The taste of sand felt awful in my mouth. It made its way past my lips and caked the back of my throat. My tongue was pale and cracked, almost like cornbread. I haven't had cornbread in forever. The dunes burned the calluses on my feet and the coarse grains clung to the hair on my legs.
"Hey, Colt!" someone called out to me, " How far behind us do ya think they are?"
That was Billy Black Eyes, The newest member of our crew. We picked him up in some small town called Hellfort right before everything went south. He's a good kid, still pretty young, but he's quick and he's quiet and knows his way around a gun. Billy was 18 or 19, I was never too sure. He hasn't been with us long enough for me to get to know him. We found him with a rope around his neck because earlier that day he decided to fuck with a few WKA's. They call themselves the Western Kin Alliance but we prefer to call them World Klass Assholes. Basically, a private militia that ran out all other law enforcement in the area. Billy thought it would be to try and swipe one of their key cards but he wasn't as slick as he thought he was. That's how he got the name Billy Black Eyes.
"Can't be too far behind, every last one of them wanted a piece of us. We're comin' up on Antag territory, and you know what they do to WKA."
Antag. Those sons of bitches will gut anything that moves. They aren't too fond of "tourists" but then again, we aren't too fond of Antag, and neither is the WKA. But f I had to choose between the two, Id go with Antag. Antag are a lot less organized. Absolutely brutal killers but they're spread so thin that you could hypothetically sneak by without anyone noticing.
"You'd better be right. We ran out of water 'bout three miles back and I'm not too fond of 'recycling fluids' if you catch my drift." grumbled Christy.
Razor Christy, about as mean as they come. At 15, she was engaged to a man from Capitol Hill. Long story short, Christy wasn't too fond of prearranged marriages and broke it off using a pair of earrings and a shot glass. While she could have just lied and stolen his assets, she told me she preferred a much more "honest" way of living. Now, I don't consider what we do to be too "honest" but we all gotta make ends meet somehow. Christy's been with us longer than anyone, she's by no means the oldest in our group but she's got a mouth on her and you don't dare question her.
"We wouldn't even be in this mess if Apollo wasn't trying to be a hero! All he ever does is get involved in shit that has nothing to do with him. Like that time back in Ashwall when he tried and failed to break up that fight! Or what about Clearwater? Remember when Apollo saw a 'suspicious figure' at the bar? I honestly don't see why you let him stay in the gr-"
"That's enough, Emily. You know damn well you're not a saint."
"Don't gimme that shit, Colt. Apollo better have a damn good reason why I shouldn't just kill him now."
Emily drew her revolver and placed the muzzle directly in the center of Apollos' forehead. Emily Ivy, most people knew her as Emily the Snake, always hated Apollo. Ever since Apollo started tagging along, she would constantly berate him. Admittedly, Apollo doesn't fit in super well. He's a real pushover and is drawn to drama like a magnet. The only reason I keep him around so he can patch one of us up if we get too full of holes. He's also the oldest in the group and not much of a fighter. Although, he has been known to talk his way out of several conflicts. Emily on the other hand had a short fuse and very selective hearing, which makes her the perfect opposite of Apollo.
Apollo paused for a moment, making sure to choose his words carefully. "Emily, I understand that we are all under a lot of stress right now. It's a billion degrees out and we're without food or water, but killing me only means that the rest of you will have to drag my body back to the nearest town."
"What makes you think I won't let whatever creature that happens apon you have its way with your corpse?"
"Guys, we can't be doing this right now. Did you forget that we're in the middle of nowhere? At this very moment, we have half the WKA following us and we really can't afford to make any more noise." Emily glared at me before turning her attention back to Apollo.
"Honestly, Colt. I'm getting pretty sick of your shit too. You always act like you know what you're talking about, yet time and time again, you tell us to do the right thing while stealing and killing just so we can eat. This isn't a living Colt, this is surviving, and I've had just about enough of it."
Billy chimed in, saying something about rich businessmen and our way of life being more "living" than any big city sellout could say. Pretty soon, we were all shouting over each other, except Christy, who went on without us. I'm not even sure where she ended up. I didn't see her again after that.
Before I could grab the gun out of Emily's hand, a chunk of metal flew straight through the side of Apollo's skull, killing him instantly. The rest of us panicked and looked for something to hide behind. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere didn't provide much cover though so I dropped to the ground, hoping I didn't get hit by whoever was firing at us. Billy wasn't quite fast enough and got shot somewhere below the waist. Emily followed my lead and the two of us made our way behind a sand dune.
Shots rang out above us while I fumbled to grab my gun. It had taken me a second to recollect my thoughts but once I had a good hold of myself, I turned over to Emily to see if she was okay. Emily was frantically loading her gun while digging through the sand to find the bullets she dropped, realizing that her gun was never loaded until just now. Once the two of us were ready, I gave her the signal to cover me while I charged our assailant.
Coming out from behind the sand dune, I immediately felt bullets whiz past me. Emily provided a counter fire but that didn't stop our attackers from hitting my right shoulder. The bullet burned as it entered my body, tearing through flesh and muscle. The next shot dug its way through my left shin, dropping me to the ground instantly and burying my handgun in the sand. There's that taste of sand that I love so much.
I dragged my way towards the gun before I could grab it, the gunfire had stopped. I looked back toward Emily. She was casually walking towards me but she wasn't alone. A man wearing large metallic boots and black pants that had knee pads sewn into the fabric. The man was shirtless but he could easily smash your skull in if he wanted you. He had to have been at least seven feet tall with a squared jaw and short hair. His black cowboy hat obscured most of his face. On one hand, he dragged Billy behind him, who had passed out by this point, and in the other, he carried a large rifle. His knuckles were cracked and red-tinted. Most likely from beating several people to death with his bare fists. He had a massive scar running from his wrist all the way up to his arm and stopped in the middle of his chest. The two of them towered over me. Emily lowered her revolver towards my head.
"Emily..." My throat was dry and weak. I tried to say more but all that came out was dust and weak groans.
Emily stared at me for what felt like an eternity. The longer she stared, the more sadness I felt in her eyes. Her face stayed frozen but her hands were shaky and her breath was short. The gun fumbled around between her fingers while the figure put his hand on her shoulder. Emily's breathing slowed after this. She adjusted her grip and dried her eyes before recentering the gun on my forehead.
"Goodbye, Colt..."
