Heart Hunters

SIX

M A N O

Rolling hills crept past as I buzzed over the dark road vein. Light glared through my motorcycle helmet as my tires bounced over gouging gravel.

"Ingrate," I seethed, jerking the handlebars to the side. Rubber screeched as I cut through the turn. "Tyrant!"

The bike shuddered and jumped, lifting me from my seat and slamming me back down. I seethed, repressing the urge to slam my head into the windscreen.

"Just what I need, a motorcycle accident," I spat. "'Oh, I'm a son of this', 'Oh, I'm better than that'. And you send me on a suicide mission because I won't lie down and let you Infect me like a good boy?! Son of the pipiles, my ass. More like son of a — GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

The kid sitting in the road didn't even turn my way. Just sat and stared into space like I wasn't even there.

I slammed my fist on the horn. "MOVE!"

No reaction. I swore, swerving to avoid the little fool before I splattered him all over the road.

He slipped right back into my path, grabbing my front tire and swinging the bike into the air. I flew out of my seat and into a tree. My body slid to the ground, stunned.

A tall figure slipped out of the bush, shotgun aimed at my head. A woman's voice came from the headscarf, muffled. "Put your hands up and face the tree."

"Typical," I muttered.

A gunshot exploded behind me, blowing a hole in the tree bark.

"That's your head."

I lifted my hands, slowly turning to face the tree.

"Pat him down."

Small hands traveled up and down my legs. I pressed my lips together as my knives slid from my boots. They paused on my calf, and I held my breath. I groaned when the Curado kid took my peashooter from its holster, tossing it onto the road. "C'mon, you—"

The Curado's grip on my leg tightened. I recalled how he stopped a 200-horsepower, 350-pound motorized vehicle with one hand.

"Carry on," I said.

His hands searched my sides. I closed my eyes as he threw my poor Berettas aside and went back for more. Was nothing enough for these people?

The kid in the Iron Man mask pulled out my switchblade.

"You can leave that," the woman said.

The kid flicked it open and stabbed it an inch from my side.

"And I'll take this." She jerked the helmet off my head. "Road safety's important, you know."

They sped away, zipping down the road without looking back. I waited a few moments before finally turning away from the tree. "Sloppy."

I ducked into the cover of the forest before a lone man made the bend, jogging with a shotgun in hand. I scooped up a stone and hurled in into the brush. At the same moment his head snapped in the direction of the sound, I burst from the side, the muzzle of a gun extending from the machinery of my arm.

"This," I hissed to the half-rate thieves, pressing my arm-rifle against the loner's temple, "is a real shakedown."

The traveler's eyes widened. His leg swung up, smashing into my ribcage and lifting me into the air. My body crumpled around it, my mouth agape — was I breathing in or out? Was I breathing?

The leg swung back down, tossing me back onto the road. I spat, swaying to my feet. "I miss the old days when you didn't have to worry about mugging a goddamn Superman."

"The world's gone to Hell and you're complaining that it's harder to mug people?" The man's voice was muffled beneath a red-and-white calavera mask. "You realize how scummy that sounds, right?"

"Shut up." I raised my rifle arm to his face. "Tell me what you think is faster: that old piece of shit or my NODE handcannon."

His hand was on my face before I could form my next thought. He slammed my head into the ground, forcing my handcannon down with his bare heel.

"C'mon. Show me what a real shakedown is. I know you want to." He poked me in the forehead with his shotgun. "I feel sorry for you, you know. All the people you can possibly mug, and you pick the Carrier. Talk about bad luck."

A Carrier? Like Rudy? My good hand trembled. No, not like Rudy. This one's bigger. Older. No mechanisms in sight. And in perfect condition, perfect!

"Bad luck?" Tears tease at the corners of my eyes.

I'm saved.