In a flash, Alusta threw a backhand at her attacker and sent it flying away from her. Her limbs moved so fast, Seb barely saw them. The yellow beast hurtled back the way it had come and crashed into the far wall of the pit.
The crowd gasped to watch the broken form of the challenger slide to the ground. For a second it didn’t move, but then it got to its feet, slightly wobblier than before, yet still with the fight in it.
The challenger raised its fists and opened and closed its mouth. Its red forked tongue snapped forward, jabbing the air as if tasting the distance between them. It looked ready to lunge again, but Alusta rushed toward it first. She closed the gap of about ten metres in a flash and appeared in front of her opponent. Two wet squelches and she impaled the slim creature on her spear-like legs.
“Wow,” Seb said to Phulp. “Does this kind of stuff always happen in the fighting pits? It’s so exciting.” Playing the newbie felt like eating glass, but if it helped him ascertain whether he could trust Phulp or not, then it would be worth it.
Phulp didn’t respond.
Alusta grimaced as she kept her legs dug into her challenger. The crowd whooped and hollered when she lifted the slim creature from the ground and held it several feet clear of the dusty ring.
The seating area shook from the crowd stamping on the floor and chanting, “End it.”
Seb noticed the shake in Alusta’s rangy limbs as she continued to hold the challenger aloft. Despite her speed, Alusta didn’t necessarily have the strength of some of the other champions. Although, maybe she didn’t need it. If he could be an exception for a pit champion, then why couldn’t she?
The desire to stand up and challenge her itched beneath Seb’s skin, but he remained still. It would serve no purpose. In fact, it would only damage their cause.
With a loud roar that silenced the chaos around them, Alusta pulled her legs apart and ripped her opponent down the middle. Seb jumped and nearly heaved. He hadn’t seen that coming! A wet tearing sound accompanied the splash of a body’s worth of blood hitting the dusty ground. Like in the square only a short while earlier, the place took on the metallic reek of a slaughtered life.
Two wet thuds echoed as Alusta shook the bisected creature from her arms. Seb watched her take in the audience with a dark glare, her entire form shimmering as if her skin had a mind of its own. If he went down there now, he’d bang her out in the first thirty seconds.
An uncommon action for a pit fighter, Alusta walked over to the large Crimson foot soldier in the booth and dropped down on one knee in front of him.
The shadowed hole where the foot soldier’s face should be revealed nothing to Seb. The large brute lifted its hand. A big green fist, skin like leather, appeared from its robe. It raised its thumb at Alusta, the yellowing nail on the end of it long and sharp. Alusta’s face lifted with hope and the crowd cheered.
Then the foot soldier flipped his hand and pointed his thumb down.
Silence swept around the pit and Alusta’s face fell.
The commentator in the middle of the ring stepped forward and said, “Um … are you sure?”
“Alusta’s getting lazy,” the large foot soldier explained. “She’s not putting on a good show anymore.”
Covered in the blood of her opponent, Alusta stared up at the foot soldier but said nothing.
“People come here and spend their hard-earned money gambling on the fights. Alusta’s style isn’t good for business.”
“That’s bullshit,” Seb said as he leaned close to Phulp. “That was one of the most dramatic fights I’ve ever seen.”
“I thought you said you’d not been to the pits before?”
Seb didn’t respond and his face heated up.
After he’d looked at him for a few seconds, Phulp added, “He’s the champion and has the record for the most fights. At some point he has to stop Alusta from fighting so he can remain champion. You just saw what she did then. If they let her continue, she won’t even have to break a sweat to beat his record.”
The two soldiers didn’t speak, but the smaller one in the pit continued to look up. Finally, he said again, “Are you sure?”
Utter silence consumed the place before the large soldier’s voice boomed around the room. “Finish her.”
The Crimson foot soldier in the ring pulled Alusta to her feet, her two more prominent legs still dripping with the blood of her opponent.
