A Twink & a Trucker Survive the Was

A Twink and a Trucker Survive the Wasteland - Chapter 2

*

Trucker woke up bright and early the next morning, feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep - the fun he'd had with the young man had tuckered him out.

He dressed and gathered his things. After a hearty breakfast, he stepped out into the world. The sun was lazily making its ascent over the horizon, casting some hues pink and light blue across the sky. The air was fresh, not yet heavy as the scorching sun would be sure to do so later.

Trucker breathed in - his favourite time of the day. The world hadn't awakened yet and the heat of the day wasn't yet oppressing them.

He met up with the rest of the crew who were packing the last of the equipment in the truck and the bikes.

'Hey, boss,' Mech nodded to him, looking up from the wheels he was checking to make sure they were all pumped up and sturdy.

'Up and early,' Blue strapped some weapons to his bike.

'Better than down and late, am I right?' Red nudged him and the pair broke out into barrels of laughter.

Trucker rolled his eyes at the pair, but grinned. Better that they started out on their journey in an uplifting mood. The Wasteland was a bleak place, not much room for jokes and comedy. They best take some levity where they could find it.

'Alright, everyone, make sure you got everything. No u-turns or diversions. We're on a one-way trip to Eden City,' Trucker said, grabbing his cap and tossing it on his head.

'She's all geared up and ready, bikes too. Had my boys check them for ya,' Oil nodded to the vehicles, holding a rag in his hands. He wrung it as he watched the crew prepare to leave. His eyes took in each of them as if setting their appearance to memory.

'Will see you soon, old friend,' Trucker patted him on the back and thanked him for his work.

It was always the hardest part when setting off on a mission - for both those leaving and those left behind, you never knew whether you'd see each other again.

The crew made their final preparations and soon set off, their vehicles roaring to life in the quiet of the early morning - Trucker driving the truck with Mech perched in the lookout tower of the vehicle, straddled by Red and Blue, who rode their bikes beside. Each of the men bid farewell to Oil as they left, looking in their rear mirrors until he was out of sight.

The convoy of vehicles chugged down the streets until they came to the gates of Crow's Nest. The heavily weaponed guards glanced at the convoy and gave a nod to the gate controllers, signalling for them to open the heavy-duty defense gates. The crew were well known to the residents of Crow's Nest at this stage with their many missions under their belt, so were given passage to leave.

'See you soon, boys,' one of the guards nodded to them as they passed.

The crew saluted to the guards as they exited the last town of civilisation before the Wasteland, the gates shunting closed with an almighty force once they were out.

And then it was just them - the crew of four men, out in the wilderness with the dust, the sand, the desert, the creatures that lay in waiting, the bandits that ravaged the land. They began their mission.

*

The crew curved down the cliff, winding and turning on the sharp twisty road that finally brought them to the valley of the wasteland below Crow's Nest, and then they were off, pointing east as they set off on their journey.

The convoy of vehicles drove at speed along a dusty road that had been naturally carved into the desert landscape by centuries and millennia of travel by humans, animals, creatures and everything in between.

Dust flew up into the air behind them as they sped through the desertous landscape. As far as the eye could see, it was a barren landscape of browns and oranges, flat save for a few sand dunes and rocky hills here and there. And above the sky was a brilliant blue, free of cloud cover as the sun began its ascent.

'Lovely day for a drive,' Red said into his mouthpiece as he drove his bike abreast of the truck, which each of the other members of the crew could hear.

'Indeed brother, indeed,' Blue answered. He was driving his bike on the other side of the truck.

'You can come down out of the lookout tower if you like, Mech,' Trucker said into his mouthpiece. 'The first leg of this route is always quiet, not much activity. Creatures and bandits don't get much action this close to Crow's Nest.' Trucker had his wits about him whenever he was in the Wasteland, but at this early stage, he wasn't worried about any encounters. Although not impossible, it was extremely rare for anything to happen this early.

'Sure thing, boss,' Mech replied, and climbed down from the lookout and made his way through the truck to his work station. 'Nothing on the horizon anyway, we're all clear.'

Trucker could hear Mech tinkering away on some metal behind him. He always found the sounds of Mech working soothing, like it was a welcome companion. He revved the accelerator and pressed on, speeding the truck through the desert.

