by Colin Sims
Whoever he was, he was clearly the one in charge. It wasn’t that I could see a rank on him or anything; it was just the way he walked. He was tall and lean, with dusty brown hair and a long, horrid scar cutting across his face. And unlike the other soldiers, he wasn’t carrying a rifle. Just a sidearm and a—sword. I had to blink to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. The blade looked identical to Samireh’s.
He stepped forward and whispered something to the nearest soldier, who then trotted back to the crowd of settlers waiting by the gate.
“Oldstown!” the man with the sword boomed after hoping onto the roof of one of the armored vehicles. For some reason, he had a wide smile on his face as he spoke. “We ain’t got all night! Let’s gather ‘round people, let’s go!”
It didn’t take more than a minute before what looked like the entire population of Oldstown was collected at the foot of the trucks. Each of the .50 caliber turrets was pointed directly at the small mass of people, who I noticed, had all dropped their weapons.
Nodding happily at the sight of the crowd, the sword-wielding soldier announced, “Evening! For them that don’t know, my name is Billy Lee. ‘Course some a you know me, like—” he scanned the crowd before pointing excitedly at Mayor Gant, “Jimmy Gant! Good God, how long’s it been? Why don’t cha come on up here,” and he clinked the tip of his sword on the roof of the truck.
My eyes went to the crowd as Mayor Gant made his way forward. He stepped past a couple of the soldiers who were aiming their M4s at the rest of the settlers, keeping them about twenty feet back from the trucks.
Mayor Gant stopped at the base of the armored vehicle that Billy Lee was standing on.
“No, no. Up here,” Billy Lee urged, again tapping the roof of the truck with his sword. Mayor Gant climbed up until he was standing next to him. As soon as he stood straight, however, and reached his full height, Billy Lee laughed and exclaimed, “Holy hell, Jimmy. If you fell over, you’d be halfway home!”
To his credit, Mayor Gant remained silent, staring down at the shorter man. “What brings you here, Billy?” he finally asked.
Billy Lee slapped Gant playfully on his shoulder with his sword. “Can’t I just drop by for a visit? Now listen,” he said, taking a step closer. “I need to know if this is the whole town we gots gathered here. Is it?”
Mayor Gant glanced at the crowd before nodding. “I sounded the alarm,” he said calmly. “This is everyone.”
Billy Lee leaned in conspiratorially and asked, “Shit, Jimmy. You sure?”
Gant paused as he took a deep breath. “Yes. All the townspeo—”
He was cut short. He exhaled in a sharp gasp and his eyes went wide with shock.
Billy Lee had just stabbed him straight through the stomach. The blade came out his back, dripping with red.
“Sorry, Jimmy,” Billy Lee grimaced, pushing the blade downward and forcing the mayor to his knees. ““You were saying something about ‘all the towns’ what?”
Gant could only gasp and gurgle up blood. Billy Lee yanked the sword out and kicked the dying mayor off the roof of the truck. “Now,” Billy Lee announced, looking back to the crowd. “He might a been tellin’ the truth. Who knows, right? But see,” he took a knee and spoke a little softer, “it’s an issue of trust. I couldn’t trust that man. But somethin’ tells me”—he flashed a wide smile—“I can trust the next one, right?”
I slowly turned my head to Samireh. She was still frozen stiff, although the fear in her eyes was now mixed with rage. I wanted desperately to ask her who this madman was, but I couldn’t manage to speak. I didn’t dare. I was just as frozen as she was.
Billy Lee stood back up and scanned the crowd. “Where’s that ol’ devil Watkins?” he called out. “I know you out there somewhere, old man!”
I saw a shuffling amongst the settlers as Watkins made his way forward.
“Ha!” Billy Lee shouted merrily. He then hoped down from the truck and added, “Ya old rascal! You were hopin’ I’d forget about’cha, right?” Billy Lee clapped Watkins on the back like they were old pals. “Tell me, young man, you ever heard of Sisyphus?”
Watkins, for his part, was shaking like a leaf and looked like he could barely speak. I wanted to do something to help him, but what? I was just as helpless as everyone else.
“I … I didn’t know they’d send you,” Watkins stuttered. “Please, just don’t kill anyone else.”
