The sky had shifted from gray to dim amber by the time we saw the structures on the horizon and I felt my unease coming back. When everything above me was black, it was easier to ignore the fact that there wasn't a ceiling. Even though I never would have realized I'm a little agoraphobic without ending up here, that fact was something I could have lived without.
Rising out of the gloom was a small town, but one without the high walls and chain link gates. There were no lines of gun happy Props wandering around either, so things might have been looking up. From here it looked completely deserted, but that was probably wrong.
"Does this place have a name?" I asked. "And if you knew this guy was here, why didn't you get him already?"
She laughed again and shrugged. "First question - Not really but it's on the outskirts of Perdition so it's sort of a 'no man's land.' Second question -as for bringing him in, that's your job not mine."
"Perdition?" K'rth asked quietly. The name sounded as funny to him as it did to me and showed in his voice. "Is there a reason for the name?"
The sideways look and giggle told me she thought it was a pretty stupid question and wasn't trying to hide it.
"You think calling it hell doesn't fit a bunch of rusting buildings in the middle of a desert? Would 'Paradise' be better?"
"Never mind," I said for him and concentrated on the walk.
When Nix branched off and trotted away to scout ahead, I motioned to Obie to fan out to my right and K'rth and I spread out to the left. Of course the woman wasn't cooperative and stayed within arm's length of me the entire time.
"So your name is Goya?" I asked. The name was unusual and I was pretty sure it wasn't her real one. If that was the case, it had to mean something.
"Yep. Got a nice sound to it, doesn't it?"
"Not particularly, no."
I wasn't trying to antagonize her, but she had been on my nerves and it was probably only a matter of time before it showed. When she spoke, something came through in her voice that I really didn't like. Her face was a blank mask and I kicked myself mentally -I should really know better than to aggravate a psycho.
"Be nice Alex," she said. "Or I won't."
Goya decided to walk ahead of us and I was left with K'rth and Obie, with the big Shaktar alternating staring ahead and watching me. I wasn't sure what he was thinking but felt the need to say something to break the silence.
"Women don't rate high on my list right now," I said. "Especially when they're weird and never when we're just trying to stay alive."
The ground underneath our feet turned quickly from smooth dunes to rough scrub and pebbles, looking more like a bombed-out parking lot than the ground back at the settlement. It soon became so unforgiving that I could feel the worst of it punching into the soles of my boots. Ahead, the corrugated metal groaned in the low wind but nothing moved within the darkness.
Goya had stopped at the edge of one of the buildings and leaned against an exposed frame, smiling broadly like she was proud of herself for something. When we were close enough, she pointed down the street where a couple buildings were lit up and people milled about.
"He's in there boys," she laughed. "Sic 'em."
K'rth led Obie and myself past her, keeping to the fading line of shadows as we made our way closer. That was when Nix decided to scare the hell out of me by brushing past my knees on her way to the other side of the street. I slapped at her helmet and called her something she didn't respond to. While the Wraith is the best sniper I've ever known, I'll still treat her like a houseDAC when she acts like one. Once she was behind cover, she sited in and gave us the thumbs up.
"I better go in alone first," I said to K'rth and he nodded. So far, there had only been humans and at least I stood a chance of fitting in.
"Agreed. We'll be close if you need us."
It looked like a street party instead of the prison environment back at Richardson's compound and people laughed and carried on without paying any attention to me. Everyone was armed here also, but there hadn't been a single hostile look as I made it to the door. Muffled laughter and music echoed from within and I sidestepped as a giggling couple stumbled past.
"This is so weird," I said aloud, stepping back into cover again and glancing to see how close my friends were. K'rth was invisible, but the Chagrin's massive tusk poking around a corner two buildings away told me what I needed to know. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, I swung the low half-door open and walked in. This was the first time I had ever seen a door that only covered the middle of the doorframe, but then I wasn't on Mort anymore.
The smell of alcohol, perfume, and smoke competed with the sounds of a party to leave me disoriented. Since returning to the living, I had never seen more than a handful of people together at once - now there was a room literally packed with them. They were lined up at the bar, playing card games at tables, and a few were even trying to keep up with the melody coming from a piano in the corner. This was just a bar, just like back home and I found myself relaxing for a moment. A Brain Waster would stick out pretty well here, but there were no non-humans in sight.
"Hey you! Hey stranger!" someone yelled and I looked for the voice. "You want something?"
It was the bartender calling to me and suddenly everything pleasant came to a screeching halt. The music died in a stumble of sour notes and conversations fell off like someone had dropped wet blankets over them. The room that was full of happy revelers a few seconds ago was now a lot less jovial and very interested in me. I looked from face to face, seeing hands slide towards hip holsters and people carefully shift towards cover.
Why isn't anything ever easy?
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