A sudden gust of wind and heat smacked Nameless in the face as he was suddenly drenched in warm, red liquid. He opened his eyes to see that Mr. Peirceson and his confidant had nearly disappeared. The only thing remaining was the hand holding the vial and shoes with feet inside resting on the sands. The rest were nothing more than red clumps and pink mist in the sand.
Nameless stood there, alone, in complete and utter shock as he held both the vial and briefcase, covered in bodily fluids. His ears rang, no sounds entered the wall of complete static his senses were now engulfed in. He stood there, unable to move. Bright flashes and lights dancing about him, colors of every kind whirling about in his line of sight as the world seemed to swallow itself in a furious onslaught of fire and concussions.
Nameless collapsed, tucking his head in between his knees as he clutched the vial and briefcase. He screamed. Though he couldn't even hear himself, his throat seemed to rip, and the vibration from his roar shook his neck.
Slowly, the ringing dissipated, replaced with the low rhythm of destruction. Individual sounds became louder and more distinct. Explosions, gunshots, the cries of the hurt and wounded. What happened? Why was it going this way? Why, why, why, why, why?
Nameless realized he was mouthing the word why over and over. He couldn't stop. His mind was ablaze, his eyes stung, some kind of warm liquid was leaking from his ears, all his wounds now screamed.
He lifted his head to see that Mr. Peirceson’s hand was still clutching the vial. The young bounty hunter panicked, vomit filling his mouth as he waved the vial frantically, flinging the detached hand away from him into the surrounding firestorm.
He looked behind him from the ground to see that every person in the camp was either dead or desperately fighting for their life. He gazed upward to see that four of the treaded hulking vehicles were on fire and what remained was also shooting in all directions. In the far distance, black streaks barely resembling humans were zooming along the dune heights.
What on Mars Where are those the vectors? They seemed to be running faster than a dirt bike somehow. What, who were they killing? Occasionally, Nameless would see a vector run into a large clump of attackers, a bright red flash, and smaller black chunks flying everywhere. The vector moved onward, searching for its next group of victims.
He had to move. Had to get the vial and money to safety. Wait, why? Was Mama Jockus even alive? What was the point? Where was Julia? She was supposed to be in the back with the camp girls. God, what if something happened to her? Nameless slowed his breathing and crawled away toward the camp's exchange spot. Bullets and bright lights danced over his head, the whip, crack, and whistle sounds pressing deep into his already damaged eardrums.
Regardless, he needed to get to cover. The convoy was buying him time, acting as a barrier from whatever enemy was laying down death onto the exchange. Whoever killed Mr. Peirceson must have meant to kill all three of them. Nameless wouldn’t give this coward the satisfaction. He needed to get his friends out of here, maybe to the Big City. Somewhere, anywhere that wasn't here.
As Nameless crawled to safety, something caught his eye. Up where Aj had been a landed hovercraft. Out of it walked three distinct individuals. Two vectors in bright white cloaks, their eyes bold yellow were being led by the very last person anyone in the camp wanted to see at that time.
The person leading them was a small, short girl of Asian Earth descent. Her bald tattooed head and bright red makeup set her apart, as well as the machine gun she bore horizontally on her skinny shoulders. Even from a distance, Nameless could see her darting eyes, her cocked head, her grin, the blood on her boots. A necklace of human fingers and teeth hung from her neck, two shrunken severed heads dangling from her belt.
Florence, the traitor.
She grinned upon seeing the death-scape before her. She pointed her machine gun to the sky and let it rip a long burst of fire as she let loose a war cry. To her left and right, the vectors sprung forward, dozens more dressed in similar clan cloaks leaping from their positions toward the camp. Humans also charged forward. Marauders, nomads, mercenaries. Nameless could make out a dozen distinct camp colors among the enemies as they charged forward in a murderous rage toward payday. The entire wasteland population united, all bearing down on what was left of the Jockus camp.
