The twenty minutes following our discovery of the man-made bridge was a mix of hurried movements and near paranoia. We weren't particularly worried about leaving tracks or anything, since we had such a long way to go, and it was clear this was already a popular area. Unless something strange was going on, nobody would look twice at a slight break in the path, or a few snapped branches, or even some footprints.

  Even if we weren't afraid of leaving signs, we were worried about being spotted. The tribes of the Horizon world were a mixed bag, and depending on a whole list of factors, including but limited to we were, we could be neighboring a bunch of peaceful, friendly types who wanted nothing more than to coexist in harmony with their neighbors, or brutal warmongering bastards.

  Without directly observing them and putting us at even more risk of being spotted in the process, there was no way to know. I was not prepared to gamble, not at this stage, at least, where we were basically defenseless. Most of the tribes might be relatively low-tech, but their access to the zoomorphic robots meant we were just as likely to get shot at with armor-piercing arrows as we were to get slapped in the face with a grenade.

  Our fancy armor and guns weren't going to do much against that.

  So we moved fast but stayed as quiet as possible, constantly looking around and trying to spot problems before they spotted us. Neither of us wanted to admit that it was likely pointless, since any tribe that had lived here for any significant length of time would know the area better, have a better grip on hiding in it and be equipped to blend in. Meanwhile, our armor was just green with no real camouflage, meaning we could, technically, blend in, but only if we squinted and covered one eye.

  The truth was, we could be walking right by them and have no idea they were there.

  Thankfully, if that was the case, they seemed to be ignoring us, as we continued to move uninterrupted, moving around the perimeter. Eventually, about twenty minutes after we left, when we were already a significant distance away, we were forced to stop and wait out a herd of grazers slowly walking through a relativity light patch of trees along the edge of the forest. It took a good forty minutes for them to move on, but by then, we had calmed down a bit.

  When the grazers and watchers had moved on, we took the opportunity to drink and split another ration, silently eating the barely passable food bar. When the robots were gone, we finally began the last leg of our journey. We had already been walking for five hours, and I could feel my legs starting to weaken, the soreness becoming more and more difficult to ignore. Joseph showed no signs of slowing down, however, so rather than let myself be the weak link, I gritted my teeth and pushed on.

  Another two hours passed, and the sun was starting to get low, the forest beginning to get a bit more challenging to navigate. We had to slow down once to sneak past another group of scrappers, but eventually, we finally arrived back at the familiar connection point. It was a welcome sight, the relief that we had made it palpable.

  As we got close, I started to sit down along the slight hill along the underground entrance to the actual connection, desperate to rest my legs, but Joseph reached out and grabbed me, keeping me on my feet.

  "Trust me, you're going to want to be back at HQ when you sit down," Joseph said when I gave him a look. "Preferably somewhere close to your bedroom."

  I furrowed my brow but, after a moment, shrugged, standing up straight as we both walked through the passageway and out into the dark door hallway. After confirming that the door was sealed behind us, we made our way back to the main hall, where Maxwell was waiting for us.

  "Welcome back, Sir," He greeted. "Congratulations on another completed quest. The rewards have already been applied."

  "Great," I said, making my way to one of the tables, the one closest to the dorm hallway, before finally sitting down. "I'm glad it was worth it."

  "Was it that challenging?" Maxwell asked, coming to our table with two cool bottles of water.

  "It certainly wasn't fun," Joseph volunteered, sitting down across from me. "I reckon it was about twenty-two miles, which is not a short distance to walk at the time we did it. Plus, for almost all of it, we were forging our own path…"

  "We are going to be sore tomorrow," I commented, Joseph nodding in agreement, a wince on his face as he shifted in his chair. "You sure the reward worked?"

  "Yes, the quest activated and completed, and I felt the upgrade slot into place," Maxwell confirmed with a nod and a smile. "Tomorrow, we will have two quests to choose from."

