DustOff Read online

  "Crap," he thought. Almost literally. Tech gone three years, now working with a low tech warlord in the making and he almost pissed himself when a couple of soldiers in space suits stand up to him.

  He shook his head and wanted to draw his pistol, shoot them just to prove he wasn't scared.

  Parker glanced at the guard.

  "Anything happens, shoot them."

  "It won't hurt them," said the guard.

  "Yeah, but it will warn us. We'll kill the Doctor," he said in a louder voice so the squad could hear. "We'll kill him and everyone inside the building."

  He glared at Lutz, then turned on his heel and stomped away.

  He tried not to rush, but it was an effort.

  He could feel the faceless armor staring at his receding back and it made him want to shiver.

  "What do you think they're doing to him?"

  "Nothing," said Waldo. "He's in the Suit. We're safe, at least until they decide to starve us out."

  "What do you mean decide to do it? I'm starving."

  Waldo nodded. He turned to study the woods.

  "You think someone's coming?"

  "Yes," he answered. "I just hope he hurries."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  "I want you to kill someone," said James.

  Lt squinted at him across the table.

  Sunlight filtered through a stained-glass window over the raised alter, casting rainbow hues across the floor that inched toward them.

  The table had several thick and uneven looking candles resting on plates, mounds of wax bunched on the bottom like glue.

  Windows along the way let in light, enough that most of the room was illuminated, but the way James sat in the chair at the head of the table, his face was cast in shadow.

  Lt glanced at Eli, then at the women against the wall.

  "They in this room?" he asked.

  He shifted the blaster out of his lap where it rested and rested it against the edge of the table.

  "No, no," James said and leaned forward, moving his thin face into the light.

  Lt noted he wore a look of sadness, a look of guilt, and the words that tumbled from the man's mouth a moment later confirmed he did not ask an easy request.

  "I wish I didn't have to ask," said James. "I've even asked some of the men here to do it."

  Lt nodded toward Eli.

  "He looks like he could kill any man you wanted. Have him do it."

  "I can't," said Eli and studied his hands which rested in his lap.

  "You were ready to kill us."

  Eli shrugged, but didn't look up.

  "The gun was empty."

  "All of our guns are empty," said James.

  "Who is it?"

  James reached up, grabbed a glass and took a sip of water.

  He glanced at the wall and the women lined against it.

  "My brother," he squeaked.

  "You want me to kill your brother?" Lt grunted.

  James nodded.

  "You got a reason for this, or is this just some Cain and Abel shit?"

  "He's killing us," said James. "He's destroying our community."

  "I'm gonna need to know the how of it," said Lt. "See, I've got a mission of my own, and I appreciate the food, and hospitality. And I know Warbucks sure did enjoy clean water for a change, but you ain't convinced me yet that you need me. That you need my help. What you need is a bullet."

  He stared at Eli for a moment.

  "And a backbone."

  Eli sighed, raised his hard eyes to stare into Lt's blue pupils.

  "He's my son," the man answered.

  "This your dad?" Lt asked James.

  "My brother's father-in-law."

  "Look," Lt pushed back from the table and stood up. "I'm a simple man. I like things black and white, not this gray shit. I kill Licks. I kill humans who turned bandit or collaborate with the enemy. I'm not an assassin to go popping off a runaway kid."

  "He killed my daughter," Eli groaned.

  "And her child," James stuttered. "And others in the group. Eight so far. Five women and three children."

  "He's killing all these people, and you ain't tried to kill him back."

  "We would," Eli's groan turned to a growl.

  "Then what's the problem?"

  "We can't find him."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Murder.

  They wanted him to murder someone.

  A person.

  A human.

  He had killed before. Killing didn't bother him. There were just some humans who were just like Licks.

  Better off dead.

  But murder? He couldn't recall having had done that before.

  “Are you going to do it?” Annie asked.

  He stared at the wiry haired girl he had first seen come out of the woods and watched her watch him from the gardens.

  “I think they're asking a lot,” he said.

  “You don't think you can do it?”

  “No, that's not the question. I'm quite capable. I'm just trying to decide if it's worth it.”

  They set together for a few moments, letting the sounds of the space surround them.

  Soft voices murmuring as people worked the crops, the thwack of hoes in dirt, and somewhere to the right, to the side of the Church, the laughter of children at play.

  “Let me tell you a little something about me,” he said without looking at her.

