47 Enter, Stage Lef

The back cargo area of the armored vehicle is overall silent. Two benches have been installed to each wall, but it isn't a very comfortable area. The walls are white and a small led light on the ceiling has been activated, so the passengers don't have to sit in complete darkness.

Priya sits near the entrance of the back of the truck. Her brown lips are pursed as she observes the injured men.

Nard is sitting up holding his arm. His eyes are closed, but Priya knows he is awake. Whenever the truck drives over a bump, she hears him suck in a shallow breath.

Turner is lying on the ground between the two benches with his thighs bound together. The doctor and a mercenary sit on either side of him to keep his body still. He is unconscious. Whatever the doctor gave him has made him unresponsive.

The other mercenaries have bowed heads as they rest or tinker with their guns. At the entrance with Priya keeps a leg on a bundle, so it doesn't get jostled and unravel. A bloody white cloth wraps around the stiff form.

It's best not to focus on what or who it is. She clasps her slender fingers together and meditates on the past.

'We've been through much worst.' Priya reminds herself while keeping her leg rigid against the bundle.

Brutal images of people smashed under rubble, screaming children, and charred corpses flash across her mind. They all have been condemned to this lifestyle since 2018.

Suddenly, everyone is thrown around. The truck spins out of control. Priya puts out her hands to grab hold of the corpse as it slides down the floor. She collides with another mercenary with the body held down by both her hands. Pheno throws his body across Turner's leg to protect his damaged limb. Nard is thrown to his side and grasps the bench on the side to keep from squashing the doctor.

The truck stops.

Priya releases her grip on the corpse to pull up her radio from her waist clip.

"What the hell did we hit?" Priya shouts over the radio.

"He's looking. Everyone good?" Ika says back over the radio.

Priya looks over everyone.

Everyone is alert now, except for Turner. They seem fine.

"We're good. Turner can't take any more of that. What's our ETA to Warts?" Priya asks.

"If we haven't damaged anything? 40 minutes." Ika replies.

Priya sighs.

"Sounds good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The driver makes his way around the truck with his night vision goggles secured on his head. He checks each tire. No damage.

The damage along the front and side of the truck is superficial. The bumper was hit and the passenger door is damaged, but nothing that will keep them there any longer.

He looks for what they hit.

It's a large sandy structure.

'A rock?' He thinks before reaching out to touch it.

It's a car.

He pulls the night vision goggles up onto his forehead and pulls out the slim flashlight. He clears away the sand with his gloved hand. It's the back of a cargo truck. Quickly, he follows the side wall to the front of the vehicle. It is tipped down into a ditch on the side of the road.

If they hadn't been driving so far on the right, they would have overlooked this crash entirely.

He clears sand off the window and shines his light inside the dark vehicle. He leans forward with his goggles pressed to the glass. When he squints he can see...the driver's side door is open.

"Who are you?" an unfamiliar voice says from behind him.

"Wuuh?!" he exclaims and backs away from the vehicle.

He drops the penlight and raises his pistol. He can't see where the person is. He...

'Rookie mistake.' he thinks before using his other hand to bring the night vision goggles back onto his eyes.

"Where did you come from?" the voice asks.

It's coming from the figure standing in front of the wrecked truck. They stand outside the ditch several meters across from the mercenary.

'Tall man wearing odd headgear. Not armed. Merchant?'

"What's happened here?" The mercenary asks.

He's sure not to talk too loud. Who knows what could be listening.

"The sandstorm took me off course and made me crash into this hole." the man answers.

He takes a step toward the mercenary.

"Stay right there, sir. I have a weapon aimed at your form. Let's take this slow." the mercenary says.

The figure raises a hand and motions to the truck.

"I just...I have supplies. If you take me with you I'll give you a portion." the man reveals.

The mercenary grasps the radio at his waist and presses the transmission button.

"I've found a merchant out here. Stranded by the storm. What do you want to do about it?" the mercenary reports in.

There is silence for a moment.

"Just one?" his boss asks.

"Yeah. Unarmed. His merchandise is stuck inside this ditch. That's what we hit, his truck."

