To Cross a Wasteland

by Phillip D Granath

  “What?” Kyle asked just looking at the Indian in confusion.

  “Ok, here we go, this was the system I mentioned yesterday Coal, the self-encompassing solar system. This thing doesn’t have solar panels like all those old moon buggies we grew up with. The body itself is one big solar collector, its continuously charging the batteries.” With that Miles hit a switch on the dash labeled SESS, the switch glowed green, and a blank section on the panel directly in front of the steering wheel lit up. A dozen horizontal bars ranging in color from red, yellow and then green appeared. The bars halfway up the panel were lit.

  “So, does it…,” Coal began but in response, the buggy lurched forward, and the half-breed barely pulled his foot back fast enough to keep it from being run over. The oversized tires pelted the stunned men with dust and rocks, then bounced violently to the right. The sudden turn sent Miles sliding around in the oversized seat, and his foot came off of the pedal. The buggy came to a sudden stop just short of a line of scrub brush.

  Coal and Kyle ran to the side of the vehicle and helped pull Miles out. “I’m fine, I’m fine, it just startled me, I didn’t realize it was still in gear,” Miles said defensively. Kyle released the old man and jumped into the vehicle without a word. He slid the shifter back, and the buggy pulled back from the brush.

  “Oh come on, that’s my car. It’s my turn to drive,” Coal complained as he let go of Miles.

  “I’m going after her Coal. Now, are you coming with me or not?” Kyle said flatly.

  “Okay, okay, but do we even know if this thing has enough sunshine in the tank to take us anywhere?” Coal asked as he ran around the back and jumped into the passenger seat.

  “Miles?” Kyle asked.

  “No idea, the manual doesn’t provide any of that; remember this thing was some kind of a prototype,” Miles replied and then added. “Kyle, what about Juan and me? You two are more than likely about to go get yourselves killed. What should we do?”

  Miles' voice wavered at the very end as if he was on the verge of tears. Kyle looked up at the old man and then down at the steering wheel. Kyle knew Miles was trying to say good-bye, but at the moment he just couldn’t deal with it, instead he just shook his head.

  “Take the wagon, the horses, and as much water as you can carry. Go North Miles and don’t ever look back,” Kyle said his voice wavering also.

  “And Miles, I want you to stay out of that cave. Just get the water and get out. I don’t want you to go looking for that light. I know it’s still on your mind but trust me, let it go. I don’t have time to explain,” Kyle warned, and Miles looked up at him in obvious confusion.

  “And another thing, I seem to remember those horses are still mine. So you better wait a couple of days and make sure we’re really dead before you run off with my property or you’ll have me and my space buggy of death riding up your ass,” Coal added turning to face the old man.

  Kyle shook his head and then slammed the pedal of the buggy down. The reaction was instantaneous the vehicle launched forward. Coal slid sideways into his seat before grabbing hold of the seat harnesses. The pair raced away from the Mesa, dodging large bushes and hills, plowing through or over smaller ones. The electric car was nearly silent as it moved and soon all the Miles could see of its passing was a trail of dust headed west. Juan stood next to the wagon and waved after them as they slipped out of sight.

  The pair made quick time across the desert, the buggy’s nearly silent motors eating up the distance, following their wagon tracks from the previous day. Kyle drove, ignoring every demand and threat Coal made to be allowed to drive. He held the wheel in a death grip, his knuckles white as bone as he gripped the wheel. The Scavenger’s intensity was nearly palpable, to Coal it tasted sour like bad morning breath, and as they neared the gas station, it grew steadily stronger. It threatened to nearly ruin Coal’s fun, but the Indian was still grinning wildly, exhilarated at the high-speed ride as the gas station pulled into view. The previous day, the same trip had taken them nearly three hours. Today they had covered the same ground in about half an hour.

  As they neared the station, Kyle couldn’t contain himself any longer and accelerated the buggy even more. Then at the last possible moment, he jerked the wheel hard to the left and slammed hard on the brake. The vehicle jerked hard to the right kicking up a cascade of dust and nearly toppling over. Kyle was up and out of the buggy, running with his pistol in hand before the vehicle had come to a stop. The vehicle continued to roll forward, and Coal realized it was still in gear. He threw the shifter into park and then jumped out to follow Kyle.

