Six Steel

Chapter 6: The Lone Traveler And Officers [OLD]

Damn, this sun. Jed was not in the Anthru Desert very often. The miles of hot sand on top of tall dunes were not a pretty sight to him, and he was once again incredibly thirsty. Twenty miles ago, Jed had finished the last of the liquid in his flask, and there were no towns in sight to quench his thirst this time. So, with not much else to do, Jed kept walking. A few more hours passed, and Jed was convinced he was hallucinating. Far off in the distance, there were two men atop strange creatures. The creatures had long legs, long necks, and large lumps on their backs, which the riders sat on. The men also seemed to be wearing some form of protective gear. As they got closer, Jed could see them more clearly, and he noticed the emblem smattered on nearly everything the men or their animals had on. Yuck. One of the men was in his thirties and held an air of experience and brevity about himself. The other one had barely passed teen years and was gangly and twitchy.

Jed stood up straight and called out to the men. "You boys, members of State Fis?"

"With pride and honor, and who are you." Said the younger one.

"Just a traveling cowboy. The hell are those things you are riding on?" Inquired Jed.

The older one raised an eyebrow, "Camels? You must not be from these parts."

Jed shrugged, "I do my best to avoid this place, I can't stand getting sand in my boots."

"What brings you here?"

"Looking for the house of State Fis, and I think you boys could know where to point me."

"Of course, it's right that way." The older man had raised a hand and pointed toward the smallest speck of a city in the distance, but Jed was not listening as he ducked and covered his ears. At the same moment, a booming noise shook the sand. Jed looked up again to see the younger one holding a Barrier Breaker and a glint in his eyes. The sand dune began to settle with the moving sand. The men's camels could maneuver themselves and avoid sinking into the sand. Jed was not so lucky, sinking into the sand. Desperately trying to pull himself out, he thrashed about, only working himself farther in. When the sand finally stopped moving, Jed was in up to his shoulders, hundreds of pounds of sand encasing him. The men dismounted, walking up to Jed. The older one crouched down, pulling out a Shadow, the black whisps from his gun licking around his hand.

"We got word that you had been sighted in Deadtree. It's good to know my hunch was right on you making your way north into the Anthru."

Jed squinted his eyes as he looked up, hocked a loogie, and spat into the Fis soldier's face. The soldier quickly reeled back, wiping his face and cursing at Jed, who was receiving a swift leather boot to the head from the younger soldier.

Groggily, Jed woke up in a concrete room with bars on one wall. The only light came from torches in the hallway beyond the metal bars. Jed shifted and realized there were steel handcuffs around his wrists. The footsteps echoed down the hall ominously, and a man with the State Fis emblem over his heart appeared behind the bars and jeered at Jed.

"Well, look who's finally awake. If it ain't the great Jedidiah Prave, the legendary outlaw. So legendary that he let himself be caught by two guards in a matter of minutes and didn't put a scratch on them." The guard was thick in the face, cheeks blush red, and long brown hair slicked flat behind his head with what Jed could only assume was his grease. One hand held a large Norman. The other was in his nose, possibly looking for a snack. "The only reason they took you back alive was to for questioning. Personally, I think you should be shot on the spot, you murderous dog." The guard went back to walking, and all Jed could think about was how the guard never removed his finger from his nose once during that entire interaction.

Many hours had passed, and Jed simply sat in a corner of the room. There was a passing thought of sleeping more, but he guessed that would be irresponsible since he had just had a very long nap after the kick from the Fis soldier. So, Jed waited, his thoughts tending to wander on occasion, primarily to nothing in particular, just things to pass the time. At one point, he even found himself wishing he had his flask with him to make the time go by quicker. Eventually, he heard footsteps again. This time, it was two sets of feet, the guard and the older soldier from earlier.

"Alright, get up. We're going somewhere." said the soldier as the guard unlocked the door.

Jed wiggled himself into a standing position and approached the now open doorway.

"Try any funny business," the soldier produced his Shadow threateningly, "I dare you."

"Of course not, officer," Jed said, smiling at the two, his voice laden with condescension.

"Start walking!" Barked the soldier, pissed off by Jed's attitude.

The cavernous prison wound about for what seemed forever. Every so often, the soldier would prod Jed with the pistol to intimidate Jed somehow, but Jed never reacted to any of this. Eventually, they arrived at a room with a table in the center and a chair on either side. The soldier directed Jed to sit in a chair, to which he obliged. The soldier sat in the opposing chair, looked Jed straight in the eyes, and began questioning him.

"What is your purpose for coming to State Fis?"

"Sightseeing."

"Who do you work for?"

"Meals."

"Why were you looking for the House of State Fis?"

"Never been there before."

"How do you have a Crimson?"

This question caught Jed off guard. He knew full well the rarity of his gun and its value on the open market, but it was a legal weapon to own and a strange question to ask in an interrogation.

"Answer the question, Prave." said the man.

"How is this important?" Asked Jed.

The handle of the soldier Shadow whipped across Jed's face, causing blood to run from under Jed's eye.

"Don't play dumb, Prave." Yelled the man, standing up from his chair.

Jed shook the pain off, blinking a few times and looking back up at the soldier who struck him. "I guess I bought it."

"Bullshit, you did not buy a gun like that."

"What does any of this have to do with-"

The soldier's Shadow was suddenly pressed firmly against Jed's forehead. "I am sick of your games, Jedidiah Prave. I want you to tell me everything about what you are and what you do, or for every second you don't talk, I'm going to blast a hole through your shin."

Jed noticed two things at this point: The first one was that the soldier's threat was incredibly vicious and extreme, and he wondered if the soldiers of Fis were all this corrupt. The second one was that the soldier had gotten too close to Jed and had not realized it yet.

Jed spun quickly, knocking the gun out of the soldier's hand and sweeping the soldier's legs. Jed lunged for the pistol now on the ground, and fired two shots into the soldier's chest. Black wisps floated from the holes, and the soldier fell. Jed searched him for keys and cursed, realizing they must be on the guard. Jed opened the interrogation room door, peered out, not seeing anyone, and began walking down the hallway. He heard footsteps tapping their way down and ducked behind a corner.

The chubby guard rounded the corner with a pitch-black barrel facing him and an escaped convict holding the gun. He froze for a moment, the events not fully rendered in his brain yet, and Jed motioned for the guard to hand him the keys to his handcuffs. The guard silently held out a key to Jed, who unlocked the handcuffs around one wrist and then fired the pistol, not wanting to deal with him reporting anything to the other soldiers. Now, Jed needed to get his Crimson and flask back.