“Cassie, one last thing.” Vince says. He steps forward to embrace me. “I’ll see you in a minute.”
“I’ll be fine.” I mumble into his chest. He does this every time, but I still appreciate it.
“I know.” He responds, giving one last squeeze before I manage to extract myself.
I give him a small smile before running off. I don’t slow down when I check my gun, it’s safer that way. I keep telling Lucas that sitting still leads to death, but the idiot never learns.
Focus. 14 bullets, gun cocked, safety off, two extra full mags, looking good. My trusty knife is as sharp as it’s ever been. Excellent.
It takes less than two minutes for me to arrive at their small camp. They don’t have any guards outside the clearing they’re working in. At first I thought it was some kind of ambush, but no, they’re just that dumb.
I peek through a small hole in the scrap to make sure nothing’s changed. Still nine of them. Seven are in rags, laboring in the burning sun. The wagon they’re tossing scrap into has eight harnesses connected to the front of it. Even once it’s full the poor fuckers will have to pull it back to base.
The other two are enforcers. Dressed head to toe in ceramic armor, they look like some bastardization of a medieval knight. Small arms fire would be no use against them. I could maybe take one if I managed to slip my knife through the hairline cracks in their armor. Won’t help them against Ivy’s big fuck off gun though.
The secret to getting people to follow you is an obvious, clean kill. There’s no reason to stay behind and help someone if they don’t have a brain anymore.
I wait in my hiding place until one of them wanders close. The second I’m sure it’s impossible to miss I step out into the open and blow a messy hole through his head. It’s not even worth checking if he’s still alive.
I wait a split second for them to look over at the sound and put another bullet in the corpses back. That should make things personal. I dash out of their line of sight a second before the bullets start flying.
I run slow and heavy. I could be so far away that they’d never find me in seconds, but that’s not why I’m here. I pull bits of garbage off the mountains and throw them onto the ground for more noise. I need to make them think I’m panicking, pretend I’m easy prey.
They’re so slow, it’s cute that they try though. Even at this slow speed I have to wait before making every turn to let them catch a glimpse of me. If I don’t, they might lose hope that they can get revenge. I fire wildly every time they see me, pretending to panic while making sure to never actually hit them.
It doesn't take long before I break into our clearing with them still thinking they're at my heels. I flash signs to everyone. Good. Eight. Two scary.
I dash silently into cover to the left while Lucas makes noise to draw them deeper into the kill zone we’ve created. I continue around the mountain, leading me to a perfect place to attack them from behind. A quick reload and I’m ready for the signal.
The group that was chasing me turns the corner just inches from my new hiding spot. The dumbasses don’t have any idea where they’re headed. One enforcer leads the way, the other stays at the rear, ensuring nobody runs away. They’re so predictable.
The loud explosion of Ivy’s gun fills the air, signaling the start of the fight. I lean out of cover firing once, twice. Each one landing in the back of some poor, unarmored man. They’re used to pain though, one shot each isn’t nearly enough to stop them. Although that’s not my goal, the pain will keep them from returning fire.
All of them know I’m here, I have to move. I sprint back the way I came, finally able to put my all into running. Small spikes shoot out from my feet, digging into the sand and rubble for extra traction. Not a single one of them gets a shot in my direction before I’ve turned a corner. I dash through the maze of junk, finding my way to yet another piece of cover behind them. Two shots then move, never let them shoot back. Never let them know where I am. I feel alive.
From the glimpses I get, the fight is going perfectly. Only a few make it into cover, and a pinned target is where I thrive. Lucas’ ever present gunfire never lets them even think about fighting back. If they do, Vince takes a careful shot, popping whatever bit they dare to reveal. Staying in cover is almost worse for them. Either I find my way to their flank, or Ivy just blows straight through whatever cover they think they’re safe behind. As the fight is wrapping up Vince yells into the field.
“Cassie! Help Blue!” His voice cuts through the gunfire and screams of the dying.
