15 Years Later: Wasteland (19 page)

She led him to a side door, but there seemed to be no one on guard anywhere, anyway. They stepped inside and went straight for the stairs. He felt more and more anxious as they began to climb. There was almost no way out if they hit trouble. He had to just keep telling himself to put one foot in front of the other.

"Jay gonna be up here?" he whispered very quietly.

"Probably."

That was the last place he wanted to be going, and yet Rave didn't seem to show any fear at all.

They reached the very top of the building and stepped out into what could only be described as the most decadent lobby he had ever seen. It was a bizarre sight, with lavish vintage furniture and huge murals and artwork on the walls. The skeletons of dinosaurs and stuffed animals were displayed all around. It looked like someone had raided mansions and museums, plundering at random. He looked around for any sign of life and caught a glimmer of movement. The figure of a person was tied to a large chair that looked like something used for executions.

He rushed over to see that it was Sasha. He couldn't believe his luck. She had a gag tied around her face and was lashed to the chair with rope. He pulled down the gag. There were tears in her eyes and streaming down her face.

"It's okay. I've come to get you."

"Jay, he came looking for you. He keeps asking about you. Where you are, where you came from?"

He drew out his knife and cut the ropes.

"What did you tell him?"

"Only that I used to know you years ago. I told him I hadn't seen you in years, but he wouldn't believe me. I didn't know what to do," she said as she began to cry.

He helped her up and noticed blood all down the front of her shirt.

"It's okay. It's not mine. I fought as hard as I could, but there were too many."

He looked impressed. She must have done some real damage to bleed someone that much.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

He felt his pulse almost stop as a booming voice called out on a loudhailer.

"Zed! Zeeed! You're all mine now, Zed!"

He recognised it immediately.

"Jay," he replied.

He knew there was no point in hiding. The game was up. He rushed to the nearest window that overlooked the front of the building where the cars were parked. He was standing on top of his cash truck. Twenty Braves stood around him with torches lit as if a lynch mob.

"Shit," he said to himself.

"I see you, Zed. You got away once, not again!" he called and proceeded to laugh through the loudhailer.

"You came for your princess, isn't that sweet?" he asked sadistically, and his Braves laughed.

Zed stepped away from the window.

"Rave, do you think he knows you’re here?

"I don't think so, but I don't know for sure."

"Is there any other way out of this building?"

"The only way is the roof. It's that way. You could jump to the next roof?"

"How far is it?"

She shrugged as she clearly had no idea and hadn't done it before. It sounded like an awful idea. He had a fear of heights, even though he had never told anyone that he could remember.

"Come on out. Make this easy!" Jay yelled.

"Take her, and get both of you out of here."

"No, I won't leave you."

"You have to come with us," Sasha pleaded.

"No, we aren't all getting out of here."

"We can. We have to." She put her arms around him, but he pushed her back.

"It’s not possible, but you have a chance. We don't have the time to argue. I have done plenty of bad in the past. Let me at least do something right. Rave, promise me you'll do this, and get her out alive? Promise me?"

She reluctantly nodded.

"All right, I am going to the roof. I'll draw their attention as much as possible. If you see an opening, you take it, you hear?"

"Yes," she replied plainly.

Though it was clear that she was as sad to be leaving him as Sasha was.

"You know what to do," he said.

He reached forward and kissed Sasha, and she responded in kind as if it would be the first and only they would ever share. He brushed his hand over her cheek and then rushed towards the door Rave had pointed to. He opened it slowly and looked out. Surprisingly, the coast was clear. A steel ladder led up onto the rooftop. He was already feeling uncomfortable as he began to climb, but he tried to put that aside. It seemed absurd to be worrying about heights when an angry mob wanted to tear him apart. He reached the top, crept over to the edge, and peered down at the group below.

"Come out, Zed, or we'll come and find you!" Jay shouted.

He crawled over towards the other building and looked across. It was a little lower than the one he was on. That was the good part, but the distance was far further than he expected. He shook his head as if to say no he wouldn't do it, but he had no choice. He moved back for a run up and took a deep breath.

"Ah, fuck it!"

He leapt forward into a sprint and bounded off the building with as much lift and speed as he could possibly manage. He instantly regretted it as he flew through the air. He could tell he wasn't going to quite make it.

"Shit!"

