by Jon F. Merz
But climbing over the wall would be for too risky and expose us as we tried to get in. They could easily shoot us. That wasn’t feasible at all.
From our vantage point, I could see what I thought must have been the water intake for the town. They must have buried the pipes because they emerged at the foot of the hill we were currently on and then ran through the wall itself into the town. But where the pipes entered the wall was a bit bigger than the pipes themselves. And I thought it might just be possible to squeeze our way through. I doubted Ares would have a problem since she was thinner than me, but if I handed her my gear and weapons, I could probably get in as well.
I smirked. Was I really going to hand my guns over to her? Did I trust her that much? Ares could sell me out in exchange for her life in a second and never think twice about it. After all, she’d sold her own baby to feed her habit-
I stopped.
I was judging her for something I’d just claimed I wasn’t going to judge her on. I shook my head. I’d almost become as bad a hypocrite as those other people I’d run across in my own past.
Fuck that.
I nudged Ares. “When the sun gets a bit lower, we’re going to try to get into Diablo down there by the water pipes. Do you see where they go through the wall?”
She peered closer and then nodded. “Is it big enough?”
“For you definitely.” I smiled. “I might need your help squeezing my bulk through.”
“You’re not fat, Declan. You’re just muscled. Not a bad thing.”
“It is if my muscle prevents me from being able to get inside.” I sighed. “I’m going to need your help, Ares.”
She paused. “You’ve got it.”
“I mean, I’m really going to have to trust you here and I realize that maybe trust isn’t exactly high on your list of priorities right now.”
“My priority is surviving,” said Ares. “You saved me from that…thing last night and I owe you for that. What do you need me to do?”
“I’ll explain it when we get closer.” I kept my eyes on the ramparts, trying to figure out if the guards had any sort of prescribed routine for walking their lengths of the wall or not. From what I could see, they didn’t. It was more just a rather lazy stroll, trying to keep hydrated in the sun and talking with their comrades.
What would happen at night? I was guessing that the guards vanished. No one wanted to walk the wall at night. And the risk of attack from humans was also virtually nonexistent. Suckers ruled the nights and no human wanted to be caught outdoors if they could possibly avoid it.
Unless you happened to do what I did: in which case, you stalked the night as well.
If Warsaw had an arrangement with the Source, then I was guessing she had to range pretty far to find sustenance. She couldn’t attack any of Diablo’s residents, otherwise she would violate the agreement. So where did she go and how quickly could she get there and back?
I’d hunted some suckers who moved like shambling zombies and others who could sprint for miles at a time and never tire. I’d never understood what sort of magic - if any - was at work, but something had created these monsters and something had imbued some of them with extraordinary abilities.
I was guessing the Source would be pretty impressive.But only time would tell if I was right.
20
I estimated we had about an hour before the sun fully set. We started moving down the hill toward the outer wall at Diablo in short spurts of movement. Already, there were fewer guards on the wall. And the ones that were left were the ones with heavier weapons than their brethren. It was almost as if they were covering each other as the less skilled guards retreated into the town itself.
We moved slowly, in time with the wind to cover any noise we might make. Ares, for her part, was proving adept at slow stealthy movement. That gained some respect from me; most people can’t move without creating a ruckus and doing it well takes a lot of practice. It used to be said that the only thing that makes more noise than a human in the woods is a bear, but I’d known some pretty quiet bears in my time.
Still, I was glad that Ares wasn’t stumbling all over herself. She might have even been a shade quieter than I was and I was pretty goddamn quiet.
We managed to snake our way to the edge of the field by the back wall where the water pipes entered the town. The problem was the field ended and then there was roughly one hundred meters of open ground. This had been done deliberately, as evidenced by the fact that the entire area was dug up, to make it tougher to do exactly what we were attempting to do at that very moment: sneak into Diablo.
Tactically, this was ‘killing ground’ because without cover or concealment, it wasn’t hard to find a target and drop them dead.
I had no intention of dying. Not while I still had a job to do.
And a friend to avenge.
From where we lay in the tall grass, I didn’t have any vantage point over the guards still on the wall. I was down looking up and I saw squat. Still, I was in a vulnerable position and that necessitated movement even though I couldn’t see if we were clear. Sometimes, you just have to trust your gut and go for it.
We moved as a blast of wind sent dirt and debris skittering across the landscape and I hoped any guards left on the wall would shield their eyes as we drew right up to the wall and the water pipes. I tried peering through the opening but saw only darkness. If we were truly lucky, the water pipes entered some sort of building that operated as a purification operation and we could safely conceal ourselves inside until it got darker.
I nodded at Ares and she managed to lay on top of the pipes and pull herself into the opening, which was marginally shielded by a bit of screen to keep out rodents and the like. Ares simply moved it out of the way and then disappeared inside.
I waited for her to give me the all-clear and when I saw her thumbs-up, I let out a sigh of relief.
Now came the part I’d been dreading. I slid the M4 off my shoulder and slid it through as quietly as I could, but even with that, the metal of the barrel scraped on the pipes and I hoped no one was within ear shot.
