by Tonia Brown
“Jesus,” she said. “I thought I was gonna have to kill him there for a minute. That woulda been a huge mess. Right?”
I nodded as I kept a steady gaze on the men, not entirely convinced they wouldn’t come running back at us. In my worldly experience, you didn’t nearly pop a man’s arm out of its socket and him just grumble and walk off.
“Sam,” Mab said.
I grunted.
“Sam,” Mab said again. “You can put that away now. It’s over.”
“What?” I said.
Mab ran her hand down the length of my arm, pushing the gun in my hand downward. I let her, lowering my aim and finally my guard. I trembled all over from the rush of what Mab had just done. I had never seen a woman stand up for herself like that. At least I had never seen a woman stand up like that and walk away from it without a busted lip or a broken limb. It was incredible. She was incredible.
Mab touched my face, wiping a tear from my cheek.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re gonna be okay.”
I collapsed in her arms, weeping into her shoulder. I hadn’t realized how tense I was, how wound up the whole episode had left me. I didn’t even realize I was still holding my gun until she lowered my arm. She let me cry a bit, patting small circles into my back in a way that reminded me of Mr. Theo. When my tears ran dry I pushed off of her and wiped at my face.
“Sorry,” I said. “That’s so embarrassing.”
“Don’t be embarrassed,” she said. “I cry all of the time.”
“You do?”
“Sure. I’m a big weeper. Nothing like a good old fashioned cry to get all of your frustrations out. You good now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” We picked up our packs and got to moving again. “Mab, would you have really killed him?”
“If it came down to it. If he had continued to disrespect me. Especially if he had turned and attacked me after I so generously let him go. I have to keep these men in line or every Bubba will think he can just take what he wants from me. Hard enough hunting these jackasses, being female brings its own special challenges.”
“Why don’t you just hide it?”
“What, being a woman?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. I guess I just like a challenge. And seriously, these girls,” she paused to point to her large breasts, “are a bitch to bind. I can’t breathe with them as it is. Can you imagine trying to hide them?”
That got a laugh from me, which drew a smile from her. I looked down at my own nearly flat chest. “I guess I am lucky there.”
“You have no idea.”
“Has anyone ever, you know, taken what they wanted?”
“You mean has anyone out here taken me against my will? That kind of thing?”
I shrugged, but yeah, that’s what I meant.
“Not exactly,” she said. “Lord knows it isn’t for lack of trying. A few have come close, but so far I have denied all parties entrance to the dance, at is were. Had to break a few noses, and in one case cut a pair of very delicate organs from a very stupid man. It was shortly after that the men started calling me Mad Mab.” She put a finger to her chin. “Huh, I never made that connection until now.”
“You cut off a man’s, um, personals?”
“Yup. I’d have cut off his tallywacker too, but he was too fast for me.”
I shuddered. “They are right. You are mad.”
“No, I take care of myself. Listen, if these men treated each other the way they’ve treated me, this whole place would be a ghost town in a week. They would all just kill each other. But a woman defends herself and she’s crazy? Really?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Not at all. Besides, the crazy thing works for me. You heard his friends. They knew of me. They knew I what I am capable of. Now he knows.”
“And he will tell everyone else.”
“Now you’re getting it.” She patted me on the back. “Thanks for the assist, by the way. Nice cover. I didn’t even notice the other one coming until you had your gun out.”
I walked a little taller at her praise. “Thanks. Do you think you can teach me how you tossed him down like that?”
“Sure. When this is done, I will show you everything I know.”
I liked the sound of that.
Dusk came, which tumbled into sunset, then full on night. We walked as long as we could by the thin moonlight before Mab finally decided to pitch camp, worried her hustling would catch us up to Stretch too quickly. We found a good spot a few yards from the road, were we set up a small fire and made a meal of beans and dried meat of some unknown origin. After an hour or so of talking, I settled in while Mab took first watch. I slept a good while, hard and deep.
My dreams were fraught with strange images of men chasing Mab around the open desert. They hollered for her attentions, calling her rude names and telling her how much they loved her. She would let them get close enough to grab her, at which she would turn into a whirlwind and beat the tar out of all of them at once. She would then take off running, and they would chase after her, starting the thing all over again.
I woke sometime later to a jostle from Mab.
“Sam,” she whispered. “Wake up.”
I sat up and rubbed at my eyes.
“Someone is coming,” she said.
That was enough to wake me fully. Sure enough, the sounds of approaching feet rose from down the road, coming from the direction of Truth. Many approaching feet as well as the distinct squeak of wagon wheels.
Mab tossed my gun belt onto the blanket beside of me, and handed me my hat. “Stay a few feet behind me, out of the light.” She grabbed up a lit lantern and stalked off. “And remember, keep your mouth shut. Let me do the talking.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said as I pushed the hat onto my head.
I stood, cinched my belt around my waist, and followed her to the edge of the road. She sat her lantern down and rested her hands on her guns, waiting for the approaching strangers. I waited a few feet behind her, as instructed, out of the lantern light. I mimicked her, resting my hand on my gun.
