Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  JB tapped his HUD and nodded. The three mercs turned back to their adversaries and opened fire. He lurched toward the duo bear, his gun at the ready, and pulled the trigger a couple of times. The slugs skimmed the creature’s shoulders and tufts of fur and blood sprayed outward, which made the beast even angrier. He stopped in front of it, holstered his gun, and drew a dagger from each side of his belt. Man and beast did their dance as they circled one another and searched for a chance to attack.

  The duo bear slashed violently with its claws. JB jumped back, his energy and instincts able to counteract his ungainly motion. He was still quick, despite his handicap, and the bear was large and bulky, something the man knew was to his advantage. He danced back and forth, then took his opportunity to lunge forward and slice across the beast’s chest. Blue blood poured instantly from the wound and down the front of it to mat its fur. The bear leaned its heads back and opened both mouths to roar aggressively.

  JB saw the opening and whirled behind the animal. He thrust his daggers in their sheaths and yanked his pistol out. “HUD, how do I kill this bitch?”

  A picture of the duo bear popped up on his screen. “Bullet to both heads. One head will only make it angrier.”

  He nodded. “That sounds about par for the course.”

  Before the beast could turn to face him, he leveled his pistol. He pulled the trigger once, shifted, and fired a second time. The bullets spiraled through the duo’s two heads. It fell forward immediately into a huge ball and the impact shook the trees around it. JB chuckled when he noticed the three jags lying lifeless nearby. “Well, that was a good fight.”

  The alarms in all their helmets beeped wildly. He pulled his map up and the air expelled from his lungs. Red dots flashed all around them. A pack of wolf-like creatures the HUD identified as hammerheads lurked at the edge of the clearing on the right. The furry creatures had bodies like wolves, only much larger. Their tails were scaled and grew behind them in the shape of large hammers.

  JB turned to his left and located three duo bears that sniffed the air above them. He immediately backed toward the rest of the team. Behind him, a group of mantises sliced their sharp mandibles through the greenery as they approached the battle.

  Things did not look good in the least. The three mercs and JB retreated all the way to the center of the small clearing until their shoulders touched. No one said a word, and the beasts stood frozen and scrutinized them intently. This was the momentary silence before engagement, the quiet evaluation of adversaries. The silence was so acute, it sent shivers down JB’s arms.

  Without a sound, the animals surged into the attack and the warriors lunged to meet them. He stared at one of the hammerheads as he lurched forward with his gun blasting relentlessly at the beast. It reared up on its hind legs and pivoted to swing its huge tail. JB barely registered the motion before the tail slammed into his stomach and lifted him off his feet. The momentum hurled him into a tree and he grunted as he collapsed.

  He pounded his fists on the ground in a gesture of defiance before he drew a short sword. At that moment, a dozen men burst through the underbrush, screaming a battle song. One of them slowed and hauled JB to his feet. “You didn’t think we would sit around drinking at your bar while you were out here in your glory, did you?”

  JB narrowed his eyes when he recognized Jim from FUBAR. “You guys—”

  The man laughed. “We all came out to kick some ass with you. There’s no way that JB will die alone, that’s for damn sure. Come on. Let’s show these fuckers who is boss on this planet.”

  Chapter Two

  Jim hurtled toward one of the jags, drew his dagger, and stabbed it into the beast’s neck to slice its throat. The animal fell with a gurgle and slumped as its eyes rolled back and its tongue hung through its jagged teeth. Another charged him but he drew his pistol and shot it in the face before it could even get close. Chunks of the jag flew everywhere to spray the mercs and the other animals with blood and flesh.

  It didn’t faze them, however. They were all too amped to care. A roar of laughter and cheers sounded through the comms. Three of the men looked at JB as he limped forward with his short sword in hand. “The fucker still has it in him,” one commented with a grin.

  Another man nodded. “Damn straight he does. You never lose that shit.”

