VII.

The pair sat in silence in the back of the tarp covered truck bed. Everyone else was chattering, speculating on why they had to leave in such a hurry. Piety didn’t correct them. She didn’t know the truth about it herself, just that they were in danger. She just sat in silence; eyes locked on Sophia across from her. Sophia looked away. She didn’t know what to tell her. She didn’t know who that man was, or why he wanted her, or how she had saved her life. Sophia dug her nails into the palms of her hands and bit her lip. There was so much she didn’t know and when she thought about it, it was like a thousand voices all trying to talk at once.

“We’ll be in Eastend in two hours,” a voice called out over the intercom. “Sit tight. No sign of pursuit yet.”

Yet… The word stuck at the forefront of Sophia’s mind. The man was no doubt on their trail, and it was only a matter of time before he caught up. He’d kill them all because of her. No witnesses. But why? “It doesn’t matter,” Piety said, breaking the silence as if she had heard her thoughts out loud. Sophia gave her a questioning look in reply. “It doesn’t matter why he’s after you, just that he is. It’s reason enough for me to want to help you.”

“You… died…” Sophia uttered, her voice barely a whisper. Piety rubbed her neck and stuttered a sigh. “Yeah,” she said softly, “I’m still trying to come to terms with that myself. You… did something, didn’t you? To save me.”

“I don’t know,” Sophia answered honestly, looking back with doe eyes. “I just… wanted to fix you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Piety said with a soft chuckle. “You’re special, I can feel it,” announced Piety, reaching over to give the woman’s knee a squeeze. Sophia smiled and placed her hand on hers. It dwarfed hers in size. Piety hadn’t really noticed how much larger Sophia was before. She had seemed so small and frail when she found her, but now she could see that she practically towered over her. “You’re not just any old human, are you?”

Sophia shrugged, pulling her hand back. “I don’t know what I am, not really,” Sophia claimed sadly. “My memory isn’t whole… I’m not whole, I can feel it.”

“What do you remember?” Piety asked.

“Only little things,” She answered, “the smell of the commissary at breakfast, getting lost in the garden,” Sophia smiled, “playing with the dogs.”

“You had dogs?” Piety pressed with arched brows. “The only dogs I’ve ever seen were the kind that wanted to eat me.”

Sophia nodded with a smile. It was a warm memory. She sighed softly and looked Piety in the eyes. “There’s so much I don’t remember. Maybe there’s a reason, a good reason, that man is after me.”

“He consorts with demons, what good reason could he have?” Piety said with a huff. “Listen, whatever his reasoning is, it’s bullshit. Having his pet demon trapping people… No one deserves that.”

“But what if I did?” Sophia asked faintly. Her stare was distant now, sad, as if she held the world on her shoulders. Piety didn’t know what to say but just looking at her caused a consuming warmth to flood her body. It made her feel like she needed to do all in her power to protect her. Before she could speak, however, a voice would call out over the intercom again. “Dust cloud spotted a couple miles back,” the voice announced. “They’re headed our way.”

Piety gritted her teeth and balled her fists. They were still so far away from Eastend, there was no way they would make it there before they caught up. “Alright,” Piety said, slapping her knees as she took to her feet. “Everyone, listen up! Arm yourselves – we’re under attack!”

“Bandits? Goons from the Guild?” one of the workmen asked as he shuffled to his feet, motioning to the others to do the same.

“We don’t know who they are, but they’re not fucking around – they mean to kill us,” answered Piety.

“Another fun day in the wasteland!” barked another of the crew. They lifted the bench seat up exposing an arsenal of weaponry within. Each one took a rifle and ammo.

Sophia stared in a strange mix of dread and wonder. There wasn’t a single terrified face amongst them. “This isn’t our first rodeo here,” Piety said, noticing the look on her face. “Sometimes we do some side work for whatever warring faction has the pay.” Piety reached up and grabbed a handle hanging from the ceiling. With her free hand she grabbed her radio. “Reverence, how’s the mech?” she asked.

“Worse for wear,” he answered solemnly. “Their plasma beams ate through the armor like it was nothing. Once we get to Eastend I’m going to have to do a complete refit.”

“Can it fire though?” Piety pressed.

“Reloading it now,” Reverence said in reply. “Moving the carrier to the rear so I can fire from the truck bed.”

“Good, that’ll give us some steel between us and the crew,” Piety uttered with a sigh before making her way to the weapons cache. She pulled up a rifle and checked it over. Looking to Sophia she then said, “Do you know how to use one of these?” Sophia shook her head no. “Well, it’s never too late to learn.”

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Mere moments later, Sophia stood firm, weapon in hand. She understood the concept, she thought – point and fire. She swallowed hard and held the rifle tight to her chest, hoping she wouldn’t have to use it.

“One bogie coming up fast on our rear,” the speaker announced. “A couple heartbeats out!”

“Alright, you heard the man!” Piety exclaimed as she made her way to the rear of the caravan. “Free drinks on whoever takes the bald bastard out!” The workmen cheered and got into position behind the caravan’s tailgate. There wasn’t enough room for all of them, so they would have to take turns firing and reloading, moving in and out when their mags were emptied. Piety placed herself in the first row, crouched down behind the tailgate, rifle over the edge.

