F A D E- New Kansas

by Tom Cain

  "Where did you get that from Eight?" Seven enquired staring at the flaming arm. John tightened his already clenched fist and tensed his jaw.

  "It doesn't look like we are going to do much talking does it John" Seven also tightened his fist.

  Chapter 17

  THE MOST OF US

  Ron was nervously palming over the city maps, several citizens were crowding the comms room. Radio chatter was coming in from all sides as the Greeners and the doctor continued their assault. The rooms shook with the occasional blast emanating from the different districts. People were scared but busy, each of the districts had soldiers going down and civilians picking up the reigns as they fell. Some people had fled the violence and escaped Little London before most of the exits were blocked. The streets were filled with a looming dust that had risen from the bombardment of explosives, bullets and various mutations. Ron had a clearly concerned look on his face whilst his pawed over the plans.

  "God dammit, I knew they were going to hit this area of the city" said Ron pointing to the Yellow district.

  "Sir they have done more than that, they have flooded in blue, green and red now and are rounding people up" Sharp, one of the radio crew said.

  "So it's a recruitment drive, not an extermination" Ron said sitting back down on a metal chair.

  An alarmed caller on one of the radio shouted. Sharp ran to pick it up and answered the call.

  "The doctor is fighting Valeria in Yellow. John is also here with someone I haven't seen before, everyone is fighting, we need reinforcements, we need help, these guys are strong, Burke is a monster, he..wait" gunshots are heard interrupting the transmission.

  "Harrison?, Harrison?" Sharp shouted urgently into the radio to no response.

  "Harrison?" he said, his eyes drifting over to Ron who was staring intensely at him.

  "Nothing sir, I got nothing" Sharp put down the radio into its cradle on a raised desk.

  "Ok listen, what's Blue looking like? Huff, what's Blue looking like?" Ron asked a short bald sweaty man sitting in the corner with one of the radios.

  "Pretty busy Sir, we have about twenty or so Greeners live in the area and about seven response. We are holding them off but they are pushing" Huff replied.

  "What about Green?" Ron asked staring back at his map.

  "Huff, what about green?" Ron asked again after a moment of no response.

  "I don't look after Green sir, that's Bowmen" Huff said pointing to a women deep in conversation with someone on the radio.

  "Bowmen!" Ron shouted getting her attention.

  "Bowmen, what does green look li..." Ron was interrupted by the entrance of a woman who collapsed on the floor in front of the table. Clearly exhausted.

  A blinded flash of light froze the occupants of the comms room and the Scribe appeared standing in front of the collapsed woman. He reached out his hand and took something from her torn jacket.

  “Scribe, what are you doing?” Ron asked in shock at how quickly it all unfolded.

  The scribe nodded at Ron and disappeared as quickly as he came.

  Ron rushed to the womans aid and in picking her up noticed he recognised her.

  "Holy shit Mia is that you?" said Ron surprised and excited.

  "Are you ok? what the hell happened? I heard about the team" Ron lent down to help Mia up onto a chair, she looked weary and grubby.

  "How did you get in?" Ron signalled for one of the room crew to come and assist with cleaning her up.

  A gentle looking woman came with a wet cloth and began cleaning off her face.

  "I need you to check my stomach" Mia said in a low tone.

  "I am not a nurse, but I will find one for you, are you hurt?" the woman asked gently wiping the hardened dirt from Mia's forehead.

  "No" she said "I think I am pregnant" taking a long breath out.

  The women turned her head around to look at a tall, brown haired man standing by the door and nodded. He seemed to understand what the nod implied and ran off urgently.

  "We will get someone as soon as possible, it's a battlefield out there if you didn't notice on your way in" said Ron examining Mia with his eyes.

  He pulled up and chair to sit opposite her. The women left them alone.

  "Guys, back to work, we have a city to save, stay in communication with the rest of the districts. Pull out any soldiers from clear areas and get them over to the needed" he said before turning his complete attention back to Mia.

  "So what's going on out there Mia?".

