13 Onward

"Well, it seems this is where we finally depart from each other."

The caravan stops at a fork to separate. Rations for a few days' travel have already been distributed to the Wanderers' vehicle, but Eli stops Vanessa before she opens the driver side door.

"Hey!"

Vanessa tenses at his approach and turns around with an annoyed look on her face.

"This trip wasn't supposed to end in so many casualties. I regret what happened to your companion, Greg."

"Hmm." She grunts before turning again to get into the vehicle.

"So, we've deliberated and think it would be fair if we handed over some men to help escort you all to your destination. It wouldn't be right to leave you one man short. We wouldn't want to make it harder for you to reach your objective, so we have a little proposal for you."

Vanessa raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms.

"What?" she replies, her shackles raised since he mentioned Greg.

Noticing their goodbyes were turning into a discussion, Raymond walks over to stand beside Vanessa.

"The original proposal was a 10% increase of product in exchange for some supplies and the vehicle. You're longstanding partners with Dennis, so we wouldn't want any hostility between our two groups. We'll give you two of our best men, and they can return with you when your business is settled. How's that sound?"

Vanessa scowls and opens her mouth to refuse, but Raymond is quicker.

"Sounds fine. Thanks for your help, Eli."

"Excellent."

Eli taps the hood and signals his men to jump into the back of the Wanderer's truck. Vanessa turns to Raymond and grunts at his grip on her bicep.

"We don't need their help. Look where it's got us so far."

"Exactly, look where it's got us. They circulate business throughout the entire region. We can't afford to step on their toes."

"Don't step on their toes? So we should kiss their ass? What about when they're gunning us down in our sleep?" Vanessa hisses into Raymond's face.

She pushes him back into the vehicle, and he releases his grip on her arm to steady himself. Raymond glares back at Vanessa as he wipes stray bits of saliva off his chin.

"Leave it, Vanessa. They had nothing to do with Greg. It's just bad luck."

"What about the Mantis attacking Sia during one of our first checkpoints? They've been slowly loosening their guard to let all sorts of things slip," she whispers harshly at him before opening the driver's side door.

"Their men died too."

"This deal is worth more than a few hired hands, Ray. Tell me which one of their core members was killed?"

"…"

"They had night vision goggles for god's sake. Why didn't they spare us a pair?"

"I really think you're overthinking all of this. We can't even confirm the girl's people even exist."

Vanessa climbs up beside the front seat and looks down at Ray.

"Don't be a fool, Ray." She gets in and shuts the door before he can reply back.

Ray wipes a hand over his bald head and sighs. Shaking his head, He returns to the back of the vehicle to sit with Sia and their new travel companions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turner hops into the back of the truck. Sia looks up from checking the supplies that have been piled up along the back wall.

"He got me going back and forth between the entire caravan. Eli takes his position too seriously."

Sia puts down an MRE pack and turns fully to the mercenary.

"Hi. I'm Sia," she says and sticks her gloved hand out.

"Turner." He clasps her hand and squeezes for a moment.

Sia pulls her hand away and holds her hand behind her back; wiggling life back into her fingers.

'Aaaaaah. Maniac, what are you doing squeezing my hand to a pulp!'

"Haha. Nice to meet you," Sia says while backing away.

Turner chuckles at her cringing form and turns to the other new member. Blue Scarf effortlessly climbs in and sees the two.

"Hey, you're back again!" Sia says.

Ika nods and sits at the end seat, the farthest seat away from them all.

"I thought he'd send Priya with us. Aaaaaah Eli!" He lifts a fist into the air comically before gripping a knee, "Not that I don't enjoy your bright sunny presence, Ika."

"…"

Sia sits and turns back to supplies.

'Hmmm, so his name is Ika,' she thinks before going back to see what she should set to the side for herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They drive for a few days until they near a swampy area. They get out to search for wood and things to start a fire. Raymond and Vanessa decide to travel at the back as Turner and Ika lead them, Sia remains in the middle.

Keeping that formation, they walk into the muggy forest. Sia listens to the squelching mud and looks at the turbid water nearby; fearing to see those worms again. A tree branch caresses the back of her neck and she wildly slaps at it. Otherwise, it's a quiet trek.

Ika disappears at one point, and Sia calls out to Turner, "Hey, your friend's gone."

Turner smiles at her.

"It's fine. He noticed a trail and wanted to go try his hand at capturing some food for us."

Sia pictures the large squirrel and grasshoppers, and can't imagine what would be small enough for that teen to survive hunting and bring back. They carry some wood and kindling back, and when they get to where they parked the vehicle, it is gone. Turner doesn't seem phased.

"Ika must have found something and needed it to carry the game back."

"Or we were robbed," Sia mutters gazing at the muddy tire tracks.

Vanessa and Raymond are silently looking at each other. Raymond's grip tightens on his bat. Turner shrugs. They make camp nearby, and after the sun sets, the rumble of the truck is heard. A gutted and skinned rabbit corpse is tied up and held in the back of the truck on a piece of blue tarp. Ika hops out and starts at cutting up the giant critter.

