The Messengers of Sanctuary

1 - Chicory

--- 13 A.O. (After Outbreak) ---

The old world called the area the rocky mountains. Most folks still spoke of them that way, but as time steadily ticked onward the number of people who renamed everything steadily grew. To some the great rockies were simply and uncreatively referred to as 'the mountains.' it wasn't likely that anyone would find any other mountains to compare them too after all.

As such, many places also changed names. A settlement would most likely rename the nearby old world towns and cities, becoming more and more generalistic with them. They had crops and survival to worry about after all, there was no sense in calling a city what it used to be when simply referring to 'town' made sense to everyone in the area.

Chicory absolutely hated this practice. She had lost count of how many settlements did it, and seeing as she sort of needed that information to deliver her quota, it was really really annoying.

She had numerous maps of Alberta and the immediate areas, and when someone said the fort she was looking for was 'just on the other side of the town' it was simply not enough information to deliver the package.

Chicory still tried though, which is more than most people could have said. She was a Messenger of Sanctuary darn it! She couldn't sour their great name just because some people refused to communicate effectively.

And so Chicory had told the guy that she would deliver it, but she had to have more details. He'd simply shrugged and spouted off some nonsense about the route, leaving her with the payment and the package.

That was two weeks ago.

"Are you absolutely sure that there's no one named Randy Wilson?!"

The man atop the fence gave her a strange look, "I said what I said! I don't know any Mandy!"

Chicory really contemplated telling him that she could hear perfectly fine. "I said RANDY!!!"

"Yeah! I heard you, we don't got no Mandy!"

Chicory massaged her temples, letting out a long slow breath. This settlement wasn't even on her map, which meant that Sanctuary hadn't sent any messengers there. It also meant that no one really trusted her. How inconvenient. "Look, can you open the gate?!" Chicory yelled, trying to be heard.

She didn't like yelling at people, but Chicory was quickly running out of options, and honestly they wouldn't appreciate it if she simply snuck into their fence later tonight and forced someone to tell her if they knew Randy, besides, that was kind of a gray area no matter what.

To Chicory's surprise, the unnamed man shook his head with annoyance and left the sentry tower. A moment later the gate inched open just enough for her to slip through. Took them long enough.

The man was quietly conversing with a cross looking woman who held an upturned shovel. She'd probably been very pretty, but she was caked with dirt presumably from whatever she'd been using the shovel for.

The two focused on Chicory as she stepped inside, smiling brightly at their annoyed glares.

"Where'd you even come from?" The woman said, folding her arms and keeping the shovel balanced with an elbow around it, "I haven't seen anyone come through here for months."

"Uh...I have a package for someone named Randy Wilson? Does anyone here go by that name?"

The two paused. The man gestured at Chicory, "You said Mandy before, what, did it change recipients?"

Chicory shook her head quickly, "Oh, no I'm very sorry about that, you just couldn't hear me correctly."

The man rolled his eyes and stashed the package, scanning the address and name with practiced ease, "yeh, we got a Randy, I'll take this to him."