The Waiting Game
The last valiant rays of the sun strained through the blockade of clouds, blanketed over the hemisphere. All it translated to on the ground was just a mute, pale luminosity, slowly dying out. The orange motif of the land subdued to an insipid brown in the waning light. Visibility was ever more decreasing, the smog and the dust and the clouds taking reign over Traxus IX once again like clockwork. Justin stood for a moment and took in its melancholy beauty as the cold winds curved around his figure, thankful for the life he still had despite its wretched condition in this place. For any sight could be a splendor compared to none at all. Death—which was the only thing Pete Barker knew now. Justin looked away from Traxus IX's panorama in the last hours of the evening and placed his somber gaze to his feet where Pete's resting place beckoned, the rugged clay cast over it in chunks and pebbles. It was done.
By now, everyone else had retired to the igloo. The outer door was considerately left open for Justin by Chris. The light from the inside was now brighter than that of the ambience Justin lingered in. He trekked a few paces to the entrance and gave the lands one last look before closing the door.
He made sure it was locked before walking inside, memories coming to mind of how Pete habitually left it open. This would be the point at which everyone would wind down after a hard day's work and crash for the night. They'd wake some time the next day, and when they were coherent they'd drive to work when they felt like it. That was the norm.
Not so much now.
Justin strode inward to find everyone wide awake, sitting at their places of sleep rather than lying down and sleeping. It unnerved him just enough not to register on his features. "What's the deal?" he asked.
No one would look at him. They all just stared into empty space, off in their own neverland, detached from the present tense. At first, he thought it might be the flower showing up again, but after looking at Chris he confirmed it was not; Chris was rather reserved as well. Instead of wasting words and breath, Justin instead found a place in the dirt and took a seat himself. There they remained for a while, nothing uttered. Every now and again, someone would raise a water bottle and take a swig, the silence so prominent that one could actually hear another swallowing.
Eventually, Chris rolled over and settled into sleep on the floor. Moments later, Bill cast his sight over to the little lad with a steadfast smile aimed in his direction. "At least one of us can sleep."
"I want to see how he got it and borrow it from him." Ken stated.
Bill didn't answer. He was done talking.
Pete was done.
The day was done.
…And it was time for them to let the next one arrive.
Strangely, Bill and Ken awoke almost simultaneously as if Siamese twins. They regarded one another with brief, curt nods as they rose. Bill looked around: Chris was still passed out on the floor. He hadn't even changed sleeping position. Justin was already wide awake on the couch, a comic book in his hands. Though, he wasn't reading it, at least not at the moment.
"So," Bill said almost jovially, "when are we going to work?"
Justin took his time in answering. He began to open his mouth, but then checked his himself, placing his vision back into the comic book.
"…If you're not going, can we take the Mongoose?" Bill asked.
Justin looked up squarely at Bill, perfectly straight-faced. He reached out and placed the comic book on the cushion beside him. "Don't do that."
But Ken replied, "I can't take being her today, Justin. I know you probably could handle it, but I gotta go."
"What's got your panties in a bunch?" Justin asked, still stoic.
"I need to get away from this place. I need to get my mind off things."
"Fine. Go ahead, leave for the city and work a shift. I can't stop you. But you're not taking the 'Goose."
Ken held back his anger, and tried to suppress the fire behind his eyes. "Why?"
"Because if the Kaiser's men come looking for me, I'm gonna make sure I leave myself an out."
"Oh shit!" Ken shouted. "That's right! I forgot all about that!"
"They would actually come and look for us?" Bill asked.
Chris awoke from the now-loud conversation, wincing as he turned his neck in the direction of the noises. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Justin ignored him, looked back to Bill and said, "Of course they'll be looking for us. They want the resources of the city now. And I'm the best tool they have in getting them. They'll come to the city first and look for me. They'll look for you too, so don't go that way."
Ken asked, "So why did you make them that deal in the first place?"
"Because I had to get in the Kaiser's hideout to get a gun, remember? You don't just barge into that kinda place without good reason."
"So what will we do about this?" Bill asked.
Justin didn't take much time to answer. "We're gonna lay low and play the waiting game."
"And you're certain no one knows of this location?" Bill asked.
"You can never be certain of anything. But we are a good drive from the city. Hopefully, if they come this way, they'll get tired of driving and give up."
"And that's what you're banking on?" Ken asked lividly.
"There's no better solution."
