45 Hones

3 days later..

A forest green truck drives along the bumpy road behind a black armored vehicle. The front bumper of the armored truck has a large black snow plow attached to it. The vehicles drive through the wastelands toward the grasslands.

It is a two-hour drive from Warts to the closest grassland area. Right before a brutal sandstorm hit, a messenger arrived at Warts communications center. One of their partnerships requested a meetup. After the powerful sandstorm subsided they exited Warts.

Meetups are never held at the same location these days. None of the allies wanted to be the first to invite the other to their headquarters. Their alliances weren't born of trust but necessity.

Unlike their allies, the Mercenaries were fine with people knowing their headquarters, but they still had rules. The most important rule: any group larger than a solo messenger would be shot down immediately, no questions asked.

All incoming traffic is monitored and without an escort, entrance into the merchant hub would be prohibited.

Ika sits up in his seat chewing on a piece of jerky. His rifle is propped up between his legs. The blue scarf around his neck is loose, revealing pale skin. His goggles hang around his neck as well, underneath the scarf, and bounce across his collarbone.

His grey eyes are attentive to the road in front of them. Periodically, he checks in with the truck behind them with his radio. He barely registers the salty meat as he works it around his mouth. A hill comes within sight.

"Stop there. Wait for the heads up," Ika says into his radio.

The green truck stops driving about a mile away. It's within sight, but outside of the range of any firearms. The armored vehicle pulls up near the hill.

On the right of the vehicle are identical black trees for miles. The bark of the trees is charred black. The branches are naked of leaves. To the left of the vehicle is a vibrant green field. Of course, some of it is yellow and short, but the abundance of green grass is a sight unseen in the wastelands. As the years pass, more and more of the land is becoming viable once again. The farther west, the more fertile the land has become.

Ika remains in the vehicle as the driver gets out. He tosses his bag of jerky on the center console, without looking away from the mercenary approaching the grass mount.

The mercenary stops walking halfway between the hillside and the armored vehicle.

"Kraaaaaaaa!" The mercenary sloppily calls.

A figure pops up from the other side of the hill. Then two, three, six. Six figures stand atop the hill holding various weapons.

Ika opens the glove compartment and pulls out a pair of binoculars one-handed. He holds the binoculars over his eyes and sees two familiar forms. The man, or rather the Savage, that had summoned them to this rendezvous point.

The current Savage leader, Raco, and his partner, Nils, stood atop the hill among four unknown people. When they identify the mercenaries, the two men begin walking toward the driver.

'That's odd...where is the other creep?' Ika thinks before tossing the binoculars onto the dashboard.

He opens his side door and hops out of the truck. The guard blocks his sight for a moment while retrieving his weapon. Then he strolls up to his driver and nudges him at the waist. The driver goes back to the armored vehicle to let out their 3 other men from the back of the truck.

The four hooded unknowns stand tall intently watching their transaction. A moment later, a figure came barreling down the hill behind the two Savages. Ika can recognize the lanky figure right away. Slim the Savage.

Ika's hands firmly grip his rifle, and his left index finger lies relaxed near the trigger.

Raco, Nils, and Slim were inseparable. Where Raco went he always took his two partners. At first, Ika had thought the two were his bodyguards, but Raco didn't need a bodyguard. As Ika waited, he scanned the area for any more unknowns.

Grass, trees,...dirt road. The mercenaries trucks were the only vehicles around.

When Raco gets within five feet of Ika he stops. Raco is coated from head to toe with mud and is wielding a short spear at his side. It is unusually crafted with a sharp blade welded onto the end of a piece of metal. There are spikes along the metal for blocking and tearing away weapons. It is tucked under his armpit and extends out three feet past his hand.

Raco eyes the shorter male, wind passes by and stirs the unusually thick hair atop the Savage leader's head. It's curly and white. On Raco's left, a buff male with a bald head and patchy skin glares at Ika. On his right stood a slim woman, Slim, who was bald as well. She huffs as she looks over the perimeter and grins at Ika. She is missing some teeth, but the ones that still remain have been sharpened.

Ika grimaces at the Savages.

"We agreed to meet with you and your...buddies. Who are those people up there? They don't look like your usual sort." Ika questioned.

