“We’re fighting for land we’ve lived on for our whole lives! WE WILL NOT LET THAT LOCUST TAKE WHAT WE’VE EARNED!” Ortiz’s eyes blazed with a leader’s passion. It was the first time I had ever heard him shout, and awe-inspiring couldn’t even begin to describe it. He surely knew how to incite a crowd with his battle-hardened scream, as every fist there was raised high, ready to lose their lives for this cause. Even the skies roared with thunderous applause as a deep rumble rolled over the land. Ortiz pushed his way through the crowd to the front and began the death march.
Exhaustion wore heavy on my eyes. I had been going on so little sleep the past few days, and did my best to shut my eyes while walking, but only ended up tripping over my own feet.
“C’mon, you can’t fall asleep on me now.” Danni punched my shoulder. I groaned and looked at the convoy around me. Tank trailed along the back, and U.S.P.L. and guerilla forces dispersed through a loose crowd. Two factions that were once apathetic towards each other at best became an unstable one; a caravan of travelers on a trek that would only take a day. The landscape was entirely unfamiliar to me. The roads were dusty and the path ahead was foggy. The air was thick from the pollution of men who carelessly tossed their will aside and left it to rot in smoldering heaps. Words couldn’t be exchanged on such a road, both out of respect for the ashes we were treading through as well as fear of attack.
“Leo!” I looked behind to find Danni riding on the shoulder of Tank; she had climbed up there when I wasn’t even looking. She patted the empty spot next to her, and helped me climb up; Tank didn’t seem to mind. Upon this giant’s steel shoulder, we said everything that was on our minds to each other without speaking a word.
When night started to crawl in, the sky changed from a bleak, dusty gray to a deep blue. The stars re-aligned in the sky, hopefully to decide a pleasing fate.
“We’ll stop for the night here!” Ortiz called out. He pulled himself out of his mech, and a few of his men stayed in theirs, just to be safe. Some made fires to keep themselves warm as they stayed up and talked, and others fell asleep right on the spot. Eddy, Danni, and I all sat around in a circle, and surprisingly, Ortiz walked over to us to join.
Without a word, he threw a bundle of firewood into the middle of our little circle, and sat down Indian-style. Eddy pulled out his shiny cigarette lighter, adorned with dozens of little spirals and designs, and lit the sticks. It quickly went up into a dancing blaze just big enough to warm the four of us.
“I’m surprised to see you coming over here on your own. I wouldn’t think you’re very approachable, at least after seeing what happened the first time we met.” Danni arched a brow at Ortiz. I cringed at her comment; it was certainly bold, but perhaps a bit reckless.
“It would’ve been irresponsible of me to not do what I did. If I let order slide even the slightest bit, we’d descend into chaos. I know that you think we’re already there, but it’s not like that at all. They might slack off when I’m not around, but the second I step in, they should know to get back in line. Really, I only had to react the way I did because they were abusing a non-threat. When a group loses respect for weaker life, it’s imminent that order will fall apart.” he lectured.
“I see where you’re coming from…so… where does this put you? Care to tell us a little bit about yourself?” Danni nodded in his direction. He raised his eyebrows exhaled.
“I’ll make it brief… I was raised in a wealthy family a few dozen miles from here. My father was a businessman, and worked with the guerillas by giving them supplies, so they were on good terms. He always knew that they really held the power here. Then… I was about fifteen, around your age, when I came home one day to find it in flames, and most of my family massacred. I’ll never know for sure how it happened, but it must have been a rival who didn’t care for the guerrillas… Having no one to turn to, I lost everything that day, and I had to fight for my life. Joining the guerrillas was the only way to do that. I dropped out of a prestigious school, and these men let me join them, knowing the respect that my father held for them. I quickly rose through their ranks as I gave complete dedication to them. After all, I owed them my life. By the time Miller made his way over here, I was already at the top, where I am now. He had to go through ME to get to Burybury, your little city. I didn’t see him as a threat, so I just let him pass through and build as he pleased… a move I’ll always regret. After I saw what he did to YOU…” Ortiz pointed to me, “…I had no choice. He had more power than I would allow anyone to have. I sent men in to try and gain order again, but Miller’s forces were overwhelming, to say the least. I saw weapons and tactics I’d never seen the likes of.” Ortiz let out a deep sigh.