  The Scavenger ran through the dust, straight to the last place he had seen his wife crouched on her knees. As the dust settled a body lay at the spot, Kyle slowed and then stopped to look down at Dante’s ashen body. Kyle barely spared a moment looking down at his dead friend and then moved towards the building still searching for his wife. Coal arrived a moment later to look down at the dead man. Dante had a slash that ran across his chest and up to his neck. That blow had put the man down but a second sword slash had nearly separated his head from his neck, leaving marks in the dirt on either side of the wound. The killing blow had come when the man had been flat on his back and helpless.

  “Sorry Dante,” Coal whispered as he glanced around at the abandoned station.

  “I doubt Kyle is going to want to wait long enough for me to bury you too,” he added after a moment.

  As Coal looked around, he saw the double barrel shotgun a few feet away, partially buried in the sand. Coal scooped the weapon up, its breach was open, and the chambers were empty. Coal dropped the useless gun, no doubt just as Rory’s men had done. Beyond that Coal noticed an odd pattern in the sand, smears of blood blotted around it, the trail stretched towards the side of the garage. Coal brought the rifle from his shoulder down into his hands and stalked towards the side of the building.

  One of Rory’s Rangers lay awkwardly on his back, just inside the meager shade of the garage’s eve. The right side of the man’s body was ripped with buckshot from his thigh to his shoulder. Coal had watched Anna wound one rider with Dante’s shotgun during the fight; it seemed the man hadn’t made it very far after that. The dying man’s eyes came open in a flutter, and he looked right at the Indian.

  “Coal!” the man coughed out and actually smiled up at him.

  “Howdy,” the half-breed replied, lowering his gun and taking a step closer.

  “I was wondering, had lots of time to think about it, tried to decide if the wild dogs would get me first, the ants, or maybe the sun. Didn’t consider you though; guess it’s my lucky day,” the man said smiling up at his death.

  Coal pulled his hunting knife half out of its sheath ready to grant the dying man his wish and then paused considering. He walked back towards the front of the garage and a moment later returned with one the discarded bottles of water left over from Kyle’s cache. He dropped the bottle and kicked it to within reach of the dying Ranger.

  “Thing is, I got money on the ants, but they take some time to get started. I figure that’ll help you with the wait,” Coal said with a grin.

  The Ranger looked down at the bottle of water, his face bunched up and tears began to roll down his cheeks, but the man still reached out and pulled the bottle to him. Both of them knew he would drink it when the thirst became too much too bare, and with the water, his death would drag out.

  “You see the tears, yeah that’s kinda counterproductive to what we’re trying to do here,” Coal pointed out.

  Kyle appeared at the Indian’s side, he held the shotgun in one hand, but after a moment raised the weapon and pointed it at the dying Ranger.

  “Yeah, I got a plan for this already, besides that thing is…,”

  The shotgun blast cut Coal off as Kyle blew the Ranger’s head to pieces. Coal flinched as he was splattered with blood. The Indian slowly turned to look at Kyle, his grin was gone.

  “Dante had three shells left in his pocket,” Kyle said col
dly and then opening the breach reloaded the barrels and handed the gun to Coal.

  “Gee, thanks,” Coal replied as Kyle turned and walked back towards the buggy.

  “Are we on our way to town now?” Coal asked at his back.

  “Where else?” Kyle replied.

  Councilman Murphy threw the door open with force sending it banging loudly against the wall. A single lantern hung from the ceiling, and it began swinging wildly back and forth from the force of the blow. A pair of Rangers stood over a crumpled form on a dirty mattress at the center of the room, both men were half dressed and looked up at their boss.

  “Out, out you bastards, you animals!” Murphy shouted shaking his fist.

  The pair paused for a moment, exchanged a knowing glance and then picked their clothes up from the floor; they went out the door without another word. The Councilman loudly slammed the door behind them sending the light spinning yet again.

