The Oppressed

by Matt Thomas

  Smythstyne tossed the rifle into Bryan’s lap, and he had to slap it away before the hot barrel burned through his clothes. The driver repositioned himself behind the steering wheel from where he had taken cover. The engine revved and the truck lurched forward. Overhead, Alan Starek continued firing.

  Their vehicle began to smoke as it rolled to a stop a few meters from Jess’s truck. They could clearly see three heads behind weapons firing at the Heterak. Jess turned to face them, and he could see red covering the side of her head. She nodded, and then took advantage of the cover afforded by the second vehicle. She popped out of her door and reached into the bed of her truck to pull out her sniper rifle. She took position behind the engine block and started engaging targets to her left.

  Bryan keyed the radio again. “Serpent Eight-Two, Beast Two-Two is no longer taking fire from the northeast.”

  “Roger, Beast Two-Two. Be advised, Loki reports the northeast truck is withdrawing with at least one pax.”

  “Best Two-Two copies all.” He turned to face the pair of legs bracing themselves behind the shot-out rear window. “Alan, can you see that truck to the right.”

  “Negative.”

  The fire on the left began to subside as Jess engaged each muzzle-flash she could find. “O, Smythstyne, watch the right. Make sure no one pops back up.”

  He forced the door; the warped metal did not want to swing open. He heard sizzle of bolts flying nearby, but no longer saw the tracing dots from the second heavy weapon. He ran around the front of his truck and threw himself against the wheel next to Jess.

  “You good?” He asked.

  “Yeah.” She replied without taking her eye off the scope. Bryan fired his weapon for the first time since touching down on the planet. Another sizzle flew overhead, and Jess fired. He took a look in the cab. Anastasia Genovese’s head was no longer intact. Their long-time contact, Objective Helen, was dead. “Fuck me.” He muttered.

  Reise and Jedynak were still functioning, returning fire, although Alona looked like she may have been hit.

  “Bryan, I haven’t seen any heads pop up since the last one.” Alan said through the radio. Bryan motioned for everyone to cease fire, and they heard no incoming rounds or movement. Bryan’s ears rang so badly that a band could have played within arms reach and he might not of have heard it.

  “Everybody good?” He shouted.

  “Smythstyne and I are good.” Alan reported over the radio.

  O gave him a thumbs-up from next to him. Loyally, he had followed his officer out of the second truck and taken position behind Bryan. Jess lay next to the engine block of the first truck, and began wrapping a bandage around her left thigh. “I’m hit on my left leg and right arm, but both are just grazes. I’m okay.” She reported.

  Bridget clamored out of the back of the truck. “I’m okay. Jess, I’ll take a look at that after I’m done with Alona. She’s hit in her right shoulder. She’s okay but I just gave her a painkiller. She’s going to be a little loopy.”

  “And then there’s her.” Jess pointed to Genovese.

  “I’m pretty pissed about that.” Bryan muttered.

  Jess shook her head as she cinched her bandage tighter. “She gave that Heterak the documents, all of them, and everything seemed totally fine. Then he stuck his head back in and started growling something at her.”

  “Did you catch what it was?”

  Jess shook her head. “My Hetarek’s pretty bad on the best of circumstances. She just stuck it in reverse and floored it. He got a shot off before we got anywhere. I got him with my pistol but I just couldn’t get an angle on anyone else. Thanks for getting us some space.”

  “No problem.” He gave her a hand, which she used to hoist herself up with her uninjured arm.

  “Kinda wish I hadn’t got shot.”

  “Hey, look at the bright side. What did Colonel Tamaka tell us before we left?”

  She thought for a second. “’Don’t worry about the being the first Free Human to die on Earth. Worry about being the first Free Human who gets to kill a Hetarek on Earth.’”

  “Well, that’s you. Congratulations.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I bet I’ll go down in the history books.”

  He looked back at his truck, steaming and smoking behind him. “I don’t think that one’s going to work any more.” Smythstyne came jogging up. “What do you think about the Komodo?”

