LAND of the FREE

by Michael W. Huard

  Chapter 27

  Sinaye and Zaey made their way out of Y-Wood as quickly as their broken bodies would take them. They were no longer of any use inside the complex. The scientist knew her left knee ligament was torn, her shoulder was dislocated, and her cuts needed serious attention to stop the bleeding. Zaey had one serious, mostly closed, bulging black eye which she could now hardly see out of. The wrist on her right fighting hand felt broken, and she too had bruises and cut wounds which needed attention. They were both lucky to have exited the stadium alive. Their injuries would heal. They scrambled out of the area, walked west along a ruined sector of buildings, and out onto an overgrown street path.

  Both looked back in the hope that their fellow sisters were also making their way out of Old Fenway Park.

  Just as they thought they were in the clear, an ambush of robots appeared from both sides. Along with the bots was a tall male with long, black hair and a goatee, and a wild looking woman who screamed out, "Time to die, you pair of bloody bitches!"

  Of course, the guy was J-Rail, the top hunter of the Corporation. He announced his arrival, "Well, well, well, looks as though we got a couple of injured chickadees here. Why don't you beaten up little girls throw down your weapons and plead with us to not kill you? I mean, this seems rather unfair, right?" He smirked at his own words.

  The woman next to him was grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing brown cowhide leather clothing with gray stitching, and was sporting a freshly cut, silver-colored Mohawk. Suzy-Q had a metal barb-tailed whip dangling from her hand. "Bitches . . . come out to play!" she yelled out.

  J-Rail looked at her and frowned. "They're already out, stupid," he replied to his female companion.

  Suzy-Q smirked, "It’s from an old movie from centuries ago. I love that movie," she added. The hunter could only shake his head at her.

  The robots on both sides now held their rifles pointed towards the two women. J-Rail held in his hand a black katana; a nasty looking samurai sword.

  Six robot soldiers spread out on both sides of the two Q-Jin, and it was apparent a decision was going to have to be made. Suzy-Q faked a charge at the girls and laughed out loud at her silly antics. "They aren’t gonna give up. Nope, not these two sweeties. They are part of that sisterhood of saints . . . ha ha ha," she mocked.

  The dark clad bounty hunter, J-Rail, just looked at her. "I know that, dumb ass. They have been thinking they're special and gonna save mankind for quite a while now." Both girls knew they were in huge trouble. Numbers were just not on their side.

  Zaey had had enough fighting for one day, but there was no other choice. Sinaye's lack of mobility would be a big deciding factor. Together, they moved closer and then positioned themselves back to back. "Stay together," the scientist told her companion, "we use one another to make a whole."

  The little Australian fireplug could not agree more. "I'm with ya, I just wish I could see better," she said.

  Out of nowhere, a mystery car flew overhead and darted full steam directly into the line of the six soldiers on the girls' right side. Each robot was plowed down and the vehicle itself smashed head-on into a nearby building. Everyone froze for a moment in total shock.

  Shots were then fired at the other row of robot soldiers from the corner of a nearby warehouse to the women's left. A cyborg appeared from behind the warehouse and was blasting several robots directly in their eye sockets. They shot back at their attacker, but four of them immediately fell as she shot down the line with her usual expert marksmanship. The women then realized that the mystery cyborg, was none other than their own sister, Tyne Gem!

  Somehow, she had survived the train station attack back in Detroit. The sparkling blue-eyed Mystical Slayer glared over at the two bounty hunters. "Cyborgs repair themselves even when you run a train over them," she said with a cozy little smile.

  J-Rail ordered the remaining bots to shoot, and both he and Suzy- Q ran at Sinaye and Zaey.

  Seeing now that Tyne was not a human, the bots pinpointed her and fired rounds of laser beams into her part droid body. She kept coming at them.

  The flying car, which was now half smashed into a wall, had its roof popped up, and low and behold, out jumped Jansa and Chaya! Jansa called to her sisters who had reacted to the sudden movement from the car and had been ready to defend themselves once again. "You didn't think we would actually wait back at home and let you guys do all the hard work, did you?" She and Chaya immediately ran to their friends' aid.

