GunBarrel Gauntlet: The Last Bronze II

03. "Her name is Audrey".

                The angry mob was pressed up against the wire link barriers, shaking it in their grip as they screamed at those on the other side. As soon as word had spread that the Colonel was going to gamble the dregs of their fuel and water on a scouting mission, the populace of Sanctuary had gathered at the underground workshops to protest.

Squeezing his way through the compact bodies, Weary forced his way to the mesh gates.

"It's me, Weary! Let me through, ask the Colonel!"

The guards looked him over for any conceit before one of them walked away into the half light of hangings chains, just visible in the flare of orange sparks as he pointed back toward the fence. The Colonel nodded in recognition.

Smacking their rifle stocks against those fingers threaded through the mesh trying to resist the opening of the gate, the guards managed to extract Weary from the crowd, fighting to close the gap afterward.

He was about to move on when a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Dawson! Weary Dawson! Wait! Wait!"

Speaking through the chain link, Mrs Kovacic had squeezed her hand through to offer him some small gift.

"Take it Weary! St Christopher watch over you, this is for helping my daughter."

Approaching the older woman wearing a head scarf, he could not answer her as he recalled a dirty alley, himself and another paramedic surrounded on all sides by a savage gang years ago.

"I can't take that! I'm not a believer, you know that!"

"But I am!" She threw the medal into the air, caught in Weary's gloved hand. "Go! Find us a new home! And come back to us!"

Thanking her, he turned the medal over in his palm to look at the image of the saint. Tucking it into his pocket, he continued on toward the activity focused around an armoured truck at the far side of the workshop.

Carrion was already there, conferring with one of the mechanics about the modifications they had made to her Kenworth w900. The rig was waiting beside a subway platform on which the others were standing, resting on the old rail tracks that had once serviced passenger trains.

"... you got two engines in the front, Mama" The mechanic motioned with a spanner toward the supercharged scoops coming out of the bonnet, "And a third engine in the caboose, real toey, kicks like a stallion. It's got a bad temper Mama, and greedy too! But this bitch will need it to carry all the armour we put on her..."

"This truck ain't your bitch son. Her name is Audrey." Carrion narrowed her good eye onto the skinny mechanic.

"Sorry Mama, just warning ya. Turn over the third engine for emergencies only, when ya gotta haul arse. She might blow if you keep it runnin' too hot, besides the fuel loss."

"What else have you done to my Audrey?"

"Hi-Rail brace on your major wheels, that'll keep her on the tracks... bonus fuel and water storage in the trailer... armour where it counts. The lever for the wheel brace is there beside the gear selector."

Opening the driver's side door to show the bald trucker where the wheel brace lever was, the cab-light illuminated pin-up nudes glued all over the interior.

"...and we left ya girls up, just how ya like 'em." The mechanic winked.

"Mama's home." Carrion smiled at the portraits she had chosen to decorate Audrey's cabin.

At that moment the voices of Weary and the Colonel drifted closer, meeting Carrion beside the armoured truck. The white noise commotion of the angry mob forced the Colonel to speak loudly, unfolding a map of the city that had been revised with pen lines and notes.

"Follow the subway tracks out through the tunnel barrier, keep moving, you'll have two escort cars coming up behind you; Tiny in the Corolla, Mack & Whip in the Colt. The line should take you all the way to Crystal Brook Junction." The Colonel's finger poked at a confluence of lines on the map. "When you get there, switch tracks for the northern lines that will take you out of the city."

Carrion folded back the northern half of the map, tracing a major route with her nail.

"The Trans-Con 2 ... I believe it was never finished?" She asked.

"Most likely. The map is a draft we recovered from town hall. We only know that the tracks are safe until Crystal Brook, after that there could be anything out there. So stay sharp, driver."

The colonel handed over more papers, containing a copy of the map and a page from a calendar that read 'May, 1989'.

"Use this as a timekeeper of how many days you've been driving for. Remember, you've only got eight days to find the base and return back to Sanctuary."

"What 's the plan if we can't find the base in time?" Weary asked.

"Start praying." The Colonel replied, hinting at the tragedy that would follow on from such an event.

Car horns sounded from the rail tracks, echoing from the tunnels behind Audrey.

"Sounds like it's time to go. Carrion the Long Hauler, Weary Dawson, good luck out there!" The Colonel stepped back and saluted the pair as they were climbing into the truck cabin.

"Open the gates!" Roared a strong voice over the restless noise.

A crew of labouring men began to wind back a capstan chain block in the background, connected to a pair reinforced panels that sealed the tunnels from any outside intrusion, the links of the chain drawn taught to the rhythm of their effort.

An array of headlights came to life over the front of the Kenworth truck, exposing the dark tunnels ahead of them. Pumping the air-horn cable to clear the area, Carrion looked at her own reflection in the rear-view mirrors, adjusting them to an agreeable perspective before she shifted the lever shaft into gear.

As the truck began to roll, Weary looked across the driver to take in the final scene of the workshop, the fence line beginning to buckle under the animosity of those whom would have to wait behind, praying for the expedition to find water and return alive.

"Are you armed?" Carrion asked without taking her eye off the tunnel.

Weary produced a hatchet from the folds of his survival jacket.

"Reach over the back; there's a rifle with a couple of extra rounds on the rear seat. Make 'em count."