They stopped short of Zee and opened the doors. There were six of them. I thought I had been scared of Zee when I saw him, or of the old hunter in the bar, but these were different. They were straight out of the myths, the hushed stories from the cities, they looked bloodthirsty. One of them spoke.
“They’re outside the lines Z, that means they’re ours”
Zee continued drinking wine.
“You know the rules.”
Zee spat. Z: “Oh the rules you made up? Yeah, I know the rules. I also know my orders.”
There was a murmur.
“X you didn’t say he was from the first wave.”
Zee motioned for me to keep walking behind his back, but I was frozen.
“It doesn’t matter what he is, he knows the rules. Outside the lines is fair game. Its been that way for centuries.”
Zee suddenly shouted at them.
Z: “And do you know what it was like before that?”
The group was silent for a minute.
“This isn’t worth it” one of them said, “There will be others before long.” One seemed to agree and the two got in one of the trucks together and drove off.
“They’re outside of the lines Z” the first speaker repeated their words.
Z: “Come and get them then.”
There was silence for a time. The sun drifted across the top of the sky. They lunged for him, one firing an electric pistol, it clipped Zee’s shoulder, he hardly flinched. I didn’t even see his gun, but it must have been old, because it punched right through the polyfibre helmet on one of them. Another dropped from a shot to the chest, his vest covering didn’t help him. A third also died in the barrage of bullets. The first speaker lived, the last bullet whizzed through his hand, and he dropped his weapon. I think it was intentional, the way Zee shot the other men, it didn’t seem like he would miss.
Zee began to walk toward the survivor, who had collapsed to his knees.
Z: “They really cheaped out on you suckers eh? What did they run out of money?” He still had the wine bottle in his hand, it was nearly empty now. “Were any of you were still sane when you set out on the ships? Not many that I’ve had the pleasure…”
The man howled in pain as Zee splashed the remaining wine over his hand. He picked up the other mans gun and handed it to him. Z: “Go on back now, and remind the rest of them to stay off my land.”
The man began to limp away, gun in his off hand, eyes on Zee. He looked less like a raider now, and more like a scared animal, his bleeding hand thrust into his coat. He never looked at his fallen comrades. A few metres out he began to shout.
“We’ll be back! More of us, times are changing”
Then he spun, dug in his heels and began to run. Zee just watched him run, muttering about wasting booze. Z: “Still here are we?” He finally spoke.
I became aware of myself again, I had been transfixed on the scene. I was still standing there, in the open, a few feet from the bodies. The wind kicked the sand up around them, flickering the ends of my coat.
“You killed them.” I responded, in a daze.
Z: “That I did Archie, would you have preferred the alternative?”
I considered. “But they were human, its forbidden..” He seemed irritated.
Z: “For you it is sure, for me its just another day. For them…” he looked briefly at the dead men. “It’s something else entirely.”
He looted their pockets quickly, and was pleased to find an intact flask. He coughed after drinking from it.
Z: “Damn diesel fuel..”
“Are you going to bury them?” It had been a long time since I had studied burial customs. He laughed.
Z: “No, I’m not, they don’t deserve the effort and besides, they’re a warning.”
We stood in silence. Then he began speaking again, almost rambling.
Z: “Listen I get the feeling you’re going to go to that lake one way or another I’m just going to let you leave.” He looked up at the sky for a moment. “I don’t think it will make any difference, although its hard for me to let go after all this time.”
I began to back away, and for a moment I thought I saw that same sad look in his eye. Then he started for the forest, back to his hut maybe. I called out to him, I’m not sure why, it was a mix of thanks and farewells despite him having recently knocked me out. He raised a hand, but did not look back.
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