Play 2 Wage: Linked

“Max, how far behind are they?” I grumbled under my breath, using the wind whipping through the nearly windowless truck cab to mask my lowered voice.

“Their vehicles are gaining, but still mostly stuck within the city. I’d guess you have about a half an hour before some of the faster ones catch up to you.”

I clenched my jaw and thought for a moment, then had an idea. “Can you use some of those drones you said you were collecting against them?”

“Hey! That's a great idea. I have some contact detonation quad copters that are running low on battery anyways.”

The truck started to whine and complain, causing Katie to release the gas and stomping a bare foot on one of the other pedals before she forced one of the levers coming off the steering column down a click. The engine noise changed, and after a brief grinding sound, leveled back out into what I expected of the gas powered truck.

“Which way is north!” Katie screeched over the wind as we approached an intersection. She was now sitting properly in the bench seat, having abandoned her cover once we were blocked from the sniper fire.

I blinked at her, unsure myself at this point. Once we were clear from the country house, the trees crowded in close to the winding and hilly backroad, creating a shaded tunnel that we were zooming down recklessly.

“Technically, left, but you should go straight through this one and take the next one instead. The first one is a dead-end.”

“Take the second left.” I answered.

Katie glanced over at me, but was too focused on keeping the overloaded truck on the road to look for long. She punched the gas down even harder and we kicked up a spray of gravel as we blasted past the 4-way stop sign. I faintly heard an explosion off in the distance.

After we slid around the next turn, I felt a tap against my shoulder and looked back to see Kaylee reaching around an annoyed looking Ali to tap my shoulder. One of her arms was bound up in a crude sling fashioned from a long repurposed bandage, and while she looked a little haggard she was determined to get my attention.

“My uncle’s is only a couple miles away, northwest away from the city!” She shouted over the noise of the crunching gravel and whipping wind.

I looked over my shoulder at her, and noticed that both Bree and Andy were now armed with antique weapons they must have dug out of the rubble of the collapsed house and were scanning the trees along either side of the road. That kind of worried me, but I figured it was better that more of us were armed.

The truck hit a pothole in the gravel road and bucked hard, bottoming out the tired old truck's suspension and giving off a loud jarring thunk. I nearly bit my tongue off, and swallowed the welling blood before replying.

“Who is your uncle?” I questioned, feeling distrustful of her even if all I really had to go on was her probably being a clout chaser. Everything had been happening too fast for me to find the time to really think about her motivation to slip me her card like she had, and my best guess was that she was just trying to dig her way to the perceived gold of my noble title.

“He’s a builder!” She replied. “He has all sorts of vehicles and equipment, and I’m sure he could help us, or you could just drop us off there.”

I glanced over at Rin, who was curled up in a defeated little ball in the corner of the truck bed behind Tevin’s hulking armor. Deciding he wouldn’t be any help, I looked over to Ali who had been staring at me through the conversation. Her eyes were hard and she was in a ready crouch, but she offered no opinion. I even glanced over at Katie, who even if I only trusted about as far as I could throw her, that was probably pretty far these days. Unfortunately, she was too busy white knuckling the steering wheel and navigating the terrible twisty road to spare me even a second of attention.

Sigh. Once again, it was all on me to decide what to do. This whole being in charge thing sucked.

“You think he’d let us take a better vehicle?” I asked after the truck bottomed out again.

“For sure! He’s probably not even there.” She said, smiling and steadying herself on the roof of the cab with her uninjured arm, giving me a great view down her tattered blouse that I ignored.

Instead, I looked back over the huddled crowd in the back of the truck. Tevin and Jorn seemed to be getting along fine, I trusted the graying captain as an extension of Katie, who seemed determined to get me out of the danger zone as long as I remained a valuable asset. Rin was completely out of his element, and was currently a total liability. It would be great if we could drop off the four kids from the tower and stop having to keep an eye on them.

I heard another faint explosion from behind us, followed a second later by an even larger one.

