Gunsmoke Blues

by Balogun Ojetade

  The wind gusted across the damp tiles of the roof, making them sing in the cold, but Mary Church hardly felt it. She had not felt cold since leaving Chicago. The rat-kin just didn’t feel much cold.

  But they felt rage. The Axeman’s news of Robert and Virginia’s betrayal had filled her with a boiling anger. She had killed, and killed again, but not even that had quelled her wrath. Only vengeance would quiet the fury, but that would take time. While she waited, she would nurture her hatred, cultivate it in her heart. Revenge, when it came, would be sweeter that way.

  She turned her gaze from the street below to the buildings opposite and beyond. Lights twinkled from windows, cars and street lamps, keeping the night at bay. Tens of thousands of people lived in this city, huddling together for comfort against the dark, against the cold and the terrors of the unknown, just as their ancestors had gathered around campfires.

  The midnight fireworks had long since ceased and in their place, fires burned. The sound of sirens and screams had replaced the earlier sounds of celebration and festivity. Smoke billowed into the sky, obscuring the stars and sometimes even the bright sphere of the moon itself. It spread across New Orleans like a hazy memory of the violence that had engulfed the streets that night.

  This city would soon fall. But before it fell, it would burn.

  Rats had ruled the world once. Ten thousand years ago. Rats had lived and killed as they pleased. No lights had disturbed the darkness then, save for the cold and distant moon and stars that lit the sky. Then humans had come, bringing weapons and fire and traps. They had burned the forests and hunted the rats, driving them to the fringes of civilization and into the shadow realm of nightmares.

  But the rats were returning. The hunted had become hunters again.

  Now civilization would be their friend. The fires that burned this time would burn for the rats. Industrialization would drive their return to supremacy. Already Mary had sent servants to the corners of the globe, to seed a new generation of rat-kin. New York, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, London. By the time the authorities discovered them, it would be too late to stop the global rise of the rat-kin.

  Legends of the rat-kin had existed for as long as humans had walked the earth, since the first stories were told around campfires to keep the darkness at bay. But they had never been taken seriously by science, not until Doctor Daniel Hale Williams had begun his experiments in Chicago, hunting and trapping rat-kin, which, for some reason, had become trapped in smaller rat forms, studying them, documenting their characteristics and habits. He had brought modern scientific methods to bear on an ancient legend, and like all great scientists had displaced superstition with understanding. Dr. Williams had taught Mary everything he knew about the condition.

  Dr. Williams had been a brilliant physician and scientist, but even he hadn’t understood the full implications of his work. What he’d discovered wasn’t simply a new class of disease, but a superior status to be enjoyed by those strong enough to harness its gift. It was a pathway to incredible-powers that only humans classified as “The Brushed,” enjoyed. But, unlike the brushed, no God or Devil had a hand in the power of the rat-kin. Evolution did. The power came from within.

  Ultimately, Dr. Williams had been too weak to use his knowledge to its full capacity. Humans had always been weak, and nature punished weakness without pity or mercy. It was the cause of all human suffering. Now it was time for weakness to be stamped out.

  The days of man were coming to an end. The rat-kin had made their debut. The rat-kin would inherit the earth. And Mary would be their queen.

  She rose up on her hind legs and squeaked, a sustained call rising and falling in pitch for a full minute. She dropped back onto all fours and waited, her ears twitching. A response came back to her, an echo of her own squeak, coming from the south of the city. As it died away, another squeak began, this one from the east. Then another joined it, and another, from every direction. From across the rooftops, from from beyond the old church steeples and domes and cobbled streets and bustling thoroughfares of the sprawling city, a chorus of squeaks echoed in reply.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  As Technical Director of the Afrikan Martial Arts Institute and Co-Chair of the Urban Survival and Preparedness Institute, Balogun Ojetade is the author of the bestselling non-fiction books Afrikan Martial Arts: Discovering the Warrior Within, The Afrikan Warriors Bible, Surviving the Urban Apocalypse, The Urban Self Defense Manual, The Young Afrikan Warriors’ Guide to Defeating Bullies & Trolls, Never Unarmed: The Afrikan Warriors’ Guide to Improvised Weapons, Ofo Ase: 365 Daily Affirmations to Awaken the Afrikan Warrior Within, Ori: The Afrikan Warriors’ Mindset and Ogun Ye! Protecting the Afrikan Family and Community.

  He is one of the leading authorities on Afroretroism – film, fashion or fiction that combines African and / or African American culture with a blend of “retro” styles and futuristic technology, in order to explore the themes of tension between past and future and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology and on Creative Resistance. He writes about Afroretroism – Sword & Soul, Rococoa, Steamfunk and Dieselfunk at http://chroniclesofharriet.com/.

  He is author of twenty novels and gamebooks – MOSES: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Books 1 & 2); The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman: Freedonia; Redeemer; Once Upon A Time In Afrika; Fist of Africa; A Single Link; Wrath of the Siafu; The Scythe; The Keys; Redeemer: The Cross Chronicles; Beneath the Shining Jewel; Q-T-Pies: The Savannah Swan Files (Book 0) and A Haunting in the SWATS: The Savannah Swan Files (Book 1); Siafu Saves the World; Siafu vs. The Horde; Dembo’s Ditty; The BeatdownInitiate 16 and Gunsmoke Blues – contributing co-editor of three anthologies: Ki:Khanga: The Anthology, Steamfunk and Dieselfunk and contributing editor of the Rococoa anthology and Black Power: The Superhero Anthology.

  He is also the creator and author of the Afrofuturistic manga series, Jagunjagun Lewa (Pretty Warrior) and co-author of the Ngolo graphic novel.

  Finally, he is co-author of the award winning screenplay, Ngolo and co-creator of Ki Khanga: The Sword and Soul Role-Playing Game, both with author Milton Davis.

  Reach him on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Afrikan.Martial.Arts and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Baba_Balogun. Find his books on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Balogun-Ojetade/e/B00AVEA7SU.