“Lister? You still haven’t killed me,” Becky’s voice barely reached Alvin as he went up the stairs three at a time.
The sound of gunfire drowned out any further conversation. Alvin went through the open doorway, finding himself on a balcony where two men manned M2HB machine guns, and were firing down at something, or someone. Between them, laughing with his head thrown back, was a pug ugly man.
Bringing the UMP up, Alvin fired controlled shots into the man on the left. The second shot jerked the gun’s line of fire to the left. The third and fourth shots made the goon stop firing, while the seventh and eighth rounds killed him.
The loss of one gun brought Lister’s attention to the dead man, but before he could do anything more, Alvin shot down the other gunner, leaving Lister and Alvin alone on the balcony.
Lister suddenly held a massive rifle and immediately began firing at Alvin. The first shot caught Alvin in the head, blurring his vision briefly as he was spun away from Lister, the UMP flying from his hands. He pulled his coat up over his head, hunkering down as the heavy impacts hit his duster, knocking Alvin prone.
As soon as the firing stopped, Alvin rolled over and brought the MP5 to his hand. Firing with controlled anger, Alvin aimed at Lister’s ungloved hands. Lister’s eyes went wide, as he hadn’t expected anyone to survive the onslaught of his gun. Half of Alvin’s shots missed, his vision still blurred. Most of his shots that actually hit Lister hit him in the chest, but a few did hit him in the hands, forcing him to drop the big gun.
Lister yelled something, but Alvin’s ears were ringing too badly from being that close to the massive rifle. Pulling his handgun, Alvin fired the entire magazine into Lister’s snarling face. Laying there as his face shredded under the onslaught, Alvin grinned manically. When Lister’s body fell back, Alvin allowed himself just a moment to catch his breath before forcing himself to his feet and holstering the pistol. Stumbling to the railing, he looked down to see most of the townsfolk who had come dead and in pieces, but Becky was getting to her feet unsteadily.
Alvin yelled down at her, then realized he couldn’t hear his own voice and that his face still hurt like hell. Slapping a medkit on himself, noise came rushing back, though it mostly consisted of the sounds of the wounded. Becky looked up at him, her chest a bloody mess as she pressed a healing item to it.
“That wasn’t fun,” Becky said, looking up at him. “You got here just in time, Hero.”
“You almost got killed,” Alvin said. The relief of her being alive started to wash over him, making him grab the rail to stay standing. “Scared the fuck out of me when I heard you taunt him.”
“You made it,” Becky said, looking over the dead and wounded. “Want me to help them?”
“Do what you can. I’ll loot these idiots and then meet you out front.”
“You got it,” Becky said, her smile faltering only for a moment before becoming brilliant.
Turning away from the railing, Alvin looted the two gunners first. They only gave him XP tokens, which he used. Lister, though, he declined to loot and picked up the heavy rifle. As he did, the rifle identified itself as a M82, but didn’t give him anything more.
Alvin snorted, “I survived this?”
Sticking it into his bag, Alvin stripped off Lister’s clothing and fannypack, leaving him in a pair of silk boxers. Picking up the UMP from where it had fallen, Alvin put the safety back on and let it vanish into his glove, followed by the MP5, which he had left on the ground. With that done, Alvin draped the dead man’s clothes on his shoulder and started to make his way out of the building.
Alvin considered what it would take to fix his duster, which had taken the brunt of the damage from the M82. Becky would need to get her gear fixed soon as well, after taking fire from both of the M2HBs.
The town would be in turmoil now that Lister was gone. Some would try to push their own agenda on the others, and Alvin didn’t want to stick around for that. With Lister gone, the Native Americans might be amenable to talking, but Alvin didn’t know if it was worth the risk to find out about the Mysterious Orb they’d found.
Making it back out to the front of the building, Alvin found Becky talking with Gary. “We’re very sorry for the losses, but now, you all have a chance to make a real effort at living. I’ll always remember Doug pushing me behind him when the guns opened up that first time.”
“He always wanted to go out protecting others, just like his father, Ryan,” Gary said.
“Gary,” Alvin said in greeting, then grabbed Becky and dipped her into a passionate kiss.
“Did you get them out?” Gary asked.
Alvin didn’t reply, too busy making sure the woman he loved was still alive and functional. When the kiss finally ended, Alvin blinked. “Huh? What was that, Gary?”
“Did you get them out?” Gary asked again, trying to hold back his nerves.
“Trevill led them out while I came to rescue you guys,” Alvin said as he adjusted the clothes he had on his shoulder. “But we had them near the door, last I knew. Maybe he took them to the Hippo?”
“I’ll go check,” Gary said and hobbled off, one of his legs still wounded.
“You okay?” Alvin asked, turning all of his attention back to Becky, who was staring at him with smoldering eyes.
