Earthbound (36 page)

“Ash!” Pace cried. By the look on his face
you’d think I was dead. Instead I was just pissed.

“Had to go after the gold!” I growled.

I pulled Pace forward. We had to keep moving.
But our path ahead was now blocked by Mankins. We did a 180 and ran
north, but pretty quickly we saw Mankins filling up the street
ahead of us too. I grabbed Pace and we headed east down
3
^rd
Avenue. It was hard to run. The pain from my gut was
staggering and Pace was still hobbling too. We only made it a few
yards before we saw Mankins up ahead of us again. They were behind
us too. We were surrounded. I grabbed Pace and we ran into the
closest lobby I could find. We collapsed on the ground and hid
beneath some huge chunks of rubble. That’d come in handy. Keep us
safe for at least a few moments. I hated getting surrounded like
that. But ultimately it’d become a numbers game. There were just
too many robots closing in on us. I could hear their wheels
encircle our position. We glanced at each other. We were effed.

Pace exhaled deeply, finishing the last of
our water. He leaned back against crumbling drywall. He didn’t want
to look at me. I don’t blame him.

“Sorry about Rebecca,” he muttered.

I didn’t respond. I was too fuming. He
should
be really effing sorry about Becca!
It’s a worthy apology. But probably too vague for someone facing
certain death. Is he sorry that we went after the gold instead of
her? Or sorry that we’re both in love with her, and she chose
him?

Then a moment later he looked over at me to
make sure I was still listening. Still alive. I shoulda been
concerned that my wound didn’t hurt anymore. That’s not a good
sign. It shoulda really effing hurt. Oh well. I’m gonna be dead
soon anyway. I should be grateful it doesn’t hurt.

“What are they waiting for?” Pace asked.

I just shook my head. I wondered, what are
they waiting for? We were outnumbered over a thousand to two. Bad
odds, even for us. But it’s Mankins. They don’t think. The person
doing the thinking obviously wants them to wait. Shādo Shay must
want them to wait until I bled out. Lower the odds.

I heard the march. Jackboots. That
unmistakable clank of metal marching in unison. It was pretty faint
but it was slowly getting louder. Shādo Shay gave us way too much
credit. I wanted to tell him he was effing crazy. There was no need
for Bions.

The jackboots got louder and closer. Pace
just laughed. I shot him a what-the-eff look.

“So much for getting starbound,” he howled.
That kept him in stitches. I didn’t see what was so funny. That was
his dream, not mine. I wish he had fulfilled his dream.

I reached into my pack and grabbed my last
bite of buffalo jerky. Never did like it. Too salty. Never got to
use that salt Becca gave me. I would’ve made some great jerky.

I loaded two of my last few charges into my
Persuaders. I looked at Pace. He and I knew it was time to take our
stand before the Bions got there.

“This is gonna be difficated,” I said.

We crouched into position. I knew I was gonna
die in the Old City. Decompose amongst the decay. Finally a place
where I belonged, where I could call home.

I wondered if there was anything I was
supposed to say. I really wanted to tell Pace, I dunno, about how I
was glad he agreed to do that first robbery back in Great Falls.
That decision ultimately cut our lives short. But at least we lived
a little. I looked at Pace. I saw this slight moistness in his
eyes. He’s not scared, that’s not him. It’s something else. I felt
the same way. But eff him if I was gonna say it out loud. Instead
we both nodded. It was time.

So the story has come full circle. Death is
certain. But at least I get to go out alongside my best friend.

As I apply some pressure on the triggers of
my twin Persuaders, one image pops into my mind. Becca. Why the eff
should I think of her? Other than she’s the most beautiful effing
thing I ever seen. I can’t believe I never even told her how I
felt. I’d do it now. If I ever had the chance.

Pace and I rise up in unison. Instantly we
feel the sting of energy blasts whizzing past our cheeks. I don’t
mind the singe, I just want to keep shooting until they connect
with my skull or my chest. Man, they’re everywhere. We line our
backs up against each other, as we always did when we got cornered.
He takes one flank, I take the other. They’re easy to kill, these
Mankins. I kill a dozen. Maybe more, I have to stop counting, but I
can’t help myself. I really enjoy killing Mankins. I’m kinda hoping
I survive long enough for the Bions to get here so I can kill them
too. I know there’s humans in there. But killing ‘em is something
I’m good at it.

