LOCKED (15 page)

“That’s true, that’s true...
how do I know you won’t shove a knife in my back? How can I know that once this
is over, you won’t attempt to force my men off of our land to fit your vision
of what’s best for this land?” Ortiz mulled over this out loud, expecting a
response that pleased him. Eddy clearly wanted a minute to think over his
answer, but if he hesitated, that would only prove Ortiz’ point. His only
choice was to say what would earn his trust.

“We don’t have what it takes
to fight you, and even if we did, it isn’t a fight worth having. We really just
have to worry about Miller for now.” The way Eddy danced around the question
made me a bit suspicious, but considering the situation we were in, we were
essentially cutting a bomb’s wires.

Ortiz seemed satisfied by
the compliment. Unfortunately, we quickly found out that his satisfaction was
false.

“So you send two... children
out here, let them do me a favor, and expect me to die for you because of it.”
he spoke in a condescending tone. Eddy was ready to defend himself, but Ortiz
held up one hand.

“I’ll go. Just realize that I’ll
always have an eye on you. If you even think of laying a finger on my men, I’ll
know long in advance.” he warned. We didn’t risk responding with a single word
that may provoke him.

“You have nothing to fear as
long as you fight for what you say you do. Be ready to leave soon.” Ortiz
smirked as he walked back to his mech and got inside. Eddy, Danni, and I turned
to each other. I could hear a very low "Score!" escape from Eddy's
mouth. I just knew that everybody in that area felt a sense of pride bubbling
up. An alliance had been formed, no matter how shaky or unstable. Now we were
David and Goliath, U.S.P.L. as the slingshot, the guerilla forces as the stone,
and Miller's deviations as the evil about to face its downfall.

"If we're going to get
going, we have to do it now. We can't give him any time to prepare if he finds
out about this." Ortiz grimly reminded us as he ran his fingers over the
panels of his craft. He pulled a few levers from within, the machine whirred to
life, and the glass panel slowly closed over Ortiz's head.

"I’ll recruit fifteen
men. We'll meet outside the gate in fifteen minutes. You call your own soldiers
and we’ll all meet along the way. You know how far it is, so plan
accordingly." Ortiz commanded.

Fifteen minutes. We had
fifteen minutes to prepare for a short yet arduous war. One that we may win,
but blood will be shed either way. At this point, anything could happen.
Luckily, the alliance that was formed had the experience and weaponry that wins
wars.

Eddy, Danni, and I hurried
back out of the junk yard. We met Tank who was still outside in an idle mode.
There, we could hear rallying cries, a widespread and encouraging call to arms.
Every passing moment brought something out of the gate, whether it was another
mechanized warrior, weapons, ammunition, or vehicles. Eddy took the free time
to re-route the U.S.P.L. soldiers who were ready to fight a lone war against
Miller, and sent them to the coordinates of the place that Miller was seemingly
hiding in. Within a few minutes, a ragged militia of guerillas was standing
outside, waiting for orders of conquest and victory. Ortiz walked out of the
gate last, ready to lead the pack. I felt goose bumps creep along under my
skin... his presence was undeniably warrior-
esque
. If
Miller was Hitler and Stalin and Caesar, then Ortiz was Napoleon and Alexander.
All eyes were on him, prepared for whatever words he had for the rally.

"We're fighting for
land we've lived on for our whole lives! WE WILL NOT LET THAT LOCUST TAKE WHAT
WE'VE EARNED!" Ortiz's eyes blazed with a leader's passion. It was the
first time I had ever heard him shout, and awe-inspiring couldn’t even begin to
describe it. He surely knew how to incite a crowd with his battle-hardened
scream, as every fist there was raised high, ready to lose their lives for this
cause. Even the skies roared with thunderous applause as a deep rumble rolled
over the land. Ortiz pushed his way through the crowd to the front and began
the death march.

Exhaustion wore heavy on my
eyes. I had been going on so little sleep the past few days, and did my best to
shut my eyes while walking, but only ended up tripping over my own feet.

"C'mon, you can’t fall
asleep on me now." Danni punched my shoulder. I groaned and looked at the
convoy around me. Tank trailed along the back, and U.S.P.L. and guerilla forces
dispersed through a loose crowd. Two factions that were once apathetic towards
each other at best became an unstable one; a caravan of travelers on a trek
that would only take a day. The landscape was entirely unfamiliar to me. The
roads were dusty and the path ahead was foggy. The air was thick from the
pollution of men who carelessly tossed their will aside and left it to rot in
smoldering heaps. Words couldn't be exchanged on such a road, both out of
respect for the ashes we were treading through as well as fear of attack.

"Leo!" I looked
behind to find Danni riding on the shoulder of Tank; she had climbed up there
when I wasn’t even looking. She patted the empty spot next to her, and helped
me climb up; Tank didn't seem to mind. Upon this giant's steel shoulder, we
said everything that was on our minds to each other without speaking a word.

When night started to crawl
in, the sky changed from a bleak, dusty gray to a deep blue. The stars
re-aligned in the sky, hopefully to decide a pleasing fate.

"We’ll stop for the
night here!" Ortiz called out. He pulled himself out of his mech, and a
few of his men stayed in theirs, just to be safe. Some made fires to keep
themselves warm as they stayed up and talked, and others fell asleep right on
the spot. Eddy, Danni, and I all sat around in a circle, and surprisingly,
Ortiz walked over to us to join.

