A Pirate's Life for Mei

Social Change

Lance

They watched in silence as the gangster quickly bled to death and then went limp. Funny, it was the least gruesome thing that Lance had seen in the past couple of hours, as if that should be possible.

"Gah!" Mei shouted in frustrated fury. She hacked at the body with her sword, the blade thunking into what was now just a hunk of dead meat.

Lance shivered and backed away. This was all a lot for him. He was a businessperson. He belonged in front of a computer or in a boardroom. He worked with people; he didn't go around killing them.

He eyed the Asian woman standing over the body. She was pretty enough. Or she would be if she hadn't been wiping blood off her cheek and snarling at the dead man. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of her. She was about as far from his usual experience with women as could be. Well, there was a hint of that command and confidence that you saw in the upper echelons of businesswomen, those who managed other people, executive types. She didn't seem as coldhearted as all-too-many corporate types were, though.

He'd found Mei intriguing enough when she'd first arrived. And things had gone swimmingly at that time. Until she'd declared herself here by mistake. Or rather, here unfairly. Unlike the rest of the losers in this miserable world. Unlike him, she wasn't guilty of breaking the law. Or of the alienation he'd experienced during his fall from grace. Of hurting others.

He resented her. And yes, he knew that might not be fair, but so what? He was very much unsettled at the moment and in no mood for fairness.

Lance shook his head and turned his back on the others, trying to center himself. He could use a hot yoga class. And a stiff drink or three. And a massage. Maybe an hour with a beautiful woman. One who wasn't going around shooting people and then cutting them to bloody ribbons.

"He'll be back," Juan muttered.

Lance turned back to the group.

Mei's head snapped up. She turned on Juan. "Where did you respawn?"

"Me? Over there. Just down the beach." He vaguely pointed.

She swivelled to Armand. "And you?"

"Other side of the island," the Frenchman replied. He was older than Lance by at least a decade, maybe two, always calm, always thinking. Nothing seemed to phase him. He'd been the one to volunteer for the dirty work of burning Putin's wounds closed and he hadn't hesitated once. Lance had to respect that, though he didn't understand it.

Armand was as educated and classy as anyone Lance had ever met. He had an old-world, gentlemanly charm. The kind of thing Lance had always aspired to despite his obnoxious American roots. Class was something that seemed to have gone out of fashion sometime before he'd been born. How could a man discuss philosophy with such intellect one moment and then calmly burn a man alive the next?

Mei didn't seem to like either answer given her. She cursed and gritted her teeth.

"Why?" Cheeto asked her. "What's up?"

Mei sighed. "If we knew where he was going to respawn, we could have ambushed him there. But if it's random, he could reappear anywhere out there. And then he'll come for us." A finger tapped the sword hilt in her hand as she mulled the situation over. "I think I'm going to take Winny to the Carib village."

Lance's eyes widened. "What? They'll kill you."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I think things have changed since that guy attacked them. He killed a lot of them. When I left, I spoke with an older woman. She gave me back my weapons. Pointed me to this place to meet you guys. She was really helpful."