Jamie was planning. She was planning before she fell asleep. She was planning after she woke up. She was planning while she walked.
Leo and Sawyer noticed her lack of attention but only Sawyer knew the reason. He smiled and felt good about himself. Jamie was absent-minded all the way. She even forgot to ask Sawyer about the missing vines in her backpack.
"Here we are! We are going to take a rest here. After eating lunch, we will move forward."
Jamie was becoming a pro at setting up tents. She was making her food. She didn't hide from them. Because she was worried that she would get caught by some other mutant animal. It was better to have them as her protectors. The mutant animals of now were different from the ones she knew.
They were intelligent.
"Where did you get such food? I want to buy some."
Jamie had a reason ready.
"I cooked and made pre-cooked meals. Add a little amount of water, heat up, or just add spices, it's done."
She wasn't lying. The packaged meals in her space were like that. The only thing was that she didn't make them. She just brought them out of her space.
"Do you want some?"
She politely asked. She knew Sawyer wouldn't agree. And Leo might follow in his steps.
"Sure!"
Leo answered. He took one small package and gave it first to Sawyer and then took another package for himself.
She was taken aback.
Another lesson learned.
Never assume!
"Wow, you can cook so nice. Delicious."
Leo gave her a thumbs-up while slurping. Jamie didn't know how to answer. She didn't know how to cook. She never tried.
They say it right. To hide one lie, you lie a thousand times.
"I cook okay!"
Yes, if she could cook, she would cook okay!
"My sister would love this! Haha!"
Sawyer was quiet. He ate quietly. Jamie wasn't worried her food would become "Out of Stock" because if it did, she could eat theirs but add some spices and sauces. She could take them out now.
"It's so nice. Next time, you can be our food person. If I could eat this kind of food, I'd love to go on quests."
Sawyer nodded.
Jamie felt struck. She could see herself in a distant future with her space empty because of these two foodies. No no no, she had to get them to cook. Otherwise, food will be gone and food food-making process will also be lost.
"I have a recipe book. You can try cooking from that."
"You have a book?"
They gawked at her.
Jamie had so many books. Because she emptied libraries. When she was traveling alone for a month, she had emptied schools and colleges because some random group was burning them. She didn't like that so took them all in her space.
She didn't know what books were there. But she had a space catalog and a search option. It was like there was a computer or a space spirit that knew everything about the space.
"Where did you get it?"
"It's from my mother's family. She had some books as heirlooms."
They looked at her in doubt.
"But when we met you, you didn't have anything on you."
There, she had the chance.
"That, I'm telling you a secret. I have space. Do you know space?"
Leo nodded.
"Yes, in the games, we can put anything in there, right?"
Jamie liked this explanation from him.
"Well, I have an almirah-sized space. Yesterday, after that captain gave me those zombie crystals, it opened up. To use it, I think I need zombie crystals."
"Ah, that's so bad. If you don't have crystals, it won't work. Your superpower is so bad."
Leo believed it. Sawyer didn't answer because he knew she was bluffing. Full on lying.
"Yeah, that's why, I want to give that book to you so you can help me."
Leo was so touched.
He patted his heart as if making a promise.
"From now on, I'll be your cook."
Well, she got a cool for herself. Not bad.
"When will we go out?"
"Two more days!"
Sawyer answered this time.
"Don't be happy. What do you think some teams will do?"
"Which teams?"
Jamie didn't understand.
"The teams that didn't get any vine. They will be ambushing near the entrance which is also conveniently our only exit."
"That means, getting our safely with the vine is difficult."
"Yeah, so conserve your energy. We have to fight to get out. They won't allow anyone to leave. They might even kill for it."
That bad? Jamie realized the guild competitions weren't normal friendly college competitions where even if you lost, you learned a valuable lesson. Here, they killed for it. Just like when they met other groups of people in the apocalypse who were no less than monsters. They killed without blinking. Such desperadoes were more dangerous than the zombies of the apocalypse.
She was going to meet the desperadoes of the present.
They walked more and found a hidden place to spend the night.
Jamie knew Sawyer's sleeping pattern. She slowly tiptoed outside and found him watching the sky again.
"You are curious about the upcoming fight?"
He knew what she wanted to ask.
"Don't be. They can't fight us."
Why?
"Because I won them in solo fights."
So, he fought with them in those underground fights that made him stand out?
"Why did you do that? I mean, why did you enter those fights?"
He didn't look at her.
His focus was still on the stars.
"Do you know what makes you number one?"
He spoke slowly.
"Rising by yourself or defeating the number one. I did the second thing. I never told you my goal, right?"
He sat up, cross-legged, and looked at her.
"I want to go back to the Inner City and I want to overthrow the system."
"Why?"
"You know why!"
What did he know? And what did he think she knew?