Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 131 David Martinez (First update, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

The other person was a young man named David Martinez.

His mother, Gloria Martinez, who makes a living by reselling secondhand prosthetics on the street, has always been a fairly reliable but not very close supply source for Mann's team, and the two have a good relationship.

The incident occurred on an ordinary evening.

As usual, Gloria drove her old, secondhand car to pick up her son David from Arasaka Academy.

Disaster struck without warning. Their vehicle was caught in a sudden gang shootout on a main road in the Heywood district.

A stray bullet or an out-of-control vehicle—the exact cause of which is difficult to ascertain in the chaos—slammed into their vehicle.

The car body twisted and deformed instantly, and glass shards rained down.

David, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was dizzy from the impact. He had a cut on his forehead, and the warm blood blurred his vision. He also felt a sharp pain in his arm, which was probably broken.

But more horrified than his own injuries was seeing his mother, Gloria, pinned to the driver's seat by the deformed steering wheel and metal parts, blood gushing from her forehead and abdomen, her breath faint.

The intense pain distorted her movements, but a mother's will to protect her child overwhelmed everything.

With her last vestiges of consciousness, she sent Mann a very brief message, interspersed with painful gasps, along with her location coordinates and a distress signal: "Help... David..."

It was this signal, which embodied the final will, that caught Mann's attention.

When Mann arrived at the scene with Dorio and Rebecca based on the coordinates, they saw young David dragging his injured arm, futilely trying to pull at the deformed car door, and Gloria in the driver's seat whose vital signs were rapidly declining.

They quickly pried open the car door, and Mann decisively directed everyone to rush the dying Gloria and the badly injured David to Glenn, a prosthetic doctor they knew well in Watson District who was known for his tight-lipped nature.

Thanks to the timely medical attention and Glenn's somewhat unorthodox and emergency methods for dealing with street injuries and saving lives, Gloria's life was barely saved, despite his crude approach and potential long-term risks.

But surviving was only the beginning of a long and painful ordeal.

The subsequent lengthy treatment, repair of the damaged spine and nerve plexus, and the potential need for expensive custom prosthetics to replace severely damaged organs and limbs will cost a despairing astronomical sum.

Gloria did manage to save some money by reselling prosthetic bodies, but almost all of it went into David's expensive tuition and daily expenses at Arasaka Academy.

Supporting a son who could attend Arasaka School nearly drained this single mother's entire savings.

Out of consideration for past relationships and the will shown by Gloria's last distress message, Mann's team paid for the initial rescue costs and Glenn's fee. However, they were not a charity and could not and had no obligation to bear this huge and endless medical expenses in the long term.

The harsh reality, like the shadow of Night City, quickly enveloped Martinez and his mother, who had just survived a life-or-death ordeal.

Just as Gloria lay on the hospital bed in Glenn Clinic, filled with the smell of disinfectant and blood, writhing in excruciating pain and a deeper despair, David stepped forward.

This boy, who had always been under her protection and had even seemed somewhat timid at school because of his background, had shed his former naiveté, and for the first time, a certain undeniable determination ignited in his eyes.

He found Mann, and though his fingers were slightly clenched with nervousness, he clearly stated his request: to work for the team and use the earnings to pay for his mother's medical expenses. He tried to make his voice sound more reliable, even unconsciously straightening his still somewhat thin chest: "I'm quick-witted, I scored high on the implant adaptability tests... and I learn quickly too."

I can keep up with everything taught at Arasaka Academy! I think... I might come in handy.

The last syllable of his voice still betrayed a slight tremor, but his intention to shoulder responsibility was clearly evident.

Upon hearing her son's words, Gloria, lying in her hospital bed, became instantly agitated.

With her still slightly mobile right hand, she gripped the soiled sheet tightly, forcing out broken words of protest from her throat: "No... David... no..."

She did everything she could, even skirting the edge of the law by selling prosthetic bodies, hoping her son could stay away from the bloodshed and filth of the streets and embark on the most "bright" path she could imagine.

Now, she's dragging her son into the dark world she's been trying to keep him away from because of her own incompetence? This is even more unbearable for her than the physical pain.

However, reality is as cold as a mountain.

The figures on the latest bill, handed to her expressionlessly, cut into her heart like a dull knife.

Without continued treatment, nerve damage and organ failure will completely consume her, and she will truly become a bedridden cripple, or even die.

At that time, David will truly be all alone.

David's perseverance was as firm as a rock, while the cruel reality was an inescapable prison.

Gloria's objections gradually faded under the weight of her son's gaze, a mixture of fear and unwavering determination, and before the cold, hard numbers of the medical bills.

She finally fell silent, tears silently sliding down her cheeks and mingling with the bloodstains remaining at her temples.

At that moment, her heart was torn in two: one half was filled with endless fear and self-blame for her son's impending danger, while the other half was a bittersweet comfort that she could not express.

Her child, in the face of disaster, did not back down and tried to grow into a man who could support the family.

This conflicting emotion gnawed at her, making her feel heart-wrenching regret for her own incompetence and the burden of being her son.

In order to save every penny to pay the endless, seemingly bottomless bills from Glenn Clinic, David quickly canceled their small apartment in the city, which held countless memories for him and his mother, and moved to the abandoned town outpost, finding a corner among the Mann Squad members' quarters to settle down.

Mann and the others couldn't bring themselves to abandon her. They helped move Gloria, who was extremely immobile and needed a wheelchair and assistance most of the time, to the abandoned town and placed her in a relatively independent and quiet area.

Nowadays, Gloria spends most of her time lying stiffly in bed, staring at the bare ceiling, unable to take care of herself.

Her body was confined to her sickbed, while her mind was trapped in an even deeper cage.

Her anxieties about her son's safety during each mission, her deep regret for becoming a burden and leading him down the path she least wanted to see—these intertwined emotions often made her eyes appear empty and complex, losing the resilience and radiance she once possessed as a mother supporting her family.

(End of this chapter)