“You’re with Torben,” Brendan said.
The man looked momentarily confused. “Torben. Torben. Oh yeah, one of the lesser warlords. Heard of him. No, but I work for the same guy he does.”
He lunged for Brendan. Charlotte caught him and slammed him into the asphalt. He groaned and stayed down.
“How many more of you are there?” she asked.
He tried to laugh again but was clearly in pain. “Come on, kids. You’re making me look bad in front of the gang. This is my trial run. If I let you beat me, I don’t get picked for the team.”
“How can you kill all these people?” Brendan asked.
Donnie shook his head. “Take your pick. Natural selection. Right of conquest. Crap rolls downhill. You’re either on top, or you’re one of them.” He nodded towards the line of corpses. “You might even got what it takes. How about it, kids?”
Four people rounded the back of the RV, two men and two women, all dressed in dark leathers.
“Say hello,” Donnie said in a low voice. “Behave. I’ll put in a good word for you.”
Brendan, Tina, and Charlotte stepped away from Donnie as the four approached. All of them had multiple tattoos along their arms and necks. The man in front wore black sideburns and dark glasses.
“You look like you’re having trouble there, Donnie.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” Donnie struggled to get up but his foot wouldn’t bear his weight. The best he could do was crawl to the side of the closest RV and pull himself awkwardly up, standing on one leg.
None of the four newcomers even seemed to notice the bodies on the ground. The second man had a shaved mohawk of red hair and bright gaudy rings on every finger. He grinned broadly as he got close to Donnie and gave him a once-over. Donnie shifted uncomfortably. The redhead jabbed him with a finger and knocked him down.
“Come on, Rolf.” Donnie tried to laugh it off and stand again, but Rolf stood in his way.
The two women looked at the kids. Both had dark complexions, and one had dyed raven-black hair. She was grinding her teeth. The second woman fidgeted in place and appeared sickly thin. She had dried blood on her split knuckles.
The man with the dark glasses said, “Donnie, you’re a wreck.” He turned his attention to the kids. “And where did the three of you drop in from?”
“This is my home,” Charlotte said. “You’re not welcome here.”
“That’s clear enough, judging by our reception. The welcome committee needs to be replaced. I’m hoping we’ll find some reasonable people we can deal with. Maybe the three of you can help with that. You’re from here, huh? Then why is it that the rest of you go down like cattle but the three of you managed to stop poor Donnie in his tracks? Granted, he’s not the toughest hombre, but I’d give him enough credit to be able to handle a few middle schoolers.”
“We’re in high school,” Tina said.
Brendan heard an engine gunning behind them. Their truck was barreling in their direction, with Helen behind the wheel. She laid on the horn. Almost everyone scattered in time, but the truck caught the skinny woman head-on before it smashed into the RV. The truck’s front folded and crumpled the RV’s side. Steam rose from under the hood. Green liquid began to spill out onto the ground.
Tina closed in on the woman with dark hair. The woman saw her coming and knocked her back with a broad slap that sent Tina falling backward. She struggled to get up and the woman pushed her to the ground with her boot.
Rolf went to the truck cab and dragged Helen out. The airbag had deployed, and the scientist appeared dazed. He threw her towards the others and she landed hard. She tried to crawl away, but Rolf caught up and put a foot on her ankle.
The man with the sunglasses looked at the front of the truck and made a click with his tongue. “Poor Trish.”
Rolf asked, “What do we do with them, Ivar?”
“Kill that one,” Ivar said, indicating Helen. “And you kids are going to stop lying and tell me where it is you really come from. Otherwise it won’t go well for you.”
13. Warlords
Rolf didn’t hesitate. He took Helen by her hair. Every time she moved, he jerked her head back. She winced and flailed at him with her one good arm.
“Stop!” Brendan said. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.” He saw he had everyone’s attention. Both Charlotte and Tina were waiting on him.
“You’re going to do that anyway,” Ivar said. He nodded to Rolf.
