Chapter 2: The Birth of The Hub - Part 3

Chapter Summary: Whilst on the run from General Bethlehem, Angus and Killian find some old vehicles with clothes in them. Thanks to these clothes, as they come across a settlement, Angus gets an idea for them to get some food, water and a bath.

(A New World Saga - Part 3)

22nd of May 2093 - Oregon:

It was late evening, and Angus and Killian were travelling across an old forest road, trying to keep away from General Bethlehem and his men. Both were injured and sore, hoping to find a house or some sort of settler to heal their injuries. It didn’t help that they were covered with undergrowth and dotted with saplings, seeing how no one had taken care of this road all these years. This alone wouldn’t be too bad, but they also had to watch out for killer plants and other mutated creatures, like Bloatflys, huge flies, and the Hogs, huge, mutated boars which were bigger and tougher than normal ones and had thicker fur and extra tusks around their head, something one wouldn’t want to face. Then there were the few feral ghouls that were in the forest.

Now, walking through the forest wasn’t too bad if they kept clear of these things, even with their injuries and torn clothing. Although Angus was trying to rub himself to stay warm thanks to falling into the river, whilst Killian had some torn clothing from his clothes to stop the bleeding on his shoulders. Both were hoping to find somewhere to get some clear warm clothing, even somewhere where they could heal up. When they thought things couldn’t get worse, it began to rain. Now, if it was normal rain things wouldn’t be too bad, but with the skies turning green and lightning and thunder happening, it was a sign of a radiation storm was coming because of all the radiation still around.

This was alarming, whilst their clothing and gas masks would protect them for a while, if they didn’t find some sort of settler soon, they wouldn’t last the night.

Thankfully though, it was Killian that spotted two unnatural shapes ahead of them, just off the road around the trees. These were two huge square shapes, covered with thick mud, moss and branches. Hoping that there was some sort of settler underneath all this, they began to pull the stuff off one of the odd square shapes.

As they removed the mud and such, they saw the back door of an old van with the Commonwealth postal office symbol and the Commonwealth flag on it. With enough mud, moss and branches being removed, they were able to open the back door. As they got in clearing the spiderwebs out of the way, they saw that the van was full of old mail and packages, and in the front, they came face-to-face with death. A skeleton sits inside, the skull facing. Angus and Killian

With the things that they have faced since the Great War, neither of them jumped. They just stare at it. A hypothermic shiver went through Angus’s body. Seeing this, Killian pulled off the nice dry jacket from the skeleton, and put it over Angus as he said, “Wear this and I’ll see what I can find in the packages.”

As Angus put the warm, dry jacket on, he felt someone in the inside pocket. As he pulled the item out, he found it was a flask and tried to open it.

But the cap won’t budge. He twists, prices, and bangs the neck of the steering wheel until at last, it gives and opens. He takes a long, hard swallow. The warming fire streams down his throat.

“Do you want some?” Angus asked Killian, as he handed the flask over.

“Thanks.” said Killian, taking the flask and taking a long, hard swallow too.

Here, Angus began to gather some of the bike magazines that were from one of the packages and started a fire to get some heat coming into the van. As he did, Killian opened a box and threw a towel over to Angus to dry himself off with. “Thanks.” said Angus as he began to dry himself off, as Killian opened a few more packages. Thankfully, he was able to find some medical supplies which allowed Killian to treat his gunshot shoulder.

Bored, Angus grabs a random letter and reads it aloud.

“Jerry Ball, Pine View.” said Angus as he started to open it, he looked at the skeleton and shrugged, “So, arrest me.”

“Hah?” asked Killian.

“Oh nothing, not used to having a real person to talk to,” explained Angus, “normally, I talked to my mule Bill, myself or some random item or skeleton.”

“Ah, I see.” said Killian, understanding where Angus came from. As he met people like the wanderer, who felt it was better to be alone and because of this, began to talk to whoever or whatever they come across just to talk to someone, and forget if the person they were talking to was real or not. So, Killian wasn’t bothered by this. But still, “Are you sure you should be reading these letters?” asked Killian.

