The Bloodless (12 page)

              “You expect me to trust you after what you did to me?”

              “You’re going to have to. We don’t have time for me to explain now, but I promise you when we get out of here I’ll tell you everything.” Justice hesitated as he was reluctant to go. “Now,” she yelled when he didn’t respond right away. He nodded slightly and followed her out of the shack.

              “What the…” Justice said for a second time. When they got outside the immediate vicinity was completely bereft of any bodies. No guards, no defense systems, nothing. It was very odd.

              “I set off a very large diversion,” Crist explained as she joined Justice outside. In lieu of asking a bunch of questions he would get answers to later, he decided to just follow Crist as she took off away from the shack. They ran at full speed for what seemed like at least a half hour and put a serious distance between them and Justice’s captors.

              They finally came to a stop, he couldn’t run any further, even if his life was on the line. He stopped and immediately retched and clutched his side that felt like it had torn vertically between his armpit and his hip. Justice tried to gather himself and when he looked up he saw a gun holstered on Crist’s hip. He lunged and pulled it out and quickly put it up against the back of her head. “Why was that so easy,” he gasped.

              “What are you talking about?” she said cautiously as she slowly raised her hands in the air.

              “Escaping,” he replied, “didn’t it seem like things went just a little too according to plan?”

              “Yes,” she said simply, “that’s how plans are supposed to be. My plans anyway,” she added.

              “What is this? Some kind of mind-fuck where you help me escape then beat my ass and capture me all over again?”

              “No.”

              “I want answers,” Justice yelled, frustration filled spit flying from his mouth. “What the fuck is going on?”

              “Put the gun down and I’ll tell you.”

              “Tell me and then I’ll put the gun down,” he responded. “If I like your answers, that is.”

              “I was under mind control,” Crist yelled, a hint of pleading in her voice.

              Justice lowered the gun because he wasn’t sure he heard what he thought he heard. Crist turned around to look at him, tear streaks down her face. “Mind control?” he said confused.

              “Yes,” she said, “do you remember the hip flask I was drinking out of?”

              “Yeah.”

              “It was a mind control concoction. They force fed me some after they captured me and gave me orders to find you and bring you in. They then put some in that flask and told me to keep drinking it every few minutes to keep the effects running,” Crist said, wiping fresh tears from her face.

              “And you did?” he asked without thinking.

              “That’s how mind control works,” she responded derisively. “The weird thing is though, I was lucid the whole time. I remember everything. I was myself but I was unable to disobey my orders.”

              “But why you?”

              “I don’t know! That’s what I kept asking myself the whole time. ‘Why me?’ It doesn’t make perfect sense, but the only think I can think of is that we’ve had contact in the past.”

              Justice pressed his hands over his eyes, the gun still gripped in his left, and sank to the ground. His body was fairly certain it no longer had legs, at least that’s the message it was screaming in his head. “I’ve had contact with lots of people in the past, why would they single you out?”

              “Like I said, it doesn’t make perfect sense, but, well, not to toot my own horn or anything but look at me. I think they made a pretty good decision.”

              “It did work out pretty well didn’t it?” he mumbled, more to himself than Crist. “Did they tell you anything else, like why they wanted to bring me in? Maybe you heard other things about what they’re doing?”

              “Well, it seems to me that they want you dead, but as far as other activities, no,” Crist said taking a seat next to him. “It all happened pretty quickly. They got me out of my home and then next thing I know they were sending me to get you. There wasn’t much in between.”

              “How did you find me? I mean, after they caught me,” Justice said lowering his hands to the ground.

              “After that Tyler guy knocked me out I woke up and I was all by myself, it’s as if they just left me, like I could be discarded. I guess they never expected someone like me to make a big daring rescue like that.”

              “Wait,” he said and his head perked up, “didn’t they?”

              “What?”

