Chapter 6
Location: Red rocket gas station
(outskirts of the town of Republic)
We waited with inside the gas station as the truck grew closer, increasing our anxiety every minute. After me, Alex, and Lucy ran downstairs, we quickly armed up. Lucy went back up to the roof with John, both armed with hunting rifles, to act as lookouts and snipers in case things got bad. Meanwhile, the rest of us were positioned inside the gas station, armed with combat rifles, shotguns, and M4 carbines, pointed at the entrances, ready to take any slavers out.
Through the walkie-talkie, Lucy kept us informed on what was happening. She said that the truck looked like a old but large U.S Army supply transport. She could make out one person in the front, but couldn't get any more details after the truck pulled up under the part of the roof covering the gas pumps. After hearing this, I motioned for Roy to come with me out the opposite exit and flank them. I told everyone to not fire unless they shot first, before heading with Roy to check it out.
After reaching the front, I looked around to see what we were dealing with. What I saw slightly surprised me. I had been expecting a full party of raiders or slavers, ready to kick down the door. What I saw instead was an old man looking through the engine of his truck. He was wearing a checkered shirt and old overalls, complete with a small stenson on his head. He looked like he was in his mid-60's, and was likely a farmer of sorts.
After looking at each other, I decided to move forward and confront the man, motioning for Roy to go left. After getting to about 12 feet away, I spoke. "Put your hands in the air, now!"
After a bit of a pause the man sighed, putting down what looked like a wrench and saying "Take it easy there, son, we don't need to fight." The man turned around, looking at us with a true expression that said that no fight was needed. "What are you doing here, and is there anyone else with you?" I asked, motioning for Roy to look at the back of the truck.
"I needed to take a look at my engine, and I figured that I'd be nearby a place where it would be easy to repair it if need be, and that place was here, since it was the closest." He said without missing a beat, looking genuinely honest. "And I ain't got nobody back there, so you can stop looking." He added, looking at Roy who was looking inside the back. "Alright, I'll stop looking. Just some medical supplies make there anyway." He said, backing away.
I then looked at the old man and asked "Why do you have medical supplies?" The man looked conflicted for a few moments, but then sighed. "They're for my kids. A few days ago, we had heard that a new trading outpost had been set up to the north in a town called Malo. Me, my two sons, and my daughter all rode up there to check it out while my wife stayed to watch over the farm." The man pauses, taking a piece of cloth and dabbing it on his face, removing some of the sweet and dirt that had built up, before continuing.
"Well, it turned out that the rumor was true. A travelling merchant had settled down, and with some hired guards and some willing settlers, had set up a small trading village. Bad news was, we weren't the only ones who had found out. By the time we got there, the village was in ruins. After we saw that everyone had already been taken by the slavers who attacked, we started to head back home. However, we were ambushed along the way by a slaver patrol. They were likely looking for people who escaped the village attack, since I hadn't seen any patrols that big in the area before."
Before continuing, he paused, looking at us. I then realised that I and everyone else had tensed us. And by everyone else, I meant that everyone had was at least listening to the story by then. We stood there for a second in silence, and then I motioned the man to continue. Nodding, he continued his story.
"They came at us with on several motorcycles and were shooting all over the place. We shot back and got a few of them, but we were all hit." At this, he showed his left arm, which had a slightly bloody bandage wrapped around it. "I got the luckiest and was only grazed. My oldest son, however…" He looked sad before continuing sorrowly "My younger son got shot in the gut and my daughter in the leg. While we eventually managed to get away, we were very low on medical supplies due to most of it either being destroyed or fallen out during the chase. I managed to patch us up, but we lacked stimpacks. By the time we got back home, we were almost worn down to the bone. Luckily with my wife's help, we patched the kids up, but by then their wounds had become infected to the point where stimpacks wouldn't be able to help. So now I've spent the last two days looking for antibiotics or something that could cure them. However, the town hospital is overrun by ghouls, and any other places with medical supplies either don't have any of the things I need or have already been long expired." He finished, a sad expression on his face.
I could easily tell that the rest of us were saddened by the story too. As I was looking through our crowd, I saw Alex looking at me curiously. When he noticed I saw him, he motioned to himself and then over to the old man. I figured out what he wanted to do, and I figured it would be alright, so I gave him a nod, which he immediately took. Doing this, I confirmed that at least some of our group considered me the leader.
Walking over to the man, Alex said "Well sir, I may not be too familiar with bullet wounds, but if you would allowed it, I can help you heal up your children. We also got some antibiotics as well, so I should be able to purge the infection."
The man looked at him in wonder, and then to me. I then nodded, showing that our intentions were true. After that he said "Oh thank you, we should probably go now, my wife is expecting me soon." As we started to pack up our gear, I thought 'Why does everyone think I'm the leader!?'
We soon had everything packed up, and as we were about to head out the old man asked what our names were. I told mine and let everyone else say there own. Nodding, the old man said his name was George Ritz. After the brief conversation, we loaded up onto the vehicles, with Lucy and Dusk riding in the truck, the rest of us on the jeeps. We soon sped down the highway toward their farm, in our little convoy.
1 Hour later
We were driving along as George explained some things about the wasteland to us over the walkie talkies. From small things like what the typical settler might prefer as a weapon, to all the different kinds of mutated animals and which kinds didn't mutate.
As we were talking and driving, I looked across the land to our sides. On one side was a forest of mostly alive trees, dotted with the occasional pre or post war cabin or building. On the other side were plains and hills, stretching far away. Using binoculars, I could even slightly make out the shape of a lake. Looking in front of us, we saw a farm, likely George's, and after that was some of the outlying suburbs of Republic, with the town itself not too far away. "Well, here we are!" Hollered George, confirming that we were indeed at his farm. 'Well, this will be interesting' I thought as I jumped off.
