Lord of Ends

by Sam Ryder

  “I just do my best to not be in that situation,” I said. “I focus on making sure my target is deserving of the bullets. Trust me, the guy charging at you deserved to be blown away. You did the right thing.”

  “Oh, I know that,” she said. “I just... I still feel bad.”

  I didn’t want to tell her. The silence soothed me. I wanted to just go back to silently keeping watch. She wouldn’t sleep feeling like this, though.

  “When I used to work for Elias, I was basically a hired assassin. In the early days, after the Blast, there was high demand for my services. Some people needed protection. Others wanted revenge against someone who wronged them. It was common. There were a lot of bad people, and purging the Ends of bad people made sense to me. Besides, I was good at it. I was fast, efficient, and effective. Years of military training gives you certain skills. So when I heard there was a job for that kind of work, I jumped on it. And it paid well.”

  She shifted on the rock, our shoulders no longer touching. Almost like she was trying to distance herself from me.

  “And you were paid for killing?”

  “Yes,” I said, not wanting to hold back any portion of my truth from this woman. “Elias took the orders, processed the payment, all that. He’d give me my share, tell me the target, and I’d go do it, no questions asked. We worked on the move, never staying in one place for very long. Everyone knew who we were and what we were doing. If they needed something, we’d carry it out for them.”

  “And you were certain they were all deserving of death?” she asked. It felt like a loaded question.

  “Not exactly,” I replied. “But I trusted Elias. He said all the right things, pandered to my sense of justice.”

  “So what changed?”

  I took a deep breath. “A few years ago, I got the order to take out a man named Wesley. He was in the Rising. His wife put in the order. Said he was cheating on her and stealing from her. We had orders like that from time to time—serious personal issues. Plus, I already wasn’t a fan of the Rising, so I didn’t take much convincing to accept the job.”

  “What happened?”

  “Elias paid me my usual advance with the promise of more when the job was over. I found the guy outside his house, not a care in the world. The sun was setting, which gave me just enough cover. I put two bullets in his chest without giving it another thought. He fell in a pool of blood in front of his home. Another bad guy gone. No problem.”

  “I don’t understand.” Gehn’s brow was furrowed in intense concentration. She was trying to make sense of the meaning of the story.

  “The Guild is never responsible for cleanup. We get our orders, do the job, and get out. Somebody else disposed of the body and cleaned everything up. A few days later, I walked past the same spot just to make certain everything was taken care of. The only thing is, I see the dead guy’s wife welcoming another guy into her home.

  “That confused me. She had moved on pretty quickly. I went to one of the local bars and asked around innocently. ‘Hey, does anybody know what happened to Wesley?’, that sort of thing. Turns out the wife was the one cheating and stealing from him. She just wanted him out of the way so she could be free to do what she wanted. The Ends was the Wild West, and she had found her place in it.”

  “So the guy did nothing wrong,” Gehn said.

  “Not as far as I know. Yeah, he was part of the Rising, but back then they weren’t nearly as notorious. Maybe it was his way of surviving, I don’t know. In any case, as far as I’m concerned, I killed an innocent man. I was on the wrong side. That made me question all the other times I killed people—how many of them may have been innocent? I went to Elias and told him we needed to stop, or at least slow down. Learn more about our targets before we accepted a job. But Elias was greedy. The money was too good. He showed me his true colors. For him, the money outweighed the cost of lives, even the innocent ones. So I refused to do any more jobs. I should’ve killed him then, but I was so sickened I couldn’t take another life at that point.”

  “How did he take it?” she asked.

  “Not well,” I replied. “The Wanderer’s Guild was mostly him at that point and I was his best contractor, always refusing to become a full-fledged member. There were a few others who handled small jobs, but I took care of the important stuff. Once he lost me, he started growing his operation internally, starting the whole First, Second, Third system. It became an organization with bigger goals, more than just a group of hired assassins.”

  “You did the right thing,” Gehn said, taking my hand.