“I don’t see why not,” Angus explained, “it’s not like these people are alive, and even if they were, it’s been about sixteen years since anyone gotten any post. So, it’s not like they are expecting it if they were alive.”

“I know, but it still feels wrong somehow.” Killian told his companion, as he passed the flask back to Angus.

“Maybe, maybe not, but we have to do something until the storm stops.” shrugged Angus, not really bothered by what is right or wrong, “So, what better way than to read a few letters or magazines to pass our time, for me, the letters could be more interesting than some boring old magazine.” than to change the subject, he asked, “Is there any food in these packages, I’m hungry.”

“I’ll have a look.” said Killian, as he looked through the packages, hoping to find some food, seeing how he too was hungry.

As Darkwater was opening a box, which was full of paper, pencils and the like, Angus read the letter he opened aloud, “Here’s a piece of good news. Jerry decided to go to school to get his contractor’s license. Boring...” said Angus and he threw it into the fire and opened another, this one was written in crayon and by the scrawl a child written it, smiling thinking it would be interesting to see what a child would write, he read aloud, “Little Jimmy wants his grandpa to know he lost a tooth.”

As Angus turns the envelope over in his palm. A tiny tooth falls out. Looking at it and thinking about the child and how the child could be dead, he suddenly isn’t as amusing as he first thought. He puts it back in the envelope and put the envelope into his pocket.

Sighing he culled up into a ball and got closer to the fire for heat.

Seeing this, Killian asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be okay,” admitted Angus then with a sigh he said, “not really. Thought it would be interesting to read the letter, here are stories of other people before the war and the like. But reading that child’s letter, made it not so interesting. It made me think about how many children died during the Great War. Adults, I’m fine with reading about them dying, we’re meant to die before the children, but children? They are meant to outgrow us and have a full happy life, but thanks to the Great War, I don’t want to think about it.”

Killian sighed at this. He could fully understand what Angus was getting at. He knew many children over the years who died before their time thanks to the Great War. Either by the beasts that appeared after the war or because of an illness they were born with because of the war and died at birth or painfully over the next few years of their lives after being born. It was too much for even him to think about.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to think about it for long, he opened a box full of canned food, which he was happy to find. Sure, with their food loaded with preservatives, most food can last for longer than it normally would. But, in normal packaging, they still go out of date after a few years if you’re not careful, but with canned food, if they aren’t opened in any way, they can last for hundreds of years.

Removing the cans from the package, Killian found some cooking pots with handles, a can opener, and some plastic cutlery. There was also a letter in there. It would seem that someone had sent this to their family who was planning to go camping but because they didn’t have the money and wanted to do something for their kids, they asked a family member to send something to them so that they could take their children camping and this was it.

“Grubs up.” said Killian as he threw a tin of beans to Angus.

“Thanks.” said Angus as he caught the beans, as Killian threw the can opener and pot at him, then opening the last package there, Killian found two warm blankets for them to use. Whilst there were some good finds, Angus wished for some clean clothes to wear.

“So, Angus, you’re some sort of illusionist L’Cie, so why didn’t you try to escape the camp before today?” Killian asked in interest, as he passed a blanket to Angus, who wrapped himself up in it.

“Honestly, didn’t have the chance to do so.” explained Angus, “I didn’t know if they had what I call Sentinel L’Cies, those who have the power to detect people who try to hide themselves in one form or another. It would be stupid to use my power when I didn’t know if I was going to be caught or not. If I used my power and got caught, they would either kill me or try and control me somehow. So, it was for the best to hide my ability until I was sure I could escape.”

“Makes sense.” admitted Darkwater, understanding not to give away an ace if you don’t have to until you know you could win. “Can I ask, have you ever tried to use it in fighting?”

“No, I haven’t.” MacGill told Killian, “As I said on my first day at that damn camp, I’m not a fighter. Unless I have no other option, I would prefer to use my powers to hide or escape than to fight. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll fight if I must, but it would be my last resort as if there was no other way to get out of fighting.”