Billy Lee frowned and put his arm around the old man’s shoulder. “Say what? I was just asking about Sisyphus. No harm in that. And since yer a smart man, you heard of ‘im, right?”
I could barely hear as Watkins muttered, “I think so,” and Billy Lee’s eyes lit up. “That’s great! You see—as you know—Sisyphus was this Greek guy a long time ago who thought he was smarter than the gods. So you know what the gods did about that?”
Watkins mumbled something, but looked far too scared to speak.
“Well, I’ll tell ya,” Billy Lee went on. “They messed him up good, that’s what. So good in fact, people are still talkin’ about it thousands of years later. So let me ask you, how smart do you think you are?”
Watkins didn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought.” Billy Lee smiled. “Now listen here: I’m gonna ask ya one question, all right? And if I don’t like the answer, by God, people are still gonna be talkin’ about ol’ Watkins a thousand years from now.”
“Please, Billy,” Watkins finally found his voice. “I didn’t want any trouble …”
Billy Lee chuckled and hugged the old man tighter. “Didn’t want any trouble? I’m offended, I really am. Besides, there ain’t gonna be no trouble if ya tell me what I wanna know. So here comes that question: Where’s the little thing at?”
In an instant, Billy Lee’s expression had gone from sickeningly playful to deadly serious.
Watkins didn’t hesitate a second before pointing directly at the shack where Samireh and I had been sleeping. I couldn’t blame him, but I also couldn’t help feeling a pang of betrayal.
Billy Lee followed Watkins’ finger and peered at the shack through the dark. “That one there?” he asked.
Watkins nodded, and Billy Lee’s face brightened all over again. “There, see? That wasn’t too hard.” He then turned to a soldier on his left. “Let’s have the Betties take a look, shall we?”
With that, the rear hatch to the third truck opened. I gasped when I saw four Droids jump out, fully armed and equipped. These ones were different from the ones I’d seen before. Dustier, more worn. Battle-hardened.
A pair of them ran for the shack while the other two stationed themselves beside Billy Lee.
My breath caught in my throat as the two killing machines came in our direction. They crashed through the door of the shack, and I could hear them searching with frenzied, mechanical efficiency.
No more than ten seconds later, the two Droids re-emerged empty-handed.
Billy Lee glanced at a device on his wrist and then looked over at Watkins. “I guess I didn’t make myself clear,” he told him apologetically. “I figured ya knew what I was talking about since you was the one who called us. But that was my mistake and I’m sorry.”
I glanced at Samireh, who this time looked back at me. We were both thinking the same thing: “Watkins called them?”
Just then, Billy Lee kicked Watkins’ legs from under him, dropping the old man to his knees. “Right,” Billy Lee huffed. “I guess we’ll do it the hard way. Betties,”—he turned to the Droids beside him—“search the town. Every inch.”
Both Droids straightened before each of them launched a pair of disc-shaped drones from their backs. The palm-sized flyers went whizzing into the air, and I knew they’d spot us in an instant.
Samireh suddenly spoke at full volume, immediately drawing Billy Lee’s attention. “Shit,” she said, hopping back to her haunches and pulled me with her. She tugged at my wrist as we ran to the other side of the roof. Behind us, I heard Billy Lee laugh, “Hot damn! Go ge
t ‘em, Betties!”
“We have to jump,” Samireh told me earnestly. Before I could answer, she pushed me aside and I tripped. Right then, a Droid leapt up onto the other side of the rooftop and its mechanical voice blared, “Desist! Desist!”
I was surprised that Samireh immediately put her hands up, interlocking them behind her head. I did the same. The Droid quickly advanced with its M4 pointed directly at us. As soon as it reached Samireh, it pushed her hard on the shoulder to spin her around, but right when it did, something happened. There was a bright flash and the distinct sound of metal slicing the air. The next thing I saw was the Droid crumbling to the ground, cut in half.
“How did you—?” I began to ask, but she was already jumping off the roof, katana in hand. Shocked, I looked over the edge and saw her land gracefully into a summersault. She popped back to her feet while twisting around and shouted, “Come on, jump!”
