(Mason makes his way to 'Last Chance' to meet a Wildcat guide)<br/><br/>Vultures chased the old rusted flatbed delivery truck as it sped through the desert on bald tires.  “Damn rats wid wings..” Mason mumbled under his breath as he pressed the gas pedal a little harder with is good foot trying to escape the carrion.  They reminded him of death and gave him the heebie-jeebies.<br/><br/>He was headed to ‘Last Chance’ a small settlement, the last of what could be called civilization before the great desert spread for hundreds if not thousands of miles.  Mason didn’t really know how big it was, didn’t care too much either.  But he was headed to Last Chance to meet a Wildcat.  That was the rendezvous.  Since they kept their base a secret, if Mason wanted to get to the warehouse and trade, he would have to wait.  Every few days a Wildcat would make its way into Last Chance to take any clientele to the warehouse.<br/><br/>After seven hours of driving, Mason’s eyes began to get heavy.  Seven hours of the same scenery wasn’t very entertaining and he had lost the radio station five hours ago.  Nothing but the hum of the truck’s motor to keep him company.  His head grew heavy, he jolted awake a few times but it was only a matter of minutes before he dozed off again.  When the truck hit a tortoise disguised as a rock, Mason jolted awake and quickly checked the rear-view.  “Mwa-har-har eat dat ya damned vultures!” he shouted out the window at the still circling black birds.<br/><br/>Shaking some sleep out of his head Mason reached under his shirt behind his back and lifted one of the plates that covered his vertebrae.  He pulled a cord out and plugged it into the truck’s cigarette lighter.  The electrical current flowed down the wire and into Mason.  “Whoa! Yeah! Dat’s whut I’m talkin’ bout!” He said as the juice gave him a jumpstart and woke him up.  He revved the motor for a little more juice and extra thrill.<br/><br/>After another hour, Last Chance finally appeared on the horizon.  Mason knew it would be another half hour before he would get there, but at least he found it this time.  Other times, he had fallen asleep and drove off course.  It had taken him anywhere from a few hours to a full day to get back on track.<br/><br/>After getting into town, Mason parked his truck and double checked that anything of value was either locked away or on his person.  Satisfied that everything was in order, he made his way to the saloon.  He wouldn’t be drinking anything except water until after he had finished his business with the Wildcats.  There’d be plenty of time for celebrating later.<br/>