"We'll gather it up tomorrow. Confirm he's unarmed." Ika orders.

The mercenary nods and puts the radio back on his waist clip.

"Stay where you are. I'm coming toward you." the mercenary calls out.

The man remains still with a hand spread out in front of himself to stay steady. The mercenary comes closer and puts out a hand to touch the unknown man's shoulder. The man trembles and grasps his hand before letting go.

"Sorry, been out here alone for too long." the man apologizes.

"Are you unarmed?"

The man lifts up a crowbar from behind his back.

"Just this," the man answers. "Thought maybe you were a critter trying to eat up my stuff. Thank god you aren't."

"Do you want to come with us?"

The man nods his head and then says," Yes, yes. Please. Do you have a camp nearby?"

The mercenary ignores the question and begins patting the man down. Swiftly, he touches along the man's arms, stomach, spine, and his legs.

"Woah, there. I don't have anything else with me!" the man exclaims but doesn't struggle away from the mercenary.

No weapons. The mercenary steps back and calls it in.

"No weapons confirmed."

"Let's go. We've been held up too long. Tie him and put him in the back." Ika orders.

The mercenary nods and grabs the man's shoulder.

"Drop the crowbar there." The mercenary orders.

A soft thud is heard.

"Tie? Is that necessary?" the man says.

"I'm sure, but it's safer for us all if you just follow our orders. We aren't very far from our camp. Then we will release you."

The man is silent as he is manhandled through the darkness. His shoulder crashes into the side of a truck he can't see.

The mercenary is reaching into a pocket for paracord when he hears the sound of large wings. He knocks twice on the back doors of the truck. It opens. He shoves the unbound stranger into the truck and rushes to the driver's side. The back doors slam shut.

When he gets inside he starts up the vehicle and begins speeding down the dirt road. There is no time to waste.

Warts has artillery for large winged beasts, but without being directly outside the facility they are open to all sorts of attacks.

Just one winged beetle could ram them off their course and strand them in the Wasteland. Turner doesn't have time for that.

'I won't be responsible for his death.' the driver thinks as he focuses on the road and pays attention to both sides of the roadway.

No more time for mistakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hi?" the dirty man says to the armed mercenaries with a small wave of his hand.

The man has a cloth wrapped around one eye, short black hair, and a thick dirty jacket on. His skin seems to be dark brown, but the skin on his neck is a few shades lighter than his dirty face. With a shower, he'd probably be around her complexion. There are traces of blood on his clothing, but Priya sees no bleeding wounds. He's wearing jeans that could have been blue at one point, and black steel-toed boots.

He's a tall man. Priya guesses he's around 6 feet tall. He sounds young. Probably in his early twenties.

She can see crusted blood along his square jaw and on his round chin. Probably from crashing into the ditch during the storm.

Everyone, except for Turner, has a weapon drawn and aimed at the young man's head. Nard awkwardly holds his pistol with his left hand.

"Where are we headed?" the young man asks.

No one answers.

He sighs and looks around at each of the mercenaries faces before his eyes widen a bit. Priya supposed he noticed the body at her feet and Turner's injured form.

He shuts up after that and turns toward the doors with his back to them.

'Foolish,' Priya thinks. 'We could kill you here and take your keys, idiot boy.'

A loud thud hits the roof of the truck. The vehicle jerks to the right and then swerves to the left. The passengers hold out their empty hands and steady themselves as the vehicle moves.

Everyone looks at the ceiling.

There is a stinger embedded in the roof of the truck.

"Fu$*," Priya mutters before shifting her weapon to the ceiling.

Nard lowers his gun to his thigh and sighs.

"Today is a bit$h of a day," Nard comments.

"Yea," the other men agree.

"Yup," the stranger chimes in.

"That's life. Stay alert. We've got 40 minutes until Warts. The guards won't fire until we are within range. Whatever this is better fly off if it knows what's good for it," Priya retorts.

Another thud hits the ceiling of the truck. Then another and another.

"A swarm?" A female mercenary guesses.

"Fu*K my life," Priya whispers under her breath.

A swarm of hornets is hunting them.