I give Pace cover while he reloads. He does
the same for me – or tries anyway. I get nicked in the thigh. Have
to keep standing. Have to hold up Pace. He’s not as good a shot as
me. I think I just killed my fiftieth. We’re nearing the end of our
ammo. I’m disappointed, cause the Bions are here and I wanna kill
them. All of ‘em. They’re raising their cybernetic arms and taking
aim. I raise up my arms too. But unlike those stupid robots, I
don’t need to take aim – it’s second nature. My father must’ve felt
the same way. I never fulfilled my dream, just like Pace, but maybe
I fulfilled my destiny. I am my father’s son. My mother was right
about me. Way too late to prove her wrong. I can manage two more
Bion kill shots, one from each gun before the others beat me before
I have the chance to beat them. In the end, all you can do is go
out in style. I pull back the triggers.

I shoulda told Becca how I feel. Damn.

And then everything turns white.

My eyes slowly open. But I can’t see.
Everything’s white. Can’t be in heaven. I know that much. Maybe
it’s that effing hypernova, finally blowing up and taking the
entire Earth with it, a couple hundred years too late but just in
time to take out all those robots along with us.

I grab the gaping hole in my gut, but I can’t
find it. All I feel is my flesh. Guess whatever the afterlife is,
they fix you up good cause you don’t need to bleed to death when
you’re already dead.

But I’m starting to see shapes. Buildings.
Skyscrapers. My vision’s coming clear. I’m still in the Old City.
And somehow – I’m alive.

“Pace?” I say, getting control over my vocal
chords. I can’t hear too good. It’s like my eardrums are vibrating.
I manage to sit up, expecting great pain from my wound but it feels
fine. Perfect actually. I feel around but there’s no fresh blood.
Just a dried blood stain on my shirt. My thigh is healed up
too.

I see Pace lying down next to me. I shake
him. “Pace? You alive?”

“Uh-huh,” he mutters. I help him up. “You
too, huh? You’re not bleeding!”

“I know, and I’m not complainin’. You too.”
The spot where Pace got nicked in the heel looks perfectly
normal.

“What in the hell was that white flash?”

“I dunno. But look.” I point out. All of
those Mankins lie around us and they’re all crapped out. Keeled
over. Lifeless. The ones we shot and the ones we didn’t. The Bions
too.

“What killed them?” Pace asks.

Then we heard a voice. It was a deep
baritone. Forceful. Authoritative. But not unfriendly. Maybe even a
little melodic. And it had an accent. Asian, maybe?

“It’s called an EMP blast. Electromagnetic
pulse.”

Pace and I turned around to see who was
speaking. It was a tall man. Easily six feet. Maybe middle aged, I
dunno, with a perfectly shaven head and a neatly trimmed goatee
around his lips. He’s dressed like any other kinda cowboy, but it
doesn’t suit him. Seems like he should be wearing some kinda
flowing robes or something. His dark eyebrows kind of curl upward
with curiosity. Oh and he’s definitely Asian. I’d only seen an
Asian before in the movies.

The Asian man continued to speak, hovering
over us. “It disables all electronic equipment within a ten mile
radius. So every Mankin and Bion in the vicinity is inoperative.”
Pace and I both instinctively grab our Persuaders and point them at
the man. He laughs at us. “I said
all
electronic equipment. Including your Persuaders.”

I aim at the man’s feet and fire. He says
they won’t work, let’s test it on his toes. Yeah, well, I pull the
trigger and nothing happens. He’s right. We toss our Persuaders.
They’re garbage now.

He grimaces at me. “It’s not very friendly to
shoot at the man who saved your life.”

That pisses me off. “You’re Shādo Shay,
right? You saved our lives after trying to end ‘em! It’s not really
friendly to call in the Bions! That was overkill.”

“That was the point,” Shādo Shay replies. “I
needed to get your attention.”

“You’re effing crazy,” I say.

I get a good look at this guy, this menace
who’d been on our trail since Conrad. He doesn’t look so bad.
Doesn’t look like he’s about to gun us down, that’s for sure.
Course that doesn’t seem to be his style. He hasn’t exactly gotten
his fingernails dirty – instead sending out a bunch of robots to do
his dirty work for him. That makes him either really smart or a
real coward.

Pace isn’t angry like me. He’s kinda happy
somehow. “You fixed us up?”