Rage filled Nameless; it was one thing to abandon the camp for a new one—people came and went; that was life in the Martian wastes—but to unite all the other centers and companies, just to slaughter the very people who raised you? How did Florence even know about the payday? That didn't matter, he had to find get out of there.
Nameless crawled behind the burning hulk of a truck, the bodies of the camp members still sitting inside the flames. He saw a rifle by his side, half-buried in the sand. He picked it up, shook off the sand, and racked the weapon, inspecting the brass sitting in the barrel chamber. His pistol sat on his belt, his knife still strapped to his boot and beckoning him silently to be released. He slowed his breathing, the heat from the burning truck prickling his face as rounds danced off the car with loud metallic plinks.
Nameless scanned his surroundings, and what he saw was stomach-churning. The Majority of the camp was either dead or dying. The opposing vectors of both sides were locked in a deadly flurry of barely discernible motion, so fast one could barely make out their shapes as they dueled to the death. Humans ran about them, desperately trying to kill one another with guns and sharp implements.
Florence was rapidly approaching, descending toward the camp. As she neared the outskirts of the tents, several camp girls emerged from a burning tent, screaming. Florence cackled, leveled her machine gun, and let loose. The young girls fell into the orange dirt, dead. Florence spat, walking directly over them, continuing on.
As she advanced, Florence’s mercenaries showed no mercy. Nameless scanned the massacre, he couldn’t see anyone he recognized. Where was everyone?
His query was answered as Mama Jockus emerged from a canvassed camp truck in the back of the camp circle, eyes burning, teeth bared. Her travelers' clothes were removed, revealing a ballistic vest adorned in bandoliers of bullets and grenades. On either of her hips were sawed-off shotguns, a satchel of rocket warheads strapped to her hunched back. On her dominant shoulder sat the item she had gone to retrieve: a long scary-looking rocket launcher, its projectile sticking outward like a spear.
“Florence!” Mama Jockus shrieked, her voice trembling.
Florence turned too late to see Mama Jockus had leveled the rocket in her direction and fired. The backblast of the rocket sent a dust wave backward from Mama. Florence instinctually dove to the ground as the rocket leveled at her. The rocket screeched toward her, covering half the camp distance, missing combatants. It narrowly missed, instead impacting at the feet of a white-cloaked vector. It exploded, ripping the vector to shreds with a loud guttural shriek.
Florence got up, gritting her teeth. She screamed something back, but the sound of battle drowned it out. Mama Jockus started to reload as Florence pointed her machine gun toward her former boss from the hip.
As Nameless watched with a mixture of glee and terror, Guard Captain Number One led a wave of the survivors to Mama Jockus. They disappeared in dust and smoke, as that section of the camp became shrouded in death. Nameless sprinted toward the back of camp clutching the briefcase.
Now was his chance. The suitcase was bulky and cumbersome. He hefted it, hunched over and staying low to the ground as he zig-zagged through the carnage, projectiles whizzing snapping overhead. He stumbled into a fresh crater.
The slight fall combined with his running hunch sent him into the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped, his head spinning and eyes seeing spots. As he regained senses, he peeked over the top of the crater. Fog of war had set in, and he tried to get his bearings. As the he scanned, he noticed a blonde girl lying in the dirt.
Julia!
She was hurt, bad. Aj knelt over her body, protecting it with his, expertly landing shot after shot with his rifle. He seemed to be bleeding and hurt as well, but not as bad.
Nameless could tell they wouldn't last long. Aj couldn't move Julia without being shot, and she was clearly immobile. Everyone else was either dead or fighting. There was no way he could help his friends and carry the money simultaneously. The distance from where he lay to Julia was at least half the camp, too far to sprint over.
A thought crossed his mind. Take the money, the vial, get a bike and take off. A camp on the run could be tracked, but one rider? He knew the desert, every cave, every camp. He knew the capitol was due south. Nameless could just take the money and go off-world on one of those ships, somewhere safe. He could live like a king, with grass and clean water every day.