Several foot soldiers entered the ring with blasters raised. They all pointed them at the pit’s champion, who instead of looking at them, looked up at the large soldier who’d sentenced her to death. As she stared at him, the air lit up with laser fire, tearing through her and dropping her to the ground a second later as a broken and bloody lump.
A glance down the line at his friends and Seb saw all three of them watching the pit, their faces fixed in shock.
The sound from the crowd picked up a second later as they spoke amongst themselves. The foot soldiers dragged Alusta’s body away.
Phulp shook his head. “That’s such a crappy way to die. The Crimson foot soldiers are power-hungry grunts who like to dominate anyone and everyone. They get humiliated every day by the Countess. By disempowering them, she starts a chain reaction that sees them doing the same to others. The people at the end of the chain take the hardest kick.”
Seb needed to hear Phulp’s dissent before he trusted him. “Look, I’ve been to the fighting pits before.”
“Obviously.”
“But this is my first time on this planet.” A quick glance at the other three, who now watched his conversation with Phulp, and Seb said, “The first time for all of us. We’re here for reasons I can’t go into, but we need to get into the wealthy part of the city.”
A shrug and Phulp shook his head. “I’m not sure who can help you do that.”
Seb pulled a loaded credit card from his pocket and showed it to the small man. “We can reward whoever takes us where we need to go.”
The eyes of an albino—red against his pale skin—widened and Phulp smiled. “Well then, since you say it like that, come with me.”
Seb looked at the other three and gave them a thumbs-up.
The five of them stood up and left the pit.
Chapter 28
The transition from the fighting pit to the slum brought the acrid reek of waste back to Seb. An involuntary twist gripped his face and he pushed the back of his hand against his nose as he looked at Phulp. “How do you put up with the smell?”
A shrug of his small shoulders and Phulp said, “I’ve spent enough time here that I don’t notice it.” He inhaled to the point where his narrow chest puffed out. “It smells like home to me now.”
Almost dizzy from the ammonia reek of urine, Seb continued to screw his face up but didn’t reply.
The further they traveled from the pit, the narrower the pathways got, so the group fell into single file. They headed deeper into the slum, moving among the foggy streets with the elevated city in front of them. Having left the pits, the cold bite in the air nipped at Seb and he did his coat up to his neck, his shoulders lifting in reaction to the harsh conditions.
The group remained mute as they walked. Many other beings moved through the ramshackle mess around them. They too kept quiet, their footsteps the only real sound in the place.
Every hut had similar dimensions and were built from junk. The rickety dwellings leaned into one another for support. To pull one down could level the entire slum.
When Phulp stopped, Seb looked around and said, “What are we doing?” His voice carried through the foggy dark and a few beings looked over at him.
Pulp spoke in a whisper. “I need to get something in the shop.”
Seb frowned and looked around them. When he glanced at Sparks, SA, and Gurt, they all seemed as confused. “What shop?”
Phulp pointed at the hut directly in front of them that looked the same as all of the others. “I need some food for now and some for later too.”
Seb followed Phul
p in. Now the canvas door had been pulled aside, he saw the wonky shelves loaded with tins and packs of food. Every product in the place had a long shelf life. Canned, dried, powered … fresh didn’t exist in this shop. And why would it? No shop owner who wanted to survive in such an impoverished place would load their shelves with products that went off quickly. Dust covered some of the tins, while others looked like they’d been recently put on the shelves.
A wrinkly old female stood behind the counter. With a square face like a tortoise and a neck as long, she watched her two customers through large milky eyes. A slight smile rested on her wizened face.
Phulp had a basket on his arm, which he filled with products.
“I thought you said you wanted a little bit of food,” Seb said.
“And food for later. It’s not often I meet someone with your resources. Where the next meal comes from is one of our biggest worries. You can help me alleviate that stress for a while, and I can help you out, yes?”
Hopefully Phulp would be true to his word. Seb nodded at him.
