The Wasteland: Their Champion Book One

by K. A Knight

  “The fuck do you want at this time?”

  I smile at her beyond happy to give her the news.

  “Dead body in room three,” I say cheerfully.

  “Motherfuckers best not have stained my floor. Stupid ass pigs can’t even take it outside. I don’t need any bodies in my establishment. When I find them I’m going to skin them alive and use their balls for earrings.” She gripes.

  I bite my lips to hold in my laugh as she rants. She stops and she squints as she eyes my jacket and bag and then huffs.

  “Ya heading out?” Nodding I quirk my eyebrow at her.

  “Be back tomorrow, only going to the inner. Rumour has it your latest bill is there.”

  “Be careful will ya, heard there were some raids there yesterday. Stupid clans and their fighting,” She fiddles with her pearls as she speaks and glares at the naked arse behind me looking completely disgusted.

  “Aww Nan, I knew you cared about me,” I say sweetly and lean over and kiss her wrinkled cheek before she can grab her gun.

  “Fuck off. You always pay your room and don’t leave any bodies. That's the only reason I tell ya.”

  I offer her a cheery sarcastic smile and then head out for the day. When I get outside the sun beats down on me, I can already feel the heat on my skin making me sweat. I pull my shades from my canvas bag and cover my eyes. It’s going to be a long fucking day.

  Making my way through the deserted streets I wander in the silence just taking in the quiet letting it wipe away the last of my nightmares. The city looks different in the daylight, more ruined. It reminds you of what the world is like now. No clean streets and white picket fenced homes here, no this is a halfway between hell and more hell. People don’t dress in suits and talk constantly on their phones. They don’t moan about delays or traffic, they’re just happy to be alive.

  The gate buzzer goes off when I approach it, I wait for it to swing open and then step through. It buzzes shut behind me straight away. I look out at the dead wasteland that stretches before me and with a sigh, I get to work.

  ◆◆◆

  The abandoned house looks like it’s about to fall down. The walls are covered in cracks and the windows are smashed. The wooden front door is at an angle and covered in who knows what. I look back down at the bill Nan slid under my door last night. Easy work, find the man and drag him back to The Rim. I get more if he’s alive but if need be dead is fine too. Idiot must have killed someone important or pissed off the wrong man. His last known whereabouts were to the north of The Rim, somewhere in the abandoned town of Spring.

  So that’s where I am now, the town itself is tiny, only five buildings remaining. The others have either been demolished or burnt down. The one road in and out is filled with large potholes, big enough for a man to fall in. The road signs are covered in spray paint and bullet holes. I checked the other four buildings before finding myself outside this house. One that was once a supermarket, the aisles filled with debris and sand, the glass sliding doors missing. There was even a decomposing body down the fruit and veg aisle, I guess that counts as fresh food right?

  The others included an office building, a block of flats, and a church. I don’t particularly believe in god, but seeing the bodies and ruins inside that holy building made me wince. A once beautiful stained glass window lay in shattered pieces along the pews, letting in the sand from outside. All the valuables had been looted, leaving it a empty skeleton of what it used to be. The flats made even my darkened soul cry out, the carnage inside so heinous I had to close my eyes. After I found a little girl's body, broken and mangled curled around a doll I hightailed it out of there to check the other buildings first. I didn’t bother checking all of the office building, the sand and dirt in the entrance and stairs making it clear no one had been there in a long time. It was like a vault, preserving our old lives perfectly. Mugs lay half full on desks, computers dark waiting for the staff to start their day. I wonder if I would be somewhere like that if the world hadn’t gone to shit. Thinking about that sort of thing isn't good but I can't help but wonder who I would be in the old world. Would I make my dad proud? Would my family and I be the type to gather around every Sunday to catch up? Would I be married? Would I have kids? The thought sends a pang through me, I’m not the nurturing type but maybe in another life I would have been. Shaking my head and the thoughts away I concentrate on the now.

  With all the other building empty, that only leaves this house. I shove the bill with the guy’s description back into my bag and crack my neck from side to side. Striding to the door I bang on it three times. I hear scuffling behind it, but no one answers. Really?

  “Who is it?” The scared weasley voice rings through the closed door.

  “Girl scout.”

  Cue more shuffling.

  I sigh and wind my hair around my head in a braid, just in case. I also drop my bag and pull off my jacket. They either always fight or run and I have to be ready for both. Nan gave me my first bill the day after I turned up at The Rim. She told me either I’d die or come back for more, she was right of course. The thrill of the hunt, fighting and the adrenaline is amazing. But the best bit is for once I’m hurting people who deserve it, people like the ones who hurt me.

  “Go away.” The voice is higher pitched and brings me back to where I am.

  Fine, let’s do this the hard way. Not bothering to reply I step back and with all my power kick the door open. It slams inwards and I hear the man trying to run. I roll my eyes and step into the house scanning the room taking in the cans laying everywhere and the dirty blanket on the floor. A man is frantically trying to yank open the other door, I stride towards him and grab his collar.