  “I'm going to do something I don't normally do and that's give you a little insight into my psyche. Like I said I'm a simple man, there's not much to me. But before the aliens came, I had a wife. I had a little girl. And then the Licks showed up took out all of our medicine, all of our technology our infrastructure, everything. So, when they get sick the Licks took everything away that could make them better. That's why I kill him. That's why I'm going to kill every last one of them son of a bitches. But I got me a little gray area when it comes to morals. I don't have a problem killing Licks. I don't have a problem killing bandits. Collaborators, no problem. Turns out when I'm thinking about it, I won't lose any sleep killing a man that killed his wife and kid. Won't bother me a bit. You can make of that what you will.”

  Annie nodded.

  “I don't judge,” she said. “I've watched friends die. And while I haven't directly killed anyone face-to-face, I have called the shot to kill hundreds. I did it to save lives, I thought at the time. After the fact, I just saved a couple of us trapped in the front of a ship. I try not to second-guess, because it would keep me up at night. If you can live with it, so can I.”

  “Do they give you nightmares Warbucks?”

  “Not so much Anymore. I've seen worse since.”

  LT and Annie sat on the steps of the porch and watched the small farming community work they are tiny fields.

  "You're going to do it," said Warbucks.

  "How can you tell?" Lt squinted at her.

  "It's just who you are."

  "Lady, you don't know me."

  "Sure, I do," she grinned. "You kick a man's ass, you learn a lot about him. Outside of that tin can, you're the kind of guy who helps."

  He shook his head.

  "Only thing I'm helping is myself to a heaping helping of dead Lick."

  It was her turn to shake her head as they sat there.

  "I don't think so."

  "You don't?"

  "No," she said as her fingers tapped a beat against her leg. "I think you're going to tell that preacher in there that you will help, and I think I'm going to go with you to do it."

  "Now hold on," said Lt. "Who says you're coming with me?"

  "See," she smirked. "You decided before I even sat down beside you. Besides, you can't leave me here."

  "The Hell I can't."

  "Who is going to fly you back to my ship? Who is going to help you fight the last fight, the battle to stop the aliens now and forever?"

  "I ain't forgot," he glared at the ground. "It's not something easy to walk away from."

  He pointed at the metal building across from the steps where they set in the waning sunlight.

  "I grew up in a place like this."

  "A cult compound?"

  "Wasn't a cult," he said. "Alright, maybe it was. A branch of Baptists that preached hellfire and brimstone and preparing for a fight with the Devil's army."

  She snickered.

  "No, I'm serious," he chuckled. "They were convinced we needed to be ready to fight Satan's agents in whatever form they may be. Demons. UN soldiers. Muslims. Anyone basically who was trying to bring the Devil to power."

  "Anyone but you."

  "That's right. Anyone who didn't think like they did. Now don't get me wrong, I played soldier every weekend with the youth group. We were prepping for hell on earth before prepping got cool."

  "I guess it made you ready."

  "More than ready," Lt said. "But I meant for a kid like me, the Church was like family. The only stable thing I had growing up. Fucked up as it sounds, and crazy as it was, I've got a warm place in my heart for it."

  "You've got a heart?"

  "Small one. Makes the Grinch's look ginormous," Lt grinned. "But that building there and this one at our backs, we had that same set up."

  Annie nodded.

  "You had an oasis growing up," she said. "Now you want to protect this one."

  "You a fucking head shrinker up there in outer space too?"

  "Why? Is your head too big?"

  "My head is just fine, Warbucks. It's my ego that needs checking."

  He stared into her eyes, studying her reaction. She held his gaze, chin jutted up into the air.

  "We're going after him," she said, as if it was her decision to make.

  Lt nodded.

  "You're gonna have to stay behind me though. One
of us ain't bulletproof."

  "I am when I drink," she said. "Ten foot tall too."

  "You got any whiskey?"

  She shook her head.

  "Then duck and cover your ass behind me if things go sideways."

  “So, we kill this guy,” she said. “And then what? We just leave them here?”

  “That's one of those one step at a time decisions,” LT said. “First step is finding the piece of shit they want us to hunt for. And we got a clock running. Seems like it would be better to tell them we're going out, and then just keep moving. But I don't feel right doing that.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Babe leaned back against the fallen log and put his hands behind his head.

  He stared up at the canopy of stars that washed across the sky.

