The truck sputtered like a dying animal, jerking forward one last time before the engine let out a sad little wheeze and went completely silent.
Sierra slammed the steering wheel. "Fuckin' knew it."
Lin blinked, still clutching the dash like it was a life raft. "W-What happened?"
"Ran dry," Sierra said, popping the door open and hopping out into the dust. "Fuel gauge's been flashing for the last half hour. Thought we had more in reserve."
"You didn't say anything!" Lin squeaked, scrambling after her.
She stretched, cracked her neck, and rolled her shoulders like it was just another Tuesday. "Didn't wanna panic you, pretty boy. Figured we'd make it."
"We didn't," Yue said bluntly from the back seat. She stepped out silently, brushing a speck of rust from her frost-trimmed sleeve.
Yuzuki hopped off the truck bed, landing with a soft thump in the dirt. "Producer-samaaa~ are we gonna die~?" she asked in a fake-cry voice, pouting dramatically as she clung to her sparkly backpack.
"No," Lin muttered, slapping dust off his pants. "No, we're just… we'll walk, okay? We've walked before."
He wasn't convinced even as he said it. The wasteland sun beat down like a punishment. The cracked asphalt stretched ahead, lined with dead trees and the occasional bleached ribcage. Distant hills shimmered in heat mirages. There was nothing—just endless fucking nothing.
Then—
Yue froze.
"Sign," she said, pointing.
They all turned.
Barely visible through the wavering heat, half-buried in dust and rust, stood a bent road sign. The paint was chipped, the metal pitted, but the words were still legible.
→ GRAVETOWN – 5 KM
Sierra let out a sharp whistle. "Well I'll be fucked. Thought it was further."
Yuzuki gasped. "We're close~!"
"Five kilometers is still an hour walk. More if we're carrying our shit," Yue added coldly.
"Better than dying in the truck," Lin muttered.
Celestine stepped down from the rear of the truck, barefoot as always, shawl trailing in the wind. She gazed toward the sign like it was an omen written in flame.
"The river bends there," she said softly. "That's why the town endured. The dead can't cross running water."
"…What?" Lin asked, blinking.
She just smiled.
Yue turned toward the truck bed. "We need to offload supplies. Take only what we can carry."
"On it," Sierra grunted, tossing open the tarp.
They began pulling out gear—packs, weapons, water rations, a crate of ammo, two half-melted MREs, and a canister of instant coffee that had somehow survived a direct gunshot months ago. Lin reached for his bag, only for it to tear slightly at the strap. He groaned.
"Fuck. I swear this thing's rotting from the inside."
"That's because you never clean it," Yue said.
"D-Don't judge me—my bag smells like character."
"It smells like death and old socks," Sierra muttered, shouldering her rifle.
As they prepped, the landscape around them unfolded like a forgotten hell. The cracked highway curved toward a wide, muddy river in the distance. Along its banks, the silhouettes of half-collapsed structures could be seen—rusted sheet metal huts, twisted cranes, and water towers long since drained and toppled.
Beyond the river, nestled at the bend, stood the jagged outline of a town. Gravetown.
Even from this distance, the place looked tense. No flags. No visible guards. Just crumbling buildings, smoke trails in the air, and a strange silence that felt wrong for somewhere that supposedly thrived.
"Doesn't look like a happy place," Lin said quietly.
Sierra squinted into the haze. "Lot of cover. Could be sniper nests in those rooftops."
Celestine tilted her head. "It breathes. But it does not sing."
"I don't like that either," Lin muttered.
Yuzuki shielded her eyes with her arm. "There's water, though~! Maybe we can bathe~! I feel gross…"
"You are gross," Sierra said, grinning.
"No bully!" Yuzuki pouted, stomping her foot in the dust.
Yue sealed her pack. "We move in pairs. If something jumps us, don't scatter."
Sierra clicked her tongue. "Gravetown's probably crawling with desperate types. Merchants, scavengers, wannabe warlords. Bet the whole damn place smells like sweat, shit, and broken deals."
Lin adjusted his glasses. "We'll figure it out when we get there. For now, we walk."
He took a deep breath and started forward. His boots crunched over broken glass and sun-baked gravel. The heat hit his face like a wall. His backpack already felt too heavy.
Behind him, the others followed. Yue silent and alert. Sierra chewing on that same goddamn toothpick. Celestine drifting like a ghost. And Yuzuki skipping every fifth step like they were going to Disneyland.
They didn't speak much on the road.
A vulture circled above once, then disappeared. The river glittered in the distance like a mirage. Closer now.
Gravetown was waiting.
Whatever the fuck that meant.
***
The group finally stopped just outside the rusted outer ruins of Gravetown, taking cover behind a collapsed billboard that once advertised "Nuka-Crack: The Last Real Cola." The twisted metal cast just enough shade to make standing bearable. In the distance, the town loomed—low-rise buildings packed tight near the riverbend, some fortified with sandbags and scaffolding, others barely standing. Smoke curled lazily from unseen fires, and somewhere off in the haze, someone was yelling.