  "Good, great," I said, letting out a breath before leaning forward. "Maxwell, do me a favor and get our food ready, I want to take a shower and-"

  My words cut off as I tried to stand, my muscles not even putting in a cursory effort to support me. I collapsed back into my chair, my eyes wide, another wave of soreness spreading through my legs, spasms, and twitches following behind, almost like quasi-cramps. I cursed and grit my teeth, letting them pass over me and fade.

  "Yeah, that's why I kept you from sitting down on the other side," Joseph pointed out, gritting his teeth as he dealt with his own spasms. "The next few hours are gonna suck, but tomorrow is going to be worse."

  "We can't miss a whole day of work," I said, shaking my head. "How bad will it be functionally?"

  "Weakness, you're gonna feel clumsy too," Joseph responded with a frown. "I will probably be better off, but not by much."

  I let out a long curse, feeling another spasm running through my legs. I shook my head and thumped the table, teeth clenched until the spasm stopped.

  "Yeah, that's not going to work," I said, shaking my head. "We can't afford to be crippled when out there or Horizon world, and we can't afford to take the day off to recuperate, if that's even all it takes."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I cursed under my breath as my spasms, which seemed to be connected to me trying to use my legs, calmed down. After a few seconds of minor relief, they were still sore, after all, I reached up and grabbed my stimpak, turning it over in my hands.

  "I know from the games that stimpaks can be diluted and still function, which tells me that a half dose would still work," I pointed out. "Taking this heal the muscle tears that are making us sore. One half for you, one half for me. But, we are going to have to do some DIY modifications since they function with a pressure injector, meaning there is no manual control."

  "Why not use the ones you recovered from the raiders?" Maxwell asked, gesturing to his desk where they were being kept. "They are already a bit beat up..."

  "Because those ones won't regenerate in a few days," I pointed out, holding up the clean, brand new-looking stimpak. "This one will."

  "That seems…"

  "I know, it feels like a waste," I said, nodding in agreement, wincing as my leg twitched. "But we can't afford to miss a day. And if this is going to be worse tomorrow, then it's worth it."

  "Fair enough, Sir," Joseph agreed. "But we should use my spare stimpak, sir. I'm sure you won't like hearing this, but you're more important than me. This whole thing relies on you. If you die, it all disappears."

  I looked at him for a long moment, chewing on what he said before eventually nodding in agreement. He was right, I didn't like hearing it, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. It seemed pretty far in the distance, but at some point, this place, the HQ, and what we did with it could be a real stabilizing force for this region. Cutting that short because I didn't have a second stimpak when I needed it would be stupid.

  He smiled, and while I slid mine away, he pulled out one of his stimpak. After about ten minutes of fiddling with it and prying some of it apart with a combat knife, we were able to disassemble it enough to use it manually. It was a bit awkward, and I was tempted to make a sharing needles joke, but I went first, passing the injector to Joseph before leaning back in my chair. Almost instantly, I could feel the stimpak working, my muscles relaxing for what felt like the first time in hours. The twitching stopped, and the soreness slowly faded. I couldn't help but let out a groan of relief as the last of the spasming stopped.

  "Holy shit, you were right, Sir," Joseph said, shaking his head, putting the now empty stimpak on the table. "That feels so much better. That was so worth it."

  We both sat there for a minute, enjoying the normal feeling, before we both stood to test our range of motion. The stimpak had more or less rejuvenated us both completely and, save just the slightest bit of fatigue, had washed away the damage. At most, it felt like we had gone for a quick walk around the neighborhood, rather than a twenty-two-mile-long hike through thick underbrush.

  Once we were done testing ourselves, we sat down and ate dinner, the lack of pain and soreness revealing a deep hunger that had us plowing through our MRE-like food rations. Even with how tasteless they were, they were exactly what we needed. A short shower later, we headed to bed, the last bits of light fading as we did.

  The next morning, I was happy to wake up to blessed quiet rather than the gunshots that had woken us up the day before. I was also more than happy to find that my legs felt perfectly fine, having healed and rested completely overnight, with the help of the stimpak, of course. When we were done with our morning routine, Joseph and I made our way to the front desk, where Maxwell was already waiting.

