Freelancers: Falcon & Phoenix (5 page)

T
he Dealer speeds ahead
of Rosario. His car looks like an oversized dune buggy. The exposed eight-cylinder engine vibrates the steel cage surrounding its driver as it tears down the road.

Rosario’s car sits lower to the ground, with four large off-road tires dwarfing the chassis and doubling as a sort of protection. She keeps decent pace behind the Dealer as they chase after Falcon and Phoenix.

“We need to stay ahead of them.” Falcon looks in the back seat, hoping to get lucky with another explosive weapon. Unfortunately, it’s empty. And this time there’s no secret trunk access.

“You think I don’t know that?” Phoenix yells. “What are those things?”

“Ridiculous custom jobs. I guess they’re good ways to get around debris.” Falcon looks in his mirror and sees the Dealer quickly gaining on them. He rolls down the window.

“What are you doing?” Phoenix looks over her shoulder and sees the Dealer begin to take aim at their car.

Falcon holds the gun through the open window and fires off two shots at the oncoming vehicle. The bullets only ricochet off of the steel roll cage. The Dealer returns fire. His bullet hits the top of the car door, narrowly missing Falcon’s head.

“We had a deal!” The Dealer’s words go unheard over the sound of his engine. He changes out his revolver for a machine gun and hooks it into a steel cradle, creating a mounted turret. The machine gun fires rapid bursts, hitting the rear, right side of the car.

Falcon ducks back inside as Phoenix slams on the brakes, letting the Dealer speed ahead. Switching his aim to focus on the back of the super-charged dune buggy, Falcon fires the gun but his aim is thrown off by the sudden rear end collision of Rosario’s tires. He and Phoenix are both thrown forward from the impact.

Phoenix recovers from the hit and drags Falcon’s arm toward her to get both hands back on the steering wheel, regaining control of the car.

Rosario moves up, placing her oversized tires on either side of the getaway vehicle, trapping it between them. She steers her modified car left and right, batting the rear end of Falcon’s and Phoenix’s car from side to side. Falcon slides the gun on the dash board and pushes Phoenix’s leg down, flooring the gas.

The car speeds out of the death trap, ahead of Rosario. Phoenix grabs the gun and shoots out the driver’s side window before veering to the right, placing them just in front of the passenger side monster tires. She holds the gun through the open window as they race forward and fires off two rounds, backwards, at the large tires. Just like Daken’s truck, the bullets hit and bounce right off. “Damn steel walls,” she says.

Phoenix pulls the car up alongside the dune buggy. Both Freelancers are forced to duck down as far as they can while machine gun bullets riddle the hood of the car. The windshield takes five of the bullets before the dealer stops firing. Falcon punches at the shattered glass, trying to knock it out.

“Leave it.” Phoenix cuts the car to the right, slamming into the Dealer’s car. She tries to stay as close as she can, making the machine gun useless.

“Try now.” She tosses the gun back to Falcon.

He holds the gun out and fires. Even at this range he still misses.

“Don’t you know how to shoot?” She demands.

“Not with the way you drive.” He pulls the trigger one more time. Click. “I’m out.” He ejects the magazine.

Phoenix reaches into her jacket and pulls out another magazine. “My driving is fine. You keep pulling me toward you.”

“You cuffed us together.” He slides the magazine into the gun and ratchets the slide back on the door frame before re-aiming at the Dealer. Falcon pulls the trigger. This time he hits the man in the shoulder. “Got him.”

The Dealer slows down from the shock and pain of being wounded. Phoenix pulls the car in front of him as the dune buggy starts to veer off the road.

Falcon spins in his seat and notices Rosario keeping up but not gaining on them. “There’s no way she’s going to catch up. See? Fast car.”

Phoenix looks over her shoulder to see the monstrosity of a vehicle several yards away and not getting any closer. A slight smile crosses her lips.

“Watch it!” Falcon’s arms go straight to the dashboard to brace himself.

Phoenix looks toward the passenger side just in time to see Big Wang, in another truck, smash into them. The impact knocks Falcon into her and turns their car ninety degrees, slowing it just enough for Rosario to catch up. The oversized tires hit the driver’s side of the car, knocking Phoenix into Falcon.

The tires of Rosario’s vehicle threaten to roll right over the car. Falcon and Phoenix look out the driver’s side window to see one of the combat shotguns aimed right at them.

Falcon panics. “Get us out of here!”

