By the time the excitement around the CUEV finally died down, night had already fallen.
After dinner, everyone returned to their sleeping areas. Hal and Gordon were still thinking about the supplies left behind, but they could only wait for Jack to arrange the next trip.
Once Jack and Megan went upstairs, Megan headed off to wash up while Jack sat alone on the living room sofa, considering how they should use the CUEV.
Jack found a pen and paper and began listing all the trips that would require the CUEV.
They needed to return to the cave for Megan’s Tesla, revisit the agricultural supply center with Hal for the seeds and other supplies they had left behind, help Gordon clear out his former settlement, and explore the metal ruins he had mentioned.
After finishing the list, Jack added one more destination at the bottom.
The CUEV factory Dale had found.
That was probably the most valuable location of them all. Unfortunately, Dale had never told them exactly where it was, so there was no way to reach it until he returned.
Jack leaned back against the sofa and stared at the list, still trying to decide where to begin.
Megan came out after washing up and sat down beside him. One look at the paper was enough to tell her what he was doing.
“The options are already right there. What are you still thinking about?”
“Which one comes first.” Jack handed her the list. “What do you think?”
Megan read through it.
“We should get my Tesla back first.”
Jack gave her a skeptical look.
“I’m not saying that just because it’s my car,” Megan said.
“Then convince me.”
Megan set the paper on the coffee table.
“If we knew where the CUEV factory was, that would normally be the top priority. But even if Dale took us there tomorrow, how many vehicles could we actually bring back?”
“At most, we only have two drivers,” Megan continued. “And you just learned today. You can handle the basics, but if Dale took us to the factory now, could you really drive another CUEV all the way back?”
“We could tow one.”
“We could, but that still wouldn’t solve the real problem.” Megan tapped the list. “Cass and the others need time to learn. Until then, bringing back more CUEVs won’t give us more vehicles we can actually use.”
She continued before Jack could argue.
“And there’s no guarantee every CUEV in the factory is in the same condition as this one. We might go through all that trouble only to tow back something that can’t even start.”
Jack had to admit she had a point.
“My Tesla can carry five people,” Megan added. “If we retrieve it first and teach Vane, Cass, and Gordon how to drive, the five of us can travel to the factory together.”
Jack finally saw where she was going.
“One person drives the Tesla back, and the other four each take a CUEV.”
“Exactly. If we only take this CUEV to the factory, we can’t do that.”
“You’re right. I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Jack picked up the pen and marked the Tesla as their first priority.
“Then we’ll get your car back first.”
They spent a little longer discussing the rest of the list and eventually decided to follow the original order: retrieve the Tesla, return to the agricultural supply center, clear out Gordon’s former settlement, and explore the metal ruins.
The CUEV factory would have to wait until Dale returned and showed them the way.
Before then, Vane, Cass, and Gordon would all need driving lessons. Anyone else interested in learning could join them.
Jack wrote down the final order and added driving practice to their plans.
By the time he put down his pen, it was already late.
Megan read through the final list and stood up from the sofa.
“Let’s get some rest. We can deal with everything else tomorrow.”
Jack nodded, placed something over the paper to keep it from moving, and stood as well.
They returned to their separate rooms, and the second floor soon fell silent.
Meanwhile, Dale, Roy, and Colt finally returned to their settlement.
Walter came out to meet them, but the sight of the handcart piled high with food and water made him slow down.
“Why is there so much? Did you raise the price after you got there?”
“No,” Dale said. “We only asked for twelve loaves of bread, twelve bottles of water, six cans of beef, and four cans of pepper spray.”
“Then where did the rest come from?”
“Jack added it himself. He said our price was too low, so he offered more and threw in another twenty potatoes.”
Walter stared at the handcart.
“He thought you weren’t asking for enough?”
Dale nodded and explained what had happened. Walter listened in silence before finally letting out a quiet sigh.
“He’s a good man.”
Colt couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Walter looked at him. “What’s so funny?”
“The people at the convenience store might not agree with you,” Colt said. “They called Jack wasteful. One of them even swore at him for it, and no one seemed surprised. Apparently, this isn’t the first time he’s done something like that.”
“Do they really have that much food?”
“They certainly don’t look short on supplies,” Roy said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t trade like this.”
“Everyone there looked healthy too,” Dale added. “They had plenty of energy to work. It didn’t feel like a settlement struggling to survive.”
Walter looked over the food and water again.
“Maybe they found a massive ruin filled with supplies.”
“We don’t know,” Dale said. “We didn’t ask.”
Grace came out while they were still talking and found the handcart blocking the entrance.
“Unload everything first. You three have been traveling all day. We can sit down and hear the rest afterward.”
She headed back into the settlement to find Harris, while Walter helped the others carry the supplies inside.
Once the handcart had been emptied and everyone had gathered, Dale continued telling them what they had seen.
