Chapter 9
"As luck would have it…"
"Get down!"
Not again, please if there is a creator don't let this be Thrax's raiders! Curse you old man for taking the shortcut off the trail – curse you for not listening to me."
"I said get down kid, damn-it!" Red pushes the kid to the ground saving him narrowly from a flying bullet.
Three are dead; Mills, Gin, and Hartigan. Damn I never expected Hartigan to go out like this... with a new wife too...
His sight lands on a dark haired woman wielding a sub-machine gun.
"Karen!" He shouts running toward her as the raider behind her takes aim and fires.
Too late, they got her. Karen Mondragon, one tough chick, and nobody had a nose like hers; she could smell water miles away. She's a huge bitch till you get to know her, a real hard-ass, but if you're lucky enough to get close there isn't a thing she wouldn't do for you. Geeze, Karen... Red grabs the kid's pale face shouting above the gunfire "Stay with me kid and for the love of life watch yourself!" Releasing the young face he moves cautiously to where Karen fell. Red crouches over the dark haired woman laying on her side in the red earth the smoking SMG still in her left hand. She's not tall, maybe 5'5", has a solid build with a pretty face; her light brown eyes stare sightlessly at the darkly clouded sky. His attention is drawn back to the fight just in time to catch a glimpse of the man responsible: "Anthrax" he calls himself, unimaginative ideot, but the names descriptive enough because that's what he is, a plague in a small package. Everything he comes in contact with gets ruined.
That bastard Anthrax, he can't just take the valuables and money, no, he's got to take everything! Even looting the bodies of the guards n merchants. Greedy bastard.
Red reloads his modified SMG and fires a burst shot into the oncoming group of raiders killing one, bringing two to the ground, and slowing down a few others. He reloads. The bald man wearing dark sunglasses moves between and under the carts, shooting raiders wherever he can. Got one in the calf – not a fatal shot but he'll have a hard time standing. One in the butt – hopefully I got his liver. Another, and another, working his way to the corpse of his friend Fredrich Giles better known as Hartigan, hopefully they haven't already looted his body, all his money and the deed to the new land were on him. Red intends to bring those items and as much else as he can to Nancy, Hartigan's fionce. He'd want it that way.
He reaches the body, Hartigan's badly wounded there are some holes on his chest, and his head is pretty bloody though the wound isn't visible. Red drags his friend a few feet away from the line of sight between two carts and begins searching his coat pockets.
Suddenly a knife is at his throat.
"Hart!"
"Hands off..." His friend coughs roughly.
"Freddy, its me – dude you're alive!" The knife bearing hand falls aside.
"Armor." He gasps. Rapping his fist on his chest.
Red opens his friend's jacket and loosens the straps on the military bullet-proof vest. Hartigan coughs then breathes more easily.
"Is it bad, can you move?"
"No an yes." Hartigan blinks hard "though I'm not sure I want to."
Red smiles down at his friend "you're such a jerk…" The red haired man smiles glad he listened to Nancy and spent the extra caps on this vest. "Its heavy out here, but if we head for the cave..."
"What about the Rad-scorpions?" Hartigan rises to one knee, reloading his combat rifle.
"I know those caves, the raiders are as scared of those god-awful things as anyone. We can hide right under their noses then escape at night. I know how to deal with the bugs."
"We'll need..."
"Flares, and glow sticks." Red shifts the bag at his side showing his fellow the supplies "We're ready."
"What about the crew?"
"Our crew is dead. We've got to leave the others if we're going to live."
"Batik, they're all noobs, outtatown's, or civilians. If we kick-out they've got nothing – they'll die for sure!"
"Hart, I don't know if you realize how thick it is out there! The few that are still standing won't make it out no matter what we do. We're an army of two my friend and we've already got one tag-along to protect. Our only options are to commit suicide against Thrax or run to the caves." Red grips Hartigan's jacket, shaking him "They knew the risks man and they've been told the rule. You just survived once, do you want to risk a life with that sweet girl on a lost cause?" Hart got the point. Rounding on the kid Red faces him "hey, listen closely; when we move you move, what we say you do – no hesitation." The kid nods. Red and Hartigan fire a few well-aimed shots into the fray then run pell-mell for the caves about 4 miles in the distance. Thankfully the fires, looting and thunder from an approaching storm provide ample distraction and cover.