From the crest of the hill above the Bunker, Aloy could clearly see the trail she and Cary had taken just the night before. Even though the sun was still low in the Eastern sky, the air was warm and the patches of short grass and soil about her seemed to be emitting heat. She knew it was going to be a hot day, despite the fact that this was late winter, and it was likely snowing back home in the Savage East. To the south were low clouds, puffy white and brown, seeming to boil up from the land. A wind was picking up from the south, moving the blades of grass and dots of weeds on the otherwise barren hillside. A storm may be brewing. Far to the north a wisp of smoke rose lazily, possibly from the settlement where they had stopped to eat, or perhaps from a Bandit Camp, such as Skulldriver Bandit Nation.
She followed the trail northward toward the abandoned building where she was to meet the Bandit Killer Paintface. As she set out on the journey, she tried the bit of the processed food the guard had stashed away for her. It proved uninteresting, a plant-textured paste with some kind of milky substance acting as a glue to keep it all packed tightly. She looked forward to passing through the settlement once more and stopping for a drink and a serving of stew.
It was early evening when Aloy reached the abandoned building. Her Focus showed it empty, and no signs of human life appeared anywhere in her scan. She was not yet willing to trust Paintface completely, so she chose to find a patch of tall grass outside the building where she could sit and use her Banuk wrap to fend off the increasingly stiff wind. If the rendezvous were a trap, she wouldn't make it easy for the Bandits to pull off.
She sat quietly for hours, listening for any signs of life and hearing none. She was sure she heard the mechanical whirs and clanks of Machines once or twice, but her Focus revealed nothing, so she remained, hiding outside the dark building, dozing at times.
Faint voices from the distance, down the hill on the far side of the building, roused Aloy from her half-slumber. She sat in her makeshift nest in the grass and activated her Focus. Three humans approached, none of them trying very hard to be quiet. Two were identified as hostile Bandits, the third as Paintface, and friendly.
With the help of her Focus, Aloy could make out the conversation. It seemed to be between Paintface and a male Bandit, as the third member of the party lagged several steps behind.
"…I think this is the place!" Paintface was saying as she walked toward the dark building. "Let me go in first and I'll see if she's there. You can watch for Machines or people around here – this is a popular rest stop."
"Okay, but if you're not out in ten minutes, we're coming in," the male responded. He and the third Bandit stopped, as Paintface continued to walk up the shallow hill to the building.
Aloy waited until Paintface was in the building, then she deactivated her Focus, gathered her possessions, and moved, slowly and quietly, toward the open doorway. She listened for any sign that the two Bandits outside the building were on the move.
"Aloy? Are you here?" Paintface whispered in the dark. "Aloy?"
As she reached the doorway, Aloy answered, lance in hand, "yes, I'm here."
"Oh! Oh, sorry, you startled me. I thought I'd see some sign from you. But it's good that you didn't start a fire – my companions would have been even more suspicious than they already are."
"I thought you'd come alone," Aloy commented.
"Not possible," Paintface replied with a sigh. "Skulldriver had lots of questions about you, and even though I told him I'd be safe, I don't think he trusted me. I had to talk to those two guys outside all the way about how you wouldn't come out if you saw them.
"Look, we don't have much time, so here's the story: I convinced Skulldriver that you were a rogue Bandit, looking for a tribe to join, after your own tribe was wiped out by Raiders. We've got to make you look the part fast – we've only got a few minutes."
"Uh, wait," Aloy objected, "this doesn't sound right to me. I don't want to look like a Bandit – I've been wiping out Bandit tribes in my homeland, and I have no love for Bandits, nor they for me, so –"
"I understand that," Paintface interjected, "really I do, but if you go walking into the camp looking like… well, like you … the Bandits will do something we'll both regret. Everyone's heard the stories of the fire-haired Bandit killer and Machine tamer from the Savage East, and boy, you're exactly what we all picture! So we've got to make you look like a Bandit, quickly."
"I think I'm losing interest in this whole adventure, Paintface. Maybe we should call this off? If you want me to meet your leader, just tell him we can talk someplace neutral, one-on-one."
