“What have you done to anger the King of Merchants?” I can’t help but ask.
Jude groans loudly. “Remember when I said I came to the market years ago? Well, we were lovers for a time, after I hooked up with Perri. And I might have stolen one of his vehicles one night, with food and stuff, and disappeared into the wastelands without a second glance.”
“You stole from the King of Merchants?” I say, dumbfounded.
In the code of merchants, stealing is one of the worst offenses.
“Yeah… Not my brightest idea,” Jude admits.
I’m held prisoner by a fucking moron.
“Will Perri and Stellan be okay?” I ask.
Jude offers me a quizzical look, certainly surprised that I care. To be honest, I couldn’t care less about Stellan, but Perri was kind to me. He reminded me of Helios years ago.
“Yeah. They’ll be fine. They’re the King’s best hacker and mechanic. He needs them.”
“Afew vehicles are following us,” Fyfe informs us.
A video feed appears on one of the screens, showing us rovers and cars giving chase.
“Fuck. He was ready for that eventuality,” says Jude, biting his bottom lip. “What are you smiling about?” he says to me when he notices the grin on my face.
“I kind of wish they get us now, just to see what he’ll do to you.”
“And what do you think he’ll do to you?” he retorts. “I’ve heard that encounters among mutants rarely end well. You’re as territorial as the old gods you were created from.”
I nod. I have wounds in my gut and chest that attest to that. But at this point, I don’t fucking care anymore.
“As long as he lets me watch while he kills you first, I’ll die happy,” I say.
Jude snorts. “Motherfucker.”
TheFireflyflies low among the rocks. Alerts light up the screens and control panel as more vehicles join the chase from their hideouts in the wastelands. The Traveling Market’s entire defense forces are after us. It must cost an arm in fuel.
“I really pissed him off,” Jude muses. He almost sounds proud of himself.
I have to admit, he has balls. It seems that antagonizing mutants like the King of Merchant or me is a past-time for him.
Luckily, theFireflyis faster than the vehicles, thanks to the fact that it’s not being slowed by the terrain, even with a damaged aero engine.
As we crest a rocky hill and drop to the other side, the wastelands expand to the horizon. But the horizon is blocked by an armada of military trucks, cars, and rovers. I gape, amazed by the King of Merchants’ resources.
“Shit!” shouts Jude. “TheHighwaymen!”
I frown. He’s right, those are not the King’s men. The blood-red flags of the infamous group of nomads, theHighwaymen, fly in the wind on top of most vehicles. I’ve heard rumors lately that they’ve been more active. They were always the biggest threats to traveling merchants, and it looks like they are now in an open war.
I’ve killed dozens of them over the years myself.
“You need to fly us higher, Dumdumb!” says Jude.
“Impossible. The damaged aero engine might explode and kill the President in the crash,” says the AI.
Jude groans. I can’t help but laugh.
Behind us, the King’s little army crested the hill, still giving chase.
“Dumdumb, do you have weapons?” asks Jude.
