by James Axler
The muttered comments of the two accompanying riders suggested that they didn’t share Ethan’s faith in getting some action. But they were tired and sore, and they welcomed the chance to pull out of the copse.
As the riders moved out, Ethan was astonished to see six horsemen heading toward him at a trot: Riley, Horse and the barons and traders they had been assigned to protect.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he yelled, not realizing that—although his comment was directed at his own sec men—it would be taken the wrong way by those who had paid good jack for a hunt they were not getting to see.
“What are we doing?” the inbred baron lisped. “We’re being ripped off, that’s what we’re doing.”
“Yeah,” added the trader who had accompanied him. “We ain’t seen shit yet. And I’ll tell you one thing—if there’s three of the fuckers in there after one little scrawny albino, no matter how good he is, they’re not making much of an effort at it.”
Ethan stopped and held up his hand for silence. He listened intently. The copse was dense, but not that expansive, and any sounds that emanated from within wouldn’t easily have been deadened by the surrounding greenery. But he could hear nothing. To all intents and purposes, there seemed to be nothing going on inside. He would have expected some kind of activity, even if the albino was proving adept at hiding himself. After all, there were three of them in there after him.
That’s if they were after him, still…It hurt Ethan’s ego to feel that his hypnosis may have failed. So much so that he didn’t even want to consider it. As far as he was concerned, Bones had taught him well. But then again, he’d never really had the chance to put it to the test before.
The baron looked at the two sec men and the half-dozen paying huntsmen. Riley and Horse were awaiting his cue, but there was no disguising the hostility on the faces of the men who had given him their hard-won and hard-earned jack for a spectacle that looked as though it had gone belly-up on him.
Ethan made a snap decision, without realizing the echo he formed with the four companions in the copse.
“Okay, people, there’s been a little change of plan,” he announced with a calmness that he didn’t feel. How would they take what he was about to say? “It appears that the three hunters have turned on us, and are back with their little white friend. So instead of watching a hunt, I figure that it’s about time that we got our blasters out and went on a little hunt of our own.”
“You saying what I think you’re saying?” one of the traders asked with a huge grin spreading across his face. “We’ve seen ’em try to hunt, and now we get to whomp the shit out of them ourselves?”
“I don’t think I could have put it better myself,” Ethan replied with a smile that belied the tension gnawing at his gut.
The half-dozen hunters whooped in exultation. Ethan calmed them with an imploring gesture. “Okay,” he said, “if we’re gonna do this right, then I suggest you sort out among yourselves who you want to hunt. Meanwhile, I’ll consult with my men.”
The hunters joyfully agreed and huddled their horses together to argue among themselves about their targets. Meanwhile, Ethan gestured Horse and Riley over to him.
“This is bad,” he said quietly when they were with him. “This is very bad. Those four are shit hot and if we lose any of these guys, then our reputation is shit and we may very well end up in a war situation.”
“So what do you want us to do about it?” Horse asked, his ambiguous choice of phrase making it clear he felt Ethan had invited trouble.
Ethan ignored it. He could deal with his sec chief later—if there was a later. “I want you to make sure you get in first, ahead of these idiots. I want those four scumfucks chilled meat before these boys even get near them. Do I make myself clear?”
Horse nodded. “Perfectly.”
Riley smiled coldly, thinking of his score to settle with Ryan. “It’ll be a fucking pleasure.”
* * *
Chapter Fifteen
“Name’s Stark, and I figure it’s about time that all this stupe shit came to an end.” The bald giant held out his hand, and J.B., despite catching Mildred’s suspicion-filled glance, took it.
“You know who we are, and you know that Ethan wants us chilled. So why are you going against him?”
The giant shrugged. “Why not? I’ve always thought he was a little fucked in the head, and I know I’m not the only one—” he directed his glance at Michaela “—and I know some of us have reason to fear Ethan and his sec, especially Horse. Fear is what kept us down, and mebbe it’s time to stop being frightened. Mebbe there’s a whole lot more of us than we thought. Shit, I reckon that’s the most I’ve ever said in one breath in my whole life,” he added with a surprised shake of his head.
“Mebbe it was just the time to say it,” J.B. commented, continuing, “If there are a whole lot, then we need to get them together, and quick. And we also need to sort out who’s on our side and who isn’t. We’ve got to get back into Pleasantville first, right?”
“Y’mean who in the sec will join us and who’ll want to whip our ass?”
“It’s the first priority,” J.B. agreed.
“Leave that to me. I know them,” Stark said simply, with an air of finality and confidence that left J.B. in no doubt that this man could deliver on his word.
“John…” Mildred spoke quietly, beckoning the Armorer to join her. “Are you sure you’re really up to this right now?” she questioned. “You had a terrific shock to the system, and there’s no knowing how strong you are. You need to be—”
“Millie, don’t worry about it,” he interrupted her, “there’s no point. We’ve got to do this, so I’ll just make the most of it. Now, it’s getting toward midmorning and I don’t want to waste any more time. We don’t even know if the others are alive out there. They may have chilled Jak and skinned him for Ethan’s pleasure for all we know. Or he may have taken out at least one of them. Either way, I reckon they’ve had all night, and it’s probably over by now. So we’ve just got to pick up the pieces as best and as quick as we can.”
