So Much for Stealth

Nameless heaved himself up through the escape hatch of the elevator, making rust fall all around him. He flopped onto the top of the elevator; the movement echoing throughout the shaft in a low eerie dull. Gathering himself, he stood up and took in the pitch black that now embraced him. Turning his pistol's flashlight on, the lone explorer scanned upward, illuminating the empty decrepit elevator shaft.

On the right was an orange emergency ladder, winding its way upward toward the ground level. He would have to figure out how to open the top elevator doors, but that was a problem to be resolved when he reached the top. The ladder itself was ancient and rusted, with quite a few bars missing.

He carefully went over to the ladder, the chemical burns starting to weigh his body down with pain. Speed was the key to survival here. He cautiously put his booted foot on the bottom rung, leveraging his weight onto it. It held, miraculously.

He smirked—finally some luck! Nameless began the slow journey upward, checking each rung carefully before continuing. According to the map, there were four floors to climb, but with the mounting pain and missing rungs, it would be a treacherous climb, to say the least.

Every now and then, he would pause and check for any noise or sign of the creature. So far, so good, so he kept going. His breathing quickened as pain shot through his body like prongs of white-hot needles underneath the skin. With the pain came heightened senses as his adrenaline-fused brain went into overdrive.

A scuffling noise from above caught his attention. He put the gun light on the closed elevator doors directly overhead—the halfway point. A faint scratching sound could be heard, almost as if the creature was attempting to get in.

Nameless gathered what remaining strength clung to his body, hooked his right arm around the rung by his chest, and anchored his feet around the lowest rung he could. He leveled the weapon and slowed his breath, trying to stop his hands from shaking. It was no use, the glow-in-the-dark sights dancing in the black pitch were like glowing bugs.

The scratching stopped, but Nameless remained motionless, trying his best not to make a sound. He heard a distant, thunderous roar far above, and heavy pounding on metal faintly sounded as the creature galloped down the hall toward the noise. Sounded like Aj in his impatience, was making a ruckus. Perfect timing.

Nameless sighed with relief and started climbing as fast as he could, no point in being careful, he was running out of time. The ladder seemed endless, going on and on. As he progressed higher and higher, his arms and legs began to cramp. Searing pain racked his body, the ringing in his ears becoming almost deafening. Right when it was almost as if he couldn't keep his breath and his heaving body was screeching in pain, Nameless saw the top of the shaft.

Relief rose in his body, and a smile swept his masked and sweaty face. Panic shot through him as he frantically reached out, trying to grab a rung, something, anything. He grabbed the next rung and pulled himself upward. In a sudden gut-wrenching moment, the rung gave way, and he was suspended in midair. His gloved hand caught a rusty rung, and the rapid descent was halted. The glove ripped, pealing the skin from his hand.

Nameless roared in pain and frustration, but he was still on the ladder. He had only fallen a few rungs, but the combined weight of the gear and body had all been concentrated on the now flayed hand. He examined the exposed bloody hand, while using the other non-injured left hand as an anchor on the ladder. The glove had ripped entirely, revealing the blood-red and white under of the now skinless palm. He rested his masked head on the ladder, biting his lip in pain. Hopefully, the creature hadn't heard the pained roar. Could this get any worse?

An explosion ripped through the plant, shaking the shaft. What the hell was Aj doing? Did he crash? Dread swept Nameless 's mind, panicked thoughts filled his brain—crashed craft, being eaten in this plant, starving to death in the shaft. He banged his head on the rung repeatedly. Finally, he gathered himself. He had to keep moving or he would die in this horrible place. With a grunt, he heaved himself upward, favoring his right hand, slowing his progress tremendously. On and on, he climbed, every rung becoming a trial of its own. How much time had passed? It felt like hours.

Finally, after what seemed like a painful eternity, he reached the top of the shaft, the very last rung. A metal platform bridged the end of the ladder along the left side of the post, and Nameless noticed a hand crank for the elevator door. He hoisted himself unto the metal platform, careful not to look down. The metal crank was painted orange, with a warning label above.

He pulled the metal crank out of its cubby hole and jammed it into the gearbox next to the elevator door. Nameless put his entire weight into the crank, trying to push down. It wouldn't budge. He tried again and again. Nothing.

“Come on, you stupid, stupid, stupid mother fu—”

The crank gave, and the gears began rattling, and the doors yawned open. Anger and pain fogged his vision as he started to see double. He didn't care about the creature anymore, let it kill him. But if he was going to die here, he was going to cause as much pain as possible. That creature was going to feel what he was feeling.

