O God, I ask for forgiveness.

I ask for my salvation like you have saved many others before.

You see me, you see my pain.

Why must you see me in pain?

Is it because I ruined my community with the drugs I sold?

Save me, dear lord.

I'm running out of time.

Amen.

My eyes open as I unclenched my hands together. After taking a deep sigh, I look back to see the small caravan camp I made with the remaining group. Got their names too, which is nice. There's Fisher the injured driver and Sera the gunslinger. There was Dorian as well, but we all know what happened to him. Sera was broken by this it seems, not even being able to properly bury the poor bastard. After we got everything packed up, we moved on to our second leg of the trip. It was me and Sera was staring at the floor, it seems like she was trying to distract herself. I scooted closer, taking off my bucket hat to reveal my curly hair. "Talk to me." I simply start with.

She snaps out of her trance, looking up at me. "W-What? What do you want?"

"He must mean a lot to you, obviously. I've heard talking about these kinds of things helps us cope easier. Or something like that," I nervously laugh. It's been a while since I talked to anybody about loss.

She noticed my awkwardness. She flipped her short blonde hair while looking at me. "He was the only thing I had left. Dorian took care of me after we resurfaced. I was scared, I'll be honest. My family didn't make it, my friends were gone. I had absolutely nothing." Tears welled up in her eyes. I put an arm around her. "I was living not knowing if I'd see tomorrow. It was so much pain. Then I meet Dorian. He was an old man with a heart of gold, I swear." Sera started smiling while those tears fell down her face. "He took me in, taught me how to properly shoot. In return, I'd work out and make sure he's protected. I loved him. Now he's..."

"I understand, Sera. It's gonna be hard moving on but you can do it. I know you can."

She turned to me, eyes welling with tears. "How? I have nobody left."

"You can always find new people. There's so many in this new world especially looking for a friend." I smile. "Chin up. I know he doesn't like you sad."

Sera sighs, wiping her face. "Thanks, Dopeman. While I doubt it...I'll think about it."

"And that's the first step to change."

An hour later, we reach the home stretch. The outskirts of Southland have seen better days. the area is just destroyed buildings, cracked roads, smoke from old fires. It looks like a battle was here recently, due to all the corpses around the area. Fisher slowed the horse, just in case anything comes out at us. For a while, everything was cool until a raider walks out in the middle of the street. "People! I heard you're movin' crates around. We need those supplies."

"I'm sorry, we're not giving these to you!" Fisher yells back.

Meanwhile, I was crouching back with Sera. "These guys are trouble. I need to get rid of them." I say with confidence.

Sera scoffs. "It'll be more trouble if you go, now just stay back and-"

"Nonsense! I got this..." I walk out, Sera saying it's a bad idea in the background.

"Didn't you hear what he just said? It's not for sale." I load my shotgun, looking mean.

"Wait...You're Foolish Courier! It's payday boys! GET EM!" The raider yells, his gang pops out of the surrounding buildings. Whoops. I reach for my belt to chuck my flashbang. I warned the caravan to look away before I shoot. As soon as I fire, the giant flash of light blinds the gang. I didn't have time to grab onto the wagon because the blind fire started, so I roll out of the way.

"Go! I'll find my own way!" I yell out. Fisher whips the horse, causing it to run. Sara looks upset at my choice, but I'll live with it. Maybe.

I loaded my high explosive slug in. I shoot at one of the already dilapidated buildings to make one-half collapse. The piece causes the ground to shake violently with a combination of the rubble and glass making a cloud on impact. I use the chaos and confusion to steal one of the raider's horses and dip out. Unfortunately, my plan wasn't spotless, one of the raiders caught on and rode after me. Eventually, one of them catches, tackling to the sandy side of the road. We tumble down the hill, my shotgun slides away. The raider mounts me and starts beating my face in. After the third shot bloodied my nose, I threw sand in his face and kicked him off. I stood up, secretly grabbing sand. I charged to throw the sand, but I missed, he's smarter than I thought. He kneed me twice to the stomach, but I retorted with an elbow to the face, breaking his nose. My ribs started to hurt, my nose was burning with pain, I had to end this. We charged, but I faked a blow to the head to go straight for the money makers. I hit him right in the groin. It was pretty easy after that, just two swift knees to the head and a boot to the face. I sighed as I checked my noise. Not broken, but it hurts like hell.

After getting my gun back, I walked back up the hill to see the horse still standing there surprisingly. I pet her (I checked) and rode over to the wooden gates of Southland. I see the group over by the makeshift hospital in this now war-stricken town. Sera wasn't happy. "Why in the hell would you do that?! You could've been killed!"

"You're not, are you?" I respond, holding my nose.

"We're not talking about me or Fisher. I'm talking about you. Why make these dumb choices? Is that why they call you Foolish Courier? You're one dumb choice from death!"

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?"