It wasn't great news to my ears that the looters were in control of the Southern District, as the path I was heading to was that part of St. John City. I should take a long way round if I really couldn't make it past them, I thought. Perhaps the district controlled by the Gun Team would be much safer.
That said, Fate always made a fool out of all of us.
A fishy stench emanated from the huge river in front of him, and the murky green water looked a little strange. Chain of bubbles kept appearing on its surface, and I wondered if carnivorous fish were the cause of them.
I shook my head helplessly as I gazed at the river. There was no way for me to circle past the Blaze Gang's territory. I had to take the bridge into the Southern District.
A wooden shack had been raised at the other end of the bridge, and a simple wooden fence was erected outside of it. Two looters, who had pistols tucked into their waistbands, were leaning against the fence, chatting about some unknown topic.
The looters had already taken over control of the only passage in and out of the Southern part of the city, and this would aid them in looting the merchant caravans that passed by and even kill any stragglers.
To be honest I was a little hesitant. Even though I didn't want any trouble, I wasn't quite as sure about the other party.
The sky turned dark, and there were even tiny clumps of sand in the raging wind. It was about to rain, and I did not have any gear to shield me from its radiation. I had to find a place to hide quickly.
I had no choice but to walk toward the other end of the bridge. I gripped the gun in my hand tightly, luckily the protective plates on my body made me feel bolder as well.
I tried to tread lightly, and it was already dark, but when I reached the middle of the bridge, the two looters still noticed my presence immediately and drew their pistols.
"Who's there?" the slightly thinner looter shouted in my direction.
How should I reply? In an instant, various names flashed in my mind. "Merchant", "Dick Town Guard" or "One of you?"
"So-soldier?"
I had a sudden inspiration. Even though I sounded uncertain, I knew that if I identified myself as a merchant, one that was wandering the Wasteland on his own, they would have killed me. What about a Dick Town Guard? They probably would have heard of Dick Town, but what was a Dick Town Guard? I took a look at my gear, and they looked somewhat military, especially the combat armor. Calling myself a soldier... would do for now.
"A member of the Gun Team? Get on your way then!"
The thin looter waved his hand impatiently, hurrying me away.
"Hey! What are you blanking out for? If you don't go, I'll strip you clean, even if you're one of the Gun Team? Get lost!"
I was really stunned. They let me go after only hearing I was from the military? Even though I did really look like a soldier.
Gun Team? I suddenly remembered what the thin man said. So, they had mistaken me for one of the Gun Team. It seemed that these people had a very complicated relationship with each other.
I noticed a few weirdly dressed looters occasionally as I walked on the broken down pavement, and they carried weapons of many designs. There were re-modeled knives, wooden cudgels wrapped with steel wire and even broken beer bottles. I would not be surprised if some of them even carried toilet brushes that were broken off.
Any looter that laid eyes on me would quickly walk away, and this made me feel considerably more assured.
"Boom..."
Thunder rumbled and rain finally began falling.
I looked at the abandoned buildings at the sides of the streets and walked toward one with its entrance still intact. Even though the front doors were already hanging by its hinges, the entrance was still covered up. Unexpectedly, it was inhibited—two people, women, to be exact, were sitting by a corner of the wall and looked like they had come indoors for shelter from the rain as well.
Their clothes were a little worn and tattered, and their skin showed underneath the holes. They seemed to have been bruised and their faces were covered in dirt, while their hair was a little unkempt.
I did not have any intention of chatting with them. Conversing with strangers in the Wasteland was not a good practice.
I leaned on the other side of the wall and sat down. I was hungry from walking for many hours and took out a piece of bread to eat.
The women did not keep quiet for long. It was not their mouths that emitted noise, but rather their stomachs, from being starved for too long. I lifted my head to look at them before turning my gaze away again, resuming my meal.
"Can you give us a little of that?"
The short-haired woman asked by the time I had finished eating half my bread. She could no longer contain her hunger, but her voice was weak.
I looked at her and did not speak. The younger woman beside her was looking expectantly at me though.
"Is this woman too naive?" I thought, "Why should I give you some of my bread, just because you're hungry?"
"I can sleep with you."
The short-haired woman said hesitantly when she saw that I was unmoved. The younger girl could not help but turn toward her when she heard that.
Most of the women led harsh lives in the Wasteland. Their natural physical disadvantage allowed them to be taken easily, and some bands of looters targeted females only. Of course, on the other hand, they could use it to their benefit and easily survive. After all, the Wasteland was full of sex-crazed men, and they could provide extra services in exchange for food. This was the way of surviving the Wasteland, and no one could change the fact.
I did not reply and continued observing them, my mouth still chewing on the bread.
"I, I can get her to sleep with you too; she's my younger sister! We'll do it together with you! Is that okay? Is that okay?"
The short-haired woman grew excited all of a sudden and pulled her sister's hand, trying to get up and walk closer to me.
"Don't come over!"
I instinctively drew my pistol and shouted at them to stop. Even though they seemed pretty harmless, I never trusted strangers easily, even if they looked like these two starving women.
"We're unarmed, really. I'm not lying to you, really! Don't shoot, don't..."
The short-haired woman was obviously terrified as she stared at the cold barrel of my weapon. Her sister, however, remained silent.
Unexpectedly, the short-haired woman began disrobing. Perhaps, she wanted to prove that she was unarmed, or maybe she wanted to insist on sleeping with me for some of my bread. She could also purely be wanting to survive...
"Stop that! Put your clothes back on!"
I shouted at her to stop, before she could release the sash on her pants, and holstered my weapon.
They were obviously constantly malnourished, and about as filthy as me. I did not understand how they had managed to survive till now. Could it be that the men they encountered so far were all 'compassionate' creatures?
Something stirred within me.
I sighed softly when I saw the short-haired woman sobbing pitifully. I then took out a big loaf of bread as well as some dried mutant beef from my backpack and passed them to her.
"Eat, you don't have to sleep with me."
I told her.
The black-haired girl's eyes turned red and she looked at me in a daze.
"Eat, both you and your sister don't have to sleep with me."
I repeated.
The black-haired woman tried to confirm if I was joking before taking the food from me somewhat fearfully. She did not begin to eat immediately but tore half of the bread and meat for her sister.
"Eat, sister. We've food now."
The woman was a little emotional and I did not know if she was crying or laughing, as her voice trembled a little.
Her sister looked at me before receiving the food from her elder sibling. She then lowered her head to eat. Pieces of bread fell out of their mouth occasionally, but she quickly picked them back up and stuffed them back into her mouth. She had been starving for too long...
The sisters kept looking at me as they ate. I did not know if they wanted to thank me or confirm if I really did not want to sleep with them, and I tried very hard to control my laughter.
Perhaps I was in a good mood, and I took out a bottle of pure water from my backpack and gave it to them. They had possibly never drunk water of such wonderful taste before, and quickly drained the bottle of water.
They began to feel awkward after noticing that I was staring at them.
"Thank you..."
They thanked me softly after eating. Perhaps, they had never said a word of thanks to anyone else in their life, but it was also likely that no one else had ever done anything kind for them.
Even though I did not reply, I felt quite good about myself.
"Pa..."
Lightning flashed, and the rain grew stronger. I could not spot anyone running in the streets now, and did not know which abandoned buildings the looters were hiding in.