Act 6

"The Gunman"

Isla glares at her little brother in silence the entire ride back to her apartment. She’d been at a bar  trying to drink away her weekday stress when he’d called her from a public line. The only reason she wasn’t making him go back to St. Grace’s was because he said he was having second thoughts about the extraction.

Haley isn’t sure where he expects his sister to live, but they pull into a new looking tall, glittering skyscraper on the outer edges of the Sprawl. She begrudgingly leads him through a freight entrance so the doorman won't ask to ask any questions.

The apartment is on the 24^th floor and is  massive, almost twice the size of the house they’d grown up in. The walls were each painted in different bright colors and there were pretty things everywhere as decoration.

He follows her to her bedroom, which was decorated in cool blues and silvers, all of her furniture made from  a shiny mirrored material. There is a picture of her, Gram and their mother standing on the dresser, but the other photos on the dresser are of people he doesn’t recognize.

“Let’s get some sleep and we can talk in the morning,” she tells him as she wanders into the adjoining bathroom and splashes water on her face.

“I don’t want to sleep, Isla," Haley says. “I told you…I just want to use your Syndicate.”

“Fine,” she snaps, rolling her eyes.

She disappears into the walk in closet and comes back wearing her bathrobe and pajamas with her old bright pink Syndicate in her hand.  He remembered when she’d purchased the pink syndicate, it was several generations old then too.

“You can keep it,” she tells him tossing her old Syndicate to him and getting into the rounded queen bed. “Like I said I have two roommates so don’t leave this room without me, okay ?  You'll freak them out and do not get any of your wrist blood on my bed.”

He nods, sitting on the bed, resting his back against the headboard. The place where he'd dug the microchip out had mostly stopped bleeding and he was too afraid to ask her for a bandage. The bed was the soft, like it was made of feather and he has to fight not to just put his head down and fall asleep.

Powering on the Syndicate he intends to find more  details about Maxwell’s life after leaving Ft. Pride. Haley searches the archives of the news streams and discovers Maxwell had been on countless  news shows explaining something he'd drafted with the new government called the RLA War Crimes Act and why so many former RLA Officials had been sentenced to death.

Maxwell was no longer beaten down or surly. He was cool and charismatic on camera. 

He sits next to victims of the RLA  and listens sympathetically as they tell their horror stories from the frontlines or in prison camps. He even goes on interviews with former Ft. Pride soldiers who discuss the cruel conditions of the camp but make no mention of Maxwell's own misdeeds.

Maxwell’s fiancé, Major Lansing Prescott, was a United Auxiliary Forces Major who had come from the East to help build the United Auxiliary Forces. He was youthful and dashingly handsome in the way all Easterners tended to be. He had a down of  wavy light brown hair  and looked to be only a few years younger than Maxwell. Together they were a force, both intent on turning The Western Republic around and the media was obsessed with their star-crossed love affair. 

Haley spends the rest of the night watching videos of Prescott and Maxwell. Maxwell is candid and hides nothing, in several interviews he talks openly about power play  and  how the couple visit BDSM clubs. Haley watches every video he can find of them together and then he re-watches them, unable to figure out why.

He doesn't remember falling asleep but he is woken up only a few hours later by the sunlight streaming through the open windows and Isla tapping his shoulder.

He grits his teeth. The gel bracelet around his wrist with the painkillers was empty and his body was starting to feel sore.

“My roommates’ boyfriend works for The Justice Commissioner…I called him and he said I should be able to take you back to St. Grace's and that the extraction is illegal--”

“Isla, what happened to the money ?”

“What money ?”

“The money you got to travel...from those people--”

“That was years ago," she says quickly. "…I spent it…when you start traveling and going to school it doesn’t go that far.”

“Do you talk to them-- the people who gave it to you ?”

“No…all that violence with the cartels has been crazy…I just put that all behind me. Now, it’s time to get you back to St. Grace's.”

“I’m not going back."

“Alex, are you insane ? Look I know I fucked up by not helping you, okay ? I'm sorry I didn't try and save you but what more do you want from me ?”

 She looks close to tears and Haley is unprepared for her response.

“Nothing,” he says quickly. “Except money for the train.”

 

***

 

Audrina Laurenti still lived in the same house.

Haley had been there only once, he’d followed Harlow who had been buying drugs from her then husband Pascal. Thinking back on it, he wasn’t even sure why Harlow had let him tag along. Then again, his brother had always like an audience for his illicit activities.

All of the homes in Audrina’s neighborhood were built is in the same style; tall cubes made up of glass and recycled materials with sloped roofs sitting on a patch of fake bright green grass.

The neighborhood is almost exactly like the one he grew up in, but he notices the differences too; some houses are flying the Federation flag or have the ring of stars projecting across the lawns. The trains running only a few feet overhead are black and shiny, whirring efficiently on a single track instead of the rusted cars that used to creak down the old tracks.

