Chapter 42: Convenient Allies
The radio transceiver erupted in static again. The marshal figured she had given the Commissioner enough of a run-around and decided to finally respond. Tapping into the repaired communicator, she adjusted the transmission frequency. "Commissioner."
"Carla, I'm ordering you to return west. Now," Natalie sternly told her daughter.
"My mission was to escort the prisoners back. Seeing as two escaped and the last bled out, I cannot be expected to return on a prisoner escort without prisoners."
"Do you think this is cute?!" Natalie snapped. "I want you back in Vegas yesterday! Get your ass back west or so help me…"
"I'm going to find the prisoners and I will return home," Carla replied. "I'm still following the orders of my commanding officer…"
"AND YOUR MOTHER WANTS YOU HOME!" Natalie screamed. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? To me? Your father? Brother? I need you to…"
"I'm sorry, mom, you're breaking up," Carla replied as she snapped off her transceiver. She took a breath as she marched onwards, fighting back the tear that threatened to escape. She knew her mom wouldn't agree with this decision, but she couldn't return home like this. Like someone who got stood up after a one night stand and later had her eye removed by her own revolver. She couldn't come home a failure.
"Are you OK?" the man behind her asked. Carla turned to look at Frost with her good eye. The civvie had, for his own reasons, tagged along with the two of them. He wasn't supposed to be here, but since neither was she, it was beneath her to question his motivations.
"…Hey, Baxter," Carla called out behind her. "You're going to get a call in a bit. Just a heads up."
Baxter nodded as they trudged through the desert. Lo and behold, a few minutes later, the transceiver in Baxter's power armor went off. Frost moved in on Carla as he kept his voice down. "What's going to happen if Baxter is ordered to bring you in?"
"She won't," Carla replied.
They watched as Baxter listened intently to the blistering rant that Natalie was assuredly giving her. As much as she would want to summon a retrieval team, with everything going on at the main host of the AEG, there wasn't much by way of assets Natalie could summon to corral her daughter back home. As far as she knew, apart from the team led by Cass, Baxter was the only other free trooper, having volunteered to locate the escapees.
"…No, ma'am, I'm afraid I have not established visual contact. …Yes, I will be sure to tell her if I come across her. …Define "force," ma'am?"
Carla closed her eye as Baxter continued accommodating her mother. A few minutes later, Baxter snapped off the transceiver. "…She's worried sick," she stated, laconically.
"And has no idea we're traveling together," Carla completed.
"She thinks you're by yourself," Baxter nodded. "Truth be told, I could be in enough trouble leaving my unit, but Hutsgy is in charge while I'm gone and Gorobets knows how to command the unit."
"You're an officer," Carla shot back. "You could've commanded one of yours to go after them and bring them in."
"Maybe," Kim replied. "But they'd probably get it wrong."
Carla could tell Kim was grinning under her helmet, and she shot back one of her own from under her facemask.
"Hey, uh, quick question?" Frost rose his hand. "What is supposed to happen once we find the escapees?"
"We?" Carla wheeled towards him. "I don't remember asking you to come."
"Lay off, marshal," Kim dismissed. "Tim, show her the pic."
The reason they hadn't been able to recover one of the escapees was because he had miraculously vanished from sight once he had reached the border of the camp. At least, that was how it seemed to the guards. Frost had snapped a picture of their last known location, and as the photo had later shown, three figures stood in the distance, fleeing. Whatever had blinded the guards to the escapee didn't apply to Frost's cameras.
"…Right, then," Carla returned the photograph. "Guess you aren't useless, after all."
"And you didn't answer my question," Frost continued, undeterred.
"…One of the escapees is a spy and assassin for the Legion. We locate and apprehend, and if that isn't possible, we terminate," Kim explained.
"And Lara-" Frost began.
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE WAS A DAMN SPY?!" Carla suddenly snapped.
"…You didn't," Frost said, confused and a little shaken. "No one did."
Carla calmed herself down. "…Kim, can you promise me one thing?"
"Name it," Lt. Baxter nodded.
"…When we find him, I deal with him," Carla stated. "If it wasn't for him…"
"…You OK?" Kim asked, concerned.