For a second, he hesitated. Julia lifted her head from the ground as he pondered. Her face was caked with sand and blood, her grey eyes locking with his for a moment. The world went silent as the two stared at one another, the lights and explosions melting away.
“Help,” she mouthed desperately, tears forming in her bloodshot eyes. Above her, Aj fired round after round, expertly hitting attacker after attacker, but it wasn't enough. They were getting closer.
Nameless made his decision. He left the briefcase at the bottom of the muddy crater and sprinted toward Julia. Bullets and lights whizzed around him like a bright sandstorm as he ran to his friends. As he ran closer to them, to his right, he could see a clump of guards hunkered down in a shell hole.
“Follow me!” Nameless roared, waving toward them. The guards hesitated, unwilling to leave their newfound safety, but the biggest one, a sergeant with a blue shoulder pauldron, saw the young bounty hunter and nodded. He stood up and kicked his men, roaring a command to them as he jumped out of the hole.
Nameless 's legs burned, and his chest heaved under the exertion, his wounds stinging. Closer and closer, he got. The fire seemed to be dying down; most likely, Number One and Mama attracted all the attention. He dove beside Julia, putting his body between her and the horde of attackers.
In the distance, Florence and Mama Jockus could be seen locked in a duel to the death. The sounds of metal on metal, gunshots, and screams piercing the ears of all nearby.
“Are you all right?” Nameless shouted.
“No!” Julia screeched as Aj bent down to pick her up.
Nameless looked behind him to see some kind of bladed weapon had shattered Julia's right shoulder, with a giant exit wound that was gushing a large amount of blood. Her right arm dangling uselessly by her side.
“We gotta move,” Aj grunted as he picked Julia up like a child, cradling her in his arms. “You're gonna be okay, Jules,” he stammered anxiously.
“How the hell do we get out of here? And where's the fucking money?” the Sergeant asked Nameless.
“It's back there,” Nameless pointed back to the crater.
“You left the fucking money?” the Sergeant asked, bewildered.
“It was the cash or them,” he spat.
“I'll fucking kill you!” The Sergeant swiped at Nameless, who ducked and backed up.
“I got the vail, all right? We need to get out of here.”
The Sergeant's chest rose and fell rapidly, his pale, dust-covered face and rusty red hair glinting with sweat. His fists were balled, and his pupils were the size of flies, manic with fury and fear. In his old rusty armor, the Sergeant shook, veins popping out of his face and neck as his wild eyes darted.
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“What about Mama Jockus?” Aj asked.
“She'll be fine. She gave me a link-up point in the caves if anything happened,” Julia spat. “I have a map in my pocket, but we need to move,” She cringed, her pain getting worse.
Nameless nodded. “She probably wants to meet up at Oasis; we can patch Julia up there, too,”
“In the canyon network?” Aj whined. “We'll never reach there!”
“Either that or stay here and die anyway. Look, I say we take the truck. We can make it to the city and sell that stupid vial,” the guard Sergeant grunted.
The duel between Jockus and Florence was dying down, and the attention of the attackers was starting to move toward the rest of the camp.
“Fine. Let's go!” Nameless ordered, the rest complying. The group retreated into what was left of the camp. Nameless and the guards took turns, halting and shooting as the rest of the group bounded toward the trucks.
A bullet snapped through the chest of one of the guards, his body folding into the dust. Julia shrieked, nestling her head into AJ’s chest. The group continued at the far side of the camp. Where the camp girls were supposed to be sat a truck and Nameless 's bike.
All of the camp girls were piling onto the truck with their belongings, desperately trying to leave. Julia looked up, gritting her teeth.
“It was them. They told Florence,” she grunted.
“Which one?” Nameless asked.
“Fuck if I know. Kill them all!”
Nameless shook his head; this wasn't like Julia. She basically raised all of them. And they were her wards.
The girls were all looking at them, their faces outlined with fear; their eyes pleading and round. These girls had spent their entire lives within the confines of the camp; there was no way all of them had snitched. Nameless had grown up with most of them; it was impossible to tell who the betrayer was as the battle ebbed and flowed around them.
