The first block of our journey was rather interesting. This was the area that had been cleared out and prepared as part of the route to the underground subway. I hadn’t had a chance to see the progress being made on it, but it was a rather incredible sight to see. All of the trash and debris had been removed from the street. The rusted-out vehicles had been pushed to the side, and some were even stacked on each other to create makeshift walls.

The path was extremely smooth, and the only thing I didn’t like was how open it felt. In my world, walking down an open space without cover was the most natural thing, but in this apocalyptic world, every rooftop could hide a sniper, and every manhole cover a murder dragon. It was clear that the caravanners were also a bit uncomfortable walking down this path without cover. It was true turrets were watching them and walls protecting them, but that left little comfort from lifelong habits.

“Perhaps we should add some covering to protect this section from the rain,” I mumbled.

Tom gave a nod. I used the rain as an excuse, but I could see the advantage of strategic covering. We wanted a show of our force, but at the same time, being open also told your enemies exactly what you had to defend yourself. They could peer in and make plans to attack. Any raiders could be examining that area and looking for weaknesses as we spoke. A simple tarp would keep them in the dark, and as long as they were never certain it was safe, they’d hesitate to attack more.

Katarina had once told me that this was one of the greatest strengths of the colonies. Their dome blocked out any view into their colony, and the smart ones like her own Nove blocked visitors from seeing more than the basics. If raiders and other organizations knew exactly how strong the colonies were, they could prepare sufficient force and then attack and take everything. It was the fact the raiders never knew exactly how strong they were that kept any of them from even trying.

Thankfully, this exposed block didn’t last long. We found ourselves on the steps leading into the Allco building, the place I had arrived at first in this world and the location that had ended up changing my fate. It looked very different from what it once did. There was a security droid standing in the entrance and turret sitting menacingly overlooking the area. The lobby which had originally broken off into a long derelict hallway had been gutted out, and I instead stepped into a large space with a single exit cut out from the back of the building.

This used to be a fire exit, although the neon lighting and sign had long been ripped off the wall and scavenged. It was now the path to the back ally. I had never been to this area, but it had been where Katarina had burned the neerrats to discourage any other creatures from visiting. Something about burnt Neerrat flesh kept most creatures at bay. Perhaps it was because this was the smell of other mutant colonies, which would only mean death for most wondering animals.

We exited into this back alley and started to move along a path that let out into a small fenced-off courtyard facing an adjacent street. This was the location of the subway. I was able to see the signs before I could see the stairs leading down. Two turrets were sitting in defensive positions here.

One was at the start of the ally, which would mean anyone that wanted to reach the Allco checkpoint would have to walk down about 20 meters of direct fire before they could get there. The other turret was attached to a building overlooking the courtyard and anyone who came up from the stairway tunnel. I could hear the echoes of voices and the clang of metal in the subway down below. There were also two men with weapons standing on the stairway, on the lookout for those down below.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“So, this is it,” I mumbled as I surveyed the area.

There were a couple of bodies on the ground a distance away. They appeared to be ferals. It looked like the turret and security detail were doing their job, although this area still felt somewhat vulnerable. I wanted to secure it more, but I didn’t want to put any more turrets, let alone a security droid at risk just for this single spot. A chain was only as strong as its weakest link though, and if I didn’t do something to make this area more secure, it’d only be a matter of time until someone targeted it and damaged my trade route. At the moment, it wasn’t a problem, but once it was open, the value and knowledge of its existence would bring all kinds.

“Prepare yourselves.” Raven hissed at her people, causing them to all draw their weapons.

The security protecting the caravan all drew their weapons at well. Tom and his attendants did not, so I didn’t either. I had grabbed a 9 mm handgun. I had used it a bit, but it didn’t feel particularly comfortable. I decided to leave it and some ammo in my digitizer, along with a few weeks of rations, and a few other innocuous tools that I thought could be the difference between life and death. Although I didn’t have a backpack on, I was much more prepared than just about anyone.

We didn’t head into the subway. After all, it was incomplete. The path was still blocked and would be for at least a few more weeks. Instead, we walked out onto the street, leaving the cover of the turret. As soon as we turned out of its line of sight, the pressure and paranoia I had been feeling when we left the museum seemed to grow by several times. I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be feeling it. The playful chatter had seemingly stopped, and even people’s steps seemed to be light and quiet.

Those with weapons looks around left to right, their knees bent like they were going to dodge at any moment. Their eyes scoured the buildings and rooftops, looking for any threat that might appear. We ended up back on a street I was only a little familiar with. This was the street leading to the Rink, the current route that Katarina had taken a few times and Tom had to take every time he went down to visit us.

This level of attentiveness was honestly exhaustive. I somewhat regretted that I knew just how dangerous this place could be now. Back when I first traveled around with Katarina, I was completely clueless about all of this, and I only followed her foolishly without any awareness of the environment around me. However, one benefit of traveling in this group was that the speed of movement was a bit higher.

Katarina had been extremely paranoid, and we spent more time waiting and listening for threats than we did moving. The caravan traveled at a different pace. They were slow, but they moved steadily and unceasingly. Time was money for this group, so unless they saw a reason to deviate, they would continue until they reached their target.

Two people were a vulnerability that would tempt anyone watching us pass by, even those who might have been friendly in other circumstances. That was why Katarina had to move with extreme caution. The caravan was quite a bit larger than that. There were ten-armed people in the caravan, at least four of them appearing to be soldiers. Then, the extra five from Raven’s group elevated them from a small caravan to a well-fortified one.

It wasn’t good enough that they’d be able to defeat us if they lost half of their pack in the process, so numbers truly did matter. A group of 15 or so was only a group one would face if they had much greater numbers or were otherwise desperate, and since we were in the city, groups with those kinds of numbers were rare. Even most raider groups like the Bling wouldn’t have dared to attack the current us. As a result, we reached the Rink without facing anyone. When I saw the familiar turrets of that building, I couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief.

“Returning on that path will be difficult,” Hunter spoke up.

“Huh?”

“He’s right.” Tom nodded. “Our movement was noticed. I don’t think we’ll be able to return until the underground pathway is finished. Taking that pathway again will be too risky.”

“Noticed? By who?” I asked.

“That’s always the question. If we knew who, it wouldn’t be a threat.” Husk interjected. “Returning will be interesting.”

My face went white for a bit. I thought that journey had gone easily. It appeared like we had been watched the entire time, and the only reason we weren’t attacked was that they weren’t ready for us. The next time, if there was one, things would be different. It appeared I still had a lot to learn about the Wasteland.