Raco turns his neck and a bit of the mud coating his skin crumbles to reveal his albino complexion. Raco's pink eyes turn back to Ika and he grins sharply at the mercenary, "Those guys. Friendly bunch. We met them quite a while ago. Spider enthusiasts..."

Ika raises an eyebrow at that.

"Their leader was a spider researcher. Invaluable information about those targets you gave us, has come from him. Bit of a freak though," Raco laughs. "But I don't mind. Freaks get the job done."

Ika refrains from rolling his eyes and waits. They all sit in silence before Raco turns to Slim.

She is clutching a dirty messenger bag at her side. It is quite plump.

"These are the items you requested," Slim says before handing the bag over.

The contents inside clink together as the bag transfers hands. Ika almost flinches at the disgusting smell of the bag but holds it close as he searches it.

It is quite heavy. Every pocket is filled with something. While Ika looks inside, Raco lazily looks over the armored vehicle. Four men are hanging back with their weapons drawn. Nils remains focused on every movement Ika makes.

Ika glances over the materials inside, closes the bag, and then holds it out with his arm straight out. One of the mercenaries at the truck lowers his weapon and comes jogging up to get the bulky messenger bag.

"Look about right?" Raco asks.

"Hmmm." Ika grunts.

Ika is about to raise a hand and signal the other vehicle when Raco takes several steps backward and says, "Why don't you come meet them?"

Ika pauses, "Your spider friends? No thanks."

He signals the other truck. When it pulls up, the mercenary's temperamental doctor hops out of the back of the truck and runs over to retrieve the messenger bag that contains the goods. The doctor scowls at the poor condition of the bag and tsks at the fact that all the glass and plastic bottles are stuffed inside without much care. One good drop would shatter all the precious insulin inside. After a quick count of the insulin containers and pill bottles, he yells confirmation to Ika.

"Iz all here!!" Pheno yells.

Ika nods but keeps a firm grip on his weapon.

"So close to your territory, but you haven't yet come across them. Don't you find that interesting?" Raco comments.

Nils and Slim begin returning to the hill where the unfamiliar hooded figures still stand. Raco stays behind, scratching his flaky hair.

"I figured, why kill em when we can join em. They have some interesting ways of securing their location and access to..." Raco says.

Ika turns his back on Raco. Raco's face stills as he is ignored. He licks his lips and spits onto the ground. Silent for the moment.

Ika passes by the four men that still have their weapons drawn and focuses on Raco. He passes by the armored truck to get to the second vehicle. He knocks twice on the side of the green truck before continuing to the back and speaking with his people.

"The keys," Ika is thrown a single key from Priya."Change of plans. We might need to cancel out this subscription. Priya, you're in charge. Stay back after the exchange. Pace yourself. Nard and Turner, you're with me. Pheno and Kid, into the back." Ika doesn't wait for a reply before walking back over to the Savage leader.

Everyone moves into position.

As he approaches the Savage leader, he eyes the man's form from top to bottom. Unlike his companions, Raco looks to have been completely submerged in dark mud. His smell is awful as well. Even more than usual.

'Feces?' the thought crosses Ika's mind, but he doesn't want to imagine what possessed the other man to bathe in waste.

"Here you---" Ika says, about to toss the keys to the Savage.

The Savage leader grins and backs away from Ika.

"Pull it up there." Raco points farther up the dirt road, the other side of the hill. "You'll regret this if you leave without an introduction."

After speaking, Raco walks away. Ika grinds his teeth and debates dropping the keys in the dirt and leaving. Ika watches the man jogging away from him. Raco limps up the hill and disappears on the other side. The four unknowns retreat to the other side as well.

"..."

Turner and Nard are waiting beside the truck when Ika opens the passenger door. They all get in and he tosses the keys to Turner.

"Pull it up there," Ika mutters before he checks his weapon and pats the sides of his legs.

'Check. Check. Check,' he thinks after patting the last pocket on his leg.

Turner pulls the car up the road and leaves the keys in the ignition. When they get out, they are on the other side of the hill and can see several figures standing together facing away from them. Ika sighs and walks over to the group. Turner and Nard stick close with their weapons drawn.

The area around the pit has been tread over, by feet and vehicles, so many times grass ceases to grow there. It's all rocks and dirt.