“We can't leave them here,” Aj challenged, his brow furrowed.
“Fuck that! One of these snakes sold us out!” Julia shrieked, her pain eating her patience.
“They're valuable. We can just leave them here and let the other camps take them,” the Sergeant countered.
“You know what the other camps will do to 'em if we leave them,” Aj said hotly.
Nameless grunted impatiently. The battle had picked up again, but no fire was coming toward them. Mama had either won or was escaping; either way, the group had to leave.
“How far back is the cave we were storing stuff in?” Nameless asked Julia.
“Back a few meters behind the truck. Why?”
“Doesn't it connect directly to the tunnel system in the canyon?” Nameless asked.
“Yeah, so? You're not seriously suggesting we take the tunnels? We have a fucking truck!” Julia said, eyebrow raised.
“We can take the girls with us. We hit the caves, escape through the canyon. We'll link up with Mama at Oasis and head to the big city. I can sell this vial again, and it's off world for all of us,” Nameless said.
Everyone looked at him with wide eyes and searching, their brows furrowed.
“What?” Nameless challenged. “You seriously want to leave the girls here? Fine, let's say we do. That truck will run out of gas long before we hit the city. There are shuttles and trains in the mining networks, it'll take longer, but we might make it. Besides, Julia needs medical attention. The mining and fishing clans can help us!”
There was a deep silence as each person pondered these words. Finally, the Sergeant stood in front of Nameless, towering over the young bounty hunter.
“And who put you in charge? There are twelve girls here; they're only going to slow us down in the caves.”
“I did. Don't like it? Take the truck; let's see how far you make it,” Nameless sneered.
He got close to the Sergeant, so close he could see the sweat and pores on the guard's chin.
“You ain't gonna make it down there. I'm a miner, I know ‘em, they don't take kindly to strays,” the Sergeant sneered, his sour breath churning Nameless 's stomach.
“I'm done taking orders. Do what you want; we're going into the caves,” Nameless snarled. He began marching toward the girls, Aj following as Julia seethed with pain, orbiting Nameless to the left by a good ten paces behind.
“Whoever is done being a slave, follow me,” Nameless shouted over his shoulder.
The Sergeant spat on the ground and bellowed orders to his men. His men formed a half-circle around the group. Several of them pushed the girls away, striking others with the butts of their guns. The Sergeant pulled his pistol out and pointed it at Nameless.
“Gimme that vial, and I’ll let you go die down there,” the Sergeant bellowed.
Nameless 's back was to the Sergeant, with a pistol pointed to it. He had the disadvantage. Fear and hesitation coursed through his mind.
“Turn around,” the guard annunciated slowly, “and give me that vial,”
He slowly began to rotate.
BAM!
Nameless whipped around to see Julia had grabbed Aj's side pistol with her good arm and had shot the Sergeant from her perch in Aj's arms. Tears were flowing down her face.
“I'm done being a slave,” she whispered, her hand shaking so violently that the pistol nearly fell out of her hand. Aj knelt, putting Julia on his thigh, and hugged her like a child.
Nameless unsheathed his knife in one hand, his pistol in the other. The Sergeant's life wheezed from his chest as his body twitched and squirmed in its final moments. All of his men stood there like statues, pondering their chances.
“I'm taking the vial and hitting the caves. Like I said, anyone who doesn't want to live as a slave, follow me. Can you guys move?”
Aj nodded, picking Julia up again as she slowly sobbed into his chest. Nameless gently walked backward as Aj went past him. Finally, he turned and followed his friends.
One of the guards hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine. Some of the girls stayed with the guards on the truck, a few went into camp to meet their new masters, the three remaining joined Nameless and his friends.
The cave entrance was just behind the truck. It zig-zagged downwards into the belly of the cave, eventually opening into the canyon. It was going to be a long, dark escape. But if they could make it through the chasm, into the mining networks, they could make it to the city and off world in a month.