  Tyne battled the laser shooting bots until eventually they both dropped. She was damaged pretty badly by the many shots she had taken in the process. Doing all she could to get to a nearby street bench, she sat down and slowly started to lose consciousness.

  J-Rail and Suzy-Q now went right at the ladies. Zaey and Sinaye were in a defensive stance, but running in front of them, Jansa and Chaya screamed out in battle rage. Jansa used a thick, broad sword, while Chaya held a long naginata, a part-staff weapon with the end being that of a curved steel sword. Suzy-Q attempted to fire at both women, but her now drawn laser pistol would not shoot. She tossed it to the ground and swung her barbed whip in a figure of eight pattern as she came up in front of the two Slayers.

  The dark-haired man slowed down and took a stance with both a sword and knife in hand. "You girls have done pretty well," he spoke. "Somehow, someway, the non-fire law for robots and cyborgs has helped you all very much." He gave them all a small bow. "I must now commend you for somehow overriding the system, so that not even those with access could jump over the rule and shoot your pretty asses." He circled the two women before him with a sly grin.

  Jansa pointed her sword at him. She was ready to fight, but her frustration told her she had to speak her mind. "All you people do is brainwash others into thinking that struggling is a normal way of life. You take away their right to bear arms, and you make them live in poverty, just to keep control over everyone."

  J-Rail frowned a bit. "You people?" he asked. "I am not a people-guy, just so you know. I work for money, and luckily, I am not one of the poor you speak of." He faked a charge at Jansa and laughed.

  Chaya, using her long weapon, kept the space between all combatants during this brief discussion.

  Suzy-Q could not bear the talk, so she lashed out to try to dislodge the naginata from Chaya's hold. It almost worked, but Chaya pulled back to avoid losing her grip. She jabbed at the part-android woman and slashed out in an attempt to take her legs off. Suzy-Q jumped back and missed the swing. "Nice try, sucker," she grinned at Chaya.

  Jansa and J-Rail now exchanged sword blows, knocking aside each cut or thrust and carefully waiting for the other to over commit.

  Chaya offered them both a chance to leave. "If you knew what was happening inside right now, you would just get out of here; Y-Wood is falling!" The wild chick named Suzy-Q would not listen. Instead, she cracked her whip at Chaya with one hand, and closed in to cut her face with a knife in the other. Chaya ducked in the nick of time. She came up thrusting her naginata at the weirdo's chest and drove it partially home. The woman reeled back in pain, but her body was made of steel and she would not go down easily.

  J-Rail again went at Jansa, striking with his one-handed katana, high right, then low left, and then with the knife in his other hand, he faked a throat thrust and reversed a slice at Jansa’s bicep area with his other, longer blade. He was good with two weapons, very good.

  The blond doctor was quick enough to parry his moves, but knew he was holding back. In the meantime, Suzy-Q was getting angry, and she snapped her whip at Chaya, this time connecting with the woman's wrist. The Mystical Slayer herself was now backing off in pain. Neither Zaey nor Sinaye had yet entered the fray.

  "Everything is going to end," Jansa told the bounty hunter before her. She then faked her own low leg sword attack on him, yelling, "Ashi," a word her sensei had taught her, meaning leg, which gave her extra energy and a sharper attack. "We have hacked into your system, and inside,
others are destroying your precious computer systems and everything which helps this Corporation control people all over the country." J-Rail prepared to end this silly bitch's life.

  Zaey called out. "She's right, J-Rail! Even as we speak, Marcou, your president, is already dead in there, lying in a splat of his own blood! It's ending!"

  The elite bounty hunter smirked. "Marcou, dead? I highly doubt it. And again, why do you all keep saying your? I am my own man!" he insisted.

