by Angela White
“One last ride…”
“The Daredevil’s afraid of a little thing like riding a roller coaster! Ha-ha!”
His rage flared to life, brighter than any of the explosions that had destroyed the world.
“Not anymore. That world, that Daniel, is dead.” The War had seen to it with a few seconds, and a single stray bullet during the chaos.
Pain rushed him in waves, and Daniel hit the handle, sending fuel rushing into the bike. It jumped forward eagerly in response.
As the bike neared the edge, Daniel’s hands slowly crept into the air, surrendering control for the first time in his life. He managed to keep them there as the bike went over the cliff, but his eyes didn’t open.
Feeling it would be enough. He didn’t want to see it, too.
2
Alexa darted toward the man’s broken body, and Edward kept pace, eyes watching the barren landscape that surrounded them. Why they were wasting their time, he had no idea. Anyone who fell from that high up wasn’t getting back up.
Alexa increased her speed, and Edward was unable to stay at her side. She streaked across the parched desert floor, leaving him behind.
Edward hurried to catch up. As he went, he suddenly thought maybe he understood her hurry. She was hungry…
Alexa was kneeling near the body before he got there, and Edward turned his back to her, watching their discouraging surroundings. They were in plain view, backs against the wall of the mountain. Edward pushed the worry aside. If they were attacked, Alexa would handle things like she had the other times they’d faced danger since leaving Lexington.
They had been together for a month, and the trip had been smooth. Not quiet, though. Twice, they’d been spotted by soldiers, and been in gunfights to get away. There had also been a rough hour of crossing a river in a small skiff, using oars to push away the awful debris. Black, anxious snakes had paced them the entire time, not hissing, but gliding along the water next to the skiff with a watchful menace.
Edward looked back to see Alexa’s head lowering, and found himself turning away without much concern. She needed energy, and if the man was dying anyway…
Alexa concentrated, drawing her strength. “Your name!”
Daniel opened his eyes, unable to do much more. He didn’t feel pain exactly, but that sense of fading was clear enough. He’d had his one last ride.
“I offer a second chance...”
“Let me die.”
Stung by his desolation, Alexa shoved herself into his thoughts. “I seek Safe Haven.”
Daniel’s eyes widened… slowly began to fill with red tears. Even the angels wanted to be there.
Daniel understood that he was in the process of dying, and was grateful to see a woman’s hard countenance rather than his childhood demons. He only hoped the pain didn’t start before it was over. Being numb was preferable to reality. Isn’t that why he’d done this in the first place?
Alexa leaned closer, deep in his mind, seeing what had caused him to do this to himself. “I need your strength for the Quest, Daniel. You did not outlive your child to die in vain!”
Her tone brooked no argument.
Drawn back against his will, Daniel blinked, trying to really see her. Safe Haven… a quest. Adrian!
His body arched suddenly, eyes foggy, pupils starting to dilate…
“I will have an answer!”
Alexa’s roar in his mind brought the world back into focus, and Daniel gave the only response he could through broken, bloody lips. “Master.”
Alexa slanted her mouth over his, the blood ignored. Instead of the inhale Edward was expecting, she blew into the man’s lungs - returning life instead.
Edward tried to stay focused on the watch, but the screams of the biker were terrible to hear. Every breath she blew into him seemed to scrape away another layer of his paralysis, his injuries. It was slow work.
He’d thought she was ending the man’s pain, but instead…
“Aaahhhhhhh….”
The horseman grunted, moving a few feet away. It would be a rough night for all of them, and there was no telling what the noise would bring. “I’ll be up high.”
Alexa didn’t respond, and Edward’s jealous heart was appeased a bit. She trusted him to stand the watch properly. It would be a while before the new man was allowed that honor.
3
“His name is Daniel.”
Edward looked at the pale man sitting against the cliff that had nearly taken his life. He was grateful the screaming had stopped, but in no hurry to welcome the handsome biker. He had enjoyed his time alone with Alexa.
“As did I, but now, the quest grows more dangerous, and we have to, as well,” Alexa stated firmly. “Alone, we will not reach Safe Haven.”
Edward hung his head. Despite it being a month, he still wasn’t guarding his thoughts from her. “Whatever you need.”
Alexa’s response was quick. “He needs to be trained, as I have you thus far.”
Edward’s head snapped up. “Me?”
Alexa met his surprised look with a raised brow. “Would you lead, while I teach him?”
Edward flushed, hating it that he spent so much time in the wrong, but loving it that she always called him on it. A leader didn’t explain, they taught, and he had already been learning. “When shall I start?”
There was silence for an answer, and the horseman obediently rose to his feet.
Alexa watched him move towards Daniel with pleased, tired eyes. She was near to being drained again, shriveled hands deep inside her cloak to be out view. In a day or so, when Daniel was able to defend himself for a few minutes at a time, she would reward Edward for his obedience and enjoy a much needed meal. Until then…
Alexa took up the watch, eyes scanning the apocalyptic mountains around them. Right after the War, the destruction zone had encompassed the three farthest western states. Then the gates had opened and begun spreading the Wastelands. Now, it was 300 miles beyond that, and steadily creeping east. Mother Nature wanted all of her land back. If the Descendants didn’t do something soon, she would succeed.