The crew drove for hours, crossing hundreds of miles of barren landscape. Trucker kept his eyes on the road that sprawled ahead, looking around from time to time at their surroundings, but all lay before them was flat, brown desert, clear blue skies and sandy rolling hills.

The men made conversation, keeping each other entertained with jokes and yarns they'd heard of late, or Mech would waffle on about his latest invention or some strange fact seemingly concocted out of nowhere.

'Ever hear of the miracle fruit?' Red asked the crew.

'What is that?' Trucker wondered.

'Is that the fruit that makes everything sweet?' Blue pondered.

'The very one. Super rare. I hear there's markets in Eden that have them. I'd give anything to taste one bite.'

'Is that why you're going on this mission?' Blue asked.

'Course not, I'm here for good causes,' Red winked, but they could all hear the sarcasm in his voice.

'I'd love to see that fruit,' Trucker liked his lips. His mouth was watering from the sound of the fruit.

'Tell you what, first person to cross the gates of Eden gets to have the miracle fruit if we find them in the markets.

'Deal,' they all agreed.

'Hey, you know there's fruit that can talk to you,' Mech suddenly piped in, taking a break from his work.

The rest of the crew remained silent, puzzled by their crewmate's random fact - who knew if it were true or complete fiction.

'What kind of stuff have you been smoking, Mech?' Trucker bellowed with laughter at the wheel, casting a glance over his shoulder at Mech. 'Talking fruit, there's a new one.'

Mech was about to defend his voice, but was cut off by the Moon brothers.

'Hmmm, what is that?' Red said, peering into the rear-view mirror of his bike.

'See something, bro?' Blue chirped in.

'Eyes, boys,' Trucker sat up straight in his seat.

Red slowed down, bringing his bike to a stop on the sandy road as the rest of the crew carried driving forward. He turned around, pulling out a pair of binoculars and pointing them in the direction they had driven from.

'Something billowing up in the sand, there's dust in the air,' Red peered through the scope, trying to catch a glimpse of something in the landscape far, far behind them, many miles away that it was merely a dot on the horizon, but most definitely there.

'Lookout, Mech,' Trucker ordered his crewmate, who'd have a bird's eye view of the landscape with a stronger viewing equipment than Red's.

Red closed his scope and hurried to rejoin the convoy.

'Right, boss,' Mech threw down his tools and ran through the passageways of the truck, up the stairs of the lookout and grabbed the eyescope that provided a 360 view around them. He pointed it behind the truck in the direction they had come, moving it to sight what was causing the disturbance.

'It's not a sandstorm, there's no wind patterns,' Mech confirmed.

'Could it be a sandworm?' Blue suggested.

'No ground disturbances, it doesn't look like it's animal-made,' Mech continued to peer into the scope.

'Then what is it?' Trucker asked, impatient as he kept his eyes on the landscape ahead, his forehead growing with sweat, from the heat, but also from the impending situation unfolding.

'I can't quite make it out,' Mech searched the wisps of dusty air, trying to land on something tangible that could be causing the disturbance.

'It looks like it's ...' Mech began, unsure of himself.

'What is it, Mech? Confirm!

'It's ...' Mech uttered.

'Fuck sake, spit it out, man.'

'It's a convoy, multiple vehicles.'

'Here? We've never had any issues with bandits this early in the journey. Can you confirm?' Trucker gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles growing white. He was confused at the sudden appearance of a convoy at this stage.

A beat passed.

The crew held on with baited breath, gulping as they waited for Mech's answer.

'Affirmative. There's a convoy in pursuit, and they're coming up fast,' Mech said with finality.

Trucker took a moment to process before he barked out orders. 'Alright, boys, weapons at the ready. Let's go full speed ahead, but if they catch-up with us, we'll need to be ready. Mech, prepare defence procedures.'

Each of the men set into action: Red and Blue had their guns ready in their straps on their bikes. The ammo ready to be fired should they need. They pulled down their protective helmets and had knives ready to throw for any close contact brawls.

Mech loaded up a gatling gun in the lookout tower and pointed it behind the truck so it was ready to go. He also readied some grenades and other explosives that he could throw from the tower.

Trucker accelerated harder - maybe they could outrun them and get some distance in between both convoys. If they got far enough, maybe they'd lose interest. He pushed a button and some paneling on the outside of the Truck moved into place, securing an iron defense like a second skin to protect against explosives and gun fire.