The shuffling grew louder, as a crowd of men appeared under their own halo of light. They traveled two abreast, marching along in their steps. In fact, they marched as if they were soldiers, and dressed in that bland working outfit of the Syndicate. Each man had a weapon drawn and at the ready. It dawned on me this wasn’t a normal unit traveling from town to town, this was an armed escort. Two led the front of the team, followed by man driving a goat attached to a loaded down wagon. The wagon was flanked by two men, then trailed by four more of these soldiers. They almost passed us by when the man driving the goat caught site of Mab and called out to his troop.
“Stop!” she said.
She?
“Take a few minutes,” the feminine voice said. “I need to talk to that woman.”
I did a comical double-take in the moonlight as the person brought the wagon to a stop, dropping the goat’s reins and approached Mab.
“Ma’am?” one of the men said nervously. “Dillon said we weren’t supposed to talk to anyone on the way.”
“He isn’t here,” she said. “We are. And I am asking you to have a break. I won’t be but a minute.”
That voice sent chills down my spine. I recognized her. I wasn’t the only one.
“Gill?” Mab said.
“Maribel?” Gill said. She pushed the cloak away from her face, showing herself and lighting a fire in my soul. “I thought that was you. Come here!” She rushed across the road and tossed herself at the other woman.
They hugged and laughed as if best of friends. I wasn’t sure how to react. Mab didn’t know the truth about the woman as I failed to share Gill’s betrayal in my narrative. It was too painful at the time to talk about. Now? Now I w
as angry. My hand remained on the butt of my gun. I wanted to draw it and shoot her dead where she stood. I wanted to kill her for what she did to Convergence. To those men. To Mr. Theo.
“Got yourself an escort?” she said.
“Them?” Gill said. She eyed the group of men who had now moved off the road, leaving the wagon and goat unattended. “Yeah, well, they are just making sure I get to Iron Station in one piece.”
“Why Iron Station? I heard everyone was headed to Truth. Especially since Jackson set Newton and Convergence on fire.”
Gill went pale. “Uh, yeah, I heard that’s what happened. I mean since he burned down Newton he’s just gone crazy.”
Did her betrayal know no bounds? My fists trembled I tightened them so hard. If she spoke again I was going to jump her. I wouldn’t be able to help it.
“Kid?” Mab said. “You all right?”
I nodded.
“I see you got yourself an escort,” Gill said. She walked right up to me and stuck out her hand. “I am Gillian but everyone calls me Gill.”
So the hair was the trick. She didn’t recognize me. I didn’t look up at her. I knew if I did she would surely recognize me. Instead, I pushed her hand to one side and went to join the men. As I passed Mab, I shot her a look and shook my head quickly, begging her silence with my eyes. Don’t make me talk to her, I tried to say. Don’t introduce us. Don’t tell her my name.
“Rude,” Mab said. “You know how boys are today. So rude. Go on then. Go running to the men.” Mab drew closer to Gill, wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulder. “I think he is just tired of a woman telling him what to do.”
The pair of woman laughed at that, then their conversation faded into a dull series of hissing whispers.
I wandered to the other side of the road, where the men were sharing cigarettes and jokes. I had no idea what I was going to say to them, but it was better than curbing my urge to kill Gill. Halfway across I stopped, thinking Mab was right about not saying anything to anyone. I glanced behind me, glad to see Mab and Gill moving toward the campsite and further away from me. This left me alone, in the middle of the road, with the goat and the wagon.
The goat glared at me, suspicion dancing in its double slitted eyes.
Who the hell do you think you are? it seemed to say.
“If you only knew,” I said, scratching its head between the horns.
“Sam?” a voice whispered weakly from the bed of the wagon.
I nearly jumped ten feet straight into the air at the sound of my name. Spinning about, I grabbed the edge of the small wagon and peered inside. Laid against the backboard, propped up so he could admire the passing scenery, was a sight for sore eyes. Doc Bowden. A blanket sprawled across his lap, tucked under what was left of his legs. Last time I saw the man he was limping out of his burning town on one good leg. Now he had a matching pair of stumps.
“Doc?” I said.
“I knew it was you, girly,” he said, then smiled. “I’d know that voice anywhere.”
I cursed myself for opening my mouth. When would I learn?
He coughed a little, spitting a good sized wad of phlegm onto the road. “It’s good to see you alive.”
“I’m only alive because of you.” I ran my gaze from his face, to his new missing leg, back to his grimacing face. He looked awful. “Geesh, Doc, what happened to you?”
“My nephew happened to me.” He ran his hands over his blanketed stumps. “We don’t have time for that. Listen to me, carefully. And come closer so I don’t have to shout at ya.”
Once again, I obeyed his command and fell silent, leaning into the wagon to listen to him furiously whisper.
“He’s got your boss man,” the doc said.
“I know,” I said. “We are going to get him.”
The doc placed a few trembling fingers on my mouth. “That’s not important.”
My eyes widened. Of course it was important. Freeing my mentor from that maniac’s grip was the most important thing in the world to me.
“Dillon won’t wait anymore,” he said as he lowered his hand. “He’s got the cure and he won’t wait. That’s why he’s calling all of his men to Truth. He’s gonna give it to them.”