As the group went into the cave, Nameless stood at the entrance, counting each person. Julia and one of the girls were hurt. Julia with her melee wound, the other had a severe limp from a gunshot to the left leg. Counting the casualties and Nameless, there were six people in total. Out of the hundred or so camp members, this was all who could be saved by the Nameless Bounty Hunter.
Food was low, as well as water. Only Nameless and Aj had any ammo or guns; the rest had long steel daggers or crude knives. The only benefit in their favor was the distraction the guards offered. Hopefully, Mama had made it out, but they would be as equals if they did ever meet again. Nameless was done being a pawn. A boy. A slave. This was his time now.
As these thoughts danced inside his mind, sudden explosions ripped his attention back to the camp. The battle was over; the winner was detonating whatever scraps couldn't be hauled away. Hopefully, finding that briefcase of cash had thrown Florence off their trail.
But what if she knew about the vial? Did the traitor tell Florence about the vial's purpose or where it came from? Or had she simply tipped that there would be a ship's worth of money being exchanged?
Whatever was going to happen, it didn't matter now. He needed to help his friends and get them to safety. He had old contacts in the mining clans. Being Mama Jockus's best man carried weight; someone was bound to help them one way or another. Not to mention, he had the vial.
How a tiny vial of glowing blue liquid could turn out to be so much trouble was beyond him. But now was the time for action.
As the group moved through the bowels of Mars, the cave was musty and dark but the day's light shone from the entrance and provided them some visibility as they waited for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. The cave’s entrance was wide and narrowed downwards into the tunnels. Nameless stood beside Julia. “Hey, I just wanted to say—”
“Here's the map,” Julia interrupted, avoiding eye contact. Her face was pale, and she looked sick; clearly, the wound was getting to her. She gestured to her hip satchel and a small pocket-sized cloth carrier that was strapped to her belt.
Nameless nodded, reached inside, and took the map.
“Thank you,” Nameless made his way back to the front of the group, studying the complex orange lines crisscrossing the desert, signifying the tunnels. Per the map, once they got into the chasm, it would be a day's journey to Oasis, the fishing clan hub. He looked back at Julia.
“You got a day or two of walking in ya?” he called to her.
“I'll make it,” she replied sharply.
“She’s the toughest one we got,” one of the girls said, her dark olive skin glowing in the day's light, her black frizzy hair framing her face.
“Shut up! Just shut up! None of you should be here!” Julia shrieked, squirming violently in Aj's arms.
The girl who had spoken rolled her eyes.
“It wasn't us, Julia,” she replied coldly. “It was Number One. He's been sleeping with Florence for years; the two planned the whole ambush. I tried to warn the old bitch, but she couldn't believe one of her best men was going to betray her,”
“Bullshit,” Aj retorted. “That guy's been with us through and through; you camp girls are always eavesdropping. Why should we believe you?”
The girl put her hands up. “Oops. Ya got me. We, the camp girls, with no electronics and no contact with anyone from outside the camp. We tipped off the traitor who ran off a month ago. Then we orchestrated every camp and clan Number One and Florence ever served with coming together to ambush us while we were still in the camp. You really are as dumb as you look, aren't ya, big buy?”
Aj grunted angrily as Julia searched the girl's face.
“Number One and Florence did spend a lot of time together,” Julia admitted contemptuously.
“I'm sorry, they what?” Nameless shouted, letting the map down, anger making his vision double. “Did no one seriously think that that wasn’t a vital piece of information?!”
The sarcastic camp girl snickered. “Buddy, we figured it was obvious from all the face sucking they did. You really haven't had a girl before, have ya?”
Nameless crumpled the map as his hands instinctually clenched. “Maybe bringing you along wasn't such a great idea after all.”
“Please. It's our job to keep tabs on people; we did warn the old crown. Ya wanna see how she rewarded us for doing our job? Show him,” the olive-skinned dark-haired girl said to the other non-injured girl. This one had brown hair, with a pale freckled and timid face. She didn’t lift her eyes from the ground. She just turned around, lifting her shirt and revealing her back. What lay under her shirt was a withering criss-cross pattern of welts.
