they seemed to get stronger. The first time on the way to the Black Woods they were just thugs with guns. Then suddenly they had radio equipment and ambushes. Now they had multiple fully armored buses with mounted machine guns.

There were a few possibilities. They could’ve somehow uncovered a cache of equipment somewhere. It’s been known to happen, and had upended the balance within the wastes more than once. They could also be receiving support from outside. STAR wouldn’t mind doing a little something to weaken the Horde, possibly even the Remnants were involved. They weren’t my primary suspects though, for one major reason, those buses needed fuel, and the only major source of fuel in this part of the wastes was Fette. My teeth itched, and I brought up a hand to pick at them as I walked.

I could feel my transition into the deadzone. The tingling on my skin as the radiation levels hit the point at which humans would be killed, felt pleasant. I walked the short path I’d cut for myself through the woods up to my lake and could tell almost immediately that something was off. I drew my pistol as I came closer to the boat. The raft I used to get to and from it wasn't where I left it, and was instead sitting next to the railing. I looked to the far edge of the lake and noticed Gus lounging, a half lidded eye lazily regarding me, and a few down feathers stuck to the scales around his mouth. I caught a whiff of tobacco on the air and that told me everything I needed to know.

I let out a heavy sigh and holstered my pistol. It looked like I wouldn't get the rest and solitude I was so looking forward to after all.

“Deux! Send the raft back my way!” I yelled.

After a few moments Deux’s head popped up over the railing, a wide grin across his face as usual. He waved. “Hey Donny! Welcome home.”

“The raft,” I hollered back, gesturing to it.

He moved over to the rope and started pulling it, sending the raft back to the shore of the lake. As he did I was surprised to see a second face pop up next to him. Wearing her usual brown hat and a frown as low as Deux’s grin was high, stood Nico. She was around a head taller than him, and rather than saying hello she gave me a small nod which I returned, moderately relieved. Deux was always chipper, but Nico and I were almost dour enough to bring him down to bearable.

I stepped on the raft and Nico pulled the rope to draw me over to the boat. I climbed on board.

Deux moved over to hug me and I took that moment to freeze him, grab him by the heels, hold him upside down, and start shaking.

“What the hell!?” he asked, with a kind of amused half-yell.

That’s when several packets of instant coffee and meat I’d taken the time to dry started to tumble out of his pockets onto the deck of the boat. I spun him back around and placed him gently back onto his feet, then I patted his leather jacket smooth. I pointed to the pile of my things that had tumbled out. “That’s what the hell.”

He smiled. “I only took essentials. What if my pistol had tumbled out and gone off?”

“Then you’d be dumber about keeping your gun secured than I remember you being.”

Nico sighed. “Patting him down would’ve worked just as well.”

I shrugged. “This felt more direct.”

“Are you going to try that on me next?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, you can have some coffee and food if you want. Any ammo you need too.”

Deux slid to stand next to Nico. “You’ll share with a poor soul whose been so recently mugged won’t you.”

She sighed and sent me a questioning look.

I shrugged. “It would be yours to share.”

With our usual dynamic re-established, I made a pot of coffee and looked the other way when Nico poured Deux a mug. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. With the redeye of the cigarette and the caffeine in the coffee I would’ve been nearly vibrating, but he seemed as at ease as he always was. He wasn’t wearing his undertaker garb, and was instead wearing a black T-Shirt with an old band name on it, ‘The Sphincter Skateboarders’, over which was a black leather jacket covered in patches and metal studs. Aside from that he wore well worn jeans with tears at the knees and black boots.

Stolen novel; please report.

Once everyone was settled and on deck, I took a long sip of coffee. “So, why are you both here? Is someone dead and you need me to investigate? Pott’s under attack? Someone go missing? Need help with a deadzone?”

Deux laughed. “Nope. None of those options, though I appreciate that you feel the first person we’d go to for all of those is you.”

Nico nodded. “We’re just visiting actually.”

“Just…visiting?”

Deux nodded. “Yep. I’m going to meet with a few more remote Kaijin wild settlers to see if I can add them to the undertaker network, and Nico was on her way back to her route at the same time. We figured we’d stop by to see how you’re doing. I know you can get lonely.”

I grimaced. “I enjoy my solitude actually.”

“If it would make you feel better, you can give Deux any maps you have of the regions he’s planning on going through, and give me any information you want passed on to Potts. That way you don’t have to endure the suffering of seeing us for no reason, and can pretend it was just for work all along.” offered Nico.

I scratched my chin. “I’d appreciate that, thank you.” I moved into the main cabin of my boat, and drew out a few notebooks and maps which I laid out on a table for Deux and I to go over. Between myself, Deux, and Nico, we were likely the three most well traveled deadmen in the wastes, and I found myself actually able to add additional notes and references to the maps with their input. By the time we were done, Deux had an itinerary planned that put any of the trips I’d plotted to shame. Sure, there were still more than a few things he could run into that could kill him, but we’d managed to cut a day or two off his planned travel time, and avoid some of the more concerning dangers.

“So, what’ve you been up to since the Honored Dead decided they loved you too much to let you go?” asked Deux.

“Killing people mostly.”

“Unsurprising,” said Nico in deadpan.

“I started by targeting some slavers moving deadmen slaves through Horde territory, then I wound up helping to defend Jasper from a raid done by a heavily armored bus. I only just found out it was one of five separate attacks that happened simultaneously.”

Deux fiddled with a button on his jacket. “Five simultaneous attacks huh? Is it an old raider group that found a fresh backbone, or a new player?”

“New player. Call themselves the Widows.”

“Like the ones we ran into on the way to Pott’s?” asked Nico.

I nodded. “Yeah. They went from ambushes to coordinated raids across the wasteland.”

She shook her head. “That’s a big leap. Outside help?”

I nodded. “That’s my theory.”

“Luckily not a major problem for Pott’s at least,” noted Deux.

“That’s not, but I did also have another run in with the Remnants.”

Deux took a deep inhale of his cigarette, and flicked the butt into my lake, a half smile and raised eyebrow on his face. “Maybe you should’ve led with that.”

I nodded, and took a few minutes to explain the encounter I’d had with the Remnants, the Pilgrim, and what they’d all offered for it. I ended the tale by placing the contract container Leah had given me on the counter.

Nico looked at Deux, “We should prioritize getting this back to Pott’s before we get back to the usual work.”

Deux grabbed it and slipped it into his jacket. “I’ll take care of it. It’s not like those Kaijin knew I was planning on visiting anyway. They can wait for now.”

I shook my head. “I think it’s keyed to my thumbprint, like the last one was.”

Deux chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Julian figured out how to crack them using the last one as a test case.”

“Really?”

Nico nodded. “He’s been hard at work in that factory the Remnants gave to us since we negotiated with them. He’s apparently been cultivating quite a few Deadmen with technical skills for years, and now that he has a place to put them to use they’ve been really throwing themselves into the work.”

“How’s the rest of the council handling things?” I asked.

“For the rest it’s been business as usual. Pott’s is a little stirred up though, and when I tell them what you just told us about the Cut well… Things may get even more serious,” answered Deux.

“How do you think they’ll want to act?” I asked.

Deux smiled. “Considering our number one goal is to find other Deadmen and bring them home? I’m thinking they’ll want you across the cut just as much as the Remnants do.”