Chapter 4: Papers, Please!
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Cover art by Ars Goetia Games on Twitter. Check out their twitter, or their games: The Blind Prophet, and Hellslave.
Talking: "And three educated savages holler from a bamboo tree."
Thinking: 'That civilization is a thing for me to see.'
"No sign of the kid's father, though. Here's hoping James is okay."-Three Dog reporting on James' death.
Alex runs in a straight line, before he suddenly stops and hops to the left, a Grimm spinning like a ball shoots right past where he just was, only to impact a tree. His 10mm pistol in hand already, he fires it, a set of bullets hit the Grimm, two bullets slam into its skin, the monster lets out a squeal of pained anger. It shrugs off whatever damage the 10mm does.
It resembled a boar but it was far larger then any boar Alex read in the books. Even on all-fours it was around seven feet tall, only slightly taller then Alex, however it was far wider. Its huge muscles bulging against its shaggy black fur. Add in the lethal-looking light grey tusks and you had a monster that would gore most things in a single smack, let alone a mighty ram.
Alex fires off once more, destroying all but one of its eyes. The beast throws its head back in pain, squirming as it lets out a roar. The beast gets low and starts to rush at Alex, who sidesteps it, running in another direction. The Grimm's hooves scrape against the cold dirt, as it slides to a stop. It turns to face in the direction Alex ran in, however it struggled with sight due to it losing 3 out of the 4 eyes it had. To replace its sight, it used its sense of emotions to track the Wastelander. It could sense the bloodlust and hate, leaving a trail like breadcrumbs, it could also smell the blood on him. In its mind that meant its prey was already weakened, its pack must of hurt him before dying to him, or at least so the beast thought. It lets out a screech as it rushes after him, accelerating as Alex continues running in a straight line. Eventually the Grimm twists on itself, spinning into a ball right after Alex. Ripping past trees and tearing up bushes in a deadly spiral.
Alex gives a manic grin as he hears it behind him, hopping between the gap of two massive trees and running. The Grimm blinded by hate and bullets charges right at him right through the gap. The sudden force causes the bark of the two trees to splinter and fracture but despite the superficial damage, it stands tall, resulting in the beast becoming trapped in the tight space. The Grimm struggles and twists, attempting to free itself. It however stops when it spots Alex walking towards it. The bloodied Wastelander with his stinking mask stands before the Grimm, his eyes can be seen through the glass. His blue stare bores into the Grimm's red glare. A cruel weapon in his hand. A mix between a sword and a chainsaw. Faded black casing, with a name scratched into it; Jack.
The Wastelander flicks on the weapon, the demented tool of murder roaring to life, and in that moment, the Grimm felt something other then hate.
Fear.
Its eyes widen as it begins to squirm, attempting to escape its predicament with all its might as animalistic panic begins to replace the thoughtless rage, but despite its struggles, the effort was pointless. Alex stuck the ripper into its open belly. The boar lets out a squeal of pain as the ripper begins to rend its stomach, black blood violently gushing out like a waterfall. The ripper screaming as it digs further and further into the belly of the beast. The Grimm's cries masked by the violent shredding of the ripper.
The Grimm makes one final noise, marking its death as it slumps. Alex stops his macabre execution. He stares at the ripper. The black blood that completely coated it begins to fade. The cutting chains almost pristine, as if the blood evaporated into nothingness. Alex lets out a huff, the idea of monsters that don't bleed made maintaining his weapons after a hunt much simpler.
The thuds on the floor alerted Alex, causing him to look up at the Grimm. Its body already gone, in its place, grey bones. Alex grabs the faceplate, as well as the tusks. The faceplate for proof of bounty, and the tusks for a possible weapon, perhaps turn it into some sort of spear?
His thoughts on the potential use of the tusks stop when he feels the hair on the back of his neck stands up; someone had eyes on him. He snaps backwards, 10mm pistol in hand, ready to fire at… nothing. He scans his surroundings, searching for anything, even so much as a flicker or twitch.
He finds nothing, except for a weirdly large crow up in branches of a tree mere metres away. It was watching him intently with its red eyes. Alex stared back coolly with his sea blue. How does crow around here taste? Suppose he would find out, he lifted his pistol and fired at the bird. Surprisingly, it dodged. Flying deep into the tree branches, shrouded by thick leaves.
