Chapter 4
Dangerous territory
We stopped at the city limits where a nice, blue Mercedes was waiting. I didn't even know these cars still existed, let alone that one would be in this good of condition.
We got out of the truck.
"Jonny, Kyle, you take the Mercedes." Billy commanded.
"Wait," I asked. "Where are we going, exactly?"
"I have a contact waiting for me in New Hope." Billy explained. "He knows a little bit about Justin, can give us information that can help."
New Hope. That was a danger zone, at least for me. New hope was crawling with Wasteland Mafia recruiters. If they found out I was thereā¦
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.
"What's the matter, tough guy?" Jonny taunted. "Scared of all the little newbie's? Afraid one of them is going to get a little rough?"
I ignored Jonny, knowing that if I gave in to his idiocy, I'd be giving him exactly what he wanted.
"Billy, you know that place will be infested with recruiters from Wasteland Mafia, and in case you haven't forgotten, I'm still a wanted man."
Billy sighed. "Yes, Carter, I know, I haven't forgotten. But this is the only place my contact can meet us. It's the safest place for any of us, and the last place Wasteland Mafia would expect you to show up."
I could see that he had a point. Why would I even think of showing up at a place where there would be nothing but newbie's who didn't know me, or even care, a place where the only powerful people would be the ones that wanted me dead. It was ridiculous, and it was that fact that made it prefect, that they wouldn't be expecting me.
But only if I showed up alone, and I pointed this out to Billy.
"You think I haven't taken this into account? You think I didn't realize that it would be unwise to show up without attracting unwarranted attention? Well I have, Carter, I'm not a fool. Why do you think I' having us take two separate vehicles. We're going to arrive at different intervals, at different locations, then meet up at the rendezvous point, the bar. Come to think of it, Domonik, you go with Kyle and Jonny."
"Aw come on!" Domonik whined like a three year old. "You guys are going to get there first, I wanna get a little fun in before working." He looked over at Christine and winked. Christine ignored him.
"Dom, that's an order." Billy said calmly.
"Really? I thought he was in charge." Domonik smugly motioned to me.
"Dom," I repeated in Billy's same calm tone. "That's an order."
Domonik shot me a dangerous look and I returned the glare. Unfortunately for him, no one could stare me down. Domonik growled and got in the care with the other mercenaries. I could see Christine trying, unsuccessfully, to hide a smile.
"Come on," Jonny said. "We got the fun ride. They got the beat up old piece of crap they call a truck." They sped away, showing off as they rounded the corner on the dusty road.
Someone sighed next to me. I turned to see Christine, her hands on her hips. "They are so childish, it's not even funny. At least Tom has a sense of decency."
"Yeah, well, you can't expect everyone to be perfect. Especially mercenaries." I turned to Tom. "No offense."
"No problem." He responded. "I'm not even a merc anyway. I owe a debt to Christine, here, and I plan to pay it by keeping her alive."
"Well," Billy said, cutting of my next question. "We gotta get rolling. We have to get to New Hope before those morons do. They could ruin the whole operation, if left unchecked.
We all got back in the truck, this time with Christine at the wheel, and Billy riding shotgun.
The ride to New Hope was relatively boring and uneventful. No one talked for most of the way, and the silence was almost deafening.
"So," I said, trying to break the silence. "Who is this guy we're meeting?"
"He's a friend of mine, we go way back." Billy responded shortly.
They way he said friend told me there was a little bad blood between them.
"Do you trust him?" I asked.
"Of course not. But he's all we have."
After that, we continued on in silence.
After a few minutes, I could see the gates of New Hope. The first leg of a dangerous journey.
Hopefully, the city name was a sign, a good omen.
Because, right now, I needed all the hope I could get.
