Wastes of Space

by Darcy Town

  Marx bounced like Kennedy. “I cannot wait.”

  Danny hissed. “Exercise some caution, this place is populated. For all we know, she’s been overwhelmed.” They turned a corner and came to a rising passageway that led to a ladder. The space above was sealed with a metal door.

  Danny climbed the ladder, put an ear to the metal, and tapped softly. He heard a soft tap in response. He smiled. The door hissed and opened. Light filtered in.

  Tasanee ducked her head over from the laptop she’d set up to hack into the local network. She grinned. “Right on schedule.”

  Danny hauled himself over the lip and moved out of the way. Marx and Kennedy leapt straight up, ignoring the ladder. Tasanee plugged her nose and backed away. “Gross. Go bathe now.” She pointed to three two-story silos of water, the sides were clear Plexiglas. “That’s clean post-processed water. The water won’t drain until I say so, so get going. I have clothes when you’re ready to change.”

  All three dashed to the open-air silos. They passed bodies along the way. Marx skidded to a stop. “Who did this?”

  Danny smiled. “Who do you think?”

  Marx eyed Tasanee’s work appreciatively. “She can fight while injured, a good sign.”

  Kennedy took hold of a corpse. “I hungry, I go eat now.”

  “No.” Danny grabbed Kennedy by the scruff of the neck. “Not people, not in my sight. Got it?”

  Kennedy hung limply from Danny’s hands. “If I go out of sight I can?”

  “No! Now let it go! I mean it!” Danny gave Kennedy a shake. “Drop it!”

  Kennedy dropped the body. “I let go.”

  Danny released him. “Get cleaned up.”

  Kennedy frowned. “I get clean without water.”

  “Whatever.” Danny climbed up a ladder to the top of a silo. He lowered himself into the cold water.

  Kennedy disappeared round a corner.

  Marx took the water silo next to Danny and stripped down to briefs. Danny stole a look at the Hunter. Marx’s skin was a dark caramel; he had faint greenish spots of pigment across his chest, back, and thighs. Danny could easily imagine Marx in a jungle, stalking prey and blending in with dappled undergrowth. He, she, it, he couldn’t tell, was entirely muscle.

  Marx only had eyes for Tasanee. The Hunter watched her work as he slid into the water. He was thrilled with her killing skills. He counted seven men, all unskilled fighters yes, but she was damaged herself. He grinned and dove underwater to get thoroughly clean.

  Marx had thought she might have flaws when it came to the area of fighting, but this display put those thoughts aside. He needed to see her fight, soon hopefully. He got aroused just thinking about it.

  Marx spun in the water, enjoying the sensation of weightlessness. He heard tapping and opened his yellow eyes. Tasanee stood on the top of the ladder on the other side of the glass. He came up for air. “Yes, my little rat Tasanee?”

  Tasanee eyed the Hunter. “Ah, it knows my name.”

  Marx hooked his claws on the edge of the silo and smiled at her. He sniffed in her direction. “You are fragrant. The fighting made you sweat. I greatly enjoy this new smell of yours.”

  Tasanee glared at him. “Stop smelling me.”

  “I cannot help it, I breathe and I smell or taste the air. You are delicious either way. I wish you had our senses, you would understand.”

  “I doubt that and I don’t want to. Clothes.” Tasanee brought them up to eye height. “Putting them right on the ladder.” Her eyes flicked over Marx’s androgynous face. “Don’t take too long, I checked the TV and we don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Thank you for the clothing; it was a thoughtful, caring gesture to provide for me.” Marx reached out to touch her hand.

  Tasanee snatched hers away and looked at anything but his face. “Yeah, right.” She hopped down and went to Danny, giving him the same message.

  Marx got out of the water and sat on the top of the ladder. He shook his hair out and watched Tasanee dart back to her workstation. Kennedy skipped by the bottom of Marx’s ladder and hopped into the last silo.

  Marx looked over his clothing and put it on. He ran his hands over his torso and looked at Danny as he changed. His eyes slipped over to Tasanee. Marx frowned and dropped to the ground. He went straight for Tasanee, stopping inches behind her. He leaned down. “Am I not appealing to you in any fashion?”

  Tasanee jumped, not having heard him approach. She kept her back to him. “What?”

