The Protagonist System

147 A Superfluous Encounter

Outside of the protected quarantine zone, the city was little more than ruins. We spent several hours carefully moving along and trying to not make noise, because infected people were all over the place. Most of them were inert and wouldn't react until they heard or saw something, so staying quiet was the best choice any of us could make.

I discreetly used my wand and cast weak silence spells on Joan, Ted, and myself, that way the sounds were just reduced and not removed and it wouldn't give my abilities away. On a whim, I mentally asked the system if it was possible to buy a silencer for my handgun.

Warning: The in-world cost of specific items are (x10) the normal price.
Multi-purpose silencer for 9 Millimetre Handgun: 1,500 Karma Points

I almost choked at seeing that and didn't bother asking what my current total was. Luckily, neither Joan nor Ted saw my shocked face as we moved around some rubble. We walked on and sometimes had to climb through the ruined buildings to continue forward.

Joan didn't have to warn me about where I stepped as we approached one of the the large craters in the street. That bomb damage was also seen in some of the wrecked buildings, which painted a sad picture about what happened after the infection started to spread throughout the city.

Ted whispered that we needed to stop for a while and rest, so he led us through another path between building ruins to find one that was relatively intact. We entered a less wrecked building about 20 minutes later and climbed our way up to near the top. I helped find a room that wasn't too badly damaged and we barricaded ourselves in, just in case.

Joan sat down on the floor with a sigh and pulled off her heavy backpack. She dug through one of the side pockets and pulled out some kind of jerky. Ted accepted a piece and grimaced as he bit into it and started chewing. He didn't sit down, though. Joan didn't wince when she bit into hers and just looked a little sad.

“I told you to cash in some of the ration tickets before we left.” I whispered and both Joan and Ted frowned at me. “What? It's not like they're going to be useful again until we reach another containment zone.”

Joan sighed again. “We usually save them up for bulk purchases and trades.”

“Trail rations are good enough.” Ted said, gruffly.

I sat down in front of Joan, making her give me a pointed look. I smiled at her and opened my backpack, then I made a bit of a show of it as I pulled out a large tightly wrapped sandwich. I opened the wrapping and tried to not grin at the wide eyes on both Joan and Ted. I took a huge bite out of the sandwich and intentionally made loud chewing noises.

“Is that chicken?” Ted asked, his voice full of disbelief.

“Yup.” I said and took another huge bite and chewed it loudly before I swallowed. “I heard they get that and the better veggies from smugglers.” I said and stopped myself from taking another bite. “From the looks on your faces, I guess that wasn't you.”

It was an unnecessary dig at pointing out that there was someone better than them at their job and Ted started to walk over to me.

“Hey.” Joan said and held her hand up to stop him and he kept getting closer. “Hey!”

Ted waved her off and bent over slightly to look down on me. “You know, something's been bugging me about you. About this whole situation.” He said and I took another bite of my sandwich. “Why are you so damn important to Merle? Don't lie to me or we'll take you back.”

I had to smile at the threat. “I thought you said you wanted to shoot me?”

Ted stood up straight. “You heard that?”

“I heard everything.” I said and tore off the bitten part of my sandwich, leaving over half of it untouched, and I held it out to Joan.

She eyed me for a moment and then accepted it, checked it for some reason, then she started munching on it like it was going to escape if she didn't.

I chuckled at her reaction and ate the torn off piece of bread and bit of chicken I kept. With my part of the sandwich gone, I pulled out two water bottles from my backpack and held them out.

“Thank you.” Joan said and took one, then she slapped Ted's thigh with the back of her hand.

Ted let out a sigh and took the second bottle before he stepped back. He drank half of it with one gulp and tucked it away in his own backpack.

“How about a peace offering?” I asked and took out a handful of granola bars.

“Fuck.” Ted cursed and took several steps away, then he came back and glared at me as he tried to menacingly loom over me. “Do you know how much shit like that's worth?”

