Sion strapped on his boots and put on his newly cleaned shirt. It took a good scrub to get the blood out of the cloth, but it wasn't anything impossible.
Slinging his backpack behind his back, Sion grabbed the mace leaning against the wooden wall of the house and got ready to depart.
"Hold on there, young man. Sion turned around to see Melanie wearing a thick, brown coat that concealed most of her body, save for her head, which had the hood down. Beside her, Nicole was also wearing a coat that concealed her entire body, with a hood that could hide her rabbit ears if she so wished. "We're about to head out to the nearby Sector. Running low on seeds."
"The Sector you're visiting sells seeds?" Sion raised an eyebrow at the information.
"Why yes. It's probably the only reason why the Sector hasn't been burned to the ground by its rivals." Melanie chuckled slightly as she slung a crossbow gun behind her back. "Their products are just too valuable to lose, and the man running them behind the scenes is powerful as well."
"Oh, I think I know the Sector. Glimmergarde, right?" Melanie nodded and Sion hummed. "The place is famous, I'll give you that, but isn't it also one with the highest crime rate?"
"That is indeed true." Melanie sighed sadly as Nicole fidgeted slightly in place, eager to get going. Anyway, we should probably go. It's a three day walk from here, and I don't want to leave my house for too long."
"Can I come with?" Sion gave a bashful smile. "I don't really have a goal in mind as of late, and I'd rather stick with you two since you're the ones most familiar with the area."
Smiling, Melanie accepted Sion's request, while Nicole glared warily at their tag-along. She didn't voice her complaint, however, because her mom was coming with her.
'Finally, maybe I can see Gheto again?' Nicole chuckled softly as she recalled the young boy who took a liking to her, always calling her big sister and whatnot.
Exiting the house, Melanie locked the door and, without much fanfare, began to head out. Sion followed the two as his habit of scanning his environment as he walked returned in full force.
This was a subconscious characteristic of Sion, who spent day in and day out in the middle of danger. He was just a cog in a giant machine, and where the head processor lay safe in its most protected suite, the cogs were the most in danger because of their various jobs.
As such, spatial awareness was incredibly important for Sion to learn during his early days as a grunt. Otherwise, he would've met his mom and dad early ten times over.
As they traversed the wasteland, Sion and Melanie made small talk, with Nicole glancing at the surroundings with sorrowful eyes.
"So, what were you like during BD?" Sion asked the single mother, who smiled gently at him, slight wrinkles pulling at her face.
"Truth be told, I was a high-ranking officer in our city's police department." Melanie pointed at the crossbow gun slung behind her back. "This one I got when looting a destroyed shopping mall. Couldn't believe this thing was still in working condition when I found it."
"Must be a good find." Sion whistled as their boots left footprints on the dusty wasteland.
"It was." Melanie nodded with a slight chuckle. Meanwhile, Nicole is observing something moving on the horizon.
"Mom, I see something." Melanie stopped and squinted her eyes in the distance. Not wanting to be left out, Sion did the same.
"Well, I didn't think we'd encounter them this early." Grabbing his mace, Sion readied himself for another fight with mutated animals.
"Well, since this area is pretty barren, it would be no surprise if they came straight at us." Melanie grabbed the crossbow from her back and loaded the bolt. Nicole grabbed the baseball bat she brought with her in a tight grip.
"I'll take the front. Cover me from the back?" Melanie nodded, and Sion stepped forward, passing the figure of a determined-looking Nicole. "Nicole, defend your mother. I might not be able to react quickly since I'll be surrounded by dogs."
"I know, no need to tell me." Snarking back a response, Nicole quickly positioned herself next to her mother, who was now aiming at the charging dogs.
Squinting even harder, Sion spotted about five dogs the size of a tiger sprinting at them with foaming mouths.
"Yikes, they have rabies, the worst kind." Melanie narrowed her eyes as she clicked her tongue. Just one scratch on their skin and a drop of saliva entering their bloodstream was enough to spell doom for a normal person.
Thankfully, Radites were practically immune to any kind of virus, so she didn't have to worry about Sion and Nicole if they were ever wounded.
Herself, however, was another story. If she so much as gets a cut from a bite, she's dead.
Not entertaining that thought, she breathed in deeply before exhaling. Pulling the trigger once the air in her lungs was out, a bolt went flying into the air before piercing one mutated dog on the head.
It crashed on the ground as it fell, its tongue lolling out as it ceased to breathe. The dogs, aside from it, however, didn't mind the death of their comrade and continued charging at the trio.
Gritting her teeth, Melanie quickly reloaded the crossbow and took aim. The dogs were now a few feet away from him, and he was sure that if Melanie didn't dispatch another dog, he would be hard-pressed to defend against these dogs.
Another bolt shot, and Sion grinned.
"Thanks for the assist!" Jumping forward, Sion raised his mace high and brought it towards the head of the centermost dog. As it slumped to the ground, the remaining two dogs snarled at the killer of their pack with enraged eyes.
Snorting, Sion grabbed his mace covered in blood from the corpse of their fallen.
Barking at Sion, the two dogs leaped at the stationary man, who smirked and smashed one of the dogs with his mace. The other dog that was free to bite at Sion's throat, was also smashed to the ground when a wooden baseball bat impacted its head.
"Nice work, Nicole." Smiling, Sion approached the dead carcasses of the five dogs. Melanie walked beside him and began retrieving the crossbow bolts she had used when killing the dogs. "And thank you too, Melanie."
"No problem."