“Don’t seem fair, shooting them still in the air.” Anaconda said.
Anaconda raised his SAW machine gun. Squeezing, Anaconda let off several tearing bursts that rattled loudly across the abandoned and dead park. Maryanne Mauler cut sideways across the sky. Trying to steer one-handed, she lifted her own machine gun to her shoulder and tried to aim. A withering burst cut across the stage and its small amphitheatre, and sent Anaconda scrambling back.
“Ain’t that just like a man, shooting off too soon!” She yelled.
Church took aim at Cassidy Crusher as she drifted across the spoiled parklands. The arm cannon had no sights and was difficult to even point straight. He sent several thick beams of heat sizzling through the air toward Crusher but missed. Crusher looked almost helpless at the end of her ropes, holding her heavy axe, but her face was set with rage. Finally, Church fired and the beam sliced through several of Crusher’s ropes and into the material of her parachute. It started to burn, deflating rapidly as the fire spread. Crusher plummeted from the air. The woman landed in a copse of dead trees and disappeared from sight amongst the skeletal branches. Meanwhile, Mauler kept burning through ammunition as she swept her gun across the amphitheatre from the air.
“I’ll take care of her!” Titama pointed toward where Cassidy Crusher had disappeared, “You take out the other one!”
Titama took off running for the grove of dead trees, ducking under a hail of bullets. Church and Anaconda returned fired in sync. Mauler jolted unpredictably from side to side then went into a steep dive. She pulled up hard just before hitting the ground with her machine gun bouncing at her hip. Chute fluttering behind her, the woman disappeared off to one side of the park behind a lowered footpath.
“Jeannie, stay hidden while we handle this!” Church said.
Entering the cover of the trees, Titama spotted the material of Crusher’s parachute. The chute was tangled in tree branches with its ropes and harness dangling underneath. It was only as she got closer that Titama saw the harness was empty. Sensing movement behind her, Titama flung herself sideways. The wedge-shaped head of Cassidy Crusher’s enormous axe whistled past Titama’s head and buried itself in the blackened bark of a nearby tree. Crusher let out a snarl of effort and annoyance as she pulled the weapon loose again.
Titama swung the butt of her sledgehammer’s handle into Crusher’s midsection. The plate of flexible armour over Crusher’s stomach protected her partially from the blow but she staggered backwards. Titama whipped the head of her sledgehammer around with a devastating swing. Crusher leapt clear holding her black axe. The ringer was a full head shorter than Titama but still heavily muscled and broad shouldered, as well as surprisingly agile. She cleaved at Titama but Titama caught the weapon with her sledgehammer and the two of them were locked together. Overhead, their camera drones spiralled through the trees to capture the action.
“Gender traitor! You fucking tattooed fucking dyke black cow!” Crusher yelled.
“Traitor? You came in here to kill us, you mad bitch!” Titama said.
The two of them shoved apart. Titama swung her sledgehammer one-handed suddenly and clumsily, and knocked Crusher’s axe away for a moment. With her other hand she lashed out, punching Crusher in the jaw. Crusher stumbled, falling for a moment, but climbed back to her feet. She lunged at the tall New Zealander.
“I’m going to tear your eyes out!” Crusher said.
Across the park, Maryanne Mauler sprinted over open ground. Anaconda tried to lead her, firing his hulking gun and sending blasts spraying out of the ground and off the surrounding trees. Dark blonde hair furling behind her, Mauler fired back and laughed. The burst forced Church to retreat as he tried to circle around on Mauler. The woman disappeared again behind a small building with three narrow doorways, restrooms for the park’s visitors. Anaconda went to follow Mauler but Church stopped him and pointed to one corner of the building.
“She could be laying a trap, take aim over there and get ready to shoot as soon as she breaks for it.” Church said.
Church cranked the arm cannon up to its highest setting. Feeling for the trigger, Church opened up with the cannon and it blasted through the restrooms, the muzzle glowing and letting out thundering blasts. He began at one end of the building and worked his way sideways. Almost invisible bursts of heat and force cut through the brickwork and old plumbing like paper, disintegrating it. On the other side, Mauler was forced to scrabble sideways as the wall beside her exploded. Bits of a toilet seat and neatly carved brickwork were ejected through the hole. More blasts blew craters through the building and forced Mauler toward the edge.
