I saw the punch coming and twisted away in an attempt to reduce its impact, but all the same, it landed like a hammer and rattled all my teeth, making me taste blood. I stumbled back from the Skel and slashed clumsily at him with the knife, which he avoided by stepping back. It was so much harder fighting these brutes when they weren't encumbered by their armour!
The Skel prepared to charge me again, but I feinted to the left, and then when he jumped towards me, I dodged right and slashed his right arm upper arm with the knife, inflicting a deep, painful wound that caused blood to pour forth. All the same, the Skel charged back in, trying to catch me with arms twice the size of mine.
But an arrow flew past and hit the Skel in the heart, and the guy collapsed with a strangled cry. I jumped forward, plucked out the arrow, and rushed back towards Nanako.
However, the sound of several other Skel shouting caused fear to explode with my gut – more Skel had awoken! I glanced over my shoulder and saw that seven more of the brutal warriors – both males and females – had been woken by my scuffle with the first Skel and were tearing towards us.
"Come on, Ethan!" Nanako shouted.
Chapter Nineteen
"Just go!" I shouted as I sprinted towards Nanako, handing her the arrow I’d retrieved.
Nanako lowered the bow and ran after David, who was even now disappearing into the bushes in front of the house we'd been hiding in.
"They're in the bushes over there – get them!" one of the Skel shouted.
I risked a glance behind when Nanako and I reached the bushes, and freaked big time when I saw that many other Skel had roused from their drunken stupor or sleep, so that even more were running towards us now. Added to the other seven who were already sprinting full bore towards us, this situation wasn't panning out well.
"Come on, Ethan!" Nanako said, grabbing me by the arm in an attempt to pull me after her.
But before I could move, there was an almighty BANG as the still went up in a yellow and orange fireball. A moment later, pieces of copper, tubing and pipes came raining down from the sky. The half-dozen Skel who'd been closest to the still were shredded by shrapnel. Others further away were knocked clear off their feet. The seven Skel who'd been closest to us skidded to a stop and turned around, where for a moment they simply stood there, unable to believe that someone had blown their beloved still sky high. And then, almost as one, they turned back around and came at us again, this time cursing us with obscenities so foul I wished I didn't have enhanced hearing.
Realising my folly in standing there and gawking at them, I let Nanako pull me through the bushes and towards the house, where the others stood waiting anxiously, fidgeting with their weapons.
"Quickly, follow me – there's a half-dozen Skel on my heels and I don't think they're looking to chat," I said as I hurried around the house, and then over the rotten wooden fence into the neighbouring house's front yard. Aware of the furious sounds of pursuit behind, I led us through this yard, and the next, and would have kept going except for Madison.
"If you are going to keep climbing fences, Jones, I will not be able to keep up – my arm is killing me," she called out from the rear.
"Blast – okay, everyone, direction change – and try not to make any sound," I said, and quickly led us around the side of the next house and into its back yard. From there we crept past a rusting metal swing and a broken plastic play gym. There was a massive hole in the back fence, and we were about the slip through it when a Skel came running into the yard.
"Found the blighters!" he – no – she, yelled, before charging us recklessly.
"Go!" I whispered, shoving Nanako through the gap in the fence while I darted back into the yard. I circled around a tree and attacked the Skel from the rear as she ran towards Madison, who was bringing up the rear.
The Skel female was tall and muscle-bound, and shaved except for a braid at the back of her head. And although she towered above Madison, the specialist drove her back with a series of well-executed kicks. But not being able to use her right arm properly was still a disadvantage, and the Skel caught and redirected one of the kicks and then pounced on her and tried to crush her with a bear hug.
But that was all the time I'd needed to get behind the Skel and punch her once, twice in the kidneys. She let go of Madison but drove her elbow into my stomach, knocking me back. After that, she spun about, placed a hand on my face, and tried to shove me over. But I grabbed onto her outstretched arm with both hands, tore it from my face, and used a handhold to twist her arm.