  “My form, does it not appeal? Am I deficient? Do I have flaws?”

  “I…why are you even asking this? Haven’t I made myself clear about the chances you and I have?” She fiddled with her computer. “I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t understand you and your itness and you obviously don’t understand me.”

  Marx wrapped his arms around her. Tasanee went rigid, but did not push him away. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “What must I do to attract your notice? Tell me and I will do this.”

  “Have tits.”

  Marx turned Tasanee around, grabbed her hand, and put her hand up against his chest. “I can have some when my hormones are right. Is this what you wish of me?”

  Tasanee craned her neck to look into his eyes. “Uhm, no.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t being serious. It doesn’t come down to looks with me, Marx. I don’t care if you had six breasts. I care about the person and you’re a weird human-eating thing. How am I ever supposed to know if—hey what are you—”

  Marx bent down and pulled Tasanee into a kiss. He had to show her what he felt; she had to know what she meant to him. Marx focused his pheromone glands; his skin flushed with blood, his saliva changed. His slipped his tongue into her mouth.

  Tasanee shivered and relaxed in his arms. He tasted like everything good she’d always wanted to eat; he smelled like everything she wanted to smell. He felt good, this felt right; she was safe, loved, and special. She desired nothing more than to keep kissing and touching him, but she was not stupid. She kneed Marx in the groin, pulled back, and punched him in the face. “Don’t do that!”

  Marx licked his bloodied lower lip and smiled. “I needed to show you. You said you did not understand my perspective. Do you now? Do you feel what I have felt this whole time since I tasted you?”

  Tasanee’s heart raced. She closed her eyes so that she did not have to see him. “That wasn’t fair, Marx. I didn’t ask for that.”

  “Fair?” He did not understand this. “If we are compatible, we are compatible. You would not have enjoyed this kiss if it were not the case. I would have tasted remarkably foul to you and you would have to me as well.” Instead, she’d tasted like a fresh kill, smelled like a fire on the plains, a rainstorm, a Hunter. “All I have done is make you aware of what I was already informed of; we would be a good match. We would be happy together.”

  Kennedy and Danny watched with interest. Danny turned to Kennedy. “Is that true?”

  Kennedy nodded and spoke quickly, “We only taste good to those we are suited for. She and Marx would have found test icky if not good match. This is first step in our courtship.” He grinned and shook water out of his hair. “Does not mean they will be matched. Couples fight long before they are paired.”

  Tasanee glared at Danny and Kennedy. “Can we stop talking about this? I don’t care if its mouth tastes yummy. I am not interested.” She looked at Marx. “Don’t ever do that shit again.” She turned away and packed up her computer. She licked her lips, savoring the flavor. She realized what she was doing and stopped. She put her bag over her shoulder and stepped away from Marx. “I’m ready. We should leave.”

  Marx lingered over her protectively. “Do you need me to numb your wrist again? I notice you favor your other hand.”

  “No I don’t!” Tasanee stalked off towards the exit. Actually, she was in pain, but she wasn’t going to let Marx lick her anymore. His tongue was obviously a demonic device.

  Danny followed Tasanee. “Wait for me, Rat.”
/>
  Kennedy elbowed Marx. “That was good tactic! How you know she would feel it?”

  “I had a hunch about her.” Marx smiled. “She may deny it in other ways, but she cannot deny it biologically anymore.” His smile widened. “Did you see her kills?”

  Kennedy nodded and picked his teeth. “There were more down the hall.”

  ***

  Katarina ducked behind their barricade of overturned cars, a faked car accident along the stretch of road just north of Bombay. Their motorcycles were propped up behind them, fully gassed and waiting. She looked to Evgeniy. He nodded, ready.

  Evgeniy remained motionless; his breathing even and controlled. The weapons to either side of him were loaded, a rocket launcher, several semi-automatic rifles, a few pistols, and a sniper rifle. He was prepared for most anything.

  Katarina listened to her earpiece, waiting for a signal from Lincoln and Oro. Lincoln hissed through the connection. “Convoy has passed, seven cars, black with tinted windows, no one else on the road.”

  “Roger,” Oro replied in monotone. He had positioned himself between Lincoln and Katarina and sat north of Katarina’s position along the road.