“I’m excited as fuck, and I’m thinking of dragging you to the ground right here and now,” Becky said as she took a deep breath to calm herself some. “I was badly hurt, but you made it in time for me. The big guns really did a number on me; some of my gear is pretty fucked up. Luckily, I was smart enough to use my jacket to help cover my head.”
“I understand. My duster got badly damaged,” Alvin said, showing her the holes in back of his, but her jacket had even more. “Going to need a leatherworker soon. We also need to do an actual inventory of all of the shit we’ve picked up since we started this trip from Green River.”
“We might need to think about grabbing backup clothing when we do that,” Becky suggested. “Now, how about we go have a celebration of our own?”
“We should make sure they’re good first, but I promise you a long night. I’m thinking some nipple clamps, a panty vibe, and some good flogging before we get to the main course,” Alvin grinned.
“You’re so good to me,” Becky murmured as she copped a quick feel. “But I’ll wait if you promise me that, at least.”
“Oh, I promise,” Alvin smiled, glad they had both made it through their closest call to date.“But before we go interrupt their reunion, we should go back inside and give the place a good once over,” Alvin said. “You are to behave yourself, we’ll get to fucking later.”
“I promised to wait, Hero,” Becky said, batting her lashes at him.
“I’m just reinforcing it so you do,” Alvin said as he slipped an arm around her waist.
“It’s hard to be bratty when you do that,” Becky pouted at him.
“Yeah, but if I don’t, then you very likely will find a bed and drag me into it,” Alvin chuckled.
“Well, yeah,” Becky giggled.
Shaking his head as they entered the main doors of the keep, Alvin wondered how long it would take to search the building.
Chapter Thirty-three
Two hours had passed before they made their way back out of the building. Alvin was still chuckling over some of the things they’d found. One of Lister’s men had a serious foot fetish; the collection of magazines had been sizeable. They did find a considerable number of guns and clothing that might have been upgraded, so they took all they could. They took six more bags, each with more storage than a regular bag, to help them carry all the loot.
“It’s nice that they removed the one bag of each type limit,” Becky commented as they piled things into the Humvee. “We going to do the selling and things after Jarvis gives them a once over?”
“That’s the plan,” Alvin said. “We’re late enough as it is, and Officer Goodwill is likely to be suspicious of our prolonged absence, so we’ll go make
a showing before we head home for the night.”
“I don’t want to wait,” Becky murmured as she nipped his ear.
A shudder ran through him at her bite. “Behave, or I’ll change my plans for the evening.”
Muttering about him being unfair, Becky leaned against his side as they walked to the Hippo. Alvin kept his face blank as he smothered his laughter at her antics.
The pub appeared packed as they walked in, the booths and the tables full of townspeople. Gary was at the door and slapped Alvin on the back as soon as they entered. “Everybody!” Gary yelled, and waited a moment for everyone to quiet down and look his way. “Here they are, the pair that helped us remove Lister and gave us the chance to have a free life again, without fear of persecution.”
A loud cheer greeted the couple, who blinked blankly at the crowd. When the cheering stopped, everyone seemed to be waiting for something, so Alvin spoke up. “We’re glad you’ll all have the chance to live again, free, as you should be.”
Another loud cheer greeted his comment and people opened up an avenue for them to reach the bar, where Olivia was motioning them over. She had two mugs waiting for them once they’d made their way through the crowd of adoring townsfolk.
“You have free food and drink here any time you want,” Olivia said, earning another round of cheering. Once the noise died down, she looked at the two a bit more firmly, “but, please, no more shooting inside.” That earned a round of laughter, especially as some of the more obvious bullet holes were pointed out to those who hadn’t been there at the time.
“Thank you,” a short woman with dark complexion, who was standing next to Trevill, said, “for helping my husband get us out of the building.”
Smiling brightly for the woman, Alvin extended his hand to her. “It was a pleasure working with your husband, ma’am. Officer Trevill is a man of strong moral character and always gives people a fair chance.”
The woman beamed back at Alvin as they shook hands. Behind her, Trevill’s face was blank. “I fell in love with him for those reasons,” the woman said as she leaned against Trevill.
“He’s a lucky man,” Becky added with a smile that looked as real as Alvin’s.
“Dear, we should let the others thank them,” Trevill said, trying to lead his wife away.
“I hope to speak with you again later,” she said, allowing herself to be led off.
Alvin and Becky endured everyone wanting to thank them personally over the next hour. Alvin was just getting to the point where he had had enough when Gary called for quiet again.
“We have some big decisions to make in the next few days,” Gary said once he had the floor. “We’ll need to figure out who should be on the council, what we should do going forward from here, and how we apologize to our neighbors.”
“I was planning on visiting them tomorrow,” Alvin said. “I wanted to ask them a couple of questions. I can let them know that Lister is dead and that you’re hoping to make amends.”