“Hmm… oh, and we’ve started calling the disease buala. A lot more people are gonna start using that term now too, since Miller heard us using it.” Danni chipped in.
He nodded to her in response, showing that he was listening to her words. He was about to say something, but Danni had one more burning question.
“And…what’s with the junkyard? If you have the entire city to yourselves, why stay in such a hellhole?” Danni asked. Ortiz let a small grin sneak its way across his face before he responded.
“That’s not a bad question. We had to make our home there a few weeks ago, just for the time being. It didn’t look quite like it does now; we…’renovated’ it to look more like the homes we had before, where we had lived before the business with the disease began. The slums don’t only make us tough, but it also makes the enemy overconfident. These men grow up in the hardest conditions, and battle like it. Would the looks of a slum really make you think that though? An enemy would attack us at any time, and get the fight of their lives.” Ortiz laughed, simply pointing to his mech; it said enough. He then became solemn again instantly, and looked toward me.
“Now, returning to the disease…your ‘buala’…Let’s be perfectly honest… you haven’t truly seen buala yet. You’ve seen its effects, where everyone is caged off and fighting for their lives, but you haven’t been exposed to it. In fact, you’re not even quite sure how it’s spread yet. You seem to assume that it’s through saliva or blood, but it could be by air, for all you know. It’s all around you, and now you’re walking right into the eye of the storm.” he threateningly whispered. I looked around to Eddy and Danni, and the only response I got was the same concerned look. Ortiz stretched out and walked away. His comment about not fully understanding the disease was especially concerning, but nobody had anything left to say to each other; we all knew what was coming soon. To fill the silence, I tried to have one more question that pestered me, that nipped at the very back of my mind, answered.
“Ortiz…does the term ‘Jahnged’ mean anything to you?”
He turned around.
“I’ve heard… a few things. Why do you ask?”
“It came to where we stayed last night. It was a disaster, we were barely able to make it run away with Tank’s help, and even then, it was a struggle. What can you tell us about it?” I had every intention of prodding out of him the “few things” he heard about the serpent.
“If you’re looking for answers on how to fight it, I don’t think I’ll be able to help you much. All I was told was that the doctor we disposed of earlier had a hand in its creation.” Ortiz responded. Eddy made a gesture to show that he had something to add in.
“Y’know, I bet Miller was pretty desperate to get his hands on that sort of thing…”
“I could see the doctor wanting no less than some of Miller’s private documents in exchange for Jahnged… Nobody could’ve known what was going on in that guy’s head… he probably just wanted to know where to go with a knife in his jacket pocket if things didn’t work out.” Danni muttered, looking between both Eddy and Ortiz. After a moment of pondering on that, all three pairs of eyes were back on me, as if they were asking “Is that good enough for you?”
“Good enough.” I shrugged, answering the question I wasn’t truly asked. Ortiz walked aw
ay without a word once more, and after a brief good-night, Eddy left us to go sleep somewhere else. I laid back, relieved to at least have another question answered, more or less. I couldn’t shake the fact that there was one more thing about the doctor that I had forgotten, about the paper in particular, but I wasn’t able to grab the thought floating around in my head and read it…
The moon drifted lazily over us. The fire had dwindled down to a struggling spark. Most of the makeshift camp was asleep, but Danni and I were still awake. We lied down side by side and stared into the dark sky, as if this was the most freedom we would feel in a night ever again.
“There’s Gemini… Capricorn… Leo…” she smiled and we caught each other’s eye.
“Can you tell my fortune too?” I inquired. Danni took a long, thoughtful look at the stars before making a conclusion, looking for a record that hadn’t been touched in ages, hiding somewhere deep within the recesses of her mind.
