Fallocaust (The Fallocaust Series) (34 page)

There was a electronic buzz as Reno slipped on his pair of night vision goggles. Then with his own vision improved he led me towards the west exit. A crumbling rocky trail that would take us down to level ground, far away from the safe house nestled in the rocky hills.

We made our way down the chalky rocks as quickly as possible. For the both of us, it was easy. We had memorized where to step, what to grab onto and how to navigate quickly to the greywaste’s floor. Before half an hour passed I landed on the ground with a thud, a plume of ashy dirt flying up from my boots. I looked behind me as Reno landed beside. His fingers hovering over his knife as he surveyed the area.

“She’s right, see the light?” Reno said pointing.

I looked to where he was pointing. I didn’t need special goggles for me to see it. The light was a brilliant blueish sunburst in my vision. It looked several miles away far away from the main road I had taken several days ago. With no houses or overpasses to hide the glow from their fire, they were exposed to everyone in the wastes. A cocky move legionnaires commonly did. Showing the wastes that they had nothing to fear.

I felt a rush of adrenaline and a jolt go through my heart. I could taste their blood on my lips already, it made me salivate. They would never see daylight again, and they didn’t even know it. How fragile a human life is, so easily taken away. Well they knew what they were signing up for when they sold their souls for rations. It was of no concern of mine. Once you put on the king’s fatigues you became my mortal enemy. No matter who you were before.

With a nod we silently started running towards the light, crouching down as we did to hide ourselves. My own mind playing with the different ways I could kill them. My mouth still watering at the thought of tasting their still warm flesh. We would need to drain the bodies and stash them for the Aras scavengers to fetch tomorrow, but I would bring back a piece for Killian to eat at Reno’s. Their hearts perhaps, or maybe a choice cut to fry up with some onions. Whatever it was, Killian would eat tonight. My gift to him, the last of the fucks who messed with him.

It was cold tonight, colder than usual for this time of year. The rains would be coming in the next couple months, which with it brought the cold weather. The stars tonight were lost in the dust choked sky, but the moon was a faint sphere, surrounded by the black and grey in front of us, above shadows of rusted out cars, and the usual snarled metal debris that covered the wastes.

The plume of flame became bigger as we ran, and soon I could hear catches of muffled voices though what they were saying was lost on me.

If two of them were the legionnaires I was looking for I wasn’t sure what they were doing out here, my guess is they met up with two other legionnaires and were perhaps trying to make it to the nearest fort. The truck they had with them must have run out of fuel, or perhaps the factory workers bought it from them as well. I wasn’t sure, didn’t care really. They were on foot, that was all that mattered right now.

“So are we going in there guns a blazing or do you want to take them on stealth?” Reno said in a barely audible whisper. The light was getting closer, though it was broken up by bushes and a few larger rocks.

“I don’t want to fuck around with your two, just spray them with bullets. I’ll recognise their faces, dead or alive. I’ll take my two alive and see what I can get from them.” I was a better shot than Reno day or night. I didn’t want to risk taking all four of them alive, not with the amount of weapons they carried on them. The surprise rubber bullet gun that the legionnaire father pulled on me was still fresh in my mind. I didn’t want a repeat, with real bullets.

Hopefully I would recognise them sitting around the fire, or what I could recognise from Killian’s description, and I could signal to Reno which two I wanted to kill. If not, I still had a chance of at least one of them being kept alive by me.

Truth be told, I didn’t just want one alive to interrogate. I still had that eating thing I wanted to try. I had never gotten a chance to taste the last heart I ripped out.

“Can we leave a cute one alive for me?”

A small growl came from my lips, I gave him a unimpressed look, he gave me an innocent smile back.

“I suppose.”
Reno gave a muffled
yesss
as we carried on. This was his special way of getting paid. I had stopped letting his mouth near by cock many years ago when I grew out of my sex drive. His response to that was well... having his way with his choice of legionnaires. I was his partner in crime admittedly. I disabled them and held them down for him. It kept him from pawing at me and whining to much about my refusal to take my clothes off for him. Though I had never let him get any farther than oral and making out. I just was not that kind of guy.

“Have you fucked him yet?”

