by Quil Carter
“You’ll be safe here,” I said again, putting on my bulletproof vest. “Do you want me to drop you off in Aras first?”
“We don’t have time f-” I held up my hand for Reno to shut up.
“Reaver, you don’t have to do this,” Killian whimpered. He dropped his hand away from my arm and slunk his head down, his shoulders trembling. “Please.”
“I killed dozens when I came to find you,” I reminded him, slinging the M16 over my back and belting the holder into place. Reno was already arming himself. “We can handle several more. You trust me don’t you?”
Killian didn’t look up. Reno was already unlatching the door.
“We’ll play Mario some more… we’ll do some more drugs,” Killian pleaded, grabbing my arm as I headed for the door. “I’ll let you win… please, forget about them. I’m safe! I’m safe…”
“I’ll be home soon.” I stepped out the door, and that triggered the first sob. I turned from him but he grabbed onto me harder, sinking his fingers into my shoulder in a death grip.
My bloodlust was starting to take me. The thought of killing the legionaries was arousing my mind. The cold night air hitting my face amplified the feeling; I always felt more alive in the dark.
I grabbed his hand and pushed him away, closing the door behind me on his muffled wail.
I didn’t let myself feel bad for him, even though he sounded terrified. I knew deep down I should have taken him to Aras, but he was slow as fuck getting up the rocks; he would be slower still getting down in the dark and I knew Reno’s was safe. No one uninvited had ever found the place and we wouldn’t be long. It wouldn’t take me long to gut and skin the doomed fucks who had kidnapped my boyfriend. We could get it done, go back to the house, and carry on with our evening.
I nodded at Reno to go, the kid still crying in the house. He looked shocked at how cold and callous I had been towards Killian, but I hadn’t had any choice. I couldn’t sit him down and pet his head until he understood, I had work to do. I would deal with it later. The bottom line was he was safe and I had to do this. Why bullshit around with the details? I’d make it up to him later.
There was an electronic buzz as Reno slipped on his pair of night vision goggles. Then with his own vision improved he led me towards the west exit. A crumbling rocky trail that would take us down to level ground, far away from the safe house nestled in the rocky hills.
We made our way down the chalky rocks as quickly as possible. For the both of us, it was easy. We had memorized where to step, what to grab onto and how to navigate quickly to the greywastes’ floor. Before half an hour had passed I landed on the ground with a thud, a plume of ashy dirt flying up from my boots. I looked behind me as Reno landed, his fingers hovering over his knife as he surveyed the area.
“She’s right, see the light?” Reno said pointing.
I looked to where he was pointing. The light was a brilliant blueish sunburst in my vision. It looked several miles away, far away from the main road I had taken several days ago. With no houses or overpasses to hide the glow from the legionaries’ fire, they were exposed to everyone in the wastes. A cocky move legionaries commonly did. Showing the wastes that they had nothing to fear.
I felt a rush of adrenaline and a jolt go through my heart. I could taste their blood on my lips already; it made me salivate. They would never see daylight again and they didn’t even know it. How fragile a human life was, so easily taken away. Well, they knew what they were signing up for when they sold their souls for rations. It was of no concern of mine. Once you put on the king’s fatigues you became my mortal enemy. No matter who you were before.
With a nod we started running towards the light, crouching down as we did to hide ourselves. My mind was playing with the different ways I could kill them; my mouth watering at the thought of tasting their still warm flesh. We would need to drain the bodies and stash them for the Aras scavengers to fetch tomorrow, but I would bring back a piece for Killian to eat at Reno’s. Their hearts perhaps, or maybe a choice cut to fry up with some onions. Whatever it was, Killian would eat tonight. My gift to him, the last of the fucks who messed with him.
It was colder than usual for the time of year. The rains would be coming in the next couple of months, bringing even colder weather. The stars were lost in the dust-choked sky, but the moon was a faint sphere, surrounded by the black and grey in front of us. All around us were the shadows of rusted out cars, and the usual snarled metal debris that covered the wastes.