“Isn’t that good, though,” I said. “All of those men will be immune.”
Though I could see the potential problems. A bunch of outlaws and criminals immune to a disease that could easily wipe out what was left of the rest of humanity. But the doc wasn’t done explaining. Not quite.
“It don’t work like that,” he said. “Part of the cure is the disease. They have to be infected to survive it. You get me?”
I recoiled in horror. I got him all right. “Dillon is going to infect his own men?”
“Feed them the cure, then release the revs on them. Whoever survives will join him as part of his elite. But it won’t be many. Might not be any at all, if the odds run bad.”
“And those who don’t survive? They will…”
“Turn. All of them.”
“No. That’s horrible.”
“Truth is filling up with men excited about this little get together of his. Rumor about the cure is drawing them from all over the Badlands. He is about to make a good thousand revs, maybe more.”
“Dear God.”
“God isn’t here,” Doc said in a familiar tone.
He sounded just like my mentor.
“You can’t let him win,” the doc said. He patted his stumps. “I let him win. You can’t. You have to stop him. No one else has the balls to do it. I know you don’t think you can, but I know you can. You and Theo.”
“Doc,” I said. “I don’t know if I can do this—”
“Hey, kid!” one of the men shouted. “Get away from there.”
I held up my hands and backed off of the wagon, making sure to keep my head hung low in case any of the men knew me.
“What’s going on?” Gill said, as she and Mab came rushing back from the campsite.
“This one was rummaging around in your wagon,” the man said.
“He wasn’t rummaging,” Doc said. “He was keeping me company.” The doc winked at me.
I grinned under the shadow of my hat to the gasps of awe from the men approaching me.
“Vincent?” Gill shouted. She ran toward the wagon. “Vincent? Are you all right?”
“I thought you said he wasn’t talkin’,” Mab said.
“He wasn’t.” Gill turned to me, grabbing me by the shoulders. “What did you say to him?”
I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on the road.
“Leave that young man alone,” the doc said. “And for Pete’s sake, someone get me a drink. I’m about as dried up as a nun’s nether bits.”
“Vincent!” Gill scolded.
The men laughed. So did Mab.
“That sounds more like the Doc Bowden I know,” Mab said.
“Mad Mab?” the doc said. “That you?”
She drew near the wagon, tipping her head to the man inside. “It is, sir.”
He wrinkled his nose at her. “Well that explains the smell of trouble.”
“I think that might be your goat, sir. He’s pooped in the road.”
We all laughed at that. Before Gill could argue further, Bowden demanded that their group get a move on, citing his need to use a proper outhouse as soon as possible. Mab and I left Gill fussing over the doc and returned to our campsite. I tried to talk to Mab, but he hushed me into silence. The group eventually moved on, though we could hear the pair fussing and fighting long after their figures faded into the night. Once we were both certain they were gone, we both tried to talk atop each other.
“What did you say to him?” Mab said.
“We need to get Stretch out of Truth,” I said over her.
Mab shot me a gruff look, which silenced me.
“What did you say to him? His nurse said he hasn’t spoken in nearly a week. She thinks he is at his end.”
“His end?” I said with a laugh. “I think he just needed a friendly face to remind him he’s too ornery to die. What I said to him isn’t important. It’s what he told me that matters.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What did he say to you?”
I told her.
Part Four
Altogether Now
Theo
Dillon, surprisingly enough, was true to his word with Gill. I never made it back onto the wall, though I was always returned to my room—as I had come to think of it—after each session in the pen. Three mornings I was dragged out and dumped unceremoniously into the wooden border where I would fend off a horde of hungry revs. Each evening I was dragged back to my room, fed, watered and left to rest for the next day.
I wasn’t the only one running around like a madman in the pen either. Though, it took a full day before I realized I was the only one here by force. Men from all over the Badlands started arriving at Truth, eager for the chance to show their loyalty to the Syndicate by acting like a jackass in front of everyone else. They thought it was some kind of honor to jump into the jaws of a hungry rev. In the first day alone, ten men had to be put out of their misery. By the second day, another fifteen had to be released from this earth. Yet they kept coming. Men are stupid. That never changes.
The rules of combat were simple. No weapons. Just your fists and a rev. Sometimes two revs. In my case there were four or five at a time. I narrowly escaped on each occasion, but I didn’t know how much longer my luck would hold out. As we waited our turns inside of the pen, I overheard all sort of talk from the men as to why in the world they would choose this path. Some said the fights were a chance to move up in the Syndicate ranks. Some said it was a quick way to earn much needed respect. Others suggested Dillon was going to give the cure to the winners.
I doubted this, but what did I know?
One afternoon I spied a sight that both broke my heart and made me feel a bit better about things. The crowd had begun gathering around the pen, taking seats on the surrounding benches and bunching up at the fence itself. They talked and laughed, their growing excitement for the oncoming fight building as they settled in. Without warning, the talking came to a sudden stop. Everyone fell silent as they turned, nearly as one, to the southern side of the fence. I got to my tired feet and peered over the fence to find out what was so entrancing.