RULE #27

Avoid Wardens! What don’t you understand about that one?

~ The Scavenger’s Handbook

To say the mood was sombre was the understatement of Grey’s life. The group of tourists following his footsteps through the festering, muddy shallow waters of the Park were as cheerful as a funeral procession. What bothered him the most, however, was the fact that no one had approached him to question his decision to split the group in two. He couldn’t help but wonder if Elisa was the only one willing with balls, so to speak. Either that or the Axion brats had finally realised that the ruins of the mega-city were a dangerous unforgiving place. Grey hated to admit it, but he was missing the feisty girl a little. Sure, she angered him beyond reason with her constant nagging, but at the same time, it was nice to have someone to shout at. Speaking of pains in the rear, there was one he was trying to ignore walking a step behind him. The experienced Scavenger didn’t have to look back to know that Cake was sulking. He could hear it in her carefully measured footsteps.

“How long do you plan to be mad at me?” Grey asked as he probed the shallow waters with one foot. The quiet didn’t bother him as much as what might be going through the girl’s head. She hadn’t lashed out at him as he expected her to do, which was new.

“I’m not mad,” Cake’s voice was barely above a whisper and only a deaf person would believe her words.

“Sure,” was all Grey could say without pressing her further. A part of him wanted to, but this was neither the time nor the place for an altercation. “So, what’s this about me shooting a puppy?” Of course, there was also a part of him that couldn’t let the matter go.

“What?”

“Back in the bunker,” he continued in a level tone, “you asked me why I shot your puppy. The thing is, I can’t remember killing a puppy. Let alone one that belonged to you.”

Grey motioned for the group to stop while he explored the edge of the sinkhole hidden under the murky water. Seeing what he was doing, Cake went in the opposite direction, testing the ground with her extended foot. They couldn’t continue before knowing which way was safe, and between the two of them, this task wouldn’t take more than a minute. Or, in the worst case, they would need to backtrack and find a different route, which was going to become a problem sooner rather than later. In a few hours, the shadow of the broken dome above them would reach their group and that would make traversing the shallows a hundred times more dangerous.

“Oh. That,” Cake shrugged without looking at Grey, sounding indifferent. “It’s nothing. Forget I said anything… Like you always do.” The last part was definitely not meant for him to hear, but the girl wasn’t that good at hiding her emotions.

Grey stopped and looked at the distance separating them. It wasn’t that big, but at the same time, it was large enough to give him pause. By the looks of it, they’ve hit a fissure in the ground that could stretch for quite some distance. He looked around evaluating his options and scoffed behind his gas mask. At least the tourists were staying in a tightly packed group, their weapons trained on the surrounding area. Understable really, after they spotted one of the local predators stalking them from the thick tree-line of the raised patch of land to their right.

“Come on, Cake, you have to speak to me. Last I checked, I can’t read minds,” Grey let slip of some of the frustration he felt as the two of them came closer together.

“What do you want me to say? It’s a rift and we can’t continue if we don’t find a way to cross it.” She snapped at him. “You can see it for yourself. There’s no need for me to say anything.”

“Don’t be like that,” his hand hung halfway to reaching out for her, unsure if he should.

“Be like what, Grey?” This time, his adopted daughter did look at him and he wished she hadn’t. The pain in her strange eyes hit harder than a slap across the face. “All I ever try to be is what you want me to be! But it’s never good enough for you! “

“Because it never will be!” It was his turn to snap at her and he regrated it almost immediately. Grey took a moment to compose himself, all the while cursing himself for a fool for pressing the subject. “Because,” this time he reached for Cake and pulled the girl closer, “every time I look at you, I see the same scared little child I rescued in that awful place.”

“Because I’m afraid you’ll leave before I can fix the mistakes I’ve made,” Grey added in a hushed voice so that the Axion brats didn’t hear him.

“That’s not true!” Cake gasped no doubt startled by his honesty. “You didn’t make any mistakes because you’re Grey…” She flashed him a weak trembling smile before continuing. “Besides, I’m never going to leave you.”

It warmed his jaded heart to hear the certainty in her words. Not that it eased his mind, but it was a nice change of pace, compared to their conversations as of late. After all, these were the words of youth, and he was far too experienced to put as much value in them as Cake did.

“I’ve told you this before, I’m not perfect. Like it or not I’ve made many mistakes and I’ll keep making mistakes. Some big, some small, but I’ve accepted that and so should you.” Grey was close to admitting that his biggest and most dangerous mistake was standing right in front of him.