Phoenix floors the gas pedal and the car surges forward, getting the rear end free of the large tires just in time for a shotgun blast to blow out the small driver’s side rear window. The car gradually starts to fall back into the tire trap of Rosario’s vehicle but Phoenix cuts the wheel to the left, turning toward their pursuer. The car speeds off of the other tire but Rosario still manages to get another hit on the car, making it spin off the road.

Big Wang shoots at the spinning vehicle. Jerked around by centrifugal force, Falcon throws up his arm to keep his head from hitting the frame of the car. He hears bullets slam into the door before he’s jerked in the opposite direction.

“Can’t you control this thing?” he shouts.

“I’m trying!” Phoenix shouts back.

Jerked back toward the window, Falcon sees the Dealer and Rosario pass them. His vision starts to blur then settles as Phoenix turns into the spin, finally getting the vehicle to straighten out.

“About time,” he mutters.

“You wanna drive!?”

Dirt is kicked up as the car speeds onto an intersecting road heading right toward the storm. Falcon looks back at the other vehicles as they slow down to turn around. “Good thinking. We can lose them in the storm.”“I don’t want to go in the storm,” Phoenix tells him.

“We don’t have much choice.”

T
he Dealer is
the first to catch up. He and Falcon trade shots at each other while Phoenix veers the car to avoid the machine gun fire. Plumes of dirt and blades of grass pop up as bullets tear through the ground. Falcon gets halfway out of the window and shoots at Big Wang’s truck. He ducks back inside when the Dealer takes his shots.

“This is going to sound weird. I’m glad Rosario is well behind us,”
he says, taking another shot at the Dealer. The bullet hits the door of the dune buggy forcing the Dealer to fall back a little.

“Yeah, I feel lot better about that, too,” Phoenix says sarcastically as she steadies the car.

B
ig Wang’s
truck nears the rear end of the getaway car. The passenger side of the windshield rolls down and Little Wang climbs out onto the hood. He draws his own gun and fires at the back windshield, blasting out the glass. Falcon and Phoenix duck. Falcon looks back to see Wang’s truck nearly on top of them. He aims the gun at them and fires. Click.

“I’m out.

“So am I,” Phoenix says as she tries to shake the close vehicle.

Big Wang stays right with her as Little Wang continues moving out across the hood. He gets right to the edge of the vehicle and signals for his brother to get closer.

Falcon watches the scene as Little Wang readies himself to jump onto their car. “Dammit.”

Big Wang rear ends Phoenix’s car, sending Little Wang flying onto the trunk. The gun pops out of his hand and bounces over the roof. Phoenix watches the pistol slide down the windshield and fall over the side. Falcon watches the little brother scramble through the shattered rear windshield and into the back seat. As he falls into the car, he bumps the front seats. The hit makes Falcon drop his gun and Phoenix lose momentary control of the car.

Falcon jerks Phoenix’s arm up and down as he tries to put an elbow in the top of Little Wang’s head. The little brother blocks the strikes and delivers strikes of his own, forcing Falcon to defend himself and Phoenix.

The car swerves all over the road as Falcon yanks Phoenix around, trying to keep from being hit. He takes a few of the blows just to get in closer to Little Wang. The brother gets hold of Falcon’s head and he pulls him into the back seat, taking Phoenix’s arm with him. The inadvertent move actually benefits them as the sudden pull forces her to cut the car to the right, avoiding another rear end collision from Big Wang’s truck.

Phoenix tries to maintain control. Out of the corner of her eye she notices the truck pull alongside her. She looks to her left as the passenger side window rolls down. Her eyes go straight to the gun pointing directly at her. She ducks down and the bullet passes through her open window and into the passenger door.

She sits up and cuts the wheel to the left, slamming into the assailing vehicle and almost sending Big Wang off of the road.

Falcon does his best, in the back seat, to keep from jerking Phoenix around too much. The task is nearly impossible while he's forced to block the punches aimed at either side of his head. He tries to get in his own punch but Little Wang grabs his free arm and starts to put it in some kind of submission hold. Without a free hand, Falcon has little choice but to use his head. He rears back and drives his head into Little Wang’s. The hit doesn’t knock him out but it does loosen his grip on Falcon’s arm.

The Freelancer moves to the other side of the back seat to alleviate the strain on Phoenix’s arm. Little Wang shakes off the dizzy feeling just in time to see Falcon wildly kicking at him. The two both kick at each other. The strikes do little in the way of finding a target as their legs flail about, sometimes getting tangled, sometimes just hitting the bottoms of each other’s boots.