  Mia picked up the wet cloth and continued to clean her face with it.

  "It was a mess Ron. They had killed the hostages in the building and had prepared for an assault" Mia coughed.

  "It's ok take your time" said Ron.

  "Sir, we have more movement in Yellow, it looks like the tide is turning in our favour over there, but red is not looking good" a good looking blonde haired man said interrupting Ron's conversation.

  "Ok, keep an eye on it Stone, I am sure John can handle it over there in yellow. Get Carmen and Greaves from green and send them to red for back-up" said Ron confidently.

  "That Seven is one tough son of a bitch Ron, he didn't leave anyone alive out there. They planted explosives under the building, it was always a trap, always" Mia drifted off into thoughtfulness for moment before snapping back into reality after an explosion shook the room.

  "Bowmen! find out what the shit that was and where it came from" Ron barked.

  "Yes sir, I am on it" said Bowmen eagerly.

  Ron turned back to Mia again.

  "I know he is tough, he is here, John is fighting him now, I gotta say Mia, this place is a real mess, all districts have had it rough, even on the outskirts, they have driven people from their homes" said Ron with a sigh.

  "Shit Bowmen!" Ron shouted.

  "Have you found out where that was coming from yet?". Bowmen took her headset off to report.

  "Sir, it came from somewhere near fourteen but we can't be sure yet, there was too much damage. People heard it but couldn't see it, still working on it".

  Ron looked anxious, he started to bite the skin from around his thumbnail.

  "Greenage" a red haired gangly looking man stepped forward.

  "Greenage, take Bover and get down to fourteen, see what's happening" Ron said finishing his thumb.

  "Yes sir, we will get on it. Bover!" Greenage said exiting the room with haste and nudging another soldier on the way back in.

  "I brought the doctor" the brown haired soldier told the room.

  Mia looked relieved. Clara walked in.

  "Ah Clara, I'm glad it's you, I need you to check me" said Mia sitting up straight. Ron moved out of the chair and back behind the table.

  "Mia, I got here as quickly as I could, the injured are everywhere, the medical bay is already near capacity, we are well guarded but maybe not for long. It's good to see you are alive Mia".

  Mia moved in closer to Clara and gave her a hug. Clara hugged her back.

  "Let's go somewhere private where we can do this test, it can't be the med bay though, so let's find somewhere else" said Clara getting to her feet.

  "You can use my quarters if you need, you know where it is Clara" said Ron.

  Clara partially blushing in front of the busy room nodded and lead Mia away.

  "Mia, let's catch up later yeah?" said Ron shouting in their direction as they exited.

  She agreed whilst being escorted out the door and down the hall.

  Reinforcements came to the aid of the civilians and soldiers being rounded up by a particularly shrewd greener called Pigeon. Pigeon had fourteen Little London inhabitants gathered up and in leg chains heading towards exit four.

  “Keep moving, enough of the lack luster walking, you will be going to the camp” said Pigeon in high pitched but menacing tone.

  There was only murmuring from the group. Pigeon and his cronies had beedy eyes all around but they didn’t see a shot come from a tunnel leading off the main concourse that pier
ced one of his group straight through the heart. Pigeon snarled at the tunnel. Ten Little London soldiers poured into the area directly engaging with Pigeon and his gang. All of the prisoners immediately hit the deck with shots being fired from every direction. Pigeons group were overwhelmed with relative ease and wasn’t ready for a direct attack while they had a chain gang of civilians. Before long, Pigeon was the the last man standing. Hiding inside a front room of a nearby house he stuck his head out from behind the window.

  “We see you in there greener! come out and we will not draw this out” one of the soldiers shouted sternly.

  “You are going to have to come in here and get me” Pigeon replied nervously playing with a hand gun with only three bullets left.

  “We don’t need to come in there buddy, we have all we need to force you out here” the soldier replied reaching into a shoulder bag another soldier was carrying and pulling out a brown pipe with a red cap.

  “What you got there captain?” Pigeon shouted having seen them pull it out.