"No, please," Paintface was breaking down, her voice quivering. This woman has some real emotional issues, Aloy thought, she can cry at will. This still sounds like a bad idea, but…
A quality Aloy possessed, whether inherited from the DNA of Dr. Sobeck or the upbringing by Rost, was an almost unhealthy level of curiosity. Her instincts had protected her from her natural curiosity so far, but she was having doubts about this entire scheme. Still, the chance to infiltrate a Bandit camp in the Forbidden West… what might she find?
Aloy succumbed. "Okay," she said with a sigh, "let's do this. What do I need to do?"
"Well, first we have to get rid of that red hair…"
"What? What do you mean, 'get rid of'?"
"I mean, I brought a sharp knife and I'm going to shave your head…"
"No you're not! I'm not vain about my hair or anything, and if it were life or death, then okay, but I think we can find a better solution than my going bald!"
"No, this is the only way. Look, I'll just shave the sides of your head. You can keep a patch on top that we'll hide with a scarf I brought. I have some lampblack that we'll rub on the sides of your head, so the red roots will look black, but we can't cover all your fiery hair with this stuff.
"Now hold really still – it's hard to see in the dark, and I'd rather not remove an ear if I can avoid it. I'm going to do this by feel…"
"Why do you think cutting my hair will work? Do you really think I'm dressed like a Bandit?"
"No problem, I have some old Bandit garb with me. I don't think it's ever been washed, so it should have a... distinctive... odor that will cover your scent."
"Um, my scent?" Aloy asked as she attempted to stand perfectly still: she could faintly see the knife as it lopped off her braids and began to slice off chunks of her red hair.
"Aloy, we're Bandits," Paintface explained as she continued to shear Aloy's flowing hair. "You smell too… clean… to be a Bandit. Uncontaminated water is hard to find here, so we don't get to bathe or wash our clothes very often. Your scent is too good to be a Bandit's."
Aloy wanted to object once again to the entire plan – but as Paintface moved about her, lopping off hair and pulling the knife blade upward along her head, she was interrupted by a voice from outside.
"Hey, Paintface, we're comin' in!"
Paintface jumped at the sound of the male voice. "Oh, my," she said as she stopped shaving Aloy's head,"I'm sorry, I think I might have nicked you! Hopefully it won't bleed too much."
Aloy had bigger concerns at the moment: what would the Bandits say when they found her, half-bald, but still wearing her Shield Weave armor and holding her lance?
Paintface called out to the Bandit, "Just a minute! She's here, but she's … busy … at the moment. Girl stuff. Don't come in, I'll be right out!"
"Okay, one more minute, that's all!" the male voice answered.
Paintface stowed her knife and reached into a pouch tied around her waist. She found Aloy's hand and slipped something into it. "This is the lampblack," Paintface whispered. "You'll have to smear it on your head. It's really dark, so if you miss a spot no one will notice tonight.
"I just dropped a package next to you. It's got your Bandit garb, including the scarf to tie over your head. I recommend you leave all your other belongings here – bring your lance, and maybe one bow and some arrows, but no other clothing, because Bandits travel light. Hide them in here if you can find a place. I'll go out and buy you a few more minutes, but then you'd better be ready to go!"
Aloy thought she'd hated this whole plan from the outset, but now she really hated it. Pretending to be a practitioner of a cutthroat and deadly lifestyle, a lifestyle she despised… losing almost all her hair… dressing in smelly Bandit clothes… leaving her treasured weapons and clothing, especially her armor… to infiltrate a Bandit camp where she stood a good chance at being caught… why did she ever say yes?
"Come on out!" a male voice shouted from outside the building. Aloy was in the process of ditching the last of her clothing, wrapped in her Banuk fur, under a pile of weeds in a far corner of the building. She hurriedly pulled on a pair of pants that was too big for her, stuck her arms through the tattered sleeves of a shirt that was bare at the midriff and definitely too large, as she realized that there was no footwear in the bundle – she'd have to wear the boots from her Shield Weave armor and hope no one noticed.
Aloy pulled the neckerchief over her red hair and tied it in back, hoping it really covered what was left of her hair. As she exited the building, she smeared handfuls of lampblack on either side of her head. For good measure, she rubbed a bit of it onto her cheeks as well: maybe this will help hide the freckles.
