The City of Wanderers - No Peaceful North Part One

Chapter Sixteen

Grande Prairie was a city located in northwestern Alberta. To those who lived in northeastern British Columbia, it was the place to go shopping or just hang out at during the weekend. Though from what Wes could see, the city had definitely seen better days. It still had power but many buildings looked more like ruins. Several burnt out vehicles in parking lots and piles of rubble under snow that used to be buildings were everywhere.
"What happened here?" Wes felt like he should ask. Cass gave a bit of exposition "Paradise. They want the city but the folk here fight back every time."
"They're fine with us being here, we help them take care of any wanderers and also trade supplies occasionally." Jim also explained.
They ended up stopping at the mall. The parking lot had a few other vehicles parked in it that looked like they were there for years. The entrance doors were boarded up but were still able to open when Jim tried opening them. All four of them were carrying a flashlight and a small hunting knife to defend themselves with.
Inside the mall was rather eerie. Glass littered the floor, the emergency lights were still on and water could occasionally be heard dripping somewhere. It smelled horrible in there as well, especially as they neared the food court.
Jim and Cass started making some noise and waving around their flashlights in attempt to lure out the wanderer that was allegedly in the mall. Wes and Aditya ended up splitting off from the group as the smell was starting to bother them and to also cover more ground quicker. They were told to start yelling if they found the wanderer.
"Do you ever feel sad seeing places in this state, Wes?" Aditya asked Wes in attempt to strike up a conversation. Wes replied "I sometimes do."
"I am right now. If only things went a bit differently none of us would be in this situation and this city would still be thriving." Aditya continued speaking before adding "Wish I could've seen all these places before they were abandoned."
Wes had seen Grande Prairie before and to him it wasn't anything special. Though Aditya had never really seen the world beyond southern New Columbia, so it would've been special to him.
"You would've loved it." Wes assured him as Aditya said back "Yeah, we should visit again after a few years if things improve. If we're still alive, that is."
Wes also hoped he would still be alive to see a possible better future. There were still many things he wanted to do, like finally starting a family with his husband.
The two continued wandering the empty mall, eventually they started holding hands as they did it. They then started searching random stores in case the wanderer was stuck inside one. After making a bit of noise trying to lure one out of one store, Wes crawled back out from under the shutters with Aditya following after him. Upon exiting they were confronted by someone they did not recognize.
He was around the same height as Wes, had pale beige skin and had patchy light brown facial hair. He was wearing cowboy boots, jeans, a long sleeve collared shirt that was light blue in colour and a dark brown cowboy hat that covered his hair. He also seemed to be fairly young as if he was 19 or 20 years old.
"Looking for that wanderer, are ya?" The man asked them as Aditya answered with "Uh, yeah. Are you?"
"Indeed I am. I saw someone trap one somewhere in this mall." The man said before commenting "You two don't look like you're one of them Peacekeepers from New Columbia. I saw their truck outside."
Both Wes and Aditya decided to remain silent about that, they weren't sure about that guy.
"Anyways, I assume you two are from here. Name's Noah and I'm new around here, just moved from Paradise." The man introduced himself to them. Wes then knew who he was, or at least was fairly certain. Noah Lee, the man that was after him.
"Actually, we're not from here." Aditya said as Wes immediately blurted "He's not but I am. Lived here my whole life. Never left either. Love it here so much I have no reason to, haha."
Noah stared at him for a few seconds before saying "To each their own, I guess."
He then asked them "Whatever, I'm looking for the Peacekeepers. Have you seen them?"
Noah then started describing their appearances to them as they both told him they haven't seen them. He then thanked them for their time and moved on, though Wes felt like he should do something. Noah didn't seem like he was a threat but neither did Niamh at first. He wasn't gonna let him find Jim and Cass.
Once Noah wandered far enough away, Wes pulled Aditya aside and quietly told him "I know who that guy is. He's dangerous and we cannot let him find the others."
"He doesn't look dangerous." Aditya quietly responded as Wes told him again "That's the point. His sister attacked me and she didn't look threatening either."
Aditya then asked him "What do we do then?"
"I dunno, capture him maybe." Wes thought of on the spot. Aditya's only response to that was "Okay, if you insist."
Wes put his hand on his knife he was keeping inside his coat pocket as he tried to go after Noah, but he had vanished. With Aditya following close, Wes quickly followed his trail of footprints in the dust on the ground only for them to suddenly veer off to the left. Before Wes could stop to look around, someone pulled on his makeshift eyepatch to cover his other eye while Aditya shouted "HEY!"
Wes pulled his eyepatch off and saw it was Noah again. He tried to shove Noah away from Aditya but he grabbed onto Wes' arms. Noah spun him in a circle before letting go and tripping him. Aditya started calling for help only for Noah to silence him by putting his hand over Aditya's mouth and then shoving him against the wall. While Wes was getting back onto his feet, Noah would use Aditya's knife to stab him through his hand and into the wall, pinning him to it. It was in that moment Wes realized he had dropped his own when Noah bent down to pick it up. He wanted to save Aditya, who was struggling to get the knife out of the wall, but there was a man with a weapon who was targeting him in the way. Aditya called out to Wes "GO! RUN! FIND THE OTHERS!"
"So, you two didn't come alone. Perhaps you're the lure I need." Noah rather condescendingly started telling Wes as he slowly approached him. Wes didn't know what to do. If he left Aditya, Noah could kill him.
"I also felt like I knew you from somewhere, Wesley." Noah continued as Wes became more panicked than he already was. Wes never told him his name.
"It was you who-" Noah tried to continue speaking but was cut off by Jim shouting "HEY ASSHOLE! WATCH OUT!"
They both turned to see Jim as he threw some kind of blunt object at them. It struck Noah in the head, causing him to drop the knife and put his hands over where he was hit. Jim had thrown his flashlight at him.
"God fucking dammit!" Noah muttered as both Jim and Cass quickly approached them. Cass went to help Aditya while Jim got closer to Noah. Meanwhile Wes stood frozen, not sure what to do.
"How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, Noah?" Jim asked him as they grabbed Noah's shoulder.
"Oh fuck off." Noah replied as he then looked at Wes again. He tried to tell everyone "You people are horrible! You're protecting a-"
"A terrorist who tried to destroy your dad's city, yeah we know. Just get out of here and quit messing with our operation." Jim told Noah as they shoved him away.
"You're just gonna let him get away?" Wes asked Jim, who responded with "He's not really a threat, just very annoying."
Noah glared at them before telling everyone "I'll show you all. You'll all see. Once father knows about what I've found he will send his whole army to destroy all of you."
Jim laughed and said back "Yeah, sure he will, like all the other times you've said this."
Noah didn't say anything else. Instead he raised his middle finger at Jim before turning around and running away. Cass and Aditya would then approach them. Cass had both of her hands pressed against either side of Aditya's hand as she told them "I forgot your name but this one here is going to need medical attention."
"Yes, back to the truck we go." Jim said to everyone as he twirled around and started heading back the way he came. Wes let everyone go ahead of him a bit while he picked up Jim's flashlight, the knife Noah was previously holding and his eyepatch. He also made sure Noah wasn't going to follow them out.