05-16-2016, 07:26 AM
The tanker had started with a decent lead, but the dust cloud kicked up in their wake was quickly relinquishing the pursuing vehicles. Carmelita took out her shock pistol and charged up a heavy-duty shot. She turned to Chip.
“I’m going to get a better view, try not to throw me off.”
“You’re what?!”
With that, Carmelita kicked open the passenger door and scrambled up the side of the cab to the roof, the sounds of Chip’s ranting lost in the howling wind. She moved cautiously from the roof of the cab to the swaying tanker, where the same bindings she’d used to tie the solar panels down made equally good ropes to hang on to.
As the sun peeked over the horizon and the glint of the sun came from behind her, Carmelita began firing. The closest target was a motorbike, and the lizard on board was caught by surprise. The bike swerved and bounced in the dust, and Carmelita winced as the driver was caught under the wheels of a following sports car.
The sports car’s occupants opened fire themselves, rounds bouncing off the metal shell of the water tank on either side of her. Carmelita took another carefully timed shot, but the sports car swerved and she hit one of the gunners instead. The woman sat down hard as she began waving her arms wildly in front of her face.
As she waited for the battery to recharge, the two trucks that had ambushed her the day before overtook the sports car and made a move on the tanker. The minigun truck was heavily damaged from the earlier crash, but one minigun was operational and Carmelita was forced to roll down the other side as it opened up on the top of the tanker.
She found herself face to face with the humans in the other truck, all waving their weapons with sick grins on their faces as they began leaping to grab onto the truck. Carmelita dodged the swing of a machete and shot a few low-power shots at the first of the boarders. His arm spasmed and he mistimed his grab, tumbling to the dirt speeding past below.
A shotgun was levelled at her face and Carmelita ducked in response, pellets ricocheting off the metal above her head. The owner pumped her gun to reload and tried to shoot again, but the tanker suddenly swerved to the right and crashed into the truck, sending it into a spin and then a roll, divesting itself of its passengers in a blazing fireball. Carmelita hung on for dear life as the truck then swerved in the opposite direction, the sounds of the minigun cut off by another explosion.
Gritting her teeth, Carmelita hauled herself up the rope dangling from the solar panels. Back at the top, she saw the sports car was overtaking the tanker, followed by the armoured minivan and another couple of bikes. The minigun truck was a burning wreck receding into the dust.
The sports car pulled alongside the cab and the shooters levelled their weapons at Chip, but Carmelita caught the driver off guard with a high-power shot and the vehicle swerved, crashing into a rock and grinding to a halt. The armoured minivan turned as well, lining itself up behind the tanker as the bikers began firing pistols up at Carmelita.
A bullet nicked her ear and she howled in pain, vindictively firing off a volley of three low-power shots at the biker who’d hit her. The driver jerked slightly, and slowed down to avoid crashing. She waited a second and fired another at the other biker, who dropped back as well. Her ear dripped blood onto the shiny surface of the solar panels, and she cursed.
There was a thump from the rear of the tanker as the minivan rammed the vehicle. Carmelita lost her footing for a moment, tumbling along the top of the tanker and grabbing a hub cap to steady herself. She found herself staring down at the minivan, which had latched onto the back of the tanker with a hook and was now extending a boarding ramp from the sunroof. A gecko poked his head out, spotting her and running at her with a baseball bat.
Carmelita crouched below the swing and grabbed the gecko’s bat arm, thumb pressed to the wrist. The gecko let out a scream and released the bat, and Carmelita kneed the raider in the nuts before chucking him at the brute of a human who was approaching with a spiked club. The two toppled backwards into the minivan, cursing and yelling.
Carmelita bent to remove the boarding ramp in time to narrowly miss a headshot from the two bikers, who’d recovered from the shakes. She cursed in spanish and fired a heavy-duty shot at the one she’d hit earlier, the reptile slamming on the brakes as he lost his sight. The other biker pressed in on the other side, firing the rest of his pistol’s clip at her and forcing her to retreat towards the front of the tanker.
This gave the minivan attackers time to recover. The gecko and brute returned, this time with a komodo backing them up with a chainsaw. The three of them advanced on Carmelita, the gecko’s sure footing letting him launch himself at her with a new bat.