Muffled screams and moaning can be heard when they get a few feet from the small crowd. There are seven hooded figures and three Savages standing over a pit. Ika keeps his distance from them and stands across from them at the other end of the pit. The three mercenaries look down into the pit. Ika pales. Nardo and Turner freeze, their weapons waver and point toward the ground.

The pit is a deeply dug hole that connects to a tunnel. The tunnel is dark and wide enough to admit a 16 wheeler truck with room to spare. They can't see how far it actually goes.

"Interesting isn't it? They have tunnels like those that go on for miles...right across this field even!" Raco informs them.

Silence.

"So, what is this?" Ika asks loud enough to be heard from across the pit.

All of the hooded figures look over to Ika. They seem as nonchalant as Ika's facade. They keep their hoods up, and their heads tilted, so their faces are concealed in shadows. Some of them are wearing dark shorts and some are wearing torn pants. Their skin complexions vary from pale to dark brown.

One of the hooded figures answers, "A transaction."

It's the voice of a calm woman.

Ika tilts his head back and looks to Nard in his peripheral. Nard's hands tremble. Gradually, his pistol is raising to aim for one of the figures.

"These nice fellows have decided to exchange some snacks that their Master hasn't dined to consume yet. Useful workers indebted to their saviors....," Raco snorts. "Or back to the fridge."

Raco looks across to Ika and widely grins.

'He knows...of course, he knows.' Ika thinks before grabbing Nard's elbow.

"Those people are already dead, you hear me?" Ika whispers to him before glancing at Turner.

Turner's eyes are wide in horror. He is frowning down at the pit and the people below...at the two men below. Ika releases his grip on Nard's arm to examine the pit once more.

Ralph and one of the men in his crew are gagged and bound. Their legs are tied up and connected to the person beside them. Their hands are tied and forced to clasp at their chests. The mercenary scout, Ralph, looks severely beaten. Half his face is swollen and the side of his skull looks deformed. Even with the damage and grit, Ika can recognize the Asian features on the other side of his face and the decorative patches on his leather jacket. One of the patches is a symbol all mercenaries would recognize, a black star.

All of the people are covered in mud and waste. Ika's eyebrow twitches as he goes over the situation.

"You wanted to meet us," Ika says. "We've met. Anything else?"

A different hooded figure speaks, "The future will be quite different from what it is now. From what it was. The culling has not been completed."

Their voice sounds male.

Raco nods, "Our new beginning...They agree is a great start to clearing the weak, so the mighty don't suffer under their parasitic hold."

"If we get rid of the weak, who do we profit from? The mighty don't have a habit of sharing well." Ika responds.

Raco laughs. Nils and Slim retreat from the crowd and begin walking toward the green truck.

The hooded figure stares over at Raco, he coughs and quiets down. Ika squints at the pair.

"I hope this isn't a start to a lecture...We have places to be." Ika says before motioning to the sky with his weapon.

Raco takes a few steps back behind the hooded figures. The hooded figure waves down to the bound people below.

"Your man has informed us of the deal you have with the surrounding areas."

'My man?' Ika thinks.

"Oh, really? What of it?" Ika asks.

"Pick any that you want. There are more to come. We even catch valuable insects that your man said you process for their most useful parts." The hooded man says.

Ika scowls at Raco, but the man is hidden behind the other figures. When Ika opens his mouth to reply, the screams below get wilder. Turner and Nard step closer to the pit and raise their guns.

A gigantic wolf spider crawls out of the tunnel and grabs the legs of the nearest human. While it consumes the person, the ropes that are eaten pull on those connected to the other end of the rope.

"Aaaaaaah!!" One of the women screams with her gag moved to her chin. "Help me! Please...Help me!!"

"You should hurry. The best ones might get gobbled up first." the hooded male says before pulling out a whistle.

The figures beside him observe the wolf spider tugging another person toward its mouth.

"Do it." Ika mutters as he pulls up his rifle and takes aim.

Swiftly, Turner reaches into the back of his pants and grasps his flare gun. It fires it into the sky.

Raco drops down to his belly.

Nard shoots at the wolf spider. The hooded figures jump at the gunfire. Three of them rush toward the mercenaries. Ika shoots down all three of the hooded attackers.

Gunfire sounds in the field northeast of their position. The whole situation becomes unmanageable from there.