I was about to kick her in the side of the knee to knock her down, when Madison suddenly performed a jumping kick to the side of the Skel's neck. There was a sickening crunch, and the Skel collapsed with her head lolling to the side at a most unnatural angle.
Not wanting to bump into the Skel's companions, I quickly grabbed Madison – who looked most satisfied at having just killed her first Skel – and bundled her through the hole in the fence, where the others were waiting anxiously.
We were in the backyard of another house, well, what was left of it. Most of the back wall and tiled roof had collapsed. The carport had partly fallen down too, right on top of the rusted-out station wagon.
"Back towards Police Road," I said as guided us into a gap beneath the carport's collapsed roof just large enough for us to crawl through. As we went, I heard Skel enter the yard we'd just vacated and find their slain companion. A chorus of enraged cursing broke out.
"Why are we going back towards Police Road?" Nanako whispered.
"They'll never expect us to double back," I replied as I emerged from the carport and ran down the driveway to enter the street beyond. From there we stayed close to the houses as we moved quietly but quickly to Police Road, and finally, our lodgings.
"All things told, that went pretty well, I would say," Madison whispered from the back of our group when we were almost back to our hideout.
"Are you nuts?" Nanako shot back angrily, "They almost caught us – there ain't no way we're ever doing something like that again!"
"Jones?" Madison complained.
We reached our house and I ushered everyone in through the front door and into the grime and covered lounge room.
"Nanako's right," I said as I sagged on the sofa and explored my aching jaw with my fingers. "That was too close."
"But..." Madison began.
"He said no, okay?" David said as he slumped onto the floor, his chest heaving in and out as he fought to regain his breath.
"You okay?" Nanako asked with concern as she checked my jaw.
"Nothing's broken," I said.
"You realise the cat's out of the bag now, right?" David asked, looking at me meaningfully. "They saw us – they know we're here."
"Oh, that's great; that's just great – now they're gonna come looking for us!" Leigh moaned.
"It was dark and they were drunk or stoned, they probably didn't see much of us at all," I said.
"Actually, they saw something, and what they thought they saw is gonna cause big problems," Nanako said softly.
"Why's that?" I asked, already knowing I wouldn't like her answer, whatever it was.
"They thought we were slaves," she replied.
"So? So what?" Madison snapped.
"Yeah, why's that so bad?" Shorty queried, backing up Madison again. "That means they won't come looking for us, right?"
A terrible, sickening sense of dread spawned in the depths of my stomach as I realised the possible extent of our mistake. But before I could answer Shorty, a complex partial seizure triggered and tore through me, accompanied by a vision-strength glimpse of myself sitting on a crumbling red brick fence and pulling out my Smartphone to call someone to inform them I'd just shot my own Ranger team.
I tried to ignore the seizure as it tore through me and answered Shorty. "If the Skel think slaves blew the still, how do ya reckon they're gonna react?" I asked.
"Oh, shoot," Shorty said, catching my meaning.
"What can we do?" David aske
d.
"There's nothing we can do, except hope the Skel have more brains than we give 'em credit for," I said, desperately hoping they'd put the puzzle pieces together and realise this wasn't the work of slaves. "I mean, I used a combat knife, Nanako an arrow, and Madison and I took out another Skel."
"Skel – brains?" Leigh scoffed.
"They're cleverer than we give 'em credit for," I said, trying to convince myself they wouldn't blame the slaves for what we did. If the Skel exacted revenge or some form of punishment on the slaves for our work tonight, I'd never forgive myself. Never.
* * *
Madison, who'd been on watch, woke Nanako and me just after dawn. Well, I'd heard her enter the bedroom and woke myself from a nightmare-troubled sleep, my eyes snapping open as she approached just in time to see the look of disgust on her face as she looked at Nanako and me together in bed.
"Something's going on up the road near the community centre," she said.
"Rangers?" I asked hopefully, but even as I asked I realised I could hear shouting, screaming, and crying.