"What?! You're like a Super Predator!! How can someone so...and...What?" Sia exclaims from behind Ika to Raymond.

Raymond chuckles at her before joining Ika. They eat as much as they can. Now Sia understands why she was given so much jerky by the Wanderers. With a large amount of meat given by one animal, there is a great amount to go around. Instead of trying to preserve the rest of the meat, Ika and Turner pile the excess on a tarp and disappear from camp.

When they leave, Sia asks Raymond why they just tossed the rest of the meat. He says that you can't live on rabbit meat for a long while. You'll starve regardless. Rabbit meat isn't made to live off of long-term.

"The healthy rations Eli gave should be enough for us to stay fed to Coldstone and back. Also, the food will distract some critters from wandering over to them in the night."

``~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turner smirks and licks his lips as he drags the tarp into a clearing. Ika walks in front of him holding his rifle tightly. He is paying a lot of attention to their dark surroundings.

Ika is in the habit of killing things to distract large predators from attacking. He hasn't brought a kill back to be actually eaten in a long while. The woman's awed voice definitely gave his ego a bit of a boost. Turner leers at Ika's back thinking of what the man's intentions might be.

'Ya old dog.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, so back to the plan. I think that I will have a chance to escape them if an animal comes after the group."

Sia is pacing back and forth around the wide conference room within the immersive mode.

A DISTRACTION WILL BE HELPFUL

UNKNOWN TERRAIN SUBTRACTS EFFICIENCY OF PLAN BY 9%

"I can't steal the keys, so yea. I'm stuck escaping on foot. I could become lost while using the bathroom. Like "Ooooh, where did I come from? I don't know. Maybe this direction?!""

Sia wraps her arms around herself and flutters her eyes while frowning at an imaginary person.

…...

She drops her hands and looks up at the ceiling.

"What? That doesn't seem genuine?"

NEGATIVE

ABSCONDING AT NIGHT LOWERS PROBABILITY BY 10%

"Well, I can just think of something in the moment. There are all sorts of things happening out here."

THE CLOSER WE TRAVERSE TO OUR FINAL DESTINATION

THE LOWER PROBABILITY OF SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE

"You're right. They can probably track us. That's what the apocalyptic travelers do in the movies. I need some way to escape from them in daylight without them suspecting I am trying to escape them."

SCANNING TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF NEW CINALIA...

"Something only a few miles outside of Coldstone."

LOCALIZING SEARCH...

POTENTIAL SITES FOUND

"OOH. Let me see."

A blue map appears in the air of the immersive room. Several purple marks are blinking on the map. Sia walks up to one of the points and taps it. The map transforms into a satellite image of the area.

"Wow. This one would be great if I could hold my breath for long. They said the entire area of Coldstone is a winter wonderland now. I might be able to walk this, but who knows for how long. What direction would we be coming from?"

A red and green line appears on the map.

RED LINE IS MOST PROBABLE ROUTE

GREEN LINE IS A PROBABLE ALTERNATE ROUTE

"Hmm, when you say you can enchant me-"

ENHANCE

"-does that include my organs? Can I hold my breath longer than usual?"

AFFIRMATIVE

Sia grins, "For exactly how long?"

YOUR HUMAN BODY WITH ITS' CURRENT PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES

CAN BE ENHANCED TO WITHHOLD AIR FROM ITSELF FOR 10 MINUTES AT A TIME

Sia's eyebrows raise and she rubs her hands together, "'Okay. I'm not confident in my swimming, so that's a strong plan B."

She pulls the map back to the other purple dots and taps a different one.

"Can I fly?"

NEGATIVE

"Okay. Next."

They plan long into the night and Sia becomes confident about being about to do either of the plan.

That morning when they are about ready to leave, Sia approaches Turner.

"I noticed your radio," she says, pointing at the walkie-talkie on his hip.

"Hmm, yea?" Turner smirks and sets a hand on his hip.

"I just wanted to know if you could tell Eli thanks for saving me back when that giant squirrel attacked me."

"Suuuuuure," Turner drawls out while cocking an eyebrow.

Turner climbs into the driver seat of the truck, and turns to Ika,"Sia seems to think Eli saved her from that rodent days past."

"…..." Ika watches out the side mirror for any signs of life.

Turner starts the truck and glances over at the smaller male. "I'm all for taking credit even when it isn't due, but if she's a part of a superior colony with connections with the outside world shouldn't you be cultivating a…" He leans forward on the steering wheel as he searches for the right words, "...an amicable business relationship with her?"

He grins triumphantly after he finds the correct elite-speak to express his idea.

Ika rolls his eyes at the Turner's imitation of Eli. Eli is the spokesperson and mediator for the nomadic mercenary squad. The older members leave all the vocal manipulation to him, and he flourishes with those sorts of tasks. Many people in the know understand that any threats made by him will be accomplished by the combined might of the gunmen he represents.

Ika pulls out a small sack of sunflower seeds and thinks about the idea as he pours some into his palm. After a few moments, He shrugs and slips some sunflower seeds into his mouth. As the truck drives off, he spits the shells out the window.