Freelancers: Falcon & Phoenix

by Thackston, Anthony

  Phoenix sits up in her seat, covering the side of her face to block out the sun. A small town appears just on the horizon. It's not much bigger than the Freelancer outpost. "That town." She points ahead.

  Falcon nods and eases up on the gas, trying to conserve what little they have. As the buildings of the town become more discernible, so too, do the boards covering the windows. Falcon takes the speed down to fifteen miles an hour as the car crosses a section of train tracks. They see the bombed out remains of a train car on one side and the rest of the derailed train on the other.

  "This town looks dead." Phoenix watches the short buildings pass by. Each of them has boards up over the doors.

  “Nation citizens got forced into big cities and capitals. Towns like these are the only way outposts can exist. Maybe this was one at one time," Falcon says as they both see the faded words, [DIE FREELAN]. The rest of the graffiti is too faded but they can both guess how it ends.

  Phoenix points at a gas station. Nearing it, they see the pumps are fallen down. Falcon pulls into the driveway and rolls near one of the caps on the ground. He opens the lid and sees the hole revealing the black insides of the tube. Falcon runs his finger along the inside and comes up with soot on his fingertip. "Dammit. Tanks are empty. Someone burned it all up."

  "What about that?" Phoenix motions toward a small truck parked on a side street. A camper rests in the back.

  "Siphoning it is." He drives Jerin toward the vehicle. Pulling up alongside of it, white radiator smoke becomes apparent and a man pokes his head out from under the hood. Seeing the armored fastback, he grabs a screwdriver and holds it out in front of him.

  Falcon stops the car and quickly gets out with his hands raised. "It's ok. We're not gonna hurt you." He walks toward the front of Jerin and sees a woman and little girl seated on a bench. The woman does her best to cover the girl.

  Phoenix gets out and walks to the front. "What's going—oh." She raises her hands, like Falcon.

  "It's fine," Falcon says. "We just want to help."

  "I don't need Marauder help," the man says. He swings the screwdriver. Falcon and Phoenix remain still.

  "We're not Marauders," Falcon says.

  The man looks at their car. "Only Marauders do that to cars. Marauders and...You're Freelancers?"

  "That's right," Phoenix says, her voice reassuring.

  "You have a contract on me?"

  "We don't know you. We just want to help," Falcon tells him.

  The man stays resolute in his defense. None of them are getting anywhere with this.

  "If we help you, will you put the screwdriver down?" Falcon asks.

  "A deal?" The man lowers the screwdriver slightly.

  "A deal. You know what that means." Falcon looks at Phoenix. She holds her hand out.

  The man looks at it suspiciously. "Marauders don't make deals." He lowers the screwdriver completely. "My truck overheated."

  "We can help," Phoenix steps forward.

  He takes her hand and shakes it. "Deal." He places the screwdriver on his engine block. "I was hoping a few minutes would cool it off."

  "You're afraid of Marauders so you know where you are," Falcon says.

  "I know we're not far from their territory. But we're still in NLA. Till we cross the border, we're relatively safe."

  "I don't know how true that will be. It will be dark soon. Why are you leaving?" Falcon asks.

  "Where are you heading?" Phoenix reaches into the back seat of the armored fastback.

  "My wife and daughter don't speak Spanish. That's against the law, here. We're trying to get to the Freelands."

  "That's a fair ways away," Falcon tells him.

  "We were fine till this happened." The man points at the overheated truck.

  "This should help with that." Phoenix comes out of the car with two bottles of water.

  The man gladly takes the water. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He turns to his wife and daughter, holding the bottles in front of them as though they are thousands of dollars before pouring one bottle into the radiator. More steam hisses out as the thirsty vehicle takes it all. He uncaps the next bottle and pours it in.

  "Will it be enough?" the wife asks.

  "How long would you say the drive is?" The man looks at the Freelancers.

  "Two, maybe three hours," Phoenix tells them.

  "And there might be an army of Marauders between here and there,” Falcon adds.