It’s early, only a little past 8 AM but when he arrives at Audrina’s house number he can spot movement behind the frosted glass, near where the kitchen would be. He knocks on the door and soft beep sounds as the door camera turns on, he hears something break in the kitchen and then a commotion of footsteps.

The door swings open to reveal St. John on the other side, a confused expression on his face.

St. John  just stares at him.

“I’m--I was looking Audrina Laurenti,” Haley says.

“Do you have a weapon ?,” St. John asks.

“No.”

“Can I check ?”

Haley doesn’t say anything; the white scrubs he was still wearing left very few places for him to hide a weapon.

“What do you want ?,” St. John asks, his tone defensive, almost frightened.

“I just need to talk to Audrina, s-,” Haley says, catching himself before he called St. John sir.

“About what ?”

Before he can reply, Audrina arrives at the door. She’s wearing a pajamas and looks exactly as he had remembered her from Camp Harmony. She steps in front of St. John and hugs Haley.

His body tenses at her embrace and he shoves her back, but she doesn't miss a beat.

“Theo told me you were trapped in a cell in Ft. Pride.  I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through,” she whispers in his hear.

“I need to find Alan Gray,” he says as she steps away from him.

Her eyes narrow.

“Do you mean Corporal Strange--”

“No, Al--”

“Because Corporal Strange is dead,” she says quickly. “He was re-assigned from Camp Harmony shortly after the POWs escaped  and his convoy got in an accident… I think your bandages should be changed. Come on inside.”

She grabs his arm and Haley catches she and St. John exchange a look as she quickly ushers him inside the house and into a small bathroom, shutting the door.

“I don’t have bandages,” he tells her as she begins to take out a small medical kit. “I just--”

“I know. Look I can guess what you want but Theo doesn’t know about the cartel stuff or that I was ever involved though Pascal,” she whispers taking out a morphine patch. “He thinks Strange died. Alan is still alive though…why do you want to talk to him ?”

Haley considers if he should tell her but he’d never trusted Audrina. She was  too good of a liar.

She holds out the morphine bracelet and he lets her replace the empty one on his arm. The moment it is secure, his body begins to relax.

“Thank you by the way,” Haley says.  “For asking St. John to get me out of Ft. Pride.”

“It was the right thing to do,” she says quietly. “Now tell me why you’re looking for Alan.”

“I just need some help.”

“From the Shy Cartel ?”

He stays silent.

“You don’t go to the Shy Cartel  for help…if you’re vulnerable they’ll own you. Literally. I had to orchestrate your kidnapping and let 3 POWs go just to pay off the debts my dead husband owed.”

“They locked me in a room with Maxwell with no food for two weeks They owe me.”

“I told you, that was an accident.”

“Please just tell me where to find Alan Gray.”

“I don’t know, I haven’t made contact in years,” she sighs. “Have you been  to Mojave ? I heard he’s set up a hack shop near the Mojave Knife Company headquarters…you could probably ask around….tell people you want to get your hand fixed.”

 

***

 

Haley had never been this far out into the desert, he didn’t even know there was life this far out. The train he’d transferred to was an older model and heat of the train car was almost as bad as the days in Ft. Pride.  

There are only a few passengers in the train with him and they’d been staring with intent focus on their Syndicates, barely aware of his presence.  Haley removes his white scrub shirt and rolls up the sleeves of the sweat soaked long-sleeved undershirt. There were cruel words tattooed up each of arm but they couldn't be read unless the sleeve was rolled all the way up.

When the train slows to a stop in Mojave he dares to asks a harmless looking woman getting off in front of him if she knew Alan Gray. She stares at him before answering, her tone wavering.

“Um, his shop by the MBC was raided I think…maybe he works out of  the arcade again ?” the woman says before darting off.

Mojave was unlike any city Haley had seen before, the streets were clean and the downtown was lined with open air shops and restaurants.  Conversations and greetings were shouted across the streest, it was as if everyone in the city knew each other. The largest edifice in the small city was the Mojave Knife Company Headquarters, a large skyscraper that shined like a diamond in the sun.

He wanders through the street  following the holographic advertisements and loud noises to the Coyote Arcade, the only arcade in Mojave. The arcade is expansive, three stories of gaming and virtual reality consoles and a full service restaurant. For a moment Haley is mesmerized by the holographic shapes that bounced off the walls advertising the newest games. 

He hadn’t played an arcade game in years but Isla had only given him just enough money for the train.

Haley steps inside the arcade, looking for any secret doors or a glimpse of Alan Gray. He feels out of place in the arcade, the loud noise and laughter making him nervous.

A pre-teen boy, who was nearly Haley’s height, passes in front of him, nearly knocking into him. Their eyes meet for barely a second as the boy gives him a second glance.

Sharp recognition jolts him.