“W00t w00t! I nailed one of their vans, and it must have been carrying some ordinance! Check this out, hah!”

A little vid screen popped up in the corner of my vision, showing the first person aerial view of one of Max’s drones as it dropped down towards a rusted and scrap covered van racing down a country road. Just as the van loomed close enough to fill the screen, the view changed to an overhead and more distant perspective. I watched as the small drone slammed into the driver's door and exploded, blasting fire from the front windows. The van kept going for a second, drifting off the side of the road until it crashed into a tree and was blasted apart by a massive explosion that ripped the whole van into shreds and sent a towering mushroom cloud into the sky.

My eyes widened at the video, torn between a mix of emotions from the video. I was never much of a fan of war footage, but knowing that whoever was driving that van was carrying enough explosives to do that and was chasing after us, I was relieved that Max had managed to stop them.

“So?” Kaylee asked, giving me a slightly nervous smile and drawing my attention back.

I looked back to her, grimacing when I saw she was still leaning forwards towards me and obviously angling herself in an attempt to charm me. I flicked my eyes to Ali, who was right next to her and also still watching me. I had to stifle a laugh when she rolled her eyes at the other girl's attempt.

“Heh-ah… fine. Sure, we can drop you off and see about getting something better. I don’t think this old truck will make it much farther than that anyway.” I finally answered, still unsure if it was the right call but feeling forced by the circumstances. Getting rid of the four tag-alongs from the tower would at least mean I had less to worry about.

“Great!” Kaylee beamed a dazzling smile at me. “It's the third left, then the first right, look for a big blue and white building behind a gate!”

I turned back around to guide Katie and worry over my decision. Problems kept stacking up faster than I could deal with them, or even think about them. Missing the trials was a constant thought in the back of my mind, plus I hated that I had dragged my friends into this deadly clusterfuck. Then there was the constant simmering worry about my own future now that I was tied into national politics, newly complicated by the growing guilt I felt for the poor folks we had gunned down and stolen the truck from. I knew we didn't really have a choice in our desperation, but I still felt bad about it.

Wanting to distract myself and seeing my chance to question Katie about the armor, I spoke up. “Katie, why doesn't the shepherd's armor allow them to talk to people through a speaker or something? It’s going to get our guys killed out here if they keep opening their visors to talk to us.”

She didn’t look at me, too busy driving the squirrely old truck. “They have remote communicators who can speak through the speakers if necessary. It’s not healthy for them to interact with the mob when they are on duty.”

“That smells like bullshit, Katie. Isn't there an override or something?” I pushed.

She shook her head. “Not anymore. It was a unanimous decision by the Council after the famine riots a few years ago.”

I grew quiet and chewed on the answer, numbly talking her through the turns as they came and letting the churning thoughts wash against my will like stormy waves against the stony cliffs of my determination.

After a tense 15 minutes of driving away from the sporadic explosions that followed us into the countryside, we pulled into a well groomed gravel drive that led up to a tall steel barred gate flanked by a long spike-topped fence. Beyond the gate was a manicured lawn dotted with trees that a long driveway snaked through on its way to a medium sized house surrounded by a number of massive garages and outbuildings.

The truck had complained and started making some terrible rattling noises after the abuse we had put it through. So while I was worried about what situation we might be rustily rolling into, I was feeling slightly more confident I had made the right call as we stopped. Even with Max screening our retreat with stolen drones, he had reported that they had stopped launching new ones and he was running out of the explosive equipped weapon systems.

Everyone but Katie hopped out of the truck, and an excited looking Kaylee jogged up to a small electronics panel built into the stone pillars on either side of the gate. I found myself standing next to Bree on one side, and Ali on the other. I looked over the rifle she had picked out of the debris from the building, an old eastern style thing with an internal magazine of fairly large bullets.

“Did you find any other arms in the rubble? I’m feeling a little naked without some kind of weapon.” I asked, hoping she had another pistol or something she’d be willing to share.