The Armorer gently kissed her forehead, then turned back to face Stark and Michaela, who were deep in conference. The two Pleasantville dwellers faced the companions as they came across the open space toward them. They had the air of people for whom a momentous time had come in their lives.
“We’ve been talking about who we think will be with us,” Michaela began before either J.B. or Mildred had a chance to speak. “We’ve got a list, some with power, others with influence…but our big problem is going to be getting back into the ville to begin with.”
“The blaster turrets are now manned,” Stark explained. “Tracey—that was the fucker covered in ink that you chilled—was left in charge by Horse, and his orders were to man them all. Now, I know who we can count on, but until we get to the way back in, I won’t know who’s on what turret and how we can tackle this.”
“I see what you’re saying,” J.B. said. “We need to get close enough to find out without being blasted.”
The giant agreed. “Thing is, I can see only one way to do it, and you’re not gonna like it.”
The Armorer allowed himself a grin. “I think I’m already there. You have to look like you’ve captured us so we can get through the tunnel and past the sec. And for that, you’re gonna have to handle all our weapons and link us together like we’re prisoners…leaving us, mebbe, defenseless.”
“Knew you wouldn’t like it…”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” J.B. said playfully. “I love it. I trust you if she does,” he added, indicating Michaela. The spiky-haired healer looked surprised.
“You trust me?” she asked, incredulous.
“I’d trust anyone who helped save my life,” J.B. answered simply.
Michaela nodded decisively. “Then we trust the big man, here,” she answered.
Stark’s plan was simplicity itself as he outlined it. He would lead them into view by the concealed tunnel
entrance, so that they could be seen by the sec manning the blaster emplacement. He would be carrying their arms, with his blaster trained on them, and they would be tied together. He would explain that he had overpowered them after they had chilled the other two sec men and that he was bringing them back for Ethan to punish at his leisure. Then, once inside the tunnel, he would release them and return their arms. They would emerge on the other side ready for a firefight if the emplacement sec men were loyal to Ethan, and recruitment if they were among the silent dissidents that Stark and Michaela could identify.
They crossed the remains of the ruined city quickly, making good time until they were at a point where they would start to become visible to whomever manned the emplacement across the wasteland.
Here they stopped and Stark collected their weapons and ordnance, slinging the heavy blasters and bags across his broad shoulders as though they were nothing. He then took the chains that he and the other sec men had been carrying with them to link and carry back the chilled corpses of the escapees, and threaded them through Mildred, J.B. and Michaela. It looked as though they were secure, although in truth it would take but an instant for them to shrug off their supposed bonds.
“Just one thing,” Mildred said as they tried to get used to moving with their upper bodies temporarily restricted by the heavy chains. “Isn’t it going to look kind of odd that you managed to get all three of us trussed single-handed?”
Stark shrugged. “If they stop to think about it. So we have to move quick. Anyway, you think of anything better?”
Mildred kissed her teeth. “Guess not, not at such short notice.”
“Then let’s do it before they figure it out, as well,” the bald giant muttered.
The three chain-entangled, so-called captives shuffled out from cover and into sight of the blaster emplacement. Stark was close at their heels, his blaster trained on them, to insure that he was seen to be in control, so that they would not be fired on.
There were two men on the emplacement, both looking bored until the four people came into view. Then, with an almost comical spurt of activity, they sprang to attention, one training the mounted SMG on the group, the other shouldering a Lee Enfield .303, the idea being to back up the SMG’s spray’n’pray fire with some sniper shooting for accuracy, should the need arise.
“It’s okay,” Stark yelled. “I got some meat to bring home.”
“Where are the others?” the man with the rifle returned, his tone harsh and edgy.
“Chilled, like these will be after Ethan’s finished with ’em.”
“Thought your orders were to just finish the fuckers,” the rifleman said with a suspicious edge to his tone.
“So they were,” Stark replied amiably. “But seeing as they did so much damage, I figured that the baron may want to attend to matters himself.”
“Sounds like a good call to me,” the man behind the SMG replied. “Put the fucker down, J.T.,” he said to the rifleman, “and let ’em through.”
He stepped away from the SMG. The rifleman lowered his Enfield, albeit unwillingly, and allowed them to pass forward to the concealed tunnel entrance.
Even though they were pretty sure that they couldn’t be seen from the emplacement once they were in front of the concealed entrance, the three “prisoners” allowed Stark to keep his blaster trained on them while he opened the tunnel entrance with one hand. Once they were inside the enclosed, dank space, he shut the door and lowered the blaster, producing a flashlight from a pocket. The beam was diffuse enough to illuminate a fair portion of the enclosed space. They could see that the other end of the tunnel was still safely secured.
“Good thing they haven’t sent a welcoming party,” Mildred commented as she slipped her chains. The other two followed suit, while Stark grunted to indicate he had something to say. He was, however, incapable of speech at that moment, as his mouth was occupied in gripping the torch while he shrugged off the “captured” blasters and ordnance to return to J.B., Mildred and Michaela. That wasn’t as easy as it sounded, as he was a big enough man to almost fill the tunnel and he found that the movement of his arms within the enclosed space was difficult. But eventually, he had shed his load and distributed it to those from whom he had initially taken it. This done, he took the flashlight from his mouth.