Alex huffs. "Quick bird." Guess he wasn't eating it, although he wasn't truly bothered by the loss of it, the food at the inns tasted great and were cheap. Which to the frugal Lone Wanderer was perfect. He lifts the portable A.G, pressing the button, it however doesn't activate. He stares at in confusion before he realises that it was out of charge.
Joy.
He starts his walk back to Everhill. His thoughts on the Grimm. Ollie was right, the average Grimm was simple, a few well placed shots with Xuanlong or his 10mm pistol and they went down easy, even the Alpha boar monster went down fairly easy, just had to trick it into a position from where it couldn't move, causing it to become easy to slaughter. Luck once again seemed to favour him, it would have been much more complicated to take it down if he was in an open clearing and not a densely packed forest. He fell into his usual state of unhealthy paranoia over a well of violence.
He wandered into Everhill. As per usual, his mere presence unsettles the sleepy town, some villagers gawking at him as he walked by. A mother tugging away her child, as if he was some foul monster come to snatch her offspring away.
He ignored them all, uncaring for what they saw him as. He went straight to the mayor's home. Knocking on the door and waiting. A first for him, considering he mostly entered people's place of business or intruded in their home.
Yay, new experiences.
The man opens the door. He was short man, wrinkles and a set of glasses on his nose. "Yes?" He slightly jumps at the mask of Alex. The bloody wastelander towering over him.
Alex pulls the Alpha Grimm's faceplate from his back, tossing it to the man. "Grimm horde is dead."
The man lets out a hum. He lifts a finger. "Give me a moment, I'll go get your payment." He didn't even wait for Alex to respond, instead quickly retreating into the building and closing the door behind him.
Alex thought the rapid retreat into his home was suspicious. Was he actually getting his payment or was he trying to hide from him? He took a step back, looking at the building. It was larger then the other homes, but not excessively so. What was the best point of entry? Maybe he should circle around back, check if the mayor was trying to sneak out the backdoor.
His thoughts was interrupted by the front door opening. The man steps out, staring at Alex with a curious look, wondering why Alex was so far away from the front door all of a sudden.
'Huh.' Guess he was being overly paranoid. He returns to his previous position.
The man hands Alex a small bag. Alex opened it up to find it full of lien notes. "7,500 lien in there, thanks for the quick work."
Alex gives a curt nod. He was still looking into the bag. He opens his mouth to speak. "Quickest way to get to the port?"
The mayor blinks, he rubs his chin. "Bullhead, but I doubt you can got a Bullhead in your back pocket." The man shrugs his shoulders. "Trucks are your best bet." He points at Alex. "You know, we got a shipment coming in later today, could pay the driver to take you to the port, not like anyone's gonna cause a kerfuffle over it."
Alex nods, that wasn't a bad idea. Worst comes to worse, he could just follow the trail from the truck to the port. "What time is it coming in?"
The man shrugs. "Should be around the evening, unless there's a delay."
The wastelander hummed in response, he nodded in thanks and walked off, heading towards the tavern. He actually felt a bit of excitement for the meal, then again anything that was fresher then 200 year old tinned food was always something to look forward too.
But with the way he eats, he'll be done in a matter of minutes, and he still had a couple of hours until the evening. Maybe he could fiddle around with his portable A.G? Replace the power source with a fission battery, should be a far better power source then electric Dust.
What even was Dust? It sounded like a commonplace resource but with the extra labels it seemed extremely versatile. Gravity and electric Dust, there was most likely other elements he did not know of. Electric Dust sounded simple enough. It was capable of conducting a current, how it did, he didn't know. He would require various lab equipment for that.
Gravity Dust was far more interesting in his mind, while he didn't actually see it at work, the very name of it told him what it did. And that really interested him. Sure, tech so far in the wasteland was better then the tech from here, even down to firearms. But the ability to alter gravity? Now that could be really useful. Stick some gravity dust in a round and it might not ever suffer bullet drop-off.
Maybe he should get some vials of Dust? Check out if he could in some way use it to enhance his arsenal.
But that was for later, for now. He had food on his mind.
"So, what's the Grimmlands like?" The chubby truck driver asks, his ponytail poking out from the back of his trucker cap.
