The jeep was a nice change of pace for Ferra, compared to being cuffed to metal railing in the back of a truck. It was open-topped, but spacious enough in the back to hold Scott’s bags, along with a few cans of gas. Feeling the wind blow through her hair at this speed was both new and enjoyable. He had driven past numerous forested areas through the roads, and had just turned offroad down a dirt path. Soon the green grass grew greener as they passed by small villages completely overrun by plant life. They were stone houses untended, but Ferra still noticed some people living in them. Very soon, she saw crumbling tall buildings in the distance. Soon she realized they were coming up upon an entire decrepit city.

“All right Ferra, your turn to navigate.”

She flinched. “Oh yeah, uh… right. The job said the place we needed to guard was at a hospital. I didn’t expect to have to navigate through this though…”

“Just point the way and I’ll try and find a way around.”

The duo drove through the ruins of the city. Several buildings, ranging from home-sized to a quarter as tall as the skyscrapers, lined the streets, every single one bearing years of neglect. Sometimes their faces were missing, no windows were in place, chunks were collapsed on the road. Still, she managed to catch glimpses of people still living in the ruins, or perhaps hiding. As she continued to direct Scott, they arrived at what Ferra could only imagine to have been the square of this city. There were makeshift farms set up where fountains and plazas once were, surrounded by barbed wire and watched by dirty men holding rifles. They glared at the vehicle as Scott took care to drive far around them. Further down the roads, a large amount of bags full of garbage were piled up ahead. He screeched to a halt, and punched the steering wheel.

“Well shit. Ferra?” He reached into his duffelbag and pulled out her pistol, tossing it to her.

“Keep your finger on the trigger, and watch the rooftops.” He pointed at one of the only intact buildings near the street. “This reeks of a trap.”

“Wait, trap?”

Slinging a shotgun over his back, He hopped out of the car and walked up to the garbage. Kicking at the bag, he felt it was full of sand. He sighed. “Well, that’ll save me some effort.” He began walking back until he glared at the building, noticing a few skeevy men exiting, approaching him with pistols. One of them spoke up.

“All right, we can remove this block for you, but only if-”

He whipped the shotgun over his shoulder and quickly shot one of the men. The other gasped, and fled back to the building. He fired another shot, killing him as well.

“Waste of fuckin ammo.”

Suddenly a bullet struck the concrete near him and he flinched, turning to its origin. Another person with a rifle was pulling back the bolt.

“Ferra, what the fuck?”

He sprinted and dove behind the sandbags. She flinched, and aimed her pistol at the and took aim. She fired, striking the sniper as he fell off the building. Scott peeked over the bags for a few moment, before storming back to the jeep.

“Are you just trying to find the most creative way to kill me or what?”

“I’m sorry just… “ She looked down, reloading the gun. “There could have been a better way to resolve this, right?”

He looked at her dumbfounded for a few moments. “Do you have some misplaced circuits, or what?”

“This isn’t my first time dealing with thugs, you know. Back at the Radi Desert, there were a few people who made threats, but I saw how others were able to straighten them out or throw them in jail. These are the same people that we saw waiting outside of the walls, right?”

“Not even close. Those people are making an effort to try and find a better life. These thugs? Fuck em. The last thing people need in a hellscape like this is more threats in the streets.”

“They could be reformed however, right?”

He laughed. “I’m sorry, when did you get a criminal psychology degree?”

“A what?”

“Look, I’ve done my fair share of research on the Radi desert. It’s a bit easier to keep crime in check because the wildlife and elements are both at odds with you all. You mentioned you fought a demon before, I’m assuming there were cultists with that beast?”

She nodded.

“Well out here, those cultists fuckers are everywhere, trying to make easy prey of the desperate. When nature is actively trying to kill you, it becomes incredibly easy to form bonds with others. Romitum is a prime example of that. Unfortunately for here, there’s little nature trying to kill you. There’s only other men. It’s prime picking grounds for cultists and petty thugs alike.”

“So if this place disappeared, Romitum would cease to work?”

He glared at her. “Just think on what I said a bit more, right? I thought computers were supposed to run faster than human brains.”

He drove effortlessly over the sandbags as she continued to ponder.