As the vehicles speed down the road, the storm clouds darken the sky. A light drizzle quickly turns into a heavy rain. Whatever lines used to be painted on the road are nearly invisible. Even if the windshield didn’t have bullet holes in it, at this speed, the visibility is almost zero. The heavy pouring rain drumming on the roof of the car makes Falcon and Little Wang stop trading blows with one another. They both sit up to face the front.

The car skids as the tires lose traction on the wet road. Phoenix tries to keep it under control with one arm.

“I could really use that other hand,” she says as she gently turns into the skids.

Falcon scrambles to climb into the passenger seat. He holds his arm near the steering wheel, giving her as much freedom of movement as possible.

Phoenix winces as over-extended muscles suddenly contract.

Big Wang stays just in Phoenix’s blind spot with Rosario actually catching up. Her oversized tires leave her with little worry about losing traction on the road. The Dealer is the only one who slows down. Having only his hat as any kind of roof does little to keep the rain out of his eyes.

All gunfire stops in light of the storm as the vehicles hit the gradual incline of a curving freeway ramp.

“What is that?” Falcon squints. He points at the top of the ramp. Something large sits in the road.

“I can’t tell—”

“Marauders!” Little Wang yells.

Falcon’s eyes widen. “Is that a bus?”

Phoenix releases the accelerator. She barely taps the brake for fear of losing control on the wet road but as the car gets closer to the bus, what Phoenix sees makes her change her mind. She slams on the brake pedal as the car comes around the curve. An old yellow school bus blocks the road. Several guns appear through the windows of the bus, aiming right at them.

N
early every window
of the road blocking bus has a gun sticking out of it. Muzzle flashes light up the scarred faces of the Marauders inside. Phoenix keeps her foot on the brake pedal as the car rounds the curve, getting closer to the weaponized bus. But the slick road keeps the car moving forward. She shifts the vehicle into reverse and switches back to the accelerator. The tires spin backward but the wet road and their initial momentum still keeps them heading toward the new trap.

Little Wang tries to wave his brother down and warn him but Big Wang’s attention is still on his target as he moves his truck up on the driver’s side of the car. The backwards spinning tires finally slow the car down and Big Wang gradually eases ahead but he still doesn’t notice the bus.

Rosario catches up just in time for the tires on Phoenix’s car to grab the road and take it backwards. The scarred woman watches as the large off-road tires go right past the backwards-moving car. She turns to face the front, again, and is met with a hail of bullets from the bus.

Big Wang’s truck slams into the bus first. Rosario’s large tires hit it on the other side. The impact does little more than rock the bus and put them even closer to the gunfire.

Phoenix turns around to watch the curve of the road as she races backwards.

“Turn this thing around!” Falcon yells when a bullet hits the car's hood.

Phoenix turns the wheel, pulling Falcon into her. The spin tosses Little Wang to the other side of the back seat. With the car facing down the ramp, Phoenix throws it into drive and hits the gas. The rear end fishtails a little but the tires return to the road quickly enough.

Little Wang sits up and looks out the back window. The heavy rain makes it hard to see much more than the vehicle shapes all following them. Including the bus. “Why are Marauders in my country?”

Falcon turns to face Wang and sees all three vehicles chasing after them. “Worry more about how we’re gonna get away from them.”

Even with the heavy rain hitting the car, the sheer amount of gunfire blasting from the bus, is nearly deafening. It makes no difference to the Marauders who they get. Rosario and Big Wang try to fire at the engine of the bus to stop it. All any of them knows is that they don’t want to be who the bus catches up to. Fortunately it's taking a long time for it to catch up. Unfortunately, the bus occupants don’t care about what happens to their vehicle. The bus doesn’t slow as it skids against the cement barrier in pursuit of whichever car it can get close enough to.

Falcon watches the bus come out of the curve and onto the straight away. “At least those two are between us and them.”

“Not for long.” Little Wang points at the bus.

The glow of a flame reflects off of the falling water. The bus’s speed rapidly increases as it catches up to Rosario. To Falcon’s dread it gets alongside her. Gun blasts fire off in her direction. Lucky for her, the oversized tires provide adequate protection for the most part. She tries to turn into the bus to knock it off the road but despite her heavy tires, the bus is still heavier.

The gunfire continues as the Marauder-modified vehicle passes her up and pulls alongside Big Wang.

“They passed her up.” Falcon’s words are almost inaudible.

“Passed her up? What?” Phoenix looks in her side mirror. “Marauders don’t pass anyone up. Don’t tell me they're after you, too.” She turns to Falcon. He shakes his head.

