‘Not a chance. I’m going with you,’ Kat said.
‘Are you sure? What about your sister?’
Kat looked up at him. ‘She’s dead. There’s nothing more I can do for her now apart from avenging her death and giving her a decent burial,’ she said looking up with a fierce determination etched on her face.
‘As long as you’re sure,’ Nero said.
‘I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.’
‘Come on, then,’ he said. ‘Here, let’s take her with us,’ he said, reaching down and lifting Tan up over his shoulder before crossing the room towards Nyx.
‘Sounds like the queen’s making a run for it,’ Nyx called out from the main door.
‘We know,’ Nero said. ‘But she won’t get far.’ He smiled over at Nyx.
Nyx smiled back. ‘Now you’re talking.’
The three of them started to jog through the building, moving as quickly as they could. Dead bodies were everywhere, but the guards were nowhere to be seen. They passed through several rooms and corridors until they reached the front door to the building and were able to look out over the compound. At the far side of the courtyard, the main gates had been opened wide and several vehicles were missing. In the distance, the dust cloud kicked up by the fleeing cars was slowly receding away.
‘Come on,’ Nero said, making for his car with the two girls close behind him and Tan still over his shoulder. His charger was right where he’d left it, and apparently untouched. He unlocked it, placed Tan in the back seat and jumped in. Nyx climbed in beside him in the front passenger seat while Kat scooted into the back beside her sister, whom she held lovingly.
The engine roared into life, and Nero could feel his adrenalin surge. ‘Let’s do this,’ he said as he floored it.
Wheels spun, dirt flew, and the charger skidded off through the compound before speeding through the open gates onto the road outside. Nero piled on the gas and barrelled along the ruined street. It looked like the queen had taken some of her bigger vehicles, so they’d be both easy to follow and would probably clear the way for him, allowing him to travel fast and catch up.
The car flew along the road, approaching a right hand turn up ahead. Nero followed the fading dust cloud and took a wide racing line through the corner, feathering the handbrake to kick the rear end out a touch. Drifting around the corner, the rear wheels spun, leaving a fantail of dirt behind them until the tyres caught once more and the car shot forward again towards the on-ramp for the highway out of the city. With a bump, the charger climbed up the incline and crested the top of the rise, leaving the road for a moment and catching some air before returning to the asphalt with a bump. The car fishtailed for a second. Nero fought to keep it under control, though, his experience in handling the vehicle shining through as he brought it back in line again.
The dust cloud grew thicker as he went, zipping past rusted-out ruined cars and a few wandering zombies that reached for them ineffectually.
He could see the queen’s vehicles up ahead, clustered on the road. They were moving fast, but not fast enough.
As they slowly gained on them, the buildings thinned out, and suddenly they were in open desert with the occasional cluster of buildings and other structures jutting up through the sand at odd angles. Ahead, the queen's convoy fanned out, giving Nero a better idea of what they were taking on.
The primary vehicle was a large big rig with a trailer attached. There was also some kind of military troop transport that was a huge armoured beast of a thing, and this pair were all surrounded by five, maybe six or more modified cars of all kinds. From what he could tell, there were perhaps one or two people in each vehicle and several riding the rig. He could see at least five on the main trailer. He had no idea how many might be in the transport, though.
The odds of success didn’t look great.
Back in the compound, with the guards spread around the place, they could probably have hunted them down and dealt with them, but now, with all these vehicles and them in just their single car, the situation didn’t seem as favourable.
‘Do you think we can do this?’ Kat asked, sounding a little worried.
‘No idea,’ Nero said, not wanting to sound too confident as, at least on the surface of it, it didn’t look good.
‘Yeah, we fucking well can,’ Nyx said. ‘Get close to that rig, I’ll deal with them,’ she said.
Nero looked at her for a moment and saw the sheer force of will and utter self-confidence in her face and felt his love for her redouble. This was why he adored her. ‘Damn right you will,’ he smiled back, feeling suddenly confident again.