She could see the starlit outline of the three Bandits, standing together, just feet from the entrance, Paintface looking fidgety and nervous off to the right of the two men.
"Guys," Paintface said with an obviously nervous quiver in her voice, "this is the Bandit… uh… I don't know… what's your name?"
"Red Devil," answered Aloy: she really wasn't very good at pretending to be someone she wasn't and that was the best she could do on the spot.
"Red Devil? Red Devil?" one of the men chuckled. "What the heck kind of a name is that? Doesn't strike fear in me, I can tell ya that."
"Red," Aloy replied, thinking as she spoke, "because I like to see the red blood of my victims when I slit their throats, and Devil because I can do it to anyone at any time. Want a demonstration?" Aloy took a step toward the man, unsure if he was aware of the move in the near-total darkness.
"N-no, I… I didn't mean anything by it," the man stammered.
Paintface had regained her composure –assisted in part by the role Aloy had assumed. "We'd better get going. Skulldriver wants to meet the Devil tonight."
A rustling noise from somewhere in the distance drove them to silence. Instinctively, Aloy reached for the Focus at her temple, then realized that she didn't dare use it: the device emitted a noticeable glow when activated, and she was certain these Bandits would be suspicious. Instead, she placed her hand over the Focus and gently pulled it from her temple, closed her hand around it, and tucked it into the ammo pouch she wore on a leather strap about her waist.
"Bandits? Or Machines?" a high-pitched voice whispered. Aloy assumed it was the second male Bandit, speaking for the first time.
"Probably human," the first Bandit whispered back, "come here to settle in for the night. They can't be from our camp, we're the only scouts assigned to this area."
"Can't tell how many, but maybe we should do something about them. Can't have them follow us."
"Right. You all stay here, I'm going to go through the brush on the right and see if I can get a head count." This Bandit was clearly the leader of the group.
"Let me do it," Aloy whispered.
"Yes, let the Devil go," Paintface said. "Take my word for it, she's very stealthy."
"Yeah, okay," answered the leader. "Go around the right. If we hear anything from the left or out the door, we kill 'em, even if it's you."
"Then you three stay here," Aloy replied, "because if I hear anything around me I'm going to do the same."
"Go!" the Bandit ordered.
It was almost a relief for Aloy, moving swiftly and silently through patches of tall grass that swayed and rattled in the now-blustery wind, and hunkering behind rusting piles of rubble as she approached the side of the small building. This was much easier for her than pretending to be something she wasn't – and worse, something she despised.
When she reached the corner of the building, at the apex of the small hill, she retrieved her Focus from her pouch and placed it back onto her temple. With her hand held over the device to try to block the glow, she activated the Focus and looked about her.
Only feet away was a group of people, bunched together so it was difficult to sort them out, but it appeared to be five or six. The Focus identified them as hostile Bandits. Further down the trail to the north was another, larger group, too far away to get a firm head count but perhaps eight to ten more Bandits. The distant group was standing in a cluster, apparently unconcerned about hiding, but the closer group was crouched in a thicket of weeds, as they appeared to be discussing whether the building was safe to enter.
Aloy looked behind her, and her Focus confirmed that Paintface and the other two Bandits – all identified as friendly (friendly Bandits? Who'd have thought?) – were still hidden in tall grass, some distance away. She deactivated and stowed her Focus once again before retracing her path to rejoin her new allies.
"Bandits," she whispered once she was hidden in the grass, "no more than a dozen or so. We can get away if we want…"
"What?" Bandit #2 almost shouted, forcing the leader to hiss at him to be quieter. "What?" the Bandit repeated, much more quietly. "We never run."
"Weren't you listening to what this girl just said?" the leader whispered. "A dozen or so? Against you and me and two useless girls?"
Aloy started to speak in protest, but Paintface was first. "How about Devil and I take them all out? That way you two won't get yourselves hurt. Besides, Red Devil is better at this than all of us put together."
"Okay, here's the deal," the leader whispered. "Paintface, you and Devil see what you can do, and once you're both dead we'll finish the job."
"You're forgetting," Paintface replied, "Skulldriver expects to meet this Bandit tonight. And you're definitely underestimating what we can do. So we take your deal, and we'll be back in a few minutes.
