Disclaimer - I don't own My Time At Sandrock. This is written for the Yellow Belt round of right to rank where the goal was to write a 480-500 word story, but the prompt was, "Set the scene and create a dynamic dialogue between the two main characters. ... We want to see an unlikely alliance between two characters coming together to face a challenge."
As for anything of note for those not familiar with the fandom, in this post-apocalyptic world, the Age of Corruption is the age that led to the apocalyptic state and the church is the Church of Light which has a stance against reviving the technology of the Age of Corruption as they believe doing so will result in yet another Age of Corruption.
Oh, and no spoilers for the game. Unsuur formally being part of Logan's gang is speculation on my part. Logan and Unsuur's exact past relationship is open to interpretation.
Out There
"Did I hear Logan right?" Burgess asked between heaving breaths as sweat dripped down his face, red from overexerting himself. His fellow compatriot, however, breathed with ease while sweating far less; Unsuur hurried alongside him towards safety with far more ease. "That you used to be a part of his gang?"
Silence.
Burgess let out another huff as he lowered himself down, his ears craning for the sounds from outside, ready to dash to another place of safety even though his hefty frame wouldn't handle another dash as Unsuur's body would. "So you've nothing to say?"
"The past is the past," Unsuur said, carefully positioning himself on one knee so he might better see what came next. He lifted his gun, finger cocked on the trigger, making Burgess wonder for once if Matilda might be wrong for not following the church's stance on disposing of relics from the corrupted age if they should end up in the hands of one of Logan's former comrades.
"You know better," Burgess thought. "You know we couldn't survive in Sandrock if the Civil Corps weren't allowed to carry weapons from the corrupted age regardless of the existence of Logan's gang."
"Don't worry," Unsuur said, which was more than Burgess had honestly ever heard the young deputy of the Civil Corps say. He turned his head. "I'll make sure you get back alive in one piece."
Burgess stared, sitting with his back against the rotting wood of the small sanctuary they found after Logan caught them off guard. "I didn't mean to imply anything."
Unsuur stared, remaining silent before turning his head towards the sound of someone approaching the entrance.
"I wasn't judging you! Honest!" Burgess said, the lie slipping from his tongue. "And what about you?"
"Me?"
"You talked about me getting back in one piece, but what about you?" Burgess muttered, his eyes darting around, looking for something he might use as a weapon, not that he expected to be of much use despite Pen's attempts at trying to teach him to fight. "I am, after all, a pacifist in all of this."
"Does it matter?"
"Of course, it matters!" Burgess turned his head to look at Unsuur, who held a finger to his mouth, before standing up and moving towards the entrance, towards whoever was approaching the door.
And then he was gone.
"Of course it matters, idiot," Burgess muttered to himself. He turned his head, scanning the room for some tool he might use against the enemy, as he heard gunshots. His eyes settled on the broken chair, which would serve as a makeshift shield and sword and dove out of the door. He swung his weapon with a resounding whack!
"I took out a Geegler?" Burgess said, looking down at the horrifying reptilian creature which stalked and harassed Sandrock's citizens. Logan and his gang were nowhere in sight.
"You took out a Geegler." Unsuur rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's head home."
"Yeah. Let's head home," Burgess replied.