She glared at me out of the corner of her eye and replied with a flat. “No.”

Taken aback, I turned over to Ali and raised my eyebrows at her, noticing she was staring at the girl. I waited for a moment to see if she would give me some kind of response, but she only continued watching the tower dweller.

The gate rolled open and Kaylee turned back around to us and did an excited little jump, before wincing when the jolt reminded her of her injury.

“So, this is your uncle’s place?” Tevin asked, looking just a little bit skeptical.

“Yeah! We should pull the truck in behind some of the trees. The gate will close itself after a minute or so.” She smiled back.

Katie, still in the driver seat, revved the engine a little and we all cleared the path for the truck to drive in, we all followed in its wake while she parked it behind some trees and shrubs off to one side. As the truck rolled by, I noticed that the frame had bent upwards a little in the middle where the cab met the bed, which made me feel even more secure in my choice. If we had hit a few more potholes hard enough, the heavy load of power armored soldiers in the back might have split the truck clean in half.

We split into a few groups as we walked up the driveway towards the buildings. Kaylee and Tevin ranged out in front, the younger seeming girl excitedly chattering away to the hulking and good natured soldier. While Andy and Bree comforted a still rattled and tear-stained Raschel in the middle of the pack. I was walking near the rear with the gear-hauling Ali and a rather sulky Rin, while a barefooted Katie and Captain Jorn followed up.

I could hear Katie complaining about the gravel road before she stopped to put her heels on and took a moment to snap the points off of them to make them into awkward flats. Ignoring the chatter amongst the other groups, I turned to Rin.

“You’ve been quiet, what's on your mind?” I asked.

The scrawny and greasy shut-in didn’t even look at me, and took a few seconds to say anything. “Everything’s jacked up. I have no data, no feeds, and I don’t trust any of these people. I’m pretty sure we’re all going to die and we are just delaying the inevitable at this point. It’s nearly 50 miles to TR 40, and it’s a miracle that the dissidents have not caught up to us already.”

I saw Ali quickly glare at Rin for a moment before going back to scanning the horizon and the looming buildings, clutching her rifle a little closer to her chest at his words.

“He didn’t mean you, Ali. He’s just cranky without his coffee. Isn't that right, Rin? And hey, you’re using contractions, it’s a whole new era.” I replied, trying to inject a bit of humor into the moment.

Rin scowled and continued to stare straight ahead as we plodded along. “That is true, I do trust Alianora more than the rest of these people.”

“See? He’s warming up to you.” I said as I lightly elbowed Ali, who ignored me and continued scanning around for threats.

“She’s a pro, like the captain. Excellent at her job and as serious as cancer. Though, I do wonder who she would side with if the order came down from Katie.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as she stiffened.

It took a moment for Ali to reply, and when she did it was with a cold and dangerously low voice. “The CLE did give me this assignment, which I am grateful for. But Nick has treated me as more than just a cog to be used, consistently, with both actions and words. I don’t care who the orders come from, I’m on his side.”

I damn near blushed at her comment, feeling rather unworthy of that level of loyalty. Rin cracked a cynical grin and let out a huff of laughter. “Heh, see.”

The group ahead of us finally made it to the first huge blue and white hanger-sized garage, which lay across from an actual paved parking lot between the house and outbuildings. I could hear Kaylee still chattering away at Tevin as they disappeared around the slight angle, and I caught eyes with Andy as the second rag-tag line of our loose formation rounded the corner and he looked back at us.

Changing the subject to something more important, I continued pestering Rin with questions. “So, what could you dig up on Kaylee and her friends?”

He shrugged. “She has told the truth. She is attending an online academy course and lived with her mother in the tower, who worked for the local branch of Unity. She does indeed have an uncle, her father’s brother, who is a builder and lives outside of the city. Her father was a soldier who died in the military action against Osage two decades ago.” His hollow face cracked into another slight grin. “My diagnosis is ‘daddy issues’, a fate far too common.”

