Chapter 15: Wrong Choice of Prey

After a few moments of observing I could tell that it was the other wagon that was kicking up dust. It’s black form a perfect dot on the horizon. Surrounding it were a number of smaller vehicles kicking up dust clouds of their own. After watching a bit longer I realized they were motorcycles. They were much faster than the wagon, and seemed to be circling around it concentrating their fire on the horse.I could tell that it was wounded, and starting to slow down.

I started to walk toward the oncoming group.

“Donny! Stay here, they’ll bring them to us,” yelled Deux.

I ignored him. My blood was up from our recent experience at Tilly, and I was eager to take it out on someone. These raiders had volunteered for the privilege. I started activating my abilities. I was able to shut down all of their abilities and hit the nearest one with freeze, causing him to lose control of his bike and slam into an old rusted road sign. After that I took a knee to make myself a smaller target and started taking shots. There was a lot of dust in the air, but thanks to the glowing highlight my ability provided I was able to shoot through it relatively easily. I alternated between firing and activating my freeze ability to make them lose control of their bikes. By the time they realized what was happening I’d already dropped four of them. Three turned their bikes from their pursuit of the wagon and started riding right toward me, firing pistols as they went. I started moving sideways, forcing them to alter course. I tagged one more with freeze causing him to ride directly past me, and shot the tire out from under the second. When the last one had almost reached me, trying to run me down, I stopped, grabbed the barrel of my gun, and swung it like a club at him. I heard a loud crack as the butt of the rifle hit him and he went flying, his bike riding off without him.

I looked back to the rest of the group and saw them handily mopping up the remaining raiders. I’d taken one half and they’d taken the other. That seemed about fair. I walked up just as the last raider attempted to flee, but Deux took care of him with a few shots from his revolver. He’d never been one for accuracy, but I didn’t know of anyone who could shoot a pistol off as fast as he could.

I joined up with the group and was met with stares. They were becoming familiar to me, those types of stares. I’d gotten similar ones after I’d freed the people that had been kidnapped up in Boon. They made me uncomfortable, but I’d wanted blood, I hadn’t really been concerned with how it would affect their opinions at the time. I gave the group some space while they checked on the people in the wagon, the horse, and the cargo. I occupied myself collecting what I could find off the raiders. I pocketed a fair amount of 9mm and .308 ammo for myself, and put everything else usable in a backpack I found on one of the bodies for the rest of the group to go through. Undertaker groups didn’t only pick up children, they also traded with what settlements were willing. The raider’s gear and their bikes would likely have a lot of value, particularly when we reached Fette, where the bikes and their parts in particular would fetch a good trade or a high number of points.

I helped everyone load the goods onto the wagons. Deux was talking to various people, and guards were patrolling around as we tended to our wounded. We had no casualties, but one of the men had been shot in the arm, and a woman in the leg. Luckily, they were caregivers, and so they were expected to be on the wagons taking care of the kids most of the time anyway.

When Deux was done organizing everyone I approached him. “What happened?”

“Aside from you trying to get killed?” he asked, his smile having an edge to it I had grown used to seeing over the years I’d known him.

I gestured toward the men I killed. “Seems like they were the ones with a death wish.”

He shook his head, but his eyes softened a bit. “Nothing new apparently. New group of raiders that the horde hasn’t been around to mop up yet. Probably figured they’d raid some deadmen and no one would bat an eye. They attacked when the wagon was a little over halfway here. If the wagon had been able to stop they probably would’ve been able to hole up and pick them off, but the horse got his blood up, they were forced to just do what they could to lead it here and take pot shots when they could.”

“Will the other wagon be okay to continue?”

“Should be, once Celty and Claire have a meal.” Deux pointed.

I looked over to see a few deadmen dragging raider corpses over to the horses. They began digging in with their sharp teeth, taking large bites. That would certainly save us a few days of their feed.

“We should move the wagons down the road a bit,” I suggested.

Deux nodded. “Once they’ve had their meal we’ll move down the road a few miles. Don’t want to wait and see what the motorcycle engines and gunshots stirred up.”

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A few hours later everything was settled and we were camping a few miles closer to the next settlement. Aside from the trouble the other wagon had brought, they’d also picked up two more young, and even managed to trade for some radded out freshwater that a settlement had no use for. Everyone was sitting outside, eating some stew that had been prepared over the campfire and chatting.

I sat on the edge of camp. I’d considered staying in my little corner of the wagon, but decided to take some fresh air while it was available. I got the occasional nod from caravan guards as they passed. They’d doubled the number they usually had out as a precaution after the day's events.

I decided to fiddle around with the radio I’d traded for back in Jasper. I turned the dials, listening to a mixture of static, but not hearing much of anything else. I tried to hear the music I’d heard described second hand, but just as I thought I was starting to get it a voice came through.

“Pride….citizens. The time…. NOW!”

It was just a smattering of words with no context, but they startled me when I heard them. The voice sounded like someone giving a speech, addressing a crowd. They trailed off, and I tried to adjust the dials in order to find it again, but I couldn’t. It had been so brief that I wondered if I was starting to feel the same madness as that of the man who listened to the music of the wastes. I strained my ears at the radio, but no new words came.

I sighed, and finished my stew. I walked into the camp to return the bowl, and noticed the banter and chatter I’d been hearing quieted when I came into view. I ignored it, returned the bowl and walked back into the wagon to sleep. When I’d left everyone’s view, the chatter started back up again, a little of it close to where I was laying down. People often forget that the wagons were only walled up so high before they were covered in cloth.

“...dangerous guy. I wonder why Deux brought him with us?”

“Probably because he’s dangerous. You saw how he took care of those raiders.”

“I did. How was he making them just stop, like that? It was like he was just looking at them and it made them freeze up.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t just shooting them? Nothing like a bullet to keep someone from moving.”

“True… Did you hear how he was found?”

I shook my head. Eavesdropping didn’t do me any good. I stood up and went to look over the young. Most were sleeping peacefully, but the smallest one, the one we’d picked up from Tilly, was looking around curiously. He was already looking better than when we’d first found him. I held out a finger to him, just within reach and he took it, grasping it firmly. I played a little tug of war with him, until I heard someone approach. I looked up and saw Rhea, coming in with a bowl of food. I coughed, retrieved my finger gently, and went back to my spot in the corner.

I took out my book and read for a little while, escaping into a different world for a time. Eventually the sounds in the camp settled until all I could hear were the footsteps of those on patrol. I kept reading until about the second watch change, and after that I dogeared the book, pulled the brim of my hat down over my face and went to sleep.

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