Killian had to admit, from what he knew of Angus in the last months that he knew the man, he wasn’t the type to fight if he had to. Sure, he trained hard, but as Angus explained, that’s only so that if he was forced to fight, he could have a better chance to win. Otherwise, he would prefer to hide or find a way out of a fight. At the time, Killian thought he was kidding or something, as why else would someone train so hard for? But now, with just the two of them, no reason to lie, he started to believe Angus that he would prefer to hide or find an escape than to fight.

“So, would you run or hide if someone needs your help?” Killian asked Angus, wanting to know the type of person he was with, so he could decide what to do next.

“Honestly it depends on the situation.” explained Angus, seeing the concerned look on Killian, Angus went on to explain, “Listen, I’m no hero, in this new world, more than often not, being a hero would get you killed or create problems for themselves later on. However, whilst I might not have many morals, seeing whatever I do is for my own benefit, I do have a few. So, if I see trouble close by and the risk isn’t too great to me, I’ll try to help, otherwise, unless they are close to me, I let things happen.”

“But you have great power, I can’t see why you can’t help them.” Killian told Angus.

“So?” Angus questioned with interest, “What about you, would you help someone who you don’t know?”

“I don’t know.” admitted Killian before countering, “But I don’t have any powers, so I would be killed if I tried to fight someone.”

“So, because I have power, I should help everyone?” Angus countered, “Why should I? As I said, I’m no hero, just a wanderer who does whatever I have to get by. I lie, cheat, and do whatever else to get by each day. If people like you aren’t willing to help others, why should I? Sure, you might not have powers, but it doesn’t mean you can’t help someone, as not everyone is powerful or skilled. And there are other ways to help someone, you just need to find what it is. It’s not like I’m the only one with powers. In this world, I’ve found that everyone looks out for themselves, which is what I’m doing.”

Killian hated to admit it, but Angus was right, why should someone like Angus help anyone? As he said, he was just a wanderer, doing whatever it takes to get by, it’s not like it is his job to help people, he wasn’t a hero. And like Angus said, others had powers who could help people but not, even him, Killian, could help people seeing as Angus pointed out, not everyone had powers. But instead, he keeps a low profile too. Killian began to realize that he had no right to ask someone to do something if he wasn’t willing to do anything either.

Seeing it was best to change the subject, Killian asked, “So, what are your plans now?”

“The same as before, travel the land and go to settlements when I need anything.” Angus informed Killian, “The only thing that has changed is that I now must keep an eye out for Bethlehem and his people. But what about you? What are your plans? In fact, what were you doing in that settlement that Bethlehem caught as at?”

“I prefer not to say much, but I was at the settlement in the hopes to start a new life for myself.” explained Killian, not wanting to talk about his past. Angus was more than understanding, as he didn’t want to talk about his past either. Then, Killian continued to say, “As for my plans, I don’t have any right now other than keeping a low profile for a while so as not to meet Bethlehem and his people. Hmm...” hummed Killian as he got an idea, “Listen, Angus, would you mind if I join you for a bit?”

Angus had to think about this, normally he would say no, as he preferred to be away from people. But the truth is that with Bill dead, he had no one to talk to. So, to have Killian along until he finds another suitable companion would be ideal for him, as he would have someone to talk to. But then it would be a person, someone who might not like the way he does things to get what he needs.

“Can you give me at least tonight to think about it?” asked Angus.

“Sure, I have no problem with that, take as long as you want.” Killian told the wanderer, happy that he was willing to think about it, instead of out flat telling him no. At least there was some hope. If Angus agreed, he would have some protection until he could decide what to do next.

“Thanks,” Angus thanked the man, before moving towards the front, “if you don’t mind, I’m going to get some rest.”