  “C’mon, it’s over.”

  He tries to wiggle away; this guy does not know when to give up. He jumps forward and I let him go, he turns towards me and holds out a tiny knife. I’m pretty sure it’s a kitchen knife, his arm is shaking so bad it wobbles. I'm betting he’s never even used it, how the hell he made it out here this long I’ll never know. By the smell in the room, I’m guessing he ran and holed himself in this house and hasn’t left since.

  “Just leave.” He pleads, his eyes wide showing the white. They dart around searching for an escape.

  “Can’t do that Jim, you’ve been bad so they sent the devil,” I say stepping to the left, sometimes my words and acting hard are enough for them to give up but not this guy. He follows me with the knife.

  “Do it or I'll cut you.” His voice gets higher and his head swings as he searches for a way out of this mess.

  “No thanks, I’ve got enough scars,” I say conversationally. I step back and his arm lowers slightly thinking his threat has worked. Honestly it’s a little insulting.

  Before he can lift his arm again I snap mine back and punch him straight in the face. He goes down hard with a bang, like a bag of rocks. Kicking the knife away from his hand I crouch down in front of him.

  “Couldn’t just do it the easy way could you?” With a disgusted noise, I stand up and shake my hand out. I turn to the room and spot a dirty looking rucksack in the corner. I make my way to it as I ignore his crying.

  “Don’t move Jimmy boy,” I point to him and then crouch down to the bag. I’m searching through it when I hear him trying to push himself up.

  “You crazy bitch.” His voice is nasally, huh guess I hurt his nose. Why am I always a bitch or a whore? Can’t they get creative with their insults? I stand back up after seeing he has nothing of value. He’s laid half propped on the floor, blood dripping slowly from his nose. Damn, I didn’t break it. I must be losing my touch.

  “C’mon dude, time to go back to The Rim,” I march over to him, bracing myself as I haul him up, my muscles straining in the process. I take one last look around for anything of use and when nothing stands out I march him out before me. On the way out I kick the door shut behind us.

  I push him down the road, the once white lines that used to indicate the middle worn away. We walk around the
holes on the way out of town. The sun is high in the sky beating down on us making me overheat, so I take my jacket off and shove it in my bag. I leave my hair on top of my head to get some air on my neck. I eye Jim wearily; he’s sweating like a pig and crying to himself. Convinced he’s not going to try anything I search through my bag looking for the tin I shoved in earlier. Aha, I yank it out and unsheathe my knife and stab it into the lid, lifting it easily. When it’s off I put my knife away and using my fingers eat the canned peaches as I walk. He stops and stares at me, the hunger evident on his gaunt face.

  “You going to share?” He whines. I roll my eyes but don’t answer. I was right, it’s going to be a long day.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  No Means No

  He’s moaning like one of the whores from The Rim, I’m really debating cutting his tongue out, but I don’t want his blood on me. Plus, he’d probably still find a way to annoy me. I made him walk in front of me so I can keep an eye on him and halfway back to The Rim he tried to run. I threw my knife. It missed my target by inches, but it embedded in his leg. I blame the sun getting in my eyes, so now he’s limping and crying. At least he won’t try to run again, sands below its too hot for that shit. You ever tried running in scorching sun? Not fun, let me tell you.

  “They’ll kill me!” He screams his dramatic ass off. I ignore him and keep walking, counting backwards from thirty to stop me from killing him here and now.

  “You’re condemning me to death.” He turns to look at me, tears leaking out of his eyes, he’s pathetic. Why do they always cry, do they think I’ll feel sorry for them? They did the crime, now they have to face it.

  “I don’t know what you did and I don’t care. I get paid to bring your sorry ass back so that’s what I’m doing.” He stops, so do I. We face each other, the wind blowing dust at us from the side and the sun burning down on our heads. A howl echoes off in the distance and he flinches.

  “I could pay you,” he says quickly, the desperation clear in his voice.

  “With what? You have nothing.” I walk towards him, he starts walking backwards to avoid me with his arms tied behind his back.

  “I have money, it’s just hidden.”

  “Sure thing, let’s get right on finding that then,” I shove his shoulder and he turns back around with a stumble and a cry.

  I spend the rest of the two-hour walk back to The Rim debating all of the ways I could shut this guy up, seriously. One of my most creative ones involves a toe and some stitches. The sun continues to beat down on me and I look at it shading my eyes and sigh carrying on walking to my new soundtrack, Jim’s wailing. I block him out as much as I can and think about before.

  We were lucky we were in the North of the UK when it all happened. Before all communication cut off I saw the devastation left by the polar ice caps melting. Extreme weather hit the world, tsunamis, flooding, hurricanes all leaving devastation behind. Then the ice caps were gone, just gone and raised the sea level by over 216 feet submerging entire countries and continents. Buenos Aires, Uruguay, London, Denmark and Netherlands were all gone. Venice was reclaimed by the sea while the water left mostly mountains in other countries, leaving most of Africa completely uninhabitable. The world as we know it wiped away by the encroaching water, the world we knew no longer existed. Like Mother Nature reclaiming her land.

