FOUR

GETTING IN GEAR

"How far is it?" The Ranger asked as they marched North West. "Not very, maybe half a mile?" The Sniper replied. The Ranger nodded and continued to follow The Snipers lead through the broken down streets, occasionally having to climb over cars and wreckage to reach their destination. In the silence and sunlight of spring, The Ranger felt a calmness in the air, he put down his hood revealing a half ponytail of dark brown hair along with a heavy five o'clock shadow, almost thick enough to be considered a scruffy beard. His deep blue eyes became far more visible in the sunlight, the sun touched the tan skin on his face and send a warm shockwave through his body and he couldn't help but smile at the peacefulness around him.

The Sniper noticed and decided to follow this idea by pulling the black bandanna that he wore around his face when he was outside, down to around his neck, revealing a well trimmed chin strap beard, moustache and goatee combo, this with his mid length dark curly hair, made him look like a mix between a white guy and a South Asian Indian, his brown eyes complimented this look as well. Both men, now smiling at the atmosphere, were walking slow and steady towards their destination when The Sniper decides to make conversation, "So what do you wanna make with the forge?". The Ranger smiled and contemplated for a moment "A new sword", The Ranger continued to smile "What's wrong with yours?" The Sniper asked. "I want a katana, I have a broadsword" The Ranger replied calmly. "Now I'm no weapons expert like you, but what exactly is the difference? The way I see it, they're both swords, they're sharp, they cut things". The Ranger smiled "I'm glad you ask" He pauses.

"Well for starters they're much lighter and faster".

"Uh-huh" The Sniper added in a half ass way.

"They are curved to make slicing easier, instead of just chopping".

"Okaaaay".

"They are actually made with two different types of steel"

"Wait, why?" The Sniper suddenly became interested.

"Well steel is only a mixture of iron and carbon, steel with more carbon is harder and stronger and is much more difficult to bend out of shape but can be brittle and easily breakable, while steel with less carbon is more tougher and more flexible without snapping but won't hold it's shape as well, the common mistake throughout the centuries is that blacksmiths were only using one type of steel, take this for example..." The Ranger drew his broadsword and began to study it. "What about it?" The Sniper stopped to study as well as if trying to see something that's not there "It's just a sword..." he concluded. "Yes, but it's a broadsword, these were made with hard steel, watch this..." The Ranger walked over to a worn down frame of a car and jammed the length of the sword into the hood. "Okay, you stabbed a car, this proves what exactly?"

The Sniper began to doubt The Rangers knowledge but then, with seemingly no effort at all, The Ranger smiled and pulled on the handle of the sword, snapping the blade in half like a toothpick. The Sniper stood in shock as The Ranger held one half of the sword in his hand while the other half remained embedded in the hood of an old Ford. "...It was like breaking a needle of in someones arm! How'd you do that?" The Sniper asked, amused still by the swords two pieces. "I told you, more carbon, more brittle, now katana's use a mixture of both, the exterior of the blade is made with harder carbon so the edge holds for longer periods of time, whereas the inside of the blade is made with tougher steel so it doesn't snap, the two steels are folded on top of each other hundreds of times and then hammered down, this is also why the curve happens, the steels cool at different rates so it curves in the water" The Ranger finished his explanation. "Amazing..." The Sniper mumbled. "All right well let's get moving, how close are we?" The Ranger asked. "Just a few more blocks" The Sniper said shaking off his childish amusement.

They walked a few more blocks before finally arriving at an opened up building with a worn down sign on the front "Authentic Blacksmith" The Ranger read aloud. It got a bit cooler as the walked into the building and out of the sun, the interior of the building was well lit do to plenty of windows and open doors allowing sunlight in. The Ranger scanned the open room and listed off the resources in his head: 'Anvil, furnace, 15 bags of coal plus whatever we've got back home, tools; hammer, clamps, welder, gloves, goggles and six boxes'.

He wandered over to the boxes curious of their contents, mumbling to himself as he read the labels ".25% Carbon, .35% Carbon and .45% Carbon". Each label designated to two boxes, he opened one of the boxes to see hundreds of lumps of raw steel, a smiles cracked across his face, "So how are we carrying all of this over half a mile?" The Sniper asked from across the room. "We're gonna have to use the blue bitch" The Ranger replied. "What!? She's almost out of gas and scavenging for more hasn't exactly been going my way!!" The Sniper protested. "The last bit of gas will have to do, I will personally find more when we finish moving" The Ranger offered. "Fine, I can see her hauling the steel, coal and tools and MAYBE the anvil, but what about the furnace? Can WE even lift that thing?", "Well sure, we'll just have to dump the old coal, it shouldn't be that hard with at least three of us, you head back and grab the blue bitch, I'll start preparing the little things for moving" The Ranger ordered. "Gotcha" The Sniper said before heading out the door to pick up the old, blue painted moving truck that was...The Blue Bitch.