"What about hiding out at Solomon's? He's self-sustaining. Water, plants, et cetera."
"Too far of a journey. I'd need to visit the city for fuel, and thus chance running into Sergei's men. That's an unacceptable risk."
"Right." Ken smiled. "We can't go to Solomon's because we can't go to the city for fuel. So that means we can't even go to the city to get food and the most basic supplies…then we're fucked."
Justin bit his lower lip and considered Ken's words, perhaps a morbid acceptance hiding behind his eyes. He then cast his sights to the door of the heater room, where they were violently introduced to the creatures that killed Pete. "Maybe not." he replied.
"What's your plan now?"
"Pretty simple, really."
Chris was outside at mid day, perched atop the 'Goose, waiting.
His eyes were level with the horizon, sweeping side to side over and over again like a satellite dish on auto-track. As if existence here wasn't already monotonous enough, now Justin tasked him with this tedious duty.
Bill stepped outside and joined Chris. "See anything yet?"
"Nothing." Chris replied sourly. "Why am I doing this again?"
"Because we have to know when the Kaiser's men come this way."
"If they come this way."
"Yes."
"Figures that I get the noble job of lookout duty."
"Heh, don't worry, Chris. We're splitting it up in shifts. Is there anything I can get you?"
"Yeah, another coat. It's damned cold out here."
"No problem, I'll be right back." Bill left Chris and stepped inside the igloo.
Chris retrained his vision back onto the northern horizon, where their enemies were most likely to encroach from. Hopefully, visibility would be good for the next few days. Sergei said that in two days, his men would call upon Justin for his City 17 benefits. One day had gone by already. That left one more, assuming the Kaiser stuck by his schedule…and his word. Then again, the Kaiser was the King of criminals on Traxus IX; he didn't hold the kind of credibility for anyone to take him at his word. Chris hoped this was the case, that they had more time before the search for Justin was on. The hornet's nest was surely shaken now. But more than just their own little ordeal, Chris thought about Traxus IX itself. The whole planet was about to change, on the verge of all-out civil war, yet again. Chris imagined all the stories Justin told him coming to life: towns and homes and cities on fire. Blackened, charred vehicles and corpses and hordes of madmen screaming wildly into the answer-less plains. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
It was going to happen. The Kaiser of these dreadful types had been building up strength all these years through recruitment, acquisition of military hardware through his black market channels, and God only knew what else. It was all coming to boil inside this pressure cooker of a planet.
Some men only seek power.
Bill approached Chris' side with a heavy parka and a bottle of water. "I thought you could use a drink, the kind that is not mind-altering." he smiled.
Chris smiled back. "Thanks."
"Sure."
"Bill?"
"Yes."
"Do you think we'll be alright?"
"I tend to think so. God has a way of shielding those not in harm's way."
"We're safe here, right?"
Bill leaned up against the handle bars and relaxed his stance. "Well, we are a good ways from the factories. Most of the towns are close by them. That's where I fear the worst will happen. Now, I do not know where the Kaiser will strike or where his enemies reside, but I do know that if we play it smart and we work together, we'll survive the next war."
"How long do you think it will last?"
"If anything like the previous, then not very long. We just have to make sure we stay indoors if the New Model Army decides to venture planet-side."
"What if we run out of food?"
"We'll have to sacrifice and fast."
"Like a good Christian would?"
"Indeed." Bill smiled.
"So if Justin and Sergei got in a fight, who do you think would win?"
"You mean a man-to-man fight?"
"Yeah. Who's your money on?"
"This would probably never happen, you know."
"I know, but I was just curious."
"It pains me to say, but I would place my bet on Sergei winning that fight."
"Really? Why?"
"Sergei has had to fight all his life. He's probably very good at it."
"But Justin was trained by the best. He's a Marine."
"Was a Marine."
"Once a Marine, always a Marine."
"Sure, but Justin's gotten a bit rusty over the years."
Justin stepped outside. He strode over to Bill and Chris, who'd stopped conversing that instant.
"If you want, Kid, go inside and rest. I'll take over for a while."
"Okay."
Chris stepped back into the igloo. Once he was out of sight, Bill said, "You know he's very scared."
"I know."
"You think we'll make it outta this one like last time?"
"I'm tired of everyone looking to me for answers."
"I didn't expect you to have the answer, Justin. I simply asked what you thought."
Justin breathed in a full breath of Traxus IX, scanning the horizon with a squinted gaze.
"Well, then I think I don't know."