Condemned (Death Planet Book 1) (16 page)

She turned the cart into the street that led toward the gates. She whipped the hauler until it howled again, and accelerated until the hiss of its breath was louder then the noise of the wheels on the street. The cart bucked beneath her as it bumped over the potholes, and splashed through the mud.

She was almost free. Fuck knows where she was going, but she wouldn’t be coming back this way any time soon. Men, beasts, and the few women on the streets, scattered as the cart raced toward the open gates.

“Shut the gates,” someone yelled from behind her.

The Guards at the gates looked at her, then at the gates, then back at her again. She was barely ten metres away, and closing fast. The hauler's eight legs thumped down hard again and again, splattering mud on everything around her. If they were in the way when she reached the gate, their bodies would be feeding the rats that evening.

They worked that out, too. They turned and ran.

Her arm jerked as a sharp pain shot through it. The reins flicked, and the cart twisted as the hauler stumbled for a second, then caught its rhythm again. Something warm and wet was running down her fur. She glanced at the source. Some fucker had put an arrow through her arm.

That fucking hurt.

She glanced back. A short Guard with a bow was pulling the string back to load another arrow. She ducked. Maybe the back of the cart would give some cover. She was almost at the gates. Once she was through, the little shit couldn’t hit her, anyway. She flicked the reins again, but the hauler was running flat out. Just don't fucking stop.

A Guard lunged toward the cart with sword raised, but she pulled the reins to the right, and he vanished beneath the hauler’s feet, his bones crunching under the animal’s weight.

The hauler passed through the gate.

Then Btunhilde’s head slumped forward as a heavy weight pulled on her neck. A thick, dark mesh, with rocks tied around the edge. The net weighed her down, and wrapped around her arms as she tried to steer the hauler with the reins. The animal reared up, and twisted in the yoke.

The cart turned sideways, and Brunhilde turned her body to try to take the impact on her shoulder as it tipped over, before it tumbled toward the riverbank.

R
ed crept on along the alley. Daniel held his breath as he watched the hooves stomp through the mud past them, and on until they disappeared from view. He relaxed for a moment, and gasped in fresh air. Nothing moved in the alley. Rat-Girl struggled in his grasp, but he couldn’t just let her go while Red might be hanging around. He pulled her tighter, and put his hand over her mouth as she hissed. Her teeth nipped at his flesh, and he pulled it back.

Then another splash, from the far end of the alley. Two feet appeared, not hooves. Long, dark leather boots. They strolled along the alley, then splashed mud on his face as they stopped in front of him.

Then the legs knelt, and a face stared back at him.

“There you are,” Guy said. He glanced at Rat-Girl. “If you’ve finished your little girls’ tea party under there, you should probably be getting out of this place.”

Daniel released Rat-Girl. She hissed at Guy, turned around, and crawled away into the darkness beneath the building. Daniel pushed himself forward until he could look both ways along the alley. No sign of Red, or any of the other hunters.

He pulled himself out, damp and covered in mud. He tried to brush some of it away as he stood. Then wiped his face.

“You asshole. You could have helped me back there.”

“I could. But you needed a chance to see what life would be like on your own, without me to help you. “

If Red had caught him, he could be dead. Would have been, soon enough. And not as fast as falling off a mountain. They’d have done worse to him before he was done with this world.

But Guy had still been an asshole. Even if he was waiting out of sight to jump in and help if Red found them. It was an asshole thing to do, letting him think he was about to die.

And there’s only so much assholeness a guy can take.

Daniel swung his fist. Guy flung out his hand and grabbed it before Daniel could hit him. Then pushed it back.

“You did better than I expected.”

Daniel’s heart was slowing after the scare. He wiped sweat from his face. “Let’s get out of here.”

Guy led him back toward the street. “Come on. There might be an execution. There’ll be a barbie, after.”

“I don’t want to see any more of this evil place. I don’t want to be here. I shouldn’t be here. I can’t live here. I want to go home. Maybe I can do something to stop them sending people here, when I get back.”

“You hate this place?”

“Of course I do.”

“You want to destroy it?”

“Don’t you? How can anyone want people to live like this?”

