As I Walk These Broken Roads (2 page)

* * *

As Wentworth watched the sun pass the horizon he heard the music go on downstairs.  It was soft, but he could still make out the lyrics. 
He knew them. T
he prewar music was a nice addition to the beer and tobacco. He didn
’
t realize it, but
his
toes were tapping.

He heard somebody moving up the stairwell, and looked over expecting to see the bartender come up
and offer another
round.  Instead it was another patron, somebody new.  He was tall and lanky, with a
pint
of beer in one hand, and a solid expression on his fa
ce.  He
’
d shaved
his head recently and was spotting a goatee, as well a
s several facial piercings, but didn
’
t wear
the
facial
tattoos
of the
others.  His black jeans and blue-plaid vest clashed with the tool belt he was wearing – and Wentworth
’
s eyes picked out the revolver strapped subtlely under the belt.  The man sat down at a table kitty-corner from
him, and nodded
.

“
Hey,
”
his body was
turned slightly away,
“
how
’
s it going?
”

“
Not too bad. Just finished a long hike, and figured I deserved a
drink
to relax with.  That music downstairs
i
s helping.  Gotta say, I
’
m pretty impressed with the tech you guys got going in this burg.
”

“
Heh, glad you like it.
”
 
He put his hands behind his head and stretched dramatically. 
“
Yup, yup, a bit of ole
’
Raxx
’
s handiwork!
”

“
Oh yeah?
”
said Wentworth, perking up,
“
The music or the generator?
”

“
Well, both, really, but don
’
t say that to Bill.  He
’
s the guy that runs the feed store.
”
 
He sipped his beer,
“
The generator was easy, I designed my first one years ag
o.  There
’
re a couple parts you
’
ve got to
scavenge, but they
’
re easy to find.  The rest
’
s pretty simple if you know what you
’
re doing.
”
 
He paused to pull out a cigar and light it. 

“
What about the sound system?
”

He got a serious look on his face and focused on the table in front of him. 
”
Bill ma
naged to find an old
m
usic player and some speakers, but it didn
’
t work at first.
I
’
ve never played around with anything like that before
, but Bill was pestering me
so
I
took a look
to see what I could do.

“
Well, it turned out that the only problem was that the
speakers
’
internal
power supply had gone dead way back – the chemical rig had rotted.
You needed it to even out the sine wave.
I tried reconditioning it, but that didn
’
t work, so I just rigged a
new one with some copper and citric
acid. Heh, she
’
s an ugly beast – but it works, and
now
we
’
ve got all this old
-time
music
!

“
But
, see, here
’
s the thing–
”
he smirked conspiratorially,
“
S
ince Bill found the thing, I
’
m lett
ing him have the all the credit – e
x
cept when people ask.  So there you got it – music à la Raxx!
”

Wentworth
nodded,
“
That
’
s pretty impressive. There aren
’
t many guys left who know how to handle the old tech - say, I don
’
t suppose you know anything about mechanics?
”

“
Hmm, I might know a thing or two.  I
’
m the general fix-it guy here in Blackstock and I
’
ve dealt with internal combustion before–
”
He tilted his head,
“
Are you saying you
’
ve
got something for me to work on?
”

“
Yeah. M
otorcycle - she broke down on the way into town – the chain snapped while I was riding. So that needs fixing, the wheels probably need realignment, and one of the cylinder heads might need replacing – she
’
s been sounding funny for the past couple of days.  Does that sound like something you could fix?
”

“
Yeah… yeah, I should be able to help – but what about you? Are you okay man?
”

“
Mostly,
”
Wentworth rubbed the back of his right calf,
“
the chain whipped around and hit my leg when it broke, but these chaps took most of brunt.  My leg was numb for a while there, but now
it
’
s
just bruised.  I didn
’
t wipe out or anything and I can still walk – so yeah, I
’
m okay.
”

“
Glad to hear it.
”

“
Yeah, so am I.  The trek here was bad enough without a broken leg.
”

“
How far out were you?
”