  Katarina flashed Evgeniy a nervous grin. “Within minutes.” They kept their heads down, waiting for Oro’s next message.

  Katarina fingered the safeties on her guns. She was a trained soldier, a pilot, but she was used to blasting things out of the sky with guns the length of her body, not up close and personal. Evgeniy grinned in silence. He lived and breathed close combat; he was more than ready for this.

  Katarina wrapped her fingers around a tripwire that would set off fuel cells giving the appearance of a car fire.

  Oro buzzed in their ears, “Cars are passing my position.”

  Behind them, an engine sounded in the sky. Evgeniy turned and looked into the air. A helicopter came up from the south. He sighed into his headpiece. “Ground to air rounds employed shortly for helicopter. Chance of surprise on convoy drops to nothing.”

  “Understood, I am ready to fight.” Lincoln purred.

  Evgeniy raised his loaded rocket launcher. He took one shot at the helicopter. The rocket flew true and the helicopter spun into the ground, on fire before it smashed into the road. He smiled, not rusty at all.

  Katarina pulled the tripwire and closed her eyes. Evgeniy did as she did. Blinding phosphorous light splashed across the overturned vehicles, flashy but without heat.

  The seven-car convoy hit their brakes. Soldiers spilled from the cars, ducking and rolling out before the vehicles came to a stop. The first two cars formed a wedge, blocking the road from a frontal attack. Soldiers took cover behind vehicles.

  Katarina pulled a pin off a grenade and lobbed it over the truck in front of her. She ran towards Evgeniy. He grabbed her around the waist and the pair ducked around to the left. The blast shattered the glass in the vehicles around them.

  “Nice lightshow.” Lincoln purred into their ears. “The back is relatively unprotected. I am going in.”

  Oro tapped on his microphone. “Have not seen Ravil. She remains inside one of the cars.”

  “Noted.” Lincoln laughed dryly. The Hunter stripped down to an improvised loincloth. He ran without shoes and dropped to all fours. His legs dislocated and repositioned to aid in running. The Hunter raced along the asphalt like a blue-spotted cheetah.

  The first car had no idea what landed on them. Lincoln tore the roof off like paper, stuck his arms inside, and grabbed men. He tossed them into the air and sniffed. “No Ravil in the back, Oro feel free to dispose of.” He jumped to the next vehicle, ignoring gunfire that did little to slow him down.

  Oro turned his flamethrower to the empty car, engulfing it in flames. He ducked down to stay out of sight. He didn’t feel a hint of excitement or fear.

  Lincoln was the exact opposite; he was thrilled, exultant. He kicked and rent men in two. The thick talons on his feet were harder and studier than the blades on his fingertips. A soldier scored a shot into his chest. Lincoln lifted the man off the ground, unhinged his jaw, and bit through half of his face. He spit the skin and bone out at another soldier. He roared with the frenzy of the hunt. Soldiers dropped to the ground and covered their ears.

  Evgeniy, Katarina, and Oro wore microphones that doubled as earplugs. To them Lincoln’s howl was barely noticeable. To every other person in earshot the sound was primal and paralyzing.

  Ravil and Jason sat in a car in the middle of the convoy. She heard the Hunter’s call and sat up in her seat. She turned towards the direction of the sound. Jason swore and drew his gun. Ravil folded her hands in her lap and waited calmly.

  Katarina smashed the butt of her rifle into a soldier’s face, following up with a kick to his stomach that sent him into the arms of another. She shot twice before turning to the next target. Her original grenade had broken the glass of the cars in the front of the convoy. She swept both cars making sure their occupants were dead or gone. She spoke into her radio, “Front two cars are empty.”

  Lincoln growled in response. “Second and third in the back are empty, now.” He licked blood from his lips. Behind him, Oro shot flames at the empty vehicles. Lincoln leapt to the fourth car and punched through the roof.

  Jason shot towards Lincoln’s head, but missed.

  Lincoln hissed and slashed at Jason’s face, opening his cheek with three bloody gashes. He grabbed the head of security and flung him into the field that lined the road. He peeled back the metal the rest of the way and looked down.

  Ravil gazed up at him calmly. “Hello, Hunter.”