The plume of flame became bigger as we ran, and soon I could hear catches of muffled voices, though what they were saying was lost on me.
If two of them were the legionaries I was looking for I wasn’t sure what they were doing out here. My guess is they met up with two other soldiers and were perhaps trying to make it to the nearest fort. The truck they had with them must’ve run out of fuel, or perhaps the factory workers bought it from them as well. I wasn’t sure, didn’t care really. They were on foot, that was all that mattered right now.
“So are we going in there guns a blazing or do you want to take them on stealth?” Reno asked in a barely audible whisper. The light was getting closer, though it was broken up by bushes and a few larger rocks.
“I don’t want to fuck around with your two, just spray them with bullets. I’ll recognize their faces, dead or alive from his description. I’ll take my two alive and see what I can get from them.” I was a better shot than Reno, day or night. I didn’t want to risk taking all four of them alive, not with the amount of weapons they carried on them. The surprise rubber bullet gun that the legionary father pulled on me was still fresh in my mind. I didn’t want a repeat with real bullets.
“Can we leave a cute one alive for me?”
A small growl came from my lips. I gave him an unimpressed look; he gave me an innocent smile back.
“I suppose.”
Reno gave a muffled yesss as we carried on. This was his special way of getting paid. I had stopped letting his mouth near my cock many years ago when I grew out of my sex drive. His response to that was having his way with his choice of legionaries. I was his partner in crime admittedly. I disabled them and held them down for him. It kept him from pawing at me and whining to much about my refusal to take my clothes off for him. Though I’d never let him get any farther than oral and making out. I just was not that kind of guy.
“Have you fucked him yet?”
For fuck sakes, Reno…
“No!” I said exasperated. The thought was a bit horrifying at the moment. I had killing and mutilating to do.
“Do you want to?”
“NO!” I turned to him. That shit-eater grin made me feel like decking him in his face. “I need to concentrate on killing these fuckers right now. Don’t ask me shit like this.”
Reno’s smile widened. “You’re scared aren’t you? You’re all weirded out by touch. You will have to, you know that right? He’s like seventeen years old, he’s probably beating off right–”
I smacked him hard upside the head then quickly covered his mouth as he gave out a sharp cry. Then I let my hand go and carried on without a word. I wasn’t in the mood.
Reno took the hint, though I could still feel him smiling. He was only talking about this smut because he was about to get laid and now he was horny. The sooner I could kill the legionaries, and get Reno what he wanted the better. I hope he appreciated what a great friend I was.
He shut up as the light approached, and we ducked behind anything that could break up our silhouettes. Though the legionaries had been smart and made their camp well away from any of larger objects. We didn’t need much though, we were both dressed in black and had black hair. We might as well have been shadows.
There were four of them. I was annoyed to see that their faces were covered by goggles and helmets. Normal goggles thankfully, not a night vision one in sight. They were sitting around a fire eating, with a half-gone human thigh roasting on the spit, split open and leaking grease into the h
issing fire.
Reno ducked behind a nearby bush. I gently unhitched my M16. I held the cold gun against my chest and watched, scarcely breathing, as my friend quietly walked towards the bush.
I could hear the legionaries murmuring. I was tempted to listen in, just to see if I could get any intel, but I wanted my focus elsewhere. Their blades were sheathed to their sides, and their assault rifles were resting, ready and loaded, on their backs. No time to fuck around.
As Reno got into position and waited for my signal, my heartbeat started to rise. I took a silent breath to slow it down. It wasn’t nerves. I was excited.
I picked out the two closest to me and signalled back to Reno. My ring and pinky finger in the air, telling my killing partner I was going after the two on the right.
Then I held up all five fingers. Five seconds and we opened fire.
I counted down in my head, watching the legionaries who tormented my boyfriend, stuffing their face with meat. Talking casually amongst themselves. Not realizing they were three seconds from death.
