by Quil Carter
I backed up until my back hit a large shelf of rock.
“What you doing all alone, little boy?” one of them taunted. He walked forward and laughed as I tried to slash him.
“Stay away from me.” I was trying to sound tough but my voice came out several octaves higher than normal. “Just let me go.”
The mob erupted into laughter. All of them but the leader were younger men, not too much older than Reaver, new recruits, punk kids. They were dressed head to toe in Silas’s leather legion uniforms with the lion-scorpion snarling on the red bands that were wrapped around their upper arms.
“I think I want to see what that ass tastes like first,” the leader said with a laugh. He licked his bloody machete and looked at me in a way that made me sick.
“Nah, I’m going to fuck him, season him a bit first.” Another one stepped forward. I tried to slash him but I was too slow. He grabbed my arm and slammed it up against the rock.
I clenched my teeth trying to stop the scream that broke my lips. My hand snapped open in reflex and my knife dropped onto the ground with a clang.
I held my hand and gritted my teeth through the pain. I knew my hand was badly sprained.
Before I could properly react I felt strong arms wrap themselves around me, holding me firmly so I couldn’t move. I kicked and thrashed as the other legionary removed my jeans, my body flooding with a sickening cold.
“NO!” I screamed as panic started to rise in me. A different kind of panic this time. I started to thrash hard as my pants were ripped off over my sneakers. As much as I tried to keep it together, my mind disintegrated to broken shards.
One of the men pulled my underwear down. I closed my eyes tight, trying to suppress the sobs as the men whooped and hollered.
“Look at that arian cock!” one of them shouted. I closed my eyes tighter, wishing for them to just kill me, instead of making me endure this first. The next thing I knew one of them was fondling my penis.
“Let’s fuck ‘em, and eat ‘em at the same time,” he sneered, pulling hard on my dick. I could tell he was right next to my face, because I could smell his rotten breath.
I tried to kick him away but a few seconds later I felt a hard blow to my mouth.
The man holding my arms kept me from falling; I doubled over and started coughing blood. The legionary glared at me, his fist balled.
“I’m gonna fuck him, cut off the parts we want, keep him alive,” he said.
I tried to jerk my hands away from the man holding me; I sniffed and managed to raise my head.
“I’m from Aras, they’ll come for me and fucking kill all of you,” I choked, my mouth filling up with blood as I spoke. Probably not the right thing to say but I didn’t care. I would rather they kill me than rape me.
Surprisingly the legionary narrowed his eyes; I could detect some unease there. This was my chance, it was a long shot… but it was all I had.
“My boyfriend is the Raven, the sniper,” I continued. I could feel blood dripping down my chin.
The legionary kept staring at me. Everyone was now quiet behind him, the atmosphere quickly shifting.
“You tell me this, why? I’m going to tell my superior and have your boyfriend arrested for grand murder, Kessler will crucify him as a warning,” he hissed. “And he will find your raped and eaten corpse being picked at by scavers.”
I looked him dead in the eye. “You won’t survive long enough to tell him if you keep hurting me.”
The legionary smirked, though I could tell he was listening to every word I said and judging what to do next.
I decided to help him.
“Let me go, and I won’t say a thing. We’ll continue on our way. You keep the caravans, I keep my life.”
The legionary stared – then took a step towards me and punched me right in the face. I groaned and fell backwards.
My mind started to get hazy, I tried to get my footing but the world was spinning.
“No time to play with him. Get the factory on the radio. If he is indeed Raven’s partner we can’t have any trace that he was here or we’re all dead. They’ll process him quickly.”
I whimpered, my face getting wetter and wetter. I tried to call out to Reaver but I could no longer talk. The last image I had was of blood spots falling against the grey of the wasteland rocks.
Grey and red… always grey and red.
I passed out.
Chapter 9
Reaver
“Reaverrr, is an… an an asshole!” Reno roughly strummed on the guitar he was carrying for me. He couldn’t play for shit, but I knew that wasn’t the point.