Guy leaned closer, and whispered. “I can’t get you home. Even the Brain can’t do that. But I can give you something more important to do here. Something that will help everyone on Hades, and put an end to all these horrors.”

“Like what?”

Guy glanced up and down the alley, and leaned closer still, until his lips almost touched Daniel's ear. Then he whispered.

“You can kill the King.”

S
ix Guards dragged Brunhilde away, still wrapped in the net. She struggled against it, and tried to slash it with her claws, or to push the claws through the holes and slash the men. But they dodged aside at every attack, and she would be lucky to slice through one or two threads of the thick mesh before they got her safely into the dungeon.

Andy watched the Guards go, until they disappeared around the corner of the street. Better them than me. Wouldn’t want to be the one who has to get her out of the cell, either.

One down, one to go. She had been easy to catch, once the others funnelled her to the gate. The other, not so much.

Garry's body swung limply between two Guards as they carried it toward the castle. His head hung loose on his neck, blood dripped from his ears, and his face was smashed inward, like a dinner bowl full of red mush.

Served the fucker right for abandoning him out there. If the carts had stuck together, they'd have captured Brunhilde that night, Garry would still be alive, and Andy wouldn't be facing a death sentence if he didn't find the girl. All of this crap was all Garry's fault, when you thought about it.

Liam strolled across the street, carrying a bow, and the blood-soaked sword from the Guard the hauler had crushed to a pulp as it trampled him by the gate.

“Good job,” he said. “Thought we’d never stop her.”

“Where did you find her?”

“At Nathan's bar.”

“The junkie? Did you see the girl with red and blue hair?”

“She was there one minute, and gone the next. Nathan said she jumped out the window.”

“You believe him?”

“Not sure why he'd lie.”

“I can think of two very big reasons why he'd lie.” Andy mimicked grabbing her breasts and squeezing them.

“Too right. Nice pair on that little bitch.”

Andy had to start somewhere. He shuffled along the street, wincing every time his legs moved and the skin tore open again beneath the blood-soaked bandages on his ass. One of the male slaves was still fighting two whip-wielding men by the stage. Another lay dead in the mud, his head six feet from his body, the eyes still open wide in astonishment.

Kevin was stripping bodies outside the bar, and tossing their armour and weapons into a cart. Two hounds fought over one of the dead Guards' legs. The bigger one bit down hard on the boot, and twisted, swinging its head rapidly from side to side. The leg tore free at the knee, and the smaller hound bit down on that end. They backed across the street, the large one pulling the foot away, the smaller one trying to pull the knee back. Kevin grabbed the leg, and tried to pull it from them. The small hound released it, and lunged for him. The large one dragged the leg under the boards outside the bar, as Kevin stepped back and kicked at the small one.

This was really turning into a pretty shitty week. They'd better be recruiting hard among the newbies, just to replace the dead. And it was all fucking Garry’s fault. They ought to kill the bastard a second time, just to teach him a lesson.

Andy grabbed the hilt of his sword as he crept toward the door of the bar. The only noise from inside was faint moaning and groaning. None of the usual sounds of drinking, fighting and drug-taking. And it smelled of blood and guts. He peered around the doorway. No-one visible in the dim interior.

“Kevin, on me.”

The small hound howled as Kevin finally landed a good kick on its side. It raced away, under the boardwalk, toward the sound of teeth crunching on bone.

Andy crept into the bar, sword half-drawn, and stepping over the dead bodies. Kevin followed. Andy stayed close to the door until his eyes adapted to the light. A drone buzzed through the door beside him, and twisted around, recording them as it flew backwards into the bar.

“King’s Guard,” Andy yelled. “Who’s in here?”

The moaning stopped.

A black face appeared at a door, with most of one cheek missing. Andy froze for a second at the sight of exposed muscle, tendons and bone. Oh, this was the guy who blew his face off boiling up crap from the woods to see how stoned he could get. His eyes were red. He must be high again.

A black body followed the face, naked except for a shirt wrapped around his waist. Something poked out at the front.

“It’s just me,” Nathan said.

“Then why have you got a big boner? Were you rubbing one off back there?”

