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Energy Eater - Chapter 42 - Leaving the trash heap
🕑 Added 2024-09-30 10:23:42 +0000 UTC"Okay, run that by me again. You're arresting me?" I was rubbing the bridge of my nose with one hand. This couldn't be right. I must have heard that wrong. Of course I did. There’s no other explanation.
"That is correct. As the mayor of Fort Ennis, I place you, Sabrina, under arrest," George, the old man with a bald spot, explained.
"Under what charge? What did I do for you to arrest me? I got here yesterday, brought you food, and now you're saying I committed a crime?"
"We have reasons to suspect that you stole the items you used for the trades you made in the fort."
It took me a long moment to process that, "I stole that? What proof do you have? I told you the people from Madison gave me those things."
"Yeah, but they are ours. You're bringing back the supplies we sent down there!" the guard with the smirk, the same one that kept staring at me, snarled. His voice was loud enough to make some of the people around him uncomfortable.
"You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t you know how trade works? If you trade something, you don’t own that anymore. The other person, who now owns the item, can do whatever they want with it, including trading it with someone else," I said, trying hard to keep my voice down and even harder not to toss something heavy at that dick.
"Be that as it may, we have no proof that you indeed traded with the people of Madison. The possibility that you stole from them is very much real."
"And what about innocent until proven guilty? I know that's a law from the old world, but are you completely giving up on that?" I asked.
"We will have an investigation. And if your story is true, you won’t have to worry about anything. Until then, you’ll be our prisoner," George continued.
"We don’t need to have an investigation. People like her always steal things. That’s how they’ve always been. Even in the old world," the guard barked, his eyes getting more and more bloodshot.
"People like me?" I paused and looked around. It took me a moment to understand what he meant by that. He was accusing me because I was black. Or at least that was the most likely scenario. I had never experienced this kind of thing before since I spent my entire life in the Hidden Horn Village, and there everyone knew each other. Even on the rare occasions when I traveled, I only went to Madison, where there were at least a couple of Black people. My only knowledge of that kind of thing was through TV shows and books. The problem is that I wasn't sure about that, "Are you seriously saying that because I’m black?"
"Now, now. We are not saying anything like that. It’s just suspicious circumstances, and we want to get to the bottom of it," George explained.
"That’s just a formality. People like you always steal and rob others," Despite the mayor's attempt to change the context, the guard made his motives crystal clear.
"Patterson!" Chris gasped and took a few steps toward the man. "What the hell, man?"
"Don’t give me that! Every time we had to fight against bandits, they looked like her," the guard, Patterson, I guess, replied.
"What bandits? It's been more than ten years since we saw any of them here. Things might have been different during your dad’s time, but that’s a long time ago," Chris protested.
"So? Those things don’t change. It’s in her blood. She’s no better than an animal."
And there goes my temper, "You dumb piece of shit. There are mutated animals popping up everywhere, monsters that don’t even make sense, and the fucking Eaters all around us. Apparently, there’s even an Eater hive nearby. The world is fucked five ways till Sunday, and you want to tell me that just because I look like this, I’m evil? Fuck you."
"There’s no need for this kind of language," George tried to calm the situation.
"Fuck you too. He called me an animal!" I snarled back, my voice rising a bit.
"See? She can’t even control herself," Patterson turned to George.
"Wow," I stared at the deep shit of a guard. "Can you tell me something, then? What’s it like knowing that you’re such a disappointment to your parents that they gave up on you before you even started crawling?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Patterson took a few steps toward me, but another guard held him back.
"You know, I’d love to explain it to you, but I used to teach children. I don’t know how to talk to a toddler."
I heard a couple of 'damns' under their breath from the people watching around us. It wasn’t the best insult I ever gave, but I felt a bit vindicated with it.
"Sabrina, calm down. We can figure this out. I know it sucks, but maybe just let us check what's going on in Madison, and then you’ll be free to go," Chris walked closer to me, trying to de-escalate the situation.
Shaking my head, I turned to the man wearing the flannel, "Yeah, that’s not going to happen. If I stay here, there are only three possible endings to the story. One, you go to Madison, figure out that there’s no one there, and send someone after them, which could take who knows how long. Two, you go there, see the place abandoned and in ruins because they were attacked, and decide that I’m to blame for that for whatever reason the half of a brain cell that asshole has come up with. Or three, it takes so long for you to make a decision that you let me rot or just kill me and spare the trouble. I’m not staying here. I’m leaving."
"And do you think we’re just going to let you walk away?" Patterson asked with a chuckle.
I smiled, "Oh honey, you don’t have a choice."
The guards chuckled, but George was the one who continued speaking. "You can’t fight us all. And if you try, I’ve given orders to kill you. I’m not going to let a dangerous individual roam around freely in my fort."
"George!" Chris gasped. His reaction made it clear that he wasn’t aware of that decision, and honestly, I was happy about that. He was a nice guy, despite his company.
"Great. So I don’t have to pull my punches," Taking a couple of steps to the side, I reached down to a couple of wooden boards that were resting by the building. Triggering {Compression} just as I flung it at the group, the board grew several times, getting close to the 20-meter [21.8yd] wide limit. Before it crashed into the group of guards and the mayor.