              “Think about it,” Justice said and he got on his knees, “these don’t seem like people who just leave loose ends strewn about their plans…” he trailed off and didn’t continue. He became lost in thought, thinking about things, impossible things, but some things that had occurred to him throughout the whole ordeal and the aftermath. 

              Everything seemed to work out like the plot of a movie, as though the past twelve hours were scripted. But if that were true, what was the end game? What were these “people” planning and what was his role in it, if anything? Was he just a pawn? Even if any of that were true, he decided to just push it all to the back of his mind because there wasn’t anything he could do about it at that time anyway.

              “Hey!”

              “Hm?”

              “Are you okay?” Crist asked.

              “Yeah, just thinking.”

              “What about?”

              “Nothing,” Justice said and when he tried to stand up he found that his legs had regained their strength rather quickly. “Fuck,” he said surprised. “We need to get out of here. We have to keep moving. Do you have anywhere we can go?”

              “Yeah,” Crist said getting to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her pants and looked into the distance, “it’s not much but it’s somewhere safe.”

CHAPTER 7

Burning Effigy
 

              The day was early and Justice found himself wide awake standing outside the front door of Crist’s safe house. It had been several months since she rescued him from Mendel. The shack wasn’t much of a house, but more of a shanty. It wasn’t in the best condition as Crist had to build it herself. Justice made a note to get some help to do a little refurbishing of the shack. He figured he might as well ask Fox, the man who saved his life in the home in Wellingtown, when they met up later that day.

              Crist’s shack was located in Burbage which, like Wellingtown, was a suburb of Albuquerque that was over one-hundred kilometers from Abiyah. Alexander Jefferson decided on New Mexico as the best destination for the large compound he desired for his company as New Mexico was widely regarded to be the best location for experimental laboratories. The isolation allowed for built in privacy features and the distance between neighbors was usually pretty great. Plus the topography of the state created natural fortresses.  Of course, nature wasn’t good enough for Jefferson and he had walls built on top of the jagged outcroppings of rock that surrounded the land purchased for his laboratories.

              Jefferson’s crowning achievement with the design of the compound was the decision to construct a dedicated power plant fifteen kilometers from the compound. It was completely autonomous and not a single organic being was employed at the plant which was meant a lighter payroll, something Jefferson always preferred. It was a solar power plant of course since those were the only power plants authorized for construction at the time but in the US Southwest that was the preferred type anyway because of all the sun the area received each year. However, after one too many malfunctions with the automation in the plant, Jefferson sold it to an energy company who employed real life people to run it.

              A chain reaction was set off after the sale of the power plant that saw a population boom around the GoD complex and the power plant. Jobs were being created and people like living close to work and where people settle so do other commercial entities. Soon the whole northwest corner of New Mexico saw settlements spring up that finally filled a void left by the Native Americans. It was a tight-knit large area community. Many of the services needed for societal living were traded between the neighborhoods and before The Incident, the entire region was on a solid track to becoming self-sufficient.

              The sky above Justice was dark, but it was always dark in those days. He took a deep breath of the putrid air before slipping a mask over his nose and mouth that filtered out the contaminants in the air that had been killing people so efficiently ever since The Cloud erupted. The presence of The Cloud cast an unnatural haze over the lands limiting visibility dramatically. He checked his watch and saw that eight in the morning was approaching quickly. He would have to set out soon if he wanted to be on time meeting Fox.

              “You’re coming back aren’t you?” a soft, unusually vulnerable voice wafted to Justice’s ears. Crist had opened the door and she stood there in just a t-shirt, her purple and pink hair rolled up in a messy bun, a mask on her face as well. Her hard, heterochromatic gaze had always remained the same, it was one of the main things that drew Justice to her.

              “Only if you want me to,” he responded.

              “Don’t do that,” she said slightly exasperated, “you know I hate it when you talk like that.”

              Justice smiled and gently placed his hand on the side of her face, “Sorry, this is still really new for me.”

              “It’s new for me too,” Crist said, “but I guess three months is still a short time.”

