Nyx turned to face the queen and took a moment to catch her breath.
‘You can’t win this,’ Nyx said, her tone flat, factual, and without emotion.
The queen looked at her, then down at her sword and back up at Nyx. She threw her blade into the dirt and started to back away. Turning, she began to run up the road, but only managed about three steps before she slowed and stopped.
Nyx looked past her to see at least seven or eight zombies staggering towards the carnage and noise their fighting had caused.
The queen stood there for a moment as if weighing things up. Behind her, Nyx heard footsteps. She looked back to see Nero walking up to her, helping Kat who looked injured and held her foot off the ground.
Nyx looked back to the queen, not wanting to take her eyes off her for too long.
‘You okay?’ Nero asked her.
‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Just dealing with this final issue right here.’
The queen turned back to her. ‘Issue? I’m just an issue to you now, am I? You could have lived with me, in safety and comfort, but you had to fuck it up, didn’t you? You and your fucking boyfriend. Who do you think you are? The police? The old world is gone; wake up. We make our own world now, our own rules. This world is trying to kill us at every opportunity,’ she said, waving towards the approaching undead. ‘It’s a harsh, unforgiving wasteland where only the strong survive. I’m one of the strong, and when you’re in my home, you play by my rules. Who are you to say we can’t live like this or do what we want, hey? Who are you?’
‘You can make all the rules you like in your own home, but if you’re taking slaves—’
‘Wives,’ the queen interrupted.
‘Slaves,’ Nyx said more forcefully, ‘and if someone like me doesn’t like it, we’re going to take issue with it. This world is tough, yes, but that’s no excuse to be a fucking dick. Those girls were slaves and nothing more. Sure, they might have been safe to some degree in there, but they were still prisoners, forced into a harem and made to do things they didn’t want to do. It’s mental torture. Some of those girls were basically dead inside, and you killed them.’
‘Who are you to judge me? You’re not the ruler of this world…’ she spat.
Nyx had had enough of this, though, and stepped threateningly forward, brandishing her sword.
The queen cowered back and dropped to her knees with a whimper.
‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry, alright. Look, I’ll do whatever you want. Anything, you name it. Humiliate me all you like; just don’t kill me.’
‘Oh, I’d love to hear a good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,’ Nyx said. This should be good, she thought.
The queen thought for a moment until she seemed to suddenly remember something. A smile slowly crept onto the queen lips as she raised her head and looked into Nyx’s eyes. ‘I know where your mother is,’ she said.
Nyx took half a step back, feeling like she’d just been punched in the gut. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. The air just wouldn’t come as she processed what the queen had just said. She knew where her mother was. How could she know such a thing? That’s impossible, surely.
‘What?’ Nyx said finally.
The queen’s grin widened. ‘Your mother, Dani. I know where she is. I know exactly where she is.’
‘Tell me,’ Nyx spat, her words fighting to get out. Had she just called her mother, Dani? Was that her name?
‘Why? What do I get in return? My life, perhaps?’
Nyx narrowed her eyes, knowing that the queen now had a tremendous amount of leverage over her. Standing there, Nyx felt Nero’s hand rest gently on her shoulder.
‘Sure, you have my word,’ he said.
‘You won’t kill me? I’ll be free to go?’
Nero nodded.
Nyx didn’t move, she just watched the queen. She still looked flustered, even though she was now in a certain amount of control. The queen seemed to think it through for a moment, and then looked up. ‘I have your word,’ she said.
‘Yes,’ Nero answered quickly.
The queen looked between her face and Nero’s for a second. ‘Okay, then. Dani is imprisoned within the Whisperer’s fortress. She’s in a cell there, in the dungeons. She’s been there for over a decade, I think,’ she said with a smile.
‘And how do you know this?’ Nyx asked. ‘How do you know you’re telling the truth?’
‘You want proof? Look, I’ve been there. I’ve seen her and talked to her. I knew you were her daughter, that’s why I was interested in you when you were with Rex. As for proof, though, well, I do know that the sword you use was forged from your mothers katanas. She used to use a pair of them, right? But Rex stole them from Dani when he kidnapped you and reforged them into that. How’s that for proof? I have to say, though, I always wondered why the Whisperer held her captive and did that mean anything for you…’ she said, shrugging. She stood up. ‘So, now you know.’
Only a few people knew where her sword came from, she wasn’t sure that she’d ever told Nero of its origins. The chances of her knowing something like that were small, very small.
‘And, where is this fortress?’ Nyx asked.
‘Oh, er, I’m not really sure… The Whisperer always transported me there with its, you know…’ she said, waving her hands in the air.
‘Magic?’ Nyx asked.
‘I suppose so. I’m not really sure. One moment I was in my home, the next, somewhere else.’
‘So, you don’t know where it is?’
‘No, but you’re resourceful folks. I’m sure you’ll find it,’ she said with a smile. She took one step back. ‘So, I’m free to go. You gave me your word, right?’
‘I did…’ Nero said.
‘What?’ the queen asked.
Nyx smiled, seeing the reality of what she had agreed to sink in.
‘…but…’
‘I gave you my word that I would not hurt you,’ Nero said. ‘I never said anything about Nyx, though.’
