Seeing a stranger as a scavenger of the wastes was almost guaranteeing an brutal fight to the death, looting of corpses, and perhaps even cutting off flesh to smoke and dry for later food.
But perhaps what made Ty's sweat go cold was less the fact a stranger was just there, was how normal he looked.
His shirt was an actual shirt, not scraps of canvas and plastic threaded together and stretched into clothes. His pants were faded and maintained jeans-JEANS!-which was a for-sure sign that this stranger was probably the leader of some big group.
Except he was alone.
And... he had no poncho or protective coverings.
None.
'How the hell did he even get here?!' Ty nervously looked to Jess and her sister, only to see them on the tips of their toes, grabbing at their necks as though they were being held up by their throats!
The stranger opened his mouth, and his voice was smooth and refined, so backwards and different to the regular people of the world post-Extinction that it almost felt as though he were of a time long past.
"Three of you, is it? Smart, the way you cover yourself... I didn't expect the unchosen to find their own ways into the Emerald Wastes so soon after the forces of the First City discovered it."
He tilted his head, eyes faintly shining a bright indigo. "Then again, humans always have been a resourceful bunch. I assume you've survived many things, fought many a battle, yes?" He was clearly speaking to Ty, almost as though he'd forgotten about the women being half-strangled in place by nothing.
'Fuck fuck fuck! He's chosen! Indigo?! Fuck the indigo god is... kindness right? Okay, breath Ty, maybe he's more affected to be merciful, or even helping?'
Ty stiffly nodded. "I once was in a shootout for bottle of wine that had been discovered. You know how much good alcohol can be sold for..." Ty trailed off and audibly gulped as he stared into the stranger's expressionless face. "I managed to escape when one of the groups revealed they had somehow gotten an actual military power armor."
The stranger nodded. "Impressive indeed. It's a shame then... I think these two girls would make excellent slaves yes?"
Ty's expression changed and his arm twitched at his side.
The stranger's eyes flicked to his side, seeing the knife strapped there.
His eyes widened and then narrowed as he processed that information. He assumed Ty had instinctively begun reaching for a weapon in response to what he said, but right as his mind went to work, focused on Ty's right side, Ty's left hand quickly reached into the back of his waistband, under the plastic poncho, and pulled out a pistol as he lifted it to aim!
The stranger caught the motion as Ty pulled the gun out, and Ty almost had it leveled at his head when the stranger twitched his hand.
"CRACK!"
"GAAAAAGH!" Ty screamed as a sudden force grabbed his arm and snapped it the opposite way at the elbow!
The gun fell from his hand as his bones stabbed out from the mangled flesh of his elbow, stabbing out through the plastic, and the stranger tsked.
"Damn it, I was going to sell you to a mine... guess I'm only getting two products today. Unexpected bonus I guess."
He shrugged as he looked to Jess and her sister, who were helpless.
He looked into their faces as they stared at him in panic, and the two of them suddenly heard a second "CRACK!", followed by a "Thwump!" as something soft and heavy hit the ground.
"The girl's eyes widened as tears began to fall, and Jess began to scream against the psychic gag. "MMMM-HMMMM!!!!"
The stranger shook his head. "Sorry... but it won't it be nice? You don't have to scrounge for food anymore. You can both sleep easy from now on, fed and kept safe. Isn't it better than this hard life where you can die anytime?"
He looked at Ty's body. "It's kinder to just kill him rather than let him slowly die now that his arm is broken. It would have been kinder to put him in a mine where at least he was fed than leave him in this wasteland of cursed rain."
He smiled as he looked to the two women. "Aren't I quite kind? You get to be fed and safe, chained to your future master's bed!"
~ ~ ~
Simon lay in his bed, curled into a ball to help preserve body heat beneath his thin and threadbare blanket.
'I need to start saving up for a good blanket... gaaah! They're so expensive though!'
Simon lay waiting, and finally an intercom turned on throughout the hive.
"It is now 8 o'clock, and it's time for your nightly newscast!"
"Today, the board has began discussing the move to replace the doors to most cells within the Hive to cut energy expenditure. Using an electronic lock is still permissible, but Board Member Harnoor has declared that the energy used to lift the heavy doors of each living cell is taking its toll on our electricity factories."
Simon looked at the doorless entryway between the bedroom and living room. The doors between rooms in a living cell had been removed decades ago for the same reason, unnecessary energy expenditure, white the front door was kept for security against invasion.
If the door is just electronically locked, but opened by pushing a handle, then it's much more likely that one could simply break through it. But thick steel doors operated mechanically to open are much harder to get through without hacking the electronics operating it, therefore increasing safety in case mutants or something from the surface invades.
"Board Member Reed has taken a stance against this motion, saying that our energy sources are still going strong, and rather than worry about electricity, we should focus on gaining more biomass, as the Hive's population has grown more than predicted when the Scavenger Code was put into effect."
Simon frowned. 'Is our energy situation really so good? Or is that just to keep us calm? Or maybe the threat of invasion by the unknowns of the surface has reduced, so the added security is unnecessary?'
He bit the back of his forefinger in thought. 'To do that, the Board itself would have to have to have data from the surface. Have they been scouting the area without us knowing?!'
Simon froze as the revelation became crystal-clear to him.
'Why hide a module of rooms?'
'How did Emily get to the surface?'
'How does the Board know enough to feel assured?'
It all linked together in his mind, and he quickly began to control his breathing to prevent himself from reacting too strongly.
'Gotta stay calm, and wait. The plan remains the same, wait for 20 minutes or so after the daily news when nobody is out and night-lights hit, and then I can go take a look.'