Chương 17: The First Offer

Cass had agreed to Thomas's idea in the end, but he still could not decide whether bringing the thing was genius or madness. Reed lifted the thing onto his shoulder. The weight made him dip for a second, but he quickly found his balance. Cass glanced at him.

"You sure you can carry that?" Reed gave a short nod.

"I can manage." Vane stood nearby, already done checking the things he was carrying. Cass was about to set off when Sue came over from the side.

"If he's willing to trade," she said, "see if you can get some medicine. Especially anti-inflammatory medicine." Cass nodded.

"Got it." With that settled, the three of them left the settlement. The extra load slowed them down. Cass walked in front and glanced back from time to time. Reed did not complain. He only switched shoulders every now and then and kept moving. The convenience store finally came into view near noon. Inside, Jack sat beside the glass door with a soda in hand, watching the thin stream of water outside. The water fell onto the reddish-brown sand and quickly seeped downward.

A shallow hollow had formed beneath the end of the hose, but the damp stain around it did not last long. The dry sand kept swallowing it almost as fast as it appeared. Jack watched for another minute, then gave up. It was not like he could see any real change in a few minutes anyway. He got up and headed for the kitchen, planning to make himself a decent lunch. A little while later, Jack set his lunch on the checkout counter.

A steak, mashed potatoes, a few slices of bread, and an ice-cold bottle of beer from the cooler. As soon as the smell of steak rose into the air, Jack's mood improved considerably.

"Now this is living." He picked up his knife and fork and was just about to dig in when the system spoke up.

"Human, your old friends are here."

"Estimated arrival in ten minutes." Jack stopped with his knife and fork halfway raised. Old friends? It couldn't be that pack of Red Sand Badgers again, could it? Jack's expression changed. He immediately put down the knife and fork, grabbed his handgun, and strode to the glass door. He stared outside, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the dunes and the wasteland. Then he spotted three figures in the distance, walking toward the convenience store.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Cass was in front, Reed was behind him, and Vane was at the back. Jack finally let out a breath.

"So it's them." Then he turned his glare toward the empty air.

"No, seriously, Loser, couldn't you just say Cass and the others were here? You had to call them old friends? You scared the hell out of me, you know that?" The system said calmly, "Are they not your old friends?" Jack opened his mouth, found no good comeback, and finally said, "Fine. You win." The three of them came closer and closer. After thinking for a moment, Jack put the handgun away. Then he turned and opened the glass door, ready to let them come straight in.

The door had just opened when Cass's voice came from far away.

"Jack! We're back aga—holy shit!" Jack froze. Why was he cursing before they even got there? Before Jack could say anything, Cass hurried straight to the hose and stopped beside it. He stared at the water, frozen in place.

"Jack, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Cass stared at him, voice rising.

"You're watering the ground? With water?!" Reed's shoulder had already been aching from the weight of the thing he was carrying, but at that moment, he seemed to forget the weight entirely. He stood there in a daze, staring at the steady stream of clear water flowing from the hose.

"Water…" He murmured.

"So much water." Vane also stopped. His gaze fell on the hose, and for a long time, he said nothing. In their eyes, this was even more ridiculous than shelves full of food. Seeing the looks on their faces, Jack realized what the problem was. To Jack, this was just a hose connected to a faucet. But to Cass and the others, this was probably no different from pouring life itself onto the ground. He stood at the doorway and called out helplessly, "Get inside first! Or do you want me to stand here and get barbecued?"

Only then did Cass snap back to his senses. He quickly gestured for Reed to head toward the convenience store. After the three of them entered, Cass opened his mouth, obviously wanting to ask about the water. But Jack raised a hand and cut him off first.

"Business first. What are you here for this time?" Cass stopped short and swallowed the questions he wanted to ask.

"We came to trade," Cass said, his tone growing more serious.

"We need water, food, and medicine." Jack nodded.

"Sure. What are you planning to trade with?" For a moment, no one answered. Jack looked at the three of them and quickly realized something was off. Cass, who usually had something to say about everything, suddenly looked awkward. Vane had turned his gaze toward the shelves. Reed stood quietly with the thing still on his shoulder, waiting for someone else to speak first. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"What? Did you bring something dangerous?"

"No," Cass said at once. Then he hesitated.

"Not dangerous. Just… strange."

"That doesn't sound much better." Cass scratched the side of his face.

"We weren't sure what would count as a fair trade. You helped us yesterday. Water, food—those things mean a lot to us. We didn't want to come back empty-handed or make it look like we were taking advantage of you." Jack's expression eased a little. That, at least, he understood. He did not expect them to bring anything amazing. This was the wasteland. If they had something truly useful, they probably needed it more than he did.

"Relax," Jack said.

"I asked what you brought, not whether you brought treasure. Let me see it first." Reed, meanwhile, silently set down the thing on his shoulder. It landed on the floor with a dull thud. Jack lowered his head and looked at it. An old piece of cloth covered the object, hiding its shape. Reed crouched down and pulled the cloth away. Cass stood to the side, his face inexplicably a little red. Even Vane, unusually, remained silent. Reed scratched his head and asked honestly, "Can this… be traded?"

After Jack saw the thing clearly, he froze. A yellow body. Crawler tracks. A tiny driver's seat. There was even a digging arm and bucket in the front. No matter how he looked at it, this thing looked exactly like an electric toy excavator meant for children. With a complicated expression, Jack asked, "Why did you… bring a toy excavator here?" Cass's face turned even redder.

"We didn't know what you wanted." Jack did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"This thing is—" He had just been about to say that he really had no use for it, but the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Special equipment detected." Jack's words got stuck in his throat. He lowered his head and looked at the little excavator on the floor again. No matter how he looked at it, it still seemed like a child's toy. Special equipment? Jack blinked. Wait. This wasn't a toy?