Trucker gulped as he looked in the rear-view mirror at the landscape far behind them. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but it felt like the plume of dust was getting slightly closer.

'But why are there bandits here? There's never been any this early in all my years. Surely something is wrong,' he thought to himself, wracking his brain as they shunted on into the distance, trying to gain advantage against their pursuers.

*

The convoy had been putting the pedal to the metal for the last half hour, doing their best to outdo their pursuers, but the truck was beginning to shake, the engine emitting a heat that was cooking Trucker in the hotseat. When the vehicle began to shudder, he had no choice but to ease off the accelerator. As tough as she was, she was made for long-distance endurance, not sprinting at full throttle for long periods.

As the convoy returned to a more reasonable pace, they could see their trackers slowly gaining on them.

'Sorry, guys, truck's not going to outrun them. Think we're going to have to prepare for a fight,' he told the others through his mouthpiece. 'Weapons ready, watch your blind spots, and have each others' backs. Let's get these sons o' bitches,' Trucker pulled a gun from an overhead compartment and cocked it, readying the ammunition and loading it up.

'I've got eyes on them. They'll reach us in maybe fifteen, twenty minutes at the rate they're going. A monster truck, two buggies ... four bikes,' Mech confirmed from his lookout post, making calculations based on their speed and the distance, crunching the numbers with his technical mind.

'Woooooo, and here I was thinking this ride was getting boring,' Blue yelled, bouncing on the seat of his bike as he loaded up guns.

'I'd rather have a boring journey than an exciting shootout,' Trucker mumbled to himself so the others couldn't hear his nervous thoughts.

'First one to shoot someone successfully gets the first miracle fruit at Eden,' Red suggested. It was clear the brothers were living for the impending fight.

'Deal!' Blue replied.

And all they could do then was wait, wait for destiny to catch-up with them, wait for the gun that was aimed at their heads to fire, wait for struggle that was sure to be bloody.

Trucker turned the wheel gently as the dusty road curved gradually around a massive sand dune, the convoy disappearing out of sight of their pursuers. Eventually, the road straightened up again.

After five minutes, the dusty plume appeared in their rear view mirror.

'Five minutes away now,' Mech confirmed to the convoy.

Trucker gulped. 'Alright, steady boys. Remember your positions. Stay vigilant,' he yelled. His heart was surely in his throat now. He could feel it thumping hard.

'Sure thing, boss,' the brothers nodded, lowering protective visors over their faces. They were thick and sturdy.

The seconds ticked on as the pursuing pack grew closer, until they were only a minute away, the vehicles clearer now.

'In all my days ...' Mech muttered.

'What is it?' Trucker asked, unable to keep the tremble from his voice.

'I've never seen anything like it. I'm used to seeing gangs of bandits with vehicles made of leftover sheets of metal, copper, tin, sometimes even bone, but this is something else...'

'What do you see, Mech?' Blue tossed his neck backwards, but he didn't need an answer.

The shining sun bored light down onto the vehicles, causing a harsh glare to reflect off of their surfaces. These vehicles weren't made out of dull metal, no, they were encrusted with sparkling jewels - sapphires, rubies, jades, and even diamonds.

'These aren't any old random bandits, boss, they've got money,' Blue's eyes were wide in wonderment under his helmet.'

'Rich bandits...?' Trucker furrowed his brow. Then this isn't a random ambush, they're after something, he thought to himself. The medical supplies, he surmised.

'Alright boys, this ain't your run of the mill heist. If they're after what we're transporting, they won't be scared off by a little gunfight. Likely they're not going down easy, so this might be messy-'

Trucker was cut off mid-sentence as a bullet hit the back of the truck, causing a high-pitched whirl as it bounced off the metal defence.

'They're taking fire, guns on the buggies,' Mech warned the convoy as bullets started whizzing through the air, some hitting the sand below, others colliding with the truck's metal shield.

'Alright, Mech, open fire. Bros, be ready.'

'Yess, boss,' the three others said as they got into position, bracing themselves.

'Here we go!' Mech yelled for the first time in what felt like years as he pointed the gatling gun at one of the jade-encrusted buggies and let loose a round of bullets. A heavy throttle sound filled the air as the bullets fired, hitting the ground as the buggy swerved to avoid the shots, its jewels glittering in the sunshine.

