Lana clutched Nathan’s hand, her eyes wide in horror. The large man continued, his eyes lost in the past. “I asked around and tracked the two who did it. It took me a while, but I beat them both to death with my bare fists. It’s funny when you think of it. It’s nearly impossible to beat someone to death with a bat, but fists can do the job just fine. So, yeah, I killed them. Do you want to call me a murderer for that? Fine, I’m a murderer. I’ve murdered dozens of scum. You want to shoot me for that? Go ahead. I got nothing to lose anyway.”

He laid his head back against the ground and closed his eyes.

Nori’s eyes widened at his words, and her arm holding the weapon shook.

“Nori, come on,” Lana whispered insistently. “We got the Hummer right here, let’s just take it and leave him be.”

Nori’s gaze steeled and her arm steadied. She pointed the gun at the prone man again. “And how do you justify running a brutal gang? I’ve heard stories about you. Anyone who crosses you ends up dead.”

Bulco chuckled mirthlessly. “When I started out, there were dozens of gangs. People who thought they could take whatever they wanted. They banded together and tried to rule over the other survivors. So I gathered some men, who, like me, had nothing to lose, and we fought back. I learned to be ruthless. Reputation matters, you see. Fear is the only thing that keeps the real monsters in check.”

Nori frowned. “How did you level up?”

He chuckled again. “I got the level up message after killing a bunch of assholes. It seems that even level zero carry a small amount of Tec, it’s just a matter of harvesting enough to gain the first level. Once I leveled, dealing with others became much easier. So I started hunting Warped instead. It took a little doing, but with the strength I’d gained, I managed to kill a level one. Those things give way more Tec than zero level humans, I’ll tell you that, but taking them down permanently ain’t easy. Me and the boys started developing tactics to subdue and kill more Warped, and I used the Tec I gained to become even stronger. Even some of my men leveled, though we lost most after we encountered a group of Warped a few days ago.”

“You can believe him, Miss.” One of the gang members got out of the hummer, rubbing a bruised temple. He was still holding his rifle, but it was pointed at the ground. “He’s telling the truth. We’ve all been fighting, trying to force the world to make sense again, but it’s hard. That spaceship just might be the thing we need to finally turn things around.”

“Nori, I believe them,” Lana said.

Nathan nodded empathically.