Just as planned, Reverence had moved the carrier truck between them and their pursuer, blocking their view while keeping them from harm. It wouldn’t be until the mech was out of commission that they would have their chance against the hunting party, but they were prepared for when, not if, that would happen. Piety steeled herself and waited at the ready.

The wait was a short one, ended moments later by the sound of the mech’s rapid fire cannon. Reverence had already taken out one of their hovercrafts, so with any luck he’d take out the second leaving them dead in the water. The hovercraft darted to the side, trying to overtake the carrier. The strange man’s soldiers opened fire on the carrier, aiming for its wheels. Reverence’s mech pivoted on the flatbed to face them, but before he could fire, the hovercraft fell back and shot to the other side where they continued firing. This put them in full view of the proceeding caravan, however.

“Open fire!” Piety hollered, taking aim. The others did as she commanded, firing upon the vessel in wild bursts. The barrage of rounds didn’t seem to have much effect on the soldiers, but the hovercraft itself wasn’t nearly as armored. The soldiers returned fire, shifting their target from the carrier to the caravan.

Beams of light cut through steel and man alike. “Get down!” Piety cried, ducking down behind the tailgate, as good as that would do her. Four men died in the first volley, but more were in their place within moments, firing blindly as they crouched down beside her. Piety reached for her mic and shouted into it, saying, “Reverence, we need that hovercraft taken out!”

“You don’t say?” Reverence replied in what would be considered an emotional outburst for him. “If only it would stand still.” The mech’s cannon burst to life again, this time striking true while the soldiers were distracted. It tore up the rear side of the hovercraft, pocking it with holes the size of a fist. “Gotcha bastard!”

The hovercraft began to sway back and forth, losing control. Smoke billowed out of it, a sure sign they hit something vital. That was when she seen him, the bald man standing up in the middle of it all, trying to waft away the smoke. Piety took aim and spat out an obscenity as she pulled the trigger. Her aim was true, hitting him center mass, knocking him off his feet, and hopefully ending his life where the dagger had failed.

Her hope was dashed when he stood back up, angry but unharmed. His black eyes met hers and she knew that he was coming for her. The pale man lurched forward, stepping up on the face of the vehicle, and then jumped. With a bang he landed on the carrier behind them beside the mech. Reverence raised his gun arm high and brought the cannon crashing down upon him. Bohu, the pale man, caught it with one hand, though it forced him down to his knee. With the other hand he slapped the arm at the joint and shouted, “Skel-tehk!”

The joint groaned as the metal twisted and liquified, bursting apart with a spray of hydraulic fluids. The man took it in both hands and tore it free from the base before tossing it over his shoulder. With the cannon disabled, the mech had no real way to defend itself. Reverence raised its remaining hand to try and grab him, but his assailant was gone, vanished from his sight – if only for a moment. Reverence looked about, trying to spot him in vain, but then he heard banging outside the cockpit. The pale man was on top of him. He slid into view and waved at him within. Reverence’s eyes shot wide as a curse escaped his lips. Bohu pulled a fist back and brought it down on the cockpit’s hull plate. It was reinforced steel, Reverence thought, not something someone could just punch their way through, but he watched in quiet horror as the man tried. Bohu struck over and over and over, and with each hit Reverence watched as the metal dented inward – he was getting through.

Reverence reached up to try and pull him off, but he was too late. The pale man dug his fingers into the steel and pulled apart, exposing Reverence within. “There you are, my sneaky little friend,” Bohu said with a vicious grin as he peered through the opening. “I owe you for earli-…” Reaching down beside him, Reverence pulled out his emergency firearm, a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun. Without missing a beat, he placed the barrels square on Bohu’s forehead and pulled the trigger. The blast sent him tumbling backwards onto the truck bed.

For a brief moment Reverence dared to think that was the end of it, but then the man began to stir. “You got to be fucking kidding me,” Reverence uttered. Just who and what was this man? Hands shaking from the adrenaline, Reverence struggled to reload the shotgun as Bohu staggered to his feet, hands cupping his face.

“You sneaky little shit…” Bohu cursed, wiping blood away from his forehead. “You actually got me with that one. Any more tricks up your sleeve? No? Shame.” Bohu started forward again with angry stomps. Reverence raised the shotgun again but before he could fire, the man would reach in and tear it out of his hands as if he were taking a toy from a child. “No, enough of that,” Bohu stated as he crushed the steel barrels in his fist. Tossing the ruined weapon away, he then reached in and grabbed Reverence by the collar and began pulling him out. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

Just then, the hovercrafts damaged engines went critical. Blue fire erupted from its sides as the engine housing imploded. The ensuing blast was enough to send the carrier tipping over onto its side. The carrier crashed down onto the glassed earth with devastating effect, flipping forward onto its face before landing still in the dirt.

“Reverence!” Piety shouted from the back of the caravan, her eyes wide with shock. She grabbed her radio and called out again. “Reverence, please come in! Come in!” There was only silence. No small part of her wanted to stop the caravan and turn around, go back for him, but she knew that would only mean their deaths as well. Piety grit her teeth and gave the order, “Keep going, to Eastend.”