The doors screeched open, and Nameless stomped out into the hallway. The very door where he had tried to input the password, for what seemed like an eternity ago, sat behind the long dark hallway lying ominously ahead.

He gritted his teeth and began jogging, each step sending lightning bolts of searing pain through his body. It felt as if the burns were tearing apart; his hand was on fire, his mind scrambled. He had to keep going. If his fate was to die here, it would be on his terms. He never got to choose anything in his entire life; at least here and now, he could have the death he wanted.

Doorway after doorway flew past him as he charged upwards toward the end. The gun was in his left hand, the light swinging up and down rapidly with the running motion. Don't stop, can't stop, won't stop.

Light met his glazed eyes. Just a little more. Nameless tore off the satchel, pulled out the vial and spare ammo mid-run, jamming them into his pockets. He dropped everything else, trying to get rid of any excess weight.

It made a tiny difference, and he closed the distance into the loading bay. What met his eyes was an unholy cacophony of destruction. Aj had dumped every piece of explosive munition he had onboard the hovercraft into the plant and its surrounding area. The reason why was worse than the now roaring fires dotting the landscape. Dozens of heaving green masses blazed on the ground. Nameless recognized the species now, Grogs. The mutant predator of the Martian Wastes.

“Fuck me,” Nameless moaned.

Hulking dark masses seemed to be racing around the fires, pure rage in their eyes.

A long machine gun burst riddled the ground as Aj reigned death from above, trying his best to clear a path for Nameless. The Nameless Bounty Hunter let out a long guttural sigh, trying to exhale the heaving pain. He pressed on.

His boots caused chemicals to splash about; there were too many of the creatures for stealth, no way he could just sneak out of here even with Aj distracting them. Nameless charged through the docking bay into the hellish fire field.

The creatures were massive, with eight muscular legs, two tails, stubby armored heads, and long claws. No doubt wasteland mutants who had mutated even further thanks to the chemical exposure. One of them saw Nameless running toward them and let out a fierce ear-piercing roar. The others mimicked the war cry and charged.

Machine gun fire continued to reign down, ripping some of the creatures apart, but too many of them were still there. Nameless pointed his gun and began firing blindly, his vision too foggy to even aim as he charged. The hulking herd came barreling down on their latest meal, eager to avenge their fallen pack members.

Aj must have seen what was happening because he took swift action. The hovercraft went into a dive, guns off. It smashed through one of the last remaining panes of glass from the aerodrome. Aj expertly flew in between the smokestacks, flying almost ground level. He flew directly above the herd, then cut the engines. The craft suspended in midair for a second, then crashed into the ground with a sickening thud.

Several of the massive creatures were squashed by the craft, letting out pathetic howls. The remaining herd attempted to stop mid-charge, but Aj deployed the flairs, scattering the pack as some of them ran away on fire, others startled by this rapid change in the dynamic of the fight.

Aj emerged from the cockpit window, his rifle in hand, expertly shooting as many of them as he could. Loud gunshots rang out amid the chaos as he precisely landed each bullet in the eye hole of a frightened monster. Recocking the rifle after each shot, the bullet casings springing free like a dancing fairy of death. A few monsters fell, but the remaining pack adapted, zigzagged, and sprung around like wild hounds from the underworld itself, desperately trying to evade the expert rifle fire.

Nameless took the opportunity and closed the distance to the craft, hopping over puddles of fire and sprinting between the raging blazes too big to cross. His body was numb now, allowing him to close the distance miraculously quick.

He jumped into the open crew bay door and collapsed on the floor of the craft, his body heaving.

“Yo, get on one of those guns!” Aj roared as he went back to his seat.

Nameless ripped his mask off and vomited on the floor.

“Dude, I just washed that!” Aj complained.

“Take the hell off! Now!” Nameless screeched, trying his hardest to raise himself out of the brand-new mess on the craft's floor.

“Nah, I'm good. I really feel like getting eaten by mutant whatever-the-hells today,” Aj shouted sarcastically, clicking buttons, and pulling levers. “Ain’t those grogs? Biggest versions I’ve ever seen.”

The engine sputtered and died. Nameless saw Aj's fearful face in the pilot's mirror as he frantically attempted to bring the raggedy machine back to life.

“Why would you think crash landing into a herd of mutants would be a good idea?” Nameless shouted, seeing two Ajs.

