Heaven for a Predator, page 8
When their prize was secure, Furii climbed into the driver's seat, Isabel beside her. Blood caps were handed out to begin healing, and wounds washed with pure water. They refreshed themselves in silence. Finally they felt more at ease, and Furii turned the beast for home. They drove on in silence as the rays of the sun began to crimson the sky.
'Blood has been spilt,' pondered Isabel sagely.
'No shit, kiddo.' Furii snorted sarcastically. They both allowed a grim chuckle.
To keep as much distance possible between them and the 'bandits', Furii left the daytime shields on and continued driving well into the morning. When she felt assured of their relative safety, she pulled the truck to a halt. As an extra precaution, she activated the motion sensors attached to an internal alarm. They were generally too sensitive in most places, but potentially being out in the abandoned desert with revenge-filled bandits on their tail, meant that she could justify their use.
'You did good. Really good. Today- kiddo.' Furii blushed into the compliment, unused to such words coming from her. Isabel nodded in return, content with not pushing her luck. Finally they both fell asleep, safely cloaked from the sun.
Chapter 13
The alarms blared, rousing both the vampires and a now loudly cussing Gamboori. He rattled his chains and glared at the women. They ignored him to grasp their guns and run into the cabin. The external videos showed autophages, eyes glittering in the night.
'It's a pack of ferals, Furii,' Isabel stated flatly. Thin hands with pointed nails grasped for the meagre light coming from the truck. Furii grabbed her sickles and guns, favouring her dual wield. Isabel took hers, with Gamboori's tucked into her belt as a back-up.
They nodded and Furii flipped the external lights on. The autophages were momentarily blinded, shying away from the light. This was their best chance, and they took it.
Furii and Isabel jumped out of their respective doors, guns a'blazing. They carefully picked each shot, despite the pack now turning to them and fighting blindly. Duck the claws and teeth, spring up, shoot. Dodge a blow, shoot. Run out of bullets, swap. Slice and cut, until they all lay dead. Isabel had taken a claw gash to the face, Furii had multiple scratches and bruises, but they had taken down 13 feral autophages. It alarmed Furii how much the two of them had synced up. Fighting was almost a dance between them.
'I guess you need your tags, huh? No sense wasting the loss,' Isabel pointed out. Furii was still too stunned to do more than nod. She fetched the tags from the cabin and began to organise the bodies. It would not be fun to carry the dead autophages for at least two days, given that they already stank, but the extra income for this little jaunt could buy a lot of fuel. She threw the back doors open to confront a glaring Gamboori.
'Just kill me now. Don't leave me with that, don't take me to the Duchess. Kill me. Consider it a favour,' he begged, looking at the dead autophages Furii and Isabel were dragging.
'Can't do that. Gotta get you back alive. It's in the contract.' Furii shut down any discussion there, but took care to pile the autophages as far away from Gamboori as possible. She also turned on the air purifier to keep the stench to a minimum. When all 13 had been tagged and loaded, they got back into the cabin. Furii silently handed out the blood caps and water, even throwing some fresh water to Gamboori in the back. He sulked, but took it anyway. Feeling cleaner and already starting to heal, they began driving again. The sands of the desert swallowed the blood, and small insects quickly took every last piece of flesh from the site. The tire marks were blown away, and soon nothing remained of the lives lost. The desert never changed for long.
A thought occurring to her, Isabel climbed into the back, carefully picking her way over the dead to sit by Gamboori.
'What do you want?' He growled and pulled at his chains, an exercise in futility.
'What was that place? Why are autophages, humans and vampires all being bandits together?' Isabel asked bluntly, loud enough for Furii to hear.
'Bandits? What the hell? No, kid, they are freedom fighters. Trying to protect the autophages that are cognizant still, and get the humans out of the city slavery.' He kept short of shouting, but not by much. Isabel flinched.
'Furii was told they are dangerous bandits kidnapping humans for food and trade. The Duchess threatened her. The tribe-kin even saw a slaughter of her and the tribe if she did not comply.' Isabel spoke lower, but Furii heard it. The kid had known more than she was letting on then.
