Book 2 Chapter 31: The Cut

Book 2 Chapter 31: The Cut

I was contemplative while I walked. I didnt have much to think about aside from David, and his note, and I found it turning my thoughts melancholy. The silence and endless black sand didnt help. I checked my notifications, looking for some respite from myself.

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in Investigation! Here in the US we have the right to question everything, except freedom!

Congratulations Citizen! You have earned a rank in walking! A great way to see the beautiful vistas of this great nation

The walking increase didnt surprise me, that had been a significant chunk of what Id been doing for the last several days, and the investigation mustve come from my search of the bunker, though how the system recognized that was beyond me. I had a lot of questions about how the system actually worked. How it recognized actions, how it supposedly increased intangibles like intelligence, or whether the skills increasing was actually granting something to me, or was instead just measuring what it recognized as what I already had. When I was at earlier ranks I could almost swear I could actually feel a steadier hand with my pistol, or a slight increase in my walking efficiency, but as time had gone on it had begun to feel more ephemeral, harder to really notice. As always, I had the question of why, in my case, the virus was recognized by the system. Id actually been able to read about the virus and its development, how it had led to the deadmen, but thered been no notes of anything related to the system interacting with it. The creator had, in fact, seemed openly hostile to the Rebuild America System and its creator.

I was fairly certain that I had to be in a decent vicinity of where the Pilgrim himself had been walking. Id started from the point hed been found and traveled almost directly West from there. Id encountered the black sand, which represented the first of the landmarks Id expected. It was possible Id deviated a bit since then, or that the Pilgrim had taken an odd route, but Id bet that I was within a reasonable approximation of his path. Id have to be, I didnt relish the idea of jumping for it. I turned Northeast and started walking. Reasoning that since the ground was sloped upward a bit, the Pilgrim may have naturally walked a bit south easterly to move with the slope.

I eventually saw what I was looking for. At a perfectly flat patch of wall, were several hooks driven into the wall. They appeared to be handholds going all the way down to the bottom of the Cut. Near them was a small bag. I opened it to find more of the hooks, and two well worn hammers. There were no ropes. The average deadman was about two times as strong as a human, give or take a child or two. To climb up a sheer surface for a mile, driving in hand holds as you went, with no rope.. Even for a deadman, that was suicide. There was something driving the Pilgrim, and I wouldnt be surprised if the exertion hed been through had been part of what killed him.

I took a breath, and exhaled slowly. I was stronger than most deadmen, and had a number of abilities that made me even stronger, but looking straight down, I didnt relish what I was going to have to do. I grabbed the bag of hooks and hammers, thinking it better to have them and not need them, then the alternative, had a quick meal of meat and a long draught of water, then started my climb.

It was easy at first. Id lower myself down, testing the hook with my feet, put my weight on it, then repeat. As I moved downward, I started to tire though. The Pilgrim had been shorter than I was, and so the hooks were awkwardly spaced for my own climb downward, forcing me to exert far more effort than I wouldve needed to otherwise. When I was halfway I put my foot down with a bit too much force and briefly lost my footing. I gasped, clinging to the hooks that held my hands. I calmed down, and awkwardly made my way down to the next one. From there on it was easy, if tedious and tiring, to make it the rest of the way down.

The rads continued to increase to a level higher than anything Id experienced before, and I once again felt the heat building inside me grow into an odd state of equilibrium with it. I jumped down the last ten feet, eager to put my feet solidly back on terra firma. I let out a breath, then pulled out my canteen and had another long sip of water as I leaned against the wall. It was dark, and I could see the moon and stars hanging above me seemingly cut off where the edges of the cliffs above obscured my vision. I was tired, but I wanted to try to make it to the other side before I made camp. I walked in a straight line to the other side of the cliff, thinking that was the most logical point in which to place more climbing hooks. When I reached it though, I found none. I was stuck at the bottom of the cliff.