"Come on, Alo – uh… Devil, let's move."
Reluctantly, Aloy followed Paintface back to the corner of the building. She knew she could take out the Bandits alone, and frankly, she was not impressed with Paintface's style, or her demeanor. She decided she'd get Paintface to hold back until most of the Bandits were dead.
As Aloy crawled silently through the weeds and grass, Paintface followed, almost standing erect and making much too much noise. Fortunately, the winds that blew about them helped disguise Paintface's noisy trudging as the two reached a vantage near the small group.
Aloy tapped Paintface on the shoulder to get her attention; Paintface let out a squeal and recoiled at the sudden contact. Aloy waited a moment, listening to try to determine if the hostile Bandit group showed any sign of having heard the squeal. Nothing: they were safe for the moment. Aloy waved an open palm close to Paintface's face, trying to gesture that she should stay put, but there was no way to know if Paintface even saw the gesture, much less understood what it meant.
With her bow in one hand, Aloy took three arrows out of their quiver and began to nock each one. She knew that an accurate shot would likely take out three people, but if she got only two with the first volley she planned to launch a second one as quickly as possible. She waited for a strong gust of wind to move the weeds and create a noise, then pulled the bowstring back and aimed in the direction of the last known location of the Bandit group. Here goes nothing.
Before she could unleash the first volley of arrows, she heard a faint, odd sound. It seemed to be coming from somewhere to the east, possibly from atop a distant hill. Aloy paused and listened, as another noise suddenly began, this time from just the other side of the building behind her: voices, frantic, and sounds of loud footsteps coming their way.
"Alarm!" a voice shouted: it had the high-pitch tone of the Bandit #2 from Paintface's group. She was certain the two Bandits were running toward her – and hence toward the two groups of hostile Bandits – and yelling about something. "That's the alarm! There's a Rad storm coming!"
It might have been a comical sight if it weren't so dark: two Bandits running in a panic, a shocked cluster of hostile Bandits looking confused and uncertain about what was happening, another group staring from a short distance away, Paintface standing up amidst the patch of grass, Aloy, still hunkered down with her bow drawn, ready to fire multiple arrows, and a high-pitched and weak warble from far away announcing impending doom. It might have been a comical sight – except these were deadly enemies, willing to pounce and kill at a moment's notice.
Paintface bolted toward the two Bandits, turning only briefly in Aloy's direction to yell, "Come on! Rad storm!" Aloy relaxed the grip on her bowstring and quickly retrieved her Focus. Activated, the Focus showed the three erstwhile-friendly Bandits disappearing down the hill toward the east, in full run; the small group of hostile Bandits muttering to one another; and the larger group still clustered, not moving.
This is going to get ugly! Aloy realized. Not only am I alone, these hostiles know I'm here. Run or fight? Twelve – or more – against one?
Given a hundred possible different outcomes, Aloy would never have guessed what transpired next.
An uncertain voice almost whispered into the darkness, "Who's there? There are only a few of us, so if we're outnumbered go ahead and kill us, we won't fight, we can't fight!"
It was then that Aloy realized that her Focus revealed not a single offensive weapon among the close group, and the far group was slowly walking up the shallow hill, some of the adults carrying children and others supporting injured or wounded fellows.
She chose to remain hidden in the grass until she was certain of this group's intentions. She called out, "Why can't you fight? Are you ready to defend yourselves? Maybe we should just end this charade right now!" She hoped the Bandits bought off on the plural "we" and didn't know she was alone.
"We are the last survivors," the voice, that seemed to be female but crackled too much to be certain, "our Camp was destroyed by a herd of Machines. We're all that's left, and we're too hurt to be a threat to you."
"Bandits, surrendering so easily? I smell a trap," Aloy replied.
"Fine, then, if you're going to kill us, hurry up and do it. We are too weak to stop you. We thought if this shack was empty we'd rest up for the night, then move on in the morning. We'll be looking for a new home."
Now this is a strange turn of events! Aloy thought. I'm in charge of a dozen Bandits and there's a Rad storm coming.
She spoke directly to the male Bandit. "Are you their leader?"