“
About twenty klicks.  That
’
ll be a problem.
”

“
Hmm,
”
Raxx thought for a minute,
“
It
’
s doable.  Come by my workshop tomorrow morning and we
’
ll talk.  Don
’
t worry, I won
’
t overcharge
you
.  But I
’
m off the clock right now, so I don
’
t want to talk business,
”
he smiled,
“
I haven
’
t even said welcome to Blackstock.  The name
’
s Raxx, by the way, like I said earlier.
”

“
Pleased to meet you, Raxx.  People call me Wentworth.
”
They got up to shake hands and 
Raxx relocated to a couch near the window
– his larger frame made him lurch in the seats
. 
“
I
’
ve gotta say,
”
said Wentworth,
“
this place seems alright.  Everyone I
’
ve met
ha
s been decently friendly so far.
”

“
Yeah, it ain
’
t a bad place. 
I
’
m new here myself.  Moved in a
bout six months back.
”

“
Right – the bartender said something about a new Tech in town.
”

“
Yeah, that
’
s me, but I
prefer
‘
Mechanic
’
– you can decide later if I de
serve it or not.
”
He sipped his beer, and looked out over the town.
“
I like Blackstock - I think it
’
s
because it
’
s so isolated.  Out W
est – well, there
’
s a
lot of
bullshit.  People are denser out there, so you
’
ve
got
plenty of
derelicts,
and
then there
’
s
the politics... between the
different
cities
, that is
… but Blackstock, it
’
s pretty isolated. It
’
s not on any o
f the trade routes, and there
’
s
no
working
railroad, so you avoid all that shit. But at the same time it gets the occasional trader coming through – it
’
s got enough contact to keep it sorted out, with none of the garbage.  The locals are a bit suspicious at first, but they give you a chance if you
’
re alright.
”

“
What about you then?  You don
’
t seem too suspicious.
”

Raxx shrugged.
“
Like I said, I
’
m an outsider here too, so I guess I just
want to
talk with someone else who
’
s from the outside.  If you head downstairs though, I
’
ll bet that Eddie – he
’
s the bartender – he
’
ll start up a conversation with you.  He likes hearing any news from other places almost as much as he likes to hear himself talk.
”

Wentworth drained the last drops from his
glass
. It was warm and bitter. A wave of exhaustion washed over him as the alcohol
slid
through his veins.
“
Well, Raxx, I
’
m gl
ad I met you
– especially since you
’
re a Mechanic – but I
’
ve
got to crash
. After that trek I
’
m a
bout ready to pass out. Say, are there any hotels in town?
”

“
Hey man, don
’
t worry – Landfall here used to be an Inn back before the war.  Nowadays it
’
s mostly just the Ale House, but Eddie and his mom still keep rooms for the traders that come through.  They
’
ll make you breakfast and dinner, too.
”

“
That
’
s good to hear; I
’
ve been carrying that duffle over there for long enough.  I hate to take off on you, but I
’
m burned – I
’
m gonna head downstairs, and get things sorted out, then rack.  What time should I come by tomorrow?  And where is it?
”

“
I set up in an old service station nobody was using. It
’
s just down Main Street a ways.  It
’
s got one of those red and blue signs out front on a post.  Just come by whenever you
’
re up, I
’
ve got other stuff I can work on if you need to sleep in. If I
’
m not there just ask around – I shouldn
’
t be too far.
”

“
Alright. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.  I
’
ll see you tomorrow.
”
He shook Raxx
’
s hand, then left, taking the
glass
and pitcher with him.

Raxx drank the rest of his beer
slowly,
listening to the music below and watching the stars come out through the window.  It was a quiet night and nobody came up to play pool.  He wondered a bit about the stranger, thinking about the man
’
s motorcycle and what he could do to fix it, but mostly he thought about Connie.  He hoped she would be feeling better by next week. The locals were big on their annual
‘
Corn Festival,
’
scheduled
for
the
Saturday after next.
She was looking forward to the dance
.