The City (Merome AU)

30

~*Mitch*~

Taking a deep breath, I wipe the sweat off my forehead, and watch Frags do what he does best. Even if we're all used to the scorching heat of the wasteland sun, it's a struggle for the three of us to keep track of what we're supposed to be doing. The heat is a lot more intense than I remember. Maybe it's just the Southern reaches... I can only imagine how Jerome feels right now. Please let him be ok.

"They changed their direction," Frags mutters, standing up and turning to Woof and I. "They're heading southeast."

"Southeast? Doesn't that area have no water sources? What is that city-born thinking?" Woofless shakes his head.

"Unless that's why whatever he's looking for apparently hasn't been raided." My eyes widen in realization. Of course!

"What are you thinking Benj?" Frags looks at me with curiosity.

"I'm sure the two of you heard that Southerners don't carry canteens with them, and if they don't carry canteens they can't carry water over a long distance."

"Which means they haven't been able to raid that area." Woofless speaks up again, realizing what I was trying to say. Finally.

"Precisely. That's why Nooch had everyone carry three canteens and not one. He knew we would be heading in that direction." I smile to myself for managing to figure that out before looking southeast. What is hidden out there that Nooch wants so badly?

"Lets stop by the well and refill the canteens before heading out," Frags speaks up once Woof and I finish our discussion. "Woof come with me. Benj, keep a look out for any mischievous southerners would you?"

"Right." I nod to them as they head away before turning to look southeast again. What did my father want me to find out here? Why did he want me to keep going South? Does it have anything to do with the thing Nooch is trying to get?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The farther the three of us go, the more amazed we become. The dead, dust covered stone ground had some small green plants sticking out of it, and a grey and white contrast to the sky grows larger as we continue traveling southeast. It's almost as if we've stumbled into a new dimension. Not even the city is this beautiful...

"Hey. Woofless," I look at the man beside me; a bored expression was plastered on his face. "Have you been here before?"

Woofless clicks his tongue before responding. "Once. My dad brought me here to see if he can try to track down Lone Wolf about ten years ago, but our trail went dead after a few days. After that we went back west." That's right. Woofless' dad was obsessed with Lone Wolf. More so than Woofless is.

"I see." I turn to look ahead of us where Frags is walking confidently, twirling a knife in his hand.

"His knife twirling is terrible," Woofless mutters softly before walking ahead of me, his hands in his pockets. "At least he's trying."

I don't mention anything about hearing what he said; it's more than likely he didn't mean to say it out loud at all. Those two have been acting awkward around each other. If I haven't known them as much as I do, I wouldn't have noticed anything. But that's not the case here. Those two are defiantly hiding something. I just hope it's not too life changing.

~*Jerome*~

I sit, leaning against the ruins of some sort of building, and rest my eyes in the small amount of shade Star managed to find. The small Asian man sits beside me, cleaning his weapons and telling me a story about his first encounter with "Benja." Craft is also nearby, seated on the same wall Star and I are leaning against, a gun resting in his lap as he keeps an eye out for anything suspicious. The clean wastelander, whom I now know goes by Nooch, sits with a small group of his most trusted, looking at something. Don't count on me to fight my way into figuring out what it is. That's Craft's job.

"Bacca, was your father a wastelander?" Star's question makes me open my eyes and look over at him.

"I," I recall the memory of the last time I saw him, "don't know. Maybe? He did take me out for target practice every once and a while before he disappeared." The Asian nods as he collects all his knives and puts them away.

"You said he disappeared from the city about sixteen years ago, correct?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"My mother told me that Lone Wolf vanished after traveling southeast from the city's southern entrance about fourteen years ago." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"You think this Lone Wolf guy is my father?" It might explain why my mother called him "Wolf" but it still leaves out a few things.

"It's a guess. I can't be too sure unless I see the man with my own eyes."

"Who is he anyways?" Star's eyes widen slightly and he turns his head to look at me in surprise.

"Lone Wolf? He was the Woofless of my mother's generation. Apparently he just appeared out of nowhere and immediately became a name shrouded with weary looks and death in the west." Star looks up at the sky as he recalls all the information about this man. "After a while of being on his own, he formed an alliance with a northern-born mass murderer named Sniper." Mitch's father?

"Sniper is Benja's dad, correct?"

"Indeed." Star looked impressed at my question. "As I was saying, Sniper and Wolf caused the entire wasteland to quake in fear for a decade. Eventually, they calmed down and went their separate ways. Wolf went to the city, while Sniper went up north again." Wolf... the city... could he actually be my dad? There is a possibility...

"That's interesting. Thanks for telling me, Star." Star nods to me before standing up and stretching.

"Lets check in with Nooch. He's probably feeling restless."

"R-right!" Just great... more walking. That's just want I needed.