Nyx didn’t wait. She took a step forward and stabbed her blade into the Queen’s chest, before withdrawing it with a jerk.
The queen stood there for a moment, shock all over her face, her mouth hanging open as blood started to pour from the wound, and then well up within her throat and seep over the sides of her mouth. After a moment, the queen collapsed as all strength disappeared from her muscles. She hit the ground with a thud and didn’t move again.
In the distance, Cryptus’ monster truck rolled by as Runt threw another of his explosive spears at the final car, scoring a direct hit and blowing it up.
‘Are you okay?’ Nero asked.
Thoughts and emotions were washing around inside her head. Questions with no answers, at least, not yet, were bubbling up. She wondered if she’d killed the queen too early. Might she have had more answers for her? But, beneath all that, a sense of hope was growing inside her. She had a mother. Her name was Dani and she was alive, and that gave her a warm feeling that she had not really felt before.
As she let that feeling grow, she knew her purpose now. She knew what she needed to do, and nothing was going to stop her.
As she stood there, the wind buffeting her coat around her legs, the massive monster truck rolled up and Cryptus leaned out the window.
‘That’s the last of them,’ he said. ‘So, what did I miss? What’s next for the Road Knights?’
THE END
REVELATION
Wasteland Road Knights
Book 3
By
Andrew Dobell
Chapter 1
Nero
Nero thrust the gun forwards, slamming it into the open mouth of the next nearest zombie, knocking several teeth out with the metal barrel. The zombie moaned a gurgling sort of noise as it reached for him, waving its hands around and clawing it his leather-clad arm to no effect.
“Eat this,” he spat.
He didn’t wait, he didn’t savour the moment, he just pulled the trigger and annihilated t
he back of the zombie’s head with a boom.
The undead creature dropped, dragging the end of his gun down with it as he spun. Yanking the gun from the now entirely dead corpse before slamming his knife into the side of the next closest zombie, dropping that one as well, giving him a sudden break before the next shambling corpse drew much closer.
Nearby, his lover, Lucia Nyx, spun like a deadly dancer, twirling, her trench coat flaring out, while her long sword glinted in the sun before she cleaved one of the zombies beside her in two.
She struck again, her movements fluid and graceful. Her long platinum blonde hair, filled with feathers and trinkets that she’d tied into it, whipped around her head.
Within moments, two more undead creatures had fallen to the dust. She glanced up and caught him looking at her. She winked with a smile. She knew he loved watching her and seemed to revel under his gaze.
Her expression suddenly changed, and she called out.
“Look out!” she shouted.
Nero turned, ducking sideways, sensing that something was there. One of the zombies from the hoard had gotten a little too close while he’d been distracted.
Nero stumbled as his heel caught on a rock and he fell as the zombie lunged for him.
From his left, there was a flash of off-white and a glint of steel.
Kat stepped forward, curved katana blade in hand, and slashed at the zombie, diverting its attention away from Nero.
“He nearly had you,” she commented as she faced the zombie. Kat still looked hurt and backed off a step from the zombie to give herself space to move. She wore her usual body wraps, like bandages around her body, arms, and legs, but she was holding her side. She stabbed the lunging zombie through the shoulder and hefted it sideways, away from Nero, where it slid off the sword and landed in the dirt, close to Cryptus and Runt, who stood on the far side of Kat.
Beyond them, Cryptus’s huge monster truck stood silently in the wasteland, and beyond that, the remains of Queen Latrix’s convoy lay in ruin, smoking as fires burnt the carcasses of the vehicles.
The fight with the self-styled queen had been noisy, meaning that a small hoard of zombies had shown up shortly after the confrontation had ended. They’d not been ready to move on, though, so they needed to deal with this attack, which had led to this fight.
Nero watched as Cryptus and Runt beat the zombie’s skull in. Cryptus wore his usual long leather, rubber, and animal skin hooded cloak that hid most of his features. A decorated gas mask under the hood hid the rest.
Runt wore old ruined trousers, boots that had seen better days, and little else, showing off his stooped deformed body as he used a club with nails rammed through it to smash the zombie’s skull.
Getting to his feet, Nero focused on the fight at hand, approached the nearest zombie, and relieved it of its undead life. He could stand and watch Nyx move and fight all day, but not when there were zombies trying to eat his brain for breakfast. He could admire her later.
Nero moved away from Kat and the others as he fought, getting closer to Nyx, whose own fight had separated her from the others. She could handle herself, though. There were only a few of these corpses left now, and Nero’s enchanted shotgun made short work of them.
It still felt strange to him to think of his gun that way, but what other way was there to think about it?
Whatever had happened to it in that strange crashed wreak defied his powers of explanation, but the effects were undeniable. His gun never ran out of ammunition and it could now deal out some severe damage to the usually invulnerable daemon’s that inhabited their world.
The only explanation that seemed to fit was that it was now enchanted. Certainly, Nyx seemed to think so, having compared it to her sword, which was similar in its ability to kill creatures that were nearly impossible to kill.
“Bat-her-up,” Nero yelled as he whipped his gun across the face of one of the last zombies in the area, knocking it sideways towards Nyx, who cleaved its head off in one swift, clean movement.