Two…
One…
I blew off the right hand fingers of the first legionary and most of the left hand. He had been holding a chunk of meat with them, which was now flying through the air with a spray of blood and flesh. Before the mess even had time to hit the ground, I had turned and shot the second in the arm. Reno rained bullets on his two, just like I had hoped. They were dead before they could even hit the ground.
“Nice aim!” Reno praised with a smile, giving his bullet-riddled corpses the once over.
I walked into the camp. My night vision disappeared as the flames of the fire illuminated the surroundings. It was a small camp, only bedrolls rolled out beside where they were sitting, a couple of small sacks of supplies and not a truck in sight. The camp looked hastily put together; no doubt they were not normal patrol.
I walked over to the two dead ones. Reno did his job. They had their heads half blown off, and certainly were not going anywhere. They were slumped in front of the fire, the dark shining blood spilling onto the greywastes, collecting the grey dirt as it pooled around the cracking flames.
My two were screaming and struggling to get their guns. I kicked down the one that still had hands first, as the other one reached for his rifle with bloody nubs. He was standing with his back to the fire, nowhere to go and he knew it. I had kind of hoped he would run, but he seemed petrified.
“He’s cute ain’t he? Isn’t that what you wanted?” I nodded towards the legionary soldier. He was sputtering for mercy now, trying to back up but stopping when the flames started licking his ass.
“He’s alright, blond too I think.” Reno looked towards him. He took his knife out making sure the kid saw it. The soldier only stared at him, trying to tuck his bloody fingers into his combat armour. His face was white with shock.
“Get on the ground, on your back and put those nubs of yours behind your head,” Reno commanded him, pointing the knife threateningly at him.
The kid nodded and lay down like he was told. I still couldn’t get a good look at him, but with the cowardly way he was acting I wouldn’t put it past him being one of the two. He was obviously a new recruit.
With all the murdering of legionaries I had done over the years one thing was clear. The new ones were a cinch to kill, but the longer they belonged to Kessler and Silas, the harder they got. The legionary’s dad on the off ramp was a testament to that.
“Hold him down, I want to get a look at this one first,” I said quickly. I put my boot against the neck of the second and pressed down. He started to gasp and groan.
Reno put his boot on the kid’s stomach, taking the goggles and helmet off at the same time. The kid had dirty blond hair, and a shabby beard over a weather-beaten face.
Reno checked inside his helmet. “Charlie Kirk,” he said, throwing the helmet down.
Not one of the ones I was looking for. At least he wasn’t bad looking, though I’m sure at this point Reno would have fucked him either way.
“He’s not bad, but I would like a bit of choice,” Reno said. He glanced over at the other legionary who was coughing up blood and moaning. “What about him?”
I tore the goggles and helmet off and checked inside. Hunter Felsy.
“For fuck sakes!” I hissed. In anger, I took my combat knife and stabbed him quickly in the heart. I heard Reno complaining to me as I got up, but I was in too much of a foul mood to care. I left the knife there and went to the other bodies.
Nope and nope… no Jake, no Martin.
“None of these are the boys who got Killian!” I snarled, kicking one of the corpses as the guy with the knife through his heart started his death spasm.
Reno looked behind him, still pinning the Charlie one down. “We’ll find them, dude. We killed legionaries, it’s not a total loss.” I looked away as I noticed he was unbuttoning his jeans.
I suddenly felt a burst of anger go through me. My bloodlust hadn’t been satiated. I wanted to carve out the heart of the kid Reno had. I wanted to find more and mutilate them all.
I didn’t want to go back empty-handed.
I wedged my combat knife out of the now dead legionary’s chest and walked over to the five minute lover of my friend. He was doing what all cowards do, bargaining for his life.
“Jake Geist and Martin Peele, where are they?” I knelt down beside the kid and took his jaw into my hands.
He looked back at me like a scared scaver, his brown eyes small and pleading.
“I don’t know who they are,” he said in a small and mousy voice.
