Ch 4.16

16.

“Is Daniel going to be ok?” Santi asked, as he and Hana ran back to the others. Neither was going full speed, but the ground eating pace would get them back to the staging area fast enough. Hana had been quiet so far, not really talking at all as they ran.

“Yeah. He’s tough and he’s already doing better. I think it’s good he takes a bit of a break for right now, though. He’s worked really hard and needs to take a breather,” Hana said in a rush and Santi had a feeling she’d reheareds those lines already. 

“Let him know if he needs to talk or take time off, just say the word. A few days off can prevent something bad from happening,” Santi said. He had seen it enough in the first iteration. Strong people cracking as the pressure slowly overwhelmed them, especially those who didn’t work their willpower stat. 

“I’ll let him know. Do you trust Naomi?” Hana asked, trying and succeeding in changing the subject.

“No. Actually that’s why I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to keep an eye on her. Discreetly. She’s not a chump and she’s going to be nervous out here. But I want to know what she’s up to when I’m not around,” Santi said, weaving [Air Manipulation] around them to keep the sound to just themselves. It muted the world around them, but he didn’t trust that there wasn’t a scout out here who would hear what he was saying. 

“How close should I stick to her? She’s higher level than me. Does she have detection skills?” Hana asked in a flurry. 

“Don’t risk yourself, I know, and I don’t know,” Santi rattled off the answers. All it got was Hana to frown more as they entered the hills that cut off the Bay Area from the Sacramento Valley. They didn’t have much further to go before they’d get to the temporary camp.

“How dangerous is she?” 

“Very. She’s not sneaky like Duncan, she’s a commander. A leader and general and her skills are about enhancing those around her. She likely has a few skills to help herself if she gets in trouble, a defense and attack skill, but she’s at her best with a squad of people or more.”

“Alright. So she’s likely never going to be alone,” Hana trailed off as her brow furrowed and she thought on it.

“Why’d you compare her to Duncan?” 

“It’s the first thing that came to mind,” Santi said and he looked at her and realized she didn’t believe him. It didn’t matter as long as the geas was in effect. If she could figure it out herself, maybe it wouldn’t rip out her memories?

Santi couldn’t spend time thinking about that as the cleared the first set of hills and made it to the camp. A stream of people were shuffling away, headed down and toward Homebase. All the survivors from Oakland that they’d found. Some were staying, those who had combat skills and were willing to earn their evolutions with contributions. 

San Francisco still needed to be cleared and liberated. There were plenty of other towns and cities to find and clear out as well. San Jose would be a monster on its own and Santi didn’t look forward to the eventual campaign to clear the nest and rifts around there.  Had to deal with the Blackheart first. He had to trust that those he was leaving here could build up the community to the point they could launch their assaults on the untamed masses of monsters that would populate the area.

“Come on, they’re over this way,” Santi said as he led Hana past the streams of humanity and toward the house that Naomi’s team was stationed at. They had decided to use her house as the final rallying point before taking off. 

There weren’t many left of her expedition, but those who had made it were all tough fighters. Most hovered in the upper forties and low fifties, not far behind him and Naomi at all. His own team were roughly equal to them, but none of them could match Alan. 

Santi didn’t worry about Alan freaking out and going on a bloody rampage that would leave dozens dead. As long as Cameron was alive and well then he could mentally remove Alan from the board. Naomi herself was dangerous, but none of her elites could compare to him and they weren’t so numerous that he thought they could overwhelm him that way. Once they reached her base though, that was when things could get complicated.

He suppressed the sigh he wanted to heave. He hated it. The paranoia and mistrust that infected his every thought. The cultists had sabotaged and destroyed so much of what had been left, a poison that had seeped into the remnants of humanity. But, Naomi wasn’t some wild, uncaring, monster. She was a mother. She was kind and logical and disciplined. She made jokes and enjoyed teaching people. It would have been easier if she was like Duncan.

They barged through the front door and all the conversation came to a crashing halt as everyone turned to look at him and Hana. Naomi had a huge pack on her back and her sword was strapped to her waist. Everyone else was equipped similarly and looked relieved when he showed up.

“Bout time, you’ve taken forever,” Bianca complained and the rest of the group joined in.

“Mom was cleaning and she made me help,” Santi defended himself. Bianca nodded in sympathy and understanding but the rest just looked at him funny. He shrugged. There was no escaping chores sometimes. Especially if Mom was the one leading the charge.

“Now that Santi is here, I believe we can start. You brought your scouts?” Naomi said as she looked at Hana with a frown.

“Just the one. Daniel is staying to help keep the community safe.” 

“Smart. Alright, scouts take the lead spot and let’s head out. We cut cross country till we hit I-5 and then we follow that all the way down till we hit 55 and then follow that to Vegas. We go down the valley, not through the bay.” Her scouts nodded and walked out of the house and the rest of the occupants slowly filed out until there was only Santi and his team who took up the rear of the formation.

“This is going to take a while, don’t you think?” Bianca said as she matched Santi stride for stride. Chloe took up the space on his other side and Tank and Cameron talked with each other behind them while Grimvr walked a bit ahead. 

“It’s about six hundred miles if we follow the roads. Had to find an atlas to look at it. You know how hard it is to find an atlas nowadays?” Chloe chimed in and Santi grunted as his mind thought. 

“We can probably average about twenty miles an hour if we don’t push it. If we cut cross country we can probably shave time off. About thirtyish hours to travel time then? And that’s if we don't’ have to fight anything. Which we will,” Santi laid out his thoughts as everyone grumbled. 

“It took them the majority of a week to make their way up to us. They also were clearing nests and looking for survivors,” Cam said, leaning in and over the three of them. 

“Don’t lean over my head, it’s rude,” Santi said, stabbing a finger into Cameron’s chin. The tall man laughed and flopped his chin on Bianca’s head, somehow not drawing her ire as they walked. 

“What if we went all out?” Chloe asked. 

“I’d leave you all in my dust and could probably get it done in like, twelve hours?” Santi had to take a minute to figure out the math. 

“You can run six hundred miles in twelve hours?” Bianca asked incredulously. 

“No. But I can use my spells to help speed me up. It’s about fifty miles an hour, which I can easily do if I sprint. Just can’t keep it up. With my spells I would reduce the wind resistance, give myself a constant backwind, and use [Windstep] to throw myself further and further ahead. Still would be exhausting. Can’t wait till I can fly.” 

“Hold up. You’re going to be able to fly?” Bianca was pissed as she grabbed his arm and stared at him. Santi shrugged. 

“I mean, why wouldn’t I?” 

“I want to fly. You know I’ve always wanted to fly. How do I get to fly?” Bianca demanded while the rest of the group broke into laughter as Santi tugged his arm free and kept walking.

“I don’t know. Who knows, maybe there’s going to be flying carpets or something you can buy or earn,” Santi said. He was telling the truth and the geas didn’t strangle him. Another little hint of how to get around the spell that he would have to keep in mind. 

They left the hills behind and started out on their journey in a long, ragged line. As they left the city limits the scouts took off in a loping jog and after a few minutes, Naomi whisted and started the rest of the group moving forward. Santi grunted and started to jog again as they started their journey to the Blackheart.