05-15-2016, 04:24 PM
It was nearing dawn when Carmelita finally found the camp. She had crested a sand dune, checking the location of a mesa on the map she was holding, when she spotted a black aerial a few miles away. As she got closer, the tracks she’d been following were joined by others, soon coalescing into a proper entrance between two ridges. She dismantled her flashlight into omnilium in a nook in the dunes before engaging her collars cloak and walking into the camp.
It appeared that the camp had been made around an old underground bunker, and the solid grey blast doors provided a contrast to the rest of the ramshackle shacks and tents that housed the raiders. A few humans stood guard around the borders of the camp, leaning against fence posts or sitting in salvaged deckchairs, while a few reptiles were warming themselves by a fire, cooking a large scorpion in its shell. Even more of the raiders were sleeping, some of them clearly having passed out from drinking.
Carmelita strode through the camp, coming up to the blast doors and examining them under the cover of her cloak. It looked not dissimilar to an old government facility, and fortunately had a side door that looked like it was the main way in and out. She tried the handle, only to growl to herself as it refused to turn.
Turning back to the camp, she looked at the habitation. Off to one side, she noticed what looked like it could have been a foreman’s office, dressed up in swathes of cloth and denim like some strange tent, and hoped that it would hold the keys. Upon approaching the impressive looking tent, and hearing low conversation from the front, she snuck around the back. She loosened a few pegs from the ground and snuck under the fabric that made the tent, wriggling through the gap.
Carmelita emerged and looked around, her eyes adjusting from the firelight to the flickering fluorescent bulb perched on the concrete wall. What she saw made her gasp. A girl, scarcely older than thirteen by her estimate, was being held bound to a chair, head slumped with the gag over her mouth. She didn’t seem to be a species Carmelita recognised, what with the three eyes and the small ridge down her furred back, but there was no mistaking the damp trails that had dried beneath the girl’s eyelids or the signs of struggle shown on the floor. Carmelita knew that this had made the job so much harder, but there was no way she was leaving her a prisoner.
Carmelita carefully made her way in front of the girl, deactivating the cloak and crouching down. She patted the girl on the knee gently, waiting for the three eyes to flicker into wakefulness. She made a gesture for silence as the girl’s eyes widened in shock, and carefully untied the gag from the girl’s mouth.
“Can you drive a truck?” Carmelita whispered.
“What?”
“Can you drive a truck?”
“I can try?”
“Good enough. Be silent.”
Carmelita found a pocket knife lying abandoned on the ground and carefully cut the girl free, gesturing for her to stay where she was for a moment. She made her way to the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and stalked into the office. The conversation was still going on through the other door of the room, but searching the room found a set of keys left in a desk drawer which looked like they’d fit the side door of the bunker.
She made her way back to the room the girl had been kept prisoner, and closed the door slowly behind her. The girl was rubbing life back into her wrists, gathering what seemed to be her jacket and a small bag from a closet to one side. Carmelita gave the girl an inquisitive thumbs up, which was swiftly returned.
Carmelita reactivated her stealth field and crept out through the gap she’d come through earlier. Upon checking that the coast was clear, she thumped the denim fabric lightly and the girl swiftly followed. The two made their way quietly through the camp, Carmelita scouting ahead then returning and guiding the girl through the slowly waking camp. Eventually, with a few scares thanks to a lizard relieving himself and a human carrying a crate of ammunition, the two made it to the shadow of the bunker door. Carmelita tried the keys one after the other, sighing in relief when one opened the door. The two slipped inside.
The bunker was little more than a vehicle bay, but a vehicle bay that held a veritable fleet of vehicles. In addition to the six tankers full of water and the cabs that had brought them there, there was a good dozen assorted vehicles from the two flatbeds that had ambushed Carmelita the day before to a rather bulky minivan.
Carmelita ushered the girl over to one of the tankers, specifically the one she’d renovated personally.
“Who are-”
“Shh!” Carmelita cut the girl off, opening the door to the cab. “Stay here.”
It was just then that the door they’d come in by opened, and a beefy looking lizard in jeans, a t-shirt and a cloak made out of denim strode through the bay. The girl ducked down out of sight, while Carmelita ducked into the shadows to reactivate her cloak. The lizard made his way into a side room, the light of a fluorescent bulb shining through. Carmelita crept close and listened intently.
“Hey, we got another tanker yesterday, we expect another shipment of weapons.” The lizards voice was grating, his throaty tones clear. There was a pause, as though there was a reply, and Carmelita picked up the soft scratchy tones of someone speaking through a communications device.
