The City - PewdieCry

8: The Dump

"LET'S GO!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the building. Anyone between the top of this hotel and the lobby that I was in now would hear the command, and those who knew it was for them would hopefully arrive quicker. Those on time and in the lobby with me were moving around impatiently.

It was already midday. I hadn't slept so well the night before, tossing and turning. That nagging point in the back of my head, I wasn't sure what it was. Something somewhere wasn't right. It was making me impatient, not wanting to delay our trip to The Dump any sooner. This was probably what was getting to me.

I was taking most of the middle ranked soldiers, and leaving Matt behind and in charge. We would head off to The Dump, something that was supposed to take place quite early this morning. I cursed myself mentally several times over for my own stupidity, and then a few more times for deciding to go at midday. I could easily wait until nightfall, for the early and later times in the day would mean a lesser chance of running into other gangs. However, I had done this before and M's group had gotten to it before us. They ended up with gunpowder and a few weapons that they ended up fixing and claiming. This midday operation would require more lookouts than people obtaining actual items, and that wasn't something that we could afford; yet, it wasn't something we could avoid either.

I set out, leaving anyone who hadn't arrived back in the lobby. I couldn't afford to wait any longer. My group jogged slowly behind me, and I could hear the clanging of guns and knives against belts and other weapons. We were fully prepared as a backup for fighting our way out.

The Dump was a neutral place, but it did not hold the same eminence as the Grouping area did. The Dump was a place that was full of trash, literally. It was neutral territory, and anything on the land could be claimed by whoever came across it. Solo missions there were not an option for anyone caught with something valuable on their own usually never returned. Soldiers were lost that way; even the best ones knew better.

I was on the personal search for gunpowder. I knew there was a small chance of any actually being there, seeing as how it was established long ago that gunpowder was the source of power in the city. Whoever had the powder made the weapons, and that person was usually able to call the shots. We were running low on it, which wasn't going to help us. Our supply wasn't dangerously low or anything, but I always liked to keep a bunch of it stocked just in case. We had a back up plan for that as well, but I would try my best at The Dump first.

We arrived at the rusted black gates that surrounded it fairly quickly; I hadn't realized my train of thought had made me pick up the speed. The front gate doors had been hacked off long ago, and were thrown to the side. The entrance was forever open, and as we arrived it looked to be completely empty on the inside. This was fortunate, but we had to be quick as well. I turned to the soldiers that came along, thanking them all silently for being quick back at the hotel.

"We need any form of bedding you can find. Blankets, pillows, mattresses. Wilson can clean anything at home, so simply grab what you can. If anything looks salvageable and of use, take that as well. Stay in groups of at least two or three. Go!" I hissed the words quietly and shooed them off. This territory was far more dangerous than anything inside the city itself. Inside there were borders, and everyone knew their place. One step over a boundary line with malicious purpose or no reason and the situation gets dealt with. Mistakes were resolved, and injuries were avoided if possible. The Grouping Building was always an option to go and talk things out at and its neutrality was respected. Here, at The Dump, it was a no man's land. Anything and everything was up for grabs, and if someone else wants what another has hard enough, a single shot fired would start a massacre that no one could afford.

I ran to the back of the large piles of cluttered items. Things were broken, shattered glass lay everywhere. Plastic bags and garbage piles high, and the smell wasn't what one would describe as pleasant. I found myself pinching my nose under my mask and refusing to retreat. Usually the best items were in the places that people would not go. However, I could not stand the smells of this place, and I refused to be in one spot for very long.