However, some truths were better left unspoken. True, this was the most honest conversation the two of them had in a very long time. Despite that, he wasn’t that naïve to think that Cake would understand him. No, that was wishful thinking on his part. On the contrary, she was bound to misunderstand his words completely. The thing was, Grey had to start from somewhere if he was going to try to fix Cake and he was doubtful there would be a better opportunity. He just had to find a way to reach her without alienating the girl any further. Sure, it sounded easy in his head, if not for his inability to properly convey his thoughts. In part because he hadn’t the faintest idea what to do, where to begin.

“It’s not ideal but we’ll have to cut through the cycling path,” Grey raised his voice so that the tourists could hear him. So much for his resolve. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t the bravest person, but this was cowardly even for him – running away from a conversation he started.

“Let me guess, another far away place which you’ll claim is full of danger,” Maité made to move towards him but was stopped by Joshua.

“It’s as dangerous as any place around here,” Grey shrugged. “As for how far away it is, you can judge for yourself.”

With that, the experienced Scavenger pointed to the thicket to the group's left. Half-hidden by the sickly trees was a metal sign with faded words painted in flaking black paint reading “Cyclers only”. Decades of rotting leaves obscured what little remained of the asphalt path that nature had failed to reclaim, however, if a person was attentive enough, they’d see it the manmade strip snake its way between the trees. Grey knew he shouldn’t blame the teens for not seeing it, but at the same time, it showed how ill-prepared they were for venturing into the ruins.

“You’ve had us slog through this bog when there was perfectly fine path we could’ve taken!” Joshua yelled, having recovered from his mental breakdown a few hours ago.

“Do you think I enjoy wet socks?” Grey laughed the outburst away. “Open your eyes, kid, this is where the path begins, and it doesn’t exactly go towards our destination. It cuts back to Sector 5. And in case you’ve missed it, it will be dark soon. Night-time in the Parks is when all the predators come out and I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of the forest when that happens.”

“I don’t care what you want or like,” Joshua rumbled. “We’re running out of time! Continue to delay and our deal is off. I’ll bring you to Axion to answer for your crime of entering Sector 7 illegally…”

“You’re welcomed to try,” the middle-aged man shook his head. He was getting tired of all the idle threats. “If you’re done, get moving. Cake – with me.”

At that Grey turned his back to the group of pretend-soldiers and with a brisk step walked in the direction of the sign. He was happy to note that the mutant girl followed him without protest or hesitation, almost as if she was a loyal dog and Grey had to remind himself that she wasn’t a pet, she was a human. Well, as close to a human as possible without his instinct to shoot her on sight kicking in. As for the tourists, they didn’t have much of a choice and if he was not wrong in his judgment, they were beginning to realise this. Still, it was rather disturbing that they kept a fair distance between him and Cake. He had to be blind not to see that they were taking precautions in case they did decide to act on their threats. However, that was a problem for later and it gave him the privacy he needed to continue his conversation with Cake.

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“Is your rifle loaded?”

“Of course,” she nearly jumped by the sudden question, before her voice shifted to a low growl. “This is cat territory.”

“I’ll never understand your fear of cats,” Grey shook his head, trying not to laugh.

“I’m not afraid of them!” Cake protested in a hurry. “They give me the creeps. I’d rather stroll naked through a cockroach nest than be near one of those things.”

“There are a lot of benefits of keeping a cat around,” he teased her. “Their sense of danger for one is not to be underestimated. Not to mention they’ll hunt rodents for you…”

“I. Do. Not. Like. Cats.” He could see the girl tighten her grip on her gun, and decided he had pushed her far enough for now.

“Fine,” Grey slowed his step so that she could keep up with him without the need to hurry. “Are you ready to tell me about the puppy?”

“Are you going to yell at me again?”

“Why would I…” Grey stopped himself and took a deep breath. She was right. He had been yelling at her a lot ever since they left the gutted remains of the Du La Hotel. “No. I’m not going to yell at you.”

“You always say that,” he heard her say under her breath. “Remember when I was eight or nine and you took me to the Trading Station in Sector 2?”

It was hard for him to forget that trip. Grey had been on edge the entire time, fearing what the people around them would do if they ever found out if Cake was a mutant. On top of that, the girl made his life hell with her constant disregard for hiding her eyes and running off to explore. Sure, that area was considered safe for people to travel without too much worry, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any dangers. The ruined residential complexes alone were a death trap and there were plenty of hungry animals that wouldn’t hesitate to snatch a small child. He wanted to say all this and a lot more but decided to simply nod.