Even with me on the other side of the field it’s probably faster for me to check. I run straight through the line of fire, trusting my friends to keep me safe.
“Behind the house!” Vince yells out as I get close.
I turn the corner, gun raised, ready for the worst. In front of me lies the corpse of a Scorched with a messy hole in its chest. Blue sits just beyond the man, staring at the gun in her shaking hand. She glances at me, her eyes wide in terror. Before I can react she lifts her gun and fires. The bullet connects squarely with my vest. My training kicks in and I fall backwards to protect my head. Anything else can be replaced.
“Son of a God fucking bitch!” Out of pure instinct I fire several times in Blue’s direction. I still have the presence of mind to miss. But my emotions keep me pulling the trigger. Blue sprints away as fast as her legs can carry her without another word.
“Cassie? Talk to me!” Vince’s voice still carries over the last remnants of the fighting.
“I’m ok. I fucking told you the AI would end up shooting someone.” I try to sit up only for a shooting pain to go through my torso. “Gah. I think she broke my fucking rib.”
“Fuck! Be right there. Ivy! Go help Blue!” How long has it been since I heard him curse? A few years at least.
Ivy scrambles down from her sniping point and runs past me. She had to have seen it all from where she was. It’ll take her a minute to find Blue tough. She’s a good tracker, but Blue’s faster.
“Be careful Ivy! Put it out of its fucking misery. Gah!” The adrenaline is already wearing off. Yelling hurts. Breathing hurts.
Ivy doesn't respond, she’s too focused on her trail. I lie there until the fighting finally ends. After only a few minutes of waiting Vince once again yells out.
“Lucas! You’re on overwatch. I’m going to take care of Cassie!”
“Ay-Ay!”
Vince comes running around the corner. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so much guilt in his eyes. He crouches down next to me, taking my head in his hands. We stay there for a silent moment as he runs his hands through my hair. I know he wouldn’t want me pointing out the tears streaming down his face.
“I’m so sorry.” He whispers to me, clutching my head tighter. It takes a lot to not react when he shifts me just a little bit. “I’m so so so sorry.”
“Hey, I’m alright. Promised I’d be fine.” I can’t just sit here and let him cry over me. “Can you grab me a bottle of water?”
“Right.” He gently puts my head down and heads inside. He wipes his eyes once he thinks I’m not looking.
While he’s gone I fish out one of my pills from my vest. Eventually he comes back with both the water and a large flat piece of scrap we’ve collected.
“I’m going to have to sit you up. I’m going to slide this under you and prop you up, alright?”
“Yeah, go for it.” Sliding the piece under me hurts, but not nearly as bad as standing up on my own would. He slides it all the way down to my hips.
“Ready?”
“Yeah. Ow! Fuck!” He slowly lifts up the end of the metal sheet, using it as a lever so I don’t have to use my muscles at all. By the time I’m sitting up I’m panting from the pain. I pop my pill and wash it down with the warm water. “Wish these things worked faster.”
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“I know, Me too. The IV stuff is dangerous though.”
“I know, I know. You and Ivy have told me the stories plenty of times.”
“Let me know when you start feeling it and we’ll get you to the car.”
“Are you going to hold me up for the next half hour while it kicks in?” I’m not sure he’s strong enough anymore. “Just help me up now.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not going to remember the pain in a few days. Just do it.”
“Alright.” He doesn't sound convinced, but hooks his arms under mine to help anyway.
He lifts me to my feet and it fucking hurts. I manage to keep my pain to myself though. Once I’m on my feet it’s not too bad, especially with Vince taking most of the weight. By the time he helps me get settled in the car I’m drenched in sweat.
“Thanks.” I take a minute to catch my breath as shallowly as possible. “What are we doing about the AI?” I can see in his eyes he’s not happy with me calling her just an AI. I can almost hear him chastising me already. “I know, I know, don’t fucking say it. Blue. What are we doing about Blue?”
“I don’t know.” He sounds so defeated. “I shouldn’t have put her in this situation.”
“Does she still remind you of me?”