“Why would you think Bansi charging these things with a pistol would be a good idea, you stupid—”

“Just get us in the air right now!”

“I'm trying!” Aj's voice cracked with fear at what they both saw the gathering pack.

The creatures were rallying, and they were angry. What seemed to be the leader, the biggest of the pack, clawed the ground. His armored head leveled at the grounded hovercraft.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I will literally give you my entire cut if you get us off the ground,” Nameless sobbed with pain, finally getting up and manning one of the bay door machine guns.

Aj laughed nervously. “Don't make promises you can't keep!”

“Get us up in the air right now!” Nameless spat, racking the machine gun lever back and leveling it at the mutants.

Aj yanked the power lever, and the whole hovercraft shuttered with life coursing through the engine.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” Nameless roared, unleashing as many rounds as mechanically possible, pushing his numb body into the gun, a cheek resting on the buttstock. He couldn't even see what he was aiming at. He just held down the trigger.

Aj heaved on the stick, and the craft roared into the night sky. Nameless 's vision blurred, and he let off the trigger. Then the adrenaline-induced numbness began to subside. The distant roars of the creatures could faintly be heard as the pair made their way back to camp.

Nameless slumped into the machine gun. There was too much pain for relief. The glowing orange hue of the red-hot barrel melted into the foggy background of the Martian landscape as it raced by beneath them. It became hard to make out shapes or distinct landmarks as the craft ran home with incredible speed. Sleep began to beckon to him like a long-lost friend. Time rushed by almost as swiftly as the landscape below.

Everything got quiet. His body became light as a feather, yet heavy as a rock at the same time. Where was he? Nameless couldn’t taste, hear, see, or feel anything beyond the solid color blobs in front of him. What was going on? How much time had passed? Minutes, hours, days? His mind felt like a swamp, faces and voices bubbling behind his eyeballs as he finally relaxed for the first time in what seemed like years. His rest was short-lived.

Nameless could faintly hear shouting. Maybe it was Aj? Why was he yelling so much? And why was everything so warm? The pain subsided again from Nameless 's body, replaced by smooth warmth. His vision darkened, and in the distance, a glowing white light was edging closer and closer to his face, like an approaching vehicle.

He looked up and saw that the light had been replaced by Julia's face. Why was she crying? Her mouth was moving, but there was no sound. Hands pulled Nameless forward, and now he saw only the sky. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that two people, one on either side, were holding something by his head and two by his feet. Julia was jamming something into his arm, but he couldn't feel it. The sky seemed to be coming closer and further away from his face—like he was bouncing…

Nameless turned his gaze to see Mama Jockus. Her hand was on his shoulder, her lips were moving, but he could only hear her.

She felt his pockets, and her old ringed fingers felt the vial. She nodded, a somewhat kind glint in her eye as she patted Nameless 's cheek.

Nameless 's vision went dark, and his body limped.

For the first time in a long time, Nameless dreamt. He dreamt of the distant ships soaring to the stars. He could taste the food served on board; the most excellent canned ham he had ever had. Beautiful women handed him wine in silver canteens. He had no idea what it tasted like, but it was good. Like the cleanest water possible, straight from the filtration systems, not served in crude plastic.

More visions came flooding in, dreams of growing up around the campfires. The legends told, groups singing great tales while playing stringed instruments. Stories of war, love, and loss, of how Mars failed, how the great wars divided their society, casting the masses into a morbid fight for survival.

A new dream entered his mind—green ground? The brown things that stood around, with limbs covered in green knife-like things. Nameless took his boots off in the fantastical dream, walking across the green ground. It felt like he was allowed to walk across Mama Jockus' plastic floor barefoot for the first time.

Nameless soared across the green ground like a hovercraft, seeing dozens of the brown things standing tall like men. Is this what the other colonies were like? Is this what Earth looked like?

Unfortunately, in that moment pressure and warmth engulfed Nameless, his body becoming heavier and heavier. Voices pierced his dreams like daggers, bringing him back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, revealing the patched roof of Julia's tent. The pain washed over his body like a tidal wave, every joint, every scratch, every wound feeling like acid had been dumped onto it. His mind began racing, and adrenaline coursed through his body.

He moaned and attempted to sit up.

“Lay back down, mister, or so help me, goddess!” Julia commanded, instantly laying her book down and storming across the tent.

