Reddened Wasteland (5 page)

“It’s
settled then! First my house then yours?” he sounded relieved.

“Works for me, Mr. Bigshot,” She said with
a wink.

The
two packed quickly, not that there was much to grab. They both had been living
the standard, minimalistic life of the common settler thus far. Once everything
was gathered at Velar’s apartment and she had said her goodbyes to her
roommates, Alerik used the landline to call Aemon and let him know that they
were ready.

Twenty
or so minutes later, a sleek vehicle pulled up with sun panel roofing. The
thing was top of the line, even had windows. They piled their belongings –
Alerik tried to do it all, but Velar insisted on helping – into the cargo area
of the ride and hopped in. Moments later, the car lifted a couple of feet off of
the ground and shot down the path at breakneck speeds, though one could hardly
feel a thing inside the vehicle.

“I’ve
never been in one of these. It’s amazing!” Velar shouted as she gripped
Alerik’s hand almost too tightly. The driver smiled in the rearview mirror at
the pair of them. To someone who drove every day, they must have looked
pathetic getting so worked up over a ride through the city.

About
twenty minutes passed before they reached the outskirts of the Ruby District.
The vehicle continued to elevate, surrounded by tall, darkened metal spires
that rose out of the ground like they were reaching for the stars. It was a
beautiful sight, especially with the red sand of the desert far off in the
distance, barely visible from the height they were at. The contrast of the
colors was breathtaking.

“How
much longer?” Alerik said to the driver as they soared through the city.

“About
five or so minutes, sir,” he glanced back at Alerik in the mirror.

The
vehicle started to descend onto a street, falling in line with the rest of
traffic as they zipped through the city. The whole trip was making the
newcomers to this type of travel a bit dizzy. Mercifully, the vehicle came to a
halt about fifteen stories up from the street. They had arrived at a tall building
in downtown Liberty’s Ruby District. The driver turned to both of them and
smiled.

“I
will be here each day before and after your shift at the mine to ensure you get
to and from work safely. I am also available to take you anywhere you need to
be and have been instructed to follow your orders by Aemon. Have a good day sir
and ma’am. I’ll let you two get settled in.”

Alerik
and Velar grabbed their things and exited the vehicle onto the platform balcony
of their new home. Immediately the driver steered the vehicle away and zipped
off, disappearing from view. The pair looked at each other and smiled before
opening the big door to the new apartment.

As
soon as the door swung open, they were greeted by something unfamiliar: the
smell of cleanliness. The apartment didn’t smell like rusting metal or moldy
fabric. Everything looked and smelled so
fresh
.

The
walls were a soft gray with bright white trim. Decorated immaculately, the
black furniture matched a large television mounted on the walls. It was
decorated with blood paintings from the Children of Old, and various lamps and
wall lighting illuminated the room. It was the brightest, cleanest room he had
ever seen.

Alerik
actually started to feel guilty, the place was just way too extravagant. Velar
seemed to be having less trouble coping with the luxury, however. He heard her
in the bedroom shrieking with joy and he cracked a smile as he followed the
sound.

“ALERIK
GET IN HERE AND LOOK AT THIS BED!” she yelled.

He
walked in to see Velar sprawled out on top of what looked like a colorful
cloud. The bed was massive with an excessive amount of pillows strewn about and
actual sheets and blankets on top. It was incredible. Alerik hopped onto the
bed next to her and stretched out. He’d never felt anything so comfortable in
his life.

“The
Union are assholes, but this… Wow.”

“Yeah,
they did well. Makes me wonder what the actual price for all of this will be,”
she sighed, then shook her head. “No. Let’s put that talk on hold. For now… for
now, let’s just enjoy this.”

Alerik
turned and propped up onto his elbow to look at her, “Deal.”

“Just
imagine all the possibilities with a bed like this,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

He
smiled, blushing a little, “I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but my mind was
already there. What do you say we make this night even more special before we
are forced back to reality tomorrow?” he leaned in and kissed her lightly.

“Deal,”
she grinned and cupped the side of his face to pull him in for a deeper kiss. 

With
that, the pair slipped away into a much needed respite from everything else.

***

The
night before had been amazing. The new place was a dream, unlike anything
either of them had ever seen before. It was almost a shame they had to return
to the slums and the mine, but at least they now had something other than that
crummy bar to look forward to at the end of the day.

To
their surprise, people inside the mine were treating them quite differently.
While the two of them enjoyed their new place and status the previous night,
Alerik’s story and image had been broadcasted across every radio and television
in the settlement. Apparently, the campaign had begun and the consequences were
immediate. People stared and whispered as Alerik and Velar walked through the
narrow tunnels of the mine.

“Our
driver will pick us up as soon as this shift ends. I don’t think people will be
jumping to help our investigation today, so just do any discreet digging that
you can,” Alerik kissed her forehead, “Just be careful, okay?”

“I
will. And if I uncover anything, I’ll come find you,” she said with a
half-smile before descending further into the mine.

Alerik
began walking over to his work table, where he usually gave his orders each
day. When he passed a worker that he had seen countless times before, the
worker spit on the ground at his feet.

“Fucking
traitor,” the man grunted under his breath.

Alerik
shook off the insult and made it over to the table where he set his pickaxe
down.

“Can
I have everyone’s attention?” he asked loudly as he slammed both of his hands
down onto the table for emphasis, “Look, I know many of you have lost some
trust in me due to my association with The Union, but we all still need to work
together. We need to get our jobs done, we need to get paid. So I’ll ask
everyone to please just do the tasks that you have been given, and don’t let
your feelings for me disrupt the job. You don’t have to like me to work beside
me. You all can go back to hating me after your shift is over.”

