VB!Foxillians: Genesis

Nothing Left Behind

Chapter 9

Breakfast wasn't special. It was a piece of fried chicken along with some potato slices. As instructed, I ate the food quickly and left the pizza parlor immediately. Pablo saw me off and wished me well as I left.

The parlor is probably quiet in the mornings. I ate breakfast and nobody was around except for the staff.

I walked towards the edge of the city and started looking around for good places to temporarily set up camp. I know that I'm going to have to sleep without a fire unless I want to alert Viper, and I'm going to have to move every night.

Once I reached the outskirts of the city, It had hit noon. I decided to sit under one of the trees and actually look through the stuff that Randal sent me. For all I know, I might unintentionally be transporting illegal cargo for him or something.

Opening the bag, I don't see anything particularly illegal. There's some packaged preserved food that I ate from, the letter from Hepe, a map of Nomadia, a radio set with a holster, a scratched up pistol, and a bottle of water.

Nothing out of the... wait...

I pull the scratched up pistol out of the bag. I scrutinized it and tried to decide whether Randal included it or if I forgot that I placed it in there.

The pistol looked familiar, the way it rested on my hand was ringing bells but I can't remember why.

The safety was off. Not a good sign.

I pull out the magazine. The magazine is full.

I pulled the slide back, and an unspent cartridge popped out.

Still ignorant of how I got my hands on a fully loaded pistol, I turned on the safety switch and reloaded it to capacity plus one.

As I let the slide return to its place, I realized. In my exhaustion from running six blocks, I forgot that I placed the gun I picked up into the backpack after I settled into the room at Patricia's.

Guess I'm in charge of handling it now.

Using a piece of wire on the ground, I created a makeshift concealed holster for the pistol.

After I passed through Randal and Refuge, life has become incredibly different. While I'm still torn by the fact that I witnessed two murders and an armed assault against police, my morale has improved dramatically. My life is still hanging by a thread but at least I don't have to worry about basic necessities as much as I did three days ago. That said, I have a feeling that somehow, Viper acquired explosives. We both got equipment upgrades, and I hope she doesn't know who my sponsor is.

As the sun was beginning to set on another day, I decided to pull out the radio and inspect it while there was still some light.

Sticking to the top of the radio was a sticky note.

"Memorize these frequencies:

29.005 - Raskal Communications Center.
29.405 - Raskal Situational Awareness.
28.945 - Raskal Updates.

Always use your codename when using the radio. Your codename is Soro. Try to keep the receiver on and have it set to 28.945 as often as you can. Be sure to check in at RCC before you do"

As soon as I finished reading the note, I checked in and set the receiver to 28.945. Mere moments after I entered the frequency, a report came in

"Kappa reporting. Soro, Hepe, and Patty, please be advised. Target 'Viper' has been spotted wandering the area nearby Patricia's Pizza. Over."

"Hepe responding, Instruct the security personnel to not make eye contact with the target. We do not want to raise suspicions. Location has been marked on map. Please continue observations. Over."

"Patty responding, security personnel have been alerted and instructions have been given. Over."

After Randal issued his orders, the sun had set.

"Visual lost. Kappa group checking out. Over."

"Charlie responding, Rest well Kappa group. Over and out."

Radio Chatter continued on for quite a while. I lowered the volume enough that I could hear it but not loud enough to be heard everywhere.

Leaning back onto the tree, I breathe a sigh of relief. Doesn't seem like the Raskals, if that's the name of Randal's group, isn't going to be going quietly into that good night.

"Molly group checking in. Hepe, please be advised. Police activity has increased in sector N-4. Cause for alert is currently unknown. Will report as the situation develops."

"Sally responding, Police chatter notes that an armed individual has been spotted in the area. Over."

Hold on... N-4? Where is that again?

With the faint moonlight as my only source of light, I pulled out the map and looked through the sectors marked out on the print.

"Molly group reporting, Hepe and Soro, please be advised. Target Viper has been spotted leaving sector N-4. She managed to slip past the police somehow. Target is moving east. Over."

Shit... I'm in sector N-5 just east of N-4

"Soro reporting, I am in the adjacent sector. I'll be rough packing my way out of the sector. Wish me luck. Over and out."

"Charlie confirming. Godspeed Soro."

I quickly pack the radio and map into the backpack, pull out the pistol from my holster and put on my backpack.

Standing up, I scan my surroundings and make a break for the city.