  No one knows what happened when all of the communications cut off. No phone, no TV, not even any radio. The world became silent with only the cries of the dying to be heard. People started fighting each other for scraps of food and slavery and death became the norm. People only started migrating back to the cities ten years ago when a new government was ‘established’. They flocked to them, thinking they were saved. It was more like they took power and no one dared to stop them. Rumours reach even The Rim of the dictatorship within their walls. They tried to bring back a civilised society, but so many people are used to this way of life, it was a hard battle. Which only a few managed to escape from and flee north. They even tried to make The Rim bow to their command, when their diplomatic party was sent back to them in pieces they gave up.

  The burning in my face brings me back to Jim's cries. Wasters tend to avoid midday travel, but if I want to be back before all the roadies and scavs I knew I had to set off. Plus, if there have been raids out here I’m more likely to avoid them while they bed down for the day. I could have ridden my bike but then Jim would have to sit with his arms around me, not my idea of a good time. Eventually, I see the spikes of the shacks and houses peeking over the horizon. I quicken my pace, pulling him along with me. We reach the back of The Rim and head around to the gate.

  When I see the two guards at the front gate, I pick up the pace and count down the steps to them, wanting to be away from this guy.

  “Here,” I shove Jim at one of the guards and he grabs his arm automatically. He looks at the guy in disgust and then nods to me. The other guard steps forward and starts counting out my money. He’s a regular and is usually the one I give the men too. I kick back against the wall and let the shade cool me.

  “He give you any trouble?” He asks not looking at me. I snort and don’t reply. His lips twitch. Done counting he passes me my reward, I double check it to be sure. At least Nan sent the money to the gate before I got back, it’s annoying having to drag their asses back to the hotel to hand them in.

  “So, what did he do?” I ask curiously still counting. The guard looks back at where Jim is being escorted through the gate. He’s now pleading with the guard and pointing at his swollen nose.

  “Raped some young clan girl, got a big bounty on him.” The disgust is plain to see on his face and when his words click my face contorts to a snarl, I should have punched him harder. Maybe even cut his cock off. The guard steps back and eyes me warily, touching his side where his weapon hides. My lips twitch and I straighten up, he steps further back and spreads his legs in a ready stance.

  “Don’t worry cupcake, I’m not going to cause you any trouble. They’d have to replace your pretty face and we can’t have that, can we?” He takes a deep breath and drops his arm a relieved smile twisting his lips. I pat his shoulder on the way past and he shakes his head at me. I wonder if it’s too early to start drinking.

  ◆◆◆

  I’m looking for a new top, the one I’m wearing is on its last life. I do have one in my bag, but it’s my emergency top. You never know when someone is going to rip yours in a fight and honestly fighting with your tits hanging out isn’t fun. It wouldn’t do to just walk around in just my bra. They might get the wrong idea, and then I would have to play smack a bitch. So a new top, it is.

  I pick up the black ribbed tank top. I always tend to go for black, hides the blood stains easier. It’s a bit shorter than I usually wear hanging just above my belly button, but it will do. I’m digging through my bag for my money when a hand reaches past me and pays the bored shop merchant. I glance up and then snarl when I realise it’s the dickheads from last night. If they are stupid enough to buy me a shirt, who am I to refuse. I nod at the owner and move around them.

  “You’re welcome,” the olive-skinned man says. I turn and walk backwards.

  “I didn’t ask you to.” I turn back around and make my way to the next shack needing a new blade for my boot. I’m just admiring a small throwing knife when I feel them behind me again. Do these guys not get the picture?

  “You’re not a talker are you?” The voice is different, darker and less growly so I look up. It’s the dark-skinned guy. He flashes pearly whites at me. Well hello, if he had been just passing through, I would have climbed him like a tree. He sure is pretty, in a scary sort of way.

  “No.”

  “It’s refreshing.” The voice is different again, smoother. It’s one of the twins though I wouldn’t have a clue which. Turning back to pay for the knife I bend to slip it into my left boot. Then I strip off my chest harness, which is handmade with two holes. One for a back weapon-- I put my sword in there-- and one on the lef
t side, my second largest blade rests in that one. Placing it gently down on the table with my bag and yanking my ruined t-shirt up to throw it aside, I grab the new one and pull it down noticing it fits well. I put my harness back on and look up. The guys are just standing there looking shocked. Really, where are they from? Surely they’ve seen a naked woman before.

  “What do you want?” I ask gruffly.

  “Did you think about what we said last night?” This time it’s the leader talking again.

  “No,” I say honestly. I push through the middle of them and make my way to Nan’s. They fall into line with me, the leader walking next to me the others behind. I just ignore them and keep walking. One of the whores steps out and pushes against him and he tries to sidestep her. I watch in amusement and carry on walking, leaving him behind. I’ll have to thank her later.