The impact was nowhere as strong as I hoped. Sure, the wooden board didn’t really weigh anything, not to me, at least. I threw it with a decent amount of strength behind it, but the moment its size shifted, the amount of air pushed by the board caused it to slow down considerably. Still, just the surprise of my attack was enough to cause a few of the guards to jump back, and others to fall down, the large wooden slab resting on top of them.
"What the hell was that?" Chris asked with wide eyes.
"Something that could have been yours, but your friends ruined that for you," I replied. Giving the System to Chris had crossed my mind a few times during the day. They could use that here, and there was a small part of me thinking about how having another person with the System so close to the hive could attract the Eaters. And maybe that would keep Pops and the people from Madison safe.
Was that cruel?
Yes, of course it was. But at the same time, it wouldn’t be like throwing an unarmed baby at a monster. Chris would have every opportunity to grow and become someone strong enough to protect his people. But the idea that he would eventually pass the System along to one of those guards, the ones that just tried to arrest me for being black? Yeah, no. Fuck that. I’m not about to give superpowers to one of those assholes. That was a problem waiting to happen.
Not waiting for a reply, I started running toward the group of people who were struggling to get up, mostly due to a lack of teamwork rather than the actual weight or shape of the wooden board. Jumping on top of the plank, I used it as a springboard to propel me a bit further up, my body aimed toward the northern section of the wall. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough momentum to reach the top. But fortunately, I still had a few uses of {Compression}. My staff shifted, increasing its length, which allowed me to reach the roof of one of the nearby houses. Another use of {Compression} returned the pole to an acceptable size that wouldn’t disrupt my movements.
"Go after her!" Patterson yelled.
"Are you crazy!? I’m not going after a witch!" another guard yelled.
"I’m not a witch!" I yelled back. It was a bit stupid of me, but hey, they were the ones who started making noise.
I jumped again. {Compression} was triggered once more, making the staff even taller than the walls of the fort. I flew through the air and landed on top of the wall in a swift motion while some children watched in awe. The guards who were on lookout stared at me, frozen in place. The last cast of {Compression} available was spent bringing my staff back to a size I could handle. With a smirk, I turned toward the kids, whose eyes were glued to my movements.
"I’m a monk!" I added before once again making my staff tall enough to reach the ground below by spending another Energy. But this time, I made it simply a pole. After a quick bow, I jumped, using both my hands to slide down the metal shaft. It was kind of like the firemen from TV shows. They just never mentioned how much it hurt to do that kind of thing with bare hands, but it wasn’t anything that a quick {Body Regeneration} wouldn’t fix.
My weapon returned to a size that I could carry properly just as I bolted north. It was nice to see Fort Ennis and the city, but it was clear that my time here was over. At least I was able to get a coat, and now I had a map thanks to the System. Still, staying out in the open wasn’t the best idea. Once I reached an area with some vegetation on the side, I dove into the forest and continued my journey under the cover of the trees. I couldn’t simply expect that no one would be coming after me. It would be great if I didn’t have to deal with pursuers, but it was better to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
[Does user have a destination in mind? System is able to create a marker on the virtual map for User to follow.] The System asked after about 20 minutes had gone by with no signs of people chasing me.
‘Do you mean like what you did with the Hunter’s Cave?’
[System will not be able to create a visual marker like the one created for the Hunter’s Cave. In this situation, System will create a marker on the virtual map, and user will be required to look at the map to understand user's location. However, System will be able to keep track of the path user takes, allowing System to create markers for any location user has already visited.]
‘Oh? That’s nice. I don’t have any idea where to go. Maybe just another city or another settlement on this road? Do you have any suggestions?’
[According to the map, there are two connected cities in the northeast direction. They span an area much larger than the city of Ennis. They are the cities of Bozeman and Belgrade.]
The System showed me the map. It wasn’t very detailed, but there was a general outline of the cities. I glanced down to where the System had already marked the Hidden Horn Village and the village of Madison. The outline of the cities was bigger than the distance between the two villages. I had no idea a city that big was this close. And from what Pops told me, any city in this area would be considered small when comparing to the truly big cities of the old world.
‘I don’t like that idea. There’s a good chance there are some Eaters around there. Even if I fought a few of them, I’m not confident enough to go out actively hunting them. Not yet. Any other option?’
[To the northwest, there is a smaller city called Whitehall located close to a gold mine.]
‘Like, a literal gold mine?’
[Correct.]
‘I’ve never seen gold before. That sounds fun, as long as I don’t have to go deep into the mines. Let’s head there!’
[Acknowledged. System will create a route considering the information available on the map.]
On the virtual map that was in front of me, a line appeared from my location all the way to the city of Whitehall. It was more or less the same distance as from Madison to here. It could be quicker, but the System was keeping to the road, which was a good call. If we were to find any houses, they would likely be in places where cars would be able to pass through. And it was better to sleep in a broken-down house than out in the open. With this new destination in mind, I continued my journey. Even if I didn’t have a goal, it didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the sights.
