The way. Part 4
He drove his armoured car into the setting sun. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. There was no trace of emotion on his face. The foot simply pressed the gas pedal and almost didn’t let go of it, only occasionally slowing down when it was necessary to go around another boulder that was trying to get under the wheels. Sometimes, the mountains around disappeared and were replaced by scenes from the past day. As an outside observer, “today's Troy” looked at his previous self, realizing only that he couldn't change anything.
***
Finding a raider hiding among the civilian population is very easy. And the reason is the same as the one for hiding him — fear. You can intimidate people into giving you everything, including their home. You can intimidate them into covering you up. But to intimidate so that they can hide their fear is almost unrealistic. Therefore, sitting in the central square of the village, Troy only watched. The trail ended here.
Over there, behind the house, the armored car stood under a tarp. Its doors were not even locked, for no one in his right mind would dare to steal it from a raider. And that bench over there was obviously torn apart the other day and it was easy to imagine a picture of one person throwing another at it. The tree breaks with a crash, and our stranger goes to one of the houses. But to which one?
To the one from which all residents stay away now. Most try not to even enter that alley, but if they were already close, they tried to stick to the opposite house as much as possible. It’s difficult to imagine a more explicit hint. Well, there are also small children who leave a basket of food at the doorstep and run back to their parents’ shops.
But what to do with this information? Wait for him to come out? And then what? Break into the house and…what? Troy wasn’t sure if he could handle the Stranger in hand-to-hand combat. And if the enemy has a weapon? And if he’s got security? He wished he could catch him and knock all the explanations he so longed for out of him. But the closer Troy got to his goal, the more he realized that stopping this man was more important than getting answers to his questions. And it was a strange metamorphosis in his head, replacing the inner voice of a boy lost in the world, to the voice of a calculating man who clearly sets priorities.
Now he only had to wait until something happened or until the plan itself was drawn in his head. Yes, it would’ve been much better if he’d met him in the Wasteland. A fight would have started, and there, having emerged victorious, Troy would have felt like a real hero. This is how his path should have ended. Battle of the Survivor against the Raider... She would have become a legend regardless of the outcome.
But what couldn’t be expected was the night. Under cover of darkness, the Stranger could run away again and a new search would take a long time. And so, when the sun reached its highest point in these latitudes, he realized what had to be done.
Each step brought him closer to the house in which his enemy was hiding. On the first run, he went from the side of the wall without windows, being afraid to be noticed. He was holding an iron canister in each hand with the gasoline splashing. One at each corner. Fire was a must in his plan. He put the second pair in the corners on the side of the entrance. The fear was disappearing. But the residents quickly noticed what Troy was doing and stopped turning into the alley at all. And residents of nearby houses hastily left them, taking their modest belongings. And fear moved them again, but now a much stronger one, because they not only felt danger, they saw it with their own eyes, in his gaze, in his every step.
But, as it turned out later, not all of the village knew about the impending demolition of the house. Maybe some neighbors didn’t warn others, trying to run away. Or maybe the area of the shopkeeper had done something to annoy the area where the Stranger was hiding.
His plan was simple:
— Mount explosives under each window of this sandstone and clay house.
— Then spill a trail of gasoline up to one of the canisters and set it on fire.
— Observe the chain reaction consisting of explosions and liquid fire scattering in all directions.
It would be unrealistic to survive in such conditions, even if you were a character of a story.
Everything took no more than an hour. Troy sat on a bench, watching the fumes of the gasoline evaporate and distort the air. The lighter in his hand was waiting for the sound, and the fire started dancing on her wick. Carefully lowered to the ground, it instantly gave rise to an end for both the Stranger and Troy.
***
Food was brought to him on schedule. This is the first thing to worry about when organizing a temporary shelter. There is nothing worse than thinking or working on an empty stomach. Fortunately, he was well known here, and for a handful of coins the shopkeepers have been providing a varied menu for six days. During this time, he managed to contact the Boss (this isn’t a joke, he actually chose this nickname), assess the available resources and plan a run to a base in the West, right near Rock City. There he would’ve needed just a week in order to gather a squad and find these freaks who killed his guys.
He didn’t even think about Troy, he wasn’t very interested in some prisoner. Especially when their plan to clean up the area for an anonymous client worked perfectly. One night, one village, no closer than 500 kilometers from the last one, and not a single truthful rumor about what is really happening. Just had to survive until the end of the job, and this is something he could do.
According to the clock, the food should have arrived five minutes ago. And this means that it was time to get up and go to the shopkeeper, to clarify what he ran out of: money or the desire to live.
The door flew open and the smell of gasoline hit the nose. It was everywhere, but now it was much more clear. Meanwhile, a little girl with a grocery basket came up to the foothold, jumping slightly and humming something to herself, completely unaware of what’s coming.
Something was definitely wrong, and the Stranger didn’t like it. An ambush? A local riot? In any case, it won’t hurt to have a hostage. Split seconds when thought about it, and now he is already holding the child by the forearm and pulling inside the house, to safety, under the protection of the walls, to decide what to do next.
***
Troy watched the flames dance as he rushed towards his goal. And now he had already watched a rag sticking out of the canister, when the house door opened and he appeared on the threshold. The Stranger, whose death he so desired. And a girl that shouldn’t be there. Troy didn’t even have time to get up, it seemed that everything happened in a heartbeat, and now the door slammed shut again and a deafening explosion was heard near the first canister.
***
He drove his armoured car into the setting sun. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. There was no trace of emotion on his face. The foot simply pressed the gas pedal and almost didn’t let go of it, only occasionally slowing down when it was necessary to go around another boulder that was trying to get under the wheels.
PS
Thanks to everyone who walked this path together with Troy. It’s not yet known whether his story is over and whether there will be more episodes about a man who lost himself. It all depends solely on you.
During all this time, we have held 19 contests in a row and went through a story of 4 parts. The total number of winners was 380 (and this is only in one locale!). The awards included both the usual prizes of various rarities and absolutely unique awards. Two of which were awarded to everyone. And the third award is: H92MBSD954K. The pack is now complete: avatar, emblem and background.
We know that it wasn’t possible for console players to activate these keys, so we launch a giveaway with them directly for PS and XBOX versions of the game. Make sure to get unique elements for your banner (till January 27, 11:00 GMT)!
This was a wonderful activity experiment for us and it will take some time for us to evaluate the results. Please share your feedback regarding this activity under this post!