Nanako woke now and quickly rolled off me. Hearing my question, she grabbed the Smartphone she'd stolen from the Skel so she could take photos if need be.
"No, it is not Rangers," Madison replied. "Looks like the Skel have rounded up a great many slaves and brought them together."
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" I mumbled as I leaped to my feet and followed Madison to the smaller bedroom that gave a commanding view of Police Road. This was the very thing I'd been afraid of – that the Skel would blame the slaves for what we did last night. This could be bad, really, really bad.
From the bedroom’s window, we could see straight up Police Road, and as the community centre was just over a hundred meters away, we could see the throng of Skel and slaves gathered before it. The Skel were shouting and screaming obscenities and threats at the slaves, many of whom were cringing or crying.
"What’s going on?" Nanako asked as she sidled alongside me. David, Shorty and Leigh were already in the room, and all were fidgeting nervously.
"We gotta get closer," I said as I jumped up and ran down the rickety stairs to get my bow and arrows.
"You can’t go out there!" Nanako declared as she and the others rushed down too.
I placed the quiver over my shoulder, grabbed the bow, and darted for the door. "I have to know what’s happening."
"I will come too," Madison said and hurried to my side.
"I’ll only go close enough to find out what’s going down," I assured Nanako, who was watching me in alarm.
"Do you have any idea of how many Skel are out there, Jones?" David asked as he followed me to the door.
I grabbed David’s shoulder. "I’m going, okay?"
Nanako suddenly grabbed her bow and arrows and hurried over to join me. "We’ll all go, then."
Leigh stepped back towards the staircase, shaking his head. "No way, I ain’t doing no more stupid forays out there – and especially not during daylight!"
"Fine, you stay, then," I spat, and then ran out of the house, with Nanako, Madison, and David on my heels. Seemed Shorty was in Leigh’s camp, the wuss.
Chapter Twenty
Keeping low to reduce my profile, I led us through our house’s backyard, over the fence, through the neighbouring house, and then quickly across Withers Avenue, which ran perpendicular to Police Road. This we could do without fear of being spotted for there were no slaves or Skel overseers in the market gardens.
Once across the road we climbed over the side fence of the first house and made our way through the backyards of the next two. Thinking we were close enough now, we crept into the front yard of the fourth house and hunkered down behind a collapsed brick fence that was half concealed by waist-high grass mixed in with a prickly blackberry bush.
From here I could see that a couple of hundred slaves – who were all down on their knees – had been gathered together in front of the community centre, a ramshackle brick building with a Jimmy-rigged roof made of wooden planks. Several dozen Skel, all wearing their suits of bone armour, stood haphazardly around the slaves, shouting and yelling. And not just at the slaves, but at each other too. It became immediately apparent that while some Skel thought the slaves did it, others were adamant that they couldn't possibly have.
A gunshot suddenly split the air, causing everyone to fall silent, and I watched as Ram-Horns strode to the fore, holding an old bolt-action rifle.
"That’s more like it," he bellowed. "A man can’t hear himself think with all this racket! Now, which of you slaves can tell me who blew up my still?"
No one moved, so Ram-Horns aimed the gun randomly at a slave and fired. Blood splattered and the slave slumped to the ground, causing a fresh outburst of wailing and crying.
A gurgled cry escaped from my lips. It was then that I spotted Jack and Beth, and many others from the resin-factory, mixed in with the slaves. They seemed especially nervous for they must have worked out who blew up the still, yet they must also be aware that if they were to tell that information to the Skel, they would only bring their overlords' wrath upon their own heads for not reporting us earlier.
"Silence!" Ram-Horns bellowed at the wailing slaves. "I will ask you one last time, who blew up the still?"
There was still no movement from amongst the slaves, but several Skel suddenly strode into the midst of the terrified slaves and grabbed a bunch of emaciated, filthy slaves by the arms. They pulled them to their feet and dragged them out to the front, to stand quivering in front of Ram-Horns.
"This is the lot who operated the still," declared a Skel.
