Walking Dead: His Word Is Currency

He does not hold territory. He holds the roads between it — and he mints the money everybody on them spends. The Waymarket runs on Trade Word: a reputation that can be spent and cannot be faked. Standing Routes are the holdings. Marks are currency he personally backs, so every Mark in circulation is a promise with his name on it. Stock rots if he hoards it. Hands eat whether the caravan pays or not. Reading a road costs Sight-Fatigue, and the deeper faculties bill his head directly. The Tally has one brutal limit: it senses trade, never ambush. A route reads healthy right up to the moment it is a trap. Elias Okonkwo cannot pause. A stalled route starves partners and invites raiders. Somewhere in the corridor, a road he does not control has begun stamping Marks that look almost right. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: Walking Dead: His Word Is Currency — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