Something crashed in the bedroom. Andy pulled his sword from the scabbard, and hobbled toward the doorway. Nathan put his arm out to block his path, but Andy slammed his shoulder into Nathan’s chest. Kevin grabbed Nathan and pulled him away, as Andy barged past.

Just in time to see Princess’ bare legs disappearing out the window, following the rest of her naked body.

A
ndy raced to the window as Kevin struggled to hold Nathan back behind him. Princess yelped as she slapped down into the mud below, naked. She lifted her face, spat mud, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Andy grabbed the windowsill and pulled himself up. Kevin yelled, and Nathan’s hand slapped onto Andy's shoulder. Andy swung the butt of his sword behind him, and Nathan grunted as it connected with his stomach. Kevin lay on the floor, behind Nathan, trying to push himself up. Let him handle the guy. As Nathan reached for Andy again, he swung his leg over the sill, and glanced down.

Princess pushed herself up out of the mud. Hooves stomped to a stop in the mud in front of her. Her gaze rose up a furry leg to a leather-clad body, to big lips and dark eyes.

“You,” Red said.

Andy slid from the windowsill just as Nathan's arm wrapped around his neck. Nathan grunted and pulled harder as Andy smacked the butt of the sword into the side of his head. Andy gasped for breath, and smacked him again. If he could twist the sword around, he could stab the guy, but the bar’s customers would kill him if they couldn’t get their fix. The world began to fade as Nathan pulled tighter. Andy smacked him again, and the grip loosened enough to gasp down more air.

Red lunged toward Princess as she threw herself sideways, and he splashed down in the mud where she had been sitting. He rolled, and tried to grab her, but she pushed herself up, and picked up her pistol. Her feet slapped in the mud as she ran.

“Come on, you fucker,” Kevin muttered, and grabbed Nathan's arm with both of his hands. Andy hit Nathan's head again, and the pressure relaxed. His neck slid from Nathan's grip, and he fell from the windowsill. He landed on Red's back, and Red collapsed beneath him, into the mud.

Andy rolled off him, still gasping for breath. The girl was racing down the street as fast as her feet would carry her, as they slid side to side in the mud. The red and blue hair would be hard to miss, even if she wasn't naked.

“Stop,” he yelled. “King’s Guards.”

She ran faster. The traders and civilians on the street just watched her go. Fuckers could at least do their duty, and help him catch her. He pushed himself to his feet, and hobbled after her. There was no way he was going to catch her with his body such a wreck. Why didn’t he bring more men with him?

“Get her,” Red yelled, as Stubby and Slaphead strolled out of the
Cat House
. Slaphead ran across the street toward her, and Stubby hobbled behind, still holding his balls.

Princess raised the pistol, pulled back the hammer, and waved it toward Slaphead. “Back off, shit for brains.”

He stopped moving for a second.

“King’s Guards!” Andy yelled again. Liam and Dean jogged out of an alley at the far end of the street. Good. Now the four Guards had her trapped between them, with only those other assholes to get in their way.

Stubby hobbled up behind Slaphead. The traders hurriedly tossed their goods into bags, and abandoned their stalls.

“Put the gun down,” Slaphead said as he stepped closer.

Andy hobbled toward them. Then Red's hand grabbed his arm. Nothing to stop him killing this asshole. He swung the sword, but Red dodged aside faster than his bulky body should have allowed, and the swing went wide. He might look like an amateur, but he’d clearly fought before.

“If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll shoot him.” Princess said.

Andy tried to dodge as Red swung his fist, but his knees screamed with pain, and the fist thumped into his stomach.

“Go ahead,” Red said.

She pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked down. Nothing else happened. Slaphead lunged for her. She threw the gun at him, instead, but he dodged. It smacked into Stubby's face, blood spurted from his nose, and he went down in the mud, groaning.

Andy tried to pull himself up, holding his stomach as he did so. The pain from the punch just added to the throbbing, and stabbing, and aching he already felt. He swung the sword, but Red knocked it aside, and grabbed his arm.

Kevin yelled as he dove from the window. Red turned at the noise, and Kevin smacked down onto Red’s face. Red’s hand slid from Andy’s arm, and he pulled away.