              “Yeah but you’ve always been more sure of what you want.”

              “So you don’t know if I’m what you want?”

              “Did I say that,” Justice responded and he removed his hand from her face. “Of course you’re what I want. I’ve always wanted you,” and a sharp pang for his family reverberated through his body. He had to be honest with himself though. There’s no question that he loved his family with every ounce of his heart, but he had loved Crist since the day he first saw her in his laboratory. They developed a deep emotional connection in the days that followed their reunion. That was something he never had with his wife but it was something he had longed for his entire life.

              “I know you do and I know you’re coming back,” Crist said, returning to her brisk, assertive tone. “Wanna know how I know that?”

              “Sure.”

              “Because I’m coming with you.” Crist turned around and walked back into the shack.

              “Oh no you aren’t,” Justice said as he followed right behind her. “It’s too dangerous. You’re staying here.”

              “The hell I am,” she retorted as she dressed at top speed. “You think I’m just gonna sit around here and worry while you’re out there putting your life on the line?” Now dressed, Crist spun around and looked Justice dead in the face.

              “That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” he said as he took his mask off and gently sat her down on the bed behind her. They were in the corner of the shanty they considered the bedroom. A makeshift wardrobe where Crist had pulled her clothes from stood in the corner at the foot of a queen size mattress. The mattress took most of the space in that corner but they figured they wouldn’t be inside very much. The rest was pretty basic: galley kitchen that was barely used and a small common area where a tattered futon was used as the primary seating structure.              

              “I can’t stand that,” Crist protested, “I can’t stand not knowing.”

              “Look,” Justice said in a calming voice, “it’s not that kind of meeting. I’m just going to get some recruiting points that he thinks I need to visit. That’s it, then I’ll come right back.”

              Crist did not look reassured but she looked on the verge of compliance. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked. “Sit here and twiddle my thumbs until you get back?”

              “Well, if you really want something to do,” he began tentatively as he didn’t much care for ordering Crist around, “you could always make improvements around this place.” Justice waved his hand through the air.

              “Yeah, I suppose,” Crist replied in a half-hearted, somewhat defeated voice.

              He looked down at his watch again, “Okay,” he said, “I have to get going if I want to be on time. Fox hates tardiness.” He bent over and kissed her on the lips, she grudgingly kissed him back. He put his mask back on.

              “Be safe,” Crist said as Justice stood back up, “and come back.” Justice’s eyes twinkled, indicating a smile and then he walked out of the shack, closing the door behind him. Crist threw herself back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, a tear fell smoothly from her eye and rolled down her cheek.
 

*****
 

              The time that showed on Crist’s watch told her it was getting late into the day. The darkness outside her shack was steadily becoming denser, another sign of looming nighttime. She stood outside looking around the area for any sign of Justice’s return. A modicum of fear had ignited in her abdomen as it usually did when he was away for longer than she expected. He never told her how long he’d be gone, a tactic he employed to keep her from worrying ironically enough, but she would usually develop some sense of a timeline in her head to predict when he’d be back.

              His absence was nearing the later stages of her timeline which set off the ignition of fear and doubt. She fidgeted with some of the reinforcements she added to the foundation of the shack in a vain attempt to take her mind off her conspicuous solitude and force time to hurry on by. Crist jerked her head around when she thought she heard noises that sounded like footsteps. She stood frozen for a moment and her hand went instinctively to her sidearm holstered on her hip.

              A couple more soft thuds sounded in the leering darkness. “Is someone there?” she said aloud, “I’m armed,” she added warningly.

              “So am I,” a low voice muttered behind her as she felt the barrel of a handgun dig into her back. An icy dread consumed Crist’s chest that caused her head to swim. She felt a light kiss brush against the back of her neck and she spun around to find Justice smiling mischievously.

              She banged a fist on his chest, “Fuck,” she yelled, “don’t do that shit! I nearly pissed my pants!”