'Well I can't help that. What you two destroyed was a chance at freedom, from the tyranny of the families, murder clans and false government. You decimated a main line, but at least a few survived I bet. Unless you guys torched the place after I was knocked out. Wouldn't surprise me. Was there a bonus to blow the place up? To annihilate the entire camp?' He was trying to inflame the women, but got no push back.
'No,' responded Isabel flatly. 'We left the last room and the base intact. I am sure we were supposed to, but we didn't. There was something too wrong about it all. Especially the autos. Everyone in the city wants us dead, but the tribes and others are fighting for us?'
'What do you mean, the city wants you dead?' Gamboori was now curious, despite his inherent belligerence.
'Furii was ordered to kill me. To cover up my existence. The city pretends there are no conscious autophages. They use it to generate fear and keep the bounty hunter clans in jobs. My parents were part of all of that before their downfall. Heck, the only reason I am a phage now is because my parents pissed off the wrong family. But now, Furii saved me. She protected me from that kind of death. She risked everything. Hate her for filling out her orders if you like, under threat of death, but not for who she is.' Isabel patted Gamboori on the knee and stood carefully with the swaying of the vehicle. She fished some human food out of a stash she had received from the tribe for Gamboori and handed it over. He took it thankfully and sat thinking everything over as he ate.
Isabel returned to the front, nodding to Furii as the only communication. Somehow the kid looked almost healthy for a vampire. Her hair was growing back, her claws were almost normal nails. Furii was amazed at the change in the girl, both mentally and physically. She drove on in silence but was comforted by her words.
Chapter 14
The night, as well as the next day's sleep, proved uneventful. Gamboori had stopped trying to annoy the vampires and preventing their sleep, choosing to believe the stories spoken by Isabel. There was little else he could do. The dead autophages raised a stink, the flesh of such a cold-blooded predator decomposing faster than the average. Furii could have closed off the back of the truck to the cabin, but she didn't want to trap Gamboori in with them alone. They blasted the air purifier as best they could but were all over the stench. Finally, they just dragged Gamboori into the cabin with the promise that he would behave, then sealed off the bed. Fully closed, the refrigeration could be used to preserve the bodies better.
The night of driving proved to be uneventful, with shared tales and small patches of gossip littering the dark hours. Furii even allowed Isabel to attempt driving in a particularly flat and desolate part of the desert, which terrified Gamboori. Isabel’s squeals of joy were almost drowned out by Gamboori’s shouts of fear every time the truck lurched from side to side.
‘You bloody vampires might survive an accident, but I am a human! I need self preservation!’
‘I thought you wanted to die anyway!’ argued Isabel in a joking manner. The three were starting to embrace gallows humour together. Seeing his white knuckle grip on the chair convinced Isabel to relinquish control, handing the captain’s seat back to Furii.
They managed to make it to the next morning without a barking contest or accident, and all three opted to sleep in the cabin rather than risk the stench and chill of the back. The day passed uneventfully, and they all managed to secure some sleep. Unfortunately, the warmth of the day still managed to heat up the truck, despite the extensive insulation measures. The relief felt when they all awoke and could finally open the windows was well-expressed in a variety of sighs and expletives.
Anticipating her return to the city and getting the putrid bodies out of her truck as soon as she could manage, Furii set off early, forgoing the breakfast. After a few kilometres, Isabel quietly got up and braved the back to get to the fridge. The smell was bad enough, but the fluids leaking from the bodies and congealing in the cold was something else entirely. The autophage gagged; despite having seen far worse in the wasteland, she certainly hadn’t smelt worse.
Regardless, they needed to feed, and Isabel battled the stench all the way to the fridge. Climbing back into the cab, she handed the donated human food to Gamboori, then dosed out the blood. As Isabel passed Furii her dose, she held her hand up to refuse the offering.
'Pass.' She muttered, as curtly as possible.