He crashed chest first into the edge and felt the wind taken out of him. But he latched his arms on and held on for dear life.

"There he is!" a voice cried out from below. A Brave had spotted him.

He put in everything he had despite the pain, pulled himself up and over the ledge, and crashed down the other side onto the rooftop. To his surprise nobody had tried to fire or throw anything at him. But then why would they need to? He had nowhere to go, and they all knew it. He got to his feet and looked over the ledge. The Braves had leapt into action and were rushing towards his building. Jay watched from his truck as if enjoying the show.

Braves poured into the doors at the bottom of the structure as Zed looked over the edge. There was no way out. He went to the far side and could see some kind of water tower.

"Oh, what the hell!"

He took a run and leapt towards it. It was a far shorter jump, but he still only just made it and rolled on the top, barely managing to get his grip before falling off the other side. He stood up and looked down again. The few Braves that hadn't got inside had turned to come at him. He desperately looked around for any way off, but there was none. A dozen Braves encircled the tower, screaming and howling excitedly.

An engine roared to life, and they turned to see black smoke below from the dump truck. Jay turn looked surprised. It wasn't of his doing. The heavy oil burner roared, and the truck lurched forward.

"Stop them!" Jay shouted.

But the truck was already in motion, with Rave at the wheel. She floored it and rammed a car out of her path. Many of the Braves chased after her, but she didn't let off the gas, and they couldn't catch up. Zed smiled as he watched the truck storm along the main road of the camp. Two guards in the tower beside the front gates leapt out as they saw it coming towards them. There was nothing they could do to stop her.

The truck hit the gates and smashed them off with ease. As the truck burst through, the tower and part of the wall collapsed into the road. They wouldn't be going after her anytime soon. Zed watched Jay get out of his truck and stroll over to stand at the base of the tower. He had a wicked grin on his face, as if he didn't care for what he had lost. He began to laugh as Zed looked around for some way out.

"Now you're mine!" he said as he began to chortle, and his mob joined in.

Zed opened his eyes. His head was sore and his vision blurred. It was a feeling that was getting all too familiar. The ground under him was cold, and it was dark despite some rays of light coming in overhead. He knew exactly where he was. The same hole is had been thrown in before. The thing he was most surprised about was that he was still alive.

He tried to get up and felt aches and pains all over his body. He lifted his shirt to see bruising all over his ribs, and his face was just as sore. He eventually got up and managed to stand but winced as he pulled himself upright.

“Why didn’t you just kill me? Why didn’t you just kill me!” he screamed.

There was no response. He couldn’t understand why he was still alive, but soon realised Jay’s sadistic side wouldn’t let him go so easily. He had a long ordeal in sight, and not a single hope of being rescued from it all. His only relief was in the fact that he had done what he set out to do, although there was no sign of the boy. He had rescued Sasha, and he had kept Rave away from Jay at the same time. It made him smile to remember her blasting out of town in the dump truck. He knew that was a wound that would cut Jay deeply.

He sat back down and took in a deep breath. He had accepted his fate and decided to turn his attention to a daydream of where Rave and Sasha might now be. It had to be worth it, but was it enough for him to get redemption? He doubted it, but it was a step in the right direction. That too began to weigh on him now, though.

If I had not got involved in their lives, would any of this have happened in the first place? Calico left to its own devices, Sasha was safe, and Rave had seemed more than happy in Jaytown.

Zed shook his head, realising what a negative impact he had really made. Everywhere he had left a trail of death and destruction.

Am I just as bad as the man my brother knew
me as?

He looked around at the earthen walls. It was the sort of place that would destroy not just a man’s body, but also his mind. Laughter rang out above him. Somebody had been there all along, and he recognised the sound. It was Jay.

“No, I won’t kill you. Not for a long time. Death would be too good for you.”

“Why? What the hell did I do to you? All I ever did was try to defend myself. Anything you have lost was your doing. I never wanted any of this. All you had to do was leave me alone!” he pleaded.

He hoped for just a few seconds that Jay might see some sense and reason, but that was never going to happen. Jay stepped up to the bars, casting a long shadow and cutting out almost all the light coming into the cell.

“Everybody here is mine to do with as I please.”

That shattered any hopes Zed had, but he saw it coming. Jay was just the sort of man he used to be, or so he had been told.

“So what will happen to me?”