When
he finished, he straightened up and walked out of the room. Not a second after
he got one foot out the door, he heard the chatter start up again. He tried to
shrug it off and just hoped that his presence wouldn’t distract them from doing
their jobs and earning a living. These people needed to eat, too. He didn’t
want them so blinded by hate that they accidentally starved themselves.

Over
the course of the next few hours, nothing significant happened. Alerik fielded
sideways insults and backhanded comments about his new “castle”. He was taunted
for being The Unions’ bitch. Really, it was what he predicted would happen if
he worked with The Union and was nothing out of the ordinary in this new
normal. He took it all, he could hardly blame how the workers felt. At least he
had something to look forward to. And
someone.
The thought of returning
back to his new home with Velar helped him make it through the day without
snapping.

He
worried, wondering how she was faring. He assumed it likely wasn’t much of a
different kind of day for her. He cursed himself for dragging her into the
fray. He hoped she had been spared the relentless taunting of the miners. After
all, it was just
his
face plastered all over the settlement television
sets.

Mining
helped take his mind off of his troubles as he repetitively struck his pickaxe
into the stones, cracking them open and making them smaller for processing.
Usually the process was monotonous and grueling, but today he found it
therapeutic and hypnotizing.

After
a few more hours of swinging nonstop, he decided to go check on Velar as their
shift was coming to an end. He walked down through the tunnels to the lower
level where she usually could be found sifting. He spotted her on the other
side of the room, surrounded by three girls. At first he thought they were just
talking but a glint of something in one of their hands caught his attention.
His adrenaline spiked as he realized each girl was holding a metal shiv. They
began circling Velar as a mass of the other miners shoved past him, pouring out
of the room.

“Why
are you doing this?!” Velar sounded panicked as she slowly stepped backwards
until her back was against the wall.

“Why
are you and your boyfriend poking around where ya shouldn’t be poking around,
huh?” The girl in the front lunged and sliced, the blade barely missed Velar’s
abdomen.

“Your
problem is with me. I’m the one working with them, she has nothing to do with
it. You could just talk to me instead of picking on her,” Alerik bellowed as he
stepped closer to the group of women with his pickaxe in hand.

The
three girls turned in surprise at the sound of Alerik’s voice. As soon as they
were distracted, Velar sprung forward and looped her arm around one of the
girls’ neck to put her in a headlock.

“Easy
now ladies, you’re already in enough trouble, don’t make this worse…” Alerik
pleaded, hoping they would calm down. He really didn’t want to fight a bunch of
women or hurt anyone, but he was prepared to act if necessary.

The
two women who weren’t preoccupied with Velar charged him, wildly slashing the
air with their shivs. As the first woman made it to him, he side-stepped her
and stuck his leg out which made her trip onto the hard floor. Simultaneously,
he gripped his pickaxe with both hands and thrust it into the second girl’s
face before her slashing weapon could connect with him. There was a loud crack
as the pickaxe made contact and the girl fell backwards just as the other one
was getting up off the ground. He shoved his boot into her chest, making her
fall backwards against the stone wall. A quick check on Velar showed that the
girl she had sparred with was unconscious in her headlock.

“You
can let her go now,” Alerik said as he walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Search them, see if they have anything that can lead us to Liberty’s Hammer.
I’ll go find a guard.” He turned and walked a short way to locate a guard. He
found one standing nearby in the tunnel, smoking a pipe.

“Huh?
What do you need sir?” The guard asked, seemingly annoyed that his break had
been interrupted.

“My
friend and I were just attacked,” Alerik said as he started walking back
towards the scene.

“Are
the attackers still here?” the guard seemed more attentive now that he knew the
situation was serious.

“Yes.
We incapacitated them, and one is badly injured. We believe they may be
affiliated with Liberty’s Hammer. Some people may not like us here, but none
would openly attack us. This seemed personal,” Alerik said as they both reached
the spot where it had happened. The guard radioed up and within a few minutes,
the place was swarmed with Union personnel.

“You
are both free to head home, we will take it from here,” the guard dismissed
them after searching the attackers and cuffing their hands.

Alerik
nodded and grabbed Velar’s hand, leading her back up towards the surface where
their driver was waiting for them. He was ready to get the hell away from
there.

Once
they were both in the car, Velar put her head on Alerik’s shoulder and let out
a shaky sigh.

“Do
you think it will be like this from now on?” She stared out the front window.

“Probably
for a little while, but people have a very short attention span. Hopefully they
will drop it soon enough, they have to eventually realize that we are trying to
help the people. We aren’t the bad guys,” he put his hand on her leg and
squeezed. “You were pretty amazing today. Very quick thinking. But next time,
if there’s a next time… I’d prefer if you just got out of there. I can’t risk
losing you,”

“I’m
not as fragile as you think. I can take care of myself. Though, I have to admit
I was pretty happy to see you at that moment. I don’t think I could take three
of them.”

“So,
you’re only happy to see me when you’re in mortal danger? I see how it is,” he
said feigning hurt.

“Oh,
shut up!” she giggled and nudged his arm before giving him a peck on the cheek.
“I’m always happy to see you. Especially when you’re being my hero. And good
news! Today wasn’t a total bust…”

“What
do you mean?”

“Well,
one of the girls was carrying a metal flask with a weird symbol on it, I
thought it might be important so I grabbed it,” a proud smile spread across her
face as she pulled the flask out of her book bag and presented it to him.