Nero cut right, moving to one side of the convoy he was approaching while Nyx opened the hatch above her seat and put one foot up on her door frame. With her in place, Nero accelerated, drawing level with the rearmost car that was over on his left side, behind the rig.
When the moment was right, Nero yanked the wheel with his left hand, while holding his shotgun in his right, resting the barrel on the window frame. The car swerved in, spotted by the driver of the rearmost vehicle at the last second as Nero’s charger appeared through the kicked up dust cloud.
With an almighty crunch, the charger smashed into the backmarker. Nero squeezed the trigger as he hit and blood blossomed from the driver of the backmarker.
Nero felt the suspension compress on the right side of the vehicle. Looking up, Nyx flew through the air and onto the back of the rig's trailer as Nero veered left.
The backmarker slowed and peeled away as Nero approached the two cars on the left of the rig.
The carrier was on the right, and Nero wanted to keep as far away from that monster as he could.
Nero looked down at the new switches that had been installed into the charger since the chase with Rex from the Watchtower. He wanted to have a vehicle that could handle itself more in a car chase and had added a couple of features to his pride and joy. In addition to the battering ram at the front, and the bars on the side and back, he’d had flame throwing pipes installed that threw gouts of fire out the sides. He’d also attached some caltrop holders to the rear of the charger that he could open to burst people’s tyres.
Placing the shotgun on his lap, Nero aimed to move up between the two cars ahead, keeping in their dust trail for the moment to remain hidden.
Kat climbed over the seat to sit in the front. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked.
Nero smiled. ‘It’s going to be a hot time in the cold town tonight,’ he said with a grin.
Kat frowned at him in confusion.
‘Never mind,’ he said, and accelerated forward, moving quickly into the gap between the two cars. They were slightly staggered through, so he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get both with the flames. The slightly trailing car saw them move up and turned in, bumping him. Nero gripped the wheel, holding the car straight and getting a few more feet forward to try and catch the other car, too. As the right-hand vehicle went to bump him again, Nero flicked the switch on the centre console and pressed the button beneath it.
Flame roared up out the sides of the charger, engulfing the right-hand car. The driver screamed and yanked his wheel right without any control, desperately trying to get away from the burning flames. Nero saw the car bank away and then hit the rearmost wheels of the rig. Those huge tyres caught the car, riding up and over it, flattening the roof in the process. For a moment, Nero caught sight of Nyx on the rear of the rig, fighting her way through the guards there, before dropping to the bed of the trailer to hold on as it bounced over the car. Nero spotted at least one of the guards fall from the rig.
Looking back left, the flames had only singed the car that had been on Nero’s left. It had accelerated away before veering right to come up in front of them. Someone was riding the top of the car, Nero noticed when it suddenly braked and loomed up towards them. Realising too late what it was doing, the car crunched into the front of the charger, and the guard on top of it jumped at them.
As the charger wobbled from the crash, the car that had hit them accelerated forward, leaving the guardsman on the hood of the charger.
‘You’re up,’ Nero barked at Kat, but she was already standing and holding her sword aloft.
The guard steadied himself on the hood before lunging forward, swinging for Kat with his metal bar. Kat inverted her sword and swung for the guard's arm.
With a single swipe, the man’s hand and wrist flew off and disappeared in the dust behind the car. The guard looked at his bloody, leaking stump for a second and then shrieked in pain.
Nero jinked the car left suddenly, and the guard pitched off the hood onto the blur of the desert floor before disappearing behind them.
Kat whooped in delight as she watched the guard go, but Nero was looking forward and saw that there were two more vehicles at the front of the rig, one of them, a pickup, moved left towards them and then braked suddenly, bringing it alongside Nero with a suddenness that shocked him. As it drew up beside them, Kat turned where she stood having watched the guard disappear behind them. Kat saw the pickup for the first time as two guards in the back reached out and grabbed her, knocking the blade from her grasp before the truck pulled away, taking Kat with it with a scream.