Carmelita dodged the first swing and tried to shoulder barge the gecko off the roof, but the gecko’s feet meant he didn’t budge. The brute caught up, trying to get a cheap shot over the gecko’s shoulder and forcing Carmelita to back up even more.
The gecko made another step towards her, but slipped in the blood that had dripped from her shot ear and tumbled from the tanker, crashing into the biker who’d been sneaking up on the right. Carmelita and the two raiders left on the tanker watched them go, shocked, before they turned back to the fight.
Carmelita took the first shot, kicking out at the brute with her boot before firing all three low-power shots at the komodo. The brute stumbled but hung on to a hub cap while the komodo grimaced and started her chainsaw.
Carmelita easily dodged the slowed swing of the komodo, the chainsaw’s blade sparking as it struck the metal of the tanker. She tried to line up another shot but the brute bounced back, the spiked club leaving a gash in Carmelita’s left arm. In response, she dropped to the tanker’s roof and swept the brute’s legs to one side, and the man tumbled from the top with a final scream.
The komodo’s arm shook as she raised the chainsaw for another blow. Carmelita turned and fired another three shots. The shock to the reptile’s nervous system was too much, and her eyes rolled up in her head. Carmelita tried to grab her unconscious body, but was too slow and she watched as the raider fell to the desert sands speeding past.
She frowned as yet another life was snuffed out. Feeling sick, she took a moment to take stock, checking her wounds and looking for any more pursuers. Satisfied there were none, she made to return to the cab before one more figure arrived from the minivan’s boarding ramp. The same figure she’d seen earlier, presumably the leader of the raiders, stood in the wind, his denim and cloth cloak flapping wildly in the wind as he pulled out two machine guns.
Carmelita swore and ducked down behind a hub cap as the lizard opened fire, bullets flying wildly overhead. She pressed a digit to her collar, the cloak re-engaging as she waited for the bullets to stop flying.
“Come out you mangy fox!” the lizard bellowed, somehow making himself heard over the roar of the air rushing past. “Come out and face your death!”
Carmelita slipped down the side of the tanker and worked her way along the structural supports, clinging frantically. The lizard opened up again on her previous position, yelling insults.
She reached the back of the tanker, looking at the hook that had latched the minivan onto the rear of the tanker. Instead of trying to untangle the hook, she took a wrench from the valve opening and levered off the numberplate it had latched onto. The minivan dropped onto its front wheels before tearing the boarding ramp from the tanker as it ground to a halt.
“You’ll pay for that!” came a yell from above her.
Carmelita dived to one side as the lizard opened fire, huddling by the valves as lead poured through the air around her.
She pulled her shock pistol out of its holster again and charged up a high-power shot. Taking a pot shot, she clipped the lizard’s shoulder. The raider grunted and swore, firing his machine guns blindly and giving Carmelita a chance to make a break for it. She hauled herself along the side of the tanker, she reached the cab as the lizard’s vision cleared and hauled herself into the passenger seat. Chip looked at her, all three eyes wide as she stared at Carmelita’s arm and ear.
“What happened to-”
“No time, chica! We have an uninvited guest to shake off!”
Chip gulped and nodded, twisting the wheel from side to side frantically. Carmelita poked her head out of the passenger window, getting a glimpse of the lizard raider gripping a structural support strut in a death grip with one hand and a machine gun in the other. The lizard saw her too, and raised the machine gun just before the truck turned the other way, cutting off the line of sight between the two of them. Carmelita pulled her shock pistol out again and charged up a high-power shot.
As the truck turned to left, both she and the lizard opened fire. Bullets shattered the windscreen and wing mirror, but Carmelita was a better shot and landed the high-power ball of electricity. The lizard growled and fired blindly, but Carmelita pumped three more low-power shots steadily into the lizard’s chest and the raider tumbled from the side of the tanker.
With a sigh of relief, she returned to the passenger seat and laid her head back. She gave a small yelp as her wounded ear touched the headrest. Chip returned to driving smoothly, giving Carmelita a cheeky grin.
“Are chases common for truck drivers?” she needled.
“Only when it involves two pretty girls and a lot of water,” Carmelita replied.
“I have to say, the blood brings out your eyes. No wonder you were beating off guys with a stick.”