“What happened?” Nameless tried to say, but his mouth was so dry, and lips so chapped, dried spittle caked around the corners of his mouth. The words were barely formed, more like a gurgle. Julia knelt next to his cot, holding a canteen cup full of water.

“Drink,” she ordered sternly, her grey eyes scanning his face like a concerned mother.

Nameless obeyed, clutching the cup like a child, sucking down the water. He choked, sputtering water everywhere, mainly on Julia.

“Gross!” Julia scolded softly, wiping the water off her lap.

“Sorry,” Nameless coughed. He slowed down his breath, grounding his body, his mind coming to grips with what was happening. A dozen questions came to mind. “Julia, is Aj all right?”

“Oh, he's fine. Best guess is that guy drank half the camp dry by now. They're celebrating, by the way,” Julia said with a roll of her eyes.

“Then why aren't you?” he asked, genuinely confused.

Julia gave him a death glare before responding.

“Cuz I'm taking care of you, stupid! Some of us care about you, silly boy,” she said, her lips pressed, and her forehead creased. Was she sad, afraid, or offended? He was too tired to tell.

Nameless chuckled painfully. He was terrible with emotions. It was so hard trying to figure out why people did things for him, especially any sort of good things. Besides, it wasn't like he deserved it.

“And the vial?”

“Mama Jockus has it. She says Mr. Peirceson will be here in the morning for it. That's why the whole camp is celebrating.”

“Sweet, fucking pay day,” Nameless sighed.

Julia rolled her eyes.

“There’s more to life than money, ya know?” She smiled.

“For you maybe. I wanna have actual nice things one day,” Nameless smirked.

She chuckled.

“Gonna need to leave Mars for that, bud. We haven’t had nice things here for centuries.”

They were quiet as Julia checked his bandages. His mind wandered. He remembered hearing stories of different worlds—Earth, Venus, Jupiter. The golden cities where people lived like royalty. Not like here, where everyone used machines rebuilt over and over, salvaged parts on salvaged parts. He wondered what it would be like, to not grow up among the dust and death surrounding them.

As he imagined life off Mars, the distance sounds of cheerful and drunken laughter reached his ears. He smiled.

“A little early for a party, ain't it?” Nameless croaked.

Julia sighed.

“It’s been a few days. You were almost out a whole week. We moved camps while you slept just in case anyone else found out about the vial. Besides, never too early to get wasted, I guess, especially out here.”

Nameless nodded.

He took her presence in, noting her new braids and a serene look of concern he had never seen before. Something else was wrong, but he didn't want to push it. Gathering his resolve, he asked, “Help me up, please?”

Indignation sparked in Julia's eyes as she lay a hand on his chest.

“No, you need to rest. You're covered in burns, and I think you have a few broken bones in your hand. I bandaged you up best I could, but what you need is a doc.”

Nameless sighed, frustration rising in his chest.

“Just get me up.”

“Fine, but I did warn ya.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Julia removed her hand as Nameless dug his elbow into the cot, shifting his weight to the right side, getting ready to sit up. The pain racked his body. He grunted as he dragged his feet from under the blanket over the side of the cot. His bare feet met the cool Martian dust, a welcome sensation now.

Julia put her hand on his back comfortingly, trying her best to check his many bandages and wrapped right hand.

A movement caught both their eye as Mama Jockus gracefully entered the tent.

Her face was bright, as she wore her finest clothes that night.

“How are you feeling?” she asked curiously.

“Like I got ran over by a truck,” Nameless groaned.

Mama chuckled and turned her attention to Julia.

“May I have the room, child?”

Julia bit her lip and looked at Nameless who nodded as a signal. Julia shot a narrow-eyed look at Mama Jockus, sighed and left.

Nameless watched as Julia's slender form left, closing the tent flap behind her.

There was a heavy silence as Mama Jockus stood quietly, her face a stoic porcelain mask devoid of emotion.

“What you did was monumental, my dear boy,” Mama Jockus finally said. This was the first genuinely kind tone Nameless had ever heard her use in his life. She pulled out the vial from her tunic and made her way over to the cot. She sat down next to him. She placed the vial in his hand, her wrinkled, leathery skin causing more pain to him somehow as she released. She seemed to zap him with electric energy; though, how her body gathered that current seemed impossible in this dirt and cloth environment.