  JB roared loudly as he swung the sword through the air and sliced a mantis in half. Its body twitched as it bounced a couple of times. The mercs raised their arms and cheered loudly, which gave him something to be more than proud of. Most of them had never seen him in action before as they’d all arrived after he had retired to the bar.

  The guys from FUBAR glanced at each other and shook their heads. Jim smirked. “That’s right, he isn’t dead yet. There’s no way we can let him die out here. Boys, I think this went from a comfort mission to a rescue mission. We’re gonna bring that stubborn son of a bitch back home and cure him with a bottle of whiskey and some damn good drugs.”

  The crew all cheered approval as none of them wanted to watch him die. The motivation spurred them into action and JB turned and pumped his fist with a huge smile on his lips. He took a step forward, ready to join the others in the battle, but the men froze in horror as a large claw thrust through the underbrush behind him. They yelled and ran to help but it was too late. The creature latched onto his shoulder and yanked him off his feet and into the jungle.

  Silence fell over the Zoo and it seemed even the animals paused slightly as JB vanished from sight.

  Hickok stood on the edge of the clearing and peered around a tree. She gripped the bark tightly as a claw snatched JB and hauled him off into the Zoo. “Oh, fuck that,” she muttered. “We are not putting Humpty Dumpty together again.”

  She raced through the clearing as fast as she could toward the area where he’d disappeared. No one could see her, thankfully, since her suit camouflage allowed her to move with only minor fluctuations of barely discernible color. It wasn’t nearly as good as the suits she’d had for her work, which were far beyond the technology that any civilian and most of the military had. Then again, it was also technology she wasn’t even sure other people outside the business should own. They enabled almost anyone to essentially do whatever the fuck they wanted without detection. In the wrong hands, that could be a real problem.

  Billie leapt into the underbrush and followed the sounds of a struggle somewhere ahead. She shoved off against a tree to steer herself to the right, hurdled a log, and flailed to a stop ten feet from JB and a very large hammerhead. Luckily, he had found his feet and battled the beast with everything he had—which, at that point, included a dagger and his sheer strength.

  She turned the camo on her suit off and raced up to him to thump him hard on the back. He whirled in consternation and snorted when he realized it was her. She gestured frantically and opened a private channel. “Was that necessary?” he demanded

  “That was your moment,” she said crisply. “When we’re done with this bitch, we need to get that chip out. We can’t have them tracking you. How do you think they found your ass in the first place?”

  JB rolled his eyes and threw a punch that knocked the hammerhead backward. Billie drew her weapon and screwed the suppressor on. “I came to save your ass,” she added blithely.

  He laughed loudly as he grabbed the hammerhead by the scruff of its neck and pulled its head back. It snapped its jaws and its tail wildly, but it couldn’t reach him. He brandished his dagger and nodded. “Thanks, but I think I got this one.”

  With one smooth swipe, he cut the hammerhead’s throat and threw the creature against a tree. With a smartass smirk on his lips, he turned back to Billie with his fists on his hips. “I guess you won’t be paid for babysitting after all.”

  From the right, a jag erupted from the bushes and sank its teeth into JB’s calf. His eyes widened and his arms flailed as he fell sideways into the dirt. It tried to drag him, but he dug in, took hold of a nearby limb, and pulled himself forward. For a mome
nt, it felt like a tug of war with his leg as the fucking rope. He tried to kick the animal away with his free leg, but it had latched on firmly.

  Hickok winced. “Holy fuck. How are you not screaming right now? That fucking thing has your Goddamned leg.”

  JB looked down and then at her with a laugh. “It’s my artificial leg. I think the pain in that area left me long ago.”

  She narrowed her eyes. Sure enough, while the jag snarled and bit into his leg, no blood could be seen at all. She put her hands on her hips and groaned. “Then please take care of this thing. We don’t have all fucking day. They’ll eventually come looking for a damn body.”

  He rolled his eyes. “All right, sheesh. Pushy bitch. Throw me your gun. Mine is lost somewhere back there.”

  Billie glanced at her gun before she sighed. “Fine, but I want it back.”