  Again he attacked Jansa, and she skillfully deflected his long sword, but this time he cut at Chaya with a quick, low spin. His sword caught her in the side and she dropped to a knee in agony. Suzy-Q saw the opening and pounced at Chaya. She leaped up and wrapped her barbed whip around the brunette’s head, in an attempt to strangle her to death. Jansa was pissed and she took it out on J-Rail now. The two struck out at one another and each landed minor blows, but none damaging enough to end the fight. Sinaye could do little with being so badly injured, but she defensively held her ground with Zaey by her side. She knew Zaey herself was ready to attack at any moment.

  Chaya tried to shrug the wild cyborg off, but she was really strong. Zaey grabbed the weird chick by the hair and helped to pull her away. Chaya's throat was cut pretty deep from the barbed prongs, so she had to act fast. Zaey, with her good hand, cracked a solid uppercut into the wicked Suzy-Q’s jaw. It gave Chaya time and motioned for Sinaye to come and deal with her bleeding throat.

  Suddenly, the sky above them erupted with thunder and lightning. The whole place rumbled with booms and cracks as an unforeseen storm took over the whole area. It was like nothing any of them had ever seen before. More lightning erupted close by and the entire ground shook again.

  Everyone staggered back to witness this strange phenomenon. The wind picked up, almost blowing everyone over, and debris was being flung up into the air. More lighting shot out of the sky, louder and closer this time . . . booooom . . . craaaackkkk!

  Rain began to pour down, and the sky darkened in seconds. The wind had erupted, and cans, wood, metal, trash, roofing, and all kinds of other objects, anything that could move, took flight.

  J-Rail backed off and tried to make his way in the opposite direction, while the four Slayer girls were also trudging off, trying to shield themselves from the storm. Suzy-Q pursued the women. She wanted more blood.

  She tried to grab Jansa but the wind pushed her in another direction. Lighting blazed close once more; too close this time. Suzy-Q screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, you fuckers!" She tried to attack the doctor with a knife to her back. But before she could drive the stab in, Chaya, with all she could muster, heaved her five-foot naginata in a swooping motion and loped off the cyborg’s head. The wind took it, the head that is, and the thing rolled down the street along with the trash. Vision for all was now very minimal.

  J-Rail had moved himself to a better, more secure area, and took cover from the storm. A random head flew by him as he crouched down. He thought that he recognized the flying head to be that of Suzy-Q, but with the rain, wind, and darkness taking over, he couldn't be sure.

  The storm was one for the ages, though it didn't last all that long. Within ten minutes, it was over. The women saw nothing more of the bounty hunter as it cleared.

  Maybe this crazy storm was some sort of an ending which would hopefully now allow a re-birth of America. The woman could only all hope this was true. They needed to get back to underground Boston right away. Jansa and Chaya had left without permission. Hopefully the domain was safe, but it was imperative for them to return immediately.

  Before leaving, they recovered Tyne’s body. The cyborg woman was still alive, which was a good sign. She was a hero and they loved her dearly. The five of them got into the crashed flying car and made their way back home. Each one thought of what might be going on inside Y-Wood.

  They all wanted to take a look inside to see if they could assist the other women. But, they had their orders and bad injuries to deal with, so home was where they were heading. They held great hope, for in their hearts all of them knew Mahira and Raegan would succeed.

  Chapter 28

  Field Commander Berlin Purcell, Galax, and a slew of other robots entered Boston's lower section, now following the maps they had discovered in the secret complex belonging to the sisters on Mars. The directions and routes were easy enough for the smart Galax to decipher. Traveling at the speed of light, which had been reconfigured through the years, their ships had reached the hidden outpost; the home of the Mystical Slayers.

  Envy was the only sister with of any sort of combat merit in the underground city this day. Envy knew something was very wrong when shots rang out down by the entranceway. "Holy fuck," she said to herself. The other sisters had left her here alone, and now this. She bolted down the street to see what was going on.

  Soldiers from the Corporation had somehow located their base. Some of the underground inhabitants were resisting the Corporation's arrival; trainees of the sisterhood and hardened citizens were fighting with all they could give. But the firepower and sheer might of this intrusion was way beyond their defenses. Unannounced, they had just dropped from the sky and attacked.

