by Eric Vall
Let me check with my father, the voice promised. Give me a few minutes.
The other line went silent, and I was left alone to stare up at the dusk sky.
After a few minutes, I sat up and instantly buried my face into my hands. Now that I was alone, I could think back on what kind of crazy shit I’d just been through.
Not even twenty-four hours ago, I was sitting in my apartment, playing video games in my underwear, and eating cold leftover pizza. Now, I was in a post-apocalyptic future filled with nuclear fallout, intelligent killer mutants, and punk pirates.
And for what? Money?
What good was this money going to be if I wasn’t around to use it?
That didn’t even get into the main part of my mission, though. I had to eliminate every single one of those mutants from Chicago.
Every. Single. One.
How was I supposed to do that, especially when there were allegedly thousands of them in the city? Was I supposed to go along with Natalie on her scavenging trips until we somehow wiped out all of them?
That would take years, if not an entire lifetime.
If only there was another nuclear bomb I could drop on these grotesque abominations.
Oh, well. I was here now, and I needed to figure it out for myself.
Maybe Natalie could help me out? Or Marcus?
I was sure getting rid of the Rubberfaces would be in all of our best interests.
When I finally raised my head from my hands, I saw a large, towering structure staring back at me in the distance.
The sun was just setting behind it, and the light outlined its concave form in all its glory. Though there was no steam escaping from its mouth, I instantly knew what I was looking at.
It was the stack for a nuclear power plant.
I shuddered to think about how many Rubberfaces were in that area, and I thanked my lucky stars we were heading in the opposite direction.
Finally, Karla’s voice cracked back through my head.
Hunter? she gasped. We’ve figured out your predicament…
“Good,” I chuckled. “The sooner we get this beeping out of my head, the better.”
You’re probably going to want to be sitting down for this… she warned.
“I already am.”
Okay… My father has run a few diagnostics on the chip we put into your head, she began. As I suspected, there were no defects or anything of the sort. Likewise, there appears to be no damage to the chip, nor your brain.
“Then what’s causing all this noise?” I grumbled.
Here, let me just… there, Karla promised. The beeping should subside momentarily.
As if right on cue, the noise in my head stopped.
“Thank you,” I sighed with relief. “Now maybe I can actually finish the mission without going crazy. What did you do?”
Though the chip was not damaged or faulty, Karla explained, my father’s tests did find an abnormality. He says the reason your microchip was going haywire was because it was experiencing an influx of Wayfarer energy.
“That’s strange,” I admitted. “Maybe it was just because I was super stressed out, and all the extra energy was leaking out of me?”
That’s not how it works, Hunter, the voice in my head sighed. If you noticed, the beeping only started when you met Natalie, and it got worse as your bond grew stronger.
“Our bond isn’t that strong,” I chuckled. “And so what? You’re gonna have to walk me through this a bit more…”
Hunter… Your microchip experienced more Wayfarer energy when you encountered Natalie.
“You said that already,” I retorted. “Why are you--Ohhhhhh.”
Suddenly, it hit me. I wasn’t the source of the increased Wayfarer energy.
Natalie was.
That woman you met? Karla’s voice explained. I think you may have just found the Wayfarer of Dimension Nine-Fifty-One.
Chapter 6
“Quit yanking my chain, Karla.” I shook my head. “How could Natalie be the Wayfarer of this dimension? You told me the likelihood of the Wayfarer being dead was--”
Exceptionally high, Karla admitted. But there was a more than a zero percent chance they were alive, and it looks like you stumbled right into her lap.
“No way.” I was still in denial. “It’s too random. What are the chances I go all the way to another dimension and then just happen to get my ass saved by the only person in this world who shares the same powers as me?”
More than zero, Miss Nash repeated. That’s all it takes sometimes, Hunter. Or, as my father likes to point out, this could all be the work of the double arrow theory.
I couldn’t believe it. Natalie, the beautiful blonde Scavenger, was a Wayfarer just like me?
Well, crap… Now, I had no choice. I had to tell her who I really was.
“So, then you want me to bring her back?” I stated, even though I already knew the answer.
If possible, Karla replied. Wayfarers are not easy to come across. The more we have, the more timelines we can save, and the sooner we can find my real father.
“You realize this means I have to blow my cover, right?” I confirmed. “She’s not going to listen to ‘that poor idiot from the Tundra’ if I ask her to leave her way of life behind and come with me.”
I know that. Karla sounded defensive. But I know you can figure out a way. It sounds like she really likes you already.
“How much of all this can you hear?” I questioned. “I thought you could only hear the things I say?”
I can, she admitted, but based on the way you talk to this Natalie woman, you are both interested in each other. Trust me, Hunter… A stoic warrior like that wouldn’t even give you the time of day if she weren’t the least bit interested.
“I guess I’ll just have to put on the ‘ol Bragg charm,” I chuckled. “The Scavengers are taking me back to their camp, so I can try and bond with her some more once we’re there. If I can somehow pull off this whole mission, that’d probably turn the tide for me, too.”
