Ch. 4.12

12.

A/N: We are now at 12 chapter ahead of RR. I go back to posting on RR on Monday so we'll get back to having regular updates! Thanks for sticking with me while I caught up.

They walked down the middle of the street as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The unconscious [Mortician] still seated over Santi’s back as they strolled along the road. [Air Current] kept him apprised of everything as his range had grown to be quite expansive, and the teams of people moving parallel to them weren’t surprising. Dozens ran and leapt in the shadows as they hurried along, always watching.

“They’re not very subtle,” Naomi whispered, her voice barely reaching Santi. Santi grunted and shuffled the woman on his shoulder a bit. He was keeping a [Windblade] primed and ready to cast at a moment's notice. It wouldn't do to have his story end here just because he got a bit overconfident. 

“Think they’ll confront us there, at the intersection,” Santi said, tilting his chin just a hair to indicate the four way intersection they were closing in on. The wind told him that the perpendicular road was blocked off at both ends. Likely a barricade of some sort that would be manned by fighters. Then the groups trailing them would drop behind and in front of them and seal them off. 

“Good catch. Hardball or softball?”

“Let’s go soft. We need more bodies to man our walls, not for the graveyards,” Santi said. The levels he had seen of these had shown them to mostly peak Initiates. There might be a few Acolytes around, but he doubted if anyone had managed to get close to their levels. Kristen was an anomaly, not a trend. 

They kept moving and got closer and closer to the suspected ambush site. Dozens if not hundreds now trailed along the sides of the streets, but Naomi and Santi kept their eyes locked ahead and gave no notice of their pursuers.

The four way intersection was the spot of the ambush. Their shadows flowed out of the side streets and rooftops they had been following along on and blocked their path of retreat. To their left and right were barricades of cars and people standing atop of them with a variety of weapons. Fear and hesitation was evident on all their faces as Naomi and Santi slowed and looked around.

“Basically children,” Naomi scoffed as she looked at them. She could be referencing their levels or age, which tended toward young. Most looked to be in the late teens, youthful features befouled by the specters of the recent past.

“Children can still kill if we’re not careful,” Santi warned as he held his spells ready to go. He didn’t want to kill these kids but he wasn’t going to stand here and get mobbed down either. 

“Your region, your negotiations,” Naomi said as she tipped her head fractionally toward the small delegation coming toward them. Santi looked them over as they broke away from the press of bodies They continued the trend of the others, looking young and hard pressed. The leader was a man who was roughly the same age, physically, as Santi. Of average height but with broad shoulders and a straight back, the newcomer's black eyes were intense as he looked them over.

Survivor lvl. 24

The boy looked every inch of his class. A maxed level [Survivor] was sturdy, strong, and had plenty of endurance. It was a good, solid, starting class that allowed one to build their base and take skills that were useful to most folks. The club of twisted together rebar in the survivor’s hands indicated that he wouldn’t be staying a [Survivor] for much longer though. 

“Halt!” the boy barked, his voice cracking at the last moment and Naomi had to stifle a laugh. They still listened as everyone got tense looking them over. They were waiting for Naomi and Santi to break free, to not obey and they’d be forced to yield or fight. When they stood there simply waiting, most of the tension fled out of the group and the leaders shoulders slumped slightly. He coughed once to clear his throat before launching into his spiel. 

“This is our territory,” he started but Santi cut him off.

“Who’s our?”

“Huh?” 

“Your group, what’s their name?” Santi asked as he continued to look around at the people surrounding him. He could cut his way out, he finally decided. They didn’t have the necessary numbers or preparations to fight up a class. It helped lower a bit of his own tension as his own safety was assured.

“We don’t really have a name?” One of the survivors next to the dark eyed kid said. A girl who couldn’t be more than seventeen and still had acne on her chin even with the boosts to her base stats that should have cleared that out. 

“Gwen, chill for a minute,” the boy whispered to her, low enough that it was obviously private.

“I’m just wondering. It’s rude not to introduce oneself. If the group you’re representing doesn't have a name, do you?”