"Well," Aloy could tell by his pause that the man was surveying his companions in the dim light, "I guess I am, sort of. Most of the others are hurt, some pretty badly. I was on patrol for food when the Machines attacked, so I got back to the Camp after the pack was already moving on. I rounded up everyone I could find that was still alive, and we're it."
"Okay," Aloy replied as she mulled all the options – hers and those of this band of defeated Bandits. "You shouldn't stay in that building – most of the roof is gone and the Rad storm is likely to finish you off."
"We understand that," the Bandit replied. "We had an empty storage barn in our Camp, and we'd all hunker down in it whenever a Rad storm hit. Good protection. But that barn got torn up with the rest of the Camp, so here we are."
"There's a village a few hours south of here," Aloy explained as she recalled the small trailside rest stop, "and they must have some place to hide. But it's hours by foot even if you're healthy, and it doesn't sound like your group is healthy. Besides, the storm is coming up from the south, so you'd be walking toward it.
"The best option will be to go with me to a Camp I've never been to myself, a place called the Skulldriver Camp."
"Shit no!" the Bandit leader shouted. "We know about that place – they've killed a lot of our best men and women, and I don't think another Bandit's going to accept us right now!"
"Fine," Aloy shrugged, then realized the Bandits couldn't have seen the gesture. "It was an offer. You might die – I might die – but if you stay out in this storm you're dead for sure. I'm going to find the Skulldriver Camp and hope they don't kill me before I find a way in."
Aloy turned from the Bandit group and walked in the direction of the building: if a Rad storm is coming, I'm not leaving my stuff to get contaminated! She walked in the near door, lifted the pile of weeds and rubble covering her Banuk-wrap bundle, and scooped the bundle up under one arm. She could hear the Bandits outside where they still stood, low conversation between several men and women, some voices sounding angry.
She exited the eastern doorway and activated her Focus. It was trivial to identify the footsteps of Paintface and the other two Bandits as they led down the gentle sloping hill and up onto a more distant, equally gentle upslope. She knew she'd have no problem following those tracks to the Skulldriver Camp. What she couldn't know was whether she'd be welcomed with open arms or a hailstorm of arrows. Or if she'd even make it before the other storm struck with a shower of irradiated rain.
As she started down the hill, Aloy heard muffled voices and the sounds of footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned; with her Focus, she could see that the Bandit group was now following her, perhaps fifty paces behind, moving slowly as some members of the group sought support from others, adults carried young children, and the strongest of the group carried injured adults.
I've gone from capturing a gang of Bandits to leading them, Aloy thought. She knew she had but two choices: continue her pace and leave the ragtag band of wounded behind, or slow her pace and help them as she searched for the (alleged) safety of the Skulldriver Bandit Nation. In either case, she stood a decent chance of falling victim to the Rad storm herself, likely leading to a slow degradation in health, and ultimately her death. Aloy was not the type to abandon those in need.
Her mind made up, Aloy reversed course and joined the slow-moving gang. The group was aware of her approach and the erstwhile leader motioned for them to stop. When Aloy reached the group, she walked past the main cluster, to a young girl, perhaps only five or six, who walked alone, struggling to catch up with the others. Aloy reached down and scooped the girl up in her arms, and without speaking, turned to continue her course, tracking the footsteps of the three fleeing Bandits from Skulldriver Bandit Nation.
The erstwhile leader of the wounded group sped his pace to match that of Aloy, though he said nothing. After several minutes of silent, and painfully slow, progress, Aloy spoke first.
"You know," she began, "you're walking toward a hostile Bandit camp. Even if we find the camp, and if we beat storm, and if your group survives the march…"
"We may all be put to death before we reach the gates," the leader completed Aloy's sentence. "If you could see us now, you'd see that we are almost dead already. We have nowhere to go that will protect us from the deadly rainstorm. We have no choice but to follow you and beg for mercy from your Bandit leader."
"My Bandit leader?" Aloy responded. "I don't have a Bandit leader, certainly not at this camp. I know only one member of the Nation, and she may be dead for all I know. I'm planning to ask for shelter, just like you and your… team."
"But you… you talk like a Bandit, and even in the shadow of night I can see your Bandit clothing and your Bandit lance and bow! How can you be without a Camp?"