The four ruby-encrusted bikes sped up, coming abreast of the truck as the monster truck and the two buggies remained behind. Shouts and yells sounded from the bikers as they surrounded the truck, they were relishing in their intimidation.

Mech didn't know where to point the gatling gun, swerving it around at the various targets.

'Mech, you take care of the buggies. Red and I have got the bikers,' Blue shouted into his mouthpiece.

At that, he pulled his bike away from the truck, still accelerating forward but maneuvering himself into the right position. He rotated his body, keeping one hand on the handle of the bike and the other holding a gun, pointing it towards on of the bikers.

The two bikers who were on Blue's side of the truck saw what he was doing and pulled up guns of their own, shooting at him.

He felt bullets whizzing past him, one ricocheted off the metal of his bike, doing merely surface damage.

Blue shot back, aiming for one of the bikers. He unloaded many bullets, hitting a chunk of out the rubies of one of the bikes, but not doing much damage.

Meanwhile, Red was having the same duel on the other side of the truck with the other two bikers.

Mech was aiming the gatling gun at the buggies, taking chunks out of the beautiful jades as they fell off, scattering onto the barren landscape below as the vehicles plowed onwards through the wasteland.

The buggies replied with shots of their own aimed at the truck - at the wheels, at the lookout tower, at the metal body. But the truck was made of sturdy material and she was holding up.

But, Trucker was beginning to hear the tinny twang of bullets against metal a little too often now. He just hoped they wouldn't hit anything vital on the truck.

In all this, the large diamond-and-sapphire-encrusted monster truck on its massive wheels stayed behind, pursuing but letting the others go about the fight. The tinted windshield made it impossible to see who was inside.

Mech yelled as he fired a round of bullets into the buggy, and with a shudder the vehicle turned to the side and blew up in an explosion of fire and smoke. The other vehicles swerved to avoid the debris.

'Woooo! Looks like that miracle fruit is mine,' Mech was wired, the most alive he'd felt in ages.

'Well done, Mech. Though we did say the first to shoot someone gets the fruit, not the first to bring someone down. So technically I already won,' Blue joked as he continued to shoot at the bikers.

'Cheeky bugger,' Mech shook his head as he reloaded the gun.

'Focus, boys, focus,' Trucker reminded them, though one vehicle down was a welcome relief.

The men were busy celebrating when they heard - and felt - an explosion rock the truck.

'What the fuck?' Trucker gripped the wheel as the truck juddered, but he kept it on course. 'Eyes, what's going on? I have systems telling me here something is up with one of the left rear wheels.'

'Shit, one of the bikers attached an explosive to the wheel and blew it up. We've lost one,' Blue confirmed.

'Fuck. Take them out now, we can't afford any more,' Trucker yelled.

'Right, boss,' Blue pulled back, coming side by side one of the bikers, who hadn't expected him to maneuver down beside him. Blue held an arm steady and shot, getting the biker clean in the head.

The biker stayed up right momentarily, then swayed and the bike was lost to the desert.

'Yaaaaa!' Blue celebrated. 'Got one.'

'On the other side, Red was tussling with a biker who had driven up close beside him and was aiming his gun at him.

Red was dodging the shots for the most part, getting snagged here and there with stray bullets on his arms and legs, but avoiding any contact with his vital parts. He had pulled out a knife, slashing it at his assailant. He was a good shot, but up close, his knife was his weapon of choice. He gripped the handle tightly, flicking his nimble wrist until the sharp end found home in the biker's chest. With a final push he managed to push the biker off his vehicle, taking down another one.

'That's one for me!' Red celebrated.

Trucker was so absorbed in the activity of his crewmates that he didn't see one of the bikers accelerate up beside him and throw an explosive at the truck's door window. The glass shattered. It was made to withstand impacts, but the assailants' explosives were deadly in power. Trucker was protected by the heat of the explosive, but he felt a bullet graze his neck as the biker began firing shots at him through the now broken window.

'Fuck,' Trucker held a hand to his neck and clambered around for his gun while still steering the truck. Too many things to do with too little hands.

He grabbed the gun and hired it out the window, sending shots blindly to where the bullets were coming in. Yet, it was no use, the bullets kept on coming, hitting equipment in the truck's cabin. One of them hit his hand and he dropped the gun from the pain. It was lost somewhere below his feet.