  "You ever think about what's up there?" he asked Lt.

  "You trying to sweet talk me Babe?"

  "You don't smell that good, Lt."

  Lt sniffed.

  "Yeah, I stink, but it's a man stink."

  "More like ass end of dead rhino stink," Lutz chimed in.

  "You ever smelled dead rhino ass Lutz?" Lt asked.

  "Lutz doesn't like to talk about his sex life," Babe said.

  The men chuckled around the tiny camp fire that flickered at their muddy boots.

  "What's got you riled up Babe?"

  "All the stars in all the universe and they landed on ours."

  Lt glanced up at the sky, laced his fingers across his flat stomach and squinted at the galaxy swirling above them.

  "I know what you mean," he said. "What the hell do they want."

  "Us dead," said Waldo.

  "Yeah, they're doing a damn fine job of making that happen," said Lt.

  "We're going to stop them," said Babe.

  But there wasn't much confidence behind his statement.

  "We're going to give it a hell of a try," said Lt. "Ya'll ain't even close to my thousand heads apiece yet."

  "How can you tell which one's are satellites and which ones are stars?" Crockett asked as he stared up.

  "Satellites blink," said Babe.

  "Stars blink," Lutz said.

  "They do?"

  Lutz shrugged.

  "I think so. I think that's what happens. It's been a few years since I was in an astronomy class."

  There were small murmurs of agreement from the men around the fire.

  "I don't miss that," said Crockett.

  "I learned the old-fashioned way," said Waldo.

  "Don't say school of hard knocks," Babe called over to him. "Everybody says school of hard knocks."

  "It wasn't the school of hard knocks," Waldo sulked.

  "What were you going to say then?" Babe challenged.

  Waldo searched the sky as if seeking an answer, but the Universe was quiet.

  "University of Hard Knocks," he offered.

  Babe picked up a twig and tossed it across the campsite at him.

  "Fast movers, Crockett," Lt answered. "If a star is moving sideways and fast, it's a satellite."

  "Are there many of those left, Lt?" Lutz asked.

  "Don't know a thing about it, Lutz. I figure the fucking Licks took out as many of them as they could, and that's part of the reason we're back in the fucking stone ages as far as talking and all that is concerned."

  "It's a dampening field," said Babe.

  "How do you know?" Waldo challenged.

  "I don't know," said Babe. "I overheard."

  "Where?"

  "Command. Before Lt showed up and recruited me."

  "What the hell do they know," Lt said. "Bunch of chicken shits with their heads tucked up their asses trying not to get themselves killed. Hell, half of them haven't been out of a bunker in two years or more."

  "You think they're wrong?" Babe asked.

  "Nah," said Lt. "I think they got this one. But even a blind squirrel gets his nuts off once and awhile."

  More quiet laughter around the fire that drifted off into silence.

  "I miss women," said Lutz, his voice almost too low to be heard over the soft crackle of burning branches.

  "Stay on that side of the fire, Lutz," Babe said.

  That set them off again, more chuckles that carried across the darkness. Lt stood up and stretched, back to the fire as he scanned the trees.

  "I'll take first watch," he said. "You boys catch some shut eye."

  They watched him walk into the trees to set a picket.

  "You shouldn't have said that about women," said Crockett.

  "Why not?"

  "It makes him think of his wife."

  "Shit," said Lutz. "Think I should say something?"

  The men answered as one in emphatic whispers.

  "No."

  "Just give him space," said Babe. "And sleep good tonight. Because any Lick that happens on us when he's missing them is going to spend the last seconds of their life wishing they had never heard of earth."

  Babe opened his eyes, head foggy from the dream playing in his mind.

  He stared across the small campfire at Jake, Jerome and his men.

  The flames were reflected in Jake’s faceplate, but Babe could feel his eyes watching him.

  He knew Jake saw the same flames mirrored in his own helmet.

  The dream had been so real, so vivid, he half expected Lt to walk out of the woods, ready for one of the squad to relieve him for watch.

  But there was no Lt.

  Just the memory of a conversation during one of their patrols.

  But Babe wondered if his subconscious was trying to tell him something.

  Lt was alive. He said he was coming.

  Babe just had to hold out until he got there.

  And just like he made the Lick’s pay for invading earth, he would make these bandits pay for his men.

  Babe closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but it wouldn’t come. He decided to keep his eyes open and be ready.