by Craig Gaydas
“W-w-who are you and where are the guards?” Mazu stuttered.
The stranger lifted the hat and stared at us through darkened eyes. He looked like a smaller version of Jori with thick eyebrows that looked as if two caterpillars were using his forehead as a parking lot.
“Oh them?” He looked at the ceiling with a shrug. “They are…indisposed.” His eyes fell upon us and he looked at our restraints with a hint of contempt. “So the rumors are true. The Insurgents were stupid enough to come here, seeking help.”
“You're a rebel!” Mazu spat with contempt. “You are one of those godless heathens who would rather destroy our peaceful society instead of being a part of it. If I was armed appropriately I would skewer you where you stand!”
“Actually, his name is Yori,” a voice from the front of the bus said. We turned to see Jori's huge frame blocking the doorway to the cabin. “He is my brother.”
Mazu looked at him in stunned silence. When I looked over at Kedge and Vigil, I noticed they had a similar look. Mazu studied Jori as if to measure his intentions. Kedge's expression changed to a murderous rage. He stared daggers at Mazu and I thought for a second that, if he could break from his bonds, I was sure he would strangle him with his bare hands. Jori turned slowly with hate-filled eyes toward Mazu.
“Your Order murders nonbelievers by the truck loads all in the name of a false god,” Jori spat the word.
“False GOD?” Mazu roared. “Brasus damn your mouth for just uttering such blasphemy. I would murder millions more if it meant our survival.”
Yori stepped closer to Mazu and rested the sword on his shoulder. “I bet you would,” he growled.
Jori stepped between them. “Relax Yori. Don't you realize how valuable a member of the Ministry is as a hostage?”
Mazu's mouth formed a shocked O. “You wouldn't dare!”
“Hey listen, I hate to interrupt your little courting session,” Kedge sneered, “but could one of you do us a favor and release us?”
Jori's mouth curled into a smile. “I suppose so,” he replied. “You three aren't worth much to the Order.”
“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.
Jori stepped to the front of the bus. After pushing a few buttons, our restraints retracted into the seats. Jori filled the doorway with his frame and looked down at us. “Just because you have been released doesn't really mean you are free.”
“What?” I asked suspiciously. My hand fell to the handle of my pistol.
Yori saw the gesture and removed the sword from his shoulder. “There is no need for that,” he stated. “What Jori means is your ship has been confiscated. Your crew is probably on the way to the incarceration center as we speak. You have no means of escape.”
I turned to Vigil. “We can't leave them behind.”
Vigil rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I agree, but it will be an uphill battle trying to free them with just the three of us.” He turned to Jori. “Is there a way to get us back to the train so we might return to the terminal?”
Jori shook his head somberly. “I'm sure with the confiscation of your ship, the Order has locked down the transit system.”
“Guards will be crawling over the terminal, like flies over a fresh turd,” Yori chimed in.
I curled my lip in revulsion at the thought. “What are our options?” I asked.
Yori and Jori looked at each other as they considered the question. “The only way to the terminal where your ship is located is by train,” Yori replied grimly.
Jori stepped forward. “There is a road.”
Yori looked at him through eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Surely, you can't be serious?”
I dropped a hand on Jori's arm. “Please,” I begged. “Tell us.”
“The road runs between the Badlands and the farming regions,” he explained. “It connects the Emerald Quarry district to the intake terminal.”
“Badlands?” Kedge sounded suspicious.
“You are fools to think you will survive that route,” Mazu sneered. He fixed Jori with a hard look. “Most of that route is well patrolled by our soldiers. The parts that aren't…well, you know what lurks beyond the wall.”
Kedge placed his hand firmly on Mazu's shoulder and fixed him with a hateful look. “You were about to sell us to that scumbag Calypso. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't drill a peephole into your skull.”
Yori's sword fell gently on Kedge's shoulder. “Calm yourself. This is our prisoner and he will be dealt with accordingly.”