  "We'll take that chance," the man says.

  "There are some newly wrecked vehicles that way. You may be able to siphon coolant from them if you need," Phoenix adds. "Do you have a weapon?"

  "Just a pistol."

  "We only have three bullets," the wife explains.

  Falcon walks to Jerin and reaches in, coming out with their pistol and the last magazine. "Here. You might need it."

  "That's our last one," Phoenix says.

  "Not quite," Falcon tells her.

  "I can't." The man shakes his head.

  "You will. You still have to go through the Waste. Here." Falcon puts the gun and magazine on the truck and backs away.

  "This is more than the deal we made," the man says.

  Falcon gets back into Jerin and turns the key. The engine sputters but it doesn't turn over. He tries again with the same result. "Come on."

  The man leans down in the passenger side and extends his hand. Falcon smiles and takes it. The two shake and the man goes to his camper and climbs inside. Falcon steps out and looks at Phoenix. Neither of them knows what the man is doing.

  He finally comes out with a two gallon gas tank, holding it up he looks at his wife for approval. She smiles and he takes the jug to the gas tank of the car and pours it in. Both Freelancers are humbled by the act. It might have been just a deal to the man but for Falcon and Phoenix it's an act of generosity.

  “Thank you,” Falcon says.

  “It’s not much and this thing looks like it will drink that right up. But it might be enough to get you where you're going." The man walks back to his family and smiles at them. "I'm opening a tailor in the Freelands. Come see me and we'll get you a new jacket," he says to Phoenix. She looks down at her half sleeve and laughs.

  Falcon nods in gratitude before getting in their car. He turns the key and it starts right up.

  "Good luck," Phoenix tells the family as she climbs in the car. They smile at her as they pile into their truck.

  Both vehicles part ways, heading for very different lives and vastly different destinations.

  35

  The clouds in the sky fade from pink to red as the sun lowers toward the horizon. Phoenix watches the tall grass being whipped around by the wind. Falcon looks down at the fuel dial. They've used half a gallon since they left the abandoned town. "I hope we find gas soon. I don't want to leave Stack's car out here."

  "We'll find something," Phoenix tells him. "I'm not walking you back to the Ivory.”

  "I'm with you, there," Falcon says. He slowly but suddenly leans forward, staring straight ahead. "That can't be."

  "What?" Phoenix looks ahead. "No."

  Falcon stops the car and puts it in park. They both look down the road. "Let's see how much he actually copied." Falcon reaches around the back of the passenger seat, finding a pocket. He puts his hand inside. "Right down to the binoculars," he says as he pulls out a pair of large, green binoculars and opens the door.

  Phoenix watches him walk to the front of the car before she gets out to join him.

  HIs breathing is shallow as Falcon hesitates to put the binoculars to his eyes. Shaking off the anxiety, he peers through them. The tall man looks different. Aside from the obvious burns, he now wears some kind of black mask, obscuring the lower half of his face. Falcon watches the man bring the large machine gun to rest on his shoulder. Daken stands next to the same tank. Its turret and cannon are gone and Falcon can see the obvious hole where the C4 blew up but there's no doubt his hated rival is alive.

  Phoenix walks up to Falcon. "I
s that who I think it is?"

  Falcon lowers the binoculars. His expression is one of instant rage. "Yeah."

  "I thought we left him dead in the Waste."

  "Apparently not."

  They both stare at him as he does back at them. Bazooka shells. Prisoners in the Waste. And blown up in a tank yet here he stands.

  Strands of her own hair whip across Phoenix's face as she looks at Falcon. "How do you want to play this?"

  Falcon steadies his breathing as he takes a moment to form some kind of strategy. "Take the wheel." He walks past her to the passenger side.

  Phoenix remains a few seconds more, watching Daken climb to the hatch of the tank and drop down into it before she walks to the driver’s side.

  As Phoenix sits back in the car, Falcon looks in the back seat. There is little of use to them besides the strange gun. Phoenix looks at Falcon then in the back seat at the object of his attention. "No. We don't even know what that thing will do."

