Nuclear Knights

Chapter Six

Chapter Six“Hello, wasteland people. My name is Lam. I believe one of you met an associate of mine?” he said to them in a cold, almost robotic voice. Ryan's eyes shifted nervously, Lam caught it. “It must have been you. I would, well, like to apologize for any threats she might have made,” Lam said and shook his head. “She gets a little too motivated in her mission. So, if we can agree to keep that, and this little encounter a secret I think everything will work out nicely. What do you say?” Lam asked the both of them.

Joppo studied the Outlander carefully. Lam was aware of Joppo's eyes but it didn't bother him. Ryan swallowed and felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything felt like it was closing in around him. “Yeah. I can keep a secret,” he said weakly and wasn't sure if it was just in his head or not.

“Excellent, I'm glad we came to an understanding,” Lam said and leaned to the left. Matt was still sleeping in the trailer. He didn't need any more people knowing anything. “I'll expect you both to be quiet,” he said then he disappeared in a white flash of light with the noise of a small explosion.

Matt woke up at the sudden noise with a start. “What, why are you stopped, what happened?” he said trying to get his bearings. “Joppo's old bike just had a loose compressor, you know how it is,” Ryan said quickly. “I didn't know they could get that loud,” Matt said and laid back down. “Alright, let's go to Hodath,” Joppo said and started moving forward again. Ryan did the same thing. His anxiety was going away, but not much.

Matt passed out again and Ryan looked back briefly to make sure. “Does that happen a lot?” he asked and Joppo just shrugged. “Not really. They usually keep to themselves. None of the elders know where they come from or where they go. That was the first time I've ever seen one in real life. It has only been pictures up until now,” he replied. “They are much shinier than I remember the picture I saw,” he added and wasn't sure what to think.

“I guess secret keeping is part of the job when you're the leader. Besides no one is going to believe us anyway that we saw one anyway,” Ryan supposed that was true, but he didn't want to break his world to the shiny person.

Hours on the dirt road past, the two of them didn't have anything to add on to the situation. Then the road took a final right turn and revealed to them the broken city. For miles in all directions all they could see were burned out and broken skyscrapers, hundreds of years old. A scar from the past that endured. The wasteland was filled with such reminders of how the Earth used to be before the fall.

“Every time I see this place it gives me chills,” Joppo said and took it all in. He could only imagine the beasts that ruined this place and the terror people felt seeing them for the first time. They could still smell a faint whiff of smoke, nothing to do with the past, however.

The broken cities were lawless places where the sand raiders like to live. To get to Hadoth, you had to get through here. “What do you think, should we go through here or go around?” Joppo asked him and Ryan didn't know what was worse. Meeting a potential beast on the outside roads or meeting a g**g of cannibals in the city.

Ryan knew this was a test. It was obvious to him that it was nothing else. “We need to get back home so we can't waste time trying to go around,” Ryan replied and Joppo nodded. “You got that right. It's only a couple days through the city but I think we can make it,” he replied and Ryan took a deep breath. The ocean of wreckage lay out endlessly before them. “Alright, let's go,” Ryan said.

Ryan and Joppo started pushing their hoverbikes down the beaten dirt path. The dirt beneath them slowly gave way to shattered and broken asphalt that had been warped with heat, radioactive fire from days gone past. The first building they passed had faded red letters on a blue sign, tilted to the right. The remaining letters only spelled out half a word Walma, it read.

“You know, I've been that by that sign a hundred times I bet and I can't figure out for the life of what a Walma could have been. The before people sure were weird,” Joppo said as they drove by. “It's too bad all this had to happen, but if it didn't, we likely wouldn't exist,” Ryan said. Joppo wondered if never existing would have been better.

The wreckage increased along the sides of the broken road as they hovered over the deep cracks in it. The signs of the Sand Raiders quickly became visible. Shattered skeletons tied to posts, half bone, half jagged metal to replace the bones that were missing, all of them painted red. Ryan wasn't sure where they got the paint, it that's what it was.

“They mostly come out at night so we should be safe. The closer we get to Hadoth the less we'll see that nonsense,” Joppo said and Ryan shook his head. “Mostly?” he asked, his eyes jumping around to every shadow now, instantly nervous about being attacked at any time. And to his realization and horror, the shadows and places to hide around here were endless.

“Look on the bright side, if we get caught we can give them the screw up back there to eat and they might us go,” Joppo said and Ryan sighed. “You do understand that it is impossible for a monster like that to sneak up on anyone, even if they are sleeping,” Ryan replied and continued. “I swear, the silver people are up to something and—” Joppo cut him off.

“Relax, I know it's impossible but you know how mobs get. I won't give anyone up to the sand people to eat if they show up, we'll all die together, screaming I'm sure,” Joppo replied to him with a smile, but wasn't sure why. He wasn't kidding about any of that.

Ryan wished Joppo would stop saying stuff like that. Then the sound of a blaster fire rang out in the distance and they stopped their bikes. “Sounds like it was close,” Ryan said and looked around. There was no telling where it might have come from, however.

“Come on, there isn't anything we can do. We have our own problems, you know how it is,” Joppo said with a hint of sadness to his voice. He was well aware that saving everyone was out of the question.

Ryan sighed and did his best to ignore it, without another word he pushed his bike forward down the broken path. Joppo followed him. “You know, many years ago when I was on this very path. Irak and I heard a blaster sound off in the distance, just like that,” Joppo said and continued. “We went to investigate like I know you want to,” Joppo continued.

“Well we found the source of the blaster, it was a teenage girl and she was surrounded by maniacs,” Joppo said and took a breath. “I'd like to tell you we ran to the rescue, but we didn't. There were twenty of them and we quickly backed away. If we tried anything, we would have died too,” Joppo said with more than a hint of regret in his voice. There was no reason to tell how that story ended.

“I guess we just have to look out for us,” Ryan said bitterly as they took another turn. There was a sign there on the side of the road that was full of small holes and blaster marks. But it was still easily read. 'Hadoth forty-five miles down the path. Travel at your own risk, do not stray from the path' Ryan looked at it.

Adventure and danger lay off the path. Everyone knew that the city was filled with Sand raiders and other equally dangerous things that had evolved out there. “Come on, let's go,” Joppo said as they passed the sign.