"Start talking." Ram-Horns ordered.
The slaves either glanced unsurely at each other or just stared at the ground in resignation.
"I said talk!" the Skel leader shrieked.
"We don’t know, Master," one of the slaves finally replied. "We was all locked up for the night."
"Wrong answer!" Ram-Horns shouted, and promptly shot the slave in the head. He reloaded the rifle and then pointed it at the next slave along. "Your turn, maggot – who destroyed the still?"
To say that I was horrified by the events unfolding before my eyes was an understatement – these poor slaves were being executed, one at a time, because of what we did. I couldn't just stand here and watch while Ram-Horns shoot them all, and so with my face on fire and my heart thumping furiously, I drew my pistol from its holster. With just four bullets left, I had to make them count. Ram-Horns would go down first, and after that, the three closest Skel.
"What are you doing, Jones?" David demanded in a fierce whisper when he noticed the pistol in my hand.
"We gotta do something," I said as I rose up and prepared to charge Ram-Horns before he shot the next slave.
"No, Ethan – stop!" Nanako said as she reached out and grabbed me.
"This mess is all our fault – these slaves are being murdered because of what we did – we can't just sit here and watch!" I protested vehemently.
"That may be," she snapped as she stood and pushed her face into mine. "But you rush out there now and the only thing you're gonna do is get yourself and the rest of us killed."
I pulled back from her and at the sound of another gunshot, turned my attention back to the community centre in time to see another slave – a middle-aged woman this time, slump to the ground. Ram-Horns aimed his gun at another slave and asked them the same question. The slave, a skinny, sickly teenage boy, fell to his knees and begged for mercy. "Please, Master, you gotta believe us; we didn't do it!"
Ram-Horns fired and the teenage boy joined his fellows on the blood soaked, dusty road.
I clenched the pistol until my knuckles went white. "We have to do something; we have to," I stressed, trying to shake Nanako's hands off my arm so I could climb over the brick fence we were hiding behind.
"How many do you think you'll take down before they shoot you?" Madison asked.
"I only need to take out Ram-Horns and they'll realise we're not sl
aves," I stressed with urgency. "Now please, let me go!"
"You can't, Jones!" David declared. "That whole mob'll come charging over here if you do that, and it's not just us they'll kill, but they'll find Leigh and Shorty too – you want that?"
Another gunshot shattered the morning air, sending me into a panic. I had to act, and I had to act now!
"Ethan – enough!" Nanako snapped, but with a tone that stopped me in my tracks. I'd never heard her talk to me like that before, and it cut right through my swirling emotions, dragging me back to my senses.
I sunk back down behind the fence and met her eyes, which were ablaze with anger.
"Ethan, we're going back to our hideout – and we're going back now," she declared in the same tone.
I nodded in agreement, but it still took Nanako and David to pull me back from the dreadful scene being played across the road.
We made our way back to our hideout without talking. My emotions were a train wreck jumble of guilt and regret. We heard two more gunshots on the way, and although the Skel kept shouting, there were no more after that.
We stumbled back into our house, where Leigh and Shorty were waiting in the lounge room, which was half-lost in shadow now that it was daylight.
"What’s happening over there?" Leigh asked.
"Just what we feared," David replied when it was obvious I wasn’t going to. "The Skel are blaming the slaves for the still’s destruction and are shooting ‘em in an attempt to make ‘em cough up who did it."
"Oh man – Jones – you idiot," Leigh groaned. "We told you not to do it – why didn’t you listen?"
"Oh, stop making such a monumental fuss over a few slaves being shot," Madison snapped when she stepped into the lounge room through the window. "They're just casualties of war."
Hearing Madison dismiss the situation so casually sent me spiralling into a rage. I grabbed her and slammed her back against the wall beside the door with such force that it smashed the plaster behind her. "They're not casualties of war; they're people – and they're dead because we destroyed the still!"
Forager - the Complete Six Book Series (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Series) Page 61