The Rules Of Living On The Wasted Land - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Full Armed (1)
I didn’t encounter any ghoul on the way to exit.

These ghouls were experimental subjects whose number would not be too large. And the sound of Jones’s fighting has attracted ghouls, which at the same time caused the tragic death of him and Fanny.

I did identification at the exit, but the gate didn’t open immediately. As the prompt voice sounded, an option appeared on the screen of the access control system: “Are you sure to open the escape door? After opening, the laboratory will be destroyed automatically in five minutes.” I didn’t want to stay here for one more second, so I chose to open the door with any hesitation.

When the iron gate was opened, I saw a shaft, which should be the exit. Grabbing the rusty ladder, I climbed quickly and climbed out of the wellhead after opening the top metal cover. The exit located outside the southwest wall of the thermal power plant, about 200 meters away from the thermal power plant.

I returned to the solid ground. Standing by the wellhead, I was silent. I didn’t care about Fanny’s death, it was just… it was a pity that I couldn’t take away so many goods and materials.

Before turning around and leaving, I took out two identity cards from my pocket, held them in my hand for a while, and finally decided to throw them back into the shaft.

Before long, the ground suddenly began to shake slightly. I could not help but squat on the ground, seeing that the houses in the thermal power plant collapsed one after another, the ground continued to sink, and the dust soon spread throughout the whole plant. When everything went quiet, the factory was left in ruins. Looking back at the Wasteland in the dusk, I felt familiar with that. This was the Wasteland where human beings lived.

I went back to my hiding place before dark, set up warning traps at the entrance, and then fell asleep.

…

The sky in the Wasteland world was always somewhat dark and the daytimes were particularly long.

Breakfast was half a piece of military compressed cereal bar. I never felt foods found on corpses are taboos, so did anybody. It tasted bad, but it was much better than the brown bread sold in small towns. The brown bread tasted bitter and astringent, just like eating bark. Maybe the owner of the workshop made it with the bark. With my full packed backpack, I was going to Dick Town to change for some equipment today. If I encountered a merchant caravan from the north, maybe I could get some better equipment.

In front of the gate of the town, the guards on duty did not cross-examine me too much. They opened the gate directly to let me in, not forgetting to tease me.

“Hey, boy, did you pick up a backpack of china today? We don’t accept antiques, you know.”

“Ha-ha, it’s better to pick up some excrement and give to Old John to fertilize potatoes. Maybe he’ll give you some pieces of brown bread!”

“I guess you want to be lectured. You don’t even wear clothes in the early morning. It smells bad. I’m sure those fat girls won’t like you.”

…

Guards often killed boring times by teasing someone. Of course, they only teased scavengers just like me, who were bedbugs in their eyes. The scavengers were frequent visitors to the town, they always came here to change for some brown bread or buy a few bullets. Those guards knew that we were not powerful.

Dick Town was surrounded by simple and crude fences which was mostly made of old iron sheets and woods, and mainly used to defend against the attacks of mutant creatures. Most of the dwellings were built next to the fence, and all of them were simple tin houses. As long as the wind blew, the sand would go into the houses along the cracks. Weapon stores and taverns located in the center of the town, which was also some places where residents of the town and scavengers nearby often gathered. Mayor Famas’s residence was a three-story building lied in the most central place, which also was the tallest building in the town, with a heavy machine gun perennially erected on the roof.

Yes, it’s my familiar Dick Town.

I walked into the weapon store. Because it was still early, only bald owner Powell was there. Powell was a middle-aged man in his forties. An inch-long scar was on his left cheek, which showed a bit of ferocity of him. And the lower part of his left leg was a prosthesis. Now, Powerll, in a grey overalls, was sitting in front of the tool stand of the shop, fiddling with the parts in his hands, as if he were refitting guns.

Perhaps hearing the footsteps at the door, Powell raised his head.

“Sir, do you accept this gun?”

Saying that, I took down the strange long gun from my shoulder.