'If you don't feed now, you will be feral by sunup. We need you to have full control.' The autophage chastised the bounty hunter. Amusement rippled through Furii's stern countenance. She dutifully held out her hand for the offered caps. The kid was right- she had yet to smuggle an autophage back into the city, get a human back to the evil overlords and get putrefying bodies out of her beloved truck. The thought alone made her head pound.
Furii drove for as long as she could stand, but before midnight she was forced to stop. Every move ached, and it felt as though her brain was threatening to violently exit her skull. The truck door squealed loudly as she threw it open, protesting her violence. Gulping in fresh air held back a full physical response, but it was enough to send shudders through her body. In all of her centuries as a vampire, Furii had never vomited. For her body to be giving such a visceral response now, she was more than a little worried.
Isabel came around the truck to help Furii, just in time for a feral autophage to come screeching out of the liquid black depths of a wasteland night. Drawing a knife, Isabel dropped into a low crouch.
She was coiled to strike.
The autophage continued towards Furii blindly. He was either oblivious to Isabel’s alteration into a deadly fighting stance or simply did not care. His bloodlust and violence gave him pure tunnel vision.
Before Furii could react herself, the head of the feral autophage was rolling around on its chest, attached by a scant few strands of muscle and skin. The body dropped slowly, or perhaps the adrenalin flooding their senses made it seem so.
Furii couldn't help but sigh. Despite it earning her more bits, now there was another autophage to add to the stinking pile. Her truck was becoming a veritable tumbril. Unfortunately, even if they dumped the bodies out, the stench would remain until they could get to the city and deep clean the beast. So Furii tagged the new autophage and threw it in the back.
They collectively decided that they would stay in their current position for the night. None particularly wanted to delay their travel and consequent freedom from the taphonomic wonderland in the truck, but nor did any want to rush back to the city.
Furii sat and pondered her dilemma of being puppeteered into slaughtering a group of freedom fighters on behalf of the much-despised controlling families. Isabel wondered about her future, being snuck in and out of the city and killing her own kind. Gamboori lamented being returned to the Du Mort manor and giving up his small measure of freedom. The melancholy hung in the air, yet none dared to speak and dissipate its grasp for hours.
The sun was breaking the horizon when Gamboori finally shattered the silence with a plea.
'Don't take me back. You have fuel, we can just keep running until we are out of the reach of the Du Morts. Please, you would be returning me to hell.'
Furii looked at Isabel, and the silence stretched on again as they desperately tried to read each other's mind.
'We can do it.'
'We could never do it,' said Isabel and Furii at the same time. It was Furii who held up a hand to silence all discourse.
'The Duchess Du Mort paid me a disgustingly high amount of money to find you and a car. They will easily front more money to have me killed, and you returned by the next bounty hunter. They will also slaughter an entire tribe from pettiness.'
'It wasn't for me. They would never pay that much for a slave, especially one from the tribes.'
'A slave? You are a human, a necessity to survive as vampires.' Furii couldn't help but feel unsure in her words, and the trepidation leaked into her voice.
'There are well over 200 humans in that miniscule building. That many for one bitch and her 'honoured guests' is ridiculous. This is not about me, it’s about the freedom fighters and their habit of liberating slaves from the controlling families,' Gamboori explained, with frustration darkening his inflections.
'No, she gave me her word, as I gave mine. It will work out,' Furii insisted. That insistence, however, did not stop the doubts from insidiously weaving into her thoughts. Isabel chose to keep quiet.
'Well, your word has resulted in the death of our hope. Live with that.' His final words punched into an uneasy existence. With that, he turned his back, feigning sleep.
'I'm so sorry.' Isabel spoke to no one in particular. Knowing both sides of this argument, she offered up a futile apology out of desperation. Furii shook her head sadly.
'I am used to that. If I don't give you back, they will kill me. It's been done before. They were no doubt prepared to kill Nakhari's tribe. If I don't play along, we all probably die, knowing about the autophages. All of it is a big ol’ mess.' Furii saw some of the tension ease in Gamboori, but he still refused to speak.
