Roar, Lioness. Roar

Convergence

Latisha makes her way to the crater's edge, careful not to disturb the scavenging wildlife feeding off of The Waste's bounty. The condors ignore her, preferring to tear the remains from bones in the sand. The raptors, like prey that won't put up a fight. The one waste hound she sees, seems content to play with the tire of one of the ruined tumblers. She is a cat of The Yellow Sun, one with the beast of The Waste. As she draws closer to the crater, she feels more and more like her old self.

Dropping down onto the sand, she crawls across the last bit of distance, reaching the edge without drawing the attention of the feeding birds. Inside, a covered jeep lies on its side, doors dented and two of its wheels badly damaged. There are more bodies scattered in the hole, two reavers and two scavengers. From the pattern of the bodies, the scavengers died trying to get to the jeep while the others died trying to get away. All is still except for a single waster, dozing in the shadow of the crippled vehicle.

Latisha's lip curls up into a sneer as she sights her rifle on the woman's chest and slowly rises.

The Bright Waste will provide

"Wake up, Scrap Queen," she shouts, finger eagerly hovering over her gun trigger.

The Scrap Queen's eyes flutter open, searching wildly as she jerks up out of her slouched position. Her hands patt blindly at the sand.

"Don't move or I'll blow that waster's heart out of your chest."

"Wait! Wait a moment." She squints against the light. "Lioness, is that you? Bellgrave was insane to let you off the leash. Where is the fat lump, I have some complaints about her warband?"

She sounds drunk, possibly delirious.

"She's taking a nap."

"Sounds like a good idea. I could use a little sleep myself."

Latisha looks around. Ammo, rations, tools.

"What happened here, Scrap Queen?"

"Don't call me that... I lost my scrapyard. It's just Shelby now."

She smacks herself across the face twice, then pinches her mouth and nose closed. Latisha takes a cautious step back, realizing the woman has lost her grip on reality. With a triumphant shout, Shelby lays back against the overturned jeep. Eyes a bit wild, she seems more awake and alert.

"That gongdo-head, Scorch, didn't clear passage through Black Smoke territory with their Queen of Boomwater, or whatever she calls herself. They attacked us with a dozen tumblers." She laughs as she puts up the fingers of one hand. Angrily, she pounds on the jeep. "They had a rocket! Wasted it though. They missed, but my jeep rolled into the hole. Killed one of my new boys... didn't even get to name him yet."

Latisha spares a glance at the bigger of the bodies crushed beneath the jeep.

"They just left you here and rode off?" She moves over to one of the nearby corpses and nudges it over with her foot. This one had been shot multiple times in the chest.

"No, no. When The Black Smokes retreated, Scorch and Chrysanth came to check on me and the jeep." Shelby laughs bitterly. "I cursed the gongdo-head and told her she owed me a new boy. When she said no, I shot that one there. That pissed her off, then she said I owed her! I spit in her face and that smelly cunt snaked those long arms around me and tried to wrestle. She broke my fucking leg."

Latisha checks the second corpse's boots as she observes the odd angle of Shelby's right leg.

"Rothschild said they didn't have time for our nonsense. She said Chrysanth needed to get to Market Town." Shelby shifts her position. "Scorch said it would be better to leave me to The Waste. She took my other boy... fucking gongdo-heads."