Squawk - Beginnings: The Dragon Games Revolution

by Craig Halloran

  Squawk squirmed out of the bag.

  “What are you doing?” Gabe said. The dragon began his journey down the pipe. On hands, knees, and elbows, Gabe followed. Squawk was the first to emerge, waddling out and spreading his wings at the opposite end of the pipe. The two of them surfaced in the breathtaking setting sun. The farmers were coming back from the fields. Some walked faster than normal. Gabe heard wailing coming from the compound. The farmers pointed at the rising smoke. The hard workers in tattered clothing hustled for the gate, many of them at full speed, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

  Gabe wondered if this was a distraction just for him. The sign was so big he couldn’t miss it. From his spot nestled in the ground, over an hour later, Gabe observed the Blue Guardsmen resuming their posts on the wall. The sinking feeling in his stomach went deeper. He sat down out of sight, grabbed a rock, and pitched it down the tunnel. The day dragged on. He checked to see if anyone had left the north gate, but no one had. His only hope was that the Count still searched for him in the city. That would give him enough time to get away.

  But get away where?

  He stroked Squawk’s neck. “At least we’re free for now.”

  The dragon moved away, striking at little insect-like critters that moved over the sand before gobbling them down.

  The sun dipped behind the tall hills in the west. Darkness fell fast. He started to move toward the tunnel. Something scurried inside the pipe. Gabe moved to the side and hid himself. He grabbed a rock and waited. Squawk crawled on his shoulder.

  CHAPTER 71

  Someone not much smaller than Gabe emerged from the pipe. Gabe pounced on the person’s back, driving them hard to the ground.

  “Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me.”

  “Jack!” Gabe blurted out.

  “Yes. Ease off of me, will you? You’ll tear my stitches.” The wide-eyed boy pulled his head back from Squawk. “Do you mind? I’m a bit terrified of those things at the moment.”

  Bewildered, he said, “How are you okay?”

  In the darkness, Jack ran his fingers over the ugly stitching in his neck. “That was the worst. The rest weren’t so bad. I just lost a lot of blood, but I’m feeling better. I’m coming with you, Gabe. Wherever it is, I’m going. You saved me.”

  “You said you hated me.”

  “Well, I did.” Jack lifted his eyebrows. “Not anymore.”

  “How’d you know I was here?”

  “I saw you sneak out the last time. You know, the night it rained and I stole your clothes. Well, that really cost me. Almost my life. But I swear I’ll never steal again.” He looked around. “So where are we going?” He patted a sack similar to Gabe’s that hung from his side. “I came prepared.”

  “Did you steal that too?”

  “Uh, no?”

  “You can’t come, Jack.”

  “Why?”

  “I said.”

  “If I go back, I’ll tell I saw you. They’re still looking for you in there. But I knew where you went. I can’t believe they haven’t figured out how you come and go yet. Old people are so dumb sometimes.”

  “Fine, let’s go, but keep your head down, and be quiet.”

  It was at least a mile to the tunnel. Keeping the best cover he could, Gabe led the way through the barren brush the same way he had before. The tunnel mouth waited.

  Glancing back and forth between the tunnel and the compound, Jack said, “What’s in there?”

  “This is where I meet my grandmother, Mabel.”

  “She’s alive?”

  Gabe nodded.

  “And then what? Anyone else?”

  “I don’t know what else or anyone else. Just maybe. We’ll learn as we go. Let’s go.”

  “Okay, hold on. I need a drink.” Jack kneeled down. He started rummaging through his bag.

  Gabe licked his lips. “You have water?”

  “No. But soon enough, I’ll have plenty.” Jack pulled out something that looked like Angela’s gun but bigger.

  “What is that?”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just told to point it in the air and squeeze the trigger.” He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

  A fiery streak burst out of the barrel of the gun. Thooomp! The object sailed high into the air, where it burst into a huge ball of flame.

  Falling back into the tunnel, Gabe said, “Are you crazy? What did you do that for?”

  “Because I hate you, Gabe. Besides, the Count put me on her payroll. Heh-heh.”

