Collecting Intelligence I

The silver sun rose in the sky like a torch leading the charge of dawn. Its warmth spread across the wasteland that was once Las Vegas. The blinding rays shone down upon Alex's masculine face as he lies asleep in a chair directly in front of the window.

The worst part about squatting in the airport was the fact that he could no longer sleep in his underwear as he used to. Neither did he have a pair of pajamas to relax in. He slept in his armored vest and used his heavy parka as a pillow.

Due to Alex's reckless fighting style, he went through armor rather quickly. Emily was always piecing together some new piece kit and gifting it to him free of charge. The more her skills improved, the better armor Alex would wear and the longer it lasted.

However, this was the first time that the armor felt so comfortable as he slept. He really had to give the girl credit for inventing the quilted armor made from iron-silk fabric. He could foresee its popularity shortly; he had to think of a way to repay her.

He tossed these thoughts aside and got up out of his chair, stretching his body in various ways to recover from the awkward sleeping position. At this point, he would literally kill someone for a proper mattress.

Though the aircraft no longer functioned, they had functioned as temporary housing for many individuals; for a steep price, you could spend the night with an entire row for yourself. However, Alex refused to barter for a comfier sleeping space.

After stretching around, Alex noticed Brandon approaching him, he had an unnatural look of excitement on his face, and Alex could already guess what he was going to propose. Seeing Alex's grumpy appearance, Brandon could not help but comment.

"Morning, grumpy, did you sleep well?"

Alex forced a fake laugh as he glared daggers at Brandon

"Every morning, you ask me the same question, and every morning you get the same answer. Eat shit!"

Brandon laughed and wrapped his shoulder around the frustrated youth and spoke with vigor, unbefitting a man of his background.

"Well, today I'll make it up to you! I've already spoken with Cassie and Derek, and they agreed to split into groups to collect intelligence on a location that meets our demands. I guess you're stuck with me, old friend."

Alex shoved Brandon off of him playfully, he was well aware of how Brandon collected his intelligence, and he was not a fan. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to follow him to the store where Brandon was a frequent customer.

If you were to ask Alex what the world's oldest profession is, he would answer without hesitation that it was obviously prostitution, and that was exactly where Brandon was taking him. The Midnight Passion Brothel was C-Gates exclusive whorehouse, where practically every man in the gate frequented to relieve stress.

Prostitution had always existed in the city of Vegas; hell, some might say it was even renowned for it. However, with the fracture, the number of prostitutes increased substantially. Some too many women had absolutely no skills to speak of and could only sell their bodies to make ends meet.

It was not as if Alex was morally against prostitution; he could care less about what whores did to survive; the problem he had with it was just how unclean it was in this apocalyptic world. After all, there was a serious lack of protection in this new world, and he had no idea what diseases he would get by spending the night with the wrong hooker.

However, if there was one thing hookers were good at in this post-apocalyptic world, it was collecting information from weary slayers who just wanted to have someone listen to their stories and pretend to give a shit. As such, the more intelligent whores moonlighted as information brokers, bringing in additional supplies to survive upon.

When Alex and Brandon arrived at the brothel, made out of an entire boarding area, they were quickly greeted by many beautiful ladies dressed in skimpy attire. The way this worked was the attendants would take note of the patron's requests and barter, and if one of the girls accepted the conditions, they would be taken behind makeshift blinds and have their fun.

Alex wore an awkward expression, as he attempted to hide his face under his parka's hood. He would rather not be seen in such a location. Frankly, he found it outright embarrassing to visit a brothel. I mean what kind of man has to pay for sex?

Despite appearances, he was a very prideful man when it comes to conquering a woman's heart. One of the attendants noticed his seemingly shy appearance and giggled at the perceived embarrassment.

"What do you need, handsome?"

However, before Alex could reply, Brandon interrupted, "Wendy, we're here for business, not pleasure; we want to speak to the Madame about some information we require." The busty blonde named wendy gazed upon Alex and pouted. He was totally her type, but unfortunately, there would be no fun for her.

She frowned at Brandon before nodding her head.

"Alright, I'll let her know your request; wait here."

She winked back at Alex before walking away, her neglige floating in the air with each step. While the two men waited at the entrance, Brandon punched Alex in the shoulder and jested with the kid.

"Lucky bastard, first Emily and now Wendy? Are you trying to turn all the men in C-Gate against you?"

Alex protested, lightly shoving his perverted friend as he expressed the disdain within his heart.

"Bastard! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here in the first place!"

The two of them bantered back and forth for some time while they waited for Wendy to return with the Madame's answer.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of C-Gate, Cassie and Derek visited the Swan Song Tavern; if one looked hard enough, they would be certain to find at least one information broker drinking during all hours of the day.

Derek took a shot of whiskey as he complained about the situation they found themselves in. He wanted to go with Brandon to the Brothel; however, Cassie absolutely forbade it as leader of the party. After all, Derek was still a kid; while age did not matter too much in this lawless society, Cassie was adamant about preventing Brandon from corrupting the kid.

Still, she didn't care if the kid drank; after all, she started drinking when she was a teenager too; what American youth hadn't? However, taking a kid like him to a brothel, that was against her bottom line. After all, she still had some moral principles.

Derek pouted as he complained endlessly to Cassie

"I don't understand; there are probably girls my age working there; why can't I enjoy my time with them?"

Cassie smacked Derek at the back of the head and whispered in his ear

"If you don't stop acting like a horny chimp, I'm going to cut your nuts off in your sleep."

A shiver ran down Derek's spine as he imagined Cassie castrating him while he was unconscious; he instinctively grabbed his crotch and shielded it from Cassie's frightening gaze.

Cassie then slapped the kid on the back and commended him for shaping up.

"Good boy!"

Before Derek could get a word in, a suave man dressed in a three-piece suit sat down at the table across from them. He had short grey hair and blue eyes with a trimmed goatee. He took a cigar out of his coat pocket and lit it with his lighter.

"So I hear you kids are looking for a substantial liquor supply?"

The duo immediately sobered up as they looked cautiously at the man. They had been very secretive with their actions in an attempt not to draw attention. After all, the more people who knew about the mission, they had accepted. The more greedy assholes would follow them to steal their mission and collect their bounty.

Cassie stared down the man with murderous intent; if he proved to be hostile, she would take care of him when they were on the outside.

"Who are you?"

The man chuckled as he saw her vicious gaze and looked at the boy who was still shivering from the threat Cassie had given him moments ago.

"I can tell why you're afraid of this one, lad."

he placed his hands in the air, signaling he was not a threat

"Relax, my name is Lucas, and I am in the business of collecting and selling information. I believe I can help you out... for the right price."

The murderous aura that Cassie was emitting began to soften as she heard the older man's words. Though she still stared down at the stranger as she spoke to him in a cautious tone.

"I'm listening..."

The three people sitting at the table in the tavern began to have a long discussion about mutual benefits.