Shit! Why didn
’
t I draw it? Sure, even if it was loaded, I could kill only a few at best before they took us down, but if I reversed it and took Badger prisoner, they wouldn
’
t kill us. They
’
d let us be until we could get far enough away to outrun them.
“
Funny seeing you here.
”
Max heard Zarfa behind him. It was total déjà-vu. He should have felt relief—Zarfa had saved him only hours ago—but he didn
’
t. His stomach twist
ed
in knots. Zarfa, as far as he knew, was one of
them
.
“
I could say the same,
”
Max stated, not turning around to face him.
“
You could? Why? Because I
’
ve never had Psyker bot treatments? Oh wait…
”
Max realized how stupid he sounded. He didn
’
t need it rubbed in. He was nervous and thinking about too many things. Right now, he had been pondering over fifteen different plans to save Crimson—his wave a gun in Badger
’
s face plan seemed the least stupid—and now he was trying to hold a conversation with someone he didn
’
t know whether to count as friend or foe yet.
“
I didn
’
t know they would accept you after only one treatment?
”
Max questioned.
“
They might not. I don
’
t even know if I want to join them yet.
”
“
Then why the treatments if you don
’
t want to join the rest of the
‘
Psyker Scream fans?
’”
Max asked. After the display that led up to him being kicked out of the warehouse, he assumed that there was more to this than them being a band.
“
They are necessary for me to find my sister. People where I come from can see the raiders as they come down upon us from the sky. By then it
’
s already too late. I intend to be the only one who can hear them before they come…
w
here they hide.
”
Max stood there agape. He couldn
’
t believe Zarfa was letting him into his history, his psyche. He knew he needed to be cautious, but for now, he may as well consider Zarfa a friend, even if he did go with the whole
“
take a prisoner with an empty gun
”
routine. He didn
’
t think Zarfa would rat him out.
“
Because it
’
s mine…yellow…kitte
n.
”
T
he words sang clear in Zarfa
’
s head
,
but didn
’
t make any sense.
“
What was that, Max?
”
“
What?
”
“
I thought you said something that didn
’
t make any sense. Must have been my imagination.
”
“
Perhaps
”
“
It is in the...fifty-six…what about…midnight.
”
Zarfa shook his head. His vision was getting blurry like earlier that day. It wasn
’
t pain; the medifoam had almost completely healed his fractured ribs as well as the soft tissues. He didn
’
t hear the deafening pitches he had heard earlier.
But h
e
did
hear chaos and confusion. It would come and go, sometimes up to a hundred different voices flooding his head.
“
Max, I hear voices. They
’
re in my head, but I can
’
t make out what exactly is being said. Some are like whispers; others are screaming. None of them are talking to me, but all of them are talking to me!
What is this?
”
Max began to get more nervous than he already had been. His first thought was of a serenity boost, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind.
You don
’
t need it, Max!
Then he thought about, only minutes ago, what Crimson had asked him, what he heard. He remembered hearing words in his head. Disjointed, unrelated, words…
only
in his head
, not in his ears
.
“
That
’
s what she was trying to show me…but how?
”
Max pondered aloud as he looked at Zarfa in amazement. Max stepped over to Zarfa and rested a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.
“
Zarfa, breathe. Stay calm
,
I need you right now. Close your eyes, listen. Lock onto a voice and try to ignore the others. Tell me what you hear.
”
Zarfa was unnerved. He had never had voices in his head before. To make it worse, he had more voices than he could count at this point, some screaming, some whispering, others having a nonchalant conversation. He closed his eyes and did as Max instructed. He chose a voice that he found distinct and focused on it, and only it. Slowly, the other voices began to fade and now Zarfa could
now
hear
only
this one man
’
s voice clear as if he were talking to him in person.
“
I hear a single man talking now,
”
Zarfa stated. His voice was shaky.
The rain poured down upon them; the sky flashed with a brilliant, radiant white light. Thunder boomed and roared as the electricity arching from the ground upward hit the clouds and crackled. The raindrops splattered upon the concrete and asphalt that surrounded them and that fresh, clean smell filled the air. Despite the distractions of this and Max
’
s voice, he held his thoughts on the lone voice now echoing in his brain.
“
What
’
s it saying, Zarfa?
”
“
He…it
’
s a he. He is saying…
”
*
*
*
*
“
Looks like we have another visitor tonight! Not backup either, poor Crimson doll,
”
Badger said as he backhanded her so hard across the face the room spun and a bit of blood trickled from her lower lip.
