ABC - Penance

Morituri’s, Unity Townsite

The elevator opened on the roof-top to the Arena, revealing a deserted landing pad built on the reinforced deck. Red landing lights gleamed around the central pad, still faintly warm from a recent take-off.

“They’re gone” Ghost advised me unnecessarily, stepping out to check for any Wardens that may have stayed behind. There was nowhere to hide up here other than the concrete box that held the elevator, so we scurried to a ladder visible at the rear of the building. I was glad Ghost left Campbell’s hand in the elevator, the closing doors shutting off the sight of the grisly appendage.

“I think this place used to be a Guard Barracks” I told my partner as I joined him at the building edge. We had both crouched at the lip, peering into the rear courtyard of the Arena grounds. A solitary white van was parked on the tarmac, with two Wardens moving around as they checked the area.

“Yes” agreed Ghost. “The interior has been altered, but this is where the original Guard contingent for Camp One was based”. He pointed at the two sentries with his left hand, holding the steel fighting axe in a blood covered grip.

“We’ll need to get past those two quietly” he continued. “The others will be aware we are not inside the building very soon”

“Uh-huh” I said, keeping my head low, my teeth chattering softly. Now I was outside, the cool night air blowing across the roof was chilling my exposed skin. “Can we score me a jacket too? I’m bloody freezing”

“Think warm thoughts, Alvarez” Ghost suggested then he slowly and surely lifted himself over the side and began climbing down the fire escape ladder. I muttered dark thoughts instead, wishing I had a body that could adjust its internal temperature settings like he did.

I kept the two unaware men covered with my stolen pistol, willing them to join their comrades out the front. Distant shouts and the occasional gunshot could be heard as the Wardens swept the interior, maybe having some of the inmates causing trouble too.

Ghost had reached the ground undetected, closing in on the Wardens as they circled around the rear parking lot. Something must have alerted them at the last moment, an instinct for self-preservation maybe?

Whatever the reason, they turned in sudden alarm just as Ghost hit one with the axe. The unlucky Warden grunted loudly as the heavy blade rammed into his neck, dark blood spattering his armour vest. The second man yelled and swung his assault rifle in an arc, trying to line it up on my partner. Gunfire erupted, the caseless rounds lighting up the trio as the bullets traced a line across the parked van.

I couldn’t risk a shot from here, not with a pistol. The target was way too close to Ghost and armoured, so I scrabbled to my feet and grabbed the ladder railings. My hands and feet burned with the friction as I slid downwards, slowing my descent at the last instant.

By the time I got to my partner, breathless and my palms reddened, he was pulling the axe from the second Warden’s chest. The hapless man fell backwards, blood bubbling from his lips as he hit the tarmac with a wet thud.

“Sorry, I got blood on both their jackets” Ghost apologised.

“That’s Okay, you got me a bigger gun” I smiled at him. I shoved the pistol into my pants, making sure the safety was engaged, then took one of the rifles from the fallen Wardens. They were identical to the weapons issued to the Police Auxiliary, firing five millimeter caseless rounds. I ejected the magazine and saw this gun had a full load of eighty Suppression rounds. Ghost took the one that had been fired, snagging a second spare magazine from the dying man.

“Head for the corner of the garage” I told Ghost. “I think there is a gate that leads to the open ground behind the town”

“Copy that” he replied and we ran at a low crouch, hugging the garage front until we reached the corner. I poked my head around and saw the gate, glad it was really there and not my hazy recollection. It hung open, a tall solid shape filling the space and I moved towards it before I had fully registered what was in front of me. Two gleaming red eyes shone from the darkness and I heard the sudden movement of mechanical limbs.

“Fuck!” I cried and raised my rifle, already squeezing the trigger. The Sentinel stepped forward with inhuman speed, knocking the gun barrel high so my burst went over its shoulder.

“Don’t shoot Three” came tinnily from the mechanical’s vocoder and I stopped in shock.

