The Sands of Borrowed Time
Read The Sands of Borrowed Time Online
Authors: Jeffry Winters
The Sands of Borrowed TIME ∞ BOOK 1 ∞ Hazy Sun days
∞ Jeffry Winters ∞
© 2016 by Jeffry Winters. All rights reserved.
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Where are you?
She reached out into the wilderness, but there was nobody there, only the bustling sand, driven by the hot, dry wind. The Sun beat down on her aching head, her skin burning from its fierce rays. The dryness of her throat was unbearable as she stumbled on through the wasteland. Her heart fluttered with panic. She did not know what to do or where to go. She was all alone. She fell to the ground, unable to continue, staring upwards into the brilliant light. She closed her eyes as she was raised upwards. Then there was nothing.
Carla looked over her shoulder and signalled her troops to move forward into the desert, towards the east where the dry prairie soil met the escarpment of the rocky hills. She had brought with her an assortment of freaks; types that were willing to fight for everyone’s freedom, or as she came to actually believe, just loved the violence, the thrill of it all. It gave them relief from their otherwise mundane lives, she thought. Her dark blue eyes followed them, watching them charge forward, releasing their aggression joyfully and without shame. A mischievous smile widened across her face. She knew it was good to unshackle their chains for a while, allowing them to satisfy their beastly desires. There were men, women, boys and girls. The bandits were gaining too much power over the plains towards the east, she felt, making it difficult to travel and explore, unless in numbers. They had to show their authority; stamp them out and set an example to others with similar ambition. She would be generous, though; bandits had a certain art that could be useful to her. They could either join her or die. Those that wanted a part of their way, however, would need to improve their hygiene, she thought, remembering their foul odour the last time they rubbed shoulders.
As the vehicles gained speed, Cain stood up through the sunroof of the power wagon, looking across at Kyla through the spray of dust as she rode her jeep alongside.
“To be brave is to be beautiful!” he shouted across at her, thrusting his arm in the air, rifle in hand. She smirked back, pulling her shades down from her eyes as she looked over to him, also thrusting her hand into the air. He loved that grin, so chaotic and full of madness, yet her lovely eyes, one blue and one green, were so sincere and affectionate. Cain could feel the power wagon bounce over the sand as it sped across the prairie, revelling in the rush of adrenaline it gave him. “Here we come, motherfuckers!” he shouted. “The children of the bastard damned are coming to cut your fucking little dicks off!” he continued, shaking his head with excitement. Callee twisted back the throttle of her chopper, letting the V8 engine rip into a glorious symphony of piston sounds.
She looked across at Cain, “He’s fucking gone with the fairies,” she said aloud to herself as he screamed and hollered his way across the prairie.
Cain noticed her looking, and pointed at her shouting, “Anybody gives you shit! They give me shit!” He focused on the ship in the distance, pounding his hands on the wagon’s roof to the beat of a war march, ranting something incoherently.
“A child of the damned, perhaps,” she sniggered, “but his mum was such a lovely woman.”
Kyla and Callee, the scouts of the troop, had gone to Carla worried about the bandits. They had been watching them from a small hideaway, out towards the east. The bandits were getting more and more organised as time went on, assimilating victims into their brotherhood to carry out their wicked deeds. It was getting more and more difficult to scout for resources, therefore threatening their existence. Carla, therefore, called a meeting, and it was decided they should strike them immediately before it was too late. The vehicles continued to thunder across the hot plains, billowing sand and dirt high into the sky. We should be an awesome sight for the fiends, Carla thought; a whirlwind from the west.
“For those tough enough; love me tender, love me to the very end!” Cain sang, shouting his lungs out, punching his fists into the air while swinging his head up and down. Jeff sped along behind them in his buggy, holding his hands tight on the steering wheel as the suspension shuddered along the dry and bumpy ground, his head leaning forward into the wind, dark goggles over his eyes, focusing intently on the ground ahead. His sister Laren stood behind him, arms wrapped around a mounted machine gun, her eyes wide as saucers with excitement as she absorbed the landscape rushing towards her. This was their loss of innocence, yet they yearned for it more than anything, both of them speeding along with smiles of contentment. The sound of horns echoed from a land ship coming towards them.
“We see you, my lovelies!” Cain barked, clapping his hands in anticipation of the clash. Several flares were launched into the sky from their hamlet on the hill to the west. It was their war signature, their promise to spill blood. They raced up into the sky, howling like a battle cry, their bright flames streaming into and through the dark clouds ominously. Cain looked up, giving a salute, then turned to clap everyone as if giving his or her appraisal, finishing with a bow. Kyla laughed, Cain relishing in its vulnerability, the shape of her lips as they quivered with ticks.
“This is turning to be a fun day out,” he spoke aloud to himself.
The approaching land ship was flanked by two bikes, both with side-mounted guns, Carla noticed through her telescope from the back of the wagon. The land ship also appeared to have a variety of mounted weapons from RPGs to machine guns.
“Come on then!” Cain shouted. “Who wants to be tickled first?”