  “This is a cry baby bomb, and I am going to throw it into your building in ten seconds unless you give yourself up” the soldier shouted.

  “Ah shit, well I aint coming out so you can shoot me up, so you might as well throw the baby” Pigeon screamed sitting against the window ledge.

  The soldier shrugs and twists the top of the Cry Baby grenade, a small puff of smoke erupted from the top.

  “Boys you know what to do” the soldier low in a low tone to the rest of the team.

  The Cry Baby was launched with a strong right arm and plunged through the broken window. Pigeon watched as it hit the floor and spun off into the adjoining kitchen.

  “Well that’s that then” Pigeon covered his ear as the grenade went off.

  A quiet beep turned into a high pitched shriek. The soldiers outside backed away, covered their ears and turned around. The Cry Baby bombs shriek grew into a scream, extremely intense high pitched frequency forcing Pigeon’s eyes to water and his nose to run. The scream from the grenade turned up a notch and the frequency sharpened, this sent Pigeon to the floor flat on his belly grasping at his ears which started to bleed, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and glasses in the house shattered. Within ten seconds Pigeon was dead.

  The soldiers, hearing the bomb had finished went to investigate. They found Pigeon curled up on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

  “Job done, he should have taken the bullets” the soldier said shaking his head looking at the mess.

  The walls shook in every room as the fighting continued all over the city, confusion set in as the Greeners had no real plan and no real direction, it was just loot and kill, loot and kill. The greeners had taken some serious losses and the main brunt of the attack had ebbed. Sporadic violence spread through the city with occasional gun fights breaking out between soldiers and the remainder of the attackers. Ron had ordered the clean up of the stragglers. The biggest threat to Little London now was the Doctor and Seven still fighting in the Yellow district.

  Most of the civilians had now be safely moved into a large storage area usually used for food, water and equipment. The area was highly secure to stop any visitors of thieves helping themselves to the stockpile. The entrance to the storage room had a huge square frame of solid concrete, and a large steel door which was shut automatically if a panic button was pressed. The room could easily store two to three hundred people and provided enough food to last through several months of a siege. The room was locked from the inside but had been attacked multiple times since the assault had begun. The damage done by the greeners until this point had not been substantial enough to worry the occupants inside. Luckily, they had a blade wielding captain defending it.

  Bandoleer stood outside the door, anchor blade in hand, bruised, cut up and battered from battle. His white loose fitting shirt now in tatters, his boots broken, and jeans ripped. Sweat and blood oozing from cuts above his eyes after taking some heavy blows. A group of greeners, having finished raiding the Red District found the door and the captain waiting.

  Three of them wandered up, smiling, dribbling and curious.

  "So whats behind door number two then sonny?" one the the deformed asked his friend.

  "Looks like we have a killer on our hands here, look at him, all cut up, you had it rough eh?" a second said, drool lapping over his crooked teeth.

  "My name is Bandoleer. I am the captain of the Bloodletting, docked out in Afterburn, I don't take any prisoners, and I ain't here for fun" Bandoleer growled.

  "Listen sonny" the ugliest one said and continued "I don't care who you think you are, we want into that room".

  Bandoleer sprung forward leaving a trail of blood floating in mid air and before the blood could hit the floor his blade burst through the head of the ugly one. Bang. A single gunshot was heard and three surprised faces. smoke rose from the barrel and passed their noses one of the greeners coughed then laughed. Confused Bandoleer look down and the ugly ones body fell to the ground blade stuck. Bandoleer staggered back and slowly looked down to his stomach seeing a bloody hole in the centre. Bandoleer smiled, pulling his hand away from his wound and revealing the red remains.

  "Ah, shit, you got me ugly".

  He dropped to one knee, the other two still staring in confusion at the state of their friend. Bandoleer sniggered again and coughed some blood.

  "Well if you think this is over you have got another thing coming, cas it aint".

  "Oh yeah? what have we got coming? you got a hole in your belly" said the one with a foggy eye and a snaggle tooth. Bandoleer shot his arm out straight and a dagger struck the snaggle toothed mutant directly in the gut.