“He doesn’t have the balls to talk to the blond kid, so he buys him shit and stalks him. He has no fucking class, why doesn’t he just grab his goddamn–”
I smacked him in the side of the head. Reno stumbled and started laughing. I shot him a glare.
“We’re close to the fucking gates. Shut up or I’ll tear out your vocal cords,” I snapped, trying to hide the fact I was scanning the area for Killian. I might be a silent follower of Killian with my own set of rules but Reno wouldn’t play along. He would probably run up to Killian and start trying to steal him from me just to force me to talk to him.
Of course Reno kept laughing, he sure seemed proud of himself.
“This is so stupid. You trade good loot, good loot you scavenged, for shit you’re going to give to that kid? This cost twenty-five bucks, the gun cost ten!”
I didn’t answer back. I enjoyed my best friend’s company, but in the right doses. I think all the drugs he had taken over the years had fried his brain. He lived southwest of Aras, on a small shack hidden in some steep rocky hills that overlooked a wide area surrounding the block. He was our field sentry just like his father before him. The Nevada family had been here almost as long as the Merrik family.
I had known the knuckle-head since I came to Aras when I was two. I had fond memories of bossing him around and making him help me steal things and beat up the other kids. We had become closer during our teen years and now we were as thick as thieves. Reno was a good guy and I trusted him, though he was a loud idiot and unfortunately a horny one too. I always slept with one eye open around him. Not that I was worried for my life, more for his. I had broken more than a few fingers when they started to wander.
We had walked the merchants a half a mile past Aras. Before leaving I had overheard one of the merchants tell the other one how he was sad Killian missed buying the guitar Reno was now carrying. I had to borrow the money off of Reno but it was worth it. The kid liked making that racket and I was starting to like it as well. Seemed to mean a lot to him and, I don’t know, whatever made him happy. I was thinking of sticking it in his bedroom tonight or something. Maybe I would just leave it with Doc… I hadn’t decided yet.
I had also gotten a gun for him earlier today. A Magnum. I had spare rounds for it that I had scavenged so I didn’t need to buy ammo. I was proud of myself for actually going through with it, even if I hadn’t decided how I was actually going to give these things to him.
Now darkness had fallen. I had stayed at Reno’s longer than I had anticipated and we were only now heading back to Aras. I needed to settle the bill with Reno, and I also wanted to see what Killian was doing. I was planning on getting Reno high then ditching him when he passed out. Reno slept like a brick and I knew I could sneak out without him following me like a puppy. I didn’t want to deal with his howling laughter and relentless teasing if he ever found out about my tree perching while Killian slept.
Our footsteps changed tone as we hit the pavement. I could see the glow from Aras’s lights leaking through the cracks in the concrete. I could hear the deacons breathing and moving around. They always knew when it was me; I had never had one of those sons-of-bitches bark or growl at me in my life. Smart little fuckers.
We walked along the fence until we got to the north gate. I could hear the whine of night vision goggles.
“Oh good, I was getting worried.
I hate letting that little shit out.” I heard Matt say from above us. I could see the gates were wide open which was odd.
“Who?” I asked, my brow furrowed. He certainly wasn’t talking about me and he had no reason to care about Reno’s comings and goings, he didn’t even have a house in Aras.
I could see Matt pause. He turned off his glasses and lifted them up to his forehead. I felt a little uneasy when I saw the look on his face.
“He… Killian isn’t with you?” he said slowly, his voice dropping.
I could feel the colour drain from my face. My body went cold.
“What?” That was all I could say.
Matt stared back at me, he looked terrified. I couldn’t move.
“Maybe he came through another gate,” Matt said quickly. He got out his radio and started talking rapidly into it. I could feel the apprehension start to well up in my chest. Each heartbeat was pumping more and more anxiety into my body.
“Killian is outside? Why the fuck is Killian outside?” My voice started to rise; I looked behind me, quickly scanning the road, hoping to see a blue-tinged silhouette walking towards us.
