The Train

A couple of days later we came back to the train. It was as close to a living settlement that we had in the zone. At least here on the side of Concorde Occidentalis. There was no telling what the guys from Öst Bündes were up to on their end. It was funny to imagine that they had a resort with pools and cold drinks, while we had containers and a train. We called it Ferroviaire.

Estelle was humming to herself and walking with a spring in her step. On the other hand, I dreaded the next day. Or worse, days. I was never the most social creature, but since we had been stranded in the Zone and in a way betrayed by everyone, I had decided not to trust anyone but my family.

“Cheer up grouch,” Estelle said.

“Ugh,” I replied. “I think you’re enjoying this enough for the both of us.”

We walked past the guards at the edge of the settlement, showing and scanning our corporate stamped identification badges. There were all kinds of people going around. The military kept the peace, but mostly didn’t interact with anyone. The others were a varied bunch. Many, like us, were in essence indentured servants. They were the people in worst condition both in terms of equipment and body. Some were dragging their feet, keeping to themselves but others were enjoying company and celebrating their successes. Mercenaries and other private entities were a stark contrast. Decked out in expansive gear some still new and clean, they tended to be physically larger than the others. Many of them were always moving in small squads and emanated a sort of killing aura that shook your bones.

I steered clear of any contact with the people of Ferroviaire, trying to avoid notice and scowling at anyone that tried to make eye contact with me. Estelle grabbed my by the shoulder and moved me more to the side. She was doing the exact opposite. She was greeting everyone we passed and smiled at them. I felt like throwing up. The worst part was that this was no pretence. She was genuinely that kind of person. It boggled my mind but on the other hand, I had to be glad for it, as her strange ability enabled us to deal with others without many incidents. Out in the field of the Zone whoever was in a better position took the role of the leader. In most cases no communication was necessary to achieve that. Many times that duty then fell to me but not even close to every time. It was a much different story in the civilised society. There there was no question that she was in charge. But as it is on the field, the subordinate must not only obey commands but also make sure that the leader doesn’t work from faulty assumptions or gets caught off guard due to some unknown or unseen threat.

“Back off,” I barked at one particularly slimy individual that was intent to invade our personal space. Mostly Estelle’s. He gave me an annoyed look, but went away.

“Let’s be civil Tan,” Estelle said in a quiet voice.

“This is me being civil. I never even drew my gun and or knife. I’m a nice person.”

“You radiate kindness,” Estelle sighed.

I looked past the train station at the barren land beyond. Not a single tree was visible. At most some weeds were growing in various shades of brown. Following the CERN incident much life in the Zone was eradicated but in the following years the Zone was overgrown with lush forests and teeming with fauna both regular and unnatural. The area surrounding the zone was a different story. It became a sort of no man’s land. Not in the strict sense of the word, since it wasn’t the area between Concorde Occidentalis and Öst Bündes but rather it strictly separated the Zone from the rest of the country. Its purpose was for the most part to keep everything inside from coming out. That included the mutant beasts but also the people. The train, which brought in the supplies and took away the loot was itself also the only real way out. Nothing ever flew overhead. The constant electromagnetic disturbances made flight too dangerous and the rad storms were outright deadly. The outer wasteland wasn’t just dead but also littered with landmines and most likely some toxic substances. Not to mention that entering or exiting it on foot would mean getting shot on sight if you were spotted.

We arrived at one of the containers nearby the train station. A bored looking woman was leaning onto her stall.

“Yes, can I help you?” She drawled. She was chewing gum as soon as she stopped talking.

I opened my mouth but Estelle decided it would be more productive to take the initiative. “Hello there Felicite.” I didn’t make much effort to remember the people we dealt with, but I was still fairly certain that we hadn’t seen this particular person before. Then I noticed the name tag on her chest. My sister was unbearably smooth in these situations. “We’ve managed to come up with some great loot, check it out.” She removed her backpack and started digging for the oscilloscope.

“Yes, that’s great,” came the uninterested response before she even saw the thing. Her attitude was starting to annoy me, but I bit my tongue. Did she even realise how much easier her life was. She would likely leave on the next train in a couple of days or a week at the most. She was always protected by the military and even most of us in Ferroviaire would help if some sort of attack would happen. Even as I spent my time contemplating dark thoughts, Estelle still didn’t succeed. I ended up holding a bunch of her gear as she finally dug out the loot.

“Up we go!” She lifted the device and then placed it on the counter with the utmost care. “How about that?” Felicite just gave her a pointed look. That put a small dent on Estelle’s disposition. “I mean, that’s not all,” she said with a slight stammer. “Come on Tan, bring the stuff,” she said as she turned to me with an urgent expression. Pretty soon all the electronics were on the counter. “There we are. Could you please evaluate all of this?”

“Is this it?” Felicite asked. Estelle only nodded. I could see a little dread creeping into her. Felicite called for some people that carried everything away. “Your ident…” she began saying but was interrupted by a beep on her watch. “Cover your ears,” she said as she stuck fingers into her own. We obeyed without a question. A moment later a loud fwop sound echoed. I looked at the train and saw the large canon on top rotate a little before another loud sound. For a while large payloads with supplies were shot in various directions across the Zone. Each payload flew for a while before a parachute deployed, taking it down safely to the ground. Hopefully the supplies would save more lives than the deaths they would cause as the gangs fought over them.

“Your identification please,” Felicite continued as if nothing had happened. We scanned our badges. “Please step aside and wait for the results.” I was wondering whether a machine could be persuaded to exhibit more human warmth than this woman. Have they made better machines since I’ve been in the Zone? So far I hadn’t thought about the world actually changing while I was surviving in ruins and forests. I supposed there had to have been some sort of scientific advance from all the stuff we brought out but on the other hand it was also probable that much of this advancement wasn’t necessarily directed towards improving lives of the common people but for military applications.

Sometimes these spots could become quite hectic as people bartered off their hard-won goods. At the moment though, there wasn’t anyone else waiting, which made it all the more annoying somehow that Felicite was so dismissive of us. It was a substantial effort for me to refrain from saying something mean to her but there are simply some people that you can’t afford to annoy.

“So how are you doing?” Estelle asked, desperately trying to be social. Felicite made a noncommittal grunt. “I think we had a pretty good haul this time around.”

“That’s nice dear,” Felicite responded. I poked Estelle in her side, which made her wince but she gave up and stood next to me. We waited in silence for a couple of minutes.

“Let’s see here. The projected value of your items is 1.2% of your current debt, bringing you down from 84.5% to 83.3%. The margin of error is estimated at 0.3%,” Felicite said.

Estelle and I gaped at each other. Barely over a percent. It was like a slap in the face. “No, wait there’s more. There is an alien artefact,” Estelle started to say, but ran out of steam.

“That’s nice dear. You can bring it back here and we’ll see about evaluating it,” Felicite said and already behaved as if we were no longer there. Estelle looked just about ready to start crying and I felt like enacting a certain amount of violence. The first would cause embarrassment and the second our immediate execution.