“That’s fine, I’m going to do that too.” said Killian as he put out the fire, to not allow the fire to get out of control whilst they slept.

o0OoO0o

26th of May 2093 - Oregon, Pine View:

It has been a few days since the radiation storm and during that time, they spent reading the magazines that were in the packages and playing card games with a pack of cards that they found in one of the letters in the van. On the early morning of the third day of the storm, it stopped. When they left the van, Angus put on the dead postman’s outfit, seeing how it was cleaner and warmer than the clothing he was wearing.

Then, they checked the other covered square shape, to see what that was hiding. They found it was a security. It had some armour and weapons within it, they also found the dead security guard too. Here, Killian took the clothes off the dead security guard and put them on. Once that was done, they decided to use the armour too, knowing the dangers facing them, they needed all the protection that they can get. Angus decided to use some basic leather armour that was in the van, whilst Killian used some combat armour.

As for weapons, there were a few of them, but Angus decided he would only use a magical laser pistol that was in there, as he was happy with his dagger but knew he might need a ranged weapon. For Killian, he decided to have three weapons, a magical laser pistol and a rifle, and lastly a shotgun.

They believed that seeing how they helped them in their hour of need, the skeleton should have a proper burial. So, Angus and Killian dug them a grave and thanked them for being there for them. Then, looking round to see if they could take the weapons and armour with them so that they could trade with them later, they were able to find an old cart in the forest that looked like it was pulled by horses in the past.

So, placing the armour, weapons, and ammo into the cart, along with some of the letters and stuff from the poster van, to start a fire if needed, they left the area by pulling the cart. As they walked, they came across a fork in the road, with an old sign pointing them to two options for the two of them to go: the first was Pine View watch was thirty-two miles from them. The second option was Ridgemont which was over two hundred miles away from them.

Seeing how the two needed food, items that they lost and the like, the option was easy for the two to decide. Taking a road to a town which would take them at least a week to get there, to a town which would only take them about a day, they decided to go to Pine View.

As they got near the town, looking down from the r they found that to get to the town, they had to cross a bridge. As for the town itself, the two men saw it was protected by a tall, gate and a long palisade, just like a fort in the old western movies. Above the gate, was a gatehouse, which they saw people passing the window every so often.

Seeing the small town, Killian asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

“Two options, first off we try and sell the weapons and armour that we found.” explained Angus, seeing how they have something to sell at the time, it was best to start off with that. “If that doesn’t work, we can pretend that the government has been restored and that I’m the new postman for the area.”

“What? You would lie to them about such a thing?” asked Killian, not liking the idea of giving people false hope.

“Yes, I would.” admitted Angus, “As I told you, I would lie, cheat, and do whatever else to get by each day. Lying about people coming when they aren’t, that wouldn’t be the first time I did so.”

Killian did remember, but still didn’t like the idea. “I have to ask; how do you get away with it? How do you lie so easily?”

“I don’t always get away with lying,” admitted Angus, “I have been run out of a few villages a few times, and so needed to use my illusions to get back in by changing how I look. As for how I lie so easily. That’s simple, I put as much truth into my lies as I can.”

“Putting in some truth in the lie?” Killian asked in confusion.

“I know it is confusing, but yeah, by doing so makes it hard to know the lie.” explained Angus, “I know it is hard to understand, I sometimes find it hard to believe, but I find that lying is easier if you put in some truth. Your name, the place where you are from, or certain information that you might have picked up, are all that can help sell a lie. Like with you and me. The truth is that we only met recently and that I saved you. But the lie could be about how I saved you, instead of saving you from a man, I could save you from a mutated animal. And I could leave out the fact that we were part of the Holnist for a short while. This means I would be telling the truth but at the same time telling a lie.”

Killian couldn’t believe how easy it was for Angus to tell a lie to someone, by telling the truth but leaving out certain facts or altering the truth a bit. So, in doing so, tell the truth but at the same time lie. He had to wonder if this was a skill that Angus picked up as a performer, or if he was good at performing because he can lie and tell the truth. It was like what came first, the chicken or the egg.

