Alex perked up his ears and took a deep breath and readied his gun pointing into the peaceful street.
"There must be something wrong. All the mutants in the surrounding disappeared, they must have sensed their predator.", Nicolette nervously said.
"You mean carnivore?", Alex asked.
"Yeah. Hopefully, it is not a Death Claw.", Nicolette said with concern. But there was a sudden roar followed by the burst of gunshots.
"Someone is fighting, come with me.", Nicolette instructed and headed toward the commotion.
"Is it a good idea to go there?", Alex asked but she didn't respond.
When they reached there, a burst of howls erupted from a hideous and vicious-looking face creature. Saliva was flowing from its mouth and it was about to burst apart. A group of people is attacking with their heavy firepower while they are also receiving casualties. The monster was further angered and attacked more viciously the group of people. People were throwing explosives at the monster continuously. When he looked at the scene, his mouth was wide open and completely stunned.
They started to fire missile after missile and soon blood, brain, and fat exploded into small droplets while it filled the street. That creature finally fell to the ground and the group celebrated their victory. After that, the group started to clear the battlefield.
"99-Type anti-tank missile can only kill it.", Nicolette sighed in relief.
"What's going on there?", Alex asked looking at the people dissecting the creature.
"They are collecting crystals and other things that can be used.", Nicolette replied. They quickly went in the supposed direction and approached some soldiers. The soldiers looked at them and stopped them.
"Before we let you in, we need to inspect your gene code.", one of the soldiers asked. After they displayed their EP, the soldiers allowed both of them to pass politely. The steel gate slowly opened and he could see the same anti-tank missile behind some sandbags. Alex quietly followed Nicolette into the camp.
Inside the camp, a soldier carried an old automatic rifle while a merchant was equipped with a full-sensory computer that could calculate the price of goods. People with missing limbs were everywhere, some of them were using canes, and others were using robotic limbs. People starved to the bones crowded the streets and no longer even have the energy to yell.
"Inside this camp, their principle is absolute neutrality. Murder and theft will be punished by death, tax fraud will be punished by eviction, and intentional harm will be punished by jail time.", Nicolette explained the rules.
"Then, why is that guy not shot?", Alex asked while looking at a man beating a skinny woman.
"That's the inspector. He is responsible for cleaning up corpses.", Nicolette casually replied.
"But…", Alex tried to say something.
"The inner circle is a bit more organized but cost us one crystal energy.", Nicolette replied. He soon understand the situation and nodded.
"We are here.", Nicolette abruptly said to him as she dragged him into a store. The store was the official purchasing station responsible for evaluating the price of goods.
"Items.", the mechanical voice echoed through the window and Alex opened his backpack. He took out one of the items and placed it on the table. Alex could hear loud gasp all around him at this time and found out that people were watching the transaction.
"Sir, do you have more?", asked with the same voice again with some respect this time. It was fresh canned meat that he took out from his SPACE.
"I have plenty of them.", Alex replied.
"Sir please come to our VIP room. There will be a designated trader at your service.", the voice asked and a pretty-looking girl approached him.
"Sir, please this way.", the girl smiled at him and showed him to the VIP room. She had slightly exposed cleavage so Nicolette grinned at the scene. Alex on the other hand didn't give it much thought as they walked into the room. There was a silent battle going on with their eyes between the two ladies at this time behind Alex's back. The girl was hoping for a big tip when she was supposed to give him a sexual service but due to the presence of Nicolette, her plan was interrupted. Alex took out all the twenty canned meat from his back and gave it to evaluation and the transaction was finally done. He got 50 crystals per can which far exceeded being just food and was considered a luxury.