Life Of The Wasteland: A Hunter's Journey

Catching Up

(Bashur's POV)

I start to pack my stuff so that I would be prepared for my journey. While making my way towards Mainland would be a simple task, we live in the Wasteland where you can never be too prepared, only underprepared. You just have to hope that you aren't underprepared, which is almost always. I'll need to pack quite a bit of Bit-Tokens and food for the trip since it's about 3 to 5 days away from here, so quite a while before I can even get close to there. I'm used to having only one meal a day, I should be fine. In the Wasteland, it's hard to even get a meal a day. Sometimes you can't even have a meal for a week. So I would need to pack plenty of food for the journey, and just in case anyone tries to steal it, plenty of Bit-Tokens. While this isn't a bounty, this would be a rough journey none-the-less.

I usually love getting out of town every once in a while, but this is different. I'm going to Mainland for, one of the very first times in years. Everyone who had attended the academy for bounty hunters had to first pass a certain exam so that they could prove their skills. The worse part of it was that you had to do the exam in front of the administrators who ran, not only the academy, but also the head of the Mainland Corporation. They are pretty picky with who gets to attend the academy though, despite there being a pretty demand for more and more bounty hunters each year, let alone each month. It seems like there are new bounty hunters every week since I've graduated. I think it's because it's a whole lot easier without me there. I don't know how I feel about that, but it's whatever.

As I finish packing my stuff into my bag, I could hear a group of, at least, two people passing by. I didn't know who they were since no one in the town was expecting anyone. Or, at least, that's what I thought. Someone could've been expecting a visit from someone, but it wasn't likely. I make my way down the stairs as I think about who it could be outside. It could be the Harness Raiders, trying to get all of our supplies. It wouldn't be a surprise considering the Mainland Bounty Academy Reunion was announced to the entire population of the Wasteland. Anyone in their right mind would take the chance to scavenge or take any supplies they could while everyone was away for that time. While I would never do it, it's only because I'm lucky enough that I have all of the resources I would ever need.

I reach the bottom floor, I look around to see if anyone had entered the building yet. No one, not one person. I'm assuming because everyone was already off at Mainland for the Academy reunion. I walk to the door, checking the front counter to see if anyone was running it. Again, no one. Everyone probably has the next few weeks off, for the Mainland Academy reunion. I could still hear the group of people talking outside of the place. They sounded like they were getting closer and closer. "Come on, we have to do this quickly! We have to get enough resources for Mainland," I could hear one of them say. The voice sounded familiar, like one of my old classmates from the academy. The other I couldn't recognize easily though. I just assumed that they had either brought a friend along or was with their partner for the trip. I didn't know who they were though, so I had no clue if they were dangerous or not.

I knew that they had to be on their way to my building, so I had to act quickly. I ran to the counter and hid under the desk that had been left behind for the week, despite it looking, and kind of smelling like, it had been left there for centuries, or hundreds and hundreds of years. None the less, it would have to work. I barely make it underneath the withering away desk before they walked into the building. One of them immediately breathed in and complained about the stench of the place. "Why are we looting this building? It reeks in here!" They continued to complain as they make their way towards the front desk. I was worried that they might find me, I didn't know who they were, so I couldn't know for sure what they were going to do if they had found me.

The other one I had heard walking towards the right side of the desk, possibly making their way behind it to check underneath. I make sure that I don't speak or make a single sound as I sit completely still as I can just barely see the tip of their head go down, looking under the desk. They definitely saw me, so I got out from underneath the desk, hearing the other run down the stairs, attempting to block my only exit out of the building. They just barely got in front of me in time. "What do you think you're doing?" The person asked. I was trying to get a good look at them, attempting to remember if I know them or not. "Please, just let me go!" I shout, the one who wasn't blocking the door looked shook for some reason. "Bashur?" They asked. I looked at them closely, having to squint my eyes to get a better look.