THE COMPLETELY TRUE AND ACCURATE TRAVELS OF HOBO JOHNSON IN THE LOSSAND THE DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL ENCLAVES THEREIN (PART THE SECOND)
May 7 - Talking with Hobo again while the Rabbit is doing some negotiation on short notice. Mostly it involves him rambling about Enclaves while I recheck my pistol.
It gets interesting when he starts talking about natural barriers. He says it's not really a good idea to think that out in the Great Beyond that they segregated their countries like we did, behind the Ol' Mississip. First place, there not that many places with rivers that wide and long. Maybe a dozen or two. Second, America didn't put most of it's big cities on the river, the way a lot of countries did. Big cities are a no-no in The Loss - way too many Casualties to make anything other than the most hardened Enclaves viable. A lot of the successful Enclaves in The Loss are in the suburbs - a kind of lifestyle that doesn't exist in most of the rest of the world the way we know it. Big shopping malls out in the sticks that are easily defensible just weren't the done thing there. Mostly, he says, the big retailers are jammed into high rises or commercial districts that are cheek by jowl with huge apartments (and huge numbers of casualties) with WAY too many openings to block off.
After a bit, you'd have thought it was a college class, as he starts checking off all the things that he says make The Loss one of the best places in the world - better than a lot of Enclaves out there, he claims. Shit. Problem is, I can't really argue with all the things he checks off.
Highly concentrated refined resources? Check. Yeah, maybe not all the natural ones, but we were consuming half of all the resources worldwide back then - it didn't go anywhere when the Vectors came.
Large population with emphasis on personal mobility? Check. Makes it easier to outrun em, group up together, get to hard to follow places. Low population density, too, even lower if you restrict it to the Western states. Not like some places where you can't turn around without elbowing some dude while sticking your ass in another one's face. If you've got time to see 'em shamble, you've got time to fight or run. Hobo says a lotta places like Hong Kong, it was a fucking turkey shoot for the Zeds. I'd hate to be the guy who tries cleaning up THAT mess unless I've got a nuke or twelve handy and a place to hide out for a few thousand years.
Shitloads of guns? Check, check, and triple check. Some Takers may like that hand to hand combat shit, but I'm never getting out if I get my circulatory system all full of fucking Blight.
Highly materialistic population? Fucking yeah, check. Means lots of Bounty to scavenge. Lots of tools to use to help me get that Bounty. And with a little bit of luck, one real big Score and go back richrich.
Hobo? He says he's thinking of retiring here. Says he likes the weather and DHQS is full of assholes.
Why do I hang around this crazy fuck again?
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