Rolf raised his fist to deliver a blow.
“If you hurt her, you learn nothing and we go away,” Brendan said.
Rolf hesitated. He was poised to strike. Brendan knew if these people were anything like Torben or even Donnie she would be dead with a single blow. She pried uselessly at the hand gripping her.
Ivar let out a single laugh. “And you think we won’t catch you. Tell me, how did we miss a bunch of kids like you? It looks like you’ve been well cared for. Clothed, well fed, none of your teeth knocked out. But none of our people marked you.”
“Because we’re not from your world,” Brendan said.
“Brendan, don’t,” Charlotte whispered.
Ivar took off his glasses and cleaned them with a blue bandana tied loosely around his neck. “I’ve always had a little game that never gets old. Brendan, is it? When I get some prisoners together who know something, I ask them a question and tell them that the first person who tells me what I want to know, that’s the one I’ll let live. An old trick, but I keep it in the playbook. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us here, so I’d hate to waste time beating around the bush.”
He stopped talking and looked at each of them.
“They have a gate between this world and theirs,” Helen blurted out. “I can take you there.”
Ivar nodded and put his glasses back on. “See? It’s like magic.”
Brendan saw Charlotte had taken her latest glove out from her pack. She was doing her best to conceal what she was doing. As she pressed a few of the component circuits into place, the dark-haired woman grabbed her wrist and tore the glove away. Charlotte screamed, but the woman only laughed and dropped the twisted metal to the ground.
“Is this some kind of toy?” she asked. She stomped on the glove.
“No!” Charlotte cried.
“Let me take care of them,” the woman said. “They need to be taught manners.”
“Soon, pet,” Ivar said. “I think we have company to deal with first.”
The sound of a helicopter pulsed through the air above them. Rolf let Helen go and pulled off a spare tire mounted on the back of one of the RVs. He flipped the tire in the air a few times and waited. The helicopter came at them at a slow hover, flying above the overpass. It paused midair and turned. There was a black box slung underneath the front of the cockpit, and a bright blue “11” logo in the middle of a circle on its side.
“News copter, Ivar,” the woman said.
“Yeah,” Rolf said. “Smile for the camera. How long before they send us some real action?”
“Careful what you wish for,” Ivar said. “You weren’t with us when we broke ground the last time. Give ’em something to show the masses.”
Rolf stepped out away from the RVs. He waved at the copter. Then he spun around with the tire in one hand and released it like an Olympic discus thrower. His missile struck the rear of the helicopter’s body and bounced upward. The blades struck the tire and it shredded instantly, but the helicopter shook and pivoted. The pilot was clearly having trouble. The aircraft dropped a few feet before recovering. Rolf took a bow. He then went to a parked car and tore off a fender. The helicopter pulled up and away.
Ivar and the woman were laughing.
“Well, I guess the fun will begin soon enough,” Ivar said. “Porters! Weapons!”
Brendan hadn’t heard or seen them approach, but a row of kids about junior-high age and younger came through the parking lot pushing wheelbarrows laden with ammunition cases and weapons. The kids were filthy and
wearing rags. They studiously avoided eye contact. Blue tattoos marked their arms and necklines. Their loads were stacked high and lashed down in a haphazard manner. Rolf pointed them in the direction of the front of the restaurant.
“We’ll set up there for now and see what happens,” Ivar said. “Radio!”
One of the kids parked his wheelbarrow and trotted over. Strapped to his back was an overstuffed backpack. Ivar turned the boy around and produced a large green hand radio. He pulled the antenna out and switched it on.
“Hello, HQ? Tell Anak we’ve got our location secured. Some local law, a handful of military scientists, and a couple of helicopters we took care of. You should be clear to settle in.”
There came a reply that Brendan couldn’t hear, but Ivar was nodding and scanning the sky. Brendan was backing away when Rolf gave him a push.
“Going somewhere?”
