4. Chicken to the fox!
Cottonwood Cove was hiding behind the veil of grey smoke. New slaves were taken to the legion's base, and a person somehow set fire to a wooden house. The fire was quickly set out, but the smoke was so disturbing, that the slave-holding bunch did not notice that they didn't put collar on one of the slave girls.
The 18-20 years old girl then was hided by her sister and brother. In the right moment than his younger brother knocked out their guard, while her sister said goodbye to her little sister, after that she sent her towards the hills.
The young, frightened girl knew that she's running for her life. First they shouted after her, than later she heard gunshots, but she finally got out from the houses without a scratch, but her pursuer's voice was still loudly heard in the vicinity.
She ran as fast as she could, and as she was running on the remains of the roads, on the top of a gently slopping ramp, she noticed a man. The young man, wearing a leather armor, just in that moment has thrown a service rifle on the body of a dead ghoul, who once was an NCR soldier. So it seemed, because he wore an NCR outfit.
She immediately took her direction towards the direction in which he was standing. The short-haired man got his head towards her, at that moment he noticed the sound of her running noises.
As soon as he saw the girl, he widened his eyes, but a few seconds later he bent down to pick up the gun just thrown at the corpse.
Then, turning toward the fleeing girl, started to walk in her direction. As they faced each other, there was revealing on the man's side a melee weapon, a Ripper.
"I beg you, help me!" she cried as she reached the man.
"What happened to you?" he asked calmly.
"Legionaries attacked our caravan! Some people who fought against them were killed, including my father, while they deported the survivors over there!" she pointed than to Cottonwood Cove.
"The smoke comes from there?"
"Yes, mister! Someone from the captured set fire to one of the house. In the chaos I managed to escape."
"Come on, we can not stay here, your pursuers can be here any minute!"
She nodded in agreement, than holding hands with the man they started to run. Her fresh and unknown companion got her out from the main road, among the rocks edging down towards the coast.
Above them more legionnaire ran across, but apparently nobody noticed them.
At the sandy soil they turned towards the desert. They were running upwards again, before they reached a dry piece of wood covered with plants.
She could hardly feel her legs anymore, her lungs were screaming for air already, when he suddenly stopped and pushed her straight onto the dry grass just before them.
She doesn't even recover from dismay when he was already upon her.
He grabbed her right hand and started to tie her to a piece of wood, what was crouching beneath the weeds.
To lock her moves, he sat on her stomach, while kneeling with his right knee on her left arm.
Once he had finished one side, he quickly tied his other hand, and finally he tied her legs as well to a wooden cross-shaped fallen electric pole.
"Legionaries!" shouted the man, finishing her bounding. "To me, boys!"
A few minutes later five legionaries jumped off from the cliffs above.
"Frumentarius..." - said the leader of the group.
"You're one of them?" - Asked the girl from the only man wearing pants.
"I thought it had just become clear to you" he said. "Take her to the camp's entrance, to be a lesson to all of the profligate to see what is in store for everyone who dares to disobey the will of the son of Mars!"
The legionnaires fulfilled his orders without question. Two immediately moved to the electric pose, and pulled the cross where the fearsome frumentarius just told them to put the cross.
The legionnaire's revenge, however, was far from over.
A rumor quickly spread among the slaves.
"Did you hear what the guards were talking about?" He asked one of the other prisoners.
"Not paying attention... - said the boy sitting sadly. "I can think just about my sister… she was crucified!"
"Lower your voice!" His sister chided down the boy. "One thing's missing, to inform those animals that we have helped her..."
"What did you hear?" Another prisoner asked the one who just started the conversation.
"That a certain Legionnaire by the name Vulpes Inculta is here also".
"You mean that infamous spy?"
"I heard that it was counted to his name Cottonwood Cove's falling as well". said a nearby seated prisoner.
"Look!" – Another inmate jerked his head toward the shore.
They saw five legionnaires going to one of the buildings. Among them was as well a man who wore leather armor.
In fact he was walking in front of the team, glancing satisfied toward the slaves. Those glances were so creepy that they breathed almost as one, when they saw enter the man in one of the buildings.
"Ave, Dead Sea!" welcomed the Legionnaire the leather armored man.
"Hmm... Oh, Vulpes Inculta! Ave, Frumentarius! What do I owe you the pleasure?"
"I bring our glorious Lord, Caesar's command! He wants you to lead the attack against Nelson! Aurelius of Phoenix can be here at any moment to take over the leadership of the camp from you!"
"I understand. True to Caesar!"
Vulpes nodded in agreement.
"Caesar's satisfied with your work" Said Vulpes "But I'm not so impressed. I've experienced that awkwardness when I arrived. If she didn't bump into me, a runaway slave might have fled the legionnaire's sight".
"I had been ordered that all the legionnaires who were on duty to be lined-up".
"I want to impose the penalties!"
"As you wish..."
"First of all I want the last slave shipment documents, and then put in order that all of the legionnaires, who were on duty during the escape, fall in line on the northern hillside at sunset. Other commands will come after I've changed".
"Um… I apologize for the remark, but I'm very surprised that you are still wearing the clothes of the profligates…"
"I can't be without clothes! Not a lot to do with you, but when I was on my mission an accident occurred, in which, unfortunately, all my clothes exploded, and with them I was almost killed too!"