  “I don’t think we’ll ever be able to catch it. I’m sure Loki’s watching it.”

  “No, not the one that got away. That one.” He pointed to the second vehicle, the one surrounded by dead Hetarek. Blocky and huge, it was an armored chassis on six independently hinged wheels. A turret sat just behind the driver’s seat, the gunner slumped over the edge. “I bet we could use it.”

  Bryan thought it over. “Some armor would be great. It’d also let us blend in a little more. You think you can get it started?”

  “I guess we’ll find out.”

  “I don’t want to sit around here forever while you dick around with it.”

  “Roger, sir. I’ll get my bag.”

  Smythstyne bounded off towards the disabled pickup. O grabbed Bryan’s arm. “Loki says there’s another vehicle coming over the ridge.”

  “Hetarek?”

  O shook his head. “Nope. Human.”

  *****

  Curfew existed even for them. No matter what their travel pass said or how much the people spread out amongst the working enclaves depended on them, they were not supposed to be out so late at night. Moving about, particularly east of the mountains, became more problematic as fall progressed. The sun sank lower earlier, casting the mountains’ shadows long over the fields and high desert. To most of the patrols in the area, the pair were well known, however, and were permitted to pass between the clusters of compounds and huts and past the huge fields of schleckt.

  Still, every trip brought its own risks, and they were never as comfortable as they ought to have pretended.

  The ancient truck, overloaded with repair equipment, bounced along the poorly maintained road. The long workday and short period of daylight had worn the battery down. If they didn’t make it to the next town soon, they’d have to switch to outrageously costly, and, more importantly, noisy, diesel.

  Years of permissive travel along the roads made the routes very familiar. So, when they crested one hill, expecting to descend down into a shallow, narrow valley and turn right along the next ridgeline, they were surprised to see lights. A pair of bright lights must have been from a Komodo sitting in position where they had never before encountered a checkpoint. Around it, the flickering yellow glow of brush fires danced and cast shadows. Another human truck sat just at the corner of the headlights’ illumination, the trio of red brake lights framed by smoke.

  “What’s going on?” Her brother asked, slowing their vehicle to a crawl.

  “I don’t know. Keep going.” She urged. “If you slow down you’ll draw too much attention.” She said, fidgeting with her bracelet, fashioned from a simple piece of steel scavenged from a crashed Quinalt. It had been deep green once, when her father had given it to her, but the paint had long since began to fade, and the black outline of the letters “US” remained only barely visible if you knew where to look. The bracelet stood out on her pale, freckled arm, as did the rest of her jewelry hand-made by scraps of a world she had never lived in.

  “It looks like something already got their attention.” Julian muttered, following his older sister’s advice any and resuming an approach speed.

  No search light swung over to meet them, and everything remained dark and strangely silent in the absence of the usual recorded checkpoint warnings. The fires and Komodo lights distracted them until they nearly ran into the back of another human truck, it’s lights out, stopped in the middle of the road just as it began to snake up up the other side of the valley.

  As they slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision
, two flashlights blinded each of them. Both held up hands to try to keep the light from blinding them. It took a second of recovery before they heard the shouting.

  “Get the fuck out of the truck!”

  The words were clear English, not the sing-song of the Metic Ahai, or the unintelligible grunts and hisses of the Hetarek.

  “What?” Julian asked.

  “Get. The fuck. Out.”

  Both opened their doors, keeping their hands in front of their faces, trying to get a look at whoever these strange people were who stopped them.

  The lights lowered, sweeping over the rest of the truck. Without the harshness of the light, she was able to make out two humans, they were definitely humans, but, despite their local attire, they weren’t broken. They stood tall. Intense yet remote eyes stared from behind the strange weapons and surrounded by long hair and beards. Their voice conveyed a confidence she had not heard from a human in her lifetime.

  “Who are ya’ll?” One said, his accent unfamiliar.