  Before Gabe had a chance to gather his thoughts, he heard the distant northern gate groan open. Seconds later, a bright beam of white light shot out of the compound. With the rumble of thunder, the light sped through the dark faster than anything he’d ever seen in his life. He ran into the dark tunnel with Squawk racing along by his side. Over his shoulder, he saw Jack, a waving silhouette. He appeared to be laughing.

  Gabe made it to the other side, lathered in sweat. He called out, “Mabel! Mabel!”

  “Keep it down. Keep it down,” a hushed voice said from the darkness. Mabel slipped out of the hillside brush. Using Saul’s spear, she teetered down the hill. Her eyes widened at the sight of the dragon. “You pulled it off. Gabe,” she said with joy in her voice, “you really pulled it off.”

  “We have to go, Mabel. They’re coming.”

  “Who’s coming?” She looked into the tunnel. “I don’t see anybody.” She leaned forward and cupped her ear. “Oh, I know that sound. Harley-Davidson. We’re in trouble all right.”

  “Where are the others?” he said, looking in all directions. “Don’t you have an army or something?”

  “Heavens, no. They’re in the north. I’m supposed to take you there.”

  “You mean you’ve been out here all by yourself?”

  “There’s a grove not so far from here. It sustains me. No time to show it to you now.” She shuffled over to him. Piece by piece, she removed Saul’s dragon gear and adorned him with it.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m not going to be able to keep up in this chase. Not on these twigs.” She stuffed a packet into his sack. “Hold onto this until I catch up. Just head north. Follow the broken roads. There’s a great fallen city there. No Dominion, but more answers to your questions. There will be allies. Now, go.” She gave him a shove. “Don’t worry—I’ll catch up.”

  Gabe started to move away. “But I can’t just leave you. I won’t leave you. You’re all I’ve got.”

  Holding the spear, she faced the tunnel and braced herself. “If you don’t go, you won’t have anything left. You’ve come too far. Finish the tale now.”

  The tunnel boomed with a throaty engine sound. A light blanketed the abandoned cars and rubble. The vehicle roared through like an angry wind. A motorcycle much like the one from the journeyman appeared. It was bigger. Louder. The loud machine glided to a stop several feet from Gabe and Mabel. The engine revved once more and went quiet.

  Angela sat between the chrome handlebars. Jack peeked out from behind her back. She kicked down the bike stand and slid off. Drawing her gun she said, “Gabel and Mabel. Ain’t you both a tricky pair! I knew I should have killed you a long time ago, you old buzzard!”

  “I can say the same about you.”

  Angela shrugged. “Well, it’s been a long day. I’m not taking any more chances.” She pointed the gun at Mabel and squeezed the trigger. Ka-blam!

  CHAPTER 72

  Angela blew the smoke from the gun. Eyeing the vapors, she said, “I love that sound. I love that smell. Whew, it’s been a long day.”

  Cradling his dead grandmother in his arms, he said, “You murdered her! What about the blood law? You can’t just kill people!”

  “What did I tell you the first time we met, Gabe? There are no laws in the wild. Everything out here is open game.” She took aim at Squawk. “So what is it going to be, Gabe? Do you want to see another one of your loved ones die? You know, I bet if I kill that lizard, you
’ll feel it too. It will probably give you a heart attack. Funny, I’ve seen those gamers cry like babies when their little lizards die. It leaves a hole in them. Do you really want to go through that, Gabe?”

  He shook his head.

  “No, you don’t. This is your last chance to clean up the mess you’ve created. You can be a part of peace and order. That door hasn’t closed for you.” She hooked her head back and made air quotes. “But all of those other New America idealists, well, I closed the door on them forever. I have to admit, Malak sure had me fooled. I didn’t see that coming.” She spun her weapon around on her finger. “He didn’t see that bullet coming, either. This little rebellion is over. Whatcha going to do? Join and live… or die?”

  He stood up. Taking Squawk up in his arm, he walked backward toward the bridge.

  “Oh, so you’re going to jump? Now, that’s dramatic.” She produced a white stick and stuck it in her mouth. She flicked open the top of a metal lighter. With a flick, a flame appeared. She lit up. “Fine. I’ll watch. That will solve both our problems and save me two bullets. They’re almost as scarce as these cigarettes.”