They both look back and see the bus starting to pass Big Wang. Their eyes fall to Little Wang whose expression is one of guilt as he shrugs his shoulders. “I did a bad thing, once.”

“Once?” Falcon demands.

He and Phoenix turn to face the front just in time to see the Dealer heading straight for them. Phoenix veers to the left, narrowly missing the dune buggy. Big Wang and Rosario shift out of the oncoming vehicle’s way. Even the bus moves out of the way. Sadly for the Dealer, it’s not far enough. The front of the big yellow vehicle hits the front of the dune buggy on the driver’s side. The impact sends the Dealer’s car spinning off of the road.

Big Wang watches as the bus speeds toward Falcon’s and Phoenix’s car. If they catch them, they’ll take his brother and put him through a hell worse than any the Emperor would have done to Falcon. The driver’s side of the windshield rolls down and Big Wang takes aim at the bus’ tires. His shots hit the bumper of the quickly escaping vehicle. He refocuses his aim to the exhaust pipe connected to the fire-spewing turbine near the roof. Two bullets hit the pipe running along the side of the bus. The flame sputters out and the bus instantly slows.

Big Wang quickly gains on the bus but the back door of the modified vehicle opens
up
and two Marauders with sinister grins stand in the doorway. They both hold one military-grade fifty caliber vulcan cannon. The barrel spins seconds before the bullet-spitting machine unleashes its six thousand round a minute ammo.

Big Wang slams on the brakes but it’s too late as the bullets rip into the front of the truck. If the first bullet didn’t destroy his engine the other two hundred or so did. The large brother jumps out of his vehicle just before it becomes a rolling ball of fire.

Without the speed boost from the turbine, the bus returns to its normal top speed. It is slow enough for Rosario to catch up to it. She pulls along the bus’s side and fires at one of the windows. The buckshot shatters the glass, taking out the shooter behind it. She pulls the gun back in to chamber another shell. Before she has another chance to re-aim, the bus swerves into her, pinning her against a metal railing. Rosario tries to turn into the bus to get herself unstuck but its weight keeps the pressure on.

A short chance to escape comes up as the Marauder vehicle steers to the other side of the road. Rosario tries to speed ahead of the bus to avoid being pinned, again. A fatal mistake. She looks to her left to see it coming in for another hit. There’s no time to hit the brakes and the bus slams into her. This time the impact with the side rail causes her vehicle to pop up over it and flip off the road.

Falcon looks back to see the off-road tires rolling over and over before the illuminated chasers from the vulcan cannon fly toward her car, bursting it into a ball of fire. “I’m sorry,” he mutters as the heavy rains douse the fire, quickly.

“That’s three out of the way,” Phoenix says.

Falcon faces the front. “There’s no way they’re catching up with us now.”

“Really? These damn Marauders.” Little Wang watches as the bus actually does start catching up with them.

Phoenix turns around. “How much nitro does that thing have?”

She steers the car to take up one lane while the bus maintains its position. Guns fire out of one side of the window. Phoenix takes her foot off of the gas and lets the bus get closer.

“What are you doing?” Falcon asks.

“Trust me.”

The bus speeds past them. The flame of the second turbine shoots out of the back door. Phoenix watches the bus pull ahead of them. The flame goes out and two Marauders push the turbine toward the front of the bus. Phoenix then floors the accelerator and catches up to the Marauder vehicle.

“Phoenix?” Falcon asks as he watches the vulcan cannon being set up in the open door.

“Not yet.” She glances at the guard rail.

The Marauders plant their feet in the doorway. One holds the fifty cal while the other grips the trigger.

“Phoenix.” Falcon’s voice gets louder.

“Not yet.” She glances back toward the guard rail as they get closer to the back of the bus.

The barrel of the gun starts to spin. Slow at first, then much faster.

“Phoenix!” Falcon yells as he starts to reach for the wheel.

“Now!” With the right side guard rail, now gone, she steers the car to the left of the bus just as a hail-storm of bullets fly into the previously occupied section of street. She pulls the car up to the rear wheel and cuts sharply to the right. The impact, coupled with the wet road, makes the bus fishtail violently. It also causes Falcon’s and Phoenix’s car to spin out.

The drivers of both vehicles try to correct their direction. They both fail. The bus is the first to roll and, without a guard rail to stop or slow it down, the Marauder vehicle rolls over and over off of the road and into a field.

Phoenix’s car does hit a guard rail but, just like Rosario, it pops up over it and rolls into the open field on the other side.