‘No,’ yelled Nero as the sword landed in the passenger seat.
The pickup slowed some more to veer around the back of the rig. Nero followed it and looked over at the rig’s trailer to see Nyx being held by several guards who’d pushed her to her knees and were now shouting at Nero, mocking him.
As the charger moved in behind the rig, Nero looked from Nyx to Kat, both of them captured and held at gunpoint.
‘Shit,’ Nero muttered to himself, how the hell was he going to get out of this one, he thought?
Chapter 20
Nyx
Nyx struggled once more, but the three guards, two men and one woman, held her fast with her arms pinned behind her. In front of her, a fourth guard held her sword up high and screamed at Nero. She could see him in his car as it drifted back to behind the rig while the pick-up truck with Kat on board moved up on Nyx’s left as he looked back long the trailer.
She’d taken two guys out when she came aboard, but the tide had turned when the rig had hit that car and knocked her down. She’d been off balance and ended up dropping to the bed of the trailer just to hold on.
The guards who’d kept their balance had jumped her and taken her captive in short order.
She looked around for a way out, for something, anything that might help her. She was in a pretty helpless position right now, and she could only guess what Nero was thinking, stuck in his car with her and Kat both captured and restrained.
As she looked around her, the convoy rolled past a few more buildings and Nyx saw some movement out beyond them, closing on the rig fast.
‘Huh?’ she said, her head pointed very obviously in that direction.
It was a vehicle, and a big one, and it was travelling at speed, heading right for them on an intercept course. It looked like some kind of colossal monster truck crossed with a dune buggy. It had a huge and mean looking metal battering ram on the front, too.
‘Uh, guys…’ Nyx said, nodding towards it. It was seconds away. The three holding her looked that way.
‘What the…’
‘Holy shit!’
Fuckin’ hell…’ they said. The one with her sword was still ranting though and hadn’t seen the oncoming monster truck.
Nyx felt the grips of the three guards relax and completely let go in one case. Nyx yanked a hand free, got one foot under her and stood up, whipping her hand back to knock one of the guards away from her. She had just seconds to move. Nyx jumped at the man holding her sword, grabbing the blade as she slammed her knee into his back.
He dropped, and Nyx hit the floor of the trailer, her sword in her hand, in a sprint. The monster truck was right on them.
Three — it caught the rear end of the troop carrier causing the driver to lose control — two — and then clipped the front of the pickup, sending it spinning — one.
Nyx leapt from the back end of the trailer as the monster truck hit the rig right between the cab and the trailer. She felt it tip and turn as she sailed through the air towards Nero’s charger. He saw her coming and angled in, adjusting his speed to catch her on the hood.
Nyx landed with both feet on the car and caught hold of the top of the windshield with her off hand, holding her sword high.
‘Ooof,’ she grunted. She smiled at Nero, who smiled back, bringing the car to a swift halt. Nyx twisted around in time to see the monster truck cut the big rig in two, sending the trailer tumbling sideways through the dirt. The monster truck, having caught some air from moving up the slight incline to the road, bounced to the ground and wheeled around in a big arc.
The troop carrier it had hit slowed to a stop, before accelerating and driving around, trying to make for the monster truck. The pick-up that Kat had been on had fared worse from the hit, having rolled a few times, spilling its riders over the ground. The other satellite cars peeled off from their forward paths and arced back towards the crash site. With a deep, throaty roar, the monster truck moved up towards them, slowed, but didn’t stop.
Looking up, Nyx saw Runt riding behind the cab, brandishing spears with explosives attached to the tip while Cryptus drove the thing.
Runt yelled in exultation with a huge grin on his face, smiling down at her. Cryptus leant out the cab as he passed. ‘We’ll deal with these other cars and that army carrier,’ he yelled at them. Nyx gave him the thumbs up.
‘Holy fuck burgers,’ Nyx said to Nero. ‘I didn’t know he was following us,’ she said, jumping down from the hood of the charger.