"Its Nirvana." Alex mutters out, a sardonic tone in his voice. His mask on his lap.
"What's that mean, Nirvana? Good, bad?" The man scratches his chin.
"It means heavenly."
The man imitates a fish, his lips pressed together. "Really? You would consider the Grimmlands; heavenly?"
Alex turns to the man. He gives the driver the blankest look he might have ever performed in his entire life. "…"
The man cringes in response. Those hollow blue eyes and scars told him everything. "Right, should of noticed the sarcasm." Alex blinks at the driver. "Please stop glaring at me like I killed your pet dog or something." Alex turns away from the driver, looking straight ahead on the road. The driver lets out a sigh. "...Guess that would make you pretty good at the whole Grimm hunting business, huh?"
"Guess so."
The man snorts. "Man, I'd have better conversation with a sex doll then you."
"Doubt it, it would probably scream at you." Alex coolly said. The driver gives a smirk in response. "Any news spreading around?"
The man shrugs. "Depends, you mean in the city or on the frontier?"
"Both."
The driver taps the wheel. "City-wise, FRA are pissed,-" He looks over to Alex, his mouth ajar when he remembers where Alex came from. "FRA is short for the uh Faunus Rights Activists." Alex nods in response. "So, the FRA are pissed, 'cause the Vale council just spent a lot of money on giving combat schools extra funding to train more Huntsmen, but construction jobs and all that have had their benefits cut. Faunus are pretty common in labour work, so its fucked over a big chunk of them, they responded with walk-outs and strikes."
It sounded weird to Alex, the idea of benefits and striking from your place of work. He supposed he was so used to the anarchy that was the Capital Wasteland that social benefits and such were completely alien to him.
The driver grimaces. "Frontier-wise, White Fang just recently had a big Dust shipment destroyed." The man frowns deeply, a look of disdain on his face. "Iron Crown is probably responsible for it, as per usual for those assholes."
Alex stares at the driver. "Iron Crown?"
The driver explains. "Iron Crown is a human supremacist group. In the eyes of the Valian court, they're a legitimate Dust mining company but its bullshit. Just a gang of monsters and slavers."
Alex hums in response, another band of slavers for him to kill? "Big group?"
The driver nods. "Unfortunately. They on-" He stops mid sentence, a growl escaping him. The truck coming to a stop. "Ah, for fuck sake!" Alex's brow lifts slightly, confused at the sudden stop. He looks ahead, following the driver's eyes. A tree blocked the road, it was bent and shattered in some spots, despite this it was large enough to block the road completely.
The man slaps the wheel in annoyance. "Fucking Grimm, always screw something over."
Alex eyed the treeline, scanning for anything. "You sure its Grimm?"
"Positive." The man rubs his forehead. "Unless you know someone that can smash a tree fatter than Blance Brown."
"Who?"
"Movie reference, don't worry about it." The driver lets out a sigh. "Looks like we're gonna have to drive all the way back and take another route." He rubs the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. His eyes squeezed shut in aggravation. "Gonna miss the damn ship too with a delay like this." Alex blinks, opening the passenger side door and getting out the truck. The vehicle shifts from the sudden loss of Alex's weight. The driver calling after him. "Hey! Where are you going?"
Alex doesn't respond, instead he moves up to tree blocking the road. He lowers himself, grabbing the thick roots of the tree. The driver pokes his head out the window. "Hey, wannabe Superman! That thing weighs around at least a couple tons, ain't no fucking way you're lifting th-!" His words die in his mouth as Alex lifts the evergreen to his chest. The Wastelander gritting his teeth harshly as he exerts himself, tugging the offending roadblock out of the way. The other end scrapping against the dirt, creating a small trench.
He drops it, the tree completely out of the way, instead slightly deeper into the forest. Alex lets out a breath of relief from the sudden stop of exertion. He calmly walks back to the truck and re-enters the passenger position. The driver stares at him the entire time. Shock clear on his face. "Protector's tits, what do you eat?"
"Meat preferably, gives protein and remains in the body for at least two days. Let's get moving, I don't want to miss the boat either."