  “I’m Julian, and this is my sister Ava.” Her brother spat. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just headed to Yakima.”

  “Yakima, huh?” One said as he examined the bed of the truck. “I thought humans couldn’t move late at night.”

  “We’ve got a pass.”

  “Julian, shut up.” Ava managed.

  But he kept talking. “We repair the heavy farming equipment around here. The Hetarek need the schleckt so they let us go around to fix the farming equipment whenever it needs fixing. Sometimes that’s at night.”

  “Look, we don’t want any trouble.” Ava said calmly. “We just have a job to do and want to get on with it.”

  “What happened to the Hetarek?” Julian asked, point to the Komodo.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much about them.” The man said, lowering his weapon. Slightly. “You fix Hetarek equipment?”

  “Ye... yeah.”

  “And you’re going to Yakima.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bryan, you might want to get down here.” Ava couldn’t tell who the man was speaking too. The person searching the truck didn’t respond.

  Another figure emerged from the darkness. Like the other two, he didn’t look as worn as his clothing suggested. A rifle Ava had never seen before hung underneath his armpit, his sleeves rolled up his forearm displaying tattoos. His hair was pinned back by a headset, which must have been how they communicated.

  “What’s up, Alan?”

  “These fine people, Julian and his sister...”

  “Ava.” She supplied.

  “Ava, are headed to Yakima where they repair equipment.”

  “Well that certainly worked out.” The man said before extending a hand to both of them. “Bryan Howe. Nice to meet you. We happen to have some broke vehicles and we’re heading to Yakima and just lost our guide. Do you think you can help us out?”

  Ava spoke up before Julian could. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Whatever’s going on here... We don’t really want to get caught up in it.”

  The man smiled. “Okay. I can appreciate that. But I can tell you that the Hetarek are probably going to be around soon to find out what happened to their checkpoint, and it’s probably best for all of us to get out of here. We could do that a lot faster if you’d be willing to help us out.”

  “You’re not going to let us leave, are you?”

  Bryan held up his hands. “We’re not the Hetarek. You can certainly leave whenever you want. We could just really use some help. We’ve got one vehicle down and some people hurt. We’d be pretty screwed if we were stuck out here. But the choice is yours.”

  “Ava...” Julian pleaded.

  She looked at him, and then and the trucks and small fires someone was trying to stamp out. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

  The man pointing the weapon dropped it.

  “Thanks, Ava.” Bryan said with a wide smile that made her suspicious. “We really appreciate it.”

  Julian reached into the back of the truck and grabbed a toolkit, the men with weapons watching him intently.

  Bryan led them forward, past the first truck. The windshield was shattered, and scorch-marks covered the hood. The engine ran, though, so they didn’t stop.

  “So you’re heading to Yakima. You know a lot of people there?” Bryan asked as they strode up the hill.

  “Yeah. We travel all over the area, so we get to know lots of people.” Julian offered.

  “We’re hoping to meet a man named Lucas MacIntyre, you know him?”

  Ava stopped, and Julian quickly stepped past her. “Are you with the resistance?”

  “You could say that.”

  Ava ran to catch up before any more could be said. But then she saw the bodies.

  Two Hetarek lay dead next to the second vehicle. Neither head had a recognizable face any more. Two more lay near a large weapon, set up behind a barrier. Holes peppered their torsos. She counted another slumped over the side of the Komodo’s gun turret, and three spread around the side of the vehicle. Bones, blood, and organs were visible through the wounds. None moved.

  Ava stopped, as did Julian, and stared. Then, she smiled.

  The leader of this strange group stopped, and turned around. He must have seen Julian’s reaction, who’s eyes were wide. In better light, she would have seen the color draining from his face.

  “Sorry about all this.” Bryan waved casually. “You okay?”

  Julian remained speechless.

  “I’ve never seen one dead before.” Ava said. “I knew that they must die, but I just... I’ve never seen one dead. Yeah. I’m okay.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the bodies.

