Patrol job

Velo is sitting in his soldier-like cloth. Staring at a 6000 tels sandwich that he bought. Normally he wouldn't even dare to drought one of these because this one meal can get him about 6 and a half-day in a cheap nutrient pack.

He holds his breath and bites the sandwich. The flavor of it attacks him. It is not like anything he has eaten before, even the old world nutrient pack has a hardness to them.

This is softer than anything he's eaten and the texture of all the things in these combines to make a delicious meal.

"Hello Velo! sorry for yesterday."

Velo got startled and drops the sandwich. Looking around, Velo sees a man waving and walking toward him. Velo glared at Rex with hostility while he take a seat right in front of Velo.

"Oh, don't give me that look, here you can have mine"

Rex had over his sandwich and Velo's mood changed in real-time. Rex smiled while looking at the kid. Thinking about yesterday when he lost.

"So you're taking the patrol request?"

"Yes..."

"You remind me of my past self, you know?"

"Being a slum kid?"

"Yes, I was once a slum kid like you. Surviving day to day doing all kinds of things until I got pickup by Frenzy and became a proper hunter"

"Then why did you hate the new recruit that much?"

Rex looks intensely at Velo that is still eating.

"Old will have told this to you, right?"

"Yeah"

"Sigh... It's not like I hate them or anything. It's just that the new recruit got way better treatment than when I was a recruit. But that's not the only reason the young hunters we recruit this time are weird. His profile suggests that he came from a slum, but his personality is that of an inner walls people or of like a different world."

"Is it that weird?"

"Well, let's say that you met me for the first time and I'm being chased by a big swarm of monsters in a wasteland. Would you help me without an SOS signal??"

"No"

"That's the normal answer, but the young hunter this time would help them in a heartbeat"

"Why would you do that?"

"Like hell, I would know"

The conversation goes on for a while. Rex shared some of his hunter stories, and Velo just ate the sandwich. He also talks about how the Frenzy gangs have a lot of infighting and some veteran hunters quit the gang.

The situation would likely get worse from this time. He didn't quit the gang because of his gratitude for them, but if it's get any worse, he would have to quit too.

Most of the veteran hunters defect to Adamantine with their policy being a little better than their current one. They start off with a contract, then if they like the environment, they would join the gangs.

The topic moves on to the sandwich. which is rex favorite food. Every time he came here he will always get one to eat.

"Do you have anything you like?"

"Well, I'm from a slum...."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't think too much about the question"

"I don't mind... Well, I don't really have any preference because I didn't eat a lot of things, but I think I would like to try a chocolate bar if I have the chance."

"Ohhhh, going for an inner walls dessert, I see. Well, good luck with your dreams, then."

"Truck 18 is about to leave all hunters that have been assigned to truck 18. Please enter the truck. We will leave in 10 minutes. We won't wait for you."

"Ah.. that's my queue. See you later Velo."

Rex waves goodbye to Velo after hearing the notice and disappears into the crowd. Leaving Velo to sort out his emotion. He's still not entirely good with conversation. He doesn't know how to start or end it.

Normally, it'd be people cursing at him or ordering him around. Velo thinks about what he would talk about the next time he met Rex. Although he's don't have the best impression of Rex, He's still one of the first people to be friendly with him.

"Truck 20 is about to leave all hunters that have been assigned to truck 20. Please enter the truck. We will leave in 10 minutes. We won't wait for you."

Hearing that, Velo walks to the line of trucks and enters the one with the number 20 on it. The truck is a cream color with an open window to the outside world that hunters can peek out with their guns.

10 minute later the truck starts and leave the facility. Its speed isn't very impressive due to its size, but this is not a bad thing since it improves the hunter's accuracy. There are around 20 people inside the truck, ranging from teens to middle age.

Velo was the only kid there. Some people look at him with pitiful eyes while others seem to mock him. This reaction is what Velo expects from people, so this doesn't affect him.

A while later, a wasteland dog showed up and people starts shooting at it. Some got lucky, while others showed skills. Velo was a mix because of how the truck was moving. He didn't learn how to shoot from a moving truck so some kills were luck while the others shot were calculated.

The truck drives for another hour around the outskirt of a slum city. Velo, manage to get some wasteland dog kills, but as the truck is about to head back, a commotion has occurred.

"Everyone we got company!!! A ruin tracker!!"

"What!?!?!"

The truck radar has picked up that a ruin tracker has entered its vicinity. This sends everyone into a panic because most of the hunters here are just beginners and they can't outrun the monster, because this truck is not built to go fast.

The ruin tracker closed in while the hunter was shooting. Even though they know that it's a futile effort. Velo joins in shooting the creature. He's surprised by how ineffective the bullet is. The old world gun could cut through that monster with ease.

The monster came closer and closer while Velo was temp to restart.