“He wanted out. He said he had a fucking gun on him; he said he would be back before dark,” Matt said hurriedly. I could hear a voice answer back on the radio but I wasn’t listening to it.
“Killian doesn’t have a god damn gun!” I suddenly exploded. Fuck, that kid was stupid, why the hell was he so stupid?
“Sadii just took shift from Jess; she’s trying to find her to ask if Killian came in from the south.” Matt’s voice was tight. I looked behind me again. I felt frozen on the spot. I didn’t know if I should run back into the wastes or run and see if Killian was home.
I turned to Reno. “Get Greyson, get a radio. I’m checking Killian’s house. Talk to me when you know something,” I said, fingering my own handheld radio to make sure it was still there.
I turned and ran down the road towards Killian’s house. I didn’t want to go there first, I wanted to run out into the greywastes and start looking, but I knew I had to be sure he wasn’t already in Aras. The radio signal would eventually fade and then I would have no idea if they had found him or not. If he was out there, I wouldn’t be coming back without him. I had to be sure he wasn’t already home.
I turned up the sound on my radio as I hopped from one car to the other, no time to weave through them now. My adrenaline was pumping and I felt so much cold energy each step felt like I was floating in the air.
My mind raced, my heart raced. He had to be home, he just had to be. He was at home, enjoying the food he bought or reading in his bed. He was safe and warm. Fuck, why did I have to go patrolling with that idiot? Why did I ever let Killian out of my sight? He was such a naive idiot; how the hell did his parents keep him alive?
I made so many vows as I ran towards Killian’s cul-de-sac. I vowed I would make eye contact with him, I vowed I would give him his guitar myself; I vowed I would talk to him. I vowed that my first conversation with him would be to tell him never to leave the goddamn block without me.
A sense of dread washed over me as I turned onto the cul-de-sac. His lights were off.
Refusing to give up hope, I ran inside and opened the door.
He was probably sleeping… he was probably just sleeping early.
“Hello?” I called. I was surprised to hear the tone of my voice, it was full of fear.
There was nothing.
I tried again, and as silence encased me almost like a tomb, I knew in my gut he wasn’t in Aras.
“Reaver?” Reno’s voice called from the handheld radio. I picked it up with shaking hands and pressed the talk button.
“Yes?” I said, my voice hoarse. I didn’t want him to answer back; I didn’t want it to be confirmed.
“Babe… he never came back,” Reno said, his voice heavy. I put the radio back on its holder and ran out of the house. I headed towards the north gate, not even giving myself another moment to think.
Reno tried to stop me as I ran past him. He had been talking to Matt and Jess beside the metal gates. I didn’t want to hear anything more from him; all I needed to know was that Killian was out there somewhere. I had nothing more to say to them.
My friend was persistent though. It didn’t take long for me to feel his presence running beside me.
“Miller says he asked where the caravan was. I think he was trying to catch up to it to buy the guitar,” Reno said, keeping pace with me. I immediately started to look around, trying to find the caravan tracks.
“Greyson wanted you to wait, he’s organizing a search party,” Reno said. I spotted the caravan tracks and started looking around the steep rocks surrounding the cracked road. I had never wanted to see Killian’s damn face so badly.
“How long ago did he leave?” I asked.
“Over three hours ago,” Reno said grimly.
My chest constricted. It couldn’t feel any tighter. I heard a whirring noise as Reno put on a pair of night vision goggles. I forgot how dark it probably was for him, I was surprised he hadn’t tripped yet. The old roads were broken apart and littered with shit, it was easy to trip even at a walk.
“Menkin’s a good guy, he probably made him stay after it started to get dark,” Reno tried to reassure me.
As I looked around the deserted, dark greywastes, I could only hope that was true. Unless he hid and hid well, Killian wouldn’t last the night outside. Not only were there legionaries in the vicinity, there were ravers in the canyons only a few miles off, and carracats and radwolves living in the rocks. I knew Killian had a knife with him, but that would do nothing against anything bigger than a croach.