Isabel played with the last of her blood capsules thoughtfully while they spoke.
'Ever learnt not to play with your food?' Furii teased to lighten the mood.
'Why do you take these rather than just drinking?' Isabel asked innocently. The entire atmosphere around Furii darkened in seconds. This was her taboo, never having passed her lips since being taken in by the Hellstorm clan.
'It's... not a fun tale. You sure you want to know?'
'You let me talk about my family, we can share such burdens.' Isabel held the sad gaze of the bounty hunter, meeting her eyes with honesty and integrity. Gamboori held silent, comprehending the importance of the conversation. Furii sighed and scratched the stubble on the side of her head.
'I was one of the last to get infected during the first generation crisis. The outbreak lasted 20 years as an avalanche of infections, before the spread slowed. I was attacked in year 2 post-outbreak by a man seeking revenge for his own infection, by infecting as many innocent people as possible. He was put down shortly after.' Furii exhaled slowly. Tension engulfed her body as the memories scrolled by.
'We knew so little, even after 22 years. I was patched up after the initial attack, then sent home with a 'Now you're a vampire' pamphlet and no real clue. I thought I only had to feed as much as the vampires I had seen at work. I grew hungrier to the point of hallucinations. I thought it was all part of the infection. I went home... and had a normal night with my fiancé, while our toddler played nurse.' Furii choked on tears she was ashamed of. She felt as though she had no right to mourn a loss she had caused.
'I attacked them. My partner, my child. I tore into the ones I love. When I woke up, all I could taste was... them. The lifeblood of my family. They were... shredded. It was like a sleepwalking incident, I remembered nothing. It wasn’t until I woke up that I saw the extent of it. Those frail little bodies, even the bulk of my massive partner was gone. Instead, there was a small mound of flesh. The taste of old blood poisoned my mouth. Blood and flesh.' Furii was forced to stop there. Isabel and Gamboori were shocked into silence.
Furii held back her tears as best she could, but the blood still dripped from her eyes. She wiped at it with her sleeve. Soon she gave in to the sobs.
Isabel jumped at the wails of the hunter. The scarred bounty beast was sobbing into her hands. Neither had seen Furii like this. Isabel hesitated before putting a thin arm around the older vampire. Slowly she eased to a sniffle.
'Sorry, got the morbs.' Furii attempted to dismiss the emotional outbreak with feigned ease. Awkward laughs were shared, all present were intensely uncomfortable with overt emotions. The vampire and the autophage soon resumed some banal banter to dismiss the mood. Gamboori remained relatively quiet, pondering all that he had learned about the killer of his saviours. The sheer complexity of emotions left him paralysed in analysis.
'Tomorrow night we should be able to make it back to the city, only about 140 kilometres out. Will drop Gamboori off, then I gotta collect my bounty and sneak Isabel into home.' Furii turned to the autophage. 'I am sorry you will have to spend so long in the compartment, but I don't want to risk someone seeing you in the mansion. They have an army of droogs just waiting to kill something.' Her voice was almost soft. Normally as harsh as the mocking of a raven, Isabel was struck mute by the sentiment in Furii's voice.
'Ah, yeah sure, I get it,' Isabel muttered gruffly as she settled down in her makeshift bed. Furii took the chance to ease her awkwardness and bedded down for the night too. Eventually only Gamboori was awake, deep into the day, ruminating on all he had seen and heard. For once it did not occur to him to kill Furii and escape.
Chapter 15
The moon rose, and so did the bloodsuckers. Furii roused first, but lay in bed pondering the wisdom of sharing her story the previous night. Isabel she could trust, but Gamboori would shortly be delivered to the Duchess. There was no telling what may happen with a rumour of her weakness circulating. Whether voluntarily or under duress, Gamboori now had the ability expose one of Furii's tightly-clutched secrets. The thought made her sick. Such information could be a formidable weapon.