Sparks had come to the door of the shop and she peered into the dark place. A frown crushed her brow as she watched Phulp gather his shopping and then looked at Seb with raised eyebrows. Seb nodded. Were the roles reversed, he would have checked on her too. It felt good to know someone had his back.
The shop didn’t provide bags, so every one of the group carried several items each as they followed Phulp through the stinking and winding streets again. The small creature weaved through the twists and turns as if driven by an innate guidance system, and as Seb—at the front of his gang—tried to keep up, he also watched the ground for the large pools of urine and faeces.
Phulp stopped outside another hut and Seb rolled his eyes at him. “Another shop?”
The red albino gaze of the waxy-skinned Phulp softened and he smiled. “No. This is my place.”
As he entered the small dwelling, Phulp pulled the curtain back and led the group inside.
Built for someone of Phulp’s stature, Seb couldn’t help but smile at Gurt as he crouched down to get into the place.
“What?” the large Mandulu demanded. His horns pushed up his face as he locked his jaw tight.
Seb laughed. “You look ridiculous crammed into this tiny hut.”
Zero humour met Seb’s comment.
Each member of the group passed Phulp his food products and he proceeded to stack the shelves in his small dwelling. In one corner he had a fire pit that he must have used for cooking; in the opposite corner he had a pile of blankets and fabrics that he must have slept on. Depression sank through Seb as a heavy weight. “How do you stand to live here?” he asked.
“Huh?” Phulp responded.
“Well, I mean—” Before Seb could say anything else, Sparks silenced him with a sharp elbow in his ribcage.
“What he means,” Sparks said, “is that the smell must get to you sometimes. You have a wonderful home, but having to put up with other people’s filth right outside your door …”
A warm smile lit up Phulp’s face. “Like I said earlier, I don’t notice the smell.”
Clearly still riled about the size of the place, Gurt spoke more to himself than anyone. “I don’t know how; it bloody stinks.”
Ignoring Gurt, Phulp addressed Seb, Sparks, and SA. “If you want to remain off the grid, you stay in the slums. It can be quite beneficial if the soldiers don’t know who you are. The surveillance inside the wealthy district is so tight, they know when you’ve farted and expect you to excuse yourself.”
Seb sank a little where he sat. “So you don’t know how to get us into the wealthy part of the city?”
“I didn’t say that. Only that the surveillance is fierce in there. I can get you wherever you need to go on Solsans … for the right price, of course.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?”
“Morning,” Phulp replied as he shuffled over to his makeshift mattress and lay down. “When the morning comes, I’ll get you into the heart of the wealthy district. Although, after that, you’re on your own. It’s not a place I like to stay in for long, and if the Countess finds out I’ve helped you …” Phulp tailed off and his red eyes lost focus.
Seb looked at the others in his group. SA and Sparks seemed content to rest, while Gurt continued to remain crouched over in the corner, a deep scowl on his angry face.
As much as Seb wanted to provoke him by laughing at him again, he kept his mirth to himself and sat down on the cold and hard ground.
Chapter 29
Seb learned of the ambush when he woke up to a loud crash and a sharp pain of something falling down on top of him. Before they’d gone to sleep, Phulp had slipped a wooden pallet across the entrance of his small hut. That pallet currently lay on top of Seb, along with the weight of a Crimson foot soldier pushing down on it.
Everything slowed down as Seb struggled to breathe. Wedged between the pallet and the ground, he shook his head to try to clear the sleep-induced daze from his mind.
Chaos rushed into the small hut as several Crimson foot soldiers entered the place. Two of them pinned Gurt to the ground, and one held Sparks in a headlock. Another one, who acted like the leader of the group, walked up to Phulp.
Smaller than the others, she had a crackle to her voice that dragged sharp fingernails down Seb’s spine. Despite being the smallest of the group, she stood in a way that spoke of a confidence in her strength. The little rat held herself like she could bite a windpipe out in an instant.
A quick scan around the small and dark space and Seb didn’t see SA anywhere. He couldn’t help but smile to himself.
