Warning: the content can be considered unsuitable for underaged audiences. Read at your own risk.
The desert ahead of me is as empty and boring as the women I fuck once every so many days. But a compass and a map will get me where I need to be as quick as possible, though I’m really bored out of my skull. Shred and Slash are sniffing the tied and gagged broad in the back who’s woken up a few minutes ago; Mira. Her nose was bleeding so bad that I had to stop the car to clean it up. I didn’t want my dogs to lick that crap, I mean, a fucking slut like that probably got a million and one diseases
The Wastelands
Part 2 – Business
She’s squirming and yelling constantly. Well, not yelling, her being gagged and all. But still, the sound of her murmuring through the fabric is annoying the hell out of me. If she keeps at it like this, I’m seriously gonna do some damage to that frail body of her. It’ll lower her worth, but fuck it, there’s only so much a man can take.
“MMMMH!! HMMMMM!!”
“Shut the hell up.”
“MMMMH!!”
“Mira, stop it.”
“HMMMM-HHHM!!”
“Can it, or I’ll rape you with a cactus, here and now.”
“…”
Finally, some goddamn silence. The wasteland may be boring to look at, but at least it’s not annoying to listen to. Anyway, I’m heading over to San Redino. It’s a pretty big town filled with merchants of all kinds. Most of them own a couple of horse-carts for some long distance trading, often to Metro, Fortum, Bleak Pits and Canyon Graves. Few even have some business going with Terra Dio, a fortified place surrounded by high gates, towers and turrets. Scientists go there to further their own cause, but in doing so, they strengthen their technological position. I’m not one to meddle with politics for the time being, all I need is money and weapons, Terra Dio has ‘em both. They pay a lot of money for healthy test-subjects… humans, that is. But it’s out of the way and I need to speak with Kallen anyhow. I heard he has a job for me, a big one. He sai- wait a minute, what’s that smell?
I look behind me and see Shred and Slash sniffing at Mira’s crotch. No wonder, they enjoy a nice lump of salty beef. But then I notice a small puddle of liquid underneath the slut… wait, did she?
I stop the car and walk around the back to open the door. The smell is worse here. It smells like…
“Ah fuck! You pissed in my van?!”
Mira doesn’t dare to look at me, she’s ashamed of herself, and she should be.
“Goddamn…”
I slowly take a deep breath and let the air rest in my lungs. Then I slowly exhale through my nose. Calmly I grab her ankles and untie ‘em.
“One kick, ONE kick…” I threaten her.
I grab her feet, drag her out of the van and let her drop to the ground, causing her to groan. With a few tugs I take off her pants and throw ‘em away. I then fill the back of the van with sand and sweep it out again, getting rid of the piss.
“Do that again and I’ll tie you to the back of my van. Hear me?”
She nods.
“Atta girl.”
After a couple of hours driving, with the backdoors and the windows open, I arrive at San Redino. It’s a big place, lots of buildings jam-packed into the smallest of spaces, and many stroll through the narrow streets that connect all the merchants and dealers. I’m used to the sight by now. Rotten buildings, cracked streets, broken people. A dark and gloomy atmosphere roams, as if the town just got hit by a wave of nuclear missiles and everyone’s looking for his family, with the hope of saving them. The effect of the Last War is very evident in cities. Everything our kind has ever created, is torn and ruined by our own greed for more, resulting in less. Most people try to stay off the streets, violence is around every corner, and me entering the city isn’t gonna drop that statistic.
I can see the gangs hanging around already, trying to look their toughest when someone walks by. Most of them never did anyone in, they’re just a bunch of rapists that can’t afford a woman, pathetic. Dressed in rags, handling pistols that are heavier than the arms that’re lifting them, they’re doomed to remain living like this if they never feel like achieving anything. Lowlifes. Anyway, I slowly drive into the city, on my way to Bernie.
Bernie is a small, bald sack of shit that deals with anyone. He’ll sell a burglar the tools to jack into a safe and sell the safety measures against it to the owner. I can respect that, he’s just smarter than those idiots who think they’re dealing with an honest man, assuming he actually cares for his customers. But this time he crossed the line. He fucked up, but good. If he’d done it to anyone, any single person in this sand covered dump, I never would’ve made a fuss about it… unless someone hired me to whack him, of course. But this time he screwed me over. It’s payback time. And not just the usual stuff.