  “Anna, Anna, my dear Doctor, those animals didn’t hurt you too badly I trust?” Murphy called turning back towards the prostrate woman.

  Anna was naked, and Murphy watched as she slowly curled herself up into a protective ball. Even in the swaying light, through the shifting shadows, he could see the damage his men had done. The right side of her face was badly bruised, her eye nearly swollen shut. Blood still flowed from her nose, dried blood matted her hair and caked her inner thighs. Her body was covered in bruises, some clearly caused by grabbing hands, others from leather belts. He could see a dozen clear bite marks across her body, up her legs on her hips and her breasts. Perhaps giving her to the boys so soon after their dust-up in the desert had been a mistake he considered. No matter now, the damage was literally done.

  Murphy heard a series of quiet shuddering sobs begin to escape Anna. The councilman turned back to the door and scooped up the folded blanket that had been placed there for just this moment. He approached Anna very slowly, opening the blanket wide he tried to offer it to the sobbing women. Anna didn’t look up but still sensed his approach, she tried to crawl away from him and began to cry even harder. The councilman threw the blanket around her shoulders and wrapped her tightly in it. She stopped struggling to get away and just cried to herself.

  “Anna, I want you to know that I truly had no idea that this was happening. I was told last night that we had captured one of Coal’s whores. I thought the boys had that murderess that Coal had set loose on his own women back here, I had no idea it was you. This morning when I realized the terrible mistake that had been made, well I, I’m so sorry,” Murphy said delivering the polished lines just as he had practiced them.

  The councilman waited for a reply, but Anna just continued her quiet sobbing.

  “I want you to know, someone like you, a Doctor, a person of real worth. Well, I would never allow anything like this to happen to you, not ever again, you have my word on that. I protect my people, and I’ll protect you, Anna,” the councilman said and again waited for a response. Anna remained silent but her breathing had slowed, and he took that as a good sign.

  “We’ll talk more about that later. As for now, I’m going to have a few of my girls come in, and they’ll help get you cleaned up. They’ll get you some food and something to drink. This afternoon when you are feeling better, we can talk more then,” Murphy said and then stood.

  The councilman walked back to the door and opened it. A pair of his whores stood outside waiting for his signal. He nodded for them to enter and without a word they came in and ran to Anna’s side. Murphy walked from the room, and as he strode down the hall, he passed Rory leaning up against the bar.

  “Well done,” the Councilman said and smiled.

  Rory simply nodded in reply.

  Kyle gunned the electric buggy up and out of a shallow wash, he immediately had to pull the wheel hard to the left to slip through a break in a line of thick scrub brush. The branches scratched along the black composite body and Coal was forced to throw an arm up to protect his face. They had left the gas station and had raced in a straight line towards town, but the desert was not cooperating. They had spent as much time going around the rough terrain than actually moving forward. Worse yet Kyle had silently refused all suggestion Coal had made to turn South and try and find an easier route. The Scavenger just ignored him and plowed ahead, just as he ignored his continual pleas to allow him to drive.

  Coal was starting to get frustrated with their little trip already. He had grown accustomed to having Kyle around, the Scavenger was supposed to be his lodestone, his moral compass telling him when to hold back and when to plow ahead. But that wasn’t the same man that sat next to him now. That was now recklessly charging them across the country towards the fight of their lives was some hate-fueled, revenge programmed killing machine.

  The chance to find a little revenge definitely had its appeal, Coal couldn’t deny that. The problem was for him to actually get a chance to carve his name into Rory or that bastard Murphy he needed to get close enough to do. The way Kyle was playing this so far, the way he had stormed into the gas station without a second thought would get them both killed before they even set foot into the kingpin’s club, shiny new car or no. Coal didn’t mind the prospect of dying; he just hated the idea of either of those bastards being able to stand over him and watch him while he did it. No, they needed a plan here, but first, he was going to have to get Kyle’s attention.

  Coal shoved one arm through the straps of the harness and then casually reached up and threw the shifter into park.