Without a word, he threw a
bundle of firewood into the middle of our little circle, and sat down
Indian-style. Eddy pulled out his shiny cigarette lighter, adorned with dozens
of little spirals and designs, and lit the sticks. It quickly went up into a
dancing blaze just big enough to warm the four of us.

“I’m surprised to see you
coming over here on your own. I wouldn’t think you’re very approachable, at
least after seeing what happened the first time we met.” Danni arched a brow at
Ortiz. I cringed at her comment; it was certainly bold, but perhaps a bit reckless.

“It would’ve been
irresponsible of me to
not
do what I did. If I let order slide even the
slightest bit, we’d descend into chaos. I know that you think we’re already
there, but it’s not like that at all. They might slack off when I’m not around,
but the second I step in, they should know to get back in line. Really, I only
had to react the way I did because they were abusing a non-threat. When a group
loses respect for weaker life, it’s imminent that order will fall apart.” he
lectured.

"I see where you’re
coming from…so... where does this put you? Care to tell us a little bit about
yourself?" Danni nodded in his direction. He raised his eyebrows exhaled.

"I’ll make it brief...
I was raised in a wealthy family a few dozen miles from here. My father was a
businessman, and worked with the guerillas by giving them supplies, so they
were on good terms. He always knew that they really held the power here.
Then... I was about fifteen, around your age, when I came home one day to find
it in flames, and most of my family massacred. I'll never know for sure how it
happened, but it must have been a rival who didn't care for the guerrillas…
Having no one to turn to, I lost everything that day, and I had to fight for my
life. Joining the guerrillas was the only way to do that. I dropped out of a
prestigious school, and these men let me join them, knowing the respect that my
father held for them. I quickly rose through their ranks as I gave complete
dedication to them. After all, I owed them my life. By the time Miller made his
way over here, I was already at the top, where I am now. He had to go through
ME to get to
Burybury
, your little city. I didn’t see
him as a threat, so I just let him pass through and build as he pleased... a
move I'll always regret. After I saw what he did to YOU..." Ortiz pointed
to me, "...I had no choice. He had more power than I would allow anyone to
have. I sent men in to try and gain order again, but Miller's forces were
overwhelming, to say the least. I saw weapons and tactics I'd never seen the
likes of." Ortiz let out a deep sigh.

"Hmm... oh, and we've
started calling the disease
buala
. A lot more people
are
gonna
start using that term now too, since Miller
heard us using it." Danni chipped in.

He nodded to her in
response, showing that he was listening to her words. He was about to say
something, but Danni had one more burning question.

“And…what’s with the
junkyard? If you have the entire city to yourselves, why stay in such a
hellhole?” Danni asked. Ortiz let a small grin sneak its way across his face
before he responded.

“That’s not a bad question.
We had to make our home there a few weeks ago, just for the time being. It
didn’t look quite like it does now; we…’renovated’ it to look more like the
homes we had before, where we had lived before the business with the disease
began. The slums don’t only make us tough, but it also makes the enemy
overconfident. These men grow up in the hardest conditions, and battle like it.
Would the looks of a slum really make you think that though? An enemy would
attack us at any time, and get the fight of their lives.” Ortiz laughed, simply
pointing to his mech; it said enough. He then became solemn again instantly,
and looked toward me.

"Now, returning to the
disease…your ‘
buala
’…Let's be perfectly honest... you
haven't truly seen
buala
yet. You've seen its
effects, where everyone is caged off and fighting for their lives, but you
haven't been exposed to it. In fact, you’re not even quite sure how it’s spread
yet. You seem to assume that it’s through saliva or blood, but it could be by
air, for all you know. It's all around you, and now you're walking right into
the eye of the storm." he threateningly whispered. I looked around to Eddy
and Danni, and the only response I got was the same concerned look. Ortiz
stretched out and walked away. His comment about not fully understanding the
disease was especially concerning, but nobody had anything left to say to each
other; we all knew what was coming soon. To fill the silence, I tried to have
one more question that pestered me, that nipped at the very back of my mind,
answered.

“Ortiz…does the term ‘
Jahnged
’ mean anything to you?”

He turned around.

"I've heard... a few
things. Why do you ask?"

“It came to where we stayed last
night. It was a disaster, we were barely able to make it run away with Tank’s
help, and even then, it was a struggle. What can you tell us about it?” I had
every intention of prodding out of him the “few things” he heard about the
serpent.

“If you’re looking for
answers on how to fight it, I don’t think I’ll be able to help you much. All I
was told was that the doctor we disposed of earlier had a hand in its
creation.” Ortiz responded. Eddy made a gesture to show that he had something
to add in.

“
Y’know
,
I bet Miller was pretty desperate to get his hands on that sort of thing…”

“I could see the doctor
wanting no less than some of Miller’s private documents in exchange for
Jahnged
… Nobody could've known what was going on in that
guy's head... he probably just wanted to know where to go with a knife in his
jacket pocket if things didn't work out.” Danni muttered, looking between both
Eddy and Ortiz. After a moment of pondering on that, all three pairs of eyes
were back on me, as if they were asking “Is that good enough for you?”

“Good enough.” I shrugged,
answering the question I wasn’t truly asked. Ortiz walked away without a word
once more, and after a brief good-night, Eddy left us to go sleep somewhere
else. I laid back, relieved to at least have another question answered, more or
less. I couldn’t shake the fact that there was one more thing about the doctor
that I had forgotten, about the paper in particular, but I wasn’t able to grab
the thought floating around in my head and read it…