I park the van in front of some two story building, rather small and beaten up, but at least it’s better than the tents of the residential area. A rifle on my back, a pistol in my holster and a knife in my hand. I get out of the car and open the back doors. I leave Slash with the girl to guard the van. He’ll bark if something’s off, kill if I’m not there within a minute. So now it’s me, Shred and my bloodthirsty rage. I hope the bitch is ready for it.
I kick the door in and walk into the store with a grin from ear to ear on my face. Then I look at Bernie, standing behind a counter.
“HEYA, BERNIE!”
“CASE!”
I throw my knife into his shoulder, making the little queer kneel already.
“You’re no fun” I tell him while walking over.
“GET HIM!!” he yells to his guards, two pistol packing junkheads.
I reach for my holster and quickly draw my pistol. Two shots. Two hits.
One got hit in the throat and the other in his chest. The surviving junkie tries to raise his arm and shoot me.
“Shred, kill.”
Shred has a brief chewing session with the guy’s face. It only takes him a couple of seconds to turn it into something that looks worse than roadkill. Now it’s time for Bernie.
“So, Bernie, you old piece of backstabbing shit” I say to him while walking around the counter.
“Hey Case, you don’t wanna touch me.”
He stares at me, scared as hell, of course. The knife still rests in his shoulder. Bernie thinks he’s got some powerful friends protecting him, but being the old piece of backstabbing shit I just made him out to be, he doesn’t have such friends. I’ve done business with him for over three years now and I didn’t trust him for one bit. Who would?
“Bernie, I’m gonna make you suffer for real.”
“Tank’s got some men walking this town, he’ll round ‘em up and fuck you up the ass!”
“You think Tank will do that for you?” I ask him with as smile.
“I did him a favor, he’ll come through.”
“He’s working for Don now. And who’s Don’s favorite merc?”
The look on his face is priceless. He now realizes his world has fallen apart. Even his last bit of hope has faded, he’s all alone now, and he’s facing me. And I’m in no fucking mood.
“So Bernie, what do you think is an appropriate punishment?”
“Hey, you know I had no choice. I mean, how could I know you’re part of ‘em?”
“Somehow I think we’re past pleading for my understanding.”
“Don’t do this to me Case, please, please, I’ve got some decent business running, I’ll pay you, piece of the action, every month.”
“I own this store now, you have nothing… nothing.”
He shuts his eyes tightly and starts sobbing. Probably hoping it’ll all go away like a bad dream when mommy wakes you up, but no way in hell is this a bad dream. This is reality, Bernie fucked up and he’s gonna pay.
I grab my knife from his shoulder and plant it in his right leg a couple of times. Then I stab his left. The poor bastard screams and howls like a child. It actually makes me stab fiercer.
“That’ll keep you from running away… or running in general.”
I grab him by his collar and drag him to the van where Slash is waiting for me, like the good dog he is. I pet both dogs and congratulate them.
“You’ve both been great, you deserve some high class meat tonight. See what loyalty gets you, Bern? It gets you a nice steak and a pat on the head.”
“Oh fuck you” he whines, not enjoying my sense of humor.
I stuff him in the back with the girl.
“Mira, Bernie. Bernie, Mira.”
“Case, what the hell are-”
I grab the piece of cloth bound around Mira’s head, which served as a gag, and place it on Bernie. The dogs get in the back as well and I take place behind the wheel, on to Kallen.
San Redino, a dozen gangs per street, fighting for a piece of some curb. Power is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. They look at me as if I’m some rich guy who doesn’t know what it means to struggle, to fight for every inch in your life. Are they way off. San Redino isn’t exactly heaven’s backyard, but it’s nothing compared to Metro in the old days. I know most of the heads of the mob families, their brothers and cousins as well. I either fought with ‘em or against them as a thirteen-year-old, we were all kids with the ambition to rule the town. Now we shake hands and do business, we laugh about the past. They did as they promised, I wanted something bigger and so I took my leave for a while. Though they can hire my service, it doesn’t mean they’re my boss. That’s what most people assume but they’re way off, like the street punks staring at me right now.
After a minute of slowly cruising through the city, I end up at Kallen’s place. It’s near down town Redino, next to some loan shark, but he’s got a lot of space for himself. The building is a couple of stories high and has a sign up front reading ‘Kallen – Slave Master’. He’s got a prison block built behind his home to keep the many, many slaves people bring in and pick up. It’s booming business these days. While crime is getting worse every day, a lot of merchants and upper class traders do well for themselves , and so they need slaves to do some dirty work.
The four guards that stand outside of Kallen’s slave pen look at me driving towards them. Then one of them recognizes my van. He holds up his hand, gesturing a polite welcome. I pull up and get out.