“How long have you been with her?”
Daniel was extremely curious as to what the quest had been like so far. Almost succeeding in taking his own life had given him a new outlook, a new courage he hadn’t known he possessed until he was over the edge of that cliff.
Edward was already feeling the need to jealously guard those memories, especially the one after he’d proven his loyalty by following Alexa from the bunker. She’d made him hers that night - in more way than one.
“Since Lexington,” Edward finally answered, watching the man’s scarred fingers twitch like his body was being denied something it craved. Edward noticed that the biker didn’t react to the healing twitches, even though the pain had to still be bad. Parts of bones and veins were prominent under his skin - clearly not where they should be. Except for his face, Daniel was covered in scars and ugly mementoes that said his life even before the War had been troubled.
“But, that’s almost the heart of the Wastelands!” Daniel exclaimed, admiring the man’s courage. Of Alexa, he was in awe.
“Yes.”
Edward didn’t want to accept the new man, but he did want to please Alexa. He held out a leather kit. “You’re never to be without this, even when there is nothing in it.”
He waited for Daniel to take empty carry-bag, and then continued. “Until she says otherwise, you’ll do what I do - down to where and how I step. Copy me at all…”
Ggrrrr…
The loud rumble from the west had Edward on his feet. The rats were back. “Shit!”
He spun toward Alexa’s post, but turned back just as quickly. He leaned down into Daniel’s confused face, delivering his first real order of the quest. “You will get into the nearest tree, and still be alive when she comes for you!”
Daniel gave a quick nod, and watched Edward take off running. Trouble was coming and he would be no help. Gritting his teeth, t
he battered biker slowly began dragging himself toward the closest moldy trunk. Life mattered again, and Daniel was grateful.
Grimacing at the feel of dragging his broken legs across the rough ground, the man was determined to do his share as soon as he could. When his injuries had finished mending, he would make sure they both saw how useful he could be.
4
Alexa motioned Edward under cover, and waited tensely to see how many dogs had been put on their trail this time. The last two attempts had been small teams, but this sounded like a convoy of government trucks.
Not asking if Daniel was hidden, Alexa drew her gun, and was glad when Edward followed her lead. She was low on energy to be facing so many. His help was definitely needed.
Edward watched the trucks crest the rise, the dirt clouds trailing behind them for as far as he could see. Five team trucks… No, nine - roughly thirty-five men. The trucks spread out as they neared the base of the cliff, like they were herding prey, and Edward looked to Alexa in concern.
Alexa’s mind was racing. The soldiers would know their quarry was close. There wouldn’t be any running, maybe not even hiding. Alone, she and Edward would win every time, but neither of them could stay ahead of the trucks while carrying Daniel… They would fight.
Alexa looked to her First of Six with blue chips of icy steel. Once the soldiers were out of their vehicles, no mercy would be allowed.
Edward gave her a short nod that said he would be at her side for the fight, and beyond.
Satisfied, Alexa took aim.
5
“I feel her.”
Rab’s words caused a round of cheers from the half a dozen soldiers in the hardback with them.
A harsh glare from Corbin silenced the men.
“Where is she?” he demanded, looking through the binoculars again. The arid mountain terrain was all the Commander could see with only one good eye.
Rab struggled to get a clear read on the woman. Her energy wasn’t as vibrant as he was used to. She’s tired, the scientist thought sadly. We’ve hunted her so much that she hasn’t had time to recharge.
Aware of Corbin waiting for an answer, Rab grunted, “Keep going. It’s getting stronger.”
They’d spent the last weeks chasing her, rounding up those she’d freed, and listening to the tales of their travels from other survivors. Tracking them hadn’t been hard, only tiresome due to her preference for unforgiving terrain.
“Load your darts nice and tight.” Corbin instructed. The big bunker still wanted her dead or recaptured, but Corbin had set this in motion and had no intentions of backing down now. He would get a tracker into her or her fighter and it would be enough to buy a few more weeks to find something he could use to negotiate with the big bunker.
The cliff neared, showing them a small, neatly made camp with three bedrolls.
“There’s her site!”
Of Alexa, there was no sign, but if she’d left everything behind, then they’d surprised her again. It was the second time it had turned out this way, and Rab was sure her luck was used up. They would have her now, and the hope of a Safe Haven would finally vanish entirely - just the way those in charge wanted it. Rab was suddenly glad that Shane hadn’t made it back from base yet. The air here tasted like death.
Corbin studied the area, the cliff. There were no tunnels, no crags to escape inside. She hadn’t gone up. He looked toward the trees that lined the cliff, to the thicket of dead branches that would make a perfect cover…
“There she is!”
Crack!
The windshield shattered into a series of spiral fractures, surprising everyone inside into a harsh flinch. The thick glass was supposed to be able to stop a slug, but thanks to years of chemical rain, everything now had a weakness.
Crack!
The window next to Corbin’s head imploded, glass flying through the truck.
The driver swerved, automatically turning south to keep from being trapped by the cliff wall, and a barrage of gunfire rained on the truck as it turned.
