Field Note: Bay Runners

Date: 8.26.2224

Location: East of Third Ward | Highway Fragment I-10

I’ve had time to think about the Bay Runners.

They aren’t monsters. Not really. But they aren’t the kind of people you invite around a campfire either.

The way they stepped out on that road could have ended differently. Three people appearing from behind cover, armed, watching every movement I made. In another situation, with another group, I might not have gotten the chance to explain myself.

I had something they wanted.

The barbecue sauce.

You don’t expect a bottle of sauce to be the thing that keeps you breathing.

One of them opened it, took a taste, and just stood there for a moment.

Said he’d never tasted anything like it.

They wanted to know where it came from, who made it, how something like that still existed in the wasteland.

I told them it came from the Grab & Go Station at the Houston airport.

That wasn’t true, In face, I’d never been there.

But they didn’t know that.

They believed me, and that was enough to get me through.

Looking back on it, I probably should’ve been more nervous than I was. I had no real weapons. They had rifles, armor, and enough blades between them to make the point clear.

Maybe I was lucky.

Maybe I’m just good at talking.

Either way, I’m still walking.

Whatever they find after this, that’s their business. I needed a road cleared...

For me, that was enough.

— Big Chief