More than a dozen strong, able-bodied young adults lived in the settlement. They were perfectly capable of searching for their own supplies, but they were greedy cowards who preferred to prey on the weak.
They had no interest in taking risks themselves. Instead, they survived by extorting other settlements.
They weren’t particularly brave either. Whenever they spotted a large settlement, they kept their distance. If they heard that raiders had appeared nearby, they might refuse to leave their settlement for days.
They only targeted places with fewer people or settlements made up mostly of the elderly, women, and children. Small, vulnerable settlements like those were common enough in the wasteland to keep them living comfortably.
Whenever they went looking for a target, they brought whatever worthless junk they could find—a few pieces of rusted metal, a bundle of rotting cloth, or anything else they happened to pick up along the way.
Once they found a vulnerable settlement, they would offer the junk as a “trade” and demand food and water in return. The price was entirely up to them. A few scraps of rusted metal might suddenly be worth enough supplies to feed more than a dozen people for days.
If the settlement couldn’t meet their demands, they simply blocked the entrance and refused to leave.
Most of the smaller settlements nearby had dealt with them before. Everyone knew it was extortion disguised as trade, but few had the strength to drive them away.
Someone had tried once.
The group had targeted a small settlement that couldn’t provide what they demanded. When they refused to leave, the elderly man in charge finally picked up a weapon and fought back.
More than a dozen of them rushed him at once.
The other residents tried to help, but they were beaten down as well. By the time the attackers stopped, the old man was lying motionless on the ground.
They then forced their way into the settlement, took every remaining supply they could find, and left completely satisfied.
Once word spread, the smaller settlements nearby no longer dared to resist. In the wasteland, even an injury that seemed minor could eventually cost someone their life.
They continued living this way until news of the convenience store reached them through Marlin.
“They really accept anything?”
“That’s what we heard.”
“Then this will be easy.”
The man seated in the middle leaned back, a smile spreading across his face.
“We’ll leave tomorrow morning. We can pick up a few rocks along the way.”
The others immediately understood.
“Never thought anyone could be that stupid.”
“You’ve got it wrong,” someone else said seriously. “He’s not just stupid. He’s a wasteful idiot.”
The settlement erupted in laughter.
“Get some sleep,” the man said. “Tomorrow, we’ll ask that generous gentleman to save a few poor survivors.”
Another round of laughter followed.
Jack knew nothing about the visitors already planning to come his way.
By then, he was asleep upstairs at the convenience store.
The next morning, Jack woke in a good mood.
After washing up, he stepped out of his bedroom and found Megan preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
His eyes immediately lit up.
“What are we having?”
“Nothing special,” Megan said. “Bread with butter and strawberry jam. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it. I’m not picky.”
Jack grinned, picked up a slice of bread, and spread butter and strawberry jam over it.
Megan rolled her eyes. The two continued bickering as they ate, then headed downstairs together.
The trading post was unusually busy that morning.
Six strangers had arrived with two handcarts. Elias was speaking with several of them, while Vane checked the supplies loaded on the carts.
“What’s going on over there?” Megan asked.
“Looks like we have customers.”
Jack led her toward the trading post.
Several visitors were unloading sacks of coal from one of the carts, all looking pleased with the trade. When Elias saw Jack approaching, he motioned toward the second cart.
“The coal is already settled. This group brought an old-world machine, but I wanted you to decide whether we should take it.”
“What kind of machine?”
“An ice maker.”
Jack immediately went over for a closer look.
One of the men hurried forward as soon as he saw Jack.
“This isn’t just any ice maker. It was extremely popular in the old world. Most people couldn’t get one even if they wanted to. Once you have it, you can make ice whenever—”
“That’s enough,” Elias cut in.
The man immediately fell silent.
Elias gave him a skeptical look.
“You’re too young to remember the old world. Did one of the older people in your settlement teach you that sales pitch?”
Before the man could defend himself, Elias turned to Jack.
