As we moved to Pott’s I took a moment to check my notifications.

Excellent work Marshall! You’ve successfully performed a secondary goal of your job ‘Combat’! You’ve earned 60 Patriot Points!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned ranks in Long guns! Good job exercising your 2nd amendment rights!

Excellent work Marshall! You’ve successfully performed a secondary goal of your job ‘Combat’! You’ve earned 60 Patriot Points!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned ranks in Melee Weapons! From Bowie knives to Pickett’s charge, the US may have been too advanced for swords, but it’s spilled blood for freedom!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned ranks in Melee Weapons! From Bowie knives to Pickett’s charge, the US may have been too advanced for swords, but it’s spilled blood for freedom!

Excellent work Marshall! You’ve successfully performed a secondary goal of your job ‘Combat’! You’ve earned 60 Patriot Points!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in Pistol! Good job exercising your 2nd amendment rights

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned ranks in Long guns! Good job exercising your 2nd amendment rights!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned ranks in Melee Weapons! From Bowie knives to Pickett’s charge, the US may have been too advanced for swords, but it’s spilled blood for freedom!

Excellent work Marshall! You’ve successfully performed a secondary goal of your job ‘Combat’! You’ve earned 60 Patriot Points!

I blinked, dismissing the notifications. That was a lot of increases for a single day’s work. Each of the ambushes provided completion of my ‘secondary goal’ and the strafing constant attacks that the horde utilized began making more sense to me. Aside from the obvious death dealing benefits, there was another as well. The majority of the Khan’s warriors had the Soldier job, and for them combat was a primary goal. Their hit and run tactics had the additional benefit of providing them with multiple Patriot Point rewards each time.

I pulled up my Citizen Sheet.

6th Level Postman/ 8th Level Marshall

Patriot Points: 2038

SPINES: Be the backbone of America!

Strength- 33

Perception- 24

Intelligence- 18

Nationalism- 4

Endurance- 29

Speed- 23

Job Abilities:

Neither Rain, Sleet, or Snow: You are unhampered by adverse weather

Express: You gain a 5% bonus to movement speed

Special Delivery: You can mark a delivery ‘special’ which will allow you to track it.

Handle with Care: When dealing with a fragile load, activate this ability to steady your hands and arms, to ensure safe delivery.

Under Cover: You may retain your previous class and those with the ability to read previous classes will see whichever class you choose to show.

You're Under Arrest: You may temporarily remove all job based bonuses from a target to ease apprehending them. This person will be highlighted in your vision while this ability is active.

Freeze: Incapacitate a single target for one minute.

The Eyes of the Law: Detect another citizen’s job.

Federal Authority: You cannot be affected by the abilities of others unless you choose to be.

Lie Detector: Monitor other heart rate and physical state to determine whether or not they’re lying.

Skills:

Walking- 39

Pistol- 20

Loading/unloading- 25

Customer Service- 15

Driving- 8

Melee Weapons- 22

Long Guns- 20

Investigation- 17

Tracking- 11

Virus:

Deadman- Bonus to all physical stats +10, negative to social based skills

Natural weapon- Teeth

Night Vision

Perfected Healing

Enhanced Stamina

Adaptive Empowerment

Energy Dispersal

Improved Scent Detection

Energy Expulsion

I$m3#%a*#ty

Energy Expulsion…It seemed to me like that and dispersal were very similar names, but I supposed I shouldn’t expect a system held together with duct tape and AI to keep things unique. Expulsion is almost certainly what I’d used when I’d been pinned down, and I had a distinct feeling that it was what had caused me to feel so weak. Even walking at the same pace as Nix and her squad felt far more difficult than it normally would have. Still, as I ate and walked in rads I could feel myself regaining some strength, little by little.

We weren’t far from Pott’s. Whether or not someone in their information network had already informed them of what had happened, we had no idea, but they’d know soon enough. Once we were far enough into the Cut deadzone that no human, sane or insane, could’ve made it even with Remnant tech assistance, one of Nix’s men pulled out a small radio, lifted its antenna and powered it on.