"…I need to confront him myself," Carla steeled herself. "I need to get in his face and ask him why. Why Rosa and that asswipe with the gun? Why did he stick with us for so long? And why did…" she stopped talking and continued her trek.
"…Frost, a moment," Kim said as she passed him, leaving him trailing at a distance as she got next to Carla.
"…This is personal for you, isn't it?" Kim asked.
"…Guy makes me a woman one night, tried to defect in the morning and escapes from jail in the afternoon. It's enough to confuse a girl," Carla admitted.
"Letting a guy pump his dick in you does not a woman make," Kim gently chided. "A real woman looks after those around her. Knows when to nurture and when to protect. If you think waking up sore makes you grown, maybe he didn't take advantage of you. Maybe you're just stupid."
"I'm not mad about the sex," Carla bristled. "It's the fact that he used us. We save his life and suddenly he spends the next few weeks making us think he was friendly until he decides he had enough? I thought he came clean with Tobey, but no! He had to screw us over before he left!"
"Us or you?" Baxter asked. "No one asked you to trust him. I didn't."
Carla fumed but pondered the response. True, no one said they were obligated to take him in as a friend and ally. And true, the one who vouched for him the most was Joseph, who would do the same for practically anyone regardless of their circumstances. And no one told her to hop in bed with him. That was all her.
"…I see why Rosa doesn't like you," Carla replied.
Baxter broke out in a hearty chuckle as Frost closed in on them, keeping his eyes on the horizon for any large and asocial reptiles that he was unfortunate enough to be familiar with. The three marched on, hoping to make some progress before the dust storms fully hit them and made their hunt almost impossible. Already, the winds hid large dog tracks before the team could cross them.
The pace was brisk but steady. Cass kept checking with Jimmy to look over a map, paying close attention to the coordinates she had marked. She might not have known where the kidnappers were at the moment, but knowing where they would be going gave them an advantage that they had to keep. Despite her six decades of experience in the wasteland, she found she was at her best when she had a team.
"That storm is getting close," Jimmy announced as he pulled down his binoculars.
"There's plenty of shelter if it gets bad enough. Most of these storms rarely last an hour, but they tend to stack back to back," Cass explained.
"Personal experience?" Jimmy asked.
"What do you think, city-slicker?" Cass playfully taunted.
Jimmy giggled as he fixed his eyes forward. He didn't complain about the pace, as no one wanted to find these guys more than he did. Barring Tobey, he couldn't imagine the Federales being too invested in risking their necks to find her, and Joseph… Jimmy had long ago tried to find excuses or rationalize whatever went on in that man's head. At least his presence included Melody, as fine a medic he ever did see.
"You're Gav's kid, right?" Cass said as they trudged forward into the sands.
"Yep," the gangster grinned.
"I almost couldn't tell. You take more after your mom. How's she doing?"
"Dead," Jimmy answered, no longer smiling.
"…oh," Cass replied. "Sorry, I didn't know."
"Cancer," Jimmy replied. "Ten years ago. We didn't make a big public deal about it."
"…She'd probably want it that way," Cass nodded.
"She insisted," Jimmy allowed a chuckle to escape. "Dad took it the worst, but he didn't let it show. Still wears the wedding ring and all."
"And your sister?" Cass asked, remembering the brief picture of the world of Vegas that she had left, those most cherished memories that she could always fall back on even when things were at their bleakest.
"She went native and married a Mormon," Jimmy laughed. "I left before she had kid #7."
The thought of the mob princess settling down for domestication was hilarious, and Cass couldn't quell her laughter. Jimmy thought it amusing, as even he contrasted the girl he remembered from his teenage years with the woman she ended up becoming. Somehow, an attempt to hook up with Governor Perez, whom she had a crush on for a while, led to her coming to Jesus later for reasons she never felt comfortable explaining.
"…I really want to meet that kid. And I want Rosa to have the opportunity to be a godmom someday," Jimmy explained.
"…Two hundred raiders, all corralled together under the Generalissimo, well, they start launching attacks into El Paso for reprisals," Gael explained to Tobey as the other two Federales kept the pace.