The arm cannon let out a whine, its charge momentarily depleted. Church shook it with frustration. Luckily, the damage had been done to the restrooms anyway, and part of the building collapsed in a cloud of brick dust with several support beams shorn away.
Mauler rolled out from behind the destruction. Anaconda was waiting for her and opened fire, bullets spraying the ground around Mauler. A couple hit her body armour. Another round grazed the side of Mauler’s head and blood formed an arc through the air as her neck whiplashed backward. Anaconda mistook it for a headshot and hesitated, waiting for Mauler to crumple. Mauler twisted around with blood dripping down the side of her face and returned fire. Gunsmoke swirled around the weapon, thundering. Returning rounds hammered into Anaconda’s chest, pitching him backward. Most were caught by his armour but one ripped through a join in his midsection and hit him in the stomach. Anaconda dropped his machine gun and fell, clutching his bleeding middle.
Hearing the gunfire across the park, Titama and Crusher continued to clash. They knew, depending on how things unfolded, at any second one of their kill switches could go off and doom them. Titama pushed it out of her mind and kept fighting. She’d expected to overpower Crusher with her size and experience but the ex-wrestler had a lot of skilled footwork and could take a hit.
Crusher flung herself at Titama, slamming their oversized tools together. Titama lost her footing for a moment and stumbled into one of the dead trees. Arms bulging, Crusher shoved her axe-hammer harder into her opponent’s chest and started to bring the blade up toward Titama’s throat.
“Bitch, I’m going to carve that tatt off your fucking face.” Crusher said.
Titama jerked forward, jaws wide, and bit down on Crusher’s nose. Cartlidge broke and blood sprayed from Crusher’s nostrils, sending her staggering back with her eyes watering. Titama booted Crusher in the middle and flung the wrestler backward. Titama came around with her sledgehammer again but Crusher managed to twist and take it on the side, absorbing the punishing blow.
“Let’s finish this!” Titama said.
Still carrying the depleted arm cannon, Church ran toward Anaconda. He knew Anaconda wasn’t dead or his kill switch would have been ringing, Church headed for the young man’s machine gun instead. Mauler cut him off, creating a line of holes in the dirt with her thundering weapon. Church glimpsed back toward the grey amphitheatre. Kicking himself for not bringing his shotgun with him, Church saw Jeannie standing at the side of the stage with her eyes wide. He didn’t want to involve her but if Mauler took him out then Jeannie would be killed as well.
Before Church could gesture to Jeannie, Mauler brought her machine gun around and fired from the hip. Church was knocked on his back, a couple of bullets grazing his armour. The heavy cannon hanging off his arm was still useless. Mauler moved closer, looming over Church as she took aim at his exposed head.
Dropping the cannon, Church groped for his belt. He grabbed one of the remote detonators at random and triggered it. One of the C4 bricks they’d hidden under a pile of dead leaves, lying in wait for Santa Muerte and Priest, exploded at a nearby entrance to the park. A large section of pathway disintegrated and the blast rolled across the area. Distracted for a brief moment, Mauler turned to figure out where the noise had come from. Leaving the depleted cannon where he had dropped it, Church jumped to his feet. He ran at Mauler and tackled her
before she could turn back around. The machine gun was wrenched between them and eventually Church pulled it out of Mauler’s hands. Mauler didn’t waste any time, however, reeling back and slugging Church across the jaw. The machine gun spilled to the ground. The big woman’s strength surprised Church and he grabbed for her arm but she yanked free. The two of them fell to the ground, wrestling and punching with their bare fists.
Back in the trees, Cassidy Crusher was starting to weaken, her nose bleeding and at least one rib broken from Titama’s last blow. She was forced to protect her side as she lashed out with her axe, making her slower. Titama avoided the blow and the axe-hammer buried itself in another tree. The weapon was left quivering in the trunk as Titama slammed into Crusher, knocking her hands off the handle.