“Don’t listen to him. This machine was an electricity hog. Even in the old world, hardly anyone had any use for it. It’s even less practical now.”
Jack moved closer to examine the machine on the cart.
The system’s voice sounded in his mind.
“Human, Polar Pulse Ice Synthesizer detected.”
“Once connected to a water source and power supply, water intake and cooling intensity can be adjusted using the physical controls on the side.”
“After the front chamber door is closed, the internal freezing chamber will rapidly freeze the supplied water.”
“With the dividers installed, the machine can produce multiple small ice cubes. Removing the dividers allows it to produce a single solid block of ice.”
After a brief pause, the system added,
“At full capacity, the device consumes an extreme amount of electricity. Its energy consumption ranks among the highest of all equipment currently known to the convenience store.”
Jack finally understood why Elias had called it an electricity hog.
Jack considered the machine for a moment before turning to the man beside the cart.
“What do you want for it? I can offer bread, water, canned beef, and potatoes.”
The man clearly hadn’t expected Jack to take the machine.
“Can we have some of each?”
“Sure.”
He immediately named his price, only for Elias to cut it by more than half. Neither side was willing to give in, and after listening to them argue for a while, Jack gave his own offer.
“Four loaves of bread, four bottles of water, three cans of beef, and five potatoes.”
The man discussed it quietly with his companions before nodding.
“Deal.”
The offer was roughly equal to the price of two sacks of coal, with five potatoes added.
Vane went to prepare the supplies while the visitors pushed the handcart closer and began untying the Polar Pulse Ice Synthesizer.
Jack watched them for a moment, then approached the man who had tried to talk up the machine.
“What’s your name?”
“Kyle.”
Kyle continued working on the ropes before glancing at Jack.
“Why? Is there something else?”
A hint of suspicion entered his voice.
“You’re not changing your mind, are you?”
“What are you talking about?” Jack rolled his eyes. “Do I look like someone who’d go back on his word?”
“Who knows? This is your territory. If you change your mind, no one can stop you.”
Jack had no argument for that.
Kyle gave him another look. “But you don’t seem like that kind of person. So what did you want?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to talk and get to know you.”
That was all the encouragement Kyle needed.
Once he started talking, he barely paused for breath. Before long, Jack knew where Kyle’s settlement was, how many years the Polar Pulse Ice Synthesizer had been sitting unused, and how many people it had taken to drag the machine out of storage. Kyle even told him how they had nearly overturned the handcart on the way there.
Somewhere in the middle of Kyle’s rambling, Jack felt as if he had suddenly caught onto something.
But before the thought fully formed, it slipped away.
By the time the Polar Pulse Ice Synthesizer had been unloaded, Kyle was finally ready to leave.
“All right, we’re heading back. If we find anything else like this, I’ll bring it over.”
“Sounds good,” Jack said. “Just don’t oversell it so much next time.”
Kyle grinned.
“Not everything I said was made up. The older people in our settlement really did say these machines were rare. They just forgot to mention how much electricity they used.”
Kyle left with his companions, but Jack remained where he was, trying to recover the thought that had slipped away.
Megan came over after noticing him staring into the distance.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something occurred to me while I was talking to Kyle.”
“Kyle?”
“The one trying to talk up the ice maker.”
“What did you think of?”
“That’s the problem. I can’t remember.” Jack tried to piece the thought together again, but nothing came back. “I felt like I was onto something, and then it was gone.”
“Then stop thinking about it for now,” Megan said. “Maybe it’ll come back the next time you see him.”
“Hopefully.”
Before Jack could dwell on it any longer, Cass called out from nearby.
“Jack, someone’s coming!”
Instead of sounding alarmed, Cass could barely contain his excitement.
Jack immediately headed over with Megan.
“What did you find?”
“Look!”
Cass pointed at the drone’s screen.
Jack leaned closer. The moment he saw what was approaching, a smile spread across his face.
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