She had to be kidding. I’d break my leg at the very least. How the hell did she just jump down like that?
“Michael, trust me, jump!” she screamed, and for some reason, I actually did what she said. I found myself sailing through the dark, headed straight for the hard ground. But when I landed, the shock wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. It almost felt like I had jumped off a ledge that was only two feet high, instead of twenty …
Samireh grabbed my wrist again and yelled, “Come on,” but it was too late. Two of the Droids had already circled around and their guns were trained on the both of us.
The things were fast.
The first one voiced, “Desist!” while the second spoke directly to Samireh, telling her to lower her weapon. There was another flash, and I saw Samireh fixing the handle of her katana back to her shoulder. This seemed to satisfy the Droid, as it spun her around and produced a plastic zip tie to bind her hands behind her back. The first Droid did the same with me, and a few seconds later we were being marched through the crowd to Billy Lee. He had a huge smile on his face as we stood before him.
“Almost made it,” he said, stepping closer to Samireh. Up close, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the massive scar on his face. It was nearly an inch thick and cut all the way from his hairline to his left jaw. He looked Samireh up and down appraisingly. “Now, did I get this straight?” he asked her. “Did you just cut a Droid in half up there?”
Samireh didn’t answer. Her face was bright red, and I could tell she wanted nothing more than to break from her restraints and cut Billy Lee in half as well.
“Ah …” Billy Lee noted thoughtfully. “The silent treatment.” He then turned to me. “How ‘bout you, boy? You wanna talk to me?”
“Who the hell are you?” I asked him.
Billy Lee raised his eyebrows and stepped over to me. “My goodness, I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” He dusted off his sleeves and straightened his body armor. “My mama’d whoop me somethin’ good if she was here. Here I am asking you questions and I ain’t even introduced myself. I’m Billy Lee. What’s your name?”
“It’s John,” I told him.
“Johnny boy.” He grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, son. Now listen: Old Man Watkins over there gave us a call a few hours back, saying somethin’ crazy about some strangers and a piece a Clicker tech. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, now would you?” Before I could answer, he pointed at me like he just realized something. “Now, wait a minute. I just had a thought. You wouldn’t happen to be the ‘stranger’ in question, would ya?”
I swallowed hard, trying to think of my best lie. “I’m not from here,” I agreed. “But I don’t even know what ‘Clicker tech’ is. I’m from Boise, and these people took me in.”
Billy Lee stepped back. “Boise, huh? I’m sure that was a sight to see.” He then stepped over to Samireh and said to me, “but I’m afraid I don’t believe you, son. I think you know exactly what I’m talkin’ about and exactly where it is. I bet she”—he nodded to Samireh—“knows too. So I think it’s time to play a little game. Since she’s the one who chopped up one of my Droids, I’ll let her go first. Give the deceased Betty’s comrades a chance at revenge.”
Samireh, without warning, suddenly spit into Billy Lee’s face. “I’ll fight you,” she snarled at him. “One on one.”
Billy Lee didn’t look fazed in the least as he wiped the spit from his eyes. “Now, hold on,” he said to her. “You seem to dislike me. Have I done something wrong?”
Samireh glared at him. The look on her face reminded me that she somehow knew this man. For a second, I even wondered if she was the one who had given him the scar, but if that were true, he’d remember her, too. Either way, she knew him, I could tell that much.
“Just for that,” Billy Lee said, wiping the spit from his face on Samireh’s shoulder, “I think we should extend the game a little.”
He then turned to one of his soldiers. “Get me a kid,” he told him and then turned back to Samireh. “You know, you look familiar to me,” he said to her. “We met before?”
“Fuck you,” Samireh spat.
Billy Lee cocked his head, examining Samireh’s face. Suddenly, he exclaimed, “No, it can’t be! Yer that little girl, ain’t cha?”
Samireh’s face remained as grim as a stone. Billy Lee’s eyes brightened as he paced around her, eyeing her from head to toe. “All grown up,” he said proudly. “I can’t tell ya the joy I’m feelin seein’ you again.”
Suddenly, a woman screamed from the crowd. I whipped around to see one of Billy Lee’s soldiers dragging a little girl away from her mother.