I slid the pistol in next along wth my ruck. Then my staff. I was standing outside of Diablo now, feeling entirely naked without my weapons while the sun set and the only person I could count on was someone condemned to death on the other side of an imposing wall.
I shook my head and lay on the pipes as Ares had done. I pulled myself forward and managed to turn my head and squeeze into the opening. If anyone on the wall looked down at that moment, they’d see a pair of legs jutting out of their wall.
Not a good place to be.
But then I felt a pair of hands grab me and yank me forward. I shot into the room and fell on the dirt floor. Around us, I heard the hum of machinery. It was almost completely dark, but then I heard Ares’ voice in my ear.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. My guns?”
I felt Ares press them back into my hands and I replaced them where they needed to be, feeling immeasurably better as I did so. I got my ruck back on and moved over to the door. There was a small window by the doorjamb and I risked a look outside.
People moved within the town confines, seemingly without much care that the sun was almost gone from the sky. In any other place, the survivors would have barred themselves indoors using the same herbal mixture I’d smudged at the farmhouse to keep any suckers at bay.
But this - this was unlike anything I’d ever seen since I’d started hunting suckers. The bar that Ares and I had gone into yesterday was still open for business and I spotted a steady stream of customers entering and leaving.
Like there was no danger whatsoever.
So Warsaw had cut a deal with the Source: immunity for his town and its inhabitants in exchange for sheltering the creature that had started this whole mess. I frowned. And when Rask had come through, they viewed him as a threat to their existence and had taken the steps they felt necessary to protect the same.
Unfortunately for them, th
ey hadn’t counted on another Mortal Maker coming their way. That was a grievous mistake on Warsaw’s part. One I’d make sure he paid for.
The fact that the inhabitants of Diablo weren’t all cowering in fear made it less risky to venture out from the water treatment area. The problem was taking Ares with me. If we were spotted together, people would know who we were in a second. I had no doubt our appearance in town yesterday had registered with a lot of people - including those not employed by Warsaw.
Could I leave her behind? I felt her come up behind me. She was close and I could feel her breath on my neck.
“What’s it look like outside?”
“Like any other day,” I said. “They’re not hiding indoors, no one seems even remotely scared. Warsaw must have struck a deal with the Source to keep his people safe.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Shelter,” I said. “If the Source knows it can safely bed down after a night of hunting, then that makes things much easier than it would otherwise. It must know it’s being hunted. Otherwise, it would never strike a deal with a human like Warsaw.”
“So what happens now?”
“I can’t risk us both going outside. Someone will see us and that will mean our probably death.”
Ares sniffed. “I’m probably dead anyway, so…”
I frowned. “You know what I mean. I might need to leave you here for a while. Are you okay with that?”
“Not particularly,” said Ares. “What if someone comes in here while you’re gone?”
“I doubt they would,” I said. “I’d expect most of the work in here takes place during the day. I don’t see any lightbulbs which would lead me to think that it’s deserted at night.”
“I hope you’re right.” Ares slid away from me. “You could leave me your pistol, though. That would go a long way to making me feel a little bit more secure.”
“I don’t want to give you a gun,” I said. “You could use it on me.”
Ares laughed softly. “Oh Declan, if I wanted you dead, I could have killed you yesterday when you passed out in the hotel. I could have strangled you without much effort. Those chains were heavy enough to crush your trachea even for someone as slender as I am.”
“You even know how to use a gun?” I asked.
“Of course. I grew up firing them all the time. That was about the only good thing my father ever did for me.”
I didn’t ask for more details. I took a breath and slid my pistol out of its holster. The weight of it felt good in my hands. As a sidearm, the pistol was priceless and here I was about to hand it over to my bait.
But instead, I slid it back into my holster.
“Declan…”
I slid the M4 off my shoulder and handed it to Ares. “The pistol on my side won’t make me stand out as much as the M4 will. You can handle that, right?”
She nodded.
“Good,” I said. “Because it’s worth a lot. Keep it safe for me while I’m gone.”
Ares nodded and then reached up to her neck. “As long as we’re giving each other gifts…” She pulled the small wooden charm from around her neck and handed it to me. “Take this.”
“I’m not a smoker.”
Ares shook her head. “It was a gift from someone who meant the world to me. The woman who started getting me sober.”
“I can’t take this,” I said after a pause. “It means too much to you.”
“Just in case we lose each other.” She shrugged. “I don’t want you to forget me.”
I slid the piece over my head and tucked it into my shirt. “I’ll keep it safe.”
Her eyes looked wide and almost misty and she nodded.
Then I moved to the door, opened it, and slid outside.
21
If I had one ally in Diablo - aside from Ares - it was going to be Sam the bartender. The problem was getting to him without anyone else seeing me. I couldn’t just waltz into his bar and order a drink, even though a shot of whiskey would have tasted really good at that moment. So instead, I pulled my scarf up around my head and headed down a back alley I thought would take me to the rear of the bar. I planned to wait until I saw Sam come into the back and then grab him.