Corbin was very aware of her target as he tied a bandage from his kit around the stinging arm wound she’d just delivered. Blood dripped in thin sheets. She would pay for that!
Alexa fired again, strategically hitting lead vehicles that were sent careening into different directions. The weakened glass had the soldiers looking for a place to use as cover, and the opposite cliff wall was the only other spot for that purpose. It sent the trucks right by her and Edward’s bullets.
She’s herding them now, Edward thought, firing. His shot took out the rest of the windshield on that lead truck, and he grinned. This real life was perfect most days.
Alexa watched the remaining vehicles turn to follow their leader, and saved the rest of the bullets she had in her gun. Waste in any form was destructive to her goals.
Edward’s smile faded as the soldiers pulled behind the huge boulders that lined the opposite cliff. Men began pouring from the trucks like water. So many…
He watched Alexa drop from the tree like it was a single step, and tensed to follow her flight…
Crash!
Alexa had no intentions of running now that the soldiers were out of the protection of their vehicles. Gunfire filled the canyon, echoing off the cliff faces and out into the barren wilderness.
6
“Get down, you idiot!”
Corbin snatched Rab back by his head, and shoved the gifted man behind a boulder.
“We’re no match for her guns!”
“But there are more of us…”
“She’s an Alpha!” Corbin snapped, watching his men get slaughtered. His three Lieutenants were trying to call them back, but these lower-level men had no discipline.
Crack!
Corbin’s eyes narrowed in on the shooters, using a clever mirror to keep from poking his head out for her to aim at. Only Alexa and one man, but there had been three bedrolls. Where was her newest man?
His sharp eye went over their camp again - a fire pit with a small pot simmering over it… wood with gouges, bloody rags. Someone was hurt. And what did you do with an injured party during a fight? You stashed them.
Corbin scanned the area, landed on the deadened branches beside the neat camp… and found a shadow among the dense limbs. The big bunker wanted her recaptured or hit with tracker juice, but one of her crew would be just as good…
“Stay here!”
Rab watched Corbin dart toward the vehicles with concern that had grown into alarm by the time the Commander had slipped around them and out of view. Was he being left?
7
Shielded by the trunk, Alexa fired again, taking down one of the closest soldiers. She and Edward were running through Corbin’s men, but where was their leader?
Edward slapped the clip in place in time to shoot the last two men within an instant of each other. The chaos was complete. Bodies were spread all over the parched floor of the canyon.
Alexa waved a hand. “Make sure they’re all dead, gather supplies.”
Edward nodded. He took a step…
Crack! Crack!
“AAAhhhh!”
Daniel.
They’d heard that noise too much to ever mistake it. They both turned toward camp.
Alexa made a fast gesture. “Do as you’ve been told!”
Edward hated the idea of leaving her alone to rescue the biker, but he wouldn’t disobey. He moved toward the bodies with fast steps, hoping to be done and at her side before it was over.
Alexa rounded the edge of the cliff and slowed to a steady pace. Her eyes saw Daniel in Corbin’s tight grip, and then the biker’s newest wounds. Without hands, Daniel couldn’t fight back. Both of his palms were dripping blood.
“I’ll put the next one through his head!” Corbin shouted, dragging the dazed man back further into the shadowy cover of the cliff face and its boulders. “Get out here - where I can see you!”
Alexa stepped into view, Colts in hand.
Corbin’s harsh grin
was full of triumph. “Toss them away!”
Alexa did as he instructed, keeping her eyes on Daniel’s. In the biker’s blue gaze, she saw determination to survive, and the belief that if he did get mortally wounded, she would be able to save him again. Good. This way, he would be willing to take risks. He wouldn’t ever be told that there was a limit to what she could do, or that it was forbidden. She would eventfully have to pay for playing the role of God.
“Closer!” Corbin was trying to be meticulous, but being so close to her without the drugs was distracting, worrisome. She radiated a strength that had him tightening his grip on the mostly helpless biker. He’d found the wreckage. From there, it hadn’t been hard to figure out that she’d saved this man. That made him a valuable property.
Corbin waved at his remaining two Lieutenants. “Cuff her, and put her in my truck.”
“Now, Daniel!”
Daniel shoved against his captor, ducking as Alexa did the same.
Her Colts fired and bodies hit the ground.
Corbin, now alone, struggled to keep Daniel in front of as much of his body as he could. He needed her alive. “Get in the truck or I’ll kill him.”
Alexa’s laugh was cold. “And give up your shield? I think not.”
Realizing his bluff was called, the danger he was now facing, Corbin began dragging the man toward the nearest truck. “I’ll take him with me, then.”
“No, you won’t.”
Alexa started to raise her gun, and Corbin’s arm tightened on Daniel’s throat, cutting off air. “If I die, so does he!”
Alexa’s voice as like the dead, it was so cold. “He has no value without hands. Keep him.”
There was a shocked silence.
Corbin stared, not sure if she was now the one bluffing. Would she really leave a man behind?
Alexa grinned. “How about a deal?”
Not expecting it, the Commander sneered, “Deals are for the dead!”
Alexa nodded. “So they are. Would you make one to save your life this day? I will come for it in my own time.”