He pushed Brendan towards the side of one of the RVs. Charlotte and Tina were likewise corralled in, Charlotte looking devastated at the loss of her glove. Tina nudged Brendan. Brendan looked for Rolf and saw the redheaded man was no longer hovering over him. He appeared to be trying to listen in on the radio conversation.
“We need to do something and soon,” Tina whispered. “Before we run out of steam.”
All Brendan wanted to do was run. This was too much. If all of these people were like Torben, what kind of a fight could they put up? And how many were there? A dozen? Hundreds? An army?
The dark-haired woman leaned in next to Tina. “Pss-pss-pss-pss-pss,” she mocked. “Hasn’t anyone told you that whispering is rude?” She put a hand to Tina’s face and stroked her cheek. “Such fair skin.”
Tina tried to jerk away. “Don’t touch me.”
The woman grabbed Tina by the head and slammed her against the side of the RV. “I do look forward to this place. Everyone in the last world broke too quickly. It got a bit dull. But I like you. I think I’ll make you mine, if Anak wills it.”
She released Tina. Tina almost fell, but Brendan caught her and they huddled next to Helen. The woman paused to shove Charlotte onto the ground before wandering over to the kids unloading the wheelbarrows.
“Torben was like this,” Brendan said softly. “They’re used to their power. No one’s been strong enough to stand up to them.”
Tina rubbed the back of her head. “We can at least try. There’s three of us.”
“There’s too many of them here. We had enough trouble fighting just one.”
“We have a chance,” Helen said. She had been listening. “We show them the gate in the park. We tell them there’s another world beyond. Maybe they’ll leave us alone.”
“What, are you nuts?” Tina said. “We can’t do that.”
“It makes perfect sense. If that’s what they’re looking for, maybe they’ll keep moving. It’ll give us time to send in someone who can stop them.”
Brendan looked around to see where Donnie was. The man had managed to open the smashed pickup’s tailgate and was seated on it, his leg and broken foot outstretched before him. But he wasn’t close enough to hear their whispers.
“Lady, you’re crazy,” Brendan said. “I’ve been to their last world. They don’t just pass through. They settle in and make slaves of people. They’ll use the gate eventually if you show it to them, but they’re going to make this place home too unless they’re stopped. Is there anyone left you can call?”
“I hope they’re on their way. But it looks like these people are ready for a fight.”
It was hard not to be amazed at the array of weapons and ammunition being laid out. Rolf and Ivar seemed to know what they were doing. They readied several rifles and larger machine guns. A long black case held what looked like some kind of rocket launcher. They handled all the heavy hardware with ease, like they were toys.
A motorcycle engine roared. Another warlord pulled up on a heavily chromed street bike. A woman with a long mane of blonde hair and a pair of rifles slung across her back was hanging on behind him. They conferred with Ivar for a moment before riding off.
Donnie cheered at them as they passed.
One of the gang appeared on the overpass near a stalled Cadillac. He propped a long rifle on the hood before scanning the sky with binoculars.
“How much of a problem would it be for one of your people to just drop a bomb on them from an airplane?” Brendan asked Helen. “They couldn’t stand up to that.”
“That’s what they all say,” Donnie said in a loud voice. He had heard them talking. Did being from an upstream world also convey heightened senses? They had been almost whispering. “Airplanes,” Donnie said. “Snipers. Tanks. Nukes. Well, maybe no one got around to that last one. But you’ve got to catch us first. And this part of the game is the most fun.”
He smiled and closed his eyes while turning his face up to the sky, as if enjoying sunlight was the highlight of his day.
“You can’t tell them anything,” Brendan whispered to Helen.
“They’ll find it eventually. Why not save ourselves? You see the damage they did even before their arrival. If they have the power to unleash this amount of carnage, then fighting them will be a mistake.”
Donnie was nodding as if listening to music. Now Brendan was sure he heard every word.
“You’re afraid of them,” Tina hissed. “I get it. But you just proved they can be killed when you rammed one with the truck. Pull yourself together.”
