Novels2Search
Wulin Wasteland
Traditionalists

Traditionalists

Just outside of town were two groups of people. One group looked to have been dressed in leather jackets and had chains as belts. A few years ago, Daniel would have thought that these men were Lone Riders, but this was mainly how most martial artists dressed in the wastelands.

As for the other group, they had no distinguishing characteristics about them that really struck out to Daniel. There were some who were dressed in the leather jackets, but there were others who were dressed in white lab coats. And then there were some who wore ancient clothing like t-shirts and short shorts.

Both groups had already gone into the fighting phase.

Gram once told Daniel of the various stages of conflict in the wasteland. The first was negotiation. Even if the world was a brutal place, most groups didn’t want to die for no reason. Only mad men lived like that- like the Flame Drum Cult. If neither group could find remediation, they would move to the fighting phase. As the name suggested, the two groups would try to either force the other into submission or complete annihilation. If that was resolved, then would come compensation where the loser would have to agree to the terms of the victor.

Over the years, Daniel had seen many conflicts like this, although not this close.

Daniel wasn’t the only one who was interested in what was going on, an entire group of people had come to see as well. One of those people was Leo.

“What’s going on,” Uri asked. “I thought you said there weren’t any martial artists in town.”

“In town being the key word,” the old man explained. “No these folks are probably here for the tech cache.”

“Tech cache?” In his years of travel, Daniel hadn’t heard this term before.

“It’s a relic site, before the nuclear war. People used to have technology all over the place, but most of it has been destroyed. But there are some places where some of the technology survived. Our town was unknowingly built near a tech cache.”

Daniel nodded. Things like guns and motorcycles were expensive material. The only reason they were so was because the knowledge on how they worked was lost to time. And because of how rare they were, no one was willing to pull them apart to study them. It was also how Daniel and his uncle had been able to live off the motorcycle for so long.

“So are these people fighting for control over it?” Daniel asked.

“For one yes,” Leo said. He held up a finger. “Just give me a sec.” Daniel watched him leave as he walked towards the two groups.

“Hey!” his voice wasn’t loud, but those nearest to the town stopped fighting from both sides. Those men got the attention of those next to them. The message got spread around until both groups stopped fighting. They now all turned towards Leo.

“You agreed that you wouldn’t cause trouble near our town in exchange for food.”

“But-“ One of the men in a sleeveless jacket started to say.

“I said scram!” Leo’s voice echoed.

Both groups looked at each other.

A woman in a leather jacket and a bandana looked over to a man dressed in a lab coat. “Old man, let’s continue this fight at dusk at the three peaks gorge.”

“Only if you have the gall to face me, Diane.” The man in the lab coat waved his arm for the retreat. Resounding footsteps began to leave as the mixed group headed off into the wasteland.

And just like that, the two groups stopped fighting. This was something that Daniel had only heard of. I could be said that food is king, resources are queen, and gold was a distant prince.

As for the other group, the woman with the bandana, Diane walked over to the edge of town. “Thank you for your help,” She said to Leo. “One of my men foolishly set off some fireworks. It won’t happen again.”

“Alright, you may go,” Leo said. There was something in the way he spoke. Although the man didn’t show signs of having any martial arts background, something Daniel could tell at a quick glance, he had an arrogance about him.

Diane nodded her head and waved for the others to retreat back in the opposite direction.

When Leo turned around, he found Daniel with a dumbfounded face. “What?”

“I haven’t known martial artists to give up that easily.”

“Oh that?” Leo pointed his thumb where the two groups once were. “I wasn’t lying when I said that the town offers food so that others don’t cause trouble here.”

Daniel heard him, but he didn’t fully believe that people would stop fighting just over some food. But just who was Daniel, while he may not have had much food, his uncle always ensured that he had something to eat. And because of how frugal he was, even if his uncle couldn’t afford it, Daniel had been able to pay for some of their meals.

“So who were they?” Groups like those typically meant trouble. Daniel knew that his uncle would probably want to leave if they were here to stay. If this was a onetime incident, then his uncle would probably not think it was too big of a problem.

“The only one I know for sure is the group under Diane. They call themselves Traditionalists. They’re a group that believe that the destruction of the world and the creation of the wastelands was- I don’t know some divine reckoning. Anyway, they believe that the world was reset for a reason, so they want to ensure that people don’t go digging up old technology.”

“And the other group?” Daniel asked.

“Who knows? That tech cache has been a place that most organizations tend to gather around. We’ve gotten visits from groups like the Samsara Rebirth cult, the Ancient Cog, the Seven Whips of the Wasteland, and some unaffiliated martial artists.”

“If the place is so dangerous to the Traditionalists, why not destroy it?”

“People don’t know for sure. Some say that the place can’t be destroyed. Others say that there is something there, guarding it, waiting for unsuspecting little children to sneak in and meet their doom.” Leo looked at Daniel’s face. “Nothing?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you afraid of what’s in there?” the old man asked.

“If it’s not coming here, then why do I need to worry?”

Leo laughed. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Anyway, the room will be three gold a night.”

Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out three gold coins.

Leo looked between them and Daniel. “Your sifu really trusts you to carry these?”

“He gives me three coins every town we go to.”

Leo eyed him. “Right. Anyway, here’s your room key. It’ll be the third door down the hall.” He gave Daniel an iron key as soon as they entered the inn.

Daniel didn’t move to the room right away. He stayed in the lobby area. The lobby was much nicer than most. The place must have been made pre-nuclear war. There was a carpet with chairs that had cushions on them. There were some ancient scripts that Daniel only knew as magazines laid out on tables. There was even a fire place. But in the heat, the place probably hadn’t been used in centuries.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Morning soon turned into night before Gram finally made it into the place. Daniel’s uncle looked tired and his hair looked as though he had been in a fight.

“Sifu,” Daniel looked up from the magazine he was reading. His uncle had just taken a seat. He hadn’t heard his uncle come in. It was only until he sat across from him did Daniel hear him.

Before Gram could say anything, Daniel started to speak. “Sifu, there’s trouble in town.”

Usually at the sign of trouble, Gram would have gotten up and the two of them would leave. But Gram didn’t move in the slightest.

“Did you get a room?” He asked.

“Yes, but-”

“Good boy, let’s go. I want to get some sleep.” Gram got up and walked over to the desk. “Am I allowed to have food delivered to my room?”

The man at the desk wasn’t Leo anymore. Leo left after midday. The person who replaced him was a child roughly Daniel’s age, maybe a couple years older. “Ye-yes.”

“Good,” Gram flicked the kid a silver coin. “Get me whatever that can cover. Doesn’t matter what it is.”

“Cold porridge,” the boy said with a nervous shrug.

“Whatever. Daniel show him the room key so he knows where to deliver it.”

Daniel didn’t disobey his uncle. He walked up. “Room 103.”

The boy nodded in an awkward, vigorous manner.

Gram left. Now knowing the room, he looked at the signs and saw the one that pointed to the room. Daniel followed after.

“Sifu, didn’t you hear me?” Daniel asked.

Gram ignored him. “Here it is.” His head moved in a slow, groggy motion. He took a quick glance at the key. In a less than a moment, the key appeared in his hand, snatched too fast for Daniel to see. He unlocked the room and headed inside.

The room looked rather nice with two beds. Off to left of the door was a bathroom. On the other side of the room was a closet. There was even a small area with a stove. But of everything in the room, Gram went straight towards the bed.

Once he was close enough, he flopped right into bed.

“Sifu, shouldn’t we be getting out of here?”

“No.”

“No?” Daniel was confused. His uncle had always run at the first sign of trouble. It wasn’t that his uncle was a coward, as he had learned, just cautious.

“I meant what I said, we’ll be staying here for some time, so I hope you paid for a while.”

“Just the night,” Daniel said.

“I’ll settle the payment in the morning.” Gram had spread his body out onto the bed. The once well put together bed had turned into utter chaos by the bearded beast that was Daniel’s uncle. From his uncle came a large roaring of snores.

Daniel didn’t think he’d get much sleep.

But he tried to make best of the situation. Daniel cleaned himself up and made it into bed. The sheets were actually soft, not the burlap sheets he had to deal with in other towns.

For a while, Daniel had been laying in the bed, his uncle’s snores filling the room. He was surprised that no one was knocking on the walls to complain.

Knock. Knock. “Y- your food, sir.”

At the prospect of food, Gram’s snoring stopped and his eyes shot open. He leapt out of bed and headed towards the door. Without missing a beat, he opened up. The same kid from before was holding out a bowl with some porridge inside. A spoon had been dug into the bowl.

With quick hands, Gram grabbed the bowl and shut the door in a single fluid motion. He went over to the small kitchen area and placed the bowl on the counter. He ate the porridge in a ravenous manner as though he hadn’t eaten in days.

Daniel knew what this was. He had only got like this if he over extended his qi. He was surprised that he didn’t see the signs before. He just thought that his uncle had been out in the sun for so long. But now the question arose. Just what had his uncle been doing?

“Sifu,” Daniel called out. “You need to slow down.”

Just as predicted, Gram’s eyes bugged out. He began to pound at his chest with one hand. The other fished inside his pocket for his flask. He took it out and downed the remaining contents of it. He breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

The two of them were silent for a time. The only noise in the room was Gram’s eating.

“Sifu, where were you?” Daniel asked. “This is the longest you’ve been gone for.”

Gram glared at Daniel. “You should know better than to ask about my business.”

“Yes, sifu. But-“

“But nothing. Do as you’re told.”

Daniel didn’t say anything after that.

After a few minutes, Daniel curled himself up inside his blanket. He closed his eyes, but he had trouble falling asleep. His mind kept telling him that there was something going on with his uncle. His mind kept wondering, how much of his uncle he even knew. What if his uncle was a Traditionalist? That didn’t seem likely. The Traditionalists didn’t seem to care to learn about technology and yet his uncle seemed to know a lot about ancient tech. So his uncle must have been part of the other group. But just who were they?