“Yeah. Do you remember what a mess you were when I found you?”
“Nah. First few months are just a blur.”
“At least tell me you remember shooting me.” He says, forcing a small grin.
“Shut up. At least I had the good sense to miss.” How could he ever let me forget.
Our conversation turns silent. There’s so much to talk about, but neither of us want to start it. At least the painkillers have started to work. Vince is the first to start the conversation we both know is coming.
“What do you think we should do?”
Whatever we end up deciding is a group decision, but I was the one who was shot. I’m sure Vince's guilt is going to make him side with whatever I say.
“With Blue? Oh, I don’t want her anywhere fucking near me. But I guess I don’t want her dead anymore.”
“Well that’s progress.” He sounds relieved.
Ivy and Lucas come running into the building, cutting off our conversation.
“Vince, Cassie, you might want to see this.” Even Ivy looks worried. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before.
“How’s Blue?” Vince asks. His eyes dart back and forth, searching for someone he knows is not here.
“Bad. I’m pretty sure she’s holding a funeral for the two of us. Can you walk, Cassie?”
I shift my torso around a little bit and find very little pain.
“Yeah. These pills are magic. I just wish they weren’t so addictive.”
“Come on then, she isn’t far.” Ivy doesn’t even wait for me to stand up before walking away.
Even though I feel mostly alright, Vince helps me from my seat and supports me while I walk. Ivy leads the four of us into the endless maze. She doesn't seem concerned about an ambush, but I keep my weapons at the ready. Blue didn’t drop her gun when she ran.
Although trying to look relaxed, Vince can’t help but keep his free hand hovering near his pistol. The thought of keeping his guns at the ready seemingly never enters Lucas’ mind.
After less than a minute's walk we found her sitting on the ground dragging a sharp piece of slag over a flat bit of rusted metal. When we approach her eyes lock onto Lucas, not even glancing at the rest of us.
“Lucas. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. Did you bury Cassie?” I’ve never heard such a sad voice.
“Can she not see us?” I ask Ivy, who shakes her head in response.
“No. She thinks she killed us.”
“No.” Lucas responds to Blue. “She’s not dead.”
“Oh.” She puts down what she’s working on. “Are you fake or are you trying to pull me away so you can kill me like Ivy tried?” She puts her hand on her pistol as she asks the question. Her voice has lost all emotion. Instead, she just sounds blank, broken. Vince and I simultaneously draw and aim at her, which she doesn’t respond to.
“No no, neither. Look.” Lucas grabs his guns with two fingers and slowly places them on the ground.
Blue relaxes at that and returns to carving with her chunk of slag.
“What are you doing?” Lucas asks calmly.
“Making a headstone. Vince and Ivy are right there.” She points to the freshly disturbed sand right in front of her. Her voice is back to endless sadness. I’ve never seen someone so far gone. “Do you have anything you want to write? I already put in ‘They Deserved Better’.” She turns her makeshift headstone around, showing us the random lines she’s carved into it.
“How do you know they’re dead?” Lucas takes a step towards her.
“How? How! Look at my hands!” She drops what she’s working on and holds up her slightly dusty hands. “Look at them! I can’t get the blood to come off. Please make it go away.” Her voice switches between sadness, anger, and back to sadness instantly. There’s no buildup or shift. Just an invisible switch deciding her mood.
“Your hands are clean. You haven’t killed anyone.”
“Don’t start! Ivy tried the same thing. Ask her how it turned out.” She gestures to the ‘grave’ in front of her. “Don’t!” She reaches for her gun. Vince and I are ready to put her down, but she doesn’t aim it at us. She fires into the wall near to, but not at anyone. After she fires most of her body goes limp, like a crumpled puppet whose strings were cut. “Sorry about Simon. He gets violent sometimes.”
“Who’s simon? And what was he doing?” Lucas asks slowly.
“No, no. Don’t worry I took care of it. He won’t come back for a little bit. You’re safe from him, even if I’m not.” We all give each other a concerned look. I need to get the gun away from her.
