Subsector Delta

The thing about running is you've got to have a plan before you start.

To be clear, I'm not saying you have to run. We're not talking life or death here. But if you've harvested enough from the fields to meet minimum bounty, you want to try to keep what's in your pack.  Lose enough bounties and you will start to risk your life.

Your other option is to drop what you have and move on.  Cripple charges are too expensive to waste on just anyone.  Empty the pack on the ground.  They'll pick up whatever you drop and you can head to another field instead of laying in moisture hungry dust for the next twelve hours, shuddering from the after-effects of the cripple charge.

So what did I decide? Today I'm well over the minimum to get a trade. Today I take a chance.  Today I run.

...

The Food Sector really was thinking when they designed their extensive fields. If you can get to the nearest trench the scavenger has to decide whether to abandon their vehicle and chase, or give up on you. If the Scav takes the risk to pursue on foot, the next thing they have to contend with is the berms. Lined up across the land like giant speed bumps, visibility across berms is minimal and the connector tunnels provide temporary hiding spots in addition to quick access across rows. The Scavs have to balance the odds of getting my mibo with the risk of losing their vehicle.  The goal for the runner is to extend the chase hoping the Scav retreats back to their vehicle and moves on to a new target.

Fortunately I'm familiar with this section of fields.  Rows of ten foot high berms separate cluttered strips of what used to be farm land. All interrupted periodically by wide trenches. The trench to my left is only fifty yards away and beyond that the fields have overgrown with reeds providing much needed cover while I travel between connector tunnels.  I move quickly. The steady warm breeze will keep the reeds shuddering enough to mask my movements.  My guess is this guy will take one look over that first berm and give up.  And I'm right.  I look back to see him retreating.

It's not that Scavs are lazy.  Really, it is a natural next step up from gathering.  You acquire enough resources to maintain a transport, but not enough to lock in a spot inside a Sector, even a cheap one like Meds.  So the Scav may as well make use of that transport to accelerate their earnings.  Next thing they pick up are cripple charges and a launcher.  And before you know it, they've got a growing savings tucked away at our expense.  Waiting for the day they can buy a slot in a Sector.  Until then, they scour the fields looking for us.

...

When the Food Sector first planted fields, there was corn as far as the eye could see.  Gathering took hours, not days.  And Scavs were almost non-existent.  I mean, what was the point?  Anyone could pull in a mibo on the way to the nearest subsector.  Corn was crowding out the very dirt in which it grew. But the Food Sector found it expensive to maintain the fields after the initial planting.  Farming runs meant sending expensive equipment into the field and that required more security.  It became impractical.  So they let the fields go wild.  Stalks of corn became intermingled with the local plant life.  Sometimes it was low groundcreep in shades of green, meandering around stalks like an emerald lava. Providing no cover from Scavs.  Other times the reeds took over.  They choked out the corn faster so there was less to harvest, but you were safer from the Scavs in these areas.

Clear of my Scav, and mibo in my pack, I continue north, stumbling through reeds to Food Subsector Delta.  There are five subsectors scattered around the plains.  And although the rolling patrols won't protect you across the entire rolling countryside, once you get close enough you'll fall under their protection.  Those of us who gather may not have any technical skills, but we're the cheapest way to get the crop in so they have set up some safeguards for us. Guard details encircle the subsectors - a heavy inner patrol and a lighter outer patrol.  It's a problem most other sectors don't face since they are more geographically concentrated.  Each Food Subsector sets up the under-manned outer circle as a large, undulating perimeter of guards.  These unpredictable guard routes expand the radius enough to provide disincentive to Scavs who would try and wait near the subsector for incoming mibos. 

Some say the Sector created their own problem making us a target as we carry enough to meet minimums. But you really can't argue with the logic of the minimum bounty requirement.  Gatherers had gotten in the habit of bringing a couple ears in for trading just so they could get out of the fields for a while. Petty theft grew out of control. So they set a minimum bounty requirement for trading and offered a nights stay behind their protected walls.  It was a much appreciated reprieve after days of harvesting. And there's nothing quite like falling asleep knowing you'll wake up on your own terms and not to the business end of a charge launcher.