“Right,” Cake clapped her hands in excitement. “Well, then you recall that on our way back to Véi Dron, we were caught by the Black Rain and had to spend a few days in one of the abandoned shops. I got mad at you for feeding the cats that infested that place and I run off deeper into the ruins.”

That sounded vaguely familiar, but it could be any number of similar memories from the time Cake was still a child. Honesty, Grey thought to himself, it was a miracle she had survived at all to grow into a moody teenager.

“Well, long story short, I came back a few hours later with a puppy.” She said with a sullen voice before snapping at him in ager. “And you shot it while I was still holding it!”

“Oh,” Grey stopped and looked at her, the memory finally appearing in his mind. “Oh! That wasn’t a puppy!”

“Yes, it was! It was the cutest little puppy!” She snarled as more and more growls accompanied her words.

“Cake, I told you this then, but that thing was no puppy. I don’t know what that thing was, and I really hope to God that it was the only one of its kind.”

He reached for her left arm and pressed his thumb against the faded set of scars near her elbow. “I shot it because it was trying to tear your arm off. For God’s sake! That thing was spitting acid while it struggled to escape your embrace! I had to throw away your shoes because of that! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find an intact pair of size five hiking boots?”

“Not that hard?” Her attempt at levity only fuelled Grey’s anger and some of his emotion had shown because she hurriedly added. “Sorry! How am I to know, when you always found what I needed?”

“So, it’s my fault for making sure you were clothed and fed?” He rose his hand to stall whatever was going to come out of Cake’s mouth. Right now, it would only make matters worse. “You need to understand this, Cake. Humans do not see things the same way as you do. What you saw as a cute puppy, I saw as a monster attacking my daughter…”

“But I’m not your daughter,” she interrupted bitterly.

“I know, sweety. I know,” Grey managed to squeeze through the lump that formed in his throat at her remark.

That one comment had stung his heart deeply, in a way he hadn’t felt since the incident with Cantina. Grinding his teeth so as not to say something he’d regret; Grey pushed the pain back and moved forward.

“Doesn’t change the fact that that’s what you became,” he said mostly to himself. This was not going in the direction he had planned.

“What was that?” Cake asked a step behind him.

“Do you understand why I shot that thing?”

“I guess, I do,” wasn’t the answer he hoped for. It was better than nothing, but nonetheless, it meant that there was a fundamental difference in how the two of them perceived the world.

“You know, I was happy when your fascination with animals was replaced by an interest in technology,” Grey decided to push the conversation in the direction he wanted. “I just never imagined that the two would merge.”

“What are you talking about?” He detected the worried note in Cake’s voice. If that’s how she wished to play it, he would indulge her.

“What I’m talking about? What could it be?” Grey looked over his shoulder to see that she was finding their surroundings far more interesting than the conversation. “I don’t know. It might be the bloody Warden at Leeroy’s?”

“Oh! You know about that…” Cake’s tone shifted to the same one she used as a child whenever she had done something bad. “Damn it, Leeroy! I told you to keep that a secret! I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Nice try, Cake.” That habit of hers to talk to herself was detrimental to her ability to lie, and for once Grey was happy about it. “You fixed it because you thought it was going to make a good pet, didn’t you?”

“I know, I know. Rule twenty-nine: Avoid Wardens,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Twenty-seven,” he corrected her. “So?”

“So, what?”

“It’s two words. Which one don’t you understand?” Grey pressed on.

There was a long moment of silence as they continued to make their way through the waist-high thorny bushes and low-hanging branches of the trees. It wasn’t the most pleasant of things to do, but they were covering ground, faster than Grey initially thought. One thing bothered him though. He hadn’t noticed any signs of predators. That in itself was a very bad sign or an indication that something way more dangerous had made the area its home. The veteran Scavenger stopped the group with a gesture and looked back, trying to estimate the distance they’d travelled. He had hoped that they’d reach a clearing or something similar by now and could cut through it in order to return to the original route he’d planned to take through the Park. The last time Grey passed through this area was a few years ago, and in that time, it had changed drastically, almost to the point that he was having a hard time orientating himself.