I tossed one up into the air and he snatched it up. “Three ration tickets is the going rate.”

“No way.” Joan said. “The last time anyone had some...”

“I had a whole box with 24 of them inside.” I admitted and the two of them stared at me. “No, I didn't tell Merle I had them. I'm not an idiot.” I said and handed two of them to Joan. “How do you think I managed to find clean clothes in my size and a technically new backpack full of supplies?”

“Fuck.” Ted said and started pacing again. “You handed them out.”

“Yeah, I had the supply and they demanded it. I had a lot of them to share, so word spread fast. No one wanted Merle to declare them a secret or to horde them, either.” I said and opened the last one to start eating it. “I also convinced Lindsey to show me her tits for two bars.”

Joan looked scandalized when I wagged my eyebrows at her and Ted laughed because he realized I had handed two bars to Joan.

“Damn, kid. Just damn.” Ted said and stopped pacing. “You've got some balls on you.”

“They still haven't dropped yet, even after seeing Lindsey's pretty pink nipples.” I joked and Joan gasped.

Ted shook his head and looked like he was struggling not to laugh more.

“How can you say things like that?” Joan asked, her eyes wide.

“It helps me look at the bright side and remember the good things.” I said with a shrug.

Ted opened his mouth and I held up a hand to stop him.

“Before you put your foot in your mouth, she's dead. She didn't have to die and that's why I didn't hesitate to put Merle down.” I said and he closed his mouth. “She was the only one that was nice to me because of who she was and not because of who I am.”

“And who are you?” Joan asked, her voice soft.

“Someone Merle put way too much importance on, as if I needed the weight of the world on my shoulders.” I said and closed up my backpack. I slung it over my shoulders and secured the strap over my chest. “Are we taking a nap or are we moving on?”

Joan gave Ted a look and the man deflated. “Nap. We'll take shifts on watch for the night.”

“I'll take third watch.” I said and moved over to the wall to sit down. I pretended to sweep the spot with my hand and instead dropped a couple of my alert ward stones. I sat down and leaned back against the wall just enough that the backpack was secured from being searched by anyone, not without me knowing about it anyway, and it wasn't digging into my back or crushing the contents.

“We're not going to be here that long.” Ted groused.

“I know.” I said and closed my eyes. I drifted off to sleep to the sound of Joan's soft laugher.

*

Joan and Ted waited for half an hour before they moved off towards the far corner of the room that was the farthest away from Eli.

“He's either the son of one of the higher ups in the resistance...” Joan whispered.

“...or he's the son of one of the government reps.” Ted finished for her.

“Merle said they were heading out west and they needed a battery for their truck.” Joan reminded him. “Just like us. We need one for the truck we stashed out past the city's boundary.”

Ted glanced around and looked back at her. “You know he probably tricked us, right? There's no battery or supplies waiting for us.”

Joan closed her eyes briefly and then opened them to glare at him. “It's our only hope. Either there's a truck there that his gang used or we can swipe the battery. Either way, we're leaving the city anyway. I need to get to Tammy as soon as possible.”

Ted nodded. “Yeah, you're right. We're in this no matter what. Eli is secondary to our goal.”

Joan wanted to refute that statement for some reason. She didn't know why, though.

Ted motioned for her to go back over to where Eli was. “Go ahead and grab some shuteye. I'll wake you when it's your turn in four hours.”

Joan nodded and walked over to where Eli was. She gave the kid a searching look, then decided he had the right idea and used her backpack in a similar manner. It wasn't quite as comfortable as sleeping prone; but, she would make due. It kept her hair off of the floor at least.

Ted watched her settle beside the kid and he wondered if he should just shoot him before he caused too much trouble. He dismissed it, mostly because the kid was still wearing the soldier's uniform. The radio hadn't crackled to life yet, either. That might change in the morning when Petra didn't check in. Until then, he would watch over Joan and stop the kid from doing anything stupid.