"Ok, so, there's the Generalissimo, but he's not part of the Rio Grande?" Tobey tried to understand.
"It's a Federacion, mutual alliances, holmes. So, seeing as these raiders are pretty much the closest thing we had to a military at the time, guess who we got coming down from Dallas to deal with us himself?" Gael continued.
"No way, you got Lanius to come and kill you?" Tobey laughed.
"Well, not us, the Generalissimo," Gael corrected while Javier and Tobey laughed. "He went and got himself cornered, and right when Lanius was about to press down and finish him off, guess who pops up? The militias, that's who!" he continued as he answered his own question.
"Yeah, a couple dozen communities all coming together to press on the flanks and herd them in," Javier picked up. "That's where I met these two ugly bastards."
"We basically had Caesar himself dead to rights, until one of his tribune officers realized what had happened and called the dog cavalry. Still, most they could do was turn what would have been a defeat into a stalemate. So we negotiated and Caesar agreed to abandon trying to cross the Rio."
"We should have finished him there," Toni muttered under his breath.
"We got a ceasefire and put a stop to the raids. Without culeros like the dear Padre, Mexico was finally able to unite under one banner. Caesar knows that the days of squabbling tribes and families down south is over, so best he adopts a good neighbor policy, otherwise San Antonio will just be the beginning," Gael replied.
"San Antonio?" Tobey asked.
"Just a little rebellion and insurrection to keep Caesar occupied with his own backyard. Not our fault certain members of the Imperial Senate don't see eye to eye with their "glorious" leader. Most we did was funnel some weapons and "encourage" them to stand up for themselves."
"Allowing Caesar's bastard son to come down and kill our men and allies," Toni spat. "That old man you tried to save? He gutted a buddy of mine before feeding him to his dog. Don't let the old fogey act fool you, none of these toros are worth saving."
"We have our orders," Tobey snapped. "This isn't about friendship, this is about an alliance to prevent us from being surrounded. If that notion offends you so much, then why don't the three of you convince your government to lend Cali and us a hand!"
"Sounds a lot like a you problem, and not an us problem," Javier replied.
"Exactly," Tobey sniffed. "So you'll excuse me if I don't share your contempt for your wars."
Gael turned away from the kid to hide his smile. He had to respect his balls, either being brave or stupid enough to mouth off at a bunch of Federales. Still, any legionary they came across would be as good as dead. Were that all they needed to worry about.
Trailing behind, Melody watched as Joseph simply refused to hurry with the rest of the group. As much as she wanted to sympathize with him, knowing the extent of his wounds, that didn't seem to affect his behavior in the slightest. Rather, he kept stopping every few yards to "listen" and occasionally swing his stick like a baseball bat or sledgehammer.
"…Joseph, are you OK?" Melody finally asked as she watched the rest of the company grow smaller in the distance.
"…They're persistent," Joseph muttered to himself. "Lord above, they are committed."
"Who?" Melody asked as Joseph swung again.
"…Friends of Frost from a few weeks back, I believe," Joseph explained. "They've been tailing us for some time."
"…Should we inform the others?" Melody asked.
"…For the moment, they are being held at bay. It's curiosity that's driving them, mostly," Joseph assessed.
"…I'm surprised," Melody admitted. "I figured you'd be the first to want to talk to them. No one is beyond redemption, no?"
Joseph furrowed his brow. "…As much as I wish to agree with that sentiment, I believe it for the best that our groups stay separate. Things would become dramatic if their group intercepted ours."
"…How many?" Melody asked.
"Three," Joseph answered, immediately.
"Then we have the numbers advantage," Melody smiled as she took her husband's arm and hurried him further towards the group.
"Were it so simple," Joseph confessed.
"…What are they like? Those that follow us?" Melody asked.
"…Siblings. They bicker and argue a lot, but will fight to the end for one another, even if it pits them against the rest of the world," Joseph explained.
"So dramatic," Melody laughed. "How bad with people do you have to be to have it come to that?"
"…You'd be surprised," Joseph smiled. "Their circumstances leave them with few friends. All they have is one another, one father, and he who betrayed the rest."