Kedge narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip. After several tense seconds, he backed off. “I hope you string him up by his balls,” he barked.
“What is he talking about?” I stepped around Kedge and looked at Jori. “What's 'lurking' beyond the wall?”
Yori lifted Mazu up and shoved him hard into the couch. He retrieved a plastic loop from his pocket and proceeded to bind Mazu's hands behind his back. “We call them The Forsaken.” When he finished, he looked down at Mazu and curled his lip in disdain. “The Order calls them The Damned. That's what they like to do whenever someone doesn't agree to their religious nonsense. 'Believe in the sun god or you are going to be purged by fire' they shout as loud as they can.”
“That's because it's true,” Mazu replied with a scowl.
Yori waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever. Anyway, long ago an asteroid crashed in the Badlands region, scorching the earth and killing off most of the population in the district. The survivors endured years of radiation poisoning and went mad. Meanwhile, the Order decided that, instead of helping the people, they'd simply make the walls separating the districts bigger.”
“We couldn't help them,” Mazu explained. “They were judged. It was no coincidence the asteroid hit their district. They were disobedient scoundrels, not much better than you.” Mazu fixed Yori with a hard stare. “You will get yours as well.”
Yori rubbed his hand through his hair with a weary expression before slamming the hilt of his sword into Mazu's face. A stream of blood exploded from his nose. Since his hands were tied, he could do nothing, but cry out in pain and bleed on himself.
“That's enough Yori,” Jori admonished before turning to us. “Unfortunately, the road past the Badlands will be the only viable route to your ship at this point.”
Yori headed upstairs briefly before returning with two rifles. “The guards upstairs will no longer need these weapons,” he uttered with a smile. He handed one rifle to Kedge before handing me the second. “I would offer this to your friend instead, but I have a feeling he won't need it.” He glanced at the silver bracelet attached to Vigil's forearm.
“Don't worry, I'll try not to shoot myself in the face or anything,” I replied sarcastically as I hoisted the rifle over my shoulder.
Vigil turned and his eyes flashed as they reflected the interior lights of the bus. He crouched over the prone form of Mazu and locked eyes with him. When he shrunk away from his gaze, I thought I saw a hint of fear pass through his eyes. After several tense moments had passed, Vigil reached over and snapped the chain from his neck. The silver medallion was forged with the same symbol the guards wore across their chests—a cross with a sunburst. Vigil stared at it for a long time before tossing it aside. He stood up and turned to us.
“Let's do this,” he muttered.
Escape
The trip had been relatively uneventful until we reached the first guard junction. According to Yori, the intersection served as a routing point for trade between the districts. He advised us that this would be the first obstacle we would face, so we hid toward the back of the bus while Jori maintained a façade of normalcy. Fortunately for us, the windows were heavily tinted, which meant the guards wouldn't see us unless they had a reason to board. When we stopped, Mazu struggled and made so much racket that Kedge had to sit on him to get him to stop.
“If you keep squirming like that, I am going to beat you unconscious,” Kedge whispered.
Despite his menacing tone, I noticed his hand under
neath his jacket rubbing his chest and I was reminded of his mortality. When he revealed his affliction, he never said how long he had left to live.
I could overhear Jori talking with the guard, but I couldn't make out what was said between them. The other guard circled the bus with a long metal rod. He brushed the rod periodically against the vehicle before returning it to a rack set against the guard station.
“What's he doing?” I whispered to Yori.
“Scanning for radioactive devices,” he replied. “It's more of a response to The Forsaken than rebel activity. There had been rumors of suicidal inhabitants of the Badlands attacking other districts and blowing up the guard outposts.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. Just like terrorists. It wasn't comforting to know alien planets had similar issues as Earth. It was actually quite frightening. Is this all anyone had to look forward to in life? Was this our reward for simply being born?