We rounded the corner as he finished his statement and stepped through an open doorway built into the edge of the building beside three massive garage doors. I could see Tevin and the others ahead of us inside, using a flashlight built into his armor to illuminate the dark interior and scan over the fleet of various vehicles parked about halfway into the place.

We moved towards them as a group, moving past some chest-high pallets of lumber and huge industrial wire-netted bags of stones and cinder blocks that were stacked high to either side of the tire-marked space. I’d turned to Ali and was about to make some kind of joke when I noticed she had tensed all the way up and had gone so far as to shoulder her rifle, her eyes darting in every direction at once.

“What’s up?” I asked her as we got within 20 feet or so of the other group and Katie and Jorn finally caught up to us inside of the building.

She didn’t answer, and instead pushed her way in front of me, grabbing me by the shoulder and pulling me down into a hunched headlock, just as the door slammed shut behind us and blocked the light streaming in from outside.

Bright spotlights flared to life from atop some of the heavy equipment on the far side, blinding me and causing me to raise my hand to shield my eyes. A gunshot rang out and time seemed to slow to a crawl as I watched Tevin’s armored silhouette, outlined by the spotlights, fall and crash to the ground ahead of me. The others darted away from him and disappeared into the contrast behind the spotlights.

Jorn uselessly called out from behind us, “Ambush!”, and we all scrambled for cover. I felt Rin grab onto me as Ali pulled me over to one of the piles of boards and we crouched down behind it.

“Fuck! I saw Tevin go down! We have to get out there.” I hissed.

“Wait.” Ali replied steadily, while Rin cracked open his laptop and started furiously typing away.

More gunshots rang out, and I heard Katie scream over the clomping of Jorns heavy boot steps as he indiscriminately blasted the interior of the building with his heavy rifle. The building shook with an explosion and the wall behind us flared with oranges and yellows.

I saw Jorn toss Katie behind one of the pallets of stones, and turned away to rise to a crouch and peek over the top of the barrier. One of the vehicles was now burning and lighting up the place, and some of the spotlights had been blown to bits by Jorn’s well aimed shots, giving me a semi-clear view of Tevin laying alone in the middle of the floor as continued muzzle flashes sparked from a dozen different locations on the far side of the building.

I gripped my plasma knife and pulled it from my pocket, fully ready to charge in and tear absolutely everything ahead of me into tiny scorched bits, when I saw Tevin move. He struggled to push himself to his hands and knees and closed his visor before collapsing back down onto his chest, his rifle laying on the ground next to him.

I vaguely heard someone yell “Traitors!” and realized it was me. I began to climb over the pile of lumber and felt a hard sideways jolt to my knee as my feet were swept out from me, causing me to collapse back into an awkward jumble.

“Stay down!” Ali shouted right in my face, before she pulled a grenade out from her lumpy chest armor and pulled the tab. I felt my legs go numb, and briefly panicked that I had been paralyzed as I failed to rise again.

“She's right! Do NOT get us killed. Tevin’s vitals are bad, but his armor is stabilizing him.” Max broke in. “I’ve turned off your legs for now, because you don’t seem to be able to control yourself. Gimme a sec to see what I can do.”

The gunfire slowed down now that everyone was behind cover, only bursting back to life for a few seconds when Ali tossed her grenade across the clear floor and blasted apart one of the pallets on the opposite side of the entrances. I could hear pounding footsteps over the crackling flames and groaning injured enemies as I lay there reeling with the shock of the betrayal.

Once the gunfire calmed back down, a clear voice rang out from the darkness behind the few remaining spotlights.

“Slaves, you finally have a choice! Throw down your weapons and turn over your masters, and you can be free from the grinding boot they have held you under. We don’t want to kill anyone, but to save you and our people! Give us your masters and we will finally have a bargaining chip to negotiate with. The unworthy Kings who rule you through the so-called council will have no choice but to grant concessions if they want their overseer and alien puppet back!”