“A shock pistol and a boot to the head, actually.”
They settled into a comfortable silence as they drove back to the Town With No Name.
“I’m going to get a better view, try not to throw me off.”
“You’re what?!”
With that, Carmelita kicked open the passenger door and scrambled up the side of the cab to the roof, the sounds of Chip’s ranting lost in the howling wind. She moved cautiously from the roof of the cab to the swaying tanker, where the same bindings she’d used to tie the solar panels down made equally good ropes to hang on to.
As the sun peeked over the horizon and the glint of the sun came from behind her, Carmelita began firing. The closest target was a motorbike, and the lizard on board was caught by surprise. The bike swerved and bounced in the dust, and Carmelita winced as the driver was caught under the wheels of a following sports car.
The sports car’s occupants opened fire themselves, rounds bouncing off the metal shell of the water tank on either side of her. Carmelita took another carefully timed shot, but the sports car swerved and she hit one of the gunners instead. The woman sat down hard as she began waving her arms wildly in front of her face.
As she waited for the battery to recharge, the two trucks that had ambushed her the day before overtook the sports car and made a move on the tanker. The minigun truck was heavily damaged from the earlier crash, but one minigun was operational and Carmelita was forced to roll down the other side as it opened up on the top of the tanker.
She found herself face to face with the humans in the other truck, all waving their weapons with sick grins on their faces as they began leaping to grab onto the truck. Carmelita dodged the swing of a machete and shot a few low-power shots at the first of the boarders. His arm spasmed and he mistimed his grab, tumbling to the dirt speeding past below.
A shotgun was levelled at her face and Carmelita ducked in response, pellets ricocheting off the metal above her head. The owner pumped her gun to reload and tried to shoot again, but the tanker suddenly swerved to the right and crashed into the truck, sending it into a spin and then a roll, divesting itself of its passengers in a blazing fireball. Carmelita hung on for dear life as the truck then swerved in the opposite direction, the sounds of the minigun cut off by another explosion.
Gritting her teeth, Carmelita hauled herself up the rope dangling from the solar panels. Back at the top, she saw the sports car was overtaking the tanker, followed by the armoured minivan and another couple of bikes. The minigun truck was a burning wreck receding into the dust.
The sports car pulled alongside the cab and the shooters levelled their weapons at Chip, but Carmelita caught the driver off guard with a high-power shot and the vehicle swerved, crashing into a rock and grinding to a halt. The armoured minivan turned as well, lining itself up behind the tanker as the bikers began firing pistols up at Carmelita.
A bullet nicked her ear and she howled in pain, vindictively firing off a volley of three low-power shots at the biker who’d hit her. The driver jerked slightly, and slowed down to avoid crashing. She waited a second and fired another at the other biker, who dropped back as well. Her ear dripped blood onto the shiny surface of the solar panels, and she cursed.
There was a thump from the rear of the tanker as the minivan rammed the vehicle. Carmelita lost her footing for a moment, tumbling along the top of the tanker and grabbing a hub cap to steady herself. She found herself staring down at the minivan, which had latched onto the back of the tanker with a hook and was now extending a boarding ramp from the sunroof. A gecko poked his head out, spotting her and running at her with a baseball bat.
Carmelita crouched below the swing and grabbed the gecko’s bat arm, thumb pressed to the wrist. The gecko let out a scream and released the bat, and Carmelita kneed the raider in the nuts before chucking him at the brute of a human who was approaching with a spiked club. The two toppled backwards into the minivan, cursing and yelling.
Carmelita bent to remove the boarding ramp in time to narrowly miss a headshot from the two bikers, who’d recovered from the shakes. She cursed in spanish and fired a heavy-duty shot at the one she’d hit earlier, the reptile slamming on the brakes as he lost his sight. The other biker pressed in on the other side, firing the rest of his pistol’s clip at her and forcing her to retreat towards the front of the tanker.
This gave the minivan attackers time to recover. The gecko and brute returned, this time with a komodo backing them up with a chainsaw. The three of them advanced on Carmelita, the gecko’s sure footing letting him launch himself at her with a new bat.
Carmelita dodged the first swing and tried to shoulder barge the gecko off the roof, but the gecko’s feet meant he didn’t budge. The brute caught up, trying to get a cheap shot over the gecko’s shoulder and forcing Carmelita to back up even more.