For fuck sakes, Reno...

“No!” I said exasperated. The thought was a bit horrifying at the moment. I had killing and mutilating to do.

“Do you want to?”
“NO!” I turned to him, I felt like decking him in his face with the shit eater grin he was giving me. “I need to concentrate on killing these fuckers right now. Don’t ask me shit like this.”
Reno’s smile widened. “You’re scared aren’t you? You’re all weirded out by touch. You will have to you know that right? He’s like seventeen years old, he’s probably beating off right-”

I smacked him hard upside them head then quickly covered his mouth as he gave out a sharp cry. Then I let my hand go and carried on without a word. I wasn’t in the mood.

Reno took the hint, though I could still feel him smiling. He was only talking about this smut because he was about to get laid and now he was horny. The sooner I could kill the legionnaires, and get Reno what he wants the better. I hope he appreciated what a great friend I was.

He shut up as the light approached and soon enough we were ducking behind anything that could break up our silhouettes. Though the legionnaires had been smart and made their camp well away from any of larger objects. We didn’t need much though, we were both dressed in black and had black hair. We might as well have been shadows.

From what I could see there was four of them like the lookout had told us. Though to my annoyance their faces were covered by their goggles and helmets. Normal goggles thankfully, not a night vision one in sight. They were sitting around a fire eating, with a half gone human thigh roasting on the spit. Split open and leaking grease into the hissing fire.

There was no sentry, which was odd, but considering they were in the middle of eating it wasn’t farfetched to assume the lookout was taking a break to grab a quick bite. It looked like we had chosen the right time to ambush.

Reno gave me a few hand signals, telling me he was going to duck behind a near by thick bush. I gave him a nod and gently unhitched my M16. I held the cold gun against my chest and watched, scarcely breathing, as my friend silently walked towards the bush.

I could hear the murmuring of them talking. I was tempted to listen in, just to see if I could get any intel, but I wanted my focus elsewhere. I could see their blades sheathed to their sides, and their assault rifles resting, ready and loaded, on their backs. No time to fuck around.

As Reno got into position and waited for my signal, my heartbeat started to rise. I took a silent breath to slow it down. It wasn’t nerves, I don’t think I was capable of being nervous anymore. I was excited.

I picked out the two closest to me, since I couldn’t recognise them anyways, and signalled back to Reno. My ring and pinky finger in the air, telling my killing partner I was going after the two on the right.

Then with the same hand I held up all five fingers. Five seconds and we opened fire.

I counted down in my head. Watching as the legionnaires who tormented my boyfriend, stuffing their face with meat. Talking casually amongst themselves. Not realizing they were three seconds from death.

Two...

One...

I blew off the right hand fingers of the first one, and most of the left. He had been holding a chunk of meat with them, which was now flying through the air with a spray of blood and flesh. Before the mess even had time to hit the ground I had turned and shot the second in the arms. Reno rained bullets on his two, just like I had hoped. They were dead before they could even hit the ground.

“Nice aim!” Reno praised with a smile, giving his bullet riddled corpses a once over.

I walked into the camp. My night vision disappeared as the flames of the fire illuminated the surroundings. It was a small camp, only bedrolls rolled out beside where they were sitting. A couple small sacks of supplies and not a truck in sight. The camp looked hastily put together, no doubt they were not normal patrol.

I walked over to the two dead ones. Reno did his job. They had their heads half blown off, and certainly were not going anywhere. They were slumped down in front of the fire, the dark shining blood spilling onto the greywastes, collecting the grey dirt as it pooled around the cracking flames.

My two were screaming and struggling to get their guns. I kicked down the one that still had hands first, as the other one reached for his rifle with bloody nubs. He was standing with his back to the fire, no where to go and he knew it. I had kind of hoped he would run, but he seemed petrified.

“He’s cute ain’t he? Isn’t that what you wanted?” I nodded towards the scared shitless legionnaire. He was sputtering for mercy now, trying to back up but stopping when the flames started licking his ass.

“He’s alright, blond too I think.” Reno looked towards him, he took his knife out making sure the kid saw it. The soldier only stared at him, trying to tuck his bloody fingers into his combat armor. His face was white with shock.