  She tossed it and JB caught it, flipped his body, and kicked at the jag with his good leg once more. The beast jerked back enough for him to sit up and press the trigger. The bullet struck its chest. As it fell back, two more shots rang out, which made him flinch. Slowly, he looked at Billie, who nodded at the skull shots she’d delivered. “Better safe than sorry.”

  He pushed to his feet and shook his head

  Several orbiters spiraled toward them from the opposite direction. Billie and JB turned to face them and stepped shoulder to shoulder. “Fuck that,” he huffed. “You have two guns. I’m using this one.”

  Hickok shrugged. “Whatever. But try to hit them where it counts, old man.”

  JB chuckled. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I look younger than you.”

  She scoffed. “Yeah, right, bitch. I am hot, wild, and young again. You’re more like late thirties.”

  They both smiled and focused on the creatures as they moved closer and closer. He raised an eyebrow. “We would have made quite the team back in the day.”

  Billie glanced at him. “Yeah, if you weren’t so whiny all the time. ‘Oh no, I got stabbed by some poison. Time to cut my leg off.’”

  He sneered. “Mm-hmm. Because face-up, drooling on yourself, no helmet or HUD, no suit, and staring at the stars is so much better.”

  She pursed her lips. “Hey, I never asked for help. I could have gone bitch mode on that toxin. I survived it all day long.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, okay.”

  They fired almost at the same time and the orbiters fell one after another, stumbled, and slid to sprawl in untidy heaps. Billie tilted her head to the side and grimaced. “What the fuck are those? They look like someone had way too much fun.”

  JB wrinkled his nose. “Orbiters, apparently. I killed one earlier today. That’s slime all over them. It makes it hard to fight them hand to hand.”

  They dropped their empty mags and slid new ones in before they scanned the area. Small creatures, rats, scaled animals with shells and sharp teeth, and winding vines wriggled through the jungle. Billie groaned and threw her head back. “Seriously. This shit is ridiculous. Why the fuck are they attacking?”

  He shrugged. “It’s like a welcome back party. They missed me. What can I say?”

  She raised both eyebrows as she retrieved a case from her back and removed a long gun-type weapon. The contraption had a hose attached to a small metal box. “I can understand that. They are welcoming you back by trying to murder you. Sounds about right for the kind of friendships you make.”

  JB frowned and focused on the strange weapon. “What the fuck is that? Are you about to go Ghostbuster on these bitches? Because I, for one, do not want to take them back to town with me.”

  Billie snickered as she pressed a button. “It’s cool, right? I found it with my arms guy. I figured it might come in handy at some point.”

  He shook his head. “Sure, but what the fuck is it?”

  She grinned and adjusted her grip on it. “Watch.”

  JB stepped back as she aimed at the wave of creatures that scurried through the brush toward them. The light on the pack went from green to red and she pulled the trigger. Like a whip, fire erupted in a straight line and curved back and forth with the motion of her arm. It waved over the brush and ignited not only the dry leaves but the animals beneath them as well.

  He covered his ears to block out the shrieks and squeals from the beasts. Billie laughed and stepped forward. “Such a beautiful fucking sound right there.”

  In minutes, the animals had ultimately burned to ash and she turned it off and blew on the hot end. She replaced it in the case and strapped it to her back once again. JB simply stood there and stared at her. “The shit you come out with is fucking terrifying sometimes.”

  Billie winked at him. “Yeah, but I looked sexy as hell, didn’t I?”

  Suddenly, a small beast burst out of the smoldering brush, its tail blazing. Without thought, they brought their guns up and opened fire as one. The creature didn’t stand a chance against the barrage. They both stopped firing at the same time and pushed their weapons back in the holsters. They could hear evidence of another battle raging nearby and it seemed likely that the other mercs were once again under attack. Hopefully, that would either have drowned out the sounds of their own fight or would keep them occupied long enough for them get far away.

