Chương 11: Visitors at the Door

The three figures were still far enough away that Jack could not make out their faces, but they were definitely heading toward the convenience store. Jack stood beside the glass door, one hand still half-raised from his unfinished argument with LOSS. For a moment, he just stared. Then he slowly lowered his hand and looked up at the ceiling.

"Jesus Christ, is the universe trolling me now? First Dustchucks, then honey badgers, and now three primate mammals? What is this place, a wasteland tourist attraction?" The system replied calmly, "Human, the targets are currently stationary." Jack picked up a bottle of water.

"Great. Let them stand there. Whoever wants to come over can come over. Right now, I just want water." After saying that, he twisted off the cap and chugged it down. The cold water slid all the way into his stomach, and only then did Jack finally feel like a person again. But behind a sand dune not far away, the three people watching were nowhere near as calm as he was. Cass lay at the edge of the dune, his eyes practically shining. He still couldn't quite believe what he had just watched.

The outsider from the strange store had raised a weapon and thundered at the sky, breaking the Red Sand Badgers' rhythm in an instant. Then he had thrown out some sharp-smelling liquid. As soon as it splashed across the sand, several Red Sand Badgers recoiled and backed away, leaving a gap in the closing ring. What happened next was even more absurd. The Dustchucks moved. The moment the Red Sand Badgers hesitated, the larger Dustchucks surged forward, smashing into the broken ring with their heavy bodies.

One Red Sand Badger lost its footing and dropped straight into the pit. Cass sucked in a sharp breath and kept his voice low.

"Please tell me you both saw that." Beside him, Reed gave a small nod without taking his eyes off the store. Cass stared at the convenience store, then at the Dustchucks outside it.

"It was him," he whispered.

"He and those Dustchucks forced the Red Sand Badgers back." The words had barely left his mouth before another thought hit him.

"Wait… are those Dustchucks his?" That possibility made the back of his neck prickle. Cass knew Red Sand Badgers too well. They were not the biggest predators in the wasteland, but size had never been what made them dangerous. They were relentless. Once they picked a target, they would keep after it until the prey escaped completely—or stopped moving. Going underground did not always help, either. Red Sand Badgers could dig. Love what you're reading?

Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Slowly, patiently, claw by claw. And yet, those same Red Sand Badgers had just been driven off. Cass couldn't stay still anymore. He brushed the sand from his clothes and stood, but he had barely taken a step before Vane looked at him. Vane rarely spoke during the trip, so when he did, Cass actually paused.

"What are you doing?" Cass looked at him like the answer should have been obvious.

"Going to take a look." Reed caught his arm before he could take another step.

"Hold up." He glanced at Vane. Vane stayed silent for a moment before giving a small nod. Back inside the convenience store, Jack had just emptied a bottle of water and set it on the cashier counter, already thinking about sitting down for a minute. The system cut in before Jack could sit down.

"Human, the targets are approaching." So much for a break. The three figures came out from behind the dune and started toward the convenience store. Jack grabbed the handgun and moved to the side of the glass door, keeping himself out of the direct line of sight as he watched them approach. Cass walked in front, Reed stayed beside him, and Vane followed at the rear. Vane's gaze swept over the sand where the fight had just happened.

Red Sand Badger claw marks cut through the Dustchucks' digging trails, and not far away, a darker patch stained the ground where the sharp-smelling liquid had scattered their formation. The three of them crossed the remaining stretch of sand and stopped in front of the glass door. Now that they were close, Jack could finally make out their faces. The one in front was tall and sun-darkened, his hair tied back with a strip of cloth. His eyes were bright, restless, like he was holding back a dozen questions.

Beside him stood a broader man of medium height, with work-worn hands and a face that gave almost nothing away. The third was the thinnest of them. He hung back half a step, his gaze moving constantly over the sand, the Dustchucks, the glass door, and finally Jack. Cass finally got a proper look at the glass door. He knew what glass was, of course, but glass this large, this clear, and this intact was something he had not seen in years. Almost without thinking, he leaned closer and lifted a hand toward it.

From Jack's side of the door, it looked a lot less innocent. A stranger had just stepped close to the entrance, hand moving near the lock. Jack raised the handgun at once, the muzzle aimed at Cass through the glass.

"Don't move!" Cass flinched back, both hands shooting up. Reed raised his hands too, and after a brief pause, Vane did the same from a few steps behind. Cass said something quickly, but the glass swallowed most of it. Jack kept the gun up and opened the door just enough to hear him.

"What did you just say?" Cass immediately lifted his hands a little higher.

"Easy! We're not here to start trouble!" Jack went still. He understood every word. Before he could decide what to do with that, Cass kept talking, hands still raised.

"Seriously, no trouble. We're from a nearby settlement. After the sandstorm passed, we saw this building out here, and we came to check it out." Jack kept the gun up, his eyes flicking from Cass to the broader man beside him, then to the quiet one standing farther back.

"A nearby settlement?" Cass nodded quickly.

"Yeah. Not too far from here. I'm Cass. That's Reed, and the quiet one back there is Vane." Jack didn't lower the gun.

"So you saw a building appear out here after a sandstorm, and your first idea was to walk right up to it?" Cass opened his mouth, then paused.

"…Yeah?" Jack let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Right. And I'm supposed to believe you only came to look around?" Cass's hands lifted a little higher.

"No, no. That's not what I meant. We really just wanted to confirm what this place was." Then, probably realizing how that sounded, he started talking faster.

"If we meant any harm, we wouldn't have come straight up to the front door. We wouldn't be standing here with our hands up, trying to explain ourselves through a door while you point that thing at me." He stopped, seemed to hear his own words, and quickly added, "What I mean is, we're not here to fight." Jack studied him for a moment, but the gun stayed up. Annoying as it was, Cass had a point. If they meant to attack, they had better options.

They could have stayed behind the dune, waited him out, or circled around while he was distracted. Instead, they had walked straight up to the front door with their hands where he could see them. Of course, even if they had tried to ambush him, the system probably would have warned him anyway. That still did not mean he could trust them. Jack lowered the gun by an inch, though his finger stayed near the trigger.

"Fine," he said.

"You've seen it. You can leave now." Cass's eyes widened.

"Wait, don't kick us out already!" The gun came up again.

"Then what else do you want?" Cass opened his mouth, then seemed to remember the heat burning down on them. He pointed up at the blazing sky, then at the convenience store behind the glass. His expression turned awkward.

"Can we, uh… talk inside?"