“Now, before we leave, I have to change our looks a bit.” explained Angus.

“Why?” asked Killian, not too sure why they would need to do such a thing.

“Just in case that asshole Bethlehem comes looking for us or sends someone to look for us.” explained Angus, “Right now, a black man and a white man together would send alarms to the general and so would send people in the area looking for us. And with how the man is, even two black men aren’t safe either.”

Killian didn’t like the idea of this, but he could see where Angus was coming from. With how Bethlehem and the rest of the Holnists acted around blacks, if they heard one was around here, they would more than likely hunt them down and kill or enslave them. So, he just nodded at this.

So, using his powers, Angus made himself look slightly older with scars on his face. As for Kilian, he made him look like he was slightly younger, tanned than fully white, and give him a scar across his right eye. Angus also used his powers to hide the number eight symbol on their right shoulder, so that no one would know they were connected to the Holnists.

Once they were done, needing the new stuff, they went down the road and cross the bridge. As they cross the bridge, they saw the town sign with the population on it. It started off with one thousand. But that had a line going through it, it looked like over the years there were lots of deaths, the first deep drop the town to five hundred, then over the years more and more people died and lowering the population until now, which was one hundred and fifty.

When they arrived at the gate, Angus called out, “Greetings, Pine View, Oregon!”

As he called out two sentries came out of the gatehouse, one from the right side and the other from the left. One was armed with a modded crossbow, whilst the other had a shotgun.

“Just head back the way you came.” said the sentry with the crossbow, then, seeing the chart with armour and weapons, he went on to say, “Pine View ain’t buying, trading nor we’re not listening, and we don’t give charity.”

Angus sighed at this, he suspected this might happen, but was hoping that it wouldn’t and that he could trade here. This meant he would have to lie, it wasn’t something he wasn’t willing to do, but with Killian, with him, he wanted to do things carefully. But they needed food, water, and other supplies, so he needed to get in and get what they needed no matter what, even if it was only something to eat and drink, that would be better than nothing.

With no other option here, he stood tall and said with authority, “Whilst it’s true that I’m here to trade, I’m here on official business. I demand entry into the town of Pine View.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” the sentry with the shotgun demanded as he aimed the gun at Angus and Killian.

“I’m through talking to you two, buddy boy!” Angus said playing things cool, wanting to show he wasn’t going to take shit from these guys, “Now get somebody with authority to open this gate!”

With a nod from the shotgun guy, the crossbow sentry left and rang a bell. A few moments later, a man with a semi-bald head came up, Angus could tell that this man was a no-nonsense man.

“I’m Sheriff Briscoe. Who the hell are you?” asked the man now known as Sheriff Briscoe. As the sheriff turned to face Angus, he could see the sheriff’s badge, so Angus knew he wasn’t lying.

“I’m a representative of the United States Government.” Angus began to lie. Killian didn’t say anything, as he wanted to see how Angus would deal with this and how good he was at lying. “Authorized by order 417 of the restored Congress to re-establish a communication route to Idaho and lower Oregon.”

“What does that mean in English?” asked the sheriff.

“I’m your postman!” explained Angus, hoping the man would believe his lie.

But it wasn’t to be, the sheriff had a look of are you shitting me, as he wasn’t believing this for one moment. So, ordering one of his men on the wall, “Hand me your gun.” a man handed the sheriff his gun, who was ready to shoot Angus.

Thinking quickly, Angus quickly made up a few things, “Understand that tampering with or obstructing the mail is a federal offence. Furthermore, the Bolin Act requires you to provide all mail carriers with sanctuary and food.”

“You two got three seconds to get your ass outta here.” Briscoe told Angus, not wanting this man in his town, and causing problems for them.

“Do you know Jerry the contractor?” asked Angus, remembering a name from the letters that he read a few days ago.

Briscoe pumped his shotgun and aimed it at Angus.

Killian was ready to run, as he didn’t think that Angus’s lie was going to work.