I stared, not knowing what to do. The girl couldn’t have been more than seven years old.
“Ah!” Billy Lee exclaimed when he saw her. He stepped over to her and kneeled down to meet her eyes. She was crying.
“Oh, heavens!” Billy Lee said consolingly, reaching up to wipe a tear from her cheek. “Don’t you worry, child. Just come with ol’ Billy now,” and he led her over to stand in front of one of the armored trucks.
He wheeled around to face the crowd and held up his hands, as if he were trying to allay everyone’s fears. “Listen, I’m a fair man,” he announced. “So when it comes to children, I at least believe the fight should be fair. So, here.” He took out his sidearm and tossed it at the little girl’s feet, and then said to her, “There you go, sweetheart. Now, listen close. I’m gonna have ya draw against one a the Betties here. They’re awful fast, but I bet yer even—”
“STOP THIS!” a voice suddenly boomed from the third armored vehicle.
I—and everyone else—span around to see who just spoke. The first thing I noticed was that the person wasn’t nearly as big as the voice. His uniform was starkly different from the other soldiers, too, and I recognized the colors immediately. It was Russian Empire.
***
“What’s this now?” Billy Lee laughed, turning to face the small Russian guy who was marching straight at him.
I glanced at Samireh, who gave me a slight nod, and then looked back at Billy Lee. The Russian stopped in front of him, completely unafraid. From up close, I couldn’t believe how young the guy looked. He was barely a teenager.
“Well, look at the balls on Yuri!” Billy Lee exclaimed. “Now, did my ears deceive me or did you just try to give me an order?”
Yuri inched closer to Billy Lee, who towered over him by almost a foot. “Rostek Corporation Droids are not to be used in this fashion.” He glowered up at him, puffing out his chest. “You want kill kids,” Yuri spat, “then you are sick fuck, but I cannot stop this. You use Droids to do it, and I will.”
Billy Lee smiled and took a step back. “Is that so?” he asked.
“It is,” replied Yuri. “And this whole incident has been recorded.”
Billy Lee suddenly looked forlorn. “Well damn, comrade. It seems like you got me by the short ones. Betty 116,”—he turned to the Droid behind me and pointed to the little girl—“shoot her in the head.”
There was a scream from the crowd and the electric gears
whirled in the Droid’s legs as it stepped forward, raising its weapon. Yet right when it did, its motors stopped and its lights went dark.
“You give me no choice,” I heard Yuri say, yet right then, I caught a spark of light from Samireh’s direction. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a spark like that, and I knew to hit the deck.
At some point, she must have gotten her hands free. Her katana was a blur as she cut down two of the soldiers standing next to us before launching a pair of throwing stars with a flick of her wrist. They each clinked into a separate .50 caliber turret and exploded. Next I felt a swish of air against my wrists and my hands were free from the zip tie. In total, she accomplished it all in about 2.5 seconds.
There was a roar from the crowd and the remaining soldiers fired into the air to keep them back.
I was just getting back to my feet when I saw Samireh lunge for Billy Lee. She brought her sword down hard, but he blocked it with his own. His eyes were wild, as if this was the most fun he’d had all year.
Samireh spun around and slashed at his waist. He easily moved out of the way, and the two of them locked swords for a brief moment. Billy Lee brought up his knee and kicked Samireh in the stomach. The force of the blow knocked her straight to the ground.
With a huge smile, he raised his sword high, flipping it around in his grip, and made ready to drive it straight through her chest.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow. The shots being fired behind me got quieter, and the muscles tensing in Billy Lee’s arms moved at half speed.
I remembered the Glock in my back pocket—concealed by the oversized jacket. I went for it as fast as lightning and fired five shots, tagging Billy Lee across his upper thigh and torso. He fell to the ground and dropped his sword, but I’d mostly just hit his vest.
Samireh didn’t waste a moment as she shot back to her feet, raised her sword above her head and … paused.
Nearly two full seconds passed before she slowly lowered her arm and glared down at Billy Lee. “To be continued, motherfucker,” she told him, and then left him there, bleeding from his leg. He was laughing. She came straight for me and shouted, “Let’s get the hell out of here!”