“Because they’re not the only ones who can hurt you,” Charlotte added.
Brendan caught their attention. He gestured to Donnie and indicated he was listening.
Charlotte pointed to her ring finger and made a smashing motion.
Tina nodded in agreement.
“Hey, boss,” Donnie called. He kept calling until Ivar came over.
“We’re busy, idiot. What is it?”
“Sounds like the kids are up to something. I’d get them sorted out sooner rather than later.”
“Is that so?” Ivar looked them over. He pulled a revolver from his back and handed it to Donnie. “Then how about I put you in charge of keeping an eye on them. We only need one alive to tell their story. Think you can handle it?”
Donnie beamed. He opened the cylinder and checked the bullets. When he closed it, he half-cocked the hammer and spun the cylinder a few times. He aimed it first at Helen, who flinched and tried not to make eye contact. The gun moved to the rest of them. Brendan tried to hold as still as possible, to not give the man any excuse to do any more of what he had been doing all day.
“I’ve got it, chief,” Donnie said. “Thanks for the piece.”
Ivar went to chase down another rider who had pulled up to Rolf for a consultation. Three more bikes rumbled past. It was as if they had materialized out of thin air. Then Brendan realized that was exactly what was happening. They had a gate somewhere close. It transported not only men but machines.
Donnie hopped off the tailgate and tried to put weight on his foot. He winced. He hobbled over next to Helen. She trembled as he put the barrel to her head.
“Bang,” he said with a laugh.
“You need me,” she said. “I know where there’s a gate.”
“Gates, shmates. There’s gates everywhere. We make ’em when we need ’em. What else you got? Nothing?”
He pulled the hammer of the gun completely back.
“Your own personal gate,” Brendan said. “Imagine that.”
Donnie’s lips moved as if he were mouthing the words to a song. The revolver barrel was now pushing against Helen’s head. She had her one good hand up and tears were streaming down her face.
“Please,” she whispered.
Charlotte grabbed Brendan’s arm. “Don’t,” she said.
“What do you mean by ‘personal gate’?” Donnie asked. The revolver didn’t move.
Brendan pushed Charlotte’s hand away. “I mean the object your friend took and smashed could open a gate that’s portable and can transport a single person.�
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Donnie looked over to where the crushed glove still lay in ruins. “Looks busted to me.”
“But we can make another one. Make one for you.”
The man stared at the glove for a moment and then his smile returned. He nodded. “That would be something, wouldn’t it? How many can you make?”
“That depends. All of my friends here are needed. It’s not easy or quick. That woman broke our only working prototype, so it could take a while, but how many do you need?”
Donnie’s face clouded. “This sounds like it could be a big pain. Who’s got time for that?” He looked down at Helen and sighed. “Too bad for you.”
“Wait!” Brendan said. “It doesn’t take that long. And with those parts of the broken glove, we can at least make one for you that you could show your boss. You want him to pick you for the team, right?”
“The ‘A’ team. But I’m not even on the ‘B’ team.”
“Wouldn’t that impress him? If each of you had a way to use your own gate?”
“Brendan, stop,” Charlotte whispered.
“I can hear you!” Donnie screamed, his face suddenly red and his eyes bulging. “I hear everything!” He started hobbling her direction. “Me and the Mexican were talking! It’s rude to interrupt!”
Brendan shielded her from Donnie, and he stopped and stared down at him. “We’re sorry,” Brendan said. “She just doesn’t like giving up our trade secrets. We were going to give them to your boss. Instead, we’ll give them to you.”
Donnie scratched his face with the barrel. The hammer was still pulled back.
“But I need everyone here to fix it,” Brendan said.
Donnie bounced the end of the barrel against his own temple. Brendan could smell the sweat of the man as well as his own. Several more of the motorcycles zipped past. But Donnie remained in deep thought.
“Think about how smart this will make you look to your boss,” Tina said.
The Supervillain High Boxed Set: Books One - Three of the Supervillain High Series Page 55