It was still dark, the sky not quite black due to the excessive light pollution pouring off of the city. Not knowing what time it was sucked.
After the third hour came and went without incident, he decided it would be better to take up position down by where he'd try to make contact.
He pushed himself away from the edge and began to his right. Once he was far enough away, he stood and crept down the slope.
Having been stationary for the previous few hours, focused on watching the slums, he forgot about his injuries.
Once he stood, they made sure to remind him he was supposed to be in pain.
That could wait. The pain was from superficial injuries that wouldn't hamper his effectiveness.
Considering he was sneaking into a densely populated area where people were prone to be hypervigilant, it was essential he was careful on his approach. The path he was taking wrapped down around the hillside and, while the residents had hung lights to illuminate the play area, they hadn't done the same with the path.
It probably meant people didn't use it in the dark. That was good, but he'd also have to find a spot, out of the light, to wait for a suitable target.
A few minutes later, he reached the base of the hill and hugged the rock face to his left. It was still dark enough anyone looking would have a hard time spotting him, especially through the glare of the lights pouring from the slums. That didn't mean he could relax. Who knows, maybe those implants gave some people night vision.
Ahead of him and to his right sprawled the edge of the shanty town. Most of the buildings were of the 'improvised' variety, made out of hastily assembled sheets of tin and wood. It all looked like a stiff breeze could knock it down.
Straight ahead was the play area and, if he continued hugging the rock face, he'd end up making his way to the dam. Not all of the rock face was illuminated but that wouldn't work as a hiding spot. In order to make contact, he'd have to come out into the light. And he'd be in the middle of the open.
He, again, already had the answer to his question. He'd have to take position somewhere any kids coming out to the field would have to pass by.
There was one candidate that looked good. It was a half-collapsed two story 'building' on the near side of the path leading here from the slums. The thing looked like it had been made with the same flimsy materials as everything else. Some aspiring engineer decided to get ambitious and try to take advantage of the available vertical space. Hopefully no one was seriously injured when that aspiring engineer found out they're still in the 'aspiring' phase of engineering.
There was only one problem: getting to it involved crossing into the lighted area. It was maybe 50 meters, he wouldn't be exposed for long. If anyone happened to be looking in his direction when he made the cross though…
All that meant was he needed to take some time and make sure no one was looking.
There were no watch towers, no guards on rotation. All that he was faced with was the edge of the makeshift town. He almost laughed. He was treating this like he was infiltrating an enemy installation.
Then again, just because this wasn't some high-strung innie or covenant position didn't mean he could be careless. He had no idea what the consequences of being discovered would be here. Any random passerby could glance in his direction at the wrong time. That was the problem when not dealing with organized resistance. The more organized and better drilled an army, the more predictable it was.
Skirting along the rock face and sticking to as deep a shadow as he could, he searched for any signs of activity along the edge. From what he could tell, all of it was further in. Whether that was because it was night, or because people didn't tend to come to this side, he didn't know.
What was more important was there was no one he could see that might spot him.
Let's get this over with, then.
He flexed both of his legs and got an 'all green' response. In the next instant, he shot away from the looming overhang and sprinted across the field.
A few heartbeats later, he was in the cover of darkness once again, shaded from the lights by the half-collapsed building.
Its footprint wasn't large, barely any bigger than the other structures, maybe six or seven meters a side. On the side facing the dam, he was in deep shadow. Unless someone knew what to look for, they wouldn't be finding him.
Good. It was a start. His eyes flicked down to the motion tracker in his HUD. Thankfully, that was still functional. There was a lot of movement beyond the building but none heading in his direction.
Now he played the waiting game yet again. This time, he'd have to be much more vigilant about being spotted. He'd made it to the slums, which was good (maybe), but it exposed him to discovery.
Better than sitting on that damn cliff, watching for something. And I don't know what that something is.