“Take his pants off,” I commanded Reno. I straddled his chest as he started begging Reno to stop, pinning his arms down with my knees.
“Martin Peele and Jake Geist. Legionaries. They killed an entire merchant caravan and kidnapped a blond boy and sold him to Typhus Canyon several days ago. They were with others, now dead and eaten.”
The legionary tried to struggle but I had him pinned. I could feel him kicking as Reno took his pants off.
“I don’t know who they are!” the man screamed. His pulse maintained its rapid pace; he wasn’t lying. “We’re a patrol, stationed in a base north of Gosselin. We’ve only been out since yesterday. We got dropped off. We’re looking for the Raven.”
Oh really? Behind me Reno chuckled. Did he know why they were looking for the Raven? Looked like my havoc at the factory had made its rounds.
I heard clothing rip.
“Well, you found him,” Reno said from behind me. The soldier whimpered. To his credit he hadn’t started crying yet. Though he did keep thrashing his legs.
“Where would they be? They aren’t patrol just a bunch of fucking punks making trouble for the locals. Are they due anywhere?” I didn’t know how they worked. Sometimes they had purposes like patrol or blood collection. Other times they seemed to just wander around for no reason other than to bully the locals or the ravers.
“I… I don’t know, we have forts… we…” Suddenly the kid screamed and started to thrash again. Reno swore. I could see the kid’s bare knee from the corner of my vision. I reached over and hooked my arm around it and shifted myself up further on his chest. In the back of my mind I wasn’t looking forward to having to explain my role in this to my new boyfriend, but I never got off on it. This type of shit hadn’t gotten me even stiff since I was sixteen.
“Where are the forts?” I asked, holding his leg back. I heard Reno tear open a condom.
“Call off your fucking rapist and I’ll tell you!” The legionary’s voice was shrill with panic.
“Fine, where are the forts?” I said holding my hand up. Reno stopped.
“North of Gosselin like I said, and we have several surrounding Anvil and north of the Lakeview Plaza.” He paused, sweat beading on his forehead. “Just kill me, okay? Before he does it, that’s all I ask. I know I’m fucking dead anyway, I’m not stupid.”
Hmm, the one north of Lakeview was new to me. I would have to go scouting the
re, see what I could dig up.
There was a scream, the scream only a guy who had just been forcibly penetrated could make. I cupped my hands over his mouth as he screamed again. Behind me Reno stifled a grunt. I held the kid’s leg back and looked ahead. If Reno so much as put a hand on me his jaw would be on the other side of the camp. He knew the rules.
Reno was as quiet as he could be, though most of his sounds were drowned out by the muffled screaming of Charlie the legionary. Reno was close to my ear though, close enough for me to feel his breath on my neck, laboured and rhythmic as he fucked the legionary kid. I was past being weirded out by it. I was too pissed off to care.
The grunts from Reno became louder, fast, and furious. I looked down and found my eyes on those of the soldier.
Their eyes always seemed to bug out while they were being fucked. I don’t know if it was from pain, or just shell-shock. At least they couldn’t see it happening. Though in my early years I sat behind their heads, on their arms so they had to watch. As I got older though, I found I wasn’t interested in watching it go down. It confused Reno too much, and it made it feel like a weird threesome, though I never partook in any of it. Best not to confuse the dumbfuck, especially now since I had a boyfriend.
Reno sped up. The legionary had stopped screaming and was just looking up at the grey night sky, disconnected. That happened a lot too. Though some just kept screaming all the way through until I killed them.
As my friend gave a string of muffled grunts, telling me he was close to finishing, I got my combat knife and slashed the legionary’s throat with a single swift motion. I put a good amount of weight against it to make sure it was quick and it cut the right places.
A rush of blood sprayed from the gaping neck wound telling me I had hit my mark. I didn’t lean back. I let the hot liquid shoot onto my chest. That was my reward. That and watching the light fade from his eyes.