Page 81 of Ruined Omega

“And what has this to do with me and my tribe?”

“Our armor has its limitations. We cannot travel all the way into the center of the Zone without becoming…” He looks down at the mindless, drooling betas milling in their pen at the edge of the village. His voice oozes disgust as he says, “…like them.”

He points a leather-clad finger in my direction.

“But you can, Alpha! You can journey into the center. Do you know what a map is?”

“Of course,” I scoff. Do these Outsiders really think we are that stupid and primitive.

The man gestures into the shadowy interior of the ship. Someone hands him a large rolled paper, which he tosses down to me. I catch it easily, unroll it, study it. It takes me a moment to realize what I’m seeing, but when I do, my excitement increases to new heights.

“Tunnels,” I say. “Underneath the central ruins.”

“The old sewers,” the Outsider says. “From before the Cataclysm.”

I don’t know what his last word means, but I assume he is referring to the Big Change, when the hateful Source burst into existence, remolding the Zone into this image that I despise so much.

“You can use those tunnels to sneak into the ruins and capture the woman for us. I’ll give you ten days, then I will return here to retrieve the woman.”

“And why should we do this task for you, Outsider?”

“Because if you don’t, we’ll burn this little shit pit to the ground. On the other hand, if you succeed…”

He turns and gestures over his shoulder. Two more men, both clad in identical black bodysuits appear, carrying a long, metal crate between them. They lower it to the ground on black ropes.

I stride forward and push back the top of the crate. It is filled with Outsider weapons. Guns, they are called.

“If you succeed,” the Outsider calls from above, “there will be more where that came from. We’ll give you enough weapons to conquer the entire Zone for yourself.”

A few of the braver Farlanders have gathered around to peer into the crate. One of them snatches up a long black gun, inspects it curiously, peers down the hole at the end.

There is a loud bark, a flash of flame, and the back of the Farlander’s head is blown away in a spray of red. He collapses dead to the ground.

Overhead, the Outsider lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Hopefully not all of you are so stupid,” he says. “Guns aren’t hard to use. Point them at your target. Pull the trigger. Bang, dead. Simple, right?”

I reach into the crate and pull out a weapon that is different from the others. It is much larger, rectangular in shape, with four holes in the end, each one nearly as big around as my fist.

“Careful with that one,” the Outsider says. “Bazooka. It fires explosives. You can use it if you need to blast your way through walls.”

Now the feeling of joy in my chest is a ball of white hot energy.

Now I understand how the dark gods have blessed me.

I will not capture the female as the Outsider wants. I don’t care about his threats to destroy the village. These Farlanders mean nothing to me. Nothing. And besides, by the time my work is done, there will be no village left anyway.

I will not capture the female as the Outsider wants.

No. I have something much grander in mind.

I place the bazooka gently back into the case and step away.

“All right, Outsider,” I lie, “you have a deal.”

CHAPTER 28: HINES

“Ouch!”