Beyond the Last War: The Wayward Mercenary by Claude McKenna

Author:Claude McKenna [McKenna, Claude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

Unforgiving Sands

“I knew we wouldn’t last the night without problems. You should never let your hopes get the best of you. Out here, least of all.”

Johnnie

“Scratis inbound!” Sim’s deep robotic growl woke everyone at once.

Johnnie, Drake, and Quick Shot leapt up with a start, tensing and feeling around for their weapons. Quick Shot was the first to realize that the bugs weren’t right on them, and pulled Bessie to her feet.

“How far are they?” she asked, a tremor in her voice.

“One mile, and closing,” Sim said.

Johnnie shook his head. “They’ll cover that in a heartbeat!”

“Let’s get moving, then!” Drake yelled.

Johnnie nodded, leapt onto Bessie, and helped Quick Shot on after him. The wikata yawned. Normally, she would’ve picked up on predators long before they did, but scratis were eerily quiet underground. Even she would’ve been late to detect them. Without Sim, none of them would’ve made it out in time.

“Metal Head, come on!” Drake yelled.

The cyborg was glued in place, staring at the ground in front of him in anticipation.

“Quit foolin’ arou—” Drake started.

Metal Head leapt aside just before the ground seized up from under him.

“Go!” Johnnie kicked Bessie as hard as he could.

The wikata shot off like a frightened skimpy, her pupils dilated from danger. He reached out an arm and snatched up Metal Head by the hand. He pulled him up onto Bessie’s back. It was tight with both the cyborg and Quick Shot onboard, but Bessie could make it work—she’d carried three people before.

Drake cursed and torqued his keys in Old Rickey as hard as he could. It came alive on the first try, and he thanked the Earth for his luck. He slammed his foot down on the gas, sand spat from under the tires.

“Wait!” Antonio yelled. “What about Chica?”

Drake glanced in his sideview mirror and realized she’d fallen. She was kicking at something, stabbing at the earth with her knife. One of the scratis must have pulled her out, but she wasn’t about to get sucked under without a fight.

Drake cursed. He wanted to wheel his truck around, but the bugs were strong enough to knock even Old Rickety on its side. If they wasted any more time, they’d likely all be goners. They had no idea how many of the monsters they were dealing with.

“We can’t just leave her!” Antonio screamed.

Chica pried herself free from the bug and leapt aside as another geyser of sand shot up from the earth next to her.

“Johnnie can you—?” Drake started into his radio.

“We’re full up!” he yelled. “Bessie won’t be able to outrun them if we take Chica on too.”

Johnnie hadn’t even finished before Sim leapt off the roof of Old Rickety, sprinting in Chica’s direction. The droid’s speed was spectacular for such a huge thing, and the bugs that were chasing Bessie and Old Rickety paid him no mind as he passed over their burrowing ranks.

“Sim’s got it!” Metal Head said. “The bugs won’t hurt him—they won’t go for something without a heartbeat.”

Sim skidded to a stop at Chica’s side.

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