  Billie wiped her visor and looked around. “It looks like the fire is going out on its own. Or the Zoo is putting it out. We can rest here for a minute and remove that chip but then we have to get moving. The mercs might well have seen or heard that, although by the sounds of things, they have their hands full. Still, we can’t risk them finding you alive or this will have to happen all over again. Frankly, I don’t feel like another rescue mission.”

  JB chuckled and shook his head. “If you haven’t noticed, I can do this on my own. Granted, having you here makes it less stressful, but it was hardly a rescue mission.”

  Billie slapped him on the back and drank from her hydration pack. “Whatever you say, JB. Come on, there’s a fallen tree over there. It looks clear.”

  They stepped through the smoldering brush and sat on the tree to pull their packs around in front of them. The sounds of battle seemed fainter now, which possibly meant that the mercs had been pushed even further back from their original position. He retrieved a granola bar and took a bite. “That was intense, I won’t lie. Is it like that every time now?”

  She shook her head. “No, this was special just for you.”

  JB scoffed. “Great. Thanks.”

  They sat in silence and listened to the sounds of the Zoo around them while she fiddled to remove the small chip before she dropped it and crushed it thoroughly with her heel. Fortunately, removing the device hadn’t affected their comms. With so far still to travel, they had to be able to communicate. He stared into space, his brain overwhelmed by the entire experience. She nudged him. “Where did you go? You were here and then you fluttered off somewhere else.”

  He leaned back and shrugged. “Just thinking about how that was it. That was the big buildup to the whole trip, right there. Now, everyone will think that I am dead and gone.”

  Billie nodded. “That’s what you wanted, right?”

  JB leaned forward and rubbed his leg. “I guess. I mean, I really had no choice in the matter. But it feels so crazy. All that time, I sat back behind the bar and told stories about the mercs who died here and now, I have become one. My legacy will be wrapped up in whatever tale those boys come up with to tell the folks in town.”

  Hickok slapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, now, you have a new life so you can make more of the same stupid mistakes. You simply get to do it in a newer, younger body.”

  He shook his head. “Fuck that. I’ll do something totally badass with this next life. I’ll be the man I always wanted to be.”

  She laughed and pushed to her feet. “Well, let’s get the fuck out of here before you go all badass on me. I’ll lead, you follow closely, and if you see anyone, take cover. We don’t want to blow it when we’re this close.”

  As they headed out, JB l
ooked around him and realized that the part of the Zoo they now entered didn’t look disturbed in the least. “Uh, are you sure you know where you’re going? It doesn’t look like this is the road most traveled.”

  Billie shook her head. “No, but I thought we could get lost in the woods together. Fuck. Yes, I know where I’m going. Keep up. You may be young on the outside but you still have old balls.”

  Chapter Three

  The town lay silent. No cars traveled the roads and no people milled about. Almost every shop in town was closed and the only sound was the wind-blown sand that tapped on the glass windows of the stores. FUBAR’s doors were shut and inside, the usual roar of voices was noticeably absent. No laughter, cheers, bickering, or fighting competed in the usual rowdy cacophony that defined the bar. The crowd sat silently and sipped their drinks while they stared at the mercs who had gone out to find JB.

  They were dirty and tattered but none seemed to even notice their appearance. On the inside, every single one of them felt hollow, haunted by the image of JB disappearing into the jungle. Paula poured Jim a shot of whiskey and he threw it back as he clutched the edge of the bar with his free hand. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his suit and peered at his dirty hands.

  When he turned, he was met with a hundred eyes, all somber as they waited for him to report what had happened. They didn’t have to guess that JB was gone. From the looks on the men’s faces and the absence of his grumbles and loud deep voice, they knew. No one wanted to believe it, though, not until they heard it from the mercs’ mouths.

  Jim cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Well, we found him. He was out there in the thick of it, helping three other mercs in the middle of an attack. It was brutal. When we reached them, they were surrounded and the beasts kept coming. We thought, though, with the way he fought, that we would be able to bring him back. He fought like a young man— jumped, slid, and took hits without even flinching.”