  “Hopefully, these won’t be the last that you see.”

  “Mr... Howe?” She ventured.

  “Bryan.”

  “Bryan, I certainly hope you’re right.”

  He stared at her intently, as did a woman with a bloody bandage around her arm who appeared from the second vehicle. For the first time she noticed the others, all armed, all with the same confident look and posture. But then she saw the woman in the driver’s seat of the car. Half of her head was missing. A person who had not seen so many humans torn apart may have reacted differently.

  “That truck looks completely fucked.” She said.

  Bryan nodded. “That’s what we figured. What about the Komodo? Do you know enough about Hetarek vehicles to make it drivable?”

  “Um... sure.” Julian said, suddenly more timid than he had been a few minutes ago. “I can take a look.” One of the men, an extremely tall, dark black man with only a light beard, gave a huge smile and motioned Julian over.

  Once he was out of earshot, Ava stood next to Bryan, who seemed to be observing the scene without concern that he had just destroyed a Hetarek checkpoint, a feat unheard of in more than a decade.

  “I want you to tell me what’s going on.” She said, not looking him in the eye. “I’m all about killing Hetarek, but I don’t want Julian sucked into one of Lucas MacIntyre’s ridiculous schemes. That man hasn’t done anything significant in years. Everyone knows about him, and even the Hetarek think he’s harmless.” She gestured around at the carnage. “Obviously, you’re not harmless. But, still, I don’t want Julian getting mixed up in something that’s going to get him killed.”

  “I don’t want to mix anyone up that I don’t have to.” Bryan replied. “Like I said, we’re not the Hetarek, and we’re not going to make you do anything.”

  “You’re not Hetarek.” She said. “But you’re definitely not one of us.”

  Bryan pretended to take offense. “I’m pretty sure I’m human.”

  “That’s not what I mean. I mean you’re not someone who’s been beaten down by the Hetarek for twenty-three years. So who are you?”

  “We’re here to help you fight the Hetarek. If Lucas is the guy we should hitch our wagon to, then great. We lost our contact, though.”
He pointed at the dead woman, a look of sadness flashing across his face for only an instant.“But we’re going to do whatever it takes to help get the Hetarek off this planet.”

  She thought about it for a second. “You said ‘we’re here.’ So you’re not from Earth.”

  “I was born and raised in Tacoma, before the invasion.”

  “But your from the Runners.”

  “The ‘Runners?’”

  “The people who fled. The ones who ran away.”

  Bryan looked away. “Well, we’re running back now.”

  “Any reason it took you this long?”

  The man clearly bit his tongue. Apparently, Ava had struck a nerve. He turned as though he were about to say something, but the Komodo sprung to life, the high-pitched whining of its electric engine ringing out in the darkness. Julian jumped out of the truck, smiling until he saw the bodies again. “It’s fixed.” He proclaimed.

  “That was fast.”

  “The system just needed to be reset. Something must have tripped a circuit while it was firing.”

  “Is that a thing?” One of the other men asked from behind the truck.

  “I don’t know.” Julian replied. “Sorry, I usually work on industrial and farm equipment.”

  “Can we drive it?”

  “Oh sure. The driver just needs to lie down a bit awkwardly, but it’s completely serviceable.”

  “We can make that work. Awesome. Thanks.” Bryan turned to his team. “Alan, you, Smythstyne, and Alona take the Komodo back to our camp. Make sure you call Raghnal so he doesn’t freak out when he sees it coming up. And stash it good. Take Anastasia’s body with you; we’ll have to find some way to get it back to her family. She deserves a proper burial.”

  “How are we going to explain the shot to the face?” One of the women, the brown-haired one with the long rifle, asked.

  “No idea. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “We’re coming up on that bridge.”

  “Yeah, Jess, but we’re not there yet.” He turned to Ava and her brother, who had suddenly found themselves nearly forgotten about. “You said you knew Lucas MacIntyre. Do you think think we could follow you to Yakima and you could introduce us?”