Chapter 11

"No...I."

"At ease killer, it's the morning time. No need to raise your blood pressure before you break your fast. But you did kill him. In a psycho kind of way too. Not normal to be displaying the body one second, then hiding it the next. That's something a dog would do. Tomorrow helped you with the twine though, by the time Leif was dead, you was so tired you couldn't pick up a stone. Come out from behind them bushes. I ain'tgonna hurt you."

"Wait, no, Leif. They..."

"Drop off in sixty seconds. Keep it civil. Snipers posted everywhere you can't see em. We usually get about ten bodies a pop, especially in the morning. Act up, let's move that number to twenty-five," Grey Mason said.

A roaring of reverse thrusters levitated the reddish-orange dust off the ground. The drop off ship was shaped like an isosceles triangle, chrome colored, boosters in the front and back. The top was rounded glass so that you could see the pilot inside. There were three of them, all descending simultaneously, and the only pilot I recognized was Zed.

Underneath the front was a retractable gray turret, with two ten foot long barrels sticking out. Suddenly, a fleet of cylinder ships, two times the size of the drop-offs, began landing all throughout sections of the flatland. Zed's ship opened up at the bottom, and landing gear extended out. I watched him park it near Hornet. The side air-locked door unfolded with a metal ramp. Large hovering pallets of brown boxes flowed down. All wrapped in metal chains. Lastly, Douglie emerged, looking petrified, typing frantically into a black tablet.

"We can talk more when you get back, killer. This here is your part. Water's inside the boxes, soon as they unlock em. Go on, get in close. If you run into trouble, slice them quick. The thirsty ones are usually the weakest," Puck ordered.

My knees popped when I stood up. I quickly glanced into Puck's eyes before obeying him, walking into the flock of inmates. The rounded glass at the top of the drop off ship sprouted open, and Zed looked down on us. A scene of hungry creatures peering back at him, salivating. I fit right in. Douglie's eyes darted around the tablet. When he spotted the right button, he looked back at Zed sporting a thumbs up. Zed nodded, and the steel chains fell to the side, crashing on the pallet below.

Five inmates rushed forward, clamoring for the first box. One of the inmates threw his wrist shackles around the neck of a prisoner in front of him. He pulled back with all his weight, strangling him. I stood on the tips of my toes to see the action. A dazzling flash of light pierced through both the inmates' heads, attacker, and victim alike. Blood, brain fragments, and an eye splattered on the black tablet. Some remains even bounced off onto Douglie's cheek. While freaking out, he dropped the tablet on the ground, and numerous pallets came tumbling out. Crashing down, pushing the other ones forward into a traffic jam, unchained.

"That was a specially modified .300 Winchester Magnum bullet. Capable of piercing three bodies at once. As you can see, it's worth the price and looks like we got two for one. Keep it up. Lucas and I running a bet, twenty-four in the next half hour," Grey cheered, excitement coating his voice.

Douglie stood traumatized and disgusted. I didn't blame him. Zed leaped down from the cockpit. Without hesitation, he whipped out his service weapon like unsheathing a sword. Honorably waving it towards us.

"Move back!"

Everyone listened, glancing down at the exit wounds on the two inmates' heads. Shackles still clutched around his neck, one eye missing. He backed up towards Douglie, whispered in his ear.

"If you expect to stay hired here, pull yourself together. Man the fuck up, and retract it, can't leave them all out," he said.

"How do you do that?" Douglie asked as Zed snatched the tablet from his hand.

"Weren't you a janitor yesterday?"

"Transferred again, to drop off duties," Douglie laughed nervously, shoving his fear down. "I'm a man of many talents."

"Of which you never showcase. Where are you from originally?"

"Crimson Mountain. Interesting fact, it used to be called Cherry Mountain, till the blood iodized."

"The female ward. Do me a favor. Since it looks like we're going to be stuck together, don't hurt yourself with metaphors. Doesn't flow off the tongue with you. And the next time you freak out, I'm going to leave you here. Chum for the sharks."

Zed pressed a sequence of buttons. Soft color emanated from the tablet. Electric blue, and jungle green reflecting on his face. Five beeps in a sequence sounded inside the ship, and the pallets began moving backward on the ramp.

"Each one of you take a single box. Then run back to whoever owns you. If you are still unclaimed within a week's time, I will assume you have been killed, leaving more water for the rest. Now form a line, and I'll wave my hands to move the snipers off you. Is that clear?"

"YES!" one inmate chanted in such a tone it implied he was deaf.

I stalked towards the box like a frightened animal. When it was my turn, I placed my hand on it, claiming it. Zed put his hand on mine. Halting me, staring through my bloodshot eyes, trying to see my brain.

"You been claimed yet?" Zed asked, an upward inflection on the 'claimed' part.

I looked to the ground, and in the distance Puck gave Zed a thumbs up. Zed lifted his hand.

"Not a bad choice."

Near my immediate surroundings, but behind the mass of prisoners, the Meskle was released. Since all my focus was on getting the water, I missed the process. Squeals, shouting, and rumbling kissed my ears abrasively for three minutes. By the time people began departing, Tomorrow was headed towards me holding a broad net over his shoulder. Inside was at least thirty Meskles, squawking, and nibbling on each other. A slow handclap meant that Puck approved, and I followed Tomorrow into the large cave near the ground. We walked deeper, behind the black wall, and surprisingly down a spiral of stairs.

Below was an astounding dining area, wide enough to support thirty people. Rickety tables, and upside down buckets for chairs. Torches in the corners ablaze, makeshift flambeaus. It marked the cave walls with their shadows, which resembled monsters feasting on flesh. Tomorrow dropped the net full of Meskle near a side wall. A very short, hunched back Viper with an eye patch nudged me. His only visible eye was entirely ocean blue, and briefly, I swam in it.

"You go down there," he pointed to a trapdoor in the corner.

The musk hit me first before I felt his energy. Tomorrow gently placed his hand on the back of my neck. It was a pleasing touch that I'll never confess.