"Simple," Aloy answered, but she really meant give me a minute and I'll make something up. "My Camp was destroyed, like yours, but by a gang of thieves and assassins. I was out scouting at the time of the attack or I'd have been killed along with my brothers and sisters." Frankly, she didn't know how Bandits really talked: she was accustomed to hunting and killing Bandits, or facing them in combat that always ended badly for them. She was sticking with the story Paintface had concocted, hoping she was sounding convincing while retelling a total fabrication.
Apparently it worked.
"Ah, yes, we heard stories of some crazy woman, lived somewhere north of here, hired a bunch of lowlife killers to destroy every Bandit camp they could find. But we also heard that woman met her own end, so why would the hired killers still be operating?"
Aloy had to think fast! "Well, you see, my camp was wiped out a couple of weeks ago, and I've been hiding out ever since. Maybe that was before the crazy woman was defeated?"
"Yes," the leader answered, "that's probably the case. So, are you going to try to join up with the… what did you say the Bandit Camp was called? The one you're trying to find?"
"The Skulldriver Bandit Nation."
"So are you going to ask to join this Bandit Nation?"
"If I'm not filled full of arrows first, yes," Aloy replied. There was nothing to be gained by telling this Bandit the truth: that the leader, Skulldriver himself, wished to meet her and would probably not want her dead. Probably. As for the rest of this group…
"You should know," Aloy attempted to explain, "that even if we find the Bandit Nation…"
"Wait" the man interjected. "You don't know where it is? How do you hope to find it?"
"I don't know where it is, but apparently it's not too far or those Bandits you heard back at the building wouldn't have taken off running like they did. I'm just following their tracks…"
"Following their tracks? Not possible! I certainly don't see any tracks in the dark, how can you?"
"I'm a very good scout," Aloy stated calmly, not wishing to elaborate: she could still clearly see the faint purple glow of three sets of footprints, leading up and over the shallow hill ahead, exposed by her Focus some minutes ago. "Trust me, I've done this sort of thing before."
"Amazing! I still think it's impossible, but you get us to the camp and I'll be impressed!"
"Fair enough, just try to keep your group moving. The winds from the south are getting stronger and you can smell the moisture in the air – it's going to rain any minute now.
"As I was saying, when we reach the camp, you and your group will stay in hiding and let me go to the front gates alone. I'll try to reason with anyone who'll listen, and I'll try to convince them that you all want to join their Nation. But you've got to stay out of sight! Understood?"
"Understood."
The two fell silent once more. Aloy could tell that the young girl she carried in her arms had gone limp, presumably from exhaustion and not from… well, presumably the girl was asleep.
After perhaps an hour of slow, labored movement, the group crested the shallow hill. Aloy had noticed some time before that there was a faint glow atop the hill, from what she assumed were fires and torches just on the other side, hopefully the Skulldriver Bandit Nation.
As the group completed the march to the top of the hill, each in turned stopped to gaze in awe at the spectacle below: a huge expanse of huts, small buildings, clusters of fires, what appeared to be wide streets running through them, all surrounded by makeshift barriers of wood, metal, Machine parts, ancient wreckage – whatever the occupants could muster, apparently, to form simple walls. Guard towers stood here and there along the walls, but it was too dark to tell if any were staffed. It was obvious the settlement itself was completely abandoned, but with fires and standing torches left to light up the large city as if it were a tribute to no one.
Aloy's heart sank at the sight: if no one's here, where are they? Who am I going to speak with? If there are guards, how do I reason with them before they open fire? Where did Paintface and the other two Bandits go?
She wanted to activate her Focus and scan the camp, but she knew it would raise suspicions – and most likely an attack – among the Bandits who stood about her. The footprints she'd followed continued down the hill toward what was most likely a gate, then disappeared behind the gate. That confirmed for Aloy that she was in the right place – but at entirely the wrong time.
Then she saw the gate – scarcely larger than two people wide, porous and definitely weak protection from a determined aggressor – swing to the right, two people holding spears exited and stood outside the gate, as a third emerged from behind it. She was certain that person was Paintface.