Most certainly, Karla agreed. Don’t mess it up.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Karla,” I grumbled. “When do you think--”
“Are you alright, Hunter?” Natalie’s voice inquired from behind me. “Who are you talking to out here?”
Did I say it now? Did I tell Natalie I was really from another timeline, and that I was just talking to the voice inside my head?
When I turned around and saw how confused she was, I had second thoughts.
There would be a time to spill my guts and explain everything to Natalie, but now was definitely not the time.
“Oh, I was only muttering away to myself,” I lied, “just trying to make sense of everything that’s happened, ya know?”
“I understand,” the blonde woman said with a firm nod. “I just wanted to let you know we are docking at the camp soon. Also, if you want any cockroach stew, we still have a few bowls left.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I smiled, and then Natalie turned away and headed back toward the cabin.
The vessel we were riding on slowed down to a crawl and then began to turn so the back was facing the shoreline. As it rotated around, I could see a beach off in the distance with a decently-sized encampment all across its sandy banks.
Tents made out of tarps lined part of the beach, while a few huts created from sticks and foliage stood in the back. There were lots of small campfires burning through the darkness, and in the glow of their flickering flames, I saw human figures huddled around them.
Much to my surprise, there was a line of houses a few dozen feet behind the encampment, just beyond where the beach began. They were all old, decrepit, and crumbling, but they were houses nonetheless.
The boat backed up toward the pier at the edge of the encampment, and then the engine hissed to a stop when its end slowly slid underneath the platform.
Seconds later, Natalie re-emerged from the inside of the boat with Harrison, William, and two other Scaven
gers who I didn’t recognize. As they walked by, William stopped and patted me on the back excitedly.
“Welcome to our humble abode, mate.” He grinned.
I followed the Scavengers down the pier and onto the sandy white shore of the lake. My boots sank into the gritty ground with each step I took, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I should have taken them off.
Now that I was up closer to the encampment, I saw all the tiny details I’d missed before.
All around the huts and tents of the Scavengers were arrangements of assorted junk, trinkets they must have collected from their different trips out to the cities. Every single one of them had a different set of trinkets, and it was pretty amusing to see what they had chosen to put on display.
As a worker who constantly went into peoples’ houses and entered their most private spaces, I realized just how much their junk said about their character.
Take, for example, the tent surrounded by license plates, hubcaps, and various tools and workbenches. Without even asking, I could tell that was the mechanic’s tent.
Then there was one with a million different literal trinkets, souvenirs you’d find if you went to any big city. Keychains, hat pins, and tacky “I heart CHI” and “I heart MI” shirts were set up on sticks like a makeshift scarecrow.
That was definitely the “fun one” of the camp.
“So, this is where you guys live?” I asked the group as we walked. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t expect there to be actual houses.”
“Those are mostly for storage and shelter,” Natalie explained. “We only go inside if there’s a severe storm.”
“But why?” I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. “There’s more than enough houses for you guys to stay in, especially if you bunkered up together.”
“I dunno what they got ya doing out there in the Tundra, Hunter,” William chuckled, “but we Scavengers are all about community and brotherhood. We find it way more excitin’ to rough it out in the elements, with a good ‘ol campfire and a cot that’s so uncomfortable you don’t wanna sleep on it for more than a few hours.”
“It is fun,” Harrison admitted, “but it’s also just in case we’d ever have to pack up and leave unexpectedly. It’s a lot easier to sound the alarm and round up everyone when we’re all in a single space than it would be to run along the roads for miles.”
“Have you ever had to do that?” I gasped. “Pack up and leave in a hurry?”
“Not since I was fourteen years old,” Natalie admitted. “Back then, we had an encampment on the other side of the lake, along the shores of the Fallen Land… The Rubberfaces didn’t like that, especially once they started getting more intelligent.”
“And you’re not worried about that happening here?” I tilted my head curiously.
“Not exactly.” The blonde woman shrugged. “We have sentries posted all along the perimeter of our encampment, and we are far away from any areas of major radiation. There might be a few wandering Rubberfaces every now and again, but nothing we haven’t been able to handle.”
“You two Ankle Biters have fun talkin’ to Marcus,” William suddenly announced as he stopped his momentum. “I think I’m gonna go off and get me some-a that vodka I’ve been stashin’ under my cot.”
“Wait,” I laughed, “before you go, I have something I’ve been dying to ask you… If you were a little kid when Doomsday happened, and you grew up mostly around the Scavengers… How did you get an Australian accent?”
“What the fuck’s an Australian accent, mate?” William retorted with a raised eyebrow.
“You know what?” I threw up my hands in defeat. “Never mind. Enjoy your vodka.”
“Oh, I will,” the man with the long hair cackled. “Can I plan on seein’ ya around the fire later?”
“I don’t know… ” I trailed off.
“Sure I can!” He smiled and smacked me on the back. “I’ve got a game of knucklebones with your name on it.”
With that, the punk-rock Australian man turned and scurried off to his tent.
Harrison just shook his head and smiled.