The driver shakes his head, driving forward now that the road was unblocked. "It was a rhetorical question, besides I don't care how much meat you eat, you can't just lift a tree that probably weighs like four tons or something, unless of course you got Aura, then it makes sense, 'cause you know Huntsmen always do that crazy stuff."
"I don't have Aura." Alex causally stated.
"What?!" the man yells out. "How the fuck did you lift that tree?"
Alex shrugs in response. "I just can." The benefits of genetic tampering, mutations and cybernetics, but he wasn't going to say that, he would rather keep his capabilities under wraps, mean his enemies underestimate him. Alex speaks, asking a question to move the subject away from him. "What even is Aura? I never once heard about something like that… in the Grimmlands."
The man doesn't push further on Alex's unnatural Strength. Instead he just explained Aura, to the best of his knowledge. "Would say its best to ask a Huntsmen since they actually have Aura, but I doubt they'll just sit around and give you an extensive explanation on it. Best I can say its some sort of soul thing every human and faunus can unlock. Aura is what makes a Huntsmen; a Huntsmen. Pushes their physical limits, makes them all them powerful and stuff, especially with their semblances."
"Semblances?"
"It's a special thing unique to the individual Huntsmen, like y'know the ability to fly and other types of shit."
'What the fuck?' Was the only thing Alex could think. Confusion and shock going through him to the point he doesn't even believe the driver, regardless, he decides to humour the driver. "So, every single one of these Huntsmen have special powers?"
The man nods. "Yep, although it's not just Huntsmen, anyone that's lived long enough with their Aura active to figure out what their semblances is."
'Bullshit.' Alex leans back into his seat, the chair squeaking at the weight being distributed. He doubted the whole superpower thing, mostly likely just embellishment on stories about these Huntsmen. Just like him with some of the people at the Temple of Union spreading rumours about him being some sort of supernatural boogeyman come to punish and torment all slavers and evil-doers alike, using what he did to Paradise Falls to push the narrative, Three Dog reporting on it himself, made the stories spread like wildfire.
Through a radio host and a few former slaves gossiping about his bloody handiwork like a bunch of schoolkids telling scary stories, his title ascended to something slavers were terrified of.
Worked out in his favour, and in light of that, it most likely works out the same way for the Kingdoms and villages. If the common person believes their defenders against the monsters of the dark are all-mighty beings with powers beyond their comprehension then they would surely be comforted, meaning that Grimm couldn't sense their negative emotions.
Although these stories and beliefs of Huntsmen were embellished in Alex's mind, there had to be a kernel of truth to them, if Huntsmen were so weak that they regularly died against the Grimm then the stories would fall flat on their face, so, they still had to be serious individuals with peak physique and top of the line weapons.
That one Huntsman back in Vinves for instance, made him cautious. The Huntsman's eyes held experience, and while Alex thought his weapon was stupid, he severely doubted that was the only thing the man had up his sleeves. Was it this Aura? He never really got a good chance to see what it could do, that one bandit charged at him, expecting his Aura to block plasma, which in of itself told him it was capable of blocking ranged attacks, otherwise you would have to be downright idiotic to charge someone with a ranged weapon and not expect to get hurt.
Alex turns to the driver, asking him. "How do you get Aura?"
The man respond. "No idea, heard you gotta do some magic ritual or something to activate yours."
Alex's brow rises in disbelief. "Magic ritual?"
"Hey, that's just what I heard, truthfully I don't have a clue, although sometimes, I wonder why they don't just give Aura to everyone, y'know? Why not give us that shield to protect us."
'To keep you in line.' Was Alex's immediate thought. Couldn't exactly run a society if every single person had the ability to block bullets and had super strength, or maybe he was just being too pessimistic, maybe there was another reason for it. "Last person you should ask that question."
The man snorts, shaking his head. "Yeah, fair enough. Doubt you ever even seen a proper city, asking you what goes on in the minds of the government is a bit silly."
Alex hums in agreement.
"Hey, you mind if I turn on the radio? Music always makes the drive go by a bit quicker."
Alex waves his hand in response. "Go for it, its your truck."
The driver smirks, leaning over and pressing a button on the centre of the dash of the truck. A blue light flicks on and the man cycles through, nodding at a certain playlist and clicking play.
The sound of drums start off, before a flute and guitar joins in. *Traveling in a fried-out Kombi.*
Alex zones out, staring ahead of him.