Aloy turned to the Bandit leader and extended the lump of sleeping child toward him. The man whispered, "What do you want me to do with her? She's not mine!"
"Take her, I'm going to go talk to my friend and you're going to hold her. If she's not with you next time we talk, you'll pay personally." Aloy was serious, but her concern for the girl clearly didn't conform to a Bandit's code, as the leader took the girl and passed her on to a woman who stood some distance behind him. Her compassion for the innocent outweighed any Bandit code of conduct, even if this "leader" didn't like it.
Aloy moved to stand nearest the main cluster of Bandits and said, "You've got to be quiet for now. If this works I'll be back to get you, I promise." She didn't wait for a response as she quickly pivoted and almost ran down the hill toward the woman standing in the open gateway. If that's not Paintface, I may be dead soon.
But it was Paintface, and as Aloy approached the lights from the camp's torches lit her clearly. Paintface waved frantically at Aloy, but the two guards brought their spears from their shoulders to point them menacingly at Aloy.
"Put those damn things down!" Paintface scolded the men. Reluctantly, they did as ordered. Paintface motioned even more frantically at Aloy.
"Aloy – um, Red Devil," Paintface said in a low but clearly frantic voice, "come, come, hurry! I'm the last one in camp – well, me and these two morons that Skulldriver sent out – and the Shelter is on the other side of camp. We've got to hurry if we're going to beat the storm!"
"Yes, well, about that…" Aloy said as she neared the trio at the gate.
"About what" Paintface asked.
"Do you remember those Bandits we saw? At the hilltop building? Well, after you left, they sort of… surrendered."
"What on earth do you mean? To whom?"
"To me."
Paintface paused in shock. "Let me get this straight. After we left you, you captured a bunch of hostiles all by yourself?"
"No, I didn't have to capture them, they surrendered to me. They're the last of a Bandit camp that was overrun by Machines and most of them are in really bad shape. And they have no shelter from the Rad storm."
"Too damn bad!" Paintface shouted, sufficiently loudly that Aloy was certain the group of Bandits on the hilltop behind her must have heard. "Let them die! We are not responsible for saving the lives of cutthroats!"
Aloy was taken aback by Paintface's tone: only a few short days ago, this woman was weeping and lamenting her condition as a captive herself, held by the Skulldriver Nation. Now she was showing absolutely no empathy for other unfortunates.
"They're all too weak to pose any threat," Aloy calmly explained, "and you can lock them in chains for now, I don't think they'd mind if it meant their survival. Besides, they're with me, and where I go, they go."
"Damn you!" Paintface shouted angrily at Aloy. "You're willing to die because we won't provide shelter to a bunch of Bandits who are almost dead already?"
"That's right," Aloy replied.
In the short silence that followed, the first drops of rain began to fall. The drops were large but intermittent, falling sidewards in the strong wind blowing from the south.
"That's the storm!" Paintface exclaimed. "We may already be too late! Please, Aloy – Devil, come with me now!"
"Tell you what," Aloy answered, "I'll wait here while you run and check with your Bandit leader Skulldriver. If he wants to meet me so badly, tell him I come with a dozen or so injured friends. If he wants me to come alone, you tell him why I can't do that."
"Shit," Paintface muttered as she stared upward at the cloudy, and increasingly rainy, night sky. "All right, you win. Get those people down here, and in the meantime, you and I will go ahead to the shelter."
"You go if you wish," Aloy replied, "I'm going to help the weaker ones to the Shelter. Hey Guards, drop your spears and come help me."
"The guards stood in stunned silence, looking to Paintface for guidance. "Fine, do as she says! Go with her!"
Aloy removed the bundle of clothing and weapons strapped over her shoulder and tossed it to Paintface as she turned and began to sprint back up the hill to the Bandits. The guards stood by Paintface, unsure of what to do. "What are you standing here for? Go! Go!"
The guards dropped their spears and sprinted after Aloy, up the short hill. Moments later, as the intensity of the rain increased, the group appeared on the side of the hill, wending down toward the open gate. Paintface waited inside the gate with Aloy's bundle and the guards' spears as the group entered the camp. Paintface paused after the last of the group entered, then turned and closed the gate, leaving Aloy to wonder why she even bothered.
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