The bus jumped forward and I was jarred from my thoughts. I looked out the window to see the guards waving us past. A burst of air exploded from my lungs which caught me off guard because I didn't even realize I held my breath. “Thank God,” I breathed.
Kedge stepped off of Mazu and watched as the guard station faded in the distance. He winced and rubbed his chest, but stopped when he saw me watching him.
“Don't be thanking anyone just yet,” Yori said. “Jori bought us a temporary reprieve that is all. When this bus does not arrive at the Temple as scheduled, Braxii will surely alert the outposts.”
“Which means we will need to drop you off sooner than expected,” Jori growled from the driver seat. “We have our own schedule we need to stick to.”
“Don't worry, we won't leave you in the middle of the Badlands or anything,” Yori assured us. “If we make good time, we can at least get you past it and into the farmlands.”
“From there it will be a hike by foot, but it will be safe,” Jori added.
“Thank you,” Vigil replied. “It is all we can ask at this point.”
For the next fifteen minutes, we travelled past open plains with rolling hills off in the distance. It reminded me of highway travel between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The drive brought back nostalgia, despite the fact I was stranded a bajillion miles from home, which was nothing more than a rotting rock now.
The last sign of life before entering the Badlands was a beaten down, shell of a convenience store with bars in the windows and a burnt out neon sign that should have read “GRADYS,” if the G, R, and S had not burned out. Through the window, I could see a few people milling about, grabbing items from the shelves and chatting with each other. Outside was an oblong object that I assumed was a fuel pump of some sort. A large bird sat on top and I thought it was a part of the fixture until it flapped its wings—all three of them—and soared into the sky.
“What the hell was that?” I exclaimed, pointing at the bird vanishing in the distance.
“The people of the Badlands were not the only victims of the impact,” Yori replied. “The wildlife suffered just as much. Sometimes, some of them make it over the wall, but most of the time they are harmless.”
“Most of the time?” Kedge cocked his eyebrow.
Yori ignored the question and instead headed toward the front of the bus where he exchanged a few words with his brother. I watched the store recede and wondered what horrors lay beyond the wall.
The bus slowed as we pulled up behind a truck. It was higher than any trailer I had ever seen. Our bus was at least fourteen feet high, but the truck towered over it. We lumbered behind it for about a half mile before it turned off a dirt side road where I noticed it had sixteen axles. It headed toward what looked to be a warehouse in the distance, leaving a cloud of dust and debris behind.
Yori noticed my interest in the truck. “It's a weapons factory,” he explained. I noticed a hint of annoyance in his voice. His face was twisted with anger. “This is what your group came here for, I assume. We may be uncivilized rebels, but we are not ignorant of events outside our world. We know why you came. You sought an allegiance with the Order and wished to add their military might to that of your own, did you not?”
I looked at Vigil who stood rigid with his arms folded across his chest. “We came here to do what needed to be done in order to defeat our enemies.”
Yori moved to the window and placed his hand on the top of the couch. “There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. He turned slowly and his eyes fell on me. “Do whatever you can to defeat your enemies,” he repeated.
“Within reason,” I blurted. I had no idea at the time why I said it. Perhaps I felt the need to justify our decisions—either to him or to myself.
Yori chuckled. “Did you hear that, Mazu? Within reason he says.” He turned and looked at our prisoner.
“Go to hell,” Mazu grumbled in response.
Yori turned back to me. “I don't think he agrees with you.” The bus slowed down and a concerned look crossed his face. He hurried to the front of the bus.
Kedge sat up and joined Vigil at the window. Up ahead, the road veered around a corner and disappeared behind a wooded area. To the left of the woods stood a foreboding gray brick wall which, by my estimate, had to be at least four hundred feet tall. I moved toward the front of the vehicle to get a better view. About thirty yards ahead, a lone figure sat hunched over an object in the middle of the street.