  “I know,” I said. “And so did you. Killing that guy was the right thing for you to do.”

  Being a former employee of the Wanderer’s Guild didn’t hang over my head as much anymore. I tried not to think about it. And I certainly didn’t talk about it out loud like that.

  Gehn leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.

  “What was that for?” I asked.

  She smiled. “You’re a good man.”

  “I don’t know about that, but maybe I’m not a bad one.”

  She kissed me again. She was affectionate. That was not something I was used to. It seemed like every time we were alone, she wanted to touch me. I didn’t really mind it as much as I thought I would.

  “Now that I’ve talked, let me ask you a question,” I said, turning the tables. “For somebody with their own demons, you’re awfully warm and affectionate. Why do you think that is?”

  She chuckled. “I don’t ‘think,’ I know. All Ender women are like this. We are a repressed society.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Ender women don’t look that different from human women. What makes you so different?”

  “The men,” she said plainly. “Ender men are hideous to look at, but that part doesn’t bother most of us. But have you wondered why Ender men are so irrationally violent?”

  I thought back to the Ender that dragged me from my slumber and tried to tear me apart before we got to Rome.

  “Ender men have a lot of energy pent-up inside of them,” Gehn continued. “They do not have libidos. Something happens in the mutation that destroys them sexually. Enders will not procreate among themselves. That’s not because the women don’t want to—It’s because the men can’t. So we women live lives of repression. We either find a human man who isn’t disgusted by us, or we find our satisfaction among each other.”

  Admittedly, my mind drifted to the idea of hot girl-on-girl Ender action for a second.

  “So you’re just horned up and you have no outlet for it?” I asked bluntly.

  She laughed. “Pretty much,” she said. “We have needs just like everybody else. But because they have no sexual urges, the men focus their energy on more violent pursuits.” She flashed a smile. “When I saw you, and you agreed to come with us, I knew it was only a matter of time before we would have sex, even though Hannah beat me to it. I doubted you had sex often at that outpost.”

  That’s one way of putting it, yeah.

  “So I knew you would be open to it,” she continued. “I find I think more clearly after I’ve had a good orgasm. Besides, it’s rare to have fun in the Ends anymore, especially if you’re an Ender. A good fuck helps anyone survive a bad day, right?”

  That last sentence made me laugh and also turned me on quite a lot. I had plenty of bad days. But the days here were definitely more tolerable amongst Gehn and Hannah.

  Yeah, the sex may have had something to do with that.

  Chapter 33

  Company

  The women greeted me as night fell, thanking me for taking the lion’s share of the watch during the day.

  “It was pretty quiet,” I said, not mentioning that Gehn had spent a good hour by my side. “Nobody bothered us. An easy post, for sure. But we have a small problem—I need ammo.”

  After Gehn went back to sleep, I’d had a lot of time to think. Slowing down gave me the opportunity to assess the situation. One realization was our lack of supplies.

&
nbsp; “We don’t have the wagon anymore,” I said. “Most of my ammunition was left behind. We used plenty of bullets in the city. We have a few more shots, but we can’t be sloppy with them. I’ll need to collect some ammo at some point.”

  “How?” Hannah asked.

  I smiled devilishly. “The Wanderer’s Guild is loaded with sloppy workers, the Seconds and Thirds who are nothing more than trained killers. I guarantee you at some point we’ll come across a few. They’ll be armed. But I’ll see them before they see us.”

  In the meantime, we would move forward. A lot of ground separated us from Paris, and I wanted to cover as much as possible. I would be the spider laying in wait for my prey.

  We walked across the wasteland for several hours. At first, the women stayed quiet, as if afraid that their voices would draw predators to us. I assured them that everything was fine. “Talk normally,” I said. “Believe me, you are not in danger. Leave the recon to me.”

  It wasn’t arrogance. It was certainty. Elias showed his hand when he told me I was the best he had. He screwed up in that moment. I had the upper hand on these other idiots.

