There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)

For the past few months, something happened in the Borderland Unit 04-2.

Trucks upon trucks came; not to the Unit itself, but to the empty field next to the Unit’s headquarters. Some did find their way to the headquarters, however. There was a truckload of new equipment, and a truckload of food from the green-zone--not the usual thing they got during the monthly logistic drop, but higher quality canned food and some fresh ingredients they didn’t even get during the New Year.

Naturally, they knew it was a bribe.

Or rather, an incentive from the lovely rich people who came to conquer the Deathzone. Do not hinder us; do not sabotage us; be cooperative.

Of course, it was weird to think that anyone would want to prevent people from clearing the Deathzone. If the Deahzone was claimed, the Unit’s staff would get freed from this dreary job of guarding the border. Ideally, that should be the case.

But not everyone saw being ’freed’ as a benefit. A lot of people came to the borderland because they couldn’t find jobs in other zones, be it because they were deemed not skillful enough, had to run away from something, or used to be criminals. Hell--some of them were still a criminal.

And then, some psychotic people loved living on the edge in dangerous places and wanted as much chaos as possible.

So, unfortunately, there was always a risk of hindrance.

The bribe--or incentive--therefore, was more for the leader of the Unit itself. Control your people; or something like that.

Naturally, the ’package’ wasn’t just sent to Unit 04-2, but to every unit of borderland troops out there. But since the reclamation project’s headquarters would be set up near Unit 04-2--the closest Unit to the entrance of the Deathzone--the Unit had the privilege of better incentives.

It wasn’t because of one the executives in that project used to work there, surely.