  "Ready to see the fruits of your labor, I see?" Maxwell asked with a smile. When I nodded, he continued. "Very well! Two new quests coming right up!"

  He searched through a stack of papers, pulling out two sheets of parchment and placing them both down in front of us before laying down the other remaining quests. I, of course, ignored those and picked up the first two, quickly scanning through them.

  "Two gathering quests. One is for, and one for blaze," I said, considering them both. "Blaze should be easy, even if it takes some time, but… I don't think I have seen anything that would carry chillwater. That's the blue cryostuff, right?"

  "It would appear so," Maxwell responded with a nod. "Perhaps you should explore more?"

  "What are the rewards?" Joseph asked, pulling my attention back to the parchment.

  "The chillwater… That gets us a new teammate," I responded, looking at the back of the parchment. "While the blaze… A single grenade gets added to the standard kit."

  "That… Sir, both of those would be amazing," Joseph pointed out. "The second soldier is good for obvious reasons, but the grenade would change a lot. They aren't always useful, but not having them when you need them is painful. Clearing rooms, taking down people in cover, splitting up and driving off groups…"

  "Okay… well, collecting blaze shouldn't actually be all that difficult. In fact, we could probably harvest some from the grazers we killed for that other quest," I guessed, trying to remember how many of those zoomorphs had intact containers of blaze. "Unfortunately, I don't even know where we would get chillwater. Assuming the entities wouldn't give us quests that are impossible to do, they can't be too far… but we still need to find them."

  "That sounds like the perfect opportunity to complete your incomplete exploration mission," Maxwell pointed out, tapping one of the older quests. "You must travel up the river two miles before returning. As a reward, you will receive detailed maps of both this area and the Horizon world. Further, if you ever unlock more dark worlds, you will receive maps for them as well."

  "That… yeah, okay, that sounds like a good start," I responded with a nod. "If we find something with chillwater on our trip, then we can try and grab…"

  I lifted the parchment, scanning through it again to double-check the number of chillwater containers we would need, nodding before I continued.

  "Eight mostly filled containers," I said. "If we don't, then we come back and do the blaze gathering, starting with a little salvaging, assuming the scrappers haven't already moved in."

  "Sounds like a plan, Sir," Joseph agreed. "are we going to do some work here, first?"

  I winced and rubbed my forehead, chewing my cheek as I considered his words. Skipping work around this side was risky, and could trigger another quest on this side. That said, skipping one patrol was unlikely to trigger anything. Still, it just wasn't worth the risk, at least not at the moment.

  "Dammit, your right," I said, shaking my head. "Okay, a quick patrol around here, maybe to the shops along the parking lot."

  "I'll get our gear."

  I nodded as Joseph jogged off, leaving me by the front desk. I put both hands on the counter and leaned on it, giving Maxwell a look.

  "From what I remember, chillwater was gathered from more dangerous robots," I pointed out. "What are the chances we are about to walk into the territory of something big and mean?"

  "I couldn't say, sir," Maxwell responded with a frown. "Certainly not zero, unfortunately."

  "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."

  Joseph returned with our stuff, and we quickly got armored and armed, before stepping out into the hot Capital Wasteland. We quickly made our way around the HQ, crossing the empty ground behind and around it before stepping on the cracked and broken asphalt. We crossed it quickly, heading for the first three buildings, the closest to the HQ. There were dozens in total, but we were on a schedule, so we only cleared three of them, marking their doors by scrapping markings into the brickwork using the back of my combat knife.

  All in all, we got pretty lucky, with only the last store having a pair of ghouls inside, while the first had a couple of, you guessed it, radroaches, though none of them were the monstrously large ones we had seen before, just a few handsbreadths across.

  When we finished clearing the third one, we made a note of what was worth gathering and bringing to the HQ later, though there wasn't much. After that, we headed back, eager to cross over into the Horizon world and potentially earn another soldier.