“Yes, I obviously have a name,” the boy said as he tried to stare down Santi. Naomi snorted softly but otherwise didn’t move. 

“I’m Hayden. These are our streets. We protect them, we keep them clear, and people pay tribute to use them,” he said in a rush before Santi could say anything else. A bit of a flush had started to creep up his neck as everyone was looking at him and Santi had forced him off script. Not a natural public speaker but one who did it because it needed to be done. Santi could respect that.

“And what’s the tribute?” Santi asked. 

“Food. Clean water.” 

“Counter-offer.”

“No. Food and water and you can pass without any violence. We don’t want to get violent, but we will if pushed,” Hayden said. There was a hint of poshness to his voice and Santi had to wonder what private school the boy had come out of. 

“Let me finish speaking. My name is Santiago Silva and I am the leader of the bands of scavengers and monster hunters you’ve likely seen running about.”

“You?” Gwen muttered loudly, a disbelieving look in her eyes. A look that was reciprocated by everyone else in the delegation.

“Yes, me. My offer is give up being bandits and come and join my community. We can help you find work doing whatever it is that suits you, including getting you over that level barrier you’re all stuck on.”

“Is that why I can’t see your level? You're too high?” Hayden asked. 

“Yeah. I’m in the sixties. You can’t hurt me if you try,” Santi said. It was close enough to the truth. He’d have to let himself stand still and let the entire horde of people use skill on him before he really had to worry. 

“And I’m just supposed to believe that? Give up our defensive positions and follow you and you’ll take care of all of us?” Hayden swept his hand around at the press of humanity who were now looking frightened as Santi and Naomi stood there.

“I mean, yeah. Look, y’all are starving and dehydrated. You’re level capped and the monsters are only getting stronger. Some of you will eventually figure out how to get past the level cap, but I doubt the evolution will be clean. You’ll be permanently crippled, your potential capped. Or, you can trust me. Here and now you can believe in humanity and the goodwill of each other,” Santi spoke with passion as years of despair and frustration were slowly being turned toward hope. He believed what he said; that humanity could come out of this if they believed in each other and stopped being dicks. Regardless of the pain and suffering he’d seen here, he wanted to be right. He needed this time to be different.

“Holy shit, does that work with people?” Hayden asked incredulously.

“No, not really. Normally I have to show off how strong I am or do some other death defying feat to get people to stop trying to stab me or my friends and follow me. Figured I’d try talking it out for once.” Santi sighed. It was a work in progress. 

[Windblade] rushed up and toward an abandoned building and hit the upper levels with a thunderous crash. Stone and glass exploded inwards as the spell cut through the materials without hesitation and part of the building folded in on itself. Dust filled the area as pieces of masonry tumbled to the ground to explode against the sidewalk as everyone’s eyes widened and they clung to their weapons tighter.

“What the hell?” Hayden murmured as he turned to look at Santi with wide eyes. Santi exhaled softly through his nose. Shock and awe worked well for a reason.

“To reiterate my earlier point. You can all join us. Everyone you have. We’ll escort you back to our camp and we’ll get you sorted out and find what’s the best place for you to help contribute to our continued success.”

“I’ll need to talk this over,” Hayden began before people started to yell affirmations of going with Santi. They streamed around the blockades and Santi got a feel for what had been just presences before. They were emaciated, clothes hanging off of skeletal frames as they looked around with haunted expressions. These were people who were holding on by the thinnest of thread and Santi had offered them hope. 

“Your speech wasn’t that bad. Showcase of force usually helps though. Especially with those who are scared. Show them you can protect them. Or that they can’t hurt you without pain they don’t want to experience.” Naomi’s comments were welcome, but Santi was feeling tired. 

It had been a day and the slumbering woman on his shoulder was a mystery he didn’t know if he had time to get through. That he just added hundreds of people to his already strained supply lines wasn’t great. The only advantage was that they were Intitates and not Acolytes and could still eat normal food.

“Helen and Marisol are going to kill me,” Santi groaned as he started thinking of the logistics nightmare he had just created.