  Lincoln spoke into his headset, “Prey acquired.” He dropped into the car and examined her wrists. “Gold, how did they know?”

  “They didn’t tell me.”

  Lincoln bit through her handcuffs and spit out the metal. “Are you able to jump now?”

  Ravil concentrated. “No.”

  Lincoln sniffed her. He licked her dress. He shredded the material and pulled it off, leaving her in her underwear. “And now?”

  Evgeniy threw open the door. “All soldiers taken care of. Hello, Ravil.”

  “Hi, Czar.” Ravil concentrated, she grinned. “Back on!”

  Lincoln nodded. “Get to Rake, we have a team going in after him, but success is not guaranteed.”

  “What are you going to do here?”

  “Draw attention to us.”

  Ravil nodded and disappeared. Oro and Katarina reached the car at the same time. Lincoln leapt out of it and luxuriated in the sun. He licked blood from his fingers. “Ravil is off to Rake.”

  Katarina smiled. “Good. Now what do we do?”

  “Are all here dead?”

  “Or unconscious.”

  He sighed. “Pity.”

  The sound of incoming helicopters and cars reached their ears. Lincoln looked down the road. “I believe this is where we cause a commotion.”

  Evgeniy reloaded. “Understood.”

  ***

  Soldiers marched Rake out of his cell and down a cement hall towards a growing noise of people clapping and cheering. Five soldiers walked in front of him and five behind him. The hallway had no doors or windows. The soldiers had cuffed his wrists in front of him and bound his ankles in shackles. They were armed with tasers, batons, and blasters. He didn’t have a chance in hell of escaping all on his own.

  Rake tried to fight his growing sense of hopelessness. “I hope I don’t have to listen to too much of Dad’s jerk-off speech. I think I’d rather die.” He laughed nervously.

  The prison guards ignored him, but Dead Lara didn’t. She pinched his ear and twisted. “Fight! Get out of here, Rake!”

  “How? I’d love to know!”

  “I thought you were clever!”

  “Me too.” Rake drug his feet. The guards behind him pushed him on. He struggled to make his face calm as he saw the doorway that would lead him out to his father and whatever media circus he would be shot in front of. He took a deep breath and thought of escape again, but
he drew a blank. He wasn’t very good at escaping. Generally, other people figured that part out for him.

  Rake’s lips tingled. He licked them, the tingle only increased. He grinned.

  Dead Lara glared. “What?”

  “The hallucination is back.”

  “The Hunter? How can you tell?” She looked around. “Did it leave a message or clue?”

  “I’m all tingly.” Rake smiled at the confused expressions on the guards around him.

  Dead Lara shook her head. “You can’t sense them you idiot. Only Hunters can sense that way.”

  Rake shrugged. “I bet you a dollar I’m right.”

  The guard directly in front of him turned back. “Will you shut up?”

  “No, I’m going to die.” Rake turned his nose to the air. “I get to say whatever I want while I can still breathe.”

  They reached the doorway and the guards halted, waiting for a signal to bring him out.

  Rake twitched, he had to pee. He smirked, wondering what his father would do if he aimed it his way. He tugged at his jumpsuit; too bad there was no way in or out of this orange monstrosity.

  They heard clapping. Rake cleared his head. His last thoughts were not going to be on his attire. He puffed his cheeks out. What should he think about? Spotting the Hunter was number one, and then, well, he didn’t really know. Rake frowned, wondering where Ravil was. Was it too much to ask for a pick up? What if she was unconscious or maybe drugged up? He wouldn’t put it past his father to drug a kid.

  A sinking thought set in. Maybe the Hunter was just here to watch him die. That or it was waiting for Ravil to show up so it could ambush them both. He played with that thought. Honestly, he’d rather be kidnapped than die, all things considered.

  The door opened and the guards shoved Rake outside. He stumbled into an open-air amphitheatre and winced against the sunlight. There were people, cameras, flashing lights and blurs of color. He blinked and his eyes adjusted.

  The place was not what he expected; it was a large antique building. Everything was wood or wrought iron except some bulletproof screens at the foot of the stage and mounted guns along the top of the amphitheater wall. He wondered if the low-tech scene was a measure against Sammy interfering. Probably they just didn’t want his blood and brains splattered over someplace new and shiny.