“Shut up. We’ve done what you said, and you’ve done what we asked. Now I’m asking for more.”
More murmurs.
“Well I can guess. I’m not a dumb brute, I know you had something to do with the aquifer drying up. It’s only a matter of time before Roland decides to take us out in person, and I want to be ready. If you can’t get us the weapons, this deals off.”
A few cursory words.
“Thought so. Pleasure doing business.”
The lizard gave a laugh and left the room, the door slamming behind him. Carmelita watched him leave the vehicle bay before sneaking into the room. Inside was a large transmitter of some kind, with a black plastic handset dangling by a cord with headphones nearby. She took up the headphones and listened, pressing the button to initiate a conversation.
From the headphones crackled a voice that Carmelita was shocked to realise she’d heard not half a day earlier.
“What is it you overgrown reptile?”
Carmelita blinked, realising the voice belonged to the same quadrupedal being she’d seen in the mining shop. She remembered the squelch of her boot in something wet, which no she thought about it was probably mud rather than something more horrible… which meant that somewhere in that building was a tunnel down to the aquifer.
“Hello? Ugh, the idiot must have dropped something on the transmission button. Forget this, I’ve got better things to do.”
Carmelita put the transmitter down and crept away. Now she had to get back to the Town, no question about it. Someone wanted the Town to collapse, and she needed to find out who. All of a sudden, she heard yells from in the parking bay.
She burst through the door to see a raider advancing on the girl she’d rescued, crowbar in hand, while another was running for the door. It took all of three seconds for her to charge a heavy duty energy ball and launch it at the attacker, and in the moment where the woman screamed as she lost her senses Carmelita grabbed the girl and threw her into the cab.
“Get that engine running!” she barked. “I’ll get the doors!”
She ran over to the blast doors, slamming her hand down on the large prominent green button nearby. Light’s flashed and spun as the doors opened with a smooth groan, breaking apart left and right. The girl revved the accelerator, and Carmelita leapt through the passenger door just as the truck burst through the new gap and into the camp.
The camp was in chaos, raiders grabbing guns and firing sporadically at the truck as it shot away, crushing a few tents and shattering a shack into matchwood. The sound of engines roared behind them, and Carmelita checked the mirror to see several vehicles already making their way out of the bay in pursuit.
“Okay, who in the nine verses ARE you?”
Carmelita blinked and looked across at the girl who was driving, bare foot to the gas pedal.
“Inspector Fox-Cooper, Interpol,” came the instinctual response. “You?”
“The name's Chip. If we die, I’m blaming you.”
It appeared that the camp had been made around an old underground bunker, and the solid grey blast doors provided a contrast to the rest of the ramshackle shacks and tents that housed the raiders. A few humans stood guard around the borders of the camp, leaning against fence posts or sitting in salvaged deckchairs, while a few reptiles were warming themselves by a fire, cooking a large scorpion in its shell. Even more of the raiders were sleeping, some of them clearly having passed out from drinking.
Carmelita strode through the camp, coming up to the blast doors and examining them under the cover of her cloak. It looked not dissimilar to an old government facility, and fortunately had a side door that looked like it was the main way in and out. She tried the handle, only to growl to herself as it refused to turn.
Turning back to the camp, she looked at the habitation. Off to one side, she noticed what looked like it could have been a foreman’s office, dressed up in swathes of cloth and denim like some strange tent, and hoped that it would hold the keys. Upon approaching the impressive looking tent, and hearing low conversation from the front, she snuck around the back. She loosened a few pegs from the ground and snuck under the fabric that made the tent, wriggling through the gap.
Carmelita emerged and looked around, her eyes adjusting from the firelight to the flickering fluorescent bulb perched on the concrete wall. What she saw made her gasp. A girl, scarcely older than thirteen by her estimate, was being held bound to a chair, head slumped with the gag over her mouth. She didn’t seem to be a species Carmelita recognised, what with the three eyes and the small ridge down her furred back, but there was no mistaking the damp trails that had dried beneath the girl’s eyelids or the signs of struggle shown on the floor. Carmelita knew that this had made the job so much harder, but there was no way she was leaving her a prisoner.
Carmelita carefully made her way in front of the girl, deactivating the cloak and crouching down. She patted the girl on the knee gently, waiting for the three eyes to flicker into wakefulness. She made a gesture for silence as the girl’s eyes widened in shock, and carefully untied the gag from the girl’s mouth.
“Can you drive a truck?” Carmelita whispered.
“What?”
“Can you drive a truck?”
“I can try?”
“Good enough. Be silent.”
