The New World

Chapter 8

The sun was beginning to set by the time the two finally arrived at the harbour docks. Turg was completely exhausted but Jim still had a lot of energy despite starting to get sore from Turg leaning on him for the rest of the journey. There wasn't much snow on the docks but there were several shipping containers stacked and scattered around with a ship that had some loaded on already, though was likely stationary since doomsday happened. Jim found one that was open and empty inside so he decided to temporarily hide Turg there. It was tall enough for him to stand up straight in and it smelled heavily like seawater. As Jim placed Turg down he told him "Alright, you stay here while I scout out the place, I will come back for you when I am done. While I am gone you can have one can, only one."
Turg nodded in acknowledgement as he took the backpack off and laid down on the floor. Before Jim left he looked back and said "Also, if anything happens yell as loud as you can and I will come right back."
Jim then closed the door halfway and it made a lot of noise as the hinges were very rusted. He then continued further into the docks, it was very open with containers only being stacked around the edges. Though towards the end was an out of place stack of shipping containers and Jim decided to check that out first. Other than that, the docks was very quiet like the rest of the town, there were a few seagulls and the sounds of waves as the only silence breakers. As Jim came closer to the stack he noticed that it was a makeshift house someone had made and was living in. Jim figured he could just use the same charm trick he always used when infiltrating rich households on whoever was living there. He then stood with his shoulders back and knocked on the door once he found it to see if someone would answer. Someone did answer, a man who was almost as tall as Jim with pale white skin, black curly hair, and was wearing a black hoodie with ripped jeans.
"Who are you?" The man asked Jim. Jim quickly came up with a fake name just in case the man recognized his real name and said rather awkwardly "My name is, uh, Jog. Jog Manson. Yes. That's it."
"Why are you here?" The man asked Jim again as he crossed his arms. Jim answered his question with "Well I escaped from a vault and ended up here, and I was curious to see if anyone lived here."
"Wait, you're from the vault?" The man then asked Jim with wide eyes. Jim nodded. The man then grabbed Jim's arm and told him "Come inside then, we have much to discuss."
He then led him inside. The interior was very open and didn't feel like it was made of a bunch of shipping containers. The walls and floors were all done, it was all lit by several candles, there was a kitchen and a fireplace, and there was a ladder that led up to upper levels. The man led Jim to a table that had two chairs at it and let him sit in one of them. The man then sat down across from him and introduced himself "So Jog, my name is Marcus and I must ask you this question, was a man by the name of 'Jim Pickens' with you in the vault?"
Jim paused for a moment as he tried to come up with a lie. He asked himself in his thoughts "If this guy knows who I am, how come he doesn't recognize me right now? Am I seriously unrecognizable when I am not wearing that blue sweater vest? How am I getting away with this?"
He then answered with "No, he was not with us. He's probably dead though, or off terrorizing some other town."
"Well he had something to do with that vault, especially considering those who literally worshipped him like some kind of god were the ones who went in. As soon as some demon children started appearing and chanting about his demise, he and his cult disappeared into that vault and were never seen again." Marcus began explaining, and it was true. Jim had his weird family in the vault along with cultists and random people from the neighbourhood who survived the cursed children.
"Not everyone there was a cultist, but Jim was not there with us for sure. I have no idea where he is." Jim said as Marcus then pointed at him and said "You kinda look like him though."
"I get that a lot, it's the glasses and beard most likely, though I don't want to shave it off and I am blind without the glasses." Jim immediately responded. Marcus nodded and asked "Are you two related by chance? I knew others who were related and they somewhat resembled him too."
Jim shrugged his shoulders and replied "No idea, maybe I am."
"It might be a good idea to change your appearance though, there's a lot of people here who might kill you on sight because they'll think you're Jim Pickens. He has quite the bounty on him." Marcus suggested. Jim then became very curious and asked "Who wants him dead and for how much?"
"I don't know her name, but she's a woman paying fifty thousand for evidence that Jim Pickens is dead and even more if the person brings his urn or gravestone." Marcus answered Jim's question. Jim nodded and said "Good to know."
Marcus then added "She's also looking for any alive turgs because of their healing magic, ten grand each. I've never seen one before in my life, must be rare to find I guess."
"So both me and Turg have bounties, that's just great." Jim said in his thoughts.
"Anyways, how was it in the vault? How did you get out?" Marcus shifted the conversation back to the vault.
"Well, there were several of us at the start, then a bunch of shit went wrong. Ventilation just stopped working in one area, a fire broke out, a gas leak in another area, and then a food shortage. I was the only survivor as everyone either was poisoned, burned, or starved. And I escaped by just figuring out how to open the vault doors about two nights ago I believe." Jim explained to Marcus. Marcus' only response was "Wow, so I guess that's why you've been the only person I've encountered to be from the vault. Everyone else just died in there. I only survived doomsday because I was out at sea when it happened. Chose to live here on the docks because those demons seem to be weak to water."
"So, about the bounty thing, what if Jim Pickens were to find out about it and just turn himself in? Would he get the money?" Jim then asked, shifting the conversation topic again.
"I don't think that's how it works, besides, why are you asking?" Marcus responded as he started to become suspicious of Jim.
"Uh, just curious, that's all." Jim said as he started to sweat a little. Marcus then pulled out his phone and started scrolling. He then would look up at Jim and back at his phone before saying "Jog, if that even is your real name, the resemblance to you and Jim is too close."
Jim then put one of his hands inside his coat and placed it on his handgun, prepared for whatever Marcus was about to accuse him of.
"You tricked me, I should've known. You are Jim Pickens and you aren't leaving here alive." Marcus told Jim as he stood up and pulled out a handgun of his own. Jim did the same and said "We should do this outside so there's less of a mess."
"Fair point." Marcus responded as the two went outside. It was now dark as they stood apart with guns pointed at each other but nobody was making a move.
"Do you seriously think you can kill me?" Jim asked Marcus as he lowered his weapon while Marcus continued to point his at Jim. Marcus didn't answer, instead he glared at Jim. Eventually he said "If I do manage, killing you will be the greatest thing I've ever done since making that house out of shipping containers. I will forever be known as the guy who killed Jim Pickens instead of being the weirdo down by the docks."
"Well, that's a shame." Jim responded as he aimed his gun at him again and immediately shot him. Only once this time to the head. He collapsed to the ground and was definitely dead. As usual, Jim did not feel bad about it at all. The same reaper from earlier then showed up instead of Grim, which continued to make Jim more concerned about Grim. The Reaper did their thing and left behind an urn, which Jim took and placed by the door. Now he had a free house and decided to go back for Turg.