“Unit Three?” I gasped. “You can talk after all?”

The mechanical shook its rectangular head in the negative, confusing me even more. Ghost was behind me and drew my attention to the lot at our backs. Grey clad figures could be seen swarming along the side alley, attracted to our gunfire.

“The Wardens are coming in force, Alvarez” he warned me. “If the Sentinel is not here to fight us, we need to run”

“Okay” I agreed and Unit Three stepped aside, allowing me and a guarded Ghost to jostle past. As we got to the gateway, I turned back and gestured for the mechanical to follow us. It shook its head once more and drew the Shock Rod into its left hand.

Then with rifle and rod ready, the Sentinel ran towards the oncoming Wardens, firing the gun one-handed with machine precision into the legs and torsos of the horde. The front rank fell like a badly choregraphed chorus line, leaving the next row of Wardens swapping fire with Unit Three.

Both sides were using Suppression rounds, which meant a lot of groaning and battered Wardens staggering and collapsing to their knees, pain etched across their faces. Unit Three was completely unaffected, his Ceramite plating shielding his internal chassis. I watched him wade into the mass of flailing bodies, swinging the Shock Rod in precise blows against any figure that remained upright.

I tore my gaze away and hurried after Ghost, a suspicion forming in my brain about what the Sentinel really was. Or more accurately, what was sitting inside of it.

=====

Ghost and I had run through the scattered trees and ferns that bordered the edge of Unity. It was dark out here, so I tripped fairly often until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The ex-Guard scouted ahead of my blundering passage, guiding me as best he could.

We came to the edge of the main road, running east and west. To our left was the Unity townsite, lights gleaming from the crossroads in the distance. Heavy Auto-Trucks could be seen in that direction, heading out of town towards the central highway.

“That’s a lot of trucks heading east” I whispered to Ghost, the pair of us crouching in the shelter of some bushes. “Acres must be shutting down his operation here”

“Affirmative” he replied, using his superior vision to scan our surroundings. “We need to find somewhere to rest and contact our headquarters”

I agreed with him. We had found Tan and Pony, then lost both of our targets as soon as we had caught up with them. It was damned frustrating, since the hornet’s nest we had disturbed in the process was going to kill us unless we got some support.

The sounds of gunfire in the distance had ceased, which may or may not be a good thing. We were about three hundred meters from Morituri’s I estimated, far too close to be lurking in the open. If they sent out drones we would be spotted easily, which meant we needed to get under some solid cover.

“How about the Police Auxiliary Post?” I suggested to Ghost. “The officers there seemed decent and I don’t think they are linked to the Warden”

He was thinking it through and nodded reluctantly. The motel was going to be watched and we had nowhere else to go. I had already dismissed Mabel’s place in my mind – she was only a cook and friend of Bobbi’s. It was too risky to involve her in my mess and I didn’t want her hurt.

We set off at a slow pace, crossing the road furtively then skirting the back of the residential buildings. Once or twice I heard vehicles roar up and down the side streets, tyres humming on the tarmac. A spotlight swept across the trees at one point, making us take cover in a fern covered hollow until it moved on.

Finally we came to a spot where we had to leave the safety of the bush, scurrying like two half-naked refugees along the road, watching out for the authorities. It was deeply ironic that we were bona-fide officers in the Police Auxiliary, hiding from the criminals in charge of Camp One.

We were one block shy of the Post when Ghost signalled me to stop and find cover. I dropped and rolled myself into a weed-filled gutter, my stolen rifle held in a firing position. He had melted into the shadows like his namesake, leaving me glancing anxiously about for the threat.

A short woman in black leggings and a dark blue shirt appeared at my side, making me jump in alarm. She was squatting on the kerb, looking down at me. There was little light, the nearest street-lamp a good fifty meters away. Even so, I recognised the stained trainers she wore and her generous proportions.