"Hm?" Melody turned to look at her husband, confused.
"…Odd," Joseph's smile began to retreat. "As I look upon their path and where it may take them, I recognize that they are not the obstacles that concern me. However, I find myself looking upon a great dark shape. And that great dark shape…"
"…Joseph?" Melody asked, concerned.
Joseph smiled. "…It's nothing to be concerned with. Come, I think I hear Jimmy complaining that we… I am taking so long."
As they gained on the rest of the group, Melody felt her husband's grip around her arm tighten. In their near-decade of marriage, Melody had learned to read her husband as well as anyone, diagnosing him with near every switch and quirk and subtle change in his behavior. Joseph was doing his best to assure her that he was completely in his usual serenity. But the signs were there. Something was beginning to worry Joseph. Her husband had "seen" something that rattled him. Joseph was scared.
Vulpes Inculta leaned on the railing as he looked over the facilities. He wished he could say this place brought back memories, but there had been little reason for him to stay here during his duties. Circle Junction had been inhabited by petty tribes who fought over the scrap and shelter this place promised in abundance. With all its peoples and resources, it had only been a matter of time until a real power would claim it, as Caesar would later demonstrate.
After that, it would become dedicated to upholding the Legion's greatest asset, manpower. Breeding, conditioning, bartering and training all took place here, maniples and cohorts raised from birth and dispersed throughout the territories to far-flung battlefields and conquests. And then the disaster at Hoover Dam, where the Legion's momentum was stifled and threatened to consume itself like a mangy and rabid animal. Lanius conceded territory, a decision that many within the Legion would privately have called cowardly, but only those like Vulpes, ironically, would have understood the wisdom.
Such a move allowed Lanius to consolidate his remaining strength and lead it towards a new direction, towards the fractured Raider Lords in the east as opposed to Vegas and California once more, in all its pathetic desperation. It allowed him to conquer Dallas and Fort Wrath, finally allowing Caesar's dream to consolidate and expand. Vegas on the other hand was gifted a white elephant, as the saying went. Its territory too vast to patrol, its peoples too fiercely independent to subjugate and tax, a lawless land of limited value to its master in name only. Vulpes had to admit, as much as he was supposed to despise Lanius, he had to give the man credit.
Now he looked over his men as they gathered within the walls of the former fort. Circle Junction had previously been something of an outpost along its newest border, placed right around the area known as the Four Corners. Tensions in the north and south for Imperial Dallas had reallocated what little force they could commit to their western borders, though Vulpes was fortunate to note that the Legion's interest in the facility had long since waned years ago. What little scrap remained within was now being turned into makeshift blockades and chokepoints. Though Vulpes would have happily waged an attritional war against the Allied Expeditionary Group, certain realities concerning his forces forced him to reconsider.
His Cabal, the anti-Californian coalition he found himself leading, was already stressing at the seams. Various Liberty Clans could not drop their grudges, and tensions with the Pelt-Brutes were escalating. A few of the tribals were caught skulking around the Clans' "civilian" population, no doubt looking for meat or breeding stock as was their nature. A few stabbings were followed by gunshots, and Kenzie then ordered all noncombatants to vacate the safety of Circle Junction, lest the sequestering of the groups fall apart and tensions continue to escalate. Thankfully, by way of cruel irony, the fatalist Ministerio began serving as arbiters of the peace. It was almost hilarious.
"Sir?" Nemesio greeted as he arrived along the catwalk Vulpes prowled. "The recon team returned from the lower levels."
"Status?" Vulpes asked.
"…I believe it best you were shown the result," Nemesio replied as he beckoned Vulpes to follow him.
As they walked through the railyard, they could hear bickering between the Clans, punctuated every so often by a guttural snarl. The Pelt-Brutes would be on the front lines when the battle came, as per their insistence. Vulpes was fine with the commitment, so long as he chose when and where they attacked, he ensured Braxus understood. The Clans, on the other hand, would be stuck behind barricades and firing holes, taking potshots and engaging only if the AEG managed to somehow breach their ramshackle defenses. Should both these lines be overcome, then the Ministerio would be sent in, and only then would Vulpes make his final play.