From the overlooking village, the rest of the group could see two large dust clouds racing towards each other, mixed with the dark blue smoke of burnt gasoline from worn engines.
“Come to me! Let them come and see me first!” Cain shrieked, badgering the land ship to hurry towards him.
“Sing me a lullaby!” Kyla broke in, shouting across to Cain, shielding her mouth from the blowing sand with her hand. “It gets me in that mad, angry mood!” she continued, using her hand this time to blow a kiss at Cain. He caught it in his hands and blew it back at her, watching her face break out in affectionate ticks.
“Hush-a-bye baby, from the treetops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock.” Cain, this time, mocking an operatic voice as he held a hand over his heart, both Kyla and Callee bursting out into giggles. Before them, the two motorbikes suddenly flanked out wide while the ship opened fire.
“Game fucking on!” Cain shouted, reaching down for an RPG from his seat. Kyla and Callee opened fire in response from their bike mounted machine guns. Laren joined the mayhem, unloading several bullets from her gun as her body jolted violently from the recoils. The gunfire could be heard from the hills, where villagers were manoeuvring gigantic mirrors to concentrate burning sunlight onto the enemy ship.
“Fuck me senseless, the girl has a pair of balls,” he laughed, looking around in amazement as Laren swung the gun around at one of the flanking motorbikes. “Why do girls smile when they are hunting down their prey,” he thought amusingly. Cain held the RPG up, aiming at the bandit’s ship. “I dedicate this shot to my mum, family, and friends, for their generous support and love over the years.” He kissed the rocket and pressed the launcher, fighting back the recoil as it thundered towards the wooden vessel. “However, as you can see my problems persist!” He laughed and jumped up and down on the car seat, banging the roof of the wagon as the rocket hit the land ship, breaking off one of the wheels before exploding, engulfing its underside in flames. “Beautiful!” he cried. “War, after all, is an art, painted with lots and lots of red,” revelling in the mayhem. Carla could see that the ship had stopped moving, waving her riders on to keep moving forward. However, she should have realised that no encouragement was needed as she looked at their faces, full of enthusiasm and excitement. Kyla could see a bike approach from behind in her mirrors.
He looks really fat,
she thought.
“This is one well fed, little piggy,” she said aloud. She reached forward, beyond the front of her seat, and hit a button on the fuel tank, releasing a trail of yellow spray behind her. “Here’s some mustard for your hot dogs!” she laughed, watching the rider cough and clutch at his eyes as he fell from his bike. Kyla felt somehow proud that it was that easy and blew Cain another kiss.
“I’m in the mood for a little bit more!” Cain shouted, receiving the kiss into his hands and placing it on his heart. Kyla responded with a smile so insane looking that Cain thought he was falling in love. Ahead, the land ship was quickly being consumed by flames.
“Carla, pass me another RPG please?”
“Why; we don’t really need to, do we? “she replied, looking up surprised.
“Shame to waste it, Carla.”
“Waste it?” she questioned as she handed Cain the RPG anyway.
“Thank you. You're so kind,” he said with a smile.
“This one I dedicate to Carla and all who sail with her.”
Carla giggled as Cain fired the RPG, “I’m surrounded by fucking clowns,” she thought as the bandit’s ship disintegrated in an exploding cacophony of splintering wood and roaring flames. There was still the question of the other flanking motorbike.
Had he fled?
Carla thought. From the hill, though, the villagers perceived another threat. Through the yellow haze of dust and sand, they could see an airship descending above Carla's troops, its big oval shape reflecting the sunlight from above the dust clouds. Carla and the flock appeared unaware as they stood looking at the burning wreckage of the land ship, watching proudly as their efforts went up in smoke. The villagers sounded the alarm, their warning signal from an old air raid siren. It wailed across the plains.
What's up?
Carla thought, looking around the plains worriedly.
“What the fuck!” Cain said aloud, looking around also. The villagers had a plan; burn it from the sky with the Sun’s reflection off their mirrors. They rotated three large mirrors until they focused a large beam of sunlight onto the ships balloon. The troops all looked up as their attention was caught by a blinding flash of light that swiftly swung up, penetrating through the haze.
“There’s something up there, you think?” Carla asked, the troops all looking to the sky and searching through the swirling haze. Suddenly they all looked back to the plains. There was the rattle of machine gun fire as a trail of dust danced across the ground towards them. Kyla reacted quickly, firing her gun at the remaining motorbike that appeared again, as if from nowhere, rushing towards her. She smiled, her aim was perfect, watching as the rider slumped forwards onto the bike’s handlebars. Her wide, adrenaline focused eyes followed the bike as it juddered along the prairie, her attention suddenly distracted by a loud explosion in the sky. They all looked up, seeing a massive fireball slowly descend, breaking up into several parts as it meandered downwards until each flaming piece hit the ground in a series of dull explosions.
“Job well done, guys,” Carla shouted through the window. “Time to move along my friends. It looks like we’re all finished here. Time to go home. Let's go back.” And with that, they all rode back towards the western escarpment, lined with the crucifixes of dead bandits, back as Carla had said to their home.