“What the hell are you doing in the gutter, Luisa?” Mabel asked me.

“She likes it there” Ghost said calmly from behind Mabel’s shoulder, that big axe hovering over her neck.

Mabel didn’t act startled or even alarmed, just reached a hand towards me and coaxed me to my feet. Ghost backed off and I could see his face adopt that blank expression he used when uncertain about what was going on.

“You shouldn’t be here, Mabel” I told her urgently. “The Wardens are out for our blood”

“I know” she replied simply. “That’s why I am here. You’ll need my help to reach a safe haven until things cool down”

“You know someplace we can go?” I asked her. She nodded yes and gave me her best smile.

“You’ll just have to trust me” she added. I looked past her to Ghost, the big man giving her his flattest of looks even though she couldn’t see his face.

“Well, partner?” I queried him.

“Sure, what the hell” he answered. He lowered the axe until it lay against his left hip, proof of his acceptance.

In the distance, from the main road, a bulky six wheeled Carrier turned onto the side street, painted in Warden Corps grey. The head lights flashed down the length of the road, faintly illuminating us at this range. I could see the gun turret on top with its sensor array and knew this was going to be hard to evade.

“Take my hand” Mabel insisted urgently. She already held my left hand in her right, it was her left she was offering to Ghost. “Hurry up big boy” she added. “This spell requires physical contact”

Ghost had laid his right hand in hers, the rifle hanging from its carry sling, when the words percolated through my fatigued brain.

“What, like magic?” I demanded.

“Yes” Mabel said and uttered a word in what I assume was old Mandarin.

Then the world vanished and I felt myself travelling in a vast universe of light.

“Fuck, I’m dead!” I managed to gasp out then we landed, if that is the right word, someplace totally different from where we had started.

We were in someone’s backyard, a tall corrugated fence surrounding a patch of overgrown grass and weeds with a low metal brazier burning in the middle. A pair of torn and water stained couches bracketed the fire, with an open chiller box filled with ice and beer cans alongside.

Bobbi Phelps was sitting on one couch, lying back and nursing one of the beers in her metal arm. Catherine was on the other couch, staring intently at the flames and making them dance in time to her waving fingers.

A small gust of wind heralded our arrival, making the flames burn brightly for a moment. The Pyrokinetic lifted her eyes from the brazier and regarded the three of us with token interest.

“Hi Mabel, Hi Luisa” she said. She looked at Ghost, frowned and added “Hi Scary Guy” then went back to looking into the fire.

Bobbi had sat upright and locked her Enhanced eye with my face, bloody murder evident in her expression.

“No way Mabel, no way! Take those pricks some other place!”

Mabel calmly walked past the fire and laid her hand on Bobbi’s shoulder, the red glow of the fire making her seem larger and more imposing for some reason.

“There is nowhere else in Unity that is safe for them, Bobbi” Mabel said, her voice deep and commanding. “Just let them stay here tonight, that is all I am asking”

“Will you be staying as well?” Bobbi asked softly, a needful tone in her voice.

“Of course I am” Mabel replied easily. “I need to make sure you don’t ravish dear Luisa in her sleep”

It had been a long time since anybody ravished me, but I didn’t think that was what Bobbi wanted to do with me. From the look in her flesh eye, she wanted to gut me like a fish and lay me over the brazier to cook.

“You can sleep in my room, Luisa” Catherine offered, breaking the moment. “Scary guy can use Wade’s room, since he’s still out getting treated”

“Er, thanks Catherine” I ventured, still at a loss to understand what was going on. “Ah Mabel, are you a Teleporter? That’s a pretty rare Ability”

Mabel had turned away from Bobbi, looking at me with eyes that glowed in the brazier fire a bright red.

“No. I’m a Sorceror, Luisa, like from a fairy tale” she grinned at me. “I’ve been in retirement for a long time, but you made me realise it was time to wake up”

“Well, that explains everything” I said.