Simple, that's the word Alex would use to describe the rest of the journey. Him and the truck driver pulled into the dock, the driver quickly led Alex to the port manager as thanks for dealing with the tree. From there he was able to purchase a ticket and then he was at sea. He kept his eyes on the crew when they were present. He wasn't going to have a repeat of the last time he trusted a ship captain.
He leaned against the railing, he didn't want to be around the other travellers. He stared out into the ocean. The gentle dark blue sea, the water reflecting the shining shattered moon and the stars sparkling like gems caught in sunlight.
It was a serene sight, something he could have never seen back in the Wasteland.
He couldn't work with this, he preferred suffering, preferred darker elements because it was something he was acclimated to, the blood, the gore, the violence, it was just natural to him. Which in a way made it hurt, the fact a beautiful and calming sight threw him off, made him feel like a freak, a psycho unable to cope with normality.
The Lone Wanderer brought low by a pretty scene.
How pathetic.
He shakes his head, trying to quieten the self-hate, but without anything to distract him, his vindictive mind just became louder and louder. Drudging up past mistakes and traumas.
He walks off, deciding to enter the waiting lounge with the other travellers. He takes a seat in a secluded corner. The chair was uncomfortable but that was his size at fault, not the poor quality of the seat, and once again, he got odd stares. He ignored it, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. The seat creaking from his weight.
Two hours pass and a voice comes over the intercom. "We will be boarding at the Vale Dock momentarily, please keep your belonging and children within reach."
{Vale 88.8 FM Dust discovered!}
A radio station? Three Dog taught him the value of listening in. Important to keep up to date on the going on in the world. He would flick it on later, for now. He was getting off the boat and stepping into an actual functional city. With laws and all the other stuff just like Pre-War America.
He could see it from here, in the distance. The bright lights and towering building that weren't ruined wrecks.
He spotted a check-in, lines of people queuing up before being allowed to pass through the barrier. Guards standing on both sides, batons present, just to inform others that any violence would be swiftly and mercilessly dealt with.
Alex stepped in queue and waited.
And waited…
Waited some more…
He was going to go fucking insane at this rate.
Thankfully he reached the check-in a minute or so later. The woman inside was exasperated but she hid it with a mask of professionalism. The bags under her eyes and the unfocused pupils gave it away. "Identification, please."
Alex pulled out the only form of identification he had, his bounty hunting license and handed it over to the woman.
She looked at it, she almost let out a sigh but kept it buried. "Do you have any other identification, sir?"
Alex shakes his head.
The woman points away from Alex. "Please, step to the side, sir. Someone will be with you shortly to fill out your identification."
Alex did as told, moving away as the woman presses something and talking to an unseen person. After that she calls out. "Next."
A person walked up and showed off various papers. They were let in and then the next person came up. A young faunus, tanned with dog ears. He was lean, around six feet. Long blond hair.
He gave a guilty smirk to the woman in the check-in, to which she pointed over to Alex. The faunus gave a nod, and casually sauntered over. The faunus looked him up and down. "You uh… didn't have any documents either?"
Alex blinked, eyeing the faunus before staring straight ahead. "Just a bounty hunting license."
The faunus gives a self-deprecating chuckle. "That's more then what I had, man. Not a great start to my Huntsman in training career."
That piqued his interest. Alex turned to the faunus. "Huntsman in training?"
"Yeah, I uh… helped a Huntress kill a Grimm horde a few years back. She told me I was stupid, that fighting Grimm without training or Aura was a horrible idea." It really was. "But, I held my own, enough to impress the Huntress that after she chewed me out, she would help me train, popping in every month or so, just to get me ready for Beacon Initiation in a few months."
"Early to be in the city for an initiation that's months away."
The faunus nods. "Not here for it, not yet anyway. Just here to make my own weapon, thankfully I'm being allowed to use Beacon's forge to create it. That and use the shooting range to practise on my shooting."
Alex hums. "Control your breathing when aiming down the sights. Feet apart to keep your stance stable but not too wide to throw you off and keep your feet pointed in the same direction."
The faunus gapes, before grinning in appreciation. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks bro!"
"Yep."