Jori stopped the bus, turned to Yori and nodded. Yori sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I had hoped we would make it further than this,” he muttered.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
Mazu broke out in laughter. “What he is trying to say is you are dead.” He struggled against his bonds and tried to stand up. Yori roughly shoved him, causing him to fall backwards on the couch.
“You'll be needing that,” he said to me, indicating the rifle strapped over my shoulder. “Follow Jori out the door, stick close to me. Whatever you do, don't wander off the road.”
“So what is it?” I asked. “What's going on?”
Yori frowned. “You will see.”
Jori stood by the exit door with a darkened scowl spread across his wide face. “Keep your mouths shut and your weapons close.”
“It's just one person,” Kedge replied sarcastically. “I'm sure us big strong fellas can handle him.”
Yori's mouth curled into a wry smile. “With The Forsaken, it is never just one.”
“How do you know it is a Forsaken?” Vigil asked. “Perhaps he is just a wanderer?” I noticed Vigil fidgeting with the silver bracelet on his arm. His finger caressed the falcon's eye gently. Despite his question, he was taking no chances.
“I guess we will see,” Jori replied enigmatically before opening the door. Air from the outside poured in. It smelled stale, almost sulfuric and I realized that despite the wall, the air from the Badlands overtook the good air from the other districts.
Kedge, Vigil and I stepped out of the bus, sandwiched by the brothers. Yori held his sword tightly by his side. Jori held a pistol out, trained on the subject in the road.
We were about fifteen feet behind him when Jori turned to us. “Stay here.” He left us and approached the figure cautiously. His gun never wavered while pointed at the back of the person's head. He stopped about five feet away.
The object on the ground was not an object at all, but a body. It was so badly decomposed I couldn't tell if it was a male or female. The hunched figure was rummaging through the corpse's pocket and scavenging items when he heard Jori approach. He stopped what he was doing and turned his head slowly.
When he turned completely, I nearly dropped my gun. His face was missing. His head was nothing more than a pale blank slate of skin. His hair was spaced apart in short, dark patches, giving his head a soccer ball appearance. I wondered how he could see us until I saw the two eyeballs embedded in his neck line. When he saw us, he made a soft, mewling sound—similar to a wounded cat.
“Holy Jesus!” I croaked.
Kedge uttered
a surprised gasp. “What the hell is that?” He lifted his rifle defensively.
The faceless man stood. He was gaunt and his clothes barely clung to him. They were a tattered mess and looked as if they had been run through a shredder. He was unarmed with the exception of a small, silver cylindrical object, which he gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes bulged from their neck sockets and they stared at us wildly. His mewling became louder while fidgeting with the object in his hand.
Jori shouted “GET DOWN!” and tackled Kedge and Vigil to the ground. Yori grabbed me by the collar and shoved me violently to the ground like a rag doll. Before I had the opportunity to ask what was going on, there was an explosion. Gore and body parts rained on us. I gagged when I saw an eyeball roll past.
Jori was up in an instant, pistol in hand. I scrambled to my feet in time to see a group of at least twenty people emerge from the shadows of the woods. They were of various sizes and shapes, but all were extremely disfigured. Some had two heads. Others were legless, walking on hands attached to extremely long arms. Unlike their recently deceased companion, they all had faces. Some of them were located on their head, others had them on their chest. One of them was missing a head but had a face on a large bulge protruding from his back, like some macabre version of Quasimodo. No matter the physical location of their face, they all had the same expression of hate. They clutched primitive weapons ranging from spears to hammers which seemed to be manufactured from carved wood and scavenged metal. One hammer had a bent steering wheel for a head.
“Well now,” Kedge muttered as he backed away from the edge of the road, “this is quite the predicament.”
Without hesitation, Yori slashed the first of The Forsaken across the stomach, unleashing his guts all over the road. A surprised O spread across the poor unfortunate creatures face (one of the few who had its face in the normal location) before falling to the ground in the pool of its own gore. This action caused the others to pause only slightly before they uttered a collective scream of rage.