“You were always my best pupil. I never doubted you could do it,” she said softly, her gaze drifting into the orange dirt. “Things are going to change around here, sweet boy. With this payment, we can pull off jobs you can't even dream of,” She clenched her fist, the kindness leaving her eyes, replaced by the reptilian shrewd gaze. There was the Mama Jockus he had been raised by.

Nameless nodded, carefully choosing not to interrupt her victorious moment. She stared off for a second, her eyes scanning and twitching. He wondered what dark schemes she was forming.

She blinked and came back to the present. She shifted her weight and looked Nameless in the eye.

“When I was a young camp girl, a mysterious man came to our camp. This was back before…” she paused, biting her lip. “Well, it was a very long time ago, mind you,” she said softly. “He wished to meet with the boss. I took this man to my boss's tent and eavesdropped. Just as my girls do now. They struck a deal, of course, but when the boss went to go grab his fine whiskey to grease the man up, I saw the stranger pull out a gun.”

Nameless met her gaze, occasionally blinking, his body tensing. Mama Jockus never spoke of her past. Growing up around her, she was a pillar of fortitude and authority. Nothing happened within the camp without her approval. People’s lives were spared and ended by her varied word. Why speak of the past now?

“I knew that I needed to act. I grabbed a kitchen knife and snuck into the boss's room. As the strange bastard snuck up on the boss, I became the intruder's shadow, following him. Just as he was about to strike my boss, I lodged that knife into his ribcage. He didn't die, of course, some big-city assassin all juiced up on that shit they feed em, but it bought us time. My boss blew him open with his shotgun, and at that moment, we were equals.”

Mama gently wrapped her hands around Nameless 's hands.

“We,” she emphasized with locked eyes, “are now equals. You have no idea how much wealth you just brought upon this camp, child. You may not have directly saved my life, but you have given me a chance to be again that what was stolen from me,”

She let go of his hands and reached into her silk dress, producing a sheathed thermal dagger. The dagger was magnificent, its sheath made of worn leather. Nameless took it from her and unsheathed it. He gazed in wonder at the pale black leather sheath that housed a titanium blade, with the edge of the blade coated with thermal kinetic layering so that it always stayed sharp. The handle was a beautiful stainless-steel encased in black leather, with a wide handguard. The dagger fit perfectly in his hand as the handle ideally formed to his grip.

Never in his life has he seen such a magnificent blade. Everything given to him, or taken off corpses by him, was usually misshapen, rusted, or dulled nearly to the point of irrelevance. How on Mars had they manage to acquire such a beautiful piece of technology?

“T-thank you,” Nameless blustered, wielding a weapon that most likely cost as much as the camp.

“This was my reward for saving my boss's life,” Mama Jockus said, studying his face. “I hope you find it as useful as I have over the years. I am old now. It's merely a paperweight in my hands, but in your young ones?” she cackled, a glint in her eye. “Well. May it bring you good fortune,”

“Thank you, Mama Jockus. What happened to your boss?” Nameless asked.

Mama Jockus cackled again.

“Life has many pathways, dear child. Enemies drove us apart. So, I took to the wastes, and formed this camp for myself over the years. With this vial, I hope to be by his side again. He has done quite well for himself it would seem.”

Nameless felt like she had slapped him in the face. After all these years, this was how she revealed the origins of the camp? All the children had heard wild stories growing up, she had won it in a game of cards, her old husband had been some kind of warlord and had left it to her, she built it from scratch, etc.

Mama Jockus searched Nameless 's eyes.

“I am a lot of things, my dear boy; a traitor is not one of them. So long as you are loyal, I too shall be. This is the way our people have survived; it is the way we will thrive.”

There was a deep emphasis in her words, so deep that Nameless almost felt assured. Mama Jockus took advantage of the pause, heaving herself up so that she would tower over the sitting young man.

“Now, enough of this dryness, go enjoy your own party. You may have whatever, whoever you want,” Mama Jockus smirked, extending her old hand to the young bounty hunter.

Nameless reluctantly took the outstretched hand and carefully stood up. Mama took the cot's blanket and wrapped it around his bandaged torso, patting him on the back.

“In a camp full of thieves, murderers, whores, and swindlers, I think you might just be the most innocent,” she remarked, smiling. “I pity whoever turns you into truly one of us.”

Nameless pondered her foreboding words as together they slowly made their way across the tent floor. He was limping, and the pain was immense but tolerable. Mama kept a hand on the small of his back, helping guide him forward. Nameless had a deep sense of unease. He was a weapon, raised for jobs like this, why all the congratulations and rewards?