“I’ll see you two later,” he chuckled. “I’m gonna go take a nap. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
With that, Harrison turned around and then disappeared into the fray.
“They’re taking Johnny’s death a lot better than I’d expect,” I observed. “Why are they planning a party? Isn’t there going to be a funeral or remembrance or something like that?”
“That’s not the Scavenger way.” Natalie just shrugged. “We like to remember the happy times we had with the deceased, rather than mourn their demise. When a Scavenger dies, we celebrate their life rather than grieve their passing.”
Huh. Pretty progressive for a band of post-apocalyptic pirates.
Natalie and I continued to walk down the beach until we finally came to one of the large huts made out of sticks and foliage. It stood about eight feet tall, with a roof that came up to a point at its very top. The hut was much larger than any of the other dwellings around it, probably large enough to fit one of the dune buggies fully inside of it.
“Your big boss’ quarters?” I asked, and Natalie nodded firmly.
“Just let me do the talking,” she explained. “I’m sure he’ll like you, but I don’t want you to give off the wrong impression. He’s very, very cautious about who he lets into the Scavengers.”
I gave her a nod to confirm, and then I followed her inside of the hut.
Much like so many of the tents outside, the walls of this place were packed to the brim with different trinkets scoured from abandoned cities. Retro record covers littered one wall, while a slew of marble statues lined the shelves of another. Most peculiar to me was a section full of pieces of art, including a few famous works such as American Gothic, Nighthawks, and Van Gogh’s The Bedroom.
Well, I guess the Art Institute didn’t need them anymore, anyways.
At the far wall of the hut sat a small desk with a swiveling chair, with a man hunched over scribbling on a piece of paper like mad.
“Marcus?” Natalie cleared her throat, and the man stopped writing instantly.
He spun around in his chair, grinned at the blonde woman, and then stood to his feet.
Marcus was a tall dude, definitely over six feet. His frame was that of a scarecrow, lanky and slender, and he walked like he was a bird trying to navigate the ground for the first time.
On his torso he wore a black denim vest with dozens of silver studs over the top of a black t-shirt that had the etchings of golden wings on it. His hands and arms were covered with studded bracelets and rings, and on his lower half he wore baggy black pants. Marcus’ hair was a dark brown long-top that had been slicked back as far as it could possibly go, and he had some rough stubble all over his face.
“Good to see you again, Natalie,” he announced as he walked forward with his arms open wide. “I trust your excursion to the Fallen Lands went well?”
The Scavenger leader embraced the blonde woman for a moment, and then she pulled back.
“It… Not exactly.” Natalie frowned and looked down at the ground. “I’m afraid Johnny didn’t make it.”
Marcus’ eyes went blank as he took a step back. Then he locked his hands behind his back, turned around, and began to pace.
“That’s unfortunate,” he sighed. “He was a good Scavenger, and an even better man. Did you at least gain anything valuable from your trip?”
“Well, we did pick up a potential new member,” she explained as she pointed to me.
Marcus halted his gait, twirled around dramatically, and then slowly approached me with narrowed eyes.
“This man?” he asked. “What does he bring to the table that the rest of our brethren don’t?”
“He’s from the Tundra region,” Natalie noted. “And he’s a pretty good gunner. I saw that first hand.”
“The Tundra?” Marcus tilted his head and pursed his lips. “What is somebody from the Tundra
doing all the way down in the Fallen Lands?”
“I was sick of my people’s ways,” I lied through my teeth. “I wanted to come down here to find a new way of life.”
Marcus walked around me in a circle, and he stared me down the entire time he did so. His lips were contorted into a frown, and I couldn’t really get a read on him. Finally, he stopped, looked me square in the eyes, and burst out laughing.
“I don’t know if I should welcome you, or be terrified of you,” he admitted heartily. “You wanted a change of scenery, so you came down to the most dangerous spot in this region? That’s Scavenger material if I’ve ever seen it!”
“Glad to hear it.” I smiled.
“That’s not all I wanted to talk to you about, Marcus… ” Natalie spoke up. “The reason Johnny didn’t make it is because, well… I think the Rubberfaces are evolving.”
Marcus’ demeanor changed back to somber.
“Shit,’” the leader groaned as he walked back to his chair and plopped down. “Tell me everything.”
Natalie spent the next few minutes going through the details of our meeting. How she saw the flames, picked me up, and then was ambushed by Rubberfaces on the other side of the river.
As she spoke, I could see the color draining away from Marcus’ face.
He placed his fingertips together in front of his mouth as he listened, but his eyes were dead as he nodded at her words.
“This is bad,” he stated flatly. “This is very bad, Natalie… It was already looking bad when they learned how to use guns. But if they’ve started to figure out how to use vehicles and how to strategically mobilize against us? Well, we’re doomed. And not just the Scavengers… I’m talking about the whole human race.”
Should I tell them? I kinda felt like this would be the place to reveal my true identity, but there was a small voice in the back of my head that was telling me not to.
And it wasn’t Karla.
For now, I would remain in my facade.
Still, that wasn’t going to stop me from picking their brains about how to finish the mission.