“You’re in a tough spot. You’re afraid. Don’t be; you have your friends and those in unexpected places to help you through.” Danni recited with her eyes closed. I felt more at peace, and closed my eyes, wrapping an arm around Danni. I nuzzled up to her, and let sleep take me over again…
I woke up to the smell of dirt suffocating me. I hacked and coughed, rubbing my eyes and standing up at the same time. The rest of the convoy was already moving along once more through the near-barren plains. All of Ortiz’s men were back in their mechs, but none hopped along like they did in combat; they simply dragged their heavy feet.
“It’s about time!” Danni called. She patted my back, and helped me walk until I was awake enough. I heard whispers on the wind from the front of the crowd that we were almost there, and that reinforced my understanding of just how powerful Miller was; not even Ortiz dared to attack without a substantial army behind him. His guerilla forces weren’t enough; he was waiting for the perfect time, which he would soon get. I managed to catch up to him, and ask about what was next.
“So…after we..y’know, ‘get’ Miller-“
“Kill. Slaughter. Annihilate.”
“Ugh…after we…do all that, well, what’s next?”
“After that, we establish order again. We’ll make it clear that the city is ours. You and only a few others are allowed to freely roam over it. Besides that, we’ll secure perimeters, and be more cautious about who we deal with.” He explained. I nodded, and went to find Eddy. He was walking side-by-side with Tank, sure enough.
“Eddy!” I called, “Hey Eddy!” I had his attention.
“Leo? What do you want?”
“Well…what do we do after we… ‘get’ Miller?”
“Establish order. Ortiz and his guys will work with us, we all want the same thing. We’ll be the legal stuff and they could be the physical order, so to speak.”
“Did you TALK to Ortiz about this?”
“Well, no, but it’s an offer he has no reason to refuse.” Eddy shrugged. I tried to brush away any worry that this new revelation may have brought.
The sun beat down on us from above. Dust rolled in from behind us. The grasslands were ripped from their roots, and all that was left was a never-ending expanse of dust. The dunes were quiet, not ready to tell the secrets of what lay over the next. A strange scent lingered on the black sands, one of decay and burning. Without warning, the smell of burning land turned to burning gunpowder. In the front of the convoy, shots rang out!
A savage growl accompanied the sound of tearing flesh, and everybody scattered. Out of instinct, Eddy, Danni, and I got behind Tank, who was already engaged. His eyes beamed red once more, and his drill thirsted for blood. Ortiz pushed his way through the crowd and found us. He pointed to us with the spidery fingers of his mech and we were barely able to hear his voice over the chaos.
“We’re being attacked by guards! Just keep going, we should be close by now!” he demanded. With a mighty launch off of the ground, he sprang into the air and landed somewhere in the crowd, where we saw black blood splatter around him.
The winds were unconfident in who they wanted to favor; they kicked up dust, making it impossible to see far ahead. Being a machine, Tank already knew the way, and we followed closely behind, clinging to his metal exterior. All around us, bullets and screams rang through the air. Without warning, Tank was mobilized into an attack! He grabbed something out of sight with his massive left hand, drilled into something with the right, and slammed the two together in the middle. More black blood drenched the obsidian sands, but we didn’t have time to take a look; we had to keep moving. Fortunately (or not, depending on how one looked at it), the wind decided to let us have a glimpse for a moment.