Nero climbed out of the driver’s door, racking his shotgun. ‘I suspect there’s a lot about him we don’t know,’ he said.
‘How about you get Kat,’ she said, looking over towards the downed pick-up to see that two of the guards had picked Kat up off the ground and were holding her hostage, looking over at herself and Nero. Kat was alive but dirty and battered from the crash. ‘I’ll get the queen.’
‘Deal,’ Nero said and started to make his way over to the guards holding Kat.
Nyx strode forward, towards the crashed big rig cab where she could make out a group of four people who had climbed out and were walking back towards the road. With a roar, the monster truck rolled past behind them, chasing the troop carrier, making them jog forward towards her, and as she approached them, they suddenly spotted her. It was the queen and three guards, who all moved to protect their sovereign.
Nyx was not feeling very charitable at all right now. The queen had subjected her to utter humiliation under threat of harming the one she loved most, and she’d done it to lots of girls for far too long. Nyx gripped her sword in her hand, feeling its weight and knowing it would serve her well.
She wanted to turn the tables on this slaver and show her what justice really meant. As she strode forward, Runt’s explosive spears scored a direct hit on the troop carrier, causing a massive explosion behind her and to her left. The concussive effect of the exploding vehicle whipping her coat out around her legs.
‘Nyx, what can I say? I underestimated you. You’re clearly more capable than I had thought. Maybe we can discuss this?’ the queen said.
Nyx really didn’t feel like giving the queen the satisfaction of stalling her, and she really didn’t want to talk to her, either. She was done with talking to such hideous people. They weren’t deserving of her time, other than the time it took to kill them, she thought.
The guards brandished their weapons — a mix of a metal pipe, a machete, and a knife. Nyx was not impressed. Stalking forward, the lead guard, carrying his metal pipe, held it ready like a baseball bat. He was all twitchy, his nerves were probably getting the better of him. Swinging it in, Nyx whipped her sword up and knocked it away before she took the sword in two hands and brought it down onto the man’s shoulder, cutting a good way into his upper tor
so before she withdrew it. He dropped to the floor.
The remaining pair moved forward together, clearly looking to flank her. Nyx feinted forward towards Machete, making him jump back before she twisted and swung for Knife, who actually managed to parry the blow with a flash of sparks from the clashing blades. Nyx continued her spin and slammed her blade into Machete’s weapon. She stepped into him, her sword slashing left and right until she saw a gap and rammed the pommel of her sword into the man’s face, making him stagger backwards as blood fell from his ruined nose.
Reversing her blade, Nyx stabbed backwards into the approaching knife wielder, catching him by surprise as she buried her sword a good foot deep into his sternum.
‘Urk,’ he grunted. Nyx spun, whipping the blade out sideways, spilling blood over the cracked asphalt of the desert road.
Bringing her sword up to guard herself, she faced the man with the machete once more. He looked dazed as his nose poured blood. He shook his head, as if trying to clear his unfocused vision, and held his weapon ready. Movement to her left made her glance sideways in time to see the queen withdraw a slender blade from her belt. It was a rather ornate rapier and suited the queen's austere look with its silver hand guard encrusted with gems.
Nyx looked over at the guard, and then back at the queen, and moved towards her. The queen raised her sword to guard herself, and Nyx rushed in, swinging her blade in a wide arc. She hit the rapier with a solid blow and forced the queen back. Turning her back on the guard had brought about the desired effect, though, as he stepped in, hoping to attack her from behind. Nyx twirled on the spot and brought her blade around earlier than the guard had anticipated. Her blade hit his sword arm, cut into his flesh, and broke both bones. The man fell to the floor with a yell of pain. Nyx spun the blade around and brought it up into the guards head as he dropped to the floor, holding his arm.
Blood sprayed and the man fell to the ground, his head split open like a melon.
Wasteland Road Knights Trilogy Page 31