“Four,” she yelled.
Nero laughed. “Wrong game.”
Nyx gave him the finger and a smile that showed him how many fucks she gave.
“Is that an offer?” he asked.
“Always,” she answered.
He laughed again as she slammed her sword into the final zombie’s chest, Nero raised his gun and fired, blowing its head clean off. She withdrew her blade, and the zombie dropped to the dusty floor.
Nero turned around on the spot, checking for any more, but the only two that were left were being beaten to a pulp by Kat, Cryptus, and Runt.
Nero sighed and started to catch his breath. Nyx was doing the same, and they turned to face one another.
“God, I love it when you fight,” he said, sheathing his knife and holstering his shotgun on his back.
“You’re hot yourself,” she answered, slamming the point of her blade into the dirt and wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him. He pulled her in and grabbed a handful of ass cheek in his right hand, enjoying the feel and weight of her flesh.
Seeing her fight always made him horny, and now he couldn’t wait to get her alone again.
He kissed her deeply, enjoying her touch.
Finding Nyx in the Watchtower and freeing her from the oppressive leader of that outpost, Rex, had probably saved his life.
It was something that had taken a while for him to realise, but for years, he had been wandering the wastes, merely existing, surviving, but for what?
He wasn’t entirely sure.
His life before Nyx now seemed vacuous. Empty of any real meaning. He had moved from camp to camp in his Charger, trading his skills with a gun and knife for supplies to keep him going. He’d had his share of food, water, gasoline, and women, but it was all just meaningless.
Nyx had changed that. Nyx was full of life and curiosity about the world, having lived a sheltered life in the Watchtower. She was fascinated with what was out here, and her infectious enthusiasm was enthralling.
What was great, though, was how it worked both ways. He might have opened up a whole new world for her, but Nyx’s zest for life and apparent love for him had been precisely what he needed.
She had revealed a whole new side of the world to him, and for that, he would be eternally grateful.
She pulled away from him and leant her forehead against his.
“I can’t believe I know her name now,” she said.
“Your mother?” Nero asked. He’d guessed what she’d meant right away. Queen Latrix had told them that Nyx’s mother's name was Dani moments before Nyx had killed her.
Latrix had hoped the information would save her life.
She’d been wrong.
Nyx nodded in answer to Nero.
“You want to find her, don’t you?”
“I have to. I just have to. I need to find her.”
“I understand,” Nero said. “You know I’ll be there with you, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I know.”
Nero looked right at their three companions, who now stood surveying the carnage having killed the final two zombies.
Kat had been there when Latrix had told them about Dani, but Cryptus and Runt had not. Then the zombies had attacked, and there was no time to talk. He didn’t know about Runt, but there was something about Cryptus he just wasn’t sure about. Nero didn’t understand the man’s motives, and following the mission to the downed ship—or spaceship?—there was something about Cryptus that just didn’t sit right with him. What was he doing? What was he up to? And why did they keep running into him?
“Do something for me,” Nero asked her.
“Anything,” she answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
“Keep it between me and you; this whole Dani thing.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“I just… I don’t trust Cryptus; not fully.”
“Well, sure. Okay, but what are we going to tell him were looking for?”
“The queen said that Dani was being held by the Whisperer, so we say we’re hunting for him. He’s caused us enough trouble, and I’m pretty sure your sword and my gun can kill the fucker, so…”
“Makes sense,” Nyx answered, clearly thinking it through. “Alright, I can do that, but I think Kat heard the queen as well. She was there.”
“I know. We’ll deal with that if it becomes an issue,” Nero said, nodding.
“Alright,” she said, grabbing her sword and slipping it into the scabbard on the back of her coat. “Shall we go tell them?”
Nero nodded, taking a deep breath and turning to face their companions. Cryptus had been there at the Watchtower when he had freed Nyx, helping him do it, while Kat had been a part of the queen’s guard, forced to work for Latrix because the queen had her sister, Tan, in her harem. Kat did what Latrix wanted to keen Tan safe, and Tan did the same. But now Tan was dead. Killed by Latrix during her escape attempt. Tan’s body was in Nero’s car. They’d need to bury her soon.
For years, Nero had wandered the wasteland alone, keeping to himself, not getting too mixed up in the local politics. But he was always alone. Ever since he’d met Nyx, though, things had been different. Now, he was picking up companions. It was all new and different. A brave new world for him that he was still figuring out.
Approaching their companions, Nero offered them all a smile.
“Everyone alright?” he asked.
Kat, leaning on her sword, nodded. She was still holding her side and looked like she was in pain. She smiled through it, though.
“We shouldn’t stay here too much longer. There’s bound to be more undead on the way soon.”
“Agreed,” Nero said. “We need to get going.”
“Where to, friend Nero, hmm? Runt wonders where next adventure will be, yes?” Runt added.
“We’ve discussed it, Nyx and I, and we want to find this Whisperer. He’s caused us all sorts of trouble, and we don’t like the power he wields over the camps around here.”
“The Whisperer? Runt not sure that’s good idea, no?” the mutated man said.
Wasteland Road Knights Trilogy Page 32