Two more foot soldiers squeezed in. “How many foot soldiers can you fit in a mini?” Seb said and laughed.
The two newest arrivals stared at Seb, and the one on top of the pallet put more of his weight on it. Pain spread out from Seb’s hip as it pressed into the hard ground. They’d obviously come for the four newest arrivals to Solsans and wanted to make a show of it.
The small leader’s face remained hidden by the shadow of her hood, but Seb could feel her glare as she stared at him. For a second she remained perfectly still. She then tilted her head to one side. “Who are you?”
So maybe they weren’t there for Seb and his crew. Seb didn’t answer.
The small soldier seemed to lift by an inch as she pulled her chest back and stepped toward Seb. “I said—”
“I heard what you said, and I chose not to answer. So save your breath, yeah?” A quick glance at Sparks and Gurt, and he saw they remained restrained by the guards. SA still hadn’t appeared.
“We’re here by order of the Crimson Countess and I demand—”
Phulp interrupted her this time. “You’re not here on official business. You’re here because I owe you money and you’ve come to collect. Don’t pretend it’s anything other than that.”
Silence filled the small space again and the slight soldier turned back to Phulp.
Still fighting for breath beneath the weight of the heavy soldier and the pallet, Seb shifted to try to find a little more comfort.
A finger click from the lead soldier and the two newest arrivals walked over to Phulp and patted him down.
“So where’s my money?” she said, her voice coming out like electrical distortion. The sound scrambled Seb’s brain, and were he not incapacitated, then he might have knocked her out just to stop it.
A shake of his head and Phulp stared straight at the soldier. “I don’t have it.”
The two soldiers who’d searched him pulled away and one of them said, “He hasn’t got anything on him.” The pair searched the shelves and very quickly found his new stash of food.
After she’d looked at several of the offerings from the soldiers, the leader said, “You seem to have an awful lot of food for a slum dweller.”
The slightest shift in the darkest corner of the hut caught Seb’s attention. It had to be SA. How they hadn’t found her in the small space yet … Before Phulp could repl
y, Seb said, “I bought it all for him.”
The small leader turned to Seb again. “Well, you can pay his debts for him, then.”
“No.”
“No?”
“You heard me. No. They’re not my debts.”
Just as the small soldier stepped close to Seb, the bioluminescent glow of SA’s eyes opened in the corner of the hut. She crossed the cramped dwelling, and he saw the glint of one of her smaller blades just seconds before she drove it into the throat of the tiny soldier. A gargling noise and the leader fell. Before she’d hit the floor, SA threw a knife at the soldier on top of Seb’s pallet, driving him backwards and giving Seb the opportunity to get to his feet.
Seb’s world flipped into slow motion again and he saw the beast who’d pinned him grab for the knife in his chest, so he kicked him in the face with a wet shlop. It knocked him out cold.
SA took out the two soldiers who’d searched the place. She then went for the ones who had a hold of Gurt, one on each arm. Seb went to Sparks’ aid. Before the Crimson guards could react, he’d knocked out his one, and Sparks had killed hers. Several bodies lay on the floor, two of them still fighting against the life leaving them.
Three more soldiers ran into the hut and Gurt shot them one after the other. When the large Mandulu looked at the ones Seb had dealt with, he shook his head. “I’ll do your dirty work for you again, then, shall I?”
Although Seb opened his mouth to respond, Gurt had already shot the two soldiers dead.
“We can’t leave anyone alive on this mission,” Gurt said. “The last thing we need is one of them running to the Crimson Countess to let her know what’s coming.”
As much as Seb liked to argue with Gurt, he couldn’t at that moment. The stocky beast had a good point.
SA stood by the door and peered outside. “Any more?” Seb said.
The brilliant blue glow of her eyes moved from side to side as she shook her head.
The Alpha Plague - Books 1 - 8: A Post-Apocalyptic Action Thriller Page 176