Chapter 260: Day CMLXI, Part V

I slowly walked closer to her.

- I know how strange it all looks. I was also very disoriented when I woke up here - she said smiling in a compassionate manner. - But you will get used to this place. I think I should explain to you a few things.

She turned around and started walking. For a moment I hesitated, thinking that maybe I should try and return to my room in the barracks, but I quickly pushed away that thought. This place got me just too curious. I needed to find out what was going on. I left another anchor straight on the street, and followed her, with few quick steps catching up, so we actually walked together.

- The most important thing here is food. You can buy it from a strange levitating ball, but to do so you need points and that's where the trouble starts. There are two ways to get them. The easy one and the hard one. The easy one gives you just a little bit, and the hard gives a lot, but it's, well... Hard.

- What's the easy one?

- You just need to survive. There are monsters that come to the city from time to time. If you survive the night, a few points are added to your account. They were last night and killed a bunch of people, so new ones were pulled here. You among them. They are usually scattered around the city, so we look for them to bring them where we live.

- And the hard one?

She didn't answer right away, looking at me curiously. Probably because I didn't ask about the monsters.

- You need to kill the monsters. They drop crystals you can sell in the ball for points.

- What are those monsters?

- Usually scary dog-like creatures, but that depends.

- On what?

- If people manage to kill a bunch, the next time stronger ones come, so we actually are careful about that.

- Who is we?

She laughed shortly.

- You are quite concrete with your questions and pretty calm, Peter. That's actually rare.

- Call it experience.

- Experience? From what? Work?

- Yeah. You could say that. So, who is here other than you?

- Bunch of people. We have two groups. There are hunters with Slaven at the very top. They kill the monsters, so they have a lot of points, which means food equipment, and everything. There are many assholes among them, but since we have a few rules here, it somehow works for everybody. To become one you actually have to kill the monster, so it's not easy.

- Rules?

- Yes. Everything here revolves around food. You can buy anything for food here. Even people.

- You mean slavery? - I rose my eyebrows.

- Yes, but it's not that bad as it sounds. You write a contract, and both parties obey it. It's usually some type of favor in exchange for food and shelter. Some guys are punching bags for the other. Some just work physically, some sell themselves. With women, it's the same, but they usually just sell themselves. You know how it is...

- And the other group? Slaves?

- No. We call ourselves cowards. We hide when monsters come, and if we survive, then we struggle with the few points we get. By the way, you already have a hundred points. Everybody who comes here does. And this brings me to something I need to tell you. This - she pointed at herself, then at me - is not free. I mean the information, and fact that I'm leading you straight to where you should go. I want food in exchange.

Her facial expression changed, she became serious.

- Ok.

Her eyebrows rose. She was definitely surprised by how quickly I agreed. Which led me to believe that's not something very frequent. That was not surprising to me at all.

- You sure agreed quickly.

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- You earned the food. The informations were useful, but I still have a lot of questions.

- I gladly answer.

- What do you know about this place? Who builds this city? Where are monsters coming from? What exactly is that ball you told me about? And why are we here?

- That's a lot of questions. Fortunately, I have the same answer for all of them. I don't know.

So they are more clueless than we are - I thought immediately to myself.

- Ok. Then maybe how many people are here?

- A bunch of newcomers and maybe around fifty survivors.

- Maybe?

- I don't know exactly how many slaves are there, but we have sixteen hunters and six cowards.

- No animals around here to hunt?

- You noticed? Yeah. There arent any. At least not as far as we tried to go.

- Which is?

- Nobody made it past the gate. If you get too close, monsters show up.

I nodded in silence. I started to wonder how the hell did they got themselves in such a bad predicament. According to my knowledge, the device was creating a system that would suit most people around it, but I didn't know if it's possible to reset it somehow later, even if all the inhabitants die. Maybe it was configuring itself only once.

- Hey... Alexandra, yes?

- Yes.

- I have a very question, are you perhaps some kind of survival freak?

She laughed at me.

- No. I hate bugs. Fortunately, there aren't any here.

- Then... What movies do you like?

- What's with those weird questions? Are you trying to befriend me? We might even be besties, but you are still paying me.

- Just answer...

- Ok, ok... I like horror movies and romantic comedies. Happy now?

Now everything becomes pretty much clear for me. A bunch of horror lovers gathered here, and they created their own horror when they were prey to monsters.

- Yeah, thanks. 

She shrugged her shoulders, and we walked the rest of the way in silence. It took some time to get to the center of this city, but she wasn't awkward without speaking, just like me.

The place reminded me a lot of our city center from the past. Rubble was all over the place. Just like pieces of wood. They had a small bonfire burning, and a couple of peoples were gathered in close proximity to it. Not too close, though, so the heat of flames wouldn't make them uncomfortable when the weather was already warm enough.

There was also the device, levitating above the ground, and the glyph right next to it. A bunch of people surrounded it and was obviously trying to figure out how it works. Newcomers - I thought immediately.

There was also a barricade made out of trash, loose bricks, and wood pieces, around a few buildings.. Probably home for the hunters.

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