  The speeding vehicle let out a terrible screech as the wheels locked up and began to fishtail violently in the loose sand. Kyle frantically turned the wheel one way and then the other trying to keep the buggy upright. On the third turn the buggy swung too wide to the right, its right wheels dug in and the left came off the ground. The vehicle teetered for a brief moment, threatened to flip and then dropped back down on to all four wheels. Kyle turned to face Coal, his mouth wide, his face a mix of confusion and rage.

  “So you’re probably wondering why I’ve called you all here today,” Coal began, but Kyle drew his pistol and pointed it at the Indian’s head.

  “Get out!” he screamed.

  “No Kyle, I won’t. Anna is my friend, she may not think much of me, may not even particularly like me come to think of it. But she saved my life, I owe her for that. Also, you seem to like her, and since you’re my only buddy I got left in this shitty world, well that counts for something I guess. So I want to go rescue her,” Coal said calmly.

  “What in the fuck do you think we’re doing?” Kyle demanded in reply.

  “You mean this? Right here, right now? This is you trying to get us both killed,” Coal shouted.

  The gun trembled slightly in Kyle’s hand, his breathing was quick and deep.

  “I know what it’s like Kyle, believe me, you’ve seen it. I love to ride that wave, let the anger drive you and just say fuck it to the whole world,” Coal watched Kyle’s eyes as he spoke.

  “But if we ride into town like that, guns a blazing and go up against Murphy’s, hell I don’t even know, 50 plus men. Yeah, between the two of us we’ll sure as shit take a lot of them with us, but that story ends only two ways for Anna. Murphy cuts her throat before we get close enough to grab her or she gets to watch us die. Then she’ll have a long life of being his property to look forward to,” Coal explained carefully.

  Coal watched Kyle’s eyes moisten, the Scavenger lowered his gun and a moment later his head. He body was racked by a sob and then another finally, he spoke.

  “Ok Coal, what do you we do?”

  Coal nodded. “We need an edge; we need to even out the odds somehow. Maybe figure out a way to draw some of Murphy’s people away from that damn club of his, then we hit them, fast and hard.”

  Kyle looked up. “So we need some kind of distraction then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, something like that,” Coal said nodding.

  Kyle turned to face forward again and grabbed the wheel. “Whic
h way is East?”

  The pair of talkative whores spent every moment with Anna since Murphy had walked out of the room. They had cleaned her wounds, then with damp rags had washed away the dirt, grime, and blood left from the night at the hands of the Rangers. The girls had spoken non-stop during that time. Telling her how terrible it was, what a horrible “mistake” had been made. How lucky it was that the Ranger’s hadn’t done her any “real” harm. How fortunate she was that Murphy had stepped in when he had.

  They had offered her water and then food, she refused both, simply shaking her head and pulling away, she refused to even speak. She sat crouched on the same dirty mattress where she had been raped. She still clutched the blanket that Murphy had handed her, afraid they would take that from her and leave her exposed again, vulnerable.

  After a time, the pair of girls stopped trying to talk to her, and they began talking to each other instead. The conversation seemed forced to Anna, even with her mind reliving the nightmare over and over again she had noticed that.

  “Never had me a full belly, not until I came here to Murphs,” one of the girls volunteered.

  “Same here,” replied the other. “Never had two chits to rub together in my pocket before I came to work for the boss. I had to drink them as fast as I could make them.”

  “That’s if you even could sell what you got, instead of them just taking what they want in some back alley. Dirty hands holding you down, just hoping they wasn’t going to cut your throat and eat you when they was done,” pointed out the first.

  “Isn’t that the truth? Nobody has laid a hand on me without paying since I walked in here,” the second added.

  “Murphy, he protects us you see,” said the first.

  “He sure does,” the second replied.

  Anna knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. Murphy wanted something from her, she wanted her to think that he was her only hope in the whole world. She had noticed that his women had offered her every comfort they could, but had never offered her clothing. She still draped herself in the small blanket Murphy had given to her. Another part of Murphy’s plan she realized. He wanted her to feel vulnerable. The only protection allowed her was what he had provided, the very idea made her anger rise.