I heard that Powell was a mercenary in the North before. In a sneak attack, he was ambushed by the enemy because of misinformation. Faced with enemies who were several times more than his teammates, he had to break through the siege desperately and was shot in the calf in the fierce battle. Although he succeeded in escaping in the end, he was forced to amputate his limbs because the wound hadn’t been cured in time. And Powell ended his career as a mercenary. As for the reason why he came to Dick Town, maybe just because of a coincidence.

“Tut tut tut~”

Powell took the gun and grope it, sighed from time to time, and finally looked up at me, showing an inexplicable expression.

“Gun is a good gun. Young man, you’re so lucky! Tell me, where did you pick it?”

Why did he say I picked it up? His words were interesting.

“Sir, I’ve never seen this gun before. You check it out for me.”

I directly ignored his question.

“This gun is called laser rifle. It was made by some big powers in the North using their pre-war technologies. And it’s usually only equipped for elite soldiers.”

Powell said slowly.

Everyone in town knew that he used to be a mercenary. Of course, he said that. Several big powers often found his team behind the scenes to cooperate in some unseen activities, and the weapons were provided by these powers.

“This gun has strong power, but it also consumes a lot of energy. So it must be used with nuclear power cell which could not be produced by small workshops. It is impossible to make nuclear power cell without advanced equipment.”

I could get Powell’s generous admiration for this gun, and I also understood what he means. I, a scavenger, could only pick up a weapon equipped for elite soldiers unexpectedly somewhere. Moreover, without nuclear power cells, there was no difference between it and a piece of scrap iron even though it has great power.

“Well, sir, do you have nuclear power cells?”

I just asked, without any hope.

“Of course not. It’s almost ten years since I came to Dick Town, and it’s the first time I see this gun.”

Powell’s answer was not unexpected.

“If you want to buy nuclear power cells, I don’t have. But if you want to sell this gun, I can buy it.”

I couldn’t understand his words this time.

“I have almost all kinds of firearms here. If there’s any, I still can make it by myself as long as I get components. But this kind of high-tech product is totally impossible for me to get or make!”

Powell sighed with emotion, looking at this gun with great fondness. His words implicated that he wanted to collect this gun.

“Okay. What can I change this gun for?”

Since I couldn’t get cells, this gun was of no use to me. So it was more practical to change for some useful equipment.

“You can pick any gun hanging on the shelf and I’ll give you a hundred rounds of bullets.”

Powell turned his head, pointing to the wall behind him.

Walking to the wall full of weapons, I really felt dazzled and a slightly thick odor of dog oil came on my face. Weapon maintenance usually needed special maintenance oil which had been replaced by dog oil made from mutant wild dogs’ fat on today’s Wasteland.

There were all kinds of weapons: home-made adjustable three-shot pistols, pre-war pistols, double-barreled shotguns, repeater shotguns, assault rifles… And there also were several odd-looking firearms. It seemed that a firearms exhibition was held here.

It was really hard to decide. A lot of guns looked awesome.

“Boy, take that sniper rifle in the lower right corner.”

The boss on the other side advised me suddenly.

“The revolver hang on your waist is good. It’s powerful enough for short-range shot. I think you always come and go alone. So what you need is a gun that can keep you at a safe distance from enemy. This gun, I changed its caliber to a general caliber in which you can use the usual .45 bullets. And the rifle bullets you found in the field can basically be used too.”

I couldn’t help admiring Powell. Hearing what he said, I felt that this gun was made for a scavenger like me.

“Okay, I change for this sniper rifle.”

Thinking for a while, I said firmly.

Powell took away the laser rifle with a smile. He came to the counter, took the sniper rifle from the wall and handed it to me. Then he squatted under the counter and searched for a while, and took out two boxes of .45 bullets.

Holding this brand-new sniper rifle, I couldn’t help but gently wipe the body of the rifle, which would accompany me to make a living on the Wasteland.

I put away bullets, carried the sniper rifle, and left the weapon store after farewell to Powell.

“Good luck!”

The good wishes of the boss came to my ear. Even though he said that to every customer, it still made people happy.

Wasn’t it?