Lin set his pack down with a groan and peeled his sweat-soaked hoodie off halfway, revealing the equally sweat-soaked T-shirt beneath.
"Okay," he panted, trying to sound like he wasn't dying, "b-before we go in, we… we should probably talk about, um, the plan."
Yue crossed her arms and leaned against the broken billboard frame, eyes constantly scanning the skyline. "Yes. We need objectives."
"Yeah. Yeah, exactly," Lin nodded rapidly, pushing up his foggy glasses. "O-Objectives. That's what I was gonna say. Right. T-Thank you, Yue."
Sierra was already crouched down, using the butt of her rifle to draw a rough map in the dirt. "We don't know the layout, we don't know the factions, and we don't know who's friendly. So let's figure out what the hell we do want before we waltz in and get our shit stolen."
"Ooooh~ Gravetown's like a dungeon hub!" Yuzuki chimed as she plopped down beside Lin, kicking her feet in the dust. "Let's get quests~!"
"It's not a fuckin' game, idol-girl," Sierra said without looking up. "You mess around in this kind of place, you get shanked for your shoelaces."
Yuzuki puffed her cheeks. "Rude."
Lin cleared his throat. "U-Um… so… okay. First off. Our primary objective should be—uh—fuel. For the truck."
He glanced around.
No one objected.
"Yes," Yue confirmed. "Without fuel, we're trapped."
"Exactly! I mean, w-we can't push it back to camp," Lin said quickly, trying not to fidget. "And, uh, towing isn't really… an option, so—so we need to find fuel vendors or a trade post. B-Barter if we have to…"
"Steal if we need to," Sierra added with a shrug. "Depends on how greedy the locals are."
"I'd prefer not to, if we can help it," Lin muttered. "I mean, stealing's—kinda…"
"Effective," Yue said coldly.
"M-Maybe as a backup plan…"
Celestine sat cross-legged on the cracked concrete, her eyes half-closed as she murmured something under her breath that sounded like an old prayer or a psychotic nursery rhyme.
"I sense decay," she said softly. "And barter. Souls haggling over rust and lies. Gravetown will not welcome us… but it will tolerate us. If we pay the toll."
Yuzuki shivered a little. "Can we not pay with our souls, please~?"
Lin raised a hand nervously. "N-No soul-selling. Definitely. I-I mean, we should use, like, bullets or scrap, right?"
Sierra sighed. "Alright, what's objective two?"
Lin straightened a bit. "Uh, right. Objective two: intel. I-I mean… we still don't know much about this world."
"Understatement of the year," Sierra muttered.
"I know, I know!" he said, raising his palms. "I just mean—we've mostly been isolated. The bandits didn't know much. We need to understand the factions, the trade routes, w-what kind of government exists here, if any… y-you know. Knowledge. Worldbuilding stuff."
Yue nodded. "Information is power. If there are major powers nearby, we need to know their stance on independents like us."
"Exactly! Thank you!" Lin said, glancing at her with what he hoped was a confident smile.
She blinked at him and said nothing.
He looked back down, red-faced. "U-Um, and… I mean… as a, uh, bonus objective…"
Sierra looked up with a grin. "Oh boy, here it comes."
"I-It'd be nice if we could maybe… you know… get a better ride."
Yuzuki gasped. "Like a battle bus~?! Or a tour van~!?"
"Just… just something more reliable than what we have," Lin said. "I-It doesn't have to be fancy! Just—bigger tank, maybe armor plating, seats that don't smell like wet socks and mutant piss…"
"High bar," Sierra snorted. "But yeah. If we spot something, I'll keep my eyes open."
Yue tapped her finger against her elbow. "Priorities remain: fuel, intel, then vehicle."
Celestine opened one eye. "Gravetown trades in stories, not just items. Choose your words carefully inside. Lies may be safer than truth."
Lin nodded, then swallowed. His throat was dry again.
"Okay. S-So… um… I'll try to do the talking. B-But if I mess up, maybe Yue can negotiate? Or Sierra. Or literally any of you…"
"Try not to stutter through your own name and you'll be fine," Sierra said, standing.
Yuzuki clapped her hands. "Yaaay~ mission start~!"
"I still don't like this," Lin muttered, strapping on his bag again.
"You don't like anything," Yue said.
"That's because everything is terrifying," he shot back.
Celestine rose slowly. "Then embrace the fear, Lin Feng. Let it guide you. Let it whisper."
"Y-Yeah, I'll pass on the whispering part…"
They stood in silence for a moment, staring toward Gravetown as the dust settled over the distant skyline. The wind carried a strange smell—burnt plastic, sweat, metal, and something faintly floral.
The kind of place where people survived through grit, deals, and desperation.
And they were walking right into it.
Lin sighed. "Okay… let's not die."
Sierra grinned. "No promises."
They picked up their gear and started walking again.One step closer to chaos.One step closer to Gravetown.
Q: What will be your plan if you were Lin?