We were at the top of another pile of rubble when the dust stopped flying about. In front of us were U.S.P.L. and guerilla fighters brawling with monstrous red beasts. Their jaws were heavy and their spines stuck out of their back. Their skin was otherworldly and covered in crusty blood. They moved with frightening speed, spitting some sort of venom at anything they could. This was sticky enough to trap their victim, giving the monstrosity enough time to leap at their victim and utterly destroy it. As horrid as the monsters were, watching the U.S.P.L. soldiers and guerillas help each other was something more than inspiring. In one particular scene, a U.S.P.L. soldier had been sprayed by the red monster’s venom, and as it was about to leap, a guerilla fighter grabbed it with his long arms, and yanked at opposite ends until it was split in two, more black blood staining the ground. The guerilla leapt over to his fallen comrade and carried him to safety. Tank absolutely barreled through the scene, clearing a path for us. At one point, I saw one of the violent creatures in more detail than I ever would have liked: from behind Tank, one leapt right up to me. I could see the slits of its grotesque blue eyes, and feel its hot breath on my face. Every groove on its red body was lined with blood or scratches. It opened its jaw to show dozens of knife-like teeth and a beating heart at the base of its throat. I had no time to react, as Tank quickly disposed of it by throwing one of his heavy legs backward and impaling it into the ground.
The winds decided I had seen enough; dust blew up once more. Ortiz even landed right in front of us, half of one of the beast’s jaws in hand. He tossed it aside, and ran up to us from behind Tank.
“We’re doing well! We’ve lost a few, but Miller’s fortress is in sight!” Ortiz reported.
A fortress? As clichéd as it seemed, it would make sense; any other sort of shelter wouldn’t truly be safe enough in times like these, especially for a man so wanted. Miller must have realized that he needed a labyrinth to confuse any rogue mutants, or any who would dare challenge him.
As soon as those thoughts ran through my head, the bullets stopped screaming. The shouts of warfare ended so that they could be replaced by the shouts of victory. The wind stopped churning, and Ortiz was right: in the distance, I could make out a tower. It seemed to be about the same size as the HQ for U.S.P.L. Ortiz got closer to us, covered in the fluids of the monsters Miller employed. We waited to see if he had anything to say, but he didn’t. The aristocrat-turned-guerilla-general turned away to continue leading the cold voyage. The convoy was ready to follow, ready to forget their dead and pay their respects in more peaceful times.
The tower seemed to double in size as we approached. Our feet were aching when we finally found it among more guards and fiery orbs of light. The orbs acted as both a way to find any intruders or to act as a capricious beacon for those unlucky enough to wander towards it.
“There’s more security around here than that. We’ll spring the trap, try to hold off whatever jumps out, and you and Danni will have to go inside, got it?” Eddy whispered. Our entire convoy hid behind a dune that was only about a half-mile from the tower.
“Got it.” Danni and I nodded.
“I really can’t tell you what to expect, except that it probably won’t be fun to try to get through. If you manage to find Miller, throw this at him,” he handed me a small black sphere, “It’ll fill the
room with gas that’ll knock him out, but you should be fine. The guys told me this should only make someone middle-aged pass out… science really is one hell of a thing, huh?” Eddy let a wicked grin adorn his face.
Ortiz turned to his men, and Eddy to the U.S.P.L. They both made last minute plans with their respective clans, then with each other. It was agreed that the U.S.P.L. would handle ranged attacks, and that the guerilla fighters would handle any hand-to-hand combat. As the snipers for U.S.P.L. began to position themselves, my hands and legs began to shake, my nerves unable to control themselves. Were we really expected to rush in there after the bloodbath commenced? How would we get up the tower if there were no stairs or anything of the sort? I was forced to figure all of that out on my own when I heard the first sniper’s shot.
Every member was mobilized at once. The land around me was charged with the sounds of mechanized beings moving into action, the scream of gunfire, and the pit-pat of running soldiers.
“CHARGE!” Ortiz pointed to the tower. He declared this with the same passion for warfare that he had seen since we met him, but also with a hint of arrogance in his tone. How could he not when he was closing in on one of the most fearsome villains the world has ever seen?
We were left in the wake of every fighter heading to the melee; even Tank had gone to fight. Eddy, Danni, and I were the only ones who stayed with two snipers nearby. We watched the battle from where we were, and immediately knew that we had the upper hand that would become a fist and crumble Miller’s regime. One by one, the red beasts we had seen before had their deathly blood spilt, the bones sticking from their back ripped out, and their heavy jaws torn away.
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