“We already mentioned the drone and the trading post after our last visit. This time, we also confirmed that they probably have electricity.”
“How?” Harris asked.
Roy answered, “You should’ve seen Jack when the CUEV arrived. He could barely take his eyes off it. He wouldn’t have been that excited if they had no way to charge it.”
That explanation was enough for Harris.
Colt leaned forward.
“The electricity wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the people living there.”
Grace looked at him. “What about them?”
“There were older people and young men, but also several women and a little girl.”
That immediately caught Grace’s interest.
“How many?”
“One woman stayed near Jack. I saw an older woman behind the trading post and two more around the living area. As for the child, there was only one—a little girl around six or seven.”
Colt became more animated as he continued.
“But you’ll never guess what she was doing.”
“What?”
“She was directing a group of Dustchucks while they worked. They were digging beside her, and they actually seemed to understand what she wanted them to do.”
Walter and Harris both looked to Dale for confirmation.
Dale nodded.
“Did they tame those Dustchucks?” Walter asked.
“Jack said they hadn’t tamed them. According to him, they were working together.”
Harris still found it difficult to believe.
“They’re mutant beasts. How do you work with them?”
“We wondered the same thing,” Dale said. “But we saw it ourselves.”
“Does it really matter whether they tamed them or made some kind of deal with them?” Roy asked. “Either way, it has nothing to do with us.”
Walter considered that and moved on.
“He’s right. If Jack can get Dustchucks to work for him, that’s his business. What else did you see?”
“They’re building all over the settlement,” Colt said. “Everyone had something to do, and Jack said they’re planning to build houses next.”
That caught Walter, Harris, and Grace off guard.
“Houses?” Harris asked. “What are they going to build them with?”
“Not old-world houses,” Dale explained. “Probably something made of brick. Their trading post is already being built that way, although it’s only half finished.”
“Where did they get the bricks?” Walter asked.
“They probably made them. We didn’t see how.”
The possibility left everyone thinking.
Colt glanced at Roy before signaling to Dale that it was time to bring up what they had discussed on the way home.
Walter caught the exchange.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Dale hesitated, then told them about their idea of moving the settlement closer to the convenience store and working for Jack during the day.
When he finished, Walter looked at Roy and Colt.
“You both agree with this?”
“We do,” Roy said, and Colt nodded.
Walter turned to Harris and Grace.
“I don’t object,” Harris said after considering it. “But before we make a decision, the rest of us should see the place for ourselves.”
“I agree,” Grace said. “We shouldn’t decide whether to move based only on what the three of them saw.”
Walter nodded.
“Then we’ll rest for two days. After that, all of us will go to Jack’s settlement and take a look for ourselves.”
He looked around at the others.
“Once we’ve seen the place, we can decide whether we want to stay nearby.”
Jack had no idea that Walter’s settlement was already considering moving closer to the convenience store. By then, he was fast asleep. Had he known, he would have welcomed the idea without hesitation.
The next morning, the system’s voice reached him while he was still half asleep.
“Human, primate mammals detected approaching.”
“Number of targets: fourteen.”
The system continued.
“Estimated arrival in one hour.”
Jack opened his eyes and took a moment to process the warning.
The system hadn’t alerted him to approaching people in a long time. Ever since they began using the drone, Cass and Reed usually detected visitors first.
Still, fourteen people didn’t seem like an immediate threat. More survivors had been coming to trade lately, and this group was probably just larger than usual.
Jack got up, washed, and ate breakfast with Megan before heading down to the trading post with her.
A trade had already been completed by the time they arrived. Several unfamiliar survivors stood beside a handcart loaded with their newly acquired food and water, but instead of leaving, they remained near the trading post with everyone else.
No one looked relaxed after the successful trade. Their attention was fixed on the distant wasteland.
Jack knew they had detected the approaching group, but he pretended otherwise.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone’s coming,” Elias said without taking his eyes off the distance. “A fairly large group.”
He caught the scent again, and his expression grew more serious.
“There’s blood too. Faint, but unmistakable.”
Jack stiffened.
“Raiders?”
“Probably not,” one of the visiting survivors answered. He continued watching the same direction. “But they’re definitely not here with good intentions.”
Jack didn’t ask for an explanation. He caught Megan lightly by the arm and led her back to the convenience store.
She waited until they were upstairs before asking, “What’s going on?”
“LOSS warned me this morning that fourteen people were approaching,” Jack said. “I thought they were ordinary traders, but Elias smelled blood.”
That was enough for Megan to understand.
Jack went into his room and soon returned with the revolver and submachine gun. He handed her the revolver.
“Do you know how to use it?”
Megan checked the weapon, nodded, and put it away.
Jack slung the submachine gun across his back and covered it with his old coat. Once they were ready, the two returned to the trading post.
Jack took his place beside Elias and looked across the wasteland.
Now there was nothing left to do but wait for the fourteen visitors to arrive.
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