On top of that, the shadow of the broken dome above had finally caught up to them. Out in the open, it would be a different thing, but under the thick crowns of the trees, it might as well be late evening. It wouldn’t be long for the nocturnal beast to begin their hunt for food. If it was up to him, Grey would prefer it, if they reached the wall separating the Park and Sector 6, before nightfall. But in the worst case, they could try to wait out the darkness in the ruins of one of the many small buildings he’d noted sprinkled around the path. Most were little more than a damaged roof supported by rusty metal bars, however, there was the occasional brick house-like structure. If he had to guess those were public toilets, which would make them a perfect shelter for the night, as long as something else hadn’t made a nest out of them.

“Well, if you think about it, inactive Wardens are just broken robots,” Cake spoke while scanning their surroundings for threats. “Tinker enough with their circuits and they’ll become harmless.”

“They are Wardens, Cake!” Grey exclaimed scarcely believing what she had just said. “I’m pretty sure Anaconda thought the same, and do you remember what happened to him? I had to bring what remained of him in a bucket!”

“Hey! I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to do,” the girl insisted, all the while uncertainty creeping into her voice. “I mean, Anaconda had the right idea, he just wasn’t careful enough…”

“And you won’t?” He asked as he motioned for the group to continue forward.

“I… That is… You see, the thing about…,” after a few more attempts to think of something that could theoretically justify her actions, Cake gave up. “Fine! I get it. I won’t do it again.”

The next hour was spent in relative silence, while the girl mulled over different things she could have said. Each new suggestion far more absurd than the previous, until she conceded that it fixing the Warden for Leeroy was a terrible idea. From there, the conversation moved on to Cake proposing different ways for the two of them to destroy the bloody machine without it turning them into finely sliced heaps of minced meat. There were some good ideas sprinkled here and there, but overall, Grey concluded that they didn’t have any feasible options. After another handful of minutes, they finally reached an area that remotely could pass for a clearing, and the experienced Scavenger directed the group to cross it. Once his foot stepped out into the open bog, he let out the breath he was holding and thanked his luck that they had traversed the forest without an incident. From their current position, Grey could see the wall to Sector 6. There was no chance that they would reach it before sunset, however, it was close enough for him to risk travelling an hour or two into the night.

“Grey,” Cake began but stopped visible torn from what she wanted to ask. Instead of trying to guess what weighed her thoughts, he gave her a moment to clear her thoughts. “There were Wardens back there, weren’t there? Like, active ones.”

“Yep,” he stated flatly. “Do you understand why I was so angry with you?”

“It’s because I made acted without thinking and as a result made a mistake.”

“That’s a part of it,” Grey let out a tired sigh. He’d hoped that she had figured it out by now. “We all make mistakes, and under other circumstances, I’d be happy that you’ve recognised that you’ve made one and learned from it. But not this time.”

He slowed his step and walked next to her. “I was scared, Cake. I was scared that I would lose you. More than that, I was scared by what you did.”

“I’m sorry. I really am,” the girl sobbed. “Please don’t abandon me!”

“That’ll never happen,” Grey wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed tightly. “I don’t want to see you like that, Cake. Acting like an animal… The ease with which you turned that place into a tomb,” he shook his head, choosing his words carefully. “I thought I taught you better than this. Thy way you took lives without a second thought, that part of you terrified me, sweety.”

“They shot first!” The shivering girl in his embrace protested, but he silenced her with a click of his tongue.

“No! You chose to kill all those people. You could have secured your position and waited for me. Instead, you chose to murder them all.” It was hard for him not to let his anger show. “And their deaths are on me too.”

“But I was the one…”

“Enough with the excuses!” Grey barked at her and felt Cake flinch in his embrace. “Excuses are what got us here. Mine and yours.”

“What happens now?” She asked, resignation infesting her trembling voice. Worse, he could see the girl’s finger dance around the safety of her rifle. The last thing Grey wanted was to push her into an even darker place.

“Honestly. I don’t know,” he admitted. “There’s something wrong in your head, Cake, and that’s my fault. But I promise you, that we’ll find a way how to fix it. The two of us.”

“What if that’s who am I? After all, I’m a filthy mutant and it’s only a matter of time before…” Whatever she had to say was lost in the sound of the slap he stuck across her cheek.

“Don’t you ever speak that way!” Grey grabbed her by both her shoulder and looked directly into her exposed eyes. “If this, let’s call it bloodlust, is a part of you, then I’ll teach you how to control it. But never think of yourself for anything less than a human, or I swear I’ll beat those thoughts out of your head!”

He then embraced her tightly, ignoring the confused looks of the tourist near them, and whispered in her ear. “I’ll think of something. I give you, my word.”