About twenty clicks from Subsector Delta I'm starting to change my mind about the size requirement for the mibo, weighing me down as if the corn was willing itself back to the earth from which it emerged.  Struggling up a berm, startled birds catch my attention and I glance left.  I immediately abandon my attempt to check my distance to Delta from that vantage point and instead retreat back down into the field.  A small crater of black dirt in the next field over had caught my eye.  It was only days old.  And usually when the Scavs set their trapline of charges, they'll try to get a couple hits before the element of surprise is lost.   Meaning if I kept going I could expect to get knocked off my feet in spectacular fashion.  And somewhere near was a Scav waiting for me. Or at least, waiting for the unconscious version of me.

The prudent move is to cautiously circle back and take a wide berth around the area.  The lines typically run across ten or twelve fields - small enough for the Scav to quickly descend on any triggered site and collect the bounty from the concussed victim.  It is about a half a day to safely navigate around, if you're lucky enough in the first place to realize what you're walking into.  For most gatherers, that walk is short enough to be worth preventing the throbbing headache and saving the bounty on your back that took five-plus days to collect.  But not for me.

As I head towards the blasted area I keep an eye out for the Scav.  The sound of their concussion charges would wake a dead possum so the Scavs tend to rely on sound over visual surveillance, but no point in taking chances.  So far they've never bothered setting a new charge to replace the used one when I have taken my shortcut through a crater.  Nor do they monitor the area. The earthen void tends to be enough of a deterrent that most Gatherers stumbling upon it immediately retreat.  So the Scav doesn't see a point in resetting a charge or monitoring activity there.

I'm just coming up on the black crater and now my heart starts to race.  Small speckles of light scattered around the site. The blast may have uncovered something.   Sure, it could be nothing - maybe discarded scraps from the Sector build.  We're not that far out.  However, it could be an unearthed trove from "The Before", the trade value of which would be enough to secure a spot inside a Sector for life - protection, a place to sleep, food and water only a trade away.  I carefully walk over the first ridge of the crater and down the gradual slope but I'm stopped in my tracks for a second time.  The reeds clamor in the next field over as if they've uprooted and begun a march to freedom. On as calm of a day as this it's not wind that rattles their wooden stalks.  It's the Scav for this charge line.  It has to be.

No need to panic.  He's not likely heard me yet.  I reach over my shoulder to grab one of the last few chunks of granite out of my pack. I just have to hope they are not looking up when the rock goes sailing over their head and lands behind them in the reeds.  But before I can heave it, I hear the spine-tingling zap-zap-zap of the crippler charge.  I know someone's on the ground, writhing in pain, but there's nothing I can do for them now.  I drop the rock, grab up the nearest metal scrap with a handful of grimy dirt and take off running across and out of the crater.  Away from the silent pain I've known only too well myself.

At full speed I cover just under half the remaining distance to Subsector Delta before I finally see a patrol.   I collapse to my side on top of a berm where they can see and protect me.  Not that any Scav would bother coming this close for an ambush.  Pack still strapped to my back, I've made it with my bounty secure.  But more importantly, the handful of dirt and something else.  After a few minutes under the scorching sun I've caught my breath and sit up, using my massive pack as a backrest.  Shaking the black dirt from my hand I can finally take a look at the rubble. 

I've heard of people finding building materials with some trade value.  Others have found machine or vehicle parts.  If you're lucky enough to find parts that have been integrated into new builds, you'll be able to trade them as more than just scrap.  But I've stumbled on the rarest kind of rubble - the people kind.  In this case, a heart-shaped locket.

As I quickly jam it out of sight into my pocket my mind goes into overdrive.  The locket is a solid metal, but more importantly, it's a premade luxury item - a relic.  With resources scarce, the elite are turning away from custom pieces and towards relics to demonstrate their societal positions.  New makes show too much disrespect for the situation everyone is facing given the dwindling resources available.  It's not looked kindly upon by the masses and so the top tier have taken to securing relics whenever they can. 

But putting aside the fact that this could bring in months or even years of trade value, the potential at that crater was enormous.  As I struggle to my feet, my pack is still weighing me down but the treasure in my pocket is helping to lighten the load. I continue towards Delta.

Darkness will be here before I have time to trade my minimum bounty so heading back to the crater tonight is out of the question.  I'll enjoy the single rest night provided for bringing in a mibo and find a place to secure the locket before I leave camp in the morning.  There are a few Gatherers who have made a life inside and can be trusted with something like this - for a small fee - until I can trade it.  In the morning I'll take my chances and head back to the line.  To the crater.  To what could be an end to my life outside the Sectors.