He thinks of the baby that Daniel, Isla’s deceased husband had brought home, claiming the baby  was left in a trash can by a joygirl and that it was their divine duty to care for it now.

The baby was really stolen from the Shy Cartel leader by Daniel and his friends to try and gain favors from the Mjollner Rektor.  The Rektor had ordered the baby sent to a Harvest Center but Daniel couldn't go through with it. His brother, Harlow had found out Daniel's cartel aspirations and shot him for it. Daniel took the baby’s true identity to his grave.

He’d been a toddler when Alan Gray and the rest of the cartel came back for him, but Haley wonders if the boy recognizes him now because the boy pauses, grabs the hand of a girl next to him and walks briskly out of the arcade. 

Haley gives the arcade a final glance for  a sign of Alan Gray and then darts out after the boy.

“Wait!,” Haley calls. "Please!"

-2-

The boy was running now.

Haley wished he remembered the boy’s real name but it had been years.

The boy turns down a residential street and to a row of brick and iron townhouses, disappearing through a gate of a townhouse on the end and into the backyard. Haley considers following him into the backyard but thinks better of it.

He runs up the steps of the townhouse quickly and  knocks on the front door.

“Please I don’t want to hurt you!.” Haley calls through the door. “I just want to talk…I need to find Alan Gray or--”

The door of the town home swings open, but instead of being greeted by the boy Haley’s greeted by a bullet.

Haley steps out of the bullet’s path just in time to avoid being hit. The gunman steps out of the house towards him aggressively, the thick revolver still in his hand. He can read the intention in the gunman's eyes and he ducks before the gunman can lay a hand on him and shoves the gunman back. Startled, the gunman drops his weapon.

They both grapple for the fallen weapon, but the gunman must have noticed Haley only had use of one hand because he quickly laces his fingers through Haley's good hand and then forces his arm up and back, pressing Haley's left arm  against the brick of the house façade, completely disarming him. The man's weight felt unnaturally strong.

 Haley stills.

“Who fucking sent you ?,” the gunman asks, kneeling to get his weapon and then settling the barrel to Haley’s temple.

“No one…I just want to find Alan Gray.”

The gunman  is standing directly over him on the small stoop of the townhouse; in this position there bodies are an inch apart and looking up into his face Haley notices for the first time the gunman is young, likely close to his own age.

The gunman's  bright bluish-green  eyes flicker and lose some of their edge. Haley becomes suddenly aware of the place where their hands touch, their interlaced fingers and the words Chaos scrawled up the gunman’s arm. The gunman seemed disarmed too suddenly, Haley could probably pull his hand out of the gunman’s grasp and attack him if he wanted to.

“I know Mjollner ink when I see it,” the gunman growls.

The gunman gestures with his eyes to DeCartes’ small signature that was now visible on Haley's collarbone since he’d taken his scrub shirt off on the train. It was a small mark and he'd forgotten it was there.

“I’m not….,” Haley starts. “He did this to me in an RLA prison camp.”

Haley gestures to his arm with his head and the gunman lowers his gun to slowly push up the sleeve on Haley’s shirt to reveal the words Property of Republic Liberation Army that ran up his right arm.

“Ex-soldier ?,” the gunman asked narrowing his eyes at the ink.

Haley shakes his head. The gunman’s eyes dim as he reads the words Fucktoy scrawled on his left arm. He seems to understands instantly that the ink on his body hadn’t been his choice.

“RLA bastards," the gunman says shaking his head. "You shouldn’t show your ink around here, it looks like Molljner tats and when people around here see that shit they get the wrong idea. People like me. We shoot first, ask questions later. ”

Haley nods and the gunman lowers his gun into a holster. He still holds Haley’s arm pinned against the house.

“What brings you to Mojave ?”

“I'm looking for...Alan Gray.” Haley says quietly.

Something pulses in the gunman’s eyes, something like annoyance.

“I knew him at Camp Harmony,” Haley continues

The gunman’s expression hardens.

“Why do you want Alan Gray?,” he asks and then looks at the hand hanging at Haley’s side. “Your hand ? It’ll cost you half  a mil and there’s a two year waiting list.”

“No...I ....Alan Gray kind of owes me and I wanted…I just wanted him to help me get an audience with Rayne Washington.”

Haley looks down and the gunman tilts his head up until their eyes meet again.

The gunman smiles. It’s a strained smile.

“You have shit timing, then," he says.

Haley looks down. Had Rayne Washington died ?  Had he been jailed ? He tries not to let his frustration show. He reminded himself that is this didn’t work out there were other ways.

“Seems like you’ve had enough torture in your life,” the gunman observes. “ What do you want from us ?”

Us. He must be with the Shy Cartel too.

“I want Senator Kenneth Maxwell assassinated." 

The gunman smiles, this smile lights up his whole face. He kicks open the door to the townhouse, and walks inside, pulling Haley gently behind him. The End.

---

A/N

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