  "Now so do you" Bandoleer chortled getting back to his feet slowly clutching his wound.

  The remaining greener stood staring shocked by the speed of the hit, once his composure was regained he looked up to find Bandoleer taunting him.

  "That's two down, now how do you want to go? it's going to happen one way or the other" Bandoleer said reaching behind his back.

  "Argh, you ain't worth it, that shots going to kill you anyways" said the greener turning to run.

  Bandoleer took two steps forward to give chase but realised he had lost too much blood and needed to rest.

  "Keep running asshole! I'm going to get you, just a matter of time my friend" he said.

  Bandoleer stumbled back, hitting his back against the large metal door separating him and the civilians inside. Blood followed him on his way down to a sitting position and smeared across the door.

  "Ah I guess this could be it then, perhaps I will finally meet my maker, laying here lying in a pool of my own claret" he said to himself noticing a metal flask on one of the dead greeners still twitching on the floor.

  He managed to lever the flask out of the pocket of the deceased with his foot and drag it towards him. Opened it with a squeak and smelled the contents.

  "Bah, what's this homemade rubbish you got here ugly?" Bandoleer now talking to the corpse.

  "You got this from that taro root didn't you?" taking a swig and coughing.

  "Holy shit ugly, this is the strong stuff" the concoction was a strong mix of alcohol and various other found ingredients.

  "Wasn't expect that" he said swirling the drink the the flask.

  Bandoleer looked up to meet the eye of a passing greener. Not from before. This one was tall and thin, dark skin, defined muscle but scarred. He was wearing a gas mask but with only one eye and carrying a hooked short handed scythe in his right hand. In the other was an item giving off a thin plume of white smoke. The greeners head tilted as he noticed that Bandoleer was still alive.

  "Ah, really? don't make me get up for you buddy, I'm drinking, it's a time out".

  The greener stopped for a moment and looked at Bandoleer with a tilted head.

  "Make your last wish captain" the incoming threat said to Bandoleer with a deep breath in through the gas mask filter.

  Just before he was about to retort,
a huge crunch sound stopped the greener in his tracks, the large metals doors started to open upwards leaving a gap underneath open just enough to slide a body through. A pair of random arms came from underneath the door and grabbed Bandoleers body as he fell backwards, the greener ran forward and grabbed Bandoleers boots as the door was shutting. Bandoleer reached down to place his hand inside his boot, a short click and a bang later and the smashed gas masked mutant fell to the ground front first. Bandoleer had a small pistol loaded into his heavy black boots and was able to shoot through the rubber soles and plant a bullet solidly in the left eye of the attacker. The door closed on top of the greener and crushed the remainder of his body with a crunch and crack. Medics inside the safe room attended to Bandoleers wounds much against his objections to their fuss.

  Luckily the bullet had pierced straight through his abdomen leaving a relatively clean wound.

  "Let's get this fixed up stranger" one of the civilian medics said applying pressure on the wound with some bandage padding.

  "Ah I am a captain my love, and a mostly drunk one at that, that's not the first home made brew I've taken from these fuckers" Bandoleer slurred, partially because of the drink and partially because of the loss of blood.

  "You are lucky it didn't hit your spine, we will do our best with what we have, can you heal?" the medic asked.

  "Nah, I'm not one of those types doc. Going to have to be traditional fi.." and with that the captain passed out and was caught by the quick reflexes of another civilian.

  "Shamroe? come in." in a female voice, a radio receiver beaconed from the corner of the room.

  A light haired, tall women wearing denim overalls picked up and answered.

  "You got her" Shamroe answered.

  "We need an update, how is everyone doing down there?".

  "We all seem to be fine, is that you Bowmen?" Shamroe asked scanning the room for issues.

  "Yeah it is, it's real hectic over here, the place is on fire, we got..." static interrupted

  "And I have no idea where the docto..." static interrupted again.

  "Do you have any injured? how's the door..." Bowmen was cut off again but Shamroe still replied.