Gary nodded. “Please extend the olive branch for us. It might be better if it was you, since they seem likely to hate us at the moment.”
“We’ll get it done,” Alvin said. “We’d also like to hit the kiosk tomorrow before we go.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Gary said easily. “I’ll make sure that the store is open in the morning for you.”
“With that said, I’m a little exhausted and need to get some sleep,” Alvin said, causing a lot of people to ask them to stay longer. “It’s been a really long day,” Alvin explained. “We came from Nine Mile Ranch, where we dealt with a few of Lister’s men before we came here and helped you. Depending on how things go, we might stay all of tomorrow,” Alvin paused as the crowd urged him to stay. “We’ll have to see how things look in the morning. Until then, we wish you all a good night.”
Alvin led Becky back through the crowd and Gary walked out with them. “Do you have a place to stay for the evening?” Gary asked as he hobbled with them toward the store.
“We’ll grab a room at the inn,” Alvin said.
“I’m sure that will be fine,” Gary said. “I’ll send Emily over to get you a room.”
Alvin and Becky drove over to the inn and parked near the rooms, then walked back to the front. They were met by Trevill and his wife. “Emily?”
“Yes,” Emily smiled. “I’ll grab you a key, one moment.”
She darted inside the office, leaving Alvin and Becky outside with Trevill. “What are your plans now? Moving into the fort tomorrow and becoming the new ‘leader?’” Trevill glared at Alvin as he asked the question.
Laughing, Alvin shook his head. “If I wanted that, I would still be in Green River. You need to lighten up, Officer Terrace Goodwill. Your wife would object to your suspicions, I think.”
Trevill’s lips pulled back and he was about to say something, when Emily came out of the office with a key. “You’re in the first room. It's not like we’re bursting with customers… not like we used to.”
“I did notice the abundance of places to stay,” Alvin said, accepting the key. “This was a popular town.”
“The hot springs and the sheer number of historical state monuments used to bring us a lot of people,” Emily said sadly. “It doesn’t look like things will be like that again.”
“Give it some time,” Becky said. “It might be a few years, but there’s a rumor that if the kiosks are connected, then things, and maybe eventually even people, could be transported between them.”
Emily’s eyes went wide at Becky’s words. “Really? We won’t be alone? We can talk to others?”
“If they’re on the same kiosk connection, yes,” Alvin said.
“How do we do that?” Trevill asked.
“One theory is that a trading house of some kind might be needed,” Alvin said. “Another theory is that someone like Lister would need to connect them together.”
“Lister would never have done anything like that,” Trevill smirked.
“Someone like Lister, in the sense that they aren’t native,” Alvin said. “I’ll try to explain it better to Gary tomorrow,” Alvin gave a big yawn. “I’m just too tired to put it into words right now.”
“Oh, I understand,” Emily said. “Come on Terrence. We should let them sleep, and Gary wanted to talk more about the town.” She began to tow Trevill away while he kept glancing back suspiciously at the two of them.
Watching them go, Becky murmured softly, “You make the best friends.”
“I just can’t help but needle some people,” Alvin chuckled as they went towards the vehicles. “Okay. Let’s grab everything and get into the room, then I’ll use the button so we can go to our room.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Becky husked.
“I’ll get you all set up, then do some work,” Alvin said as he started grabbing stuff from the Mustang’s overloaded trunk and backseat. “I’ll take a few breaks to check on you, and when I’m done with that, then I’ll finish what I started.”
Becky shivered. “Going to tease me and leave me bound while you work?”
“Oh yes,” Alvin said as he got the door to the inn room open. “I have to make sure you’re properly squirming.”
“So mean, and so good,” Becky purred as she followed him into the room, switching on the overhead light with her elbow as she went by. “How quaint,” Becky said as she looked at the simple room. “It’s times like this I’m glad we have our base.”
“No, it’s at times to come soon that you’re happy about our base,” Alvin chuckled. “Now, let’s get this done. You’re going to need to bring all this into the base from the room.” Triggering the UI on the bathroom door, Alvin turned back to the parking lot. “I’ll get stuff into the room, you take it into the base.”
“As you wish, Hero,” Becky said as she watched him go.
It didn’t take too long for them to bring in all the stuff they had collected that they wanted appraised. The only odds and ends not moved inside were the
drake teeth and claws, and the cow hides.
Locking the inn door and turning off the light, Alvin grabbed the last load of stuff and carried it into their base. The moment he was clear of the door, he was tackled to the ground. “Gah!”
Becky pinned him under her. “Got you, Hero.”
“Gothy, get off—” Alvin began before a wad of material was shoved into his mouth, cutting off his words.
“Nope. If you can’t talk, you can’t command me,” Becky giggled as she got the gag secured in place. “Now for your arms.”
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