Carmelita found a pocket knife lying abandoned on the ground and carefully cut the girl free, gesturing for her to stay where she was for a moment. She made her way to the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and stalked into the office. The conversation was still going on through the other door of the room, but searching the room found a set of keys left in a desk drawer which looked like they’d fit the side door of the bunker.
She made her way back to the room the girl had been kept prisoner, and closed the door slowly behind her. The girl was rubbing life back into her wrists, gathering what seemed to be her jacket and a small bag from a closet to one side. Carmelita gave the girl an inquisitive thumbs up, which was swiftly returned.
Carmelita reactivated her stealth field and crept out through the gap she’d come through earlier. Upon checking that the coast was clear, she thumped the denim fabric lightly and the girl swiftly followed. The two made their way quietly through the camp, Carmelita scouting ahead then returning and guiding the girl through the slowly waking camp. Eventually, with a few scares thanks to a lizard relieving himself and a human carrying a crate of ammunition, the two made it to the shadow of the bunker door. Carmelita tried the keys one after the other, sighing in relief when one opened the door. The two slipped inside.
The bunker was little more than a vehicle bay, but a vehicle bay that held a veritable fleet of vehicles. In addition to the six tankers full of water and the cabs that had brought them there, there was a good dozen assorted vehicles from the two flatbeds that had ambushed Carmelita the day before to a rather bulky minivan.
Carmelita ushered the girl over to one of the tankers, specifically the one she’d renovated personally.
“Who are-”
“Shh!” Carmelita cut the girl off, opening the door to the cab. “Stay here.”
It was just then that the door they’d come in by opened, and a beefy looking lizard in jeans, a t-shirt and a cloak made out of denim strode through the bay. The girl ducked down out of sight, while Carmelita ducked into the shadows to reactivate her cloak. The lizard made his way into a side room, the light of a fluorescent bulb shining through. Carmelita crept close and listened intently.
“Hey, we got another tanker yesterday, we expect another shipment of weapons.” The lizards voice was grating, his throaty tones clear. There was a pause, as though there was a reply, and Carmelita picked up the soft scratchy tones of someone speaking through a communications device.
“Shut up. We’ve done what you said, and you’ve done what we asked. Now I’m asking for more.”
More murmurs.
“Well I can guess. I’m not a dumb brute, I know you had something to do with the aquifer drying up. It’s only a matter of time before Roland decides to take us out in person, and I want to be ready. If you can’t get us the weapons, this deals off.”
A few cursory words.
“Thought so. Pleasure doing business.”
The lizard gave a laugh and left the room, the door slamming behind him. Carmelita watched him leave the vehicle bay before sneaking into the room. Inside was a large transmitter of some kind, with a black plastic handset dangling by a cord with headphones nearby. She took up the headphones and listened, pressing the button to initiate a conversation.
From the headphones crackled a voice that Carmelita was shocked to realise she’d heard not half a day earlier.
“What is it you overgrown reptile?”
Carmelita blinked, realising the voice belonged to the same quadrupedal being she’d seen in the mining shop. She remembered the squelch of her boot in something wet, which no she thought about it was probably mud rather than something more horrible… which meant that somewhere in that building was a tunnel down to the aquifer.
“Hello? Ugh, the idiot must have dropped something on the transmission button. Forget this, I’ve got better things to do.”
Carmelita put the transmitter down and crept away. Now she had to get back to the Town, no question about it. Someone wanted the Town to collapse, and she needed to find out who. All of a sudden, she heard yells from in the parking bay.
She burst through the door to see a raider advancing on the girl she’d rescued, crowbar in hand, while another was running for the door. It took all of three seconds for her to charge a heavy duty energy ball and launch it at the attacker, and in the moment where the woman screamed as she lost her senses Carmelita grabbed the girl and threw her into the cab.
“Get that engine running!” she barked. “I’ll get the doors!”
She ran over to the blast doors, slamming her hand down on the large prominent green button nearby. Light’s flashed and spun as the doors opened with a smooth groan, breaking apart left and right. The girl revved the accelerator, and Carmelita leapt through the passenger door just as the truck burst through the new gap and into the camp.
The camp was in chaos, raiders grabbing guns and firing sporadically at the truck as it shot away, crushing a few tents and shattering a shack into matchwood. The sound of engines roared behind them, and Carmelita checked the mirror to see several vehicles already making their way out of the bay in pursuit.
“Okay, who in the nine verses ARE you?”
Carmelita blinked and looked across at the girl who was driving, bare foot to the gas pedal.
“Inspector Fox-Cooper, Interpol,” came the instinctual response. “You?”
“The name's Chip. If we die, I’m blaming you.”