“While you were unconscious. Simple repairs
when you have the right supplies. You’re not much use to me
dead.”

“Why save us?” Pace asks.

“You aimin’ to collect the bounty on our
heads?” I ask. Not gonna remind him it’s worth quadruple for dead
instead of alive. That’s kinda important.

Shādo Shay looks at me with this
condescending glare. “What would a man such as myself have need of
your piddling bounty?”

“Then what the eff do you want?” I ask.

“Well I’m not here to kiss your respective
asses,” Shādo Shay replies. That cracks him up. Right, that’s the
message Pace asked that banker back in Conrad to get to Shādo
Shay.

“Guess you got my message,” Pace
chuckles.

“You’re very clever, I suppose,” Shādo Shay
states. He’s now leaning in and talking to us all
confidential-like. “My needs are simple. I want my money back. And
if you’re dead I’ll never get it.”

My spirits lift. For the first time in, I
dunno, months, I think we’re gonna get out of this alive.

“So let’s give it to him,” I say.

“Not so fast,” Pace says to me. Then he turns
toward Shādo Shay. “Don’t you think we’ve thought this through?
Don’t you think we knew there was a good chance you’d follow us?
It’s not the first time you’ve tracked us. It’s what you do.”

“So?” Shādo Shay asks. He’s getting impatient
with our nonsense, I can tell.

A transport rumbles up and stops near us.
Horseless. Not sure exactly how that works. Runs of an engine or
something like that, I dunno. Pace looks real effing excited by the
transport.

A functioning Bion steps out. It must’ve been
beyond the range of that EMP blast. Maybe it was up in the air, I
dunno. The Bion extracts what I’m sure is a working Persuader from
out of its ribcage and points at our heads.

“The gold,” Shādo Shay says. His tone of
voice is calm but I can tell there’s venom in there too.

“Where are our horses?” I ask. I’m looking
around, don’t see Charon or Flashbound.

“They’ve been extracted from this… unstable
situation,” Shādo Shay responds. “They are being well tended to.
They are lovely creatures. I, like you, have a fondness for
horses.”

On that we agree. I’m relieved, I gotta say.
Anything happens to me I deserve. But not Charon.

“Whaddaya think, Pace?” I ask.

Pace’s eyes are darting around. He doesn’t
look too convinced. “Can we do something about the Persuader
pointed at our heads?”

Shādo Shay raises a few fingers and the Bion
lowers his weapon. A peace offering I suppose. “Give me my gold and
you will remain unharmed. That is my promise.”

Pace and I nod at each other. What choice do
we have?

We lead Shādo Shay and his Bion escort toward
where we’ve got the gold stashed. It’s not far from here. I notice
Shādo Shay is looking a little green as he stares at all the decay
in the Old City. “The way mankind used to live,” he remarks. “So
much filth. So much disease.” Like it’s gonna give him cooties or
somethin’. Then he looks at me. Why the eff is he looking at me?
“I’m on your side Ash. Believe it or not.”

“Uh-huh,” I reply.

“Are you familiar with the story of Robin
Hood? He stole from the rich to give to the poor?”

“Sure. Somebody used to read me that story.”
Becca, of course. “That’s kinda like what me and Pace are. We’re
kinda like Robin Hoods.”

Shādo Shay laughs. “You’re stealing from the
rich and hording it for yourselves. That isn’t charity. You’d have
to distribute that gold to all the needy across the
settlements.”

“Well then maybe that’s what we should
do.”

“There is no need. I am already doing so. In
my own way.” I don’t really care much what Shādo Shay has to say.
“Ash, may I share with you a secret? Do you know why I fancy myself
to be a Robin Hood? Why my forefathers were Robin Hoods? Because we
stole
everything
from the rich and gave it
to the poor. We stole this entire planet and gave it to them!”

“I don’t understand. Everybody who wanted to
left in the Exodus except those who wanted to stay behind. It just
turned out those were the poor.”

“No. The poor didn’t decide to stay behind.
They weren’t given much of a choice. They couldn’t afford the
fare.”

I look up at Shādo Shay to see if I can read
his face. Doesn’t look like he’s lying. Not sure what reason he’d
have to lie. He’s getting what he wants.

We lead Shādo Shay and his Bion to a
particularly shabby-looking skyscraper.