“Whatever I want, but you can stay down there another day. Make yourself comfortable. Tomorrow the pain begins.”

He walked off, laughing to himself in his usual despicable manner.

What have I done to deserve this?

Later that day he was surprised to find someone offering him a bowl of food through the bars. It was the old man who had set him free before. Clearly, Rave had taken all the blame for that.

“Why did you come back? Why did you ever come back?”

Zed grabbed the bowl of food. For just a moment he wondered it if were safe to eat, or if some sadistic person might have poisoned it. But then he remembered that Jay wanted to have fun torturing him. The food was likely to keep his strength up rather than weaken him. This was going to be a long drawn out death.

“You let me go, why?”

The man coughed and muttered but said nothing audible.

“Please, just tell me why?”

The man got down on his knees and put his head down to the grate to look at Zed.

“Because I knew you years ago, and I know what you became,” he whispered.

“How?”

“I knew your father, long time ago. I knew you, too, a little. But not when you were the Boss.”

“You knew that was me and you said nothing?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

“If Jay knew, he wouldn’t wait. He would kill you right away.”

It dashed any hopes he had of using that information as a bargaining chip.

“I can’t help you again,” he said as he scurried off.

Zed had hoped the old man could have shed more light on the entire situation, but it was far simpler than he could have expected. All he could do now was wallow in the misery of the situation. He heard the comings and goings of the Braves all day, but nobody else came to him. Later that night the arena began to fill up, and he heard the battles begin, but still no one came for him. He heard the screams of the crowd as the fighting went on.

Eventually, the noise died down, and he was left in peace, but it was not easy to get some rest. Despite his aching body, his mind remained alert. He had been able to do nothing but lay there all day. By morning he had gotten little more than two hours of sleep. The grate of the cell was cast open, and two Braves hauled him out into the arena, dumping him down in the blood soaked dirt.

He got up onto his knees. Jay stood before him with a wicked grin on his face and a dozen Braves stood around him. The Captain who had come to Calico stood by his side, and Trigger on the other. The man he had thrown a hammer at, and he still bore the wounds from it. His right eye was black and his forehead and nose swollen. He looked furious, but he wouldn’t move without orders from Jay.

“Nobody messes with Jay,” stated Jay.

Zed just shook his head. He never wanted to mess with anyone. All he wanted was to be left alone, but no one was willing to hear that. Jay nodded towards Trigger who gladly came forward with a smile and drove a kick into Zed’s stomach. It was a heavy steel capped boot, and it hit him like a train. He keeled over and gasped for air, but he was hauled back up by the same thug, punched to the face, and knocked to the floor once again.

“What do you want from me?” he asked, wincing in pain.

Trigger hauled him up onto his knees once more.

“Nobody defies me. Nobody fails me, and everyone pays the price. Where is Rave?”

“I have no idea,” he muttered.

Trigger once again struck him on command.

“I want to have my fun with you. Draw this out as long as we can, but if you tell me where Rave is, I will let you die quick and easy.”

“I’ll never tell you. You hear me, you son of a bitch?”

Jay rushed forward and punched down towards his face. The hulking man struck far harder than his henchman. He fell back to the ground and barely remained conscious.

“Perhaps some time alone with Trigger might change your mind.”

He walked away angrily, leaving Trigger and the Braves to have their way. They beat and kicked him for what seemed like forever. Just about when he felt like he would die, the beating finally stopped. He wouldn’t beg them to stop. He was too stubborn. They rolled him into the hole that was once again his home and shut the grate. He wanted to cry he was in so much pain, but he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing or hearing that.

Within half an hour of being in the hole, he was asleep through the sheer fatigue of his injuries. When he finally awoke, it was to the sound of someone banging on the grate. He opened his eyes to see the old man once again offering him food.

“You will need this. Eat,” he said.

He just about managed to get up and take it before slumping back down and digging in. His face hurt so much to eat, but it did help.

“I’m never getting out of here, am I?”

“Not alive.”

He passed the bowl back and sat back down. The sun soon went down, and the arena once again filled up with the roar of the crowd. This time he wasn’t left alone to listen to the violence. His cage was opened, and he was hauled out and lifted to his feet. But as his captives let go, he dropped under the weakness of his legs. The grate was shut, and the arena empty. He looked around to see there was a full crowd as it had been the last time he fought there.

