Bounty Hunter

Chapter 34

The wall of bars behind Joe and Bobo closed in, forcing the pair into the arena.

As they entered, the voice on the loudspeakers began.

"For our next event, we have two participants who are sure to bring you enjoyment. Bobo 'the Butcher' Neche ruthlessly killed fourteen MRC soldiers guarding a caravan of supplies meant for orphaned children in the Salt Flats."

The crowd booed as Bobo's image rotated around the large screens. Joe had never known a caravan to deliver supplies to an orphanage. Those caravans delivered supplies to the MRC administrators and their murcs, and no one who really needed them. The speaker sure knew how to spin stories to work a crowd.

He glanced at Bobo, who was gritting his teeth. "It ain't true," the prisoner growled.

Joe turned back to the audience as the speaker spoke again.

"Our second participant is Joe Ballast, also known as Havoc the Bounty Hunter, also known as Havoc