  He backed up onto one of the girders that hung over the canyon. The wind tore through his clothes and hair.

  Angela looked up into the sky and sighed. “Let’s try something else.” She set the pistol on the ground. Hands up, coming closer, she said, “There. Better. No weapon. I’m not going to shoot you or the dragon. Now, listen to me, Gabe. I’m offering you a better life. Me, you, Mandy, we can live like kings and queens. Don’t resist me. Just trust me. Don’t you want the life you experienced days ago? It can only get better.”

  “For you, maybe.”

  She edged closer.

  “That’s far enough,” he said.

  “Okay. Well, I’m not going to wait here all night. Just take a few minutes to think about it.”

  “Just let him die,” Jack said. “Only a fool wouldn’t take your deal. He deserves to die.”

  “Shut up, little cretin,” she said.

  “I’ve made up my mind,” Gabe said.

  “And?”

  He tossed the dragon on the ground. “Get her, Squawk.”

  The dragon charged, wings flapping.

  Angela laughed.

  Squawk zeroed in on her legs. He bit deep.

  Angela yanked the dragon from her ankle. She shook him by the neck. Squawk clawed her arm, drawing blood. “Are you kidding me? You turned this little worm loose on me. Do you think a few scratches are going to stop me? When I was a girl, I’d break the necks of chickens. Aw shit, I’ve had enough of this! The hell with you and your dragon!” She flung Squawk into the chasm. “Good-bye!”

  Gabe gasped. Squawk disappeared into the darkness below. Gabe slipped on the beam. Dropping hard onto the metal, he clung for his life.

  “Once that dragon hits, you’ll probably die anyway.” She looked into the pit. “You might as well let go. It’s over, Gabe. You’re the last of the Mohicans. Ha-ha.”

  He climbed back up on the beam, steadying himself. If Squawk was dead, he didn’t feel it. Something else stirred within. A smile crossed his face.

  Angela’s eyes narrowed. “What are you up to now, tricky man?”

  Squawk flew up out of the blackness. His wings beat against the wind. He hovered right in front of Angela, shrieking in the windy sky.

  Stepping away from the bridge, she said, “Well, bust my behind. It can fly.” Her eyes were the size of saucers. She hurried toward the gun.

  Squawk cut into her path, flapping and shrieking. He hovered over the gun.

  “Gabe, stop doing this. Let’s use this gift together. It’s such a gift, such a great gift! Don’t waste it!”

  “I’m not doing anything,” he said, coming forward from the bridge. “Squawk has a mind of his own.”

  “Well, I’ve seen bats bigger than him. Get out of my way, lizard.” She reached down for the gun.

  Squawk opened his mouth. The flames of judgment erupted from Squawk’s mouth, covering the woman in flames. Screaming, she went from Angela to ash in seconds. Only a smoldering pile remained.

  Squawk flew up and landed on Gabe’s arm.

  Jack rushed over and snatched up the gun. He pointed it at Gabe. Squawk hissed.

  “Uh…” Jack started. He eyeballed the ash and handed the gun to Gabe. “You take this.”

  Gabe cocked his arm back and flung the gun off the bridge and into the chasm. “I don’t need a gun. I have a dragon.”

  Squawk hopped down to the ground. Jack bolted for the tunnel. The dragon chased Jack as far as the motorcycle. Stopping, Squawk covered it in a gust of flame. The motorcycle burned like a ball of fire. The air stank of burning rubber. The motorbike exploded. Flaming parts scattered. The burning gas tank dropped from the sky and rattled on the ground. Squawk waddled out of the flames with a huff of smoke for breath.

  “Now that was something,” a weak voice said from nearby. “A waste of a good Harley, though.”

  Gabe and Squawk turned toward the source of the voice. An old lady stood up with the help of a spear, her legs shaky.

  “Mabel!” Gabe ran to embrace her.

  She stuck her hand out. “Don’t hug me.” She made a painful cough, wincing. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Now, that hurt.”

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “Knocked out only. But when I woke, I wished I was dead.” She squeezed one eye shut. “Man, it hurts.”