The question had bothered Daniel. He opened his eyes once his uncle’s snoring returned to the room. With his uncle’s asleep, there was no way Daniel would have gotten any sleep.

He rolled his eyes, trying to think of what he could do. He could feel his mind spinning. Then he realized that there was something he could do. If his uncle was working for the other group, then maybe he could look into the tech cache for his uncle. It sure beat waiting in the room with his uncle’s snores.

It was already late. And with his uncle’s snores, Daniel left the room without his uncle ever suspecting a thing. It was late at night and no one was even around in the lobby.

When Daniel went outside, he felt a cold wind blowing about. This cold wind gave Daniel an initial shock, but the discomfort from it didn’t last long. After living out in the wasteland, Daniel had gotten used to the cold. It had become something he was familiar with, like an old friend.

A few people were out and about in the night, but none of them were really present to really notice Daniel. One man was so drunk, he opened his mouth pointing a finger at Daniel before collapsing into a trough.

Daniel looked at the way the two groups went. The Traditionalists went over to the right while the other group went to the left. Daniel wanted to see just who the other group was, but he was more interested to see just what the tech cache was like.

After half a day, the tracks were rather cold. Daniel stared at the ground. He looked around to find any kind of tracks. But there weren’t any. He looked around, expanding his search radius. He looked around farther and farther, but there was still nothing.

Daniel looked back. He could still see the town. But the lights that came from there were rather weak. Daniel sighed as he sat on the ground. He tried to think of what to do.

He didn’t know what it was, coincidence or fate, but Daniel’s eyes went up to see three peaks off in the distance.

Three Peaks? Daniel remembered what the two had agreed. They agreed to meet each other at the three peaks at dusk. Focusing on the peaks, Daniel saw flashes of light coming from there.

People were there. If they were there, then maybe Daniel could follow the Traditionalists back to the tech cache. Daniel was so excited by the prospect that his mind couldn’t even process how tired he was. His legs began to move before his mind caught up to realize that he was moving.

Even with him moving as fast as his legs could take him, Daniel felt that he wouldn’t be able to make it in time. So, he stopped.

Over the years, Daniel had gathered his qi. Now he was much faster than he was before. With a single leap, Daniel could cross twenty five feet. Not as impressive as his father, but still faster than he was before.

Each step caused Daniel’s heart rate to increase. The more he used his qi, the more it coursed through his body. And as he took each step, his mind began to clear.

Just what am I doing?

In all honesty, Daniel tried to think of why he was going to see the Traditionalists. It seemed dangerous. And besides, there was no guarantee that his uncle was actually part of the other group. But Daniel wanted to know. He wanted to know more about his uncle. His uncle, the wanted criminal. His uncle, a family killer.

Daniel found the battlefield littered with bodies. Dead bodies weren’t anything new to Daniel. He had seen quite a few while traveling with his uncle. It was also how he knew that many of these bodies were just uncocious people rather than dead people.

Beside them, a battle raged on. Many people dressed in leather jackets were facing off against each other. Many of them wielded knives. But there were others who used chains. Only a handful from each side were using guns.

This was battle, much more violent, more chaotic than the small scuffle Danile had seen earlier that day. While no one had died, that had more to do with the skill of the combatants as opposed to how they felt about each other. If given the chance, Daniel was sure that neither party would hesistate to gut the other like a fish.

War raged between the two sides. But based on how many falled people there were, the battle would be ending soon.

Bang.

Off in the distance was a roar from a gun. It sent chills from the bottom of Daniel’s feet to the back of his neck. It was a small thing for Daniel to hear such a thing, but no matter how much he tried to suppress his emotions, they wouldn’t just stay down.

Daniel shook his head. He tried to clear his head. When he looked back at the crowd, he could see that all of them stopped. His eyes followed their gaze.

On the battlefield, the one that Diane referred to as old man, was bleeding on the ground.

From all around, a blaring sound echoed from the three mountains. Daniel heard this sound before, it was a ram’s horn. His uncle told him what it was a while back. Most people used it with technology not being as good as it once was.

At the sound, the martial artists from the scientist group began to retreat. Diane’s group didn’t pursue them. Instead, they just went back from where they came.

Here was his chance.

Daniel followed after the group. The sound of their footsteps was loud enough that Daniel didn’t even need to disguise his footsteps.

The group marched for a while. They went deeper and deeper into the wastelands. None of them even seemed to notice that there was someone falling behind them. Quite a number of them were speaking to each other as though they hadn’t just left a number of their comrades on the battlefield.

It was a few minutes before Daniel saw where they were going. Even though it was dark, there were lights on at a fortress like structure. It was larger than most houses that Daniel had seen. The front seemed to have boards nailed to the front with broken glass left on the ground, a typical tactic to use against wandering bums from calling the place home.

When the group was close, large, sliding stone doors opened up. It must have taken quite the series of mechanisms to work it.

Daniel looked at the words that were painted on the door. Some of the letters seemed to be faded, but in the light, he could still make out – Wuimurt.