Titama brought her sledgehammer around into the centre of Crusher’s chest. The body armour absorbed some of the blow but Crusher’s sternum bone broke with a high crack. Crusher reeled back, slamming to the ground at the base of another dead tree. Wheezing, the ex-wrestler glared defiantly at Titama over her busted nose.
“Do it, you won’t stop Maryanne.” Crusher said.
“Winner, by technical knockout.” Titama said.
The big New Zealander swept her hammer around almost like a golf club. The head buried itself in Crusher’s face, blowing out through the back of Crusher’s skull. The hit disintegrated everything above Crusher’s bottom jaw like a shotgun blast, blood and brain matter shooting up the side of the tree.
Titama’s stomach rolled. She looked away quickly but didn’t drop her dripping sledgehammer. The bracelet on Crusher’s forearm started to sing as her partially decapitated head slumped to the side.
Across the park, Mauler wrapped her powerful limbs around Church but Church was starting to get the upper hand. The woman was a skilled wrestler but a lot of her moves were for show, Church was trained to kill. He hit her again and again, anywhere he could strike a vulnerability.
Breaking free and cupping his hands, Church slammed them both around on the sides of Mauler’s head and she reeled, disorientated. Grabbing her by the hip and shoulder, the big man pulled Mauler off her feet and then dropped, driving her into the ground. Face bloody and set in grim determination, Church got his arm around Mauler’s throat. Suddenly, the sleeve on Maryanne Mauler’s arm started to sing and the woman howled angrily as the needles stabbed into her flesh.
Grunting, Church doubled his efforts to choke Mauler out. It was hopeless though as Mauler dug her suddenly empowered fingers into Church’s arm and easily dragged his arm off of her. Mauler bucked Church off, wrenching his arm away. Viciously she drove her elbow into the side of Church’s head. His ears rang as he fell to one side, half-conscious. She picked Church up and slammed him into the ground, fists like pile drivers beating on his face.
“Not meant to be this way!” Mauler said, “It was the two of us against the world, and we were meant to win!”
“Get off of him!” Jeannie said.
Jeannie had come running over from the amphitheatre, cradling Church’s automatic shotgun. The gun looked enormous in her hands. Struggling with the weight, Jeannie fired and the shot shredded through Mauler’s shoulder. The recoil sent Jeannie staggering back. Blood oozed through the shoulder of Mauler’s coat as she climbed to her feet.
“Stay in your lane, bitch!” Mauler said.
Lying on the poisoned soil, the arm cannon dinged as it recharged. There was enough in the battery for at least one shot. Church started to crawl, making his way hand over hand toward the cannon. Mauler grabbed Church by the coat and pulled him back. Jeannie fired again with Church’s shotgun, the blast pounding Mauler’s body armour. Mauler was unhurt but the distraction gave Church enough time to struggle free of his coat. He scrambled the last couple of metres to the arm cannon and shoved his hand inside the trigger mechanism. Tossing Church’s coat aside, Mauler started toward him almost mechanically.
Church rolled onto his back and fired with the arm cannon, missing almost impossible at such close range. The blast cored through Mauler’s chest and left a hole almost a full foot across. Scowling, Mauler took another step with her hands raised like claws. A line of red trickled out of the corner of her mouth.
“Cassidy.” Mauler said, “It was meant to be ours.”
Brought into the arena as a new twist on the game’s entertainment, the second ex-wrestler died. The hole through her chest was big enough to reach an entire arm through. Following the fight, the parkland seemed eerily silent again. The camera drones were still hovering overhead. Smoke drifted from one of the nearby park entrances where Church had set off the brick of C4 as a distraction.
Titama emerged from the woods, running in case the others still needed help. Her partner, Anaconda, was lying on the ground and holding his stomach. Blood spilled through his armour and between his fingers. Both Jeannie and Church went to check on him and Church looked at his forearm for a red cross symbol on the glowing map.
“What happened? What about Anaconda?” Titama yelled.
“He’s been shot.” Jeannie said.
“We need medical.” Church groaned.
Chapter Seventeen.
“Ever wanted a taste of the high life? Of celebrity or political power? Literally? Long Pig is the only family restaurant you can go to for that unique taste of cloned human meat. But now we’ve added something new to the menu, or should we say-, someone new?”
A homely steakhouse bustles with tables full of families and couples. Old-fashioned medical equipment and black and white autopsy photos cover the walls. The hostesses and wait staff have swapped their uniforms for a variety of celebrity costumes and wigs.
“Our new celebrity menu means you can take a bite out of fame! Some like it hot, like with our Marilyn MonReuben sandwich. Grab a slice of our Oscar-winning Leonardo DiCapricciosa Pizza! Or the simple yet versatile Kevin Bacon Cheeseburger.”
“Red state or blue, we’ve got the perfect taste for left and right tastebuds. Try our sizzling BaRack of Ribs or a juicy TRump Steak! Or for a final solution to your hunger, pick out one of our free-range Hitlers for the sweet taste of ironic justice!”
A corral of half-naked, scrawny Hitler clones scratch at the dirt like chickens around a densely packed yard. A chubby-cheeked, blonde child points to one of the Hitlers with a scraggly toothbrush moustache clinging to its upper lip. A Long Pig worker moves in wearing an apron and facemask. Pressing a pneumatic bolt gun to the clone’s temple, the worker fires a shaft of metal into the Hitler’s skull causing it to tumble limply to the ground.
“This time it’s into the oven with you, Adolf!”
“Long Pig’s new celebrity menu! Take the Kardashian challenge, finish a whole one in under an hour and your table eats free!”
“Come on!” Layla yelled.
The heat from Kohler’s flames filled the street. Breaking from cover, Layla ran across the sidewalk to a small supermarket that had been abandoned after the quake. Thao followed even as a hail of bullets from Jackrabbit Slim rattled over their heads. The two psychotic soldiers had them in a box and their only option was to head through one of the surrounding buildings.
The automatic doors of the supermarket were locked up but Layla swung her mechanical arm into one of them like a sledgehammer. Ripping one of the doors off its rails, Layla threw it aside. Gunfire from Jackrabbit Slim chattered off the top of the doorframe as they darted inside.
Donny Kohler’s jetpack roared and he clumsily leapt off the roof of the fast food restaurant where he’d landed and into the street. Jackrabbit was using his SMG for suppressing fire but Kohler didn’t look like he needed it. Stomping closer, Kohler raised both wrist-mounted flamethrowers. Blazing napalm coated the front windows of the supermarket, turning them black before the glass started to crack and burst. Thao and Layla sprinted past the registers inside the building. They had to negotiate their way through a mess of old foodstuffs that had spilled off the shelves and into the aisles, getting underfoot. Smoke start
ed to billow across the front of the store from the burning entryway.
“Hold up.” Layla said.
Layla shoved Thao to a stop at the end of the aisle. The building was pitch black. Broken refrigerators filled with long-rotted produce lined the back of the supermarket. They could only see from the light of the street and the fire until the smoke blotted it out. Fumbling for his pistol, Thao switched on the weapon light under its barrel to use as torch. He could see Layla getting ready to use the M32.
“Keep the light low.” Layla said.
Armour clanking, a hulking figure appeared through the oily wall of smoke. The dull grey glow of sunlight silhouetted Kohler in the broken entryway. Layla took her time to aim straight down the barrel of the grenade launcher. She only had one shot left and knew she had to make it count.
Tiny ignition flames flicked at each of Kohler’s wrists as his masked face stiffly scanned the room. Layla adjusted for the length of the aisle and fired. Trailing smoke, the grenade sailed across the store, zeroing in on the man. The explosive disintegrated in a thunderous blast that was deafening in the enclosed space. The entire front of the store exploded into the street, tinkling, blackened glass and warped wreckage tumbling across the sidewalk. The shockwave rippled through the rest of the building, pulling down the ceiling and knocking over shelves like dominoes.
Thao and Layla shielded their faces from the blast. Their ears were ringing as they looked back up, listening for the keening wail of Kohler’s kill switch. As the smoke cleared, however, they could still see a hulking shape down on one knee in the middle of the blazing doorframe. Kohler had his arms crossed over his mask, protecting his face. Wisps of smoke were wafting off Kohler’s heavy armour but the suit was still intact. Kohler lowered his forearms and Layla could almost see his eyes glittering with hatred behind the narrow visor in the middle of his mask.
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