“Get on the ground, on your back and put those nubs of yours behind your head,” Reno commanded him, pointing the knife threateningly at him.

The kid nodded, and laid down like he was told. I still couldn’t get a good look at him, but with the cowardly way he was acting I wouldn’t put it past him being one of the two. He was a new recruit obviously.

With all the murdering of legionnaires I had done over the years one thing was clear. The new ones were a cinch to kill, but the longer they belonged to Kessler and Silas, the harder they got. The legionnaire’s dad on the off ramp was a testament to that.

“Hold him down, I want to get a look at this one first,” I said quickly. I put my boot against the neck of the second and pressed down. He started to gasp and groan.

Reno put his boot on the kid’s stomach, he took the goggles and helmet off at the same time. The kid had dirty blond hair, and a shabby beard over a weather beaten face.

Reno checked inside his helmet. “Charlie Kirk,” he said throwing the helmet down.

Not one of the ones I was looking for. At least he wasn’t bad looking, though I’m sure at this point Reno would have fucked him either way.

“He’s not bad, but I would like a bit of choice,” Reno said, he glanced over at my legionary who was coughing up blood and moaning. “What about him?”

I tore the goggles and helmet off and checked inside. Hunter Felsy.

“For fuck sakes!” I hissed. Out of anger I got my combat knife out from my belt and quickly stabbed him in the heart. I heard Reno complain to me as I got up but I was in too much of a foul mood to care. I left the knife there and went to the other two.

Nope and nope... no Jake no Martin.

“None of these are the boys who got Killian!” I snarled, kicking one of the corpses as the guy with the knife threw his heart started his death spasm.

Reno looked behind him still pinning the Charlie one down. “We’ll find them, dude. We killed legionnaires, it’s not a total loss.” I looked away as I noticed he was unbuttoning his jeans.

I suddenly felt a burst of anger go through me. My blood lust hadn’t been fulfilled. I wanted to carve out the heart of the kid Reno was on. I wanted to find more and mutilate them all.

I didn’t want to go back empty handed.

I wedged my combat knife out of the now dead legionnaires chest and walked over to the five minute lover of my friend. He was doing what all cowards do, bargaining for his life.

“Jake Geist and Martin Peele, where are they?” I knelt down beside the kid and took his jaw into my hands.

He looked back at me like a scared scaver. His brown eyes small and pleading.

“I don’t know who they are,” he said in a small and mousy voice.

“Take his pants off,” I commanded Reno. I got up and straddled his chest as he started begging Reno to stop. With some adjusting I made it so my knees were pinning his arms down.

“Martin Peele and Jake Geist. Legionnaires. They killed an entire merchant’s caravan and kidnapped a blond boy and sold him to Typhus Canyon several days ago. They were with others, now dead and eaten.”

The legionary tried to struggle, but I had him pinned. I could feel him kicking as Reno took his pants off though.

“I don’t know who they are!” The man screamed, as he did his pulse stayed at its rapid pace. He wasn’t lying. “We’re a patrol, stationed in a base north of Gosselin. We’ve only been out since yesterday, we got dropped off. We’re looking for the Raven.”

Oh really? Behind me Reno chuckled. Did he know why they were looking for the Raven? Looks like my havoc at the factory had made its rounds.

I heard clothing rip as his pant legs got torn off of his boots.

“Well you found him,” Reno said from behind me. The soldier whimpered. To his credit he hadn’t started crying yet. Though he did keep thrashing his legs.

“Where would they be? They aren’t patrol just a bunch of fucking punks making trouble for the locals. Are they due anywhere?” I didn’t know how they worked. Sometimes they had purposes like patrol or blood collection. Other times they seemed to just wander around for no reason other than to bully the locals or the ravers.

“I... I don’t know, we have forts... we...” Suddenly the kid screamed, he started to thrash again. Reno swore. I could see his bare knee from the corner of my vision. I reached over and hooked my arm around it and shifted myself up further on his chest. In the back of my mind I wasn’t looking forward to having to explain my role in this to my new boyfriend, but eh. I never got off on it. I didn’t see anything wrong with it. This type of shit hadn’t gotten me even stiff since I was sixteen.