              “You gotta stay vigilant sweetie,” Justice said. He planted a kiss on her forehead, “Told you I’d come back.”

              “Yeah, well where else were you gonna to go,” she responded annoyed.

              “Okay, settle down now. Hey, so I got some good news,” he said. Justice walked over to the shack and ran a hand over the outside of it.

              “What is it?” Crist asked, still annoyed.

              “We’re moving,” Justice said turning around to look at Crist.

              “Moving,” she said, her annoyance giving way to confusion, “where are we moving to?”

              “Abiyah.”

              “What? Why?” She said.

              “It’s closer to the compound, it makes sense for us to be closer,” Justice said.

              “Yeah, but it’s so far from here,” Crist protested, “how are we gonna get all our stuff there?”

              “Fox reckons he can get us a truck.”

              “No shit,” she said amazed. Personal conveyance systems were a rarity those days, specifically in that particular area since all petroleum shipments had been halted and any existing fuel reserves were already claimed and were being hoarded. A person had to have pretty serious connections and/or a butt load of cash if he wanted to have a car, let alone pay for gas.

              Sure enough, after the darkness had fully swallowed the shack, Fox showed up in a mid-sized box truck. The truck wasn’t for their personal belongings, however, as those things were disposable and easy to come by. Furniture, clothes, and basic supplies were all going to stay behind because the real need was the materials used to build the shack itself. Materials like metal, concrete, and other heavy duty building supplies were extremely hard to come by in that area and became even scarcer the closer one ventured towards Abiyah.

              Most everything had already been scavenged from existing structures and anything that wasn’t taken to be used was ruined by the scavengers. Wood was plentiful but a lot of it had already begun to rot and the defensive properties of wood left something to be desired. It’s easily blown up and wood also had a tendency to catch fire quite easily. This of course had always been wood’s Achilles heel and the risk was too great in those times.

              They took their time disassembling the shack and once done, they carefully and methodically loaded up the truck until every last nut and bolt was accounted for and packed away. “So how’d you come across this beast?” Justice asked Fox as the latter slammed the truck’s cargo door shut. In the all-consuming darkness the desert around them had come to life and offered itself to them. The wind howled and whipped through the small corridor of dwellings where they were staying. Sand pelted every inch of exposed flesh it could find. This forced everyone to cover up.

              Covering up wasn’t a problem for Fox who in one way or another was always covered up. His face rarely, if ever, seen without a special visor. He wore it so often that people began to speculate that his face had been horribly disfigured during a fight with the boss of the ancient Yakuza family. It was a wild theory but not without its merits. “Found it,” Fox responded in regards to the truck.

              “You just found a box truck full of fuel,” Justice said incredulously. “Where was it, at the bottom of a trash can?”

              Fox chuckled, “You could say that. It was buried within the Albuquerque junkyard.” The Albuquerque junkyard was the largest junkyard in the country and just about any car you could think of was junked there. Rarely was one deposited with a full tank of super rare diesel fuel, however.

              “So are we heading straight to Abiyah then?” Crist asked as they were preparing to leave.

              “No,” Justice and Fox said in unison.

              Crist laughed, “You two are cute. Where we heading then?”

              “Fox found a small commune on the lands of an old Native American reserve,” Justice said as he opened the truck’s door for Crist. She climbed in and he followed. “Apparently there are a lot of ex-Armed Forces people there. Figured it would be a good place to try to do some recruiting.”

              “I already have a few prospects scouted out with whom we should talk specifically,” Fox said as he got into the driver’s side and closed his door. He started up the truck and had them on the way to their new home.

              The unrelenting darkness was beginning to recede as the box truck rumbled over a dirt road that wound its way off the main highway. They were about halfway to Abiyah and it was evident that people weren’t taking their chances. The Cloud had yet to dissipate even a little bit in the areas that were closer to the GoD compound. The rotten stench in the air was even more pronounced once closer in proximity to Abiyah.