  “How?”

  She pulled her clothing back at the neck, revealing a shirt with navy-blue padding. “It’s called a bulletproof vest. Old school. Policemen used to wear them.”

  Gabe nodded. He didn’t really care what she was saying. He was just happy that she was alive. “We can leave together now. I’m ready.”

  “I’m not going far, Gabe. My ribs are busted, and I can barely breathe. I need time.”

  “We can wait. I can’t do it without you.”

  “No, you must go, Gabe. You can do it. You’re pretty formidable.” She eyeballed Squawk. The dragon sat like a dog and puffed a ring of smoke. “Besides, you have him. I have a feeling that before long, you’ll have the entire world at your feet. Now, go.” She kissed his forehead. “I’m a tough old bird, just slow. But eventually I’ll catch up.”

  ***

  Gabe went north. He traveled with the sack over his shoulder, loaded up with his father’s gear. As Mabel had instructed, he followed the broken road north. On steady legs, he traversed huge slabs of stone and made his way into the new land. Squawk clung to his glove from time to time, spending as much time on the land as in the sky. After days of walking, they spotted a fallen metropolis beneath the blue-green sky. Wrecked metal and stone almost kissed the clouds. Other buildings, the span of a river, had collapsed. It went on for miles.

  He opened up his sack. Inside, he found the pouch Mabel had given him. He still felt bad that he’d left her underneath a bed of stone. Inside the pouch, he found a locket. The words engraved on the back were hard to read. He ran his finger over the etches in the gold metal and read, “Grace.”

  Squawk dropped from the sky beside him. A shrill roll rattled in his neck.

  “I’m trying to open it,” Gabe said.

  He toyed with the locket, and the mechanism popped open. He saw his mother’s face and remembered.

  EPILOGUE

  Newton received some new arrivals from the south. They were hard men, formidable like the dragon hunters, adorned in their own custom armor. They had weapons—strange bows, spears, and sharp steel like the kind used to slaughter hogs. They rode on motorcycles like the Count’s. Some of them had four wheels. A pair of them had a beat-up truck with huge rubber wheels and tanks on the back. The citizens marveled.

  Jack told all that he had seen. Some believed him. Others did not. Many feared.

  The Dominion had tracked the squirrelly boy down the day of his arrival. The Blue Guard rounded him up for questioning. Coarse hands shoved him into the fold.
r />   Among them was the girl about his age—the gamer, Mandy, the former Count’s daughter. “I want to know everything you saw.”

  He told her every last detail.

  She seethed. “I want Gabe and that dragon dead. Go bring their skulls to me. You, boy—Jack, is it?”

  He nodded.

  “You know what he looks like. Aid them, and you can walk among us. You had my mother’s trust. You’ll have mine as well. Don’t fail me. Trooper, he’s going with you.”

  The bearish leader rolled his eyes. Trooper fired up his engine. With a nod, he said, “Get on, then.”

  Jack rode out to the tunnel bridge with the men. The man, Trooper, had a beard and a lot of tattoos. His motorcycle left nothing but smoke and dust behind its rumbling pipes. A dragon skull with horns was mounted between the handlebars.

  He dismounted at the bridge. Jack could still smell the fire of the dragon. The Count’s motorcycle was melted metal on stone. The men of the pack grumbled.

  “Silence,” Trooper said in a well-spoken voice. He inspected the pile of ash. There was some dried-up leather in the dust. Part of it was the gun belt. He held it up for all to see. “So a fire-breathing dragon set the Count on fire, huh?” He rubbed his fingers in the ashes, sprinkling them on the ground, then dusted off his hands. “Never cared for the Count anyway.”

  Jack gulped and nodded. “It was the hottest fire I ever felt.”

  “Hotter than hell?”

  Jack looked confused. “I suppose.”

  “Now, that’s funny,” Trooper said with a smirk. “So Jack, you want to come along?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have a weapon?”

  Jack pulled out the Count’s pistol and a handful of cartridges.

  “Well, burn my britches.” Trooper took his seat and cracked the throttle on the cycle open with a few twists. “Let’s go hunt us some fire-breathing dragons!”