Chapter 42: Feeding Gus

I should’ve taken that message and traveled straight for Pott’s Field. I was already pretty close to The Cut as it was, and with all that had happened I knew was well overdue to take a trip that way. In spite of that though, I chose to take some time back home before I did anything. For the same reasons that I needed to go to Pott’s, I also was in desperate need of some rest. Not for physical reasons, between my enhanced healing and stamina that wasn’t really an issue, but for mental ones. I needed to absorb everything, rest my mind and let it do some of the work it needed to in the background while I spent some time on recreation.

The trip was relatively uneventful. I made much better time on the way back through Medina without Leah, Graves, and Mercy holding me back. I took some time to explore the deadzones on the way as well. Most were just high radiation, but one surprised me. There was a sandstorm there that covered three square miles. It didn’t shift, or end, and I found nothing inside that explained the phenomena. It was just a continuous storm that locked in place.The only issue I had during my trip was a couple drugged up raiders that ambushed me outside of Medina. I’d smelled them long before they made their move, and they were dead before they managed to fire a single shot in my direction.

I stopped into Murphy’s to drop off all the salvage I’d claimed. It was mostly ammunition I couldn’t use, and a few guns that had stayed in good shape. I kept the lasguns to myself of course.They also weren’t the kind of thing it was smart to drop into Bill’s lap for a handful of points or credit. There was no way of knowing where they would wind up.

I myself was still a bit wary of them. I didn’t know how they were loaded, or anything else about how they worked other than that pointing them and pulling the trigger killed things.

After I was done at Murphy’s, I headed to my boat. This time Gus was there to greet me. He normally occupied another portion of the lake further north from my boat, but this time he was lurking just below the surface of the water, his eyes and snout peeking out. He was covered in softly glowing green algae that reflected off his white eyes as he regarded me..

“Been awhile since your last meal, huh?” I asked.

He answered with a lazy blink.

“Fine. I’ll feed you, then take care of myself.” I hung my pack on a tree, and left with only my rifle and sword. It took a couple hours to find anything big enough to feed Gus, but eventually I came across several dog sized squirrels who were tearing into the flesh of a smaller gator with razor sharp claws. I lined up a shot with my rifle, and dropped two of them before the rest could react. The remainder charged me, covering ground shockingly quickly, their chittering reminding me of the sound my geiger counter made in the deepest depths of a deadzone. I Took out one more before they reached me, and drew my sword before the remaining two could actually close the gap.

The first one leapt and me and I swung my sword in a wide arc, cutting it in half. In spite of that, the top half of it reached me and its teeth sunk into my shoulder. I cursed and tore it off of myself along with a chunk of flesh. The last one bit into my boot, and I was thankful that it’s thick leather made it so its teeth were only able to scratch me, rather than take out a chunk of flesh as the other squirrel had done. I reached down and grabbed the creature by the scruff, it attempted to scratch at me, but before it could I brained it against the nearest tree.

I shook my head. I’d just had more trouble subduing those creatures than I’d had with most raider groups recently. It was mostly due to the fact that animals weren’t affected by my R.A.S. abilities. Perhaps that was a problem I’d have to look into. I couldn’t rely on my new powers if I ran into something like an ursan again. They had already nearly killed me twice. I had to make sure I had my other skills honed just in case.

I collected the bodies, tying them all together with rope, and headed back to my boat. When I came around to the lake, Gus didn’t wait for me to lay out the food, instead climbing out of the lake and coming toward me. I tossed the tied meat in his direction, and let out a breath when he stopped at the food instead of continuing in my direction. I hadn’t seen him out of the water in quite some time, and I’d forgotten just how massive he was. He had to be more than twenty feet long, and four feet wide. His scales were a pale white that was hidden by a heavy coat of glowing green algae. If one of the Rens saw him, they’d probably think he was a dragon.

As he dug into the bodies I’d brought I spoke. “As you can see, I continue to honor our little understanding, Gus.”

He didn’t respond, which was a little rude, but I let it go. I headed to the raft I used to get to and from the boat. I climbed in and let out a long sigh. Time for a little break. By that, of course, I meant it was time to clean and maintain my weapons, update my maps and journals, sharpen my sword, double check my supplies, and make sure that my boat was still in good shape. Staying still was difficult for me, even in the place I’d built for just that purpose, and what I considered relaxing was likely busier than most wasters working their jobs.

…

I found myself truly lucky this time. Rather than getting only a day of rest at home before trouble came knocking on my door, this time I got two. I was woken in the morning by my boat rocking as Gus hit it, and the sound of sloshing water. I bolted up for a moment, but hesitated. He may have just been drowning some prey, there wasn’t necessarily any indication something was wrong. I took a deep breath and smelled the air. I only smelled myself and the deadzone.

I almost laid back down, but stopped myself. Paranoia had gotten me this far, no reason to stop now. I got out of bed and walked onto the deck of my boat. I looked across the water and saw Gus sitting still at the edge of the water. Just a short distance from him was a woman. She was dressed in much the same way as I usually was. A wide-brimmed hat, long coat, gun at her hip, bandana and goggles around her neck. She was a deadman like myself.

Gus took a step out of the water toward her, and she took a step toward him and showed her teeth. Gus hesitated, then slowly slipped backward into the water. The woman’s toothed scowl turned into a smile briefly, until she looked up and saw me.

“Donovan,” she said, just loud enough to carry over the water to me.

“Nico,” I responded. That explained why I hadn’t smelled anything different. Nico’s scent was too much like my own for me to be able to differentiate them.

I sighed. The Honored Dead had tried the carrot with Deux, and now Nico was here to be the stick. I wasn’t surprised. The two of them were the deadmen I knew the best, and I had a helluvalot to answer for back at Pott’s.

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I sent my raft to her on the shore. She hopped onto it, and I pulled her back to my boat. She leapt onto the boat with ease, and looked me up and down. “You look like shit.”

“Been through some, so that makes sense.”

She nodded. “You know why I’m here?”

“Trying to get me to visit Pott’s?”

“Yep.”

“I was going to after taking some time here. Planned on heading out at the end of the week.”

“No waiting. You’ve done too much too quickly. They need details. If what you’d done hadn’t affected other Deadmen it would be fine, but you’ve made too many waves.”

“How much do they know?”

“All of it. From Boon to STAR territory and everything in between.”

I grimaced. There was going to be a lot to talk about. “Any idea how they feel about it?”

Nico leaned against the railing and adjusted her hat. “It’s a mixed bag. Some people like what you’ve been doing, like seeing a bit of blood spilled for deadmen for a change. Others aren’t so happy. They just want us to keep collecting the dead, living in Pott’s and never worrying about the outside world. It’s all old arguments, you’ve made them new again.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. It had been a divide since Pott’s had been founded, and I’d kicked it all up again. I shook my head. “How do you feel about it?”

Nico picked at her teeth with a nail. “Fuck the mayor of Kind, and fuck Springfield. They deserved what came to them.”

I smiled a bit. Nice to know she had my back.

She saw my smile and shook her head. “I agree with your actions, but not your methods. There was no reason to be a showman about it. Those things could’ve been accomplished quickly and quietly.”

There went my smile. We agreed on a lot of things, but methods had never been one of them. I ran a hand along my face. “Lemme get my bag together, and we can go.”

Nico nodded. “Don’t rush, we just need to get going by morning.” She gave me a small grin, “Besides, Deux told me you have coffee?”

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