Jay was on his throne, smiling back at Zed. He was enjoying this far more than any normal human being should. The bell was rung, and silence followed as Jay stood up to address the crowd.

“Tonight I have something special for you!”

The crowd roared, and he lifted his hands to call for silence.

“This man has greatly offended our town, and his suffering will serve as payment for that. Beat him, bleed him, but do not kill him. His debts cannot be paid in one night!”

They roared even louder than before. A gate opened in front of Zed, and a single Brave stepped out into the arena with no weapons to hand at all. He realised that Jay was telling the truth. They were taking him to death’s door one strike at a time, but he was defiant and wouldn’t make it easy for them. He put his hands down on the ground and used them to help himself upright.

Anger was growing inside of him, and that supplied him with a new surge of strength and determination. It was adrenaline, fear, hatred, and bitterness that fuelled him, and he was happy for it to do so. There was nothing to worry about anymore. He was a dead man. All fear was gone, and all he wanted to do was get a little payback before his end came.

He gestured for the Brave to come forward. He was an average height man, stripped to the waist, and less muscled and scrawnier than Zed. His body had been decorated with black paint so that he looked tattooed all over. He threw his arms up and screamed to excite the crowd. This was a spectacle, and Zed was going to make sure it was one to remember.

“Begin!” Jay gave the order.

The Brave yelled his battle cry and rushed forward enthusiastically. He came at Zed as if he meant to run him down, but Zed was far from the dead man he looked. The Brave swung wildly with a massive right hook. Zed widened his stance and ducked under, delivering a thunderous punch into the Brave’s abdomen. It caused him to keel over. Zed grabbed his hair and yanked him upright before punching him twice to the face.

The Brave was stunned by it all and unable to respond to the ferocious defence. Zed spun him around, grabbed his head, and snapped his neck. The Brave went limp, and Zed threw his body to the ground like a ragdoll. The crowd was silent as he stared at Jay. He looked impressed and disgusted all at once.

“Who’s next?” Zed yelled.

The gates drew back, and two more Braves entered the arena. There was no way to win this. He already knew that. They stepped cautiously forward as they looked at their dead friend. Zed seized that opportunity as they hesitated. He charged towards the one to his left so that he could minimise their numbers. He blocked a punch as it came towards his head and drove in with a hook, followed by an elbow to the face and then a heavy knee into the man’s stomach.

He was beating the man down when the other struck him in the ribs. He turned just in time to see another fist come for his face. It hit hard, and he staggered back. The Brave came at him with a flail of attacks now, but Zed held his ground and let him close to a clinch and locked on around the back of his neck. He yanked the man over with a throw so that he landed flat on his back with Zed on top.

Punch after punch struck the man as blood started to flow from his mouth and nose, and a cut on his cheek. He felt something grasp him from behind and pull him away. He was dragged back across the sand, but kicked up so that his boot connected with his attacker’s head, and he fell back.

Zed was back on his feet in seconds, but so were the Braves. Both were bleeding badly and worn down, and his anger was building every second. The one to his left came forward with a kick to his legs, but Zed snapped a straight hook hard to his face so that he tumbled over. The other came at him, but he quickly recovered with a back fist to the face. It was enough for the man to stagger back and allow Zed to pounce on him on the floor.

This time he would not let him get back up. He punched and punched one after the other, smashing his head into the ground until he was beaten unconscious. He got up and turned to face the other who had just recovered. His nose had broken and burst out blood all over his face and body. His legs looked weak, and he had the look of a defeated man about himself. That was the opportunity Zed needed.

“Argh!” Zed roared as he rushed at the man.

He didn’t even bother striking when he crashed into him. He drove him back to the walls of the arena, grabbed his hair, and repeatedly smashed his head against the bumper of an overturned car that made up part of the wall. His skull was fractured, and he collapsed down. Zed fell forward and rested on the car for a few moments to get his breath.

Looking back at Jay, he knew he couldn’t show any weakness. If this one last insult to Jay were all that he could manage, it would be better than dying with nothing. He righted himself and stepped back into the centre of the arena.

“Is that the best you got!” he shouted.

He tried to slow his breathing and take in long gulps of air. He knew that within moments he would have to fight again. He ached all over, and his energy was starting to deplete. There was only so far he could get on adrenaline alone.