All Shadows Fall
14
" Frag it. Trust is trust." Vlad said suddenly. The others responded with a collective 'Huh?' They had driven for almost an hour, winding around Seattle through back roads and alleys in order avoid the major roads and the Knight Errant troops that would certainly be looking for them there. In that hour Vlad had remained ominously quiet. The only sound he had made before this was to clear his throat. In his mind, he was adding things up.
" I mean, if we've come this far together than I might as well lay my hoop on the line right next to yours right?"
"Whatcha gettin at dere Vlad?" said Cliff.
" Forget about going to the fallback place, we're going somewhere else. One last stop before we leave Seattle behind for good."
" What? why?" Koto whined loudly.
" It's the only logical move Koto. Cliff said it himself. That fallback house could already be compromised. Glengarry was. Why risk walking into a trap if we don't have to. "
"Den whats yer plan Vlad?" Cliff kept his eyes on the road as he spoke.
" Simple. Get the hell out of Seattle before they tighten the noose. The longer we stay here, the better chance they have of tracking us down and taking us out. If we can get to the mountains, it will be a lot harder for them to find us while we figure out what to do."
It made sense. Vlad knew it and Cliff knew it too. Koto was the only one who seemed to have any objections. " How are we gonna get enough supplies to survive out there for who knows how long?"
" We'll have to make a stop before we leave Seattle. I have a friend who owes me a few favors. She can come up with some quick cash for us to stock up on supplies with."
?" You sure you can trust her? You know chicks…" said Koto with a raised eyebrow.
?" I can trust her as much as you guys can trust me." Vlad turned back towards Koto and gave him a reassuring nod.
?" Lead de way den Vlad." Cliff offered.
" 1206 Stanton road. It's in Redmond." He said with a smile. The location he gave them wasn't very far from the fallback safe house that Cutter was supposed to have prepared for them. It didn't surprise Vlad. There weren't too many places that you could go in the barrens without having to worry about local gangs tearing you apart. The only 'safe' places were the few areas were gang turf overlapped. There, the gangs would be too busy worrying about killing each other to even notice someone who wasn't wearing the colors of either side. Even those places changed monthly, like clockwork. A place you thought was safe last week could be a death zone today. That's how life was in the Redmond barrens.
"Stop for a second" Koto said. His words broke the new silence that had settled after the threesome had decided to leave Seattle. He said it nonchalantly, but Vlad could make out a subtle urgency in his voice. They stopped and Koto rushed out of the car. He trotted to the edge of the block where a graffiti splattered phone booth was located, across from the burned out remains of what could have been a liquor store. It was the first phone, first sign of anything remotely modern that they had seen in miles.
"What was dat all about?" Cliff asked when Koto came back.
"Oh the call? Nothing, I had to call a couple of my boys and see if they had heard anything more about us, and let them know that I wasn't coming back for a while. I got people to take care of y'know." Koto bobbed his head gently as he spoke.
"And?" Noticing that no further response was forthcoming Cliff called for one himself.
"And… Nobody's heard a thing. We're cool beefy, relax. Lets just get off the streets, and get to Vlad's place or somethin." He smirked and that was when Vlad knew the last part of it all.