“Mama Jockus beat her. And she threatened to kill me for even suggesting her precious little captain would ever betray her. You don't have to like my tone, but it doesn't change that we were right. Or that Mama Jockus is an evil liar,”
Deafening silence followed as the girl put her shirt back down. She turned around. Her gaze never leaving the ground as a silent tear rolled down her left cheek.
It felt as if someone had put a boulder on Nameless 's chest. He struggled to breathe, his vision going in and out as his limbs trembled. Molten hot rage flowed through his veins.
“What are your names?”
“Pfft. You really don't know our names? It's not like we grew up together or any—”
“What. Are. Your. Names.”
The defiant girl fell silent. Fear began to creep into her face as it met with Nameless 's steel gaze.
Another one of the girls spoke up. “I'm Carla. This is Sammy. The one with the bum leg and the big mouth is Hera.”
“Carla, Sammy, Hera. No one else is going to hurt you. We're going to Oasis. If we happen to run into Mama Jockus, I'll slit her throat.” Nameless took a deep breath. “If you wanna come with me, sweet. I'm done being a slave. I'm gonna sell this vial and go off world. 'Til my ship leaves orbit, I'll take care of you.. I'll even give you an even share. Sound like a plan to everyone?”
The group pondered the young bounty hunter's words.
“We're with you,” Aj said, Julia silently agreeing. “I always wanted to go to one of the colonies,”
“We're coming, too,” Sammy squeaked, her soft voice cracking. She looked at Carla and Hera, who were both quiet. “We are going, right? I don't want to stay on this orange dirtball the rest of my life,”
Dark haired Carla nodded. Hera stayed quiet the entire time.
“All three of you want off world?” Nameless inquired.
“Yeah, sorry, Hera doesn't talk much. But we're in,” Carla confirmed.
Nameless studied them closely. Carla had a sharp defiant face with keen eyes and thin lips, her dirt-covered olive skin glistening with sweat as her dark curly hair fell to her shoulders. Sammy had pale white skin, her freckled face soft and kind looking, her brown hair mangled and knotted. Hera's skin was pitch black, darker than even AJ's. Her baldhead was adorned with fishing clan tattoos underneath her wool hood. Her eyes were beautiful, her face seemed to be carved from marble as she was the most beautiful of the three new girls.
“You really don't remember us?” Sammy asked softly, her gaze lifting from the ground. “Mama Jockus bought all of us together way back when,”
“I remember that day,” Julia said softly.
Guilt panged at Nameless 's heart. He honestly didn't remember them, then again, growing up, so many had come and gone. Aj and Julia were the only constant faces in his life. And Florence, but she didn't count now.
“I'm sorry. But things are different now. We can have a new future,”
“Different now? How?” Hera asked, her eyes piercing Nameless.
He looked at her, confused.
“What's your name?” she asked.
“Don't—” Julia began.
“What is your name? Or do you just have a number, like the rest of us? You never even chose a nickname as we did. You're just a gun turned loose because your boss lost a deal. How can we trust you? What's stopping some other warlord from hiring you to off other innocent people? Maybe you're just gonna sell us to another camp when we get to Oasis,”
“Hera!” Carla yelled.
“What? His name is literally the Nameless Bounty Hunter! What kind of juiced-up murder fantasy cowboy bullshit is that? I feel real safe escaping slavery with some teenage boy who's been raised to kill from birth,”
“What's a cowboy?” Aj asked innocently.
“Urgh!” Hera stomped in frustration.
Before Nameless had time to burst open his not-so-well-thought-out pile of insults labeled as a response, Aj spoke again.
“Guys!” Aj exclaimed. “I hear voices,”
The group fell silent as the sound of approaching voices and footsteps crept toward the cave.
“You don't like me? Fine, you can stay here. The rest of you, follow me. I'm getting paid, and getting off Mars,” Nameless growled.