“Wait! I’m going to get something out of my bag.” said Angus as he ran to the cart and opened the postal bag, hoping as he frantically shuffled through the letters. Hoping that one of these letters belonged to someone here.

“One!” Briscoe began to count.

“Paul Davis! 124 Vernon Street!” Angus called out.

“Never heard of him. Two!” Briscoe called out.

’Damn it.’ Angus thought to himself as he looked for another letter for this town. It would seem that Davis was dead or left before this sheriff got into town.

“Lois Kent! 14 Weymoth Lane!” Angus called out another name as he found another letter.

“Three!” Briscoe simply called out, not bothering to say anything else.

’Fuck, another one either dead or left.’ Angus thought to himself worried, ’This is my last chance.’ was Angus’s last thought as he fumbles for the last letter as Briscoe takes aim at him.

“Irene March! 478 River Road!” called out Angus.

This time, there was absolute stunned silence. Like a switch was thrown. Then, the crowd started to make some noise as they talked about this Irene March. It would seem that for Angus, the third time was the charm.

“Did he say my name?” Angus heard someone say across the wall, as the gate opened. Angus could already feel the hope in the town building. He hated himself for doing this like he often did, but he knew he had to do this to survive. So like always, he pushed this feeling aside.

As he entered the town, he saw a group of people helping a lady in her late fifties towards him. From the looks of things, she was blind. Angus had an awful feeling this was Irene March.

“Oh, no...” Angus muttered to himself, feeling guilty. It was one thing for him to con someone healthy and fit, but to do so with someone who was disabled, made him feel worse. But it was too late now, there was nothing he could do unless he wanted to be run out of town and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

The small group stopped the blind woman in front of him. She stares off just to his left, a little afraid. Then she said, making Angus feel bad as she confirmed his worst fears, “I’m Irene March.”

“I have a letter for you.” Angus informs the blind lady as he presses the letter into her hands, feeling uncomfortable about his actions. Killian saw this and realized that Angus was having problems here. But was forced to keep going to get what they needed.

The problem was that Irene wouldn’t take the letter.

”Would you read it?” asked Irene.

”I’m sure it’s personal.” Angus told the blind lady, feeling uncomfortable reading someone else’s letter.

“Please. Someone has to.” Mrs. March told Angus.

“I’ll do it for you mum.” said a lady next to March.

As Irene’s daughter opens the envelope, Angus said, “At the moment I’m searching and delivering the old stockpiles, but I’m willing to accept all new correspondence as well.”

“Dear Irene. Sorry I haven’t written for a while.” Irene’s daughter began to read the letter, “Everything has been so crazy. The war. The food shortages. That farmer Nathan Holn causing all that trouble.” when Angus heard the name Holn, he almost cursed the man’s name seeing how the former farmer formed Holnist. But hearing about him being a farmer, Angus felt that this letter was lost for a while before the Great War. Either way, after learning a bit about this bastard Holn, Angus continued to listen to Irene’s daughter read the letter, “It’s hard to understand. David’s home from the Army. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you would see it, he was injured during the war and was sent home. Thank God for that. He’s still my baby no matter how big he gets. We’re going to miss you for Christmas, but maybe next year. All our love. Donna.”

With the letter finished, Irene reaches out a trembling hand to take the letter.

“My sister used to live in Denver. Sixteen years ago, before the Great War destroyed it.” Irene explained crying, making Angus feel even worse, “Thank you. I always wanted to hear from her at least one last time, and thanks to you I have. I can rest happy now.”

The townspeople erupt with excitement, finally getting some news, even if it was old news. To them, old news was better than no news. Mrs. March takes Angus’s hand and clasps it tightly as she said, “Once again thank you, you’re a Godsend. A saviour.”

Angus pulls his hand back as he rejects the title. Not feeling like he really earned it.

“You got it wrong, I’m no, listen, I’m just a postman.” explained Angus, “I’m just doing my job.”

An almost awesome silence. Too much for Angus, so he said, “Listen, my friend and I have been on the road a while. We could use a little something to eat.”