Despite sleeping earlier, Joan was tired and started to fall asleep almost right away. Again, she knew that wasn't like her normal behavior and wondered if this kind of life was getting to her.

*

I woke when the sun peeked over the horizon. How did I know this when there were no windows in the room? It was my innate clock. I've been waking up near dawn ever since my first journey started and it was pure habit by this point. It apparently didn't matter what body I was wearing and it still worked, which was a blessing and a curse. I could go back to sleep; but, I'm miss this golden opportunity.

Joan was cuddled up to my side and her modest chest was pressed against my arm. That wasn't the opportunity I meant, though. My eyes saw Ted slumped against the far wall with his gun out, clearly asleep.

I took out my wand and hit Joan with a sleep spell, ensured that she was deep asleep, and I pulled her arms off of me. I did not grope her breasts, even though they were right there. Damn hormones. I used Joan's body as a shield and hit Ted with a sleep spell as well, just in case he was faking. I climbed to my feet and made my way over to him as I took out the vial of veritaserum.

Three drops later, Ted was singing like a canary. He hated that he always did everything Joan asked of him without question. He was essentially her lapdog and did everything for her. He resented that she didn't appreciate it or even acknowledged that if it wasn't for him, she would have died several times over the last few years. Joan was a great fuck, too.

That part I didn't really need to know. I thought and my eyes went over to where she slept. Her jeans were tighter after laying down with them on and they hugged her curves a lot more than they should have. It was a little maddening, actually. Popping a boner in the middle of an interrogation was not appropriate behavior, not now and not ever. Unless we were role-playing and she was in charge of teaching me a lesson.

I sighed at the mental image that caused and had to adjust myself. Stupid goddamn hormones. I turned back to Ted and asked him about the smuggling business and what he knew about it, the highlights mostly, because I didn't have a lot of time left before we needed to wake up. I would have to implement my joke from the night before, too. I'd pretend to be on watch and wake them both up to get us moving.

I was sure Ted's contacts in the city weren't important to me, so I cut that line of questioning off. It didn't matter, since we were leaving Boston anyway. At least, I hoped we were. They wanted to head to Wyoming in a truck to look for Joan's sister, so why wouldn't I want to go with them? The Fireflies weren't going to help us much after they found out Merle and the quarantine cell were wiped out.

I put Ted to sleep and let the effects of the truth serum fade on their own. You didn't need an antidote, unless you wanted to start lying right away or were in a compromising position, like being at the mercy of someone you've been antagonistic towards. It made me chuckle that I could give him another warning tap and he would never know it was me.

I left him slumped against the wall and went back over to Joan. She was still in the same position I had left her in and I sat down where I used to be. It only took me a few moments to sigh at giving in to my impulses and I slid down just enough to pull her back into my side and put her arms around me again. Her grip tightened automatically and I relaxed instead of freaking out.

Why? Because I had left my arm free and her breasts were pressed to the side of my chest. It was quite nice and I put my arm over her shoulders with my gun held properly in my other hand and ready to shoot.

Stupid hormones. I thought and waited for another half an hour before I took out my wand and ended the sleep spells on them. That way, they would wake naturally and not like a shot of fake adrenaline that the Ennervate spell would give them.

An hour later, Joan started to wake up. I tried to stay still enough that she wouldn't notice how close she was to me, and it didn't work. Joan sucked in a sharp breath when her eyes opened and her gaze locked onto mine.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” I whispered.

Joan blinked her eyes several times before she frowned at me. “Why are you hugging me?”

I looked down at her arms wrapped around me like a vise and back at her face.

Joan sighed and eased her hold on me. “What time is it?”

I pretended to look at my empty wrist. “It's half-past a short hair and a quarter to a skin blemish.”

Joan stared at me like I had two heads and didn't respond.

I rolled my eyes at her not being awake enough to appreciate a good joke. “It's about 8 in the morning, assuming dawn was at 6:30 like usual.”