Ten minutes pass. "Sir, please come with me." A man spoke to him, a clipboard in hand. Alex followed them, the faunus he was standing with said goodbye to him, Alex didn't respond.
He entered a stark white room, A camera lined up. The person with the clipboard pointed infromt of the camera. "Please stand there, sir, and face the camera."
Alex stood in front of it. The man adjusted the camera to his height. A few seconds later the camera flashed. The person looks over the photo, nodding. "That'll do." He walks over to Alex, his hand held out. "Can I please have your hunting license, sir. It would speed up the process."
He gives the piece of plastic over, the man walking off into the backroom of the building. The sound of a keyboard clacking heard by Alex. Minutes later, an odd sound is heard. Paper rustling and something churning. Alex's brow quirks upwards. Perhaps he should check up on the man? After all his license was important.
However a moment later the man pops out. A smile on his face. He hands over a set of papers to Alex. "Here you go, sir. Your identification has been made and uploaded to the system, now you can just give these papers to whatever check-in into Vale and you will be allowed in."
"Am I free to go?"
The man smiles and gives a nod. "You are, please enjoy Vale, Mr Wyatt."
Alex walked off. Stepping out of the building and into the street, the check-in to his right.
And Vale to his left. He entered it, stepping into the big city, the closest he would ever get to being in a city of the old world.
And he hated it the moment he entered.
Too many people, too many loud noises. People screaming and shouting. He had to duck into an alleyway. To ground himself.
"Hey you, hand over your li-" The voice instantly shut up when Alex's arm snapped out on instinct, grabbing the individual by the neck and clenching, snapping the person's neck instantly.
He stared at the body. Black hoodie, ripped jeans, and worn-out trainers. 'Retard.' Alex thought. he was covered in blood and had combat equipment, how he came to the conclusion that Alex was a good target to attempt a mugging was beyond him. New record for him, however, entering a city and only a short while after he already killed someone.
Oh well, waste not, want not. He leaned down and began trifling through the corpse's pockets. Taking anything of value which wasn't much but more lien didn't hurt. To his his surprise, he pulled out something strange.
'What is this?' He asked mentally. It was some odd object with what seemed like detached parts. He pinched one end and pulled, the device stretched out. Creating some sort of holographic screen. Alex hummed, colour him impressed. This was advanced tech, even more impressive if its so commonplace some random two-bit mugger had a variation of it.
{Passcode required!}
Damn. He stuffed it into his Pipboy's inventory along with the lien. He would crack the device later, just not here. He walked deeper into the alleyway. Trash, fluids and other nasty things littered the alleyway. It smelled, but was nowhere near as bad as the gladiator arena in the Pitt. Nothing could rival that toxic stench of that place, the radioactive sulphur that clung to the back of your throat, making you gag and your eyes water. The fetor of a dozen corpses stuffed into the sides without a care to make a clearing in the centre.
And the screams of malnourished slaves who just wanted to take their chance at freedom, only to die horribly, just for entertainment for a bunch of hyenas in human skin on the sidelines. The slavers took so much sadistic glee in the misery of the slaves and following deaths. Even more so when one started begging, realising he stood zero chance against Alex, but his fate was sealed the moment he entered The Hole.
They laughed and laughed, even praised him when he put a bullet into the slave's head, killing the poor wretch instantly. They all thought it was the funniest thing in the world.
It wasn't so fucking funny when it was their turn to start begging.
He stepped out onto the main road again. The hustle and bustle here was thankfully far more muted then back there, perhaps some sort of main road?
Regardless he walked off. He had no real destination in mind, he just wandered around, avoiding large pockets of people, unwilling to get close.
End of Chapter 4.
Alex enters Vale city for the first and as expected for an anti-social killer. He hates it. Who knows, maybe he'll learn to enjoy it one day.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and I shall y'all in the next one.
Faunus Rights Activists: A political party created to as the name suggests; campaign for equality between humans and faunus. This group was founded ten years after the Kingdom Revolutions. They have staged various forms of protests. Such as parades, walk-outs and strikes; all with varying degrees of success. Although recently they have been gaining far more support then in previous years, as more generations are growing up with faunus in their classrooms or as neighbours and such. Sadly faunus still suffer discrimination, especially in the eyes of the law as they are considered a separate species with a more diminished set of rights when compared to a humans.