I didn’t have long to wait; Sam was in the process of tossing out some food scraps when I appeared around the corner. A look of concern creased his face until I yanked my scarf away and he saw it was me. Then his expression changed to one of fear.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“You know why,” I said. “And what I have to do.”
Sam glanced around and then gestured for me to come inside the bar’s kitchen. “At least this way no one sees us talking. Warsaw would kill me if he saw me with you.” He shuddered. “Or worse. He’d give me to her.”
“Her.”
“The one you’re after.” Sam poked his head back out to check on the bar patrons and then ducked back into the kitchen. “I can’t stay here and talk to you. People expect me to be outside serving them. You understand?”
“Tell me about what happens here. How is it you can all go out during the night like there’s no danger?”
“Because there is no danger,” said Sam. “Warsaw made some sort of pact with her. She rules this sector. And she won’t let any of her…spawn, I guess - hunt here after dark.”
“In exchange?”
Sam frowned. “You already know. Warsaw promised to give her shelter during the day. He won’t let anyone hunt her, especially Mortal Makers.”
I shook my head. “How did he know about Mortal Makers?”
“He didn’t,” said Sam. “None of us did. She was the one who told him about you guys. I’d never even heard the term before until Warsaw made a proclamation about people who might be coming into town looking for her. We were told to report any of you immediately, under penalty of death.”
“Why did you agree to this? Why did you agree to help…her?”
Sam sighed. “Maybe folks were just tired. Tired of being afraid. Tired of running. Tired of not being able to come outside at night. We’re safe within the town limits. But if we venture outside of Diablo at night, the protection doesn’t extend beyond the walls and we’re game like anyone else stupid enough to be caught out there at night.”
“And that’s why we were kicked out at sunset yesterday,” I said. “Because then she’d be able to hunt us freely without breaking the pact.”
“Speaking of which,” said Sam. “How in the world did you even manage to survive? Odds on the street were you guys would be dead before morning.”
I smirked. “I know a little something about the creatures I hunt and what they happen to behave like. That hard-won knowledge comes in handy sometimes. Like last night.”
“Well, whatever you did, it pissed her off something fierce and Warsaw too. Rumor is they had an argument about it. You forced her to have to travel much further to find a victim than she would have otherwise.”
“Did I ruin Warsaw’s plans? That’s a shame. I should probably apologize to him personally.” I paused. “Any idea where he might be?”
Sam nodded. “He lives on the top floor of this building. He has the penthouse.”
“The penthouse?” I smiled. “That’s a bit generous, isn’t it?”
“Five stories is about as tall as we get around here. Warsaw calls it the penthouse, so that’s what it is. His own private apartment. He can see for miles when the weather is clear. People say he likes to sit there by the window at night and watch the landscape as the suckers come out to prowl and hunt.”
“Sounds like a swell guy,” I said.
“There are some who think that a change in leadership might be in order,” said Sam. “But don’t expect anyone to come to your rescue if you get yourself in the shit. We still have to live here and eke out an existence. You understand?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve expected help and received none,” I said. And it was the truth. People operated in their own self-interests; in
a post-apocalyptic world, altruism was pretty much deader than dead.
So be it.
“If Warsaw is the cunning fellow he seems to be, I’m assuming he’s got another way up to his penthouse than just the main stairs. Right?”
Sam pointed behind us to a darkened pantry. “Staircase leads right up, bypasses all the other floors. You can reach it in twenty seconds if you want.”
“That so?”
Sam nodded. “I’ve been gone too long. I gotta get back or my customers will start howling. And given that I can’t really afford to risk losing their business, I should go.”
“How could you lose their business?” I asked. “Aren’t you the only game in town?”
Sam smirked. “There’s always someone looking to make a name for themselves by upsetting the status quo.” He ducked back out through the door to the bar area and left me there in the shadows of the back room.
I frowned and wondered how much I could trust Sam. Or how much I could trust anyone in a place called Diablo. Sure, what he said might be true, that there was a feeling that Warsaw needed to be replaced, but that didn’t mean anyone was going to stand up to him anytime soon. And most likely, they’d stab each other in the back if they got a chance to improve their own position within the town’s hierarchy.
Lovely place, Diablo.
If I was going to take Warsaw down in his penthouse, I was guessing he’d have some muscle with him. And for that, I was going to need my M4 for maximum effect. Going in there with just a pistol might work if I knew what the odds were going to be. But I didn’t and because of that, I wanted the biggest bang I could get. The M4 would fit the bill nicely.
But that was back at the water treatment facility with Ares. I pulled my scarf back up around my face and slid out of the back door of Sam’s bar. A bunch of people pushed past me, clearly drunk, but they paid no attention to me. There were probably other forms of entertainment in Diablo that I hadn’t even spotted yet. Nor did I want to. I had a job to do and a friend to avenge and I intended to accomplish both before sunrise tomorrow.
I slid back down the alley and crossed one of the streets that would lead me back to the water treatment facility. I say facility but it really wasn’t anything of the sort. Just some rundown shack doing double duty as a place to have the pipes come into the town and regulate and monitor the water for toxins. That wasn’t exactly the sort of skill you could easily find, however, and I wondered who Warsaw had imported to watch over it.