When he turned back, he held his hand up. “Wait a second. We can keep doing this. As much as you want. But wait. You said… I dealt you?”
“Rikter told me. They got me, you got your supplies.”
But Dan was shaking his head.
“No. No fucking way. Not even close, friend. Not even a chance.”
Again a look back. A rattling of metal. Then steps.
Halek started moving. A back door opened, and Raine could see Halek about to flee into the darkness.
But Dan-blood still streaming from his nose-ran to his brother and grabbed him.
Dan’s grip was so strong, the pull so hard, that he lifted Halek off his feet, yanking him backward and letting him fall to the ground.
Interesting, Raine thought. What was this about?
“Stand up, Halek,” Dan said.
His brother’s eyes looked terrified.
“Stand up, Halek! Or I will pull you up. By your fat neck.”
The troll started to get up, getting to his knees, and-even before standing-started shaking his head.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Dan. I mean, you gotta-”
Dan shot a hand out and covered Halek’s mouth. Then he turned to Raine.
“As I said, just a minute, Raine. Rikter told you we offered a deal? You for the supplies?”
“Yeah. It was in the pouch you sent.”
Dan nodded.
He took his hand off Halek’s mouth.
“Speak.”
“Look, Dan-we needed those supplies bad. The wounded and all. And other stuff. We always need things from them. A prize like that, like him”-he pointed at Raine-“how often does something like that fall into our laps?”
Dan paused, then he did something that was worse than any punch-more humiliating, more disrespectfuclass="underline" he smashed the back of his hand into Halek’s grizzly face in a viscious slap. Halek collapsed to the floor.
Then he turned back to Raine.
“Okay. I-guess you can see-I didn’t know. Had nothing to do with it.” He took a step toward Raine. “I would never have anything to do with that. Might as well be a bandit. Damn Outriggers, for all their fuel and buildings, pretty much are just that-bandits. You got out?”
Raine explained his rescue.
Dan laughed. “That is one hell of a bandit girl.”
“They’re not all bad.”
“Bad? No, they have a code. Some do, at least. Still, let’s just say you got lucky.” Dan dabbed at his nose. “Shit.”
“Hey, sorry.” Then, with a head tilt to Halek, “Do you mind?”
“Be my guest.”
And Raine sent a surprise fist into Halek’s gut. The sound of wind being expelled was like the pop of an explosive.
When he went to the ground this time, no one cared whether he got up.
“I’ll have to watch my brother.”
“You know why I came back?”
“To work me over? Good punches, by the way.”
“No.” Raine looked around. “Not sure you get this… but this, here, your settlement. It’s all I know. Where the hell would I go? What would I do? Can’t go back to the Outriggers, that’s for sure.”
“Well, you’re welcome. As long as you want.”
Which is when Dan’s daughter ran in, and in mere moments… Dan had to rescind his offer.
Loosum had news.
TWENTY
“ Dad-they’re looking for him,” she said.
Dan turned to his daughter. “What?”
“Got a message from one of our traders. Enforcers showed up at the Outriggers, and now they’re starting to search the area around the settlement.”
Raine caught Loosum looking at him.
Like I’m a doomed man, he thought.
“Not good news?” Raine said, stating the obvious.
“Well, thanks to my stupid brother, they won’t think you’re here,” Dan said. “Not at first. Not if they think that we dealt you to the Outriggers.”
Loosum came up to Raine. “So you have some time.”
Dan nodded. “Not much, though. They’ll come here. Have to. They’ll check everywhere. Once they know there’s a survivor free, they won’t stop.”
Raine looked at them both. In that moment he realized that, like it or not, his only human connection to this world was this place, these people.
Now what?
He didn’t have to ask.
“Okay. So here’s-” Dan started, but then looked at his daughter. He obviously relied on her for support and ideas.
“You have to leave,” she said bluntly. “We can get you stocked up. Some food. More ammo. Halek can get you a shotgun, which is the best thing if you run into muties.”
“The mutants?”
Loosum nodded. “They don’t exactly go down the way the bandits do.”
Dan put a hand on his shoulder.
“But hit them enough and they do go down.”
“So you get me… supplied. Then what?”
“Wellspring,” Dan said.
“The city?”
“It’s the only place you might disappear. I do some deals with their mayor. Guy named Clayton. As corrupt as they come, but he honors his deals. I know you can make yourself useful to him, and he, in turn, can buy you some time to disappear into Wellspring life. The Enforcers will still show up, but hopefully you can be invisible by then.”
Loosum walked closer.
“But you’ve got to lose that suit,” she said. “I’ll get some clothes together. You can’t show up looking like a survivor.”
“Get to Wellspring,” Raine said. “Meet the mayor.” It seemed surreal.
Dan nodded. “And then what? Is that what you’re thinking? Look, Raine, I’m guessing this isn’t what you signed up for. This isn’t the ‘future’ you thought you’d get. Well, unfortunately, this is all there is. Right now, you have only one job. Survive.”
“I’m okay with that plan.”
Dan smiled.
Loosum looked at her father. “The races. It’s the only way.”
Another nod, and Dan turned back to Raine. “You’ll learn about them as soon as you get there. The races in the stadium. People come from all over the Wasteland to compete. You might easily pass as another one.”
“Doesn’t sound too healthy.”
No smile this time. “It isn’t. A lot of the racers don’t last long. But-you don’t have a lot of choices. Of course, Clayton may see another use for you, though I’m guessing it won’t be until you have remade yourself as a racer.”
Loosum tapped her father’s arm. “In that buggy? God, they’ll eat him alive.”
Dan looked at Raine apologetically. “Can’t give you anything else, friend. I can see that my people get it working as well as it can, though.”
“Better tires, for starters,” Loosum said. “Another layer of rubber might help.”
“Yeah. We can do that. Look, I stay out of Wellspring. That’s a world… I want to avoid. Too close to the Authority, and too close to people who don’t care whether anyone lives or dies.”
“On my own, then?” Raine said.
“ ’Fraid so.” He shrugged. “And I can’t tell you what to do. But it’s an option-likely the best one you’ve got.”
“I got something… an idea that might help.”
Dan turned to his daughter, a question on his face.
Loosum smiled. “How about I teach him how to use a wingstick?”
Now Dan grinned. “Right-good idea.” He looked at Raine “You’re going to love this.”
“I’m guessing it’s a good thing?”
“It can be.” He turned back to Loosum. “A quick lesson, then you better get him the hell out of here.” To Raine, he said, “Who knows? Our paths may cross again.”
Loosum grabbed Raine’s arm and started pulling him outside.
“C’mon. I don’t have a lot of time to show you. And trust me-it isn’t easy.”
She held the stick, a Y-shaped piece of metal that looked like a boomerang.
Which apparently was the model.
“Okay. See here-I got the detonator shut off. Now it’s just a stick. Flies pretty much with just your throwing power, but it does use some of its charge to gain velocity.”
Loosum took a stance. Not for the first time, Raine thought that it would be good if he could stay here. Loosum had turned friendly now that he wasn’t the enemy anymore-now that Halek had taken over that role-and he could see the appeal to being friends with her.