"I understand! Then, if I'm not mistaken, you'll need new equipment!"
"Yes, I need".
"Your new equipment will be here soon!"
"Thank you. However, even before please give me the papers!"
Dead Sea nodded, and after a short search, he handed over to his supervisor the right papers.
After evening didn't happen anything worth mentioning.
The prevailing silence what was on the surface, testified a falsely great peace of mind. The sun was setting, and however, the events accelerated. Sixteen Legionnaires lined up, according to the command, while at the same time a raft moored at the beach, with more legionnaire on board, and two other legionnaires left the office building also. Both their faces covered with masks.
One of them was wearing a Decanus helmet, the other the head of a dog. This latter stepped in front of the prisoners, and after he loudly called on the people that those who hears their name, step out of line.
A total of seven people came out, including three children under fourteen years. After he watched in silence the two boys who were trembling in fear, the decanus looked at his partner, who in turn conducted to the exit each of the prisoners.
Reaching the camp's borders two Legionnaires who were waiting for them, took off one by one from the neck of all adults the explosive device, while the three younger children were held continuously.
Then the dog's head wearing man with glasses stepped in front of the adults and started to talk.
"All members of the Dolores Caravan, who are over the age of fourteen are free to go if can come across that crucified body of their profligate fellow! The ones, who succeed, can take the three minors too, and they all receive the mark of Caesar, which protects the wearer from the risk of a new slavery, and free transport in the legion's dominated areas! Good luck to you all!"
"And what threats we are supposed to survive?" Asked the crucified girl's brother.
Vulpes lifted his head toward the hill, and the four people, who were sentenced to the fatal challenge, were also looking that way.
On the hillside fires rekindled on the tip of every flaming arrow, which were held by legionaries on their taut bows.
"But that's..." gasped the girl's brother, who was put among the refugees because he was but one year older than 14. "And... and yet what happens to someone who decides to not start this crazy derby?"
Vulpes smiled and quickly pulled out from his side his Ripper, and the boy did not have time not even to glance once and had his throat just sprayed it with blood, when the buzzer blade slit his neck.
"Other question?" Caesar's best frumentarius looked upon through the remaining three survivors, but there was no other who challenged Lady Fortuna.
The eldest sister fell sobbing on her brother's body. Two Legionnaires were pulling her up, and even pushed her to the ground, and also kicked brutally the unfortunate woman.
Vulpes eventually withdrew his men, and poured a bucket of oil on the women, while the example was repeated with the other two men, sentenced to death as well.
The two men lifted up from the earth their companion, and one whispered to the woman's ear.
"Think of your daughter ... She is here, and look how she's trembling..."
She looked at one of the three children standing among the legions who was the youngest of them all, and who was crying in the arms of one her older friend. The girl wanted to run to her mother, but her companion, who was seven years older than her, could barely hold her down, fearing another cruel punishment.
Vulpes looked at her and thought of one, he went to the young girl, and put next to the girl's collar a pendant, which promised amnesty to the wearer, walking on fields of Caesar's legion.
Vulpes to even more ruffle the nerves after he hung a medallion on the girl's neck he took in his arms the small child, who became pale white as a sheet at the sight of the dog head.
She began to cry, while the two men prepared to fight for their life dragged off the floor the child 's mother and putting their hands on either side, began to run.
Not so far from them opened her sunburned eyelids the crucified girl who was almost completely dried up, and could barely swallow, when she heard the voice of her niece crying.
Behind her she heard a familiar, yet fearful voice: "Fire!"
At the command, flaming arrows flew at the oil-soaked dressed and skinned humans.
Behind the crucified girl it was just a giant flare, which was committed by death cries. She knew all three sounds. She almost fell her heart's beating in her parched throat.
With her last strength she turned sideways as she could, to see what had happened. Three flame shapes seen to roll on the ground. One of them rolled over just before her. The unfortunate creature was absolutely horrified, because she just recognized her own sister's voice from the flaming body's screams.
She vainly tried to free her sun burned hands, one of the best of legionnaires tied those there, so she had no chance to escape.
As soon as she heard no screams at all, she heard the cries of her niece. The child ran to her mother's flaming carcass, and as her aunt looked down at her, she saw the thing at the child's neck, blinking and beeping more and more. After an explosion there came silence. Only a blood soaked pendant encountered the stuck-eyed girl burned shoulder, in who the blood went cold.
It seemed as if she's been frozen to the electric pole, her fiercely beating heart nearly jumped out of her chest. For a few minutes only the sound of flames were heard, and then she noticed the sound of footsteps.
Behind her a man in skirt stepped out in front of her, holding a bucket. Facing the girl, who almost saw only just the dog's head in front of her, which covered the man's head.
Vulpes raised the bucket in front of her, in which despite the twilight, it was well visible, that something slippery fluid moves inside.
For the last time she tried to swallow, but she couldn't, like she couldn't shed a tear anymore. She was just able to nod a little, and after the man nodded back, he picked up the bucket and poured the entire content on her. The oil in it trickled down and once it reached the burning bodies it already caught fire, filling the moonlit night with one last death scream.