“Case” he greets me.
“Fitz, how are you?”
“Doing very well, Kallen’s been good to me.”
“Kallen takes care of those loyal to him.”
The four guards nod.
“I got some for him. Can I deliver?” I ask, pointing to my van.
“You, always. Bring in the goods.”
I open the doors and take Mira out, who’s only wearing a thin top and some smelly panties. She walks next to me with her eyes aimed at the ground, the hell she’s going to experience is a sight she doesn’t want to face yet. Awfully quiet though, usually they kick, scream and shout, they try anything to get out.
When I enter the building, the guards inside take notice of me. Some of them whistle and howl at Mira, showing no remorse whatsoever. A couple of doors later and I’m at Kallen’s office, who is in a heated argument with a very attractive woman. Long black hair hangs over her shoulders, a bit covers her face and one of those very pretty blue eyes of hers.
Kallen, a six foot eight tall guy with a beard and half long hair combed backwards, just reaching his neck. He stays calm in almost every situation, much like me, which is why we can do very good business together.
“Lydia, please, not now” he speaks to the woman on a calm tone.
“Not now, not later, not ever. You’re never with me anymore, you never listen, you never answer anything I ask you” she replies with a slight touch of anger in her voice.
“I’ve got a guest now. We’ll go to Marin’s and have a nice dinner, we’ll talk, anything you like, okay hun?”
She remains silent for a moment, studying him. But soon she smiles.
“Okay Kal.”
A brief kiss on his lips before she walks away.
“I hope that dinner doesn’t come out of my paycheck” I say to him, grinning.
“Case,” Kallen welcomes me, shaking my hand, “never out of your paycheck.”
“I heard it was gonna be a big one?”
“It is, it is. And I see you got me a gift?”
I get straight to business.
“She’s healthy enough. Pimped for a couple of years so she might not last long with the drugs and the diseases. Street-wise, learns quick, obeys easily.”
“Sounds good enough” Kallen replies, nodding.
“Yeah, just a minor problem” I mention while directing his line of sight towards her nose.
“Ah, damaged goods. Your work?”
“She attacked me while I was on a job.”
“Can’t have that, can we now?”
Mira’s too afraid to look him in the face. I can imagine. Kallen looks like the clean cut version of the devil. Actually, I expect the devil to be this clean cut and calm, businesslike and straight to the point, no remorse. It’ll be warm welcome in hell for me.
“I think doc can set her nose straight, so it will heal in time” Kallen reports to me in all honesty.
“You don’t have to. It’s no one’s fault really, but in the end, I damaged the goods, I should pay.”
“Yes, but you are one of the very few honest clients. Twelve-fifty.”
I shake his hand.
“No argument here. Always a pleasure doing business.”
“As usual, Case” he says while nodding.
“And now to more grave matters…” he starts while walking to his desk.
I walk with him and notice a map and some notes spread over his working space.
“Casey, there’s some trouble on the horizon for us all.”
“Such as?”
“Defenders” he answers, looking at me with a dead serious face.
“They weren’t that much of a problem so far. What’s going on?”
“As you know, these humanitarian liberals have their eyes set on me for quite some time. But now they believe it is time for action.”
“Resulting in…?”
“Direct interference with slave import and export. They’re going to set up camp outside San Redino within three weeks.”
We both pause, remain silent and think. I have a look at the map.
“North-west and south… makes sense. It’s hard to avoid when they set up camp right outside where they can overlook all the incoming and outgoing. It’ll be hard to take precautionary measures. Let them come and clean up?” I ask.
“Exactly. Which is why it is very risky. They’re stupid enough to meddle with us but not quite so stupid they’ll leave their guns home. You know what needs to be done.”
“I’ll tell the guys. We’ll let some sneak into town, three by three as usual, the rest will ride towards ‘em with the sun in their backs.”
“Twenty for the entire deal.”
“That’s a lot, Kallen.”
“It’s not an easy task. Plus, you always make matters like these a… how to word it… a pleasure for the right kind of audience.”
“That’s an added bonus others won’t grant you” I joke, causing him to smile.
“Then it is settled. A pleasure, again, Case.”
I nod and shake his hand.
When I walk up to my van I see two of the guards playing with Slash and Shred. The pups get in the back, next to good ol’ fucking Bernie, and await the next destination. I get in the vehicle and start it up. First I’ll drop by and get some steak for the dogs, then I’ll head back to base. I got some news the boys might like to hear…