They entered the infirmary, a bunch of wastelanders with medical experience surrounding the single occupant on the gurney. Vulpes looked around, seeing very few occupied beds. "…Where is the team?" he asked.
The Liberty Clans had sent five salvagers into the depths of Circle Junction to locate any spare material they could resurface. They went down in hazmat suits, as the underground catacombs of service tunnels were promising to be abundant in radiation. According to witnesses standing guard near the entryway, the faint sounds of gunshots and screaming could be heard until the only survivor dragged his unharmed yet devastated body back to the entryway. He was promptly taken here, where one of the wastelanders took off his helmet, reeling back in horror as the man promptly puked up an unholy concoction from his stomach. Vulpes, with all his experiences, felt queasy.
The scavenger expired not long afterward, his muscles and skin having been boiled and warped so extensively that even a ghoul would've begged to have been put out of his misery. As the wastelanders gingerly poured their comrade out of the suit, Nemesio's curiosity had been raised. Vulpes caught the look in his goggles. "No," he stated, flatly.
"An appraisement is necessary," Nemesio argued.
"…You have ten minutes," Vulpes relented. "If you get sick, I'm killing you myself."
Nemesio found himself climbing down the hatch, his brothers stationed atop it chanting rites and prayers. Lighting his sword, Nemesio then traipsed into the murky darkness. He could feel the radiation bombard him. Invigorated, he continued onwards. Noting two other bodies, leaking from the seams, he continued onwards as he heard laborious breathing drawing closer and closer.
It was another hazmat suit, only bulker. It reminded him of those who dwelled within the understreets of the Sierra Madre, but something about this figure was different. Turning slowly to see the newcomer, the being let out a low growling moan as it pointed towards the priest.
Nemesio had undergone the purifying holy fires some time ago, changing his appearance though keeping his mind intact. Radiation, as his kind was wont to remind others, was therapeutic. Coupled with his already blessed talent for resilience, there was little that could cause issue for Nemesio del Juarez.
Nemesio felt pain.
Burning from within, he drew his blade before him, watching as the sparks began to glow orange and green, he strode forward to strike the abomination. Slicing across the creature's chest, Nemesio felt himself grabbed by the monster and thrown against the walls as the abomination howled.
Thirty minutes later, Nemesio dragged himself from the catacombs, having warned all close to him to avoid him. Atop the catwalk, Vulpes looked down at his associate as he tapped his foot. "…Well?"
"…A number of years ago, I heard rumor that a number of beasts and the like had escaped from a forgotten zone," Nemesio breathed as he collapsed to a knee.
"…Like that giant gecko that went somewhere south?" Vulpes asked.
"…In a manner of speaking," Nemesio nodded. "I believe that which dwells beneath us is one such creature. The Burning Corpse."
"…Did you kill it?" Vulpes asked, keeping his worry subdued.
"…I was unsuccessful," Nemesio admitted. "However, I suppose that we can use it to our advantage."
"Make our problem California's problem," Vulpes nodded. "Prudent. So long as it doesn't breach the surface and cause chaos within our walls, they are welcome to deal with it."
"Agreed," Nemesio replied as he collapsed on the floor, the radiation scalding him as he hacked up blood. "I just need a little rest. And a few Radaway."
ALLEGED CLASSIFIED REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF FORMER COMMISSIONER FLOYD WILSON
Codename: Gojira
Status: Unknown
Codename: Thunderbeast
Status: Eliminated
Codename: Hate Engine
Status: Unknown
Codename: Metal Slug
Status: Eliminated
Codename: Burning Corpse
Status: Unknown
I swear, Arcade, as if I didn't have enough headaches. The Big MT? That place was supposed to be a myth. Should have stayed a myth, at any rate. Yeah, yeah, desperate measures, I get it. Any information or tips we get from the local prospectors will be run by you, as we agreed. Well, it's looking like a late night at the office for me, I got to "chat" with IA later. Fun. Well, don't wait up. Love you, sweetie.
XOXO, Floyd.