“Okay, listen now. The guy with the rifle—J.T.—is a jumpy little fuck, and he’s Horse’s personal whipping boy. And yeah, does he love it. He’s right behind Ethan, and he’ll want to mow us down as soon as we come out. So we need to take him out straightaway.”
“What about the other one?” J.B. asked.
“Eddie’s a sweetheart,” Michaela said before Stark had a chance to speak. “He’s one of us, definitely.”
Stark gave a lopsided grin that seemed strangely out of place on his otherwise grim visage. “That’s one way of saying it, I guess, but yeah, trouble is, we come out shooting, he’s gonna shoot back if only to protect himself.”
“So we need to stop this J.T. from firing on us without alarming Eddie…should be simple,” Mildred said with a sardonic edge to her voice.
“Think it just might be, actually.” J.B. grinned, then outlined his simple plan before urging them to move toward the ville end of the tunnel. When they had reached the far door, leading up to the trap beneath the emplacement, J.B. signaled to Stark to go on ahead. The big man nodded and took his cue.
“Hey, I can’t see a fucking thing down here,” he yelled through the partly open trap, “come on, one of you give me a hand. My flashlight is fucked. Someone—c’mon, give me a break…” He continued when there was no reply forthcoming.
Then he heard Eddie’s voice. “Gimme a second, big guy.”
“No, Eddie, you stay at the emplacement,” Stark returned quickly. “Horse would flay you if he found you deserting it.”
“Heh, too right.” J.T. snickered. “Much as I’d like to see that, I ain’t gonna be party to that. You stay here, Eddie—I’ll help the fat bastard with those scum.”
“Nice guy, J.T.,” Mildred murmured contemptuously. “I’m sure a shitload of people will miss him when he’s gone.”
They waited for the sounds of the rifleman clambering down the emplacement and scurrying across the ground to reach the other side of the trap. It opened suddenly, letting in the blinding light of early morning.
“Would’ve thought a big bastard like you could manage two outsiders and a pussy eater like her.” J.T. giggled. It was to be the last sound he would ever make.
“You always did say too much,” Stark commented dryly as he used the time it took J.T. in insulting them to reach out one hamlike hand and wrap it around the sec man’s throat, squeezing beneath the carotid so that the little man nodded out from lack of blood and oxygen to the brain. When he was unconscious, Stark let his grip loose and took the man’s head in both hands, twisting viciously to break his neck while he was unconscious.
“Wish I could say I was sorry…” Stark murmured as he let the lifeless J.T. drop to the ground. “Now for Eddie…”
The big man walked out into the light, so that he could be plainly seen from the emplacement. Eddie looked down on him with a puzzled air.
“Where’s J.T.?” he asked, unable to keep the nervous quiver from his voice.
Stark smiled. “Eddie, you don’t want to worry about that little shit anymore. He can’t rat on anyone, now.”
“Listen, what’s going on here, ’cause I don’t like the sound of this. And another thing, where are the three prisoners?”
“They’re not prisoners, Eddie,” Stark said simply. “We’re the ones who are prisoners. Let me ask you something, do you really like what goes on down here?”
“You know the answer to that,” Eddie replied guardedly. “But we don’t have any option, do we?”
“Don’t we? You know how many there are like us? You thought about what we could do if we all got it together.”
“Mebbe I have. But that’s not going to happen, is it?”
“Isn’t it? You just come down here and talk about it.”
From their place of concealment, the Armorer and Mildred watched with apprehension. The big guy was taking a hell of a chance, and he would be mowed down if Eddie had the slightest doubt. But no, the nervous sec man left his post on the emplacement and came to talk with Stark.
Rapidly and concisely, the big man told Eddie what had happened in the ruined city and how sick he was of Ethan’s ways. He explained how he and Michaela had figured out there were enough dissidents to mount a revolution, and there would be no better time than now, while Ethan and Horse were both out on the hunt.
“Guess it figures,” Eddie said at length. “But we’re gonna have to move pretty quick, and there’ll be a lot of folks who’ll not be too happy if they know that two of the outsiders are involved.”
“We won’t be,” J.B. said, stepping out of the shadows and into view. “I’m not in any fit state yet to be running around, and there’s no way we’d expect any of your people to trust me or Millie. This is totally down to you guys. But what we can do is help you make your plans—at least that way we’ll feel like we’re being useful.”
Eddie chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “Three of us and a whole ville to cover—yeah, guess your help would be necessary,” he agreed.
“Good, then let’s get to it,” J.B. said, “there’s no time to waste.”
Eddie gestured them to join him in the emplacement. There was enough cover for Mildred and J.B. to stay hidden, while its height enabled Eddie, Michaela and Stark to get an overview of the whole ville while they planned. Plus, it would look less suspicious to any pro-Ethan sec men if Eddie was still visibly on watch.
Once they had attained the height of the emplacement, they began to go over the names of those they knew they could rely on. It was a considerable list.