I begin to creep forward slowly. She still has no reaction to me. It’s only when I’m inches away from the gun that she cocks her head to the side, staring straight into my eyes.
“Mary. You promised.”
“You need to give me the gun.” I say quietly but forcefully. Even if she can’t hear me, maybe I can get through to her subconscious.
She looks at Lucas for a second. Her head is cocked like she’s listening for something. Before Lucas can say anything she looks back to me.
“No. You’re lucky Lucas likes you.” Her voice is cold. Emotionless.
“So you know who I am then?”
“Don’t argue with me.”
“Cassie.” Vince says calmly behind me. “You should come back here.” He’s right. Unless I want to stick her with my knife, nothing good is going to happen here. I shouldn’t take that risk. I put my hands up and step back. As I walk backwards her head goes limp once again.
“What the fuck.” I mumble to nobody in particular. I didn’t expect her to be this bad.
“I think we need to go.” Ivy says, placing her hand on Vince’s shoulder.
Lucas turns to her with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Since when do we leave people behind?”
“Do you know how we can get her in the car without hurting her or us?” Ivy crosses her arms. There’s no changing her mind when she gets like this.
“We just need to make some kind of trap and tie-”
Ivy cuts him off by covering his mouth. Blue doesn't react.
“I’ll tell you exactly why that’s the worst possible idea in the car.”
“So what?” He steps back out of Ivy’s grip. “We just leave her here?”
“Do you want to end up shot? There’s no guarantee she won’t aim for the head next time.”
Lucas opens and closes his mouth to respond a few times, unable to find whatever words he’s looking for. He looks to Vince then to me hoping we have an answer. I’m absolutely on Ivy’s side and not even Vince has anything to say.
“I can’t believe all of you. If I veto you’re just going to override it, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I will.” Ivy says. He looks at me and I nod. Vince can’t bring himself to look anyone in the eyes.
“I’m ashamed of all of you.” He turns away from us. “Blue?” He walks forward and crouches in front of her. She weakly raises her head to meet his eyes. “You’re going to have to live here for a little bit. We’ll be back when we can, alright?”
“What do you mean we? Who are you going to bring back with you?”
“I’m going to bring back Vince, Ivy, and Cass.”
“You can’t. They're dead.”
“I.” He takes a moment to search for what to say. His face lights up as he makes a realization. “I know a warlock who can make a bridge between our world and the afterlife! I’m going to go and bring them all back.”
That’s the angle he’s going with? Really?
“Don’t lie to me.” A hint of emotion creeps its way into her voice. There’s no way she’s buying this.
“I’m not! You don’t have to believe me, you’ll see it for yourself soon. For now though, is it ok if I help you sand proof your bus?”
“Yeah. I guess I should do that.” She stumbles to her feet and begins grabbing rusted metal sheets that won’t hold up to even a small breeze. She places them against the blown out windows and doesn't even seem to notice when they immediately fall down.
“Will you three go grab the good scrap and whatever you can find to attach them with?” Lucas asks us.
“Yeah.” Vince says quietly.
God. He’s not going to be able to sleep for months if we don’t help Blue.
We walk in silence to the car. I don’t think anyone feels like talking. The two of them fill their backpacks and arms with stuff that might be useful.
“You two go ahead. I’ll be right there.” I tell them.
“Alright.”
Once they’re gone I pull out the toolbox and spend a few minutes removing the light from the car ceiling. With that, a few wires, and a universal connector I jury rig a quick light. It’s going to be pitch black in the bus once we get it sealed.
I head back to the bus and find everyone silently working. Blue keeps placing bits of garbage against the window and letting it fall before moving on. I walk up to her.
“Hey, Blue.” I say gently.
“What?” She asks while turning to me.
“I uh. It’s going to get dark in there so I made a little light you can plug in to yourself.”
“Oh. Thank you Lucas, I really appreciate it.” Some hint of emotion is creeping back into her voice.
“I’m… Yeah, you’re welcome.”