“Do the caravans stop at night?” I asked after we had been following the trail for over half an hour. I hadn’t taken a break yet but I could see Reno was starting to get tired. Not my problem, I couldn’t be held back. I didn’t really need Reno’s company but I didn’t mind it. Two sets of eyes were better than one and he could see well with those goggles on.
“Not for long, only to let the bosen rest,” Reno said panting. I looked over to see sweat streaming down his forehead. A few minutes later Greyson’s voice sounded over our handhelds.
“Rock Hawk, Rock Hawk,” he called, using Reno’s code name. I cursed, forgetting I turned mine up. I turned it down and motioned for Reno to do the same.
“Yeah,” I said stopping. Reno leaned up against an old electrical pole, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath.
“I’m already heading towards you. Leo has a search party together. The caravans were heading towards the Highway 11 crossing but they were supposed to pass southwest to the bridge. The exit ramp collapsed last spring. Reno knows where that is.” I glanced up and Reno nodded.
I held the radio up to my mouth. “We’re following the tracks.” I wanted to make myself sound strong but my voice was weak.
“The search party is a few miles behind, you scout ahead. They’re going to comb through the rocks in case he found a place to hide. Just follow the tracks and for fuck sake, Reaver, look out for soldiers.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Roger,” I said, before clipping the radio back onto my belt.
I paused for a second trying to listen for anything out of place but it was quiet around us, save for our heartbeats and breathing. Around me I could see the skeletons of rusted out cars and trucks, reduced to hollow shells by the elements. They seemed to surround us like foreboding statues, rotting where they were left. Their owners had abandoned them in congested traffic, fleeing on foot from the bombs that burned the sky; or perhaps from the cull the government had ordered, only months before Silas released his sestic radiation to end the war and the world.
I glanced inside one of the cars, seeing a pile of dusty old bones in the front seat. I was used to seeing human remains but I looked at these ones a bit differently tonight.
I started to run again. Reno wasn’t far behind me.
“Reaver?” Reno call
ed after another half of an hour had passed by. He was looking at the pavement. He raised his head and looked off into the distance.
“The caravan is heading towards the Highway 11 crossing. I think they didn’t get the memo that the ramp had collapsed. I bet you they stayed there for the night, after they realized they couldn’t cross.” Reno was breathless but his voice held hope.
I looked ahead to see the large exit ramp not far off in the distance. The cliffs on the right side of the road were starting to break off into large gatherings of rock, and I could just hear the Typhus River behind them.
As soon as I saw a low hanging ledge, I climbed up the large shelf of rock and made my way to the top. Reno jogged ahead a bit, still following the track.
I looked ahead.
I could see the broken exit ramp, stretching out over the large river. Below it a second road wound down, the grey water licking the crumbling concrete. It was clogged with debris. Bumper to bumper vehicles and huge slabs of concrete were walling most of it off. I couldn’t see anyone.
“Reaver…” Reno’s voice said weakly.
I looked over to where he was standing, a few meters away from me. I jumped down from the rocks and walked over. I paused as I saw Reno kneeling over something.
He brought his goggles over his head and I could see his face was ashen. He raised his other hand and held it up.
His fingers were tipped with blood.
Wordlessly I walked over. I looked down to see several small pools of red, beside a large strip of rock. Something else caught my eye. I leaned down and picked up a bundle of clothing.
My stomach knotted as the smell of soap reached my nose.
I looked at the ground where I had picked up Killian’s pants. Beside them lay his underwear, covered in red droplets, and a few feet away from them… his knife.
I was holding him, he was so warm against my skin. I inhaled and smelled his golden blond hair. I brought my hand up to his chin and raised it, kissing his pink lips.
He gazed into my eyes, so blue… the type of blue… you just don’t see in this world anymore. Blue like the tropical ocean pictures hanging in his bedroom, blue like the sky before the Fallocaust… full of life, depthless, innocent.
