Chapter Fifty-Three - Searching

Chapter Fifty-Three - Searching I needed to decide where to go from that little town, so I checked the map again. The best would be to draw a grid, but that drawing wouldn't come back with me. So... yeah, going clock-wise around the town would make the most sense, then I could divide the map up into quadrants of a sort and search through each one. So, I did a circle of the town, and it was far more depressing than I initially expected it to be. The place was typical small-town America. There was a small river that ran through the middle of the town, but it was otherwise divided into a neat grid. I slowly rolled past homes that were falling apart and many that had been gutted and looted. A few corner stores, a gas station, a school. Long dead. It gave me the creeps. Flocks of birds wheeled past above, and I jumped when a fox scampered by. Okay, so maybe not entirely dead. Then I noticed something looking at me from a yard. A kobold. Just... standing there, with a spear made from a stop-sign post with some of that sign chopped off to form a blade. It saw that I noticed it, then turned and ran. Damn. But I wasn't going to chase after it. I couldn't imagine a kobold, or a... clan of them, taking out one of the convoy trucks. A lone person on a bike, sure, but not a multi-truck group. Besides, they were shoot-on-sight for any of the escort trucks. There weren't any signs of the other trucks around, so once I was done with my circuit, I returned to the truck. It was pretty close to the start of town, so it was possible that it had hit something then rolled in on its own momentum? Or... no, maybe not. I got off and looked at the grass more closely. There were tire marks on it. Deep, wide. And when I returned to the truck I discovered a thick cloth strap, the sort used by tow-trucks. So, someone pulled the truck over to here? Or they pulled it off the road. That made sense. Even as I stood there, one of those behemoth guard trucks rumbled by, followed by a dozen civilian vehicles. Some people stared at me, but none bothered to stop or ask what I was doing. Technically, I was probably trespassing, but the law out here was... well, not enforced so well. Bigger cities from before the first portals survived. Some gained walls, others patrols, some shrunk, and others grew. None of them were like the Fortresses, though. They weren't 'bastions' of humanity. Whatever. I started with the north-west, using the truck as the 'middle' point. There was countryside, some old, unmaintained roads that had turned into a sea of potholes, and not much else. I Reloaded, got back on the bike, and rode back to the truck. Probably should have set a Save, but... nah, the ride was actually kind of fun. Plus I was really gunning it on the way back, shooting past patrols and civs alike. The first ride out was like, forty minutes, but I could cut that down to twenty by driving at twice the legal limit. Until I hit a bump I didn't see and was tossed into the air. I sighed, and rode out again... still just as fast. I was starting to enjoy bikes. Maybe I could buy one? Cheaper than a car, right? It'd take... a lot more time to get good with one. I still felt a bit wobbly, and unsure of how to take turns, but I'd get there eventually. From what I saw online, most courses for motorcycle driving covered the basics in about six hours, and I was halfway there. I got back to where I'd started, then headed due-north this time. Nothing but woods and... yeah, I got hella lost, but no traces of the missing trucks. A Reload, then north-east. Still nothing. More rural roads and a space with a bunch of nice, soft-looking hills. I finished my search, then returned there to try jumping the bike. I Reloaded after... I think I broke my entire left side, actually. East. Rode along the highway, scanning to my left the entire time, then came back after a few miles, doing the same. I drove slowly, even pulling off to the side to let cars pass. novelhall is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I was nearing the town when I saw it. Glass on the side of the road. Pulling over and getting off, I checked around the area and found more hints. Blood, some on the road, more on the side, and a small piece of... well, truck. Just a little bit, but it was the right colour. So, this was where that one hit something... so where were the others? There were two entire trucks unaccounted for. The area was forested, young-ish trees pushing up to the side of the road. And... there was a side-road not too far back. A maintenance road? The highway pre-dated a lot of stuff, so it made some sense. I got back on the bike and pulled a quick U-turn (mildly proud of myself that I didn't trip up) and then followed the road down. The road had become overgrown, of course. Thick bushes pulling up on the sides, trees curving inwards, lots of vines and shit visibility. That's where I found the first of the trucks. Right off the road, ass sticking out. I slowed to a stop, kicked the stand out, and walked over. Further out, I could see the second, just parked there. Both had their cargo containers on the back, looking pretty intact. Why hadn't the drivers called out? Why wasn't there a GPS on either of these trucks? The first question got an answer when I found the door to the cab ripped off. There were large claw marks around it, and a tiny bit of long-dried blood with some flies buzzing around it. Ah. I looked around, but no monsters. I started to make my way to the second truck when suddenly, something was around my ankle and pulling. I screamed as I was flipped over, arms cartwheeling in mid-air. The rifle fell out of my hands. Then more grasping things. Vines? A Nature mage? Only no. There was something in the trees, something with a lot of eyes and... Yeah, nope. I Reloaded. Wasn't gonna fuck with the tentacle monster. I'd seen too much hentai. Not my thing. God only knew where those tentacles had been, and I wasn't going to find out. Shivering, I rode out again, this time making a straight-line for the spot of the accident. I moved over to the first truck and squinted into the forest. Couldn't see a damned thing. So I flicked on the GPS, tossed it onto the side of the road, turned around, and left. That was my job done. I didn't have the tools to look into those containers and didn't have the will to mess with the tentacle monster. Besides, I couldn't exactly carry a bunch of loot back. The pay and experience would have to do. When I returned, it was to find Jane gone, and Hector talking to a few buddies. "Job's done," I said. "What? Already?" he asked. "Yeah. Guess I got lucky." He tsked. "An eight for an hour's work doesn't feel fair," he said. "An eight will feel a lot more fair if I warn you about the monsters around the trucks. One was picked clean by someone. Cargo's gone. The other two are in the woods, off an old maintenance road. Not too deep. You can still hear traffic. But there's a massive tentacle monster in there. Big thing. At least a D-ranker, maybe higher." Hector paused at that. "You sure?" "Want me to drive you to it?" I asked. "Bring your favourite doujinshis and maybe mister tentacle monster will sign it for you." Hector looked confused, but at least one of his friends got the joke though. I left him his bike, in pristine condition with a quarter tank left, then texted Jane that the job was done. There were some opportunities out in the wilds around the bigger cities. Killing monsters did give some amount of magic to a person, but it was common knowledge that it was such a trickle that it wasn't worth it. Too much was sucked up by the environment on Earth. Better to find portals to clear. Though... finding some out here was an option too. I preferred those closer to home, but maybe one day I'd take a week off from work, find a dozen E-rank portals, and rush through them all? Or... I could not kill myself by overworking to that extent. That was an idea too. ***