“
Aww, too bad. I really thought a white knight was going to come and save me too,
”
she said as she giggled like a little girl.
Her eyes stared into Badger
’
s deep blue, almost purple irises. He stood several inches over her and was close to three
hundred pounds. He wasn
’
t fat by any means; he had a very muscular frame covered by only a thin layer of fat and a small paunch on his belly. He was one of the hairiest people one would ever lay eyes on; thick black and white hair peeked up through the collar of his tank top and caressed his chin, which displayed a neatly-kempt salt-and-peppered goatee.
His arms looked like a werewolf
’
s; the hair was so thick
one
could barely see any skin. It crept all the way up the forearms and to his knuckles. One could swear he looked like a wombat who had put on a poorly crafted man costume. The hair on his head was wiry and wild. It looked as if he hadn
’
t combed it for a week. Judging by his wrinkles and hair, he looked to be in his fifties, not your typical rock star these days. Then again, it wasn
’
t your typical rock star that played music
a person
had to get
his or her
nerves modified to hear. It also wasn
’
t the typical rock star who could command his fan base to do whatever his wishes were.
“
We will see how funny you find this all when I use whatever means I see fit to extract information from you,
”
he said as he uppercut Crimson, his blow striking her diaphragm.
Crimson fell to the ground, her diaphragm in spasm from the strength of the blow. She had been winded by his brutal attack and could barely breathe. She would have tried dodging it if she even had the faintest idea as to how to get out of here alive. She wasn
’
t a quitter, but she was smart when it came to being obstinate; no need to completely anger the dangerous man in front of all of his adoring fans, or fanatic army.
“
Surge, Zax, take her to the back room. Chain her and guard her. She is more dangerous than you could even imagine. Don
’
t let her get away. I want to know what she is planning,
”
Badger commanded his lackeys telepathically.
Crimson knew he was doing it. She knew if her mind wasn
’
t so clouded from the pain, she could make out some
more
of what was going on. As it stood right now, she couldn
’
t concentrate enough to
get
more than
faint, crossed signals
and the occasional intermittent sentences
. She was barely beginning to recover her breath when she was hoisted up by Badger
’
s two cronies and taken away.
“
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
”
Badger said as he clapped twice,
“
open up the door and welcome our new guest.
”
Right
as he finished his grandiose introduction, the doors swung open. They made a slight cre
aking
noise as they did. In the doorway stood two shadowy figures; flashes of lightning illuminated the imagery behind them. The dim lighting inside the warehouse didn
’
t do much to immediately reveal their faces. As they stepped forward, the crowd could see that there was a new face, as well as one they had told to get lost only ten or fifteen minutes ago.
“
I thought I told you to get lost and forget about your friend…the girl.
”
“
You did. I thought you would forgive me, however, seeing as I was coming with a guest of honor. I treated this man with the Psyker bots this morning. You see, he wanted to know where you all were so he could join your little club and that
’
s why I teamed up with Crimson to come here.
”
Max had come up with that little lie on the spot and hoped Zarfa wouldn
’
t fail him.
“
Well, he is of no use to us yet…
doctor.
You see, we can sense him right now, but he can
’
t sense us. He would have been able to find us on his own once he had completed his last round. So if you think you
’
re helping by bringing fledglings that are still wet behind the ears, you
’
re not. Make this one your last, or we will.
”
“
I heard your voice from outside! Badger, right?
”
Zarfa piped up.
“
Aww
,
how cute. The neonate heard his first words. Has he yet to speak any, though? I
’
ll admit this is impressive you selected a voice so easily, but you still aren
’
t past the most dangerous part. We all know it is the third round of injections that has the highest mortality rate. How about you come back here once you
’
ve shot in all five? Okay? Now,
scram!
”
“
How about a deal? I
’
ll come back after the next four injections are done and join you?
All I
ask is that you
let my doctor
’
s friend go,
f
air?
”
“
Ha! Fair? You don
’
t know what that woman is capable of
,
do you? Not surprising. Sorry, but I need her, or the information that she has anyhow. My offer is this, turn around, leave, and don
’
t suffer the pain of being beat to death by an angry mob.
”
“
Where is she?
”
Max demanded.
“
Cute. She did mention a white knight coming to her aide; too bad it
’
s you. I
’
ll tell ya where she is
and what I plan to do to her too…
”