This is Radiation Revolution Radio, you all ready for another pulse pounding hour of punk rock!? Too bad! I’ve gotten a request from Mama to play one of her favorite songs so that’s what we’ll be listening to first. You know, you’d think a radio professional like me would be an unbiased professional, but I’m not, so I’d just like to say I fully endorse Mama in the primaries today, because she’s better than Solomon, and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.

That elicited a snicker from the majority of the group, and a grumble from two of them.

Anyway, here’s “Here Comes the Moon,” by the Beetles.

Deux’s voice trailed off and a soft song started playing with more onomatopoeia than actual words. It was pleasant, and exactly the kind of song I remembered Mama playing at the school on her old record-player.

Everyone listened quietly as we walked. Two people at the head of the group started muttering to each other. That muttering started to grow louder, and eventually, they were near shouting at one another.

“Solomon is a fucking pussy, you know that! Besides, don’t you remember the judgment he placed on Vic? Three MONTHS of fieldwork. Guy is an asshole.”

“He’s the judge, that’s his JOB. He has to make hard decisions. I love Mama, but she doesn’t have the capacity to be in charge.”

A woman in an undertaker robe spoke up. “Mama and her schools are the foundation of all of Pott’s! She coordinates with us black robes, runs multiple classrooms, and is the reason we all work together so well. Sure she doesn’t directly make decisions like Solomon, but the good she does and her organizational skills shouldn’t be underestimated.”

A few more people jumped into the argument. It seemed to be divided almost in half once everyone started talking, which surprised me considering Mama’s popularity. One thing I noticed was that while many of them were willing to say negative things about Solomon, there was a clear reluctance to say anything bad about Mama.

Eventually, Nix spoke up. “That’s enough!” she yelled, just loud enough to be over everyone else. “Let’s focus on getting back for now. We should arrive in time to vote, just do that and shut up about it. I doubt anyone is going to be changing their minds about anything at this point anyway.”

There were a few grumbles as one or two of them tried to get in the last word, but Nix shot them a glare and shut them up. She sighed as she fell toward the back of the group to walk next to me.

“In the end, whether Solomon or Mama wins, it’s the council that will make all the decisions anyway. None of them would act alone,” she muttered to me conspiratorially.

I nodded. “True.”

“I’m guessing you’re voting for Mama?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Makes sense. Solomon isn’t exactly your biggest fan. Mama might be though. Hard to say at this point. A lot of recruits reference you as their reason for fighting.”

“Hrrrm” I grumbled, picking at my teeth. I looked around the group ahead of me and realized someone was missing. I looked to Nix, “The kid, the one I gave the girl's body to carry, where is he?” I asked.

“He asked to take it to Pott's immediately. I asked him not to push himself too hard, but there was no stopping him. I sent Diana with him to help ease the load and watch his back. They’ve probably been back for quite some time now.

I nodded, feeling some relief to hear he hadn’t also died carrying his friend. Death was inevitable in this war, but survival was something you couldn’t count on, it needed to be appreciated every once in a while.

It was an hour of punk rock and opinionated rants by Deux until the domes of Pott’s field came into view. Everyone’s walking pace increased, and conversation became more free and relaxed as it came into sight. No one spoke directly to me of course, but I was perfectly comfortable with that. There’d been several awkward thank yous when I’d first arrived back at camp with Nix, for saving all of them, and that had been enough of that for me.

The closest Domes were decorated differently from when I’d been there last. There’d been only a few small murals and posters saying to vote for Solomon or Mama, but now there were whole walls painted with different encouragement for each candidate. It wasn’t a change I appreciated, but I was fairly certain it was temporary. There would be no reason to show loyalty after the election ended after all.

Nix looked at me. “I’m going to head straight for the Mausoleum to give a report.”

I nodded. “I’ll join you later… I probably need to go ahead and vote. I don’t know when I’ll get back to Pott’s.”.

She nodded, and I started to walk, separating as I began following the various arrows painted across the domes guiding me to the voting area.