Joan let me go completely and sat up, her gaze really pointed now. “How do you know that if you don't have a watch?”

“I counted.” I said and didn't explain further.

Joan moved slightly away and then caught her breath. Her head whipped around and she stared at where Ted was slumped against the wall and looked lifeless. “You killed him!”

I barked a loud laugh and Ted jerked as if someone had slapped him. His eyes shot open and he scrambled to his feet as he aimed his gun right at me. The empty click of the trigger being pulled was very loud in the silent room.

“TED!” Joan gasped, horrified.

Ted looked down at the gun and wondered why it didn't fire. He also looked sad that he hadn't accidentally killed me when he had the perfect excuse.

“I emptied it while you were asleep, you moron.” I said and tossed the magazine and the single bullet he had loaded in the chamber towards him. They landed and skidded on the floor at his feet. “I also took third watch. You're welcome.”

Joan hadn't reacted to my words until I said that. “Ted! You fell asleep on watch?” She asked, her voice accusing and her glare strong. She had apparently forgotten she was supposed to be on watch, too.

“That's what you're upset about?” I asked and she turned her glare to me. “He would have shot me if the gun was loaded and you're upset he was asleep. Thanks a lot.”

Joan opened her mouth to say something, probably an angry rebuke. Instead, her glare faded and she sighed. “We need to move and be extra careful. Even in daytime, the ruins can have infect people anywhere. Just one of them can bring a horde of them down on us and we won't survive.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Thanks for the basic info everyone but an idiot knows.”

Joan's glare came right back. “You need to stop being a little shit.”

It was my turn to have my mouth open to say something and I stopped myself. I didn't want her angry at me, because angry people make stupid decisions and will get themselves and those around them killed. I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, my thumb resting on her exposed collarbone.

“Look, I almost died again just now and it pissed me off that neither you nor Ted can see the downside of that.” I said and her glare disappeared as her mind let her imagine why me dying was bad. “Yeah, if I'm dead, then you don't get anything except dead yourselves. I'm a hot commodity for the Fireflies and they will not appreciate it if I disappear.”

“Fuck!” Ted exclaimed and started pacing again.

“That's why you can ignore any threats we make. You know we can't do anything.” Joan reasoned.

“Not can't, as you just saw. Shouldn't.” I corrected her. “I like living, thank you very much.”

Joan looked over at an agitated Ted and sighed. “We need to go.”

Ted stopped pacing and glared at me before he knelt and loaded the magazine into his gun. He cocked the slide to load a bullet into the chamber and then he ejected the magazine and loaded the spare bullet into it to fill it again. He set the magazine back into the gun again and held it, gave me an odd look, then he tucked it away and went to the door of the room to unblock it.

Joan sat there and didn't move or try to help. She also didn't say anything, probably because my hand was still on her shoulder and my thumb was making small motions as it gently caressed her skin. I didn't even realize I was doing it until her hand reached up and stopped it from moving.

My face flushed red from embarrassment and Joan pulled my hand off of her shoulder. She looked at it for a moment, as if she wasn't sure what to do with it, then she let it go and stood up. She didn't say anything as she checked her backpack, nodded at it being okay, and nodded at me. I stood and had to adjust myself, which she clearly saw. Joan's face was a little red now, too.

We were saved from the really awkward moment when Ted opened the door. Joan walked out of the room like it was on fire and I followed her at a similar pace. We had a lot of ground to cover today to make it through the city ruins to reach the Massachusetts State House and we had to be careful while doing it. It would slow us down and we would deal with things as they came.

My eyes dropped to her ass as she walked and I cursed at myself in my head. It was a great ass and reminded me of Amy's, which was really bad. I did not need thoughts of having sex with her while I was going through puberty again, not with a similar-looking woman right there in front of me.

Stupid, stupid hormones. I thought and followed that firm ass all the way down to the street.