  Falcon turns to her. "One way or the other, we're ending this."

  "How do you even know it works?” Her voice is defiant.

  Falcon faces the front. "We're about to find out. Drive."

  "I don't think—”

  "Phoenix!"

  She shifts the car into drive and guns the accelerator.

  Daken shifts the tank into drive and heads toward them. Another game of chicken. This time between an armored car and a tank. There's little question of who will actually win in a head on collision.

  Falcon reaches into the back seat and grabs the gun. He unlatches his window, dropping it to the side.

  "Be careful," Phoenix says.

  If he hears her, he doesn't acknowledge it as he climbs through the open window.

  Daken aims his gun at the oncoming vehicle, though all he really needs to do is duck down and drive straight into them.

  Falcon takes aim and pulls the trigger. A high pitched whine emanates from the gun and the air starts to warm up around it. Not knowing what is happening, he keeps the trigger pressed down.

  Daken fires shots at the car. Most of them hit the armor and bounce off. A few hit the windshield slats, chipping away at the metal pieces. Phoenix flinches at the sparks. Strange blue specks begin moving in front of the car. They look to be traveling toward the same thing. She looks through the window and sees a bright glow coming from Falcon.

  His vision becomes distorted and the air gets hot as Falcon holds the trigger. The blue light grows just in front of the gun as the specks gather around it.

  Both vehicles are closer to one another. Both men are determined to win out over the other. The only one who seems concerned is Phoenix. "Falcon!"

  The high pitched sound stops, suddenly, as the specks disappear in front of the gun. Even the glow seems to have dimmed to nothing. Without the obstruction of the blue light, Falcon sees just how dangerously close the tank is. Suddenly a blue blast fires from the barrel of the gun. A shockwave spreads out behind it, lighting up the whole area.

  The blue light hits the tank, crushing the front end as the rear of the armored vehicle rises into the air. As if it just smashed into an impenetrable wall. The blue light travels across the tank and engulfs it, reducing it to atoms. If Daken was screaming, there was no way to hear it as the light completely dissolves everything it touches until it all fades away.

  Phoenix runs the car through what looks like ash before stomping on the brakes, throwing Falcon forward, and bringing them to a stop. She stares straight ahead. There are no words for what they've just seen.

  Falcon turns around, slowly, to watch the wind carry off what is left of the heavy military vehicle and Daken. His intent was for it to be over but he didn't expect it to be like that. He swings his legs out of the car and steps to the black section of road where the tank just stood.

  Phoenix gets out of the car and walks to him. They both stare at the ground then at each other, still in shock. After everything they've been through since meeting, this is the strangest event they've witnessed or been a part of.

  "He said not to fire it," Phoenix tells him.

  Falcon only nods. Understanding, now why Stack warned against the strange gun’s use.

  "And he used it more than once,” she continues. "Are you feeling ok after it?"

  "Yeah," Falcon says, relieved. "He's gone. Finally." He looks toward the sky. "That's for you."

  Phoenix doesn’t ask. She merely stands, silently, letting Falcon take in the moment.

  Minutes pass before the silence breaks. “I wonder what’s next.”

  “We keep moving. It'll be dark soon and I don't want to get stuck here of all places,” Phoenix tells him.

  They walk toward Jerin. "No political amnesty?" he asks.

  "The opposite, actually. I was banned from New Latin America."

  "Banned from NLA? What did you do?"

  Phoenix looks down the road. "I, uh...the President has a daughter. I had too much to drink and ruined her Quincenerea."

  They both get into the car. "You got banned from the NLA?” He laughs. “Welcome to my world. That makes two of us."

  “That doesn’t surprise me. Can we just hurry?”

  “A deal’s a deal.” Falcon hits the gas and they speed down the road.

  36

  Bonus

  Watch the original “Falcon & Phoenix” Concept video:

  https://vimeo.com/107170393