The gecko made another step towards her, but slipped in the blood that had dripped from her shot ear and tumbled from the tanker, crashing into the biker who’d been sneaking up on the right. Carmelita and the two raiders left on the tanker watched them go, shocked, before they turned back to the fight.
Carmelita took the first shot, kicking out at the brute with her boot before firing all three low-power shots at the komodo. The brute stumbled but hung on to a hub cap while the komodo grimaced and started her chainsaw.
Carmelita easily dodged the slowed swing of the komodo, the chainsaw’s blade sparking as it struck the metal of the tanker. She tried to line up another shot but the brute bounced back, the spiked club leaving a gash in Carmelita’s left arm. In response, she dropped to the tanker’s roof and swept the brute’s legs to one side, and the man tumbled from the top with a final scream.
The komodo’s arm shook as she raised the chainsaw for another blow. Carmelita turned and fired another three shots. The shock to the reptile’s nervous system was too much, and her eyes rolled up in her head. Carmelita tried to grab her unconscious body, but was too slow and she watched as the raider fell to the desert sands speeding past.
She frowned as yet another life was snuffed out. Feeling sick, she took a moment to take stock, checking her wounds and looking for any more pursuers. Satisfied there were none, she made to return to the cab before one more figure arrived from the minivan’s boarding ramp. The same figure she’d seen earlier, presumably the leader of the raiders, stood in the wind, his denim and cloth cloak flapping wildly in the wind as he pulled out two machine guns.
Carmelita swore and ducked down behind a hub cap as the lizard opened fire, bullets flying wildly overhead. She pressed a digit to her collar, the cloak re-engaging as she waited for the bullets to stop flying.
“Come out you mangy fox!” the lizard bellowed, somehow making himself heard over the roar of the air rushing past. “Come out and face your death!”
Carmelita slipped down the side of the tanker and worked her way along the structural supports, clinging frantically. The lizard opened up again on her previous position, yelling insults.
She reached the back of the tanker, looking at the hook that had latched the minivan onto the rear of the tanker. Instead of trying to untangle the hook, she took a wrench from the valve opening and levered off the numberplate it had latched onto. The minivan dropped onto its front wheels before tearing the boarding ramp from the tanker as it ground to a halt.
“You’ll pay for that!” came a yell from above her.
Carmelita dived to one side as the lizard opened fire, huddling by the valves as lead poured through the air around her.
She pulled her shock pistol out of its holster again and charged up a high-power shot. Taking a pot shot, she clipped the lizard’s shoulder. The raider grunted and swore, firing his machine guns blindly and giving Carmelita a chance to make a break for it. She hauled herself along the side of the tanker, she reached the cab as the lizard’s vision cleared and hauled herself into the passenger seat. Chip looked at her, all three eyes wide as she stared at Carmelita’s arm and ear.
“What happened to-”
“No time, chica! We have an uninvited guest to shake off!”
Chip gulped and nodded, twisting the wheel from side to side frantically. Carmelita poked her head out of the passenger window, getting a glimpse of the lizard raider gripping a structural support strut in a death grip with one hand and a machine gun in the other. The lizard saw her too, and raised the machine gun just before the truck turned the other way, cutting off the line of sight between the two of them. Carmelita pulled her shock pistol out again and charged up a high-power shot.
As the truck turned to left, both she and the lizard opened fire. Bullets shattered the windscreen and wing mirror, but Carmelita was a better shot and landed the high-power ball of electricity. The lizard growled and fired blindly, but Carmelita pumped three more low-power shots steadily into the lizard’s chest and the raider tumbled from the side of the tanker.
With a sigh of relief, she returned to the passenger seat and laid her head back. She gave a small yelp as her wounded ear touched the headrest. Chip returned to driving smoothly, giving Carmelita a cheeky grin.
“Are chases common for truck drivers?” she needled.
“Only when it involves two pretty girls and a lot of water,” Carmelita replied.
“I have to say, the blood brings out your eyes. No wonder you were beating off guys with a stick.”
“A shock pistol and a boot to the head, actually.”
They settled into a comfortable silence as they drove back to the Town With No Name.