  Envy watched as black robots with eerie green eyes marched down the roadway, shooting anyone who came before them. Others ran for safety, grabbing their family members and holding them tight. In the rear, Envy saw a robot like no other, a black, blue, and silver dynamic match killer. He strode beside what looked to be the Corporation's military leader, a man in black and gray steel armor. He walked with a purpose and removed his helmet to reveal his short and spiky, now graying hair, and a mean looking square jaw line. "Today, the resistance shall fall," the leader announced, marching onward. "Take no prisoners! Kill everyone!"

  Envy turned back to run as fast as she could. She was terrified. Her only thought now was to save little Johan.

  ***

  The girls flew home as quickly as possible. They reached the underground Boston city sector and immediately knew something was very wrong. Corporation sky ships had landed in the vicinity, and that could only mean one thing . . . their home was under attack and none of them were there except for Envy. Each now had a lump in their throat. Chaya and Jansa had left earlier never expecting such madness to erupt while they were gone.

  Inside, chaos and death was all about. Envy, who was still running around, did all she could. She warned every citizen, "Run for secret exits, grab nothing other than each other, you must save yourselves!" She continued to yell, "We are under attack from the Corporation, everyone escape to the outside city! Run, go fast, take nothing . . . go!" She cried out, over and over, as she ran to Johan's room.

  "What's going on?" the young boy asked as the red-headed Slayer sister reached for him, scooped him up, and ran with him in her arms out of his room.

  "Just hang on to me, Johan," she told him, "hang on tight." The young boy was absolutely petrified but he did as she said and hung on for dear life.

  The other sisters were able to land close enough to the underground without being shot down, but still had a way to go to get to their base.

  Those that could run took off immediately. Jansa and Chaya darted ahead, and Sinaye and Zaey wanted nothing more than to run with them, but both of the women, especially with Tyne Gem in tow, were in no shape to be running or fighting.

  "Both of you, hold back with Tyne! Ready the flyer for when we get back!" Jansa yelled back to the other sisters as she tore off towards the lower city. Zaey and Sinaye both looked at one another, not liking the idea of having to wait. They watched helplessly as their sisters ran far ahead.

  They had come so close to defeating the Corporation, but this had not been part of their plan. "I can still move, just about," Zaey said to her friend. "I will go up ahead and cover them if they need it. Give me Tyne's rifle. Watch for our return, and let's hope for the best."

  "Be careful," added Sinaye, propping her injured leg up on the flyer's side rail.

 
; Envy's idea was just to escape. Without most of the girls in the house and this big of a Corporation assault, she had no hope of fighting it off. Johan was her only priority right now.

  The young boy, still somewhat shell-shocked, listened to her directions as the two of them bolted down a back route.

  Some of the black robots representing Y-Wood marched through the underground city. They dropped robotic, cobra-like steel snakes to slither up ahead and deal with any sudden movements or attacks intended for the soldiers. The metal snakes with glowing blue eyes could kill either by biting, or by using their poisonous, steel-tipped tails.

  Several men from the underground tried to put up a fight, but most of them were being bitten or stung to death. One man, however, had rigged up an old-school machine gun. He came out from one of the buildings and fired like a madman, blasting shots into the robotic snakes, the Ruthys, and a few of the associates. He actually did some real damage here and there, but not enough to stop the battle, other than destroying several snakes.

  The Field Commander and Galax came before the man as a group of young girls ran down the road followed by several older women. They were of no concern to the general or the super robot. Galax strode towards the gun wielder as the man's shots bounced off his impenetrable, layered bodysuit of armor. When he reached the man, he grabbed the gun from his hand and twisted it into a pretzel. Galax then grabbed the defiant citizen and threw him halfway across the street into an old, jagged flag pole. The general walked over to the old fellow. "You made a valiant attempt, soldier," he told him. He then ripped the red, white, and blue tattered flag off the pole. "This here, this is just stupid. It’s out with the very old and in with the new," he laughed. The man with the iron pole now protruding from his torso could not speak due to the blood gushing out of his mouth. Purcell adjusted his spiky hair, making sure it was as risen up as it should be. He turned back to Galax, "Onward we go."