FFF - Share the road

You signal for Chastity to stay where she is and for QT to move to another car. She does so, staying in a crouch. Chastity draws her Glock from her belt, and QT pulls her Laser Pistol from her satchel.

You listen. The wind moans over the wasteland.

Then you hear a voice, distorted and inhuman.

“…remember, kids. Where was god when the monsters were under your bed? Where was god when the bombs began to fall? Don’t waste your time praying to him. Pray to the free market instead and get up to ten percent off…”

You peek to see a small rusted hover bot floating toward you. You don’t see any weapons on it. Back in cover, you look questioningly at QT, but she doesn’t seem to know what to do. The bot is coming this way, but not quickly.

“Is that the danger?” you ask Chastity quietly. She shakes her head.

That’s powerful information. You were about to shoot the bot out of the sky, but that would’ve just given you away to the real enemy. Whoever they are. You peek again.

There’s an overpass ahead, also littered with ancient cars. Would this bot just happen to start coming this way when the three of you took cover? You don’t think so. It’s probably meant to be a diversion. Someone could be flanking you right now, but you have decent sightlines to either side. It’s up ahead that all these cars block the view.

“Stay cool,” you tell QT. You get down to your belly and crawl until you find a decent spot with a view. Awkwardly, you get your FAL off your back and ready it, chambering a big bullet. You line up the iron sights and squint at the distant overpass as the bot flies closer.

Seconds go by and you fear that you’ll have to make a choice, but luck is on your side. Or maybe Karma.

It’s just a tiny flicker of movement, but it tells you that someone’s up there. They’re far away, but you’re lying prone and this is a good rifle for this type of thing. You steady your breathing and squeeze your trigger. The shot is ludicrously loud, and it echoes up and down the road with a sharpness that startles you. The stock of the rifle also hurts like hell when the FAL kicks.

But you see a distant figure slump over.

Your ears ring as the shot fades.

“Why should you have to pay for other people?” the bot goes on. “When do they pay for you?”

Then there’s a shout. Footsteps.

“Get ready,” QT calls out. The situation takes shape in your mind: bandits. They had someone posted up there, but there are more here among the cars, waiting to launch an ambush. You might have gotten the first shot in, but you have no idea what you’re up against. You scramble up to crouch, readying the rifle.

A bandit slides over the hood of the car, directly at you, swinging a serrated knife. You block the knife with your rifle, but he knocks you to the ground in time to eat a laser blast from QT. Looking puzzled by the glowing hole in his chest, he collapses.

You grab your rifle and roll to your feet. A woman pops up behind QT. Seeing that you see her, instead of shooting QT in the back, she swings her tiny revolver in your direction and fires.

You feel the bullet strike your Kevlar Vest. One shot from your rifle drops her. You pivot and fire several more, forcing the charging bandits to scatter and use cover in their approach. Your rifle booms as you blow away a bald man who can’t aim his zip gun quickly enough.

The FAL clicks empty. You drop to a crouch and reload. Chastity sees you doing so and fires blindly with her Glock to cover you.

It takes QT five shots, but she finally zaps the bot out of the air.

You release the bolt on the FAL and start to get up again, only for an unfamiliar object to clatter over the hood of the car and drop to the cracked pavement beside you. It sits there, equal distance between you and Chastity.

Chastity reaches for it, but you tackle her out of the way as the grenade goes off.