  And sure enough, it paid off.

  I saw two figures walking west of us. They weren’t walking toward us, so I knew they hadn’t realized who we were. But based on the way they were walking and how they held their hands, they were armed.

  “Get down!” I ordered. Both women hit the dirt, Chuck following suit.

  I dropped to my knee and squinted across the plain. All I had to do was get near them. Then I could take my shot and they’d both be out of the way, assuming they were who I suspected they were.

  I crawled over to the two girls. “Stay here,” I said. “I’ll check it out.” Once more, I drew Beta flipped open the cartridge. “You’ve got four shots here. Be careful with them, and that will be more than enough if someone comes at you. Chuck will know when somebody’s coming long before you do. Listen to him.”

  With that, I tossed them the gun and moved out, taking an angle that would be out of their peripheral vision as I circled around behind the strangers.

  I ducked behind old stumps and fallen logs every few feet, paying attention to where I placed my feet so I didn’t turn an ankle. I covered a lot of ground quickly and noiselessly. My knee still hurt a bit, but it was mostly recovered at this point. As I got closer to the men, it became easier to make out who they were.

  They were clearly Guild, their bracelets displayed proudly. Both were men, Thirds by the look of the studs in their wrist-wear. Both wore layers and layers of clothing spotted with patches of dirt and grime accumulated over years of moving around. Their leathery skin glinted off the sunlight, greasy and rough. For Guild members, they were the lowest of the low, clearly.

  One wielded a six-shooter like my own. I cheered silently to myself knowing I could re-arm both of my women without changing weapons. I could fire most guns, but there’s something special about the familiarity of your own weapon. Hell, both of mine were pretty much my dearest friends at this point.

  The other guy cradled a long shotgun in both hands. That was an unusually powerful gun to have out in the Ends. Powerful but not very accurate, the scattershot approach useful from close range only.

  Elias must have given that one to him. He knows these guys are useless, so he’s assuming a more powerful gun will give them a better chance. What a jackass.

  I darted between another stump and a log. Peering over the top, I was now right behind them.

  That I got this close undetected amused me to no end. Elias paid these bastards to kill, and I was guessing we were their target. Their entire job was to find us and shoot us—but they couldn’t do it with me mere feet away from them.

  Alpha had three shots left.

  One more than I need.

  Training the barrel of the gun on the two of them, I quickly unleashed two shots that echoed across the wasteland. They fell in short succession, shot from behind. In the old world, shooting a man from behind was a cowardly act. In the Ends?

  Two of my better shots, I thought, satisfied.

  They hadn’t been kill shots, which was purposeful. I wanted to talk to them, if possible. One clipped the guy on the left in his spine. The way he fell, I knew his legs were useless now. Didn’t matter, because he wouldn’t live to use them anyway. The other one caught the bullet in the hip. He clutched his leg, screaming in pain. They’d both dropped their weapons, as planned.

  I calmly stepped over the log and approached them.

  “Evenin’,” I said, tipping my hat.

  “Fuck, Cutter!” one of them grunted, the pain writhing in his expression.

  I smiled. “I’m sure Elias paid you shit all to take me out, so it’s not even worth it for you to do the job. Don’t worry, you won’t need the money anymore.”

  “Please, man,” one begged. “Let us go. We swear we’ll leave you alone.”

  “First of all, you two are in no condition to go anywhere,” I said. “You’re fucked either way. Second, I’m not letting you go so you can report back to Elias. The moment you took the job, you were dead.”

  I didn’t like killing good guys, but these were not good guys. Making them suffer a little was fine by me. They were dirty bastards and they deserved what they got. I had no interest in sparing them. But first I needed intel. “What’s his plan then? To keep sending pathetic grunts like you after me?”

  I stepped on the hip of the nonparalyzed guy when he didn’t answer. “Ahh,” he howled. “Okay, fuck. There’s a bounty on your head. We’re not being paid anything to ‘take the job.’ The winner gets the spoils. Ten large for your head on a platter, but only if we bring the women in unharmed.”

  Christ. Even for Elias it was a bit much.

  It also pissed me off. The shotgun lay in the dirt, just out of reach of its owner. He stretched out his hand to grab for it, smart enough to know what was coming next. I didn’t even bother stopping him. Instead, I laughed at his futile attempt. He had no chance. He knew it, too.

  “This is going to get gruesome, boys,” I said, stepping on his hand, cracking a few bones while I picked up the shotgun. “I don’t want to use this. I’d rather use my six-shooter. It would be a lot less messy. This thing is just overkill. But I’d rather save my ammo.”

  I pulled the lever back on the shotgun. It wasn’t very sporting, but sport mattered little in the Ends. If they had the chance to take this shot, they would take it too.

  “You won’t be alone, guys,” I said, staring down the sight of the gun at my first victim. “I’ll send a few more down to hell with you. And Elias won’t be far behind.”

  I pulled the trigger, the scattershot piercing his chest, neck and face. It was brutal, which made it in line with the world we found ourselves in. I repeated the process with the other guy, who took his medicine without complaint, probably because he was paralyzed anyway.

  I rifled through the pockets of both men, finding more ammo for both guns in their coats. I pilfered both guns as well so that the women could be properly armed and I could have both Alpha and Beta at my hips.

  Then, I slipped the extra ammo into my own pockets, tucked the extra six-shooter into my coat, and grabbed the shotgun.

  “A successful trip,” I announced when I returned to their hiding spot, dropping the spare guns into the dirt in front of them.

  “Holy shit,” Hannah exclaimed on seeing the payload. “You’re not kidding!”

  I nodded. “They didn’t have any coin, however. Seems Elias is paying in promises these days. Cheap motherfucker. Gehn, you get the knew six-shooter. Hannah, can you handle this beast?” I gestured at the shotgun. Without a word, she picked it up, cocked it, sighted the barrel, and flipped it into her other hand. “I’ll take that as a hell yes.”

  “Hell yes,” she said with a grin.

  I divided up the ammo for the weapons so we were all equally armed. Then I holstered both Alpha and Beta.

  The three of us covered a lot of ground the rest o
f the night, so we made camp early, even building a small fire while we still had the cover of night to hide our smoke, using the cover of a large downed fir tree to block the flames. I even managed to nab a few small critters, so we ate well.

  “I’m feeling a little off,” Gehn admitted while we finished breakfast or dinner, or whatever the hell meal it was. “Something bad is coming.”

  Shit. I was hoping for another chance to rest before we had any more action.

  “Let’s get some rest while we still can,” I said.

  “I’ll stand guard,” Hannah said. Gehn nodded in appreciation and lay down, turning away from the firelight. Her exhalations deepened and she drifted away to sleep in record time.

  “You sure?” I asked Hannah. “I don’t mind putting in a few hours and then we can switch.”

  “Yeah, you played that same game last night, except you stood guard the entire day. I’m not falling for it again. You need rest or you’ll collapse.” I couldn’t argue with that, so I slid onto the ground, immediately feeling my body given into the idea of rest. Gehn murmured as I slid close to her, feeling her warmth.

  Unfortunately, the sleep would be short-lived.

  Chapter 34

  Rude awakening

  I couldn’t quite tell when it happened.

  I jerked awake at the noise of Hannah struggling. Her boots kicked wildly, dust and dirt flying everywhere. Chuck leapt into the air, barking uncontrollably at the disturbance. As always, he knew something was up.

  I sat up, looking in Hannah’s direction to see if I could make out what was happening. I saw movement. Something—or somebody—must’ve slipped past her undetected.

  There was a lot of movement but it was hard to make out due to a scramble of branches from a fallen tree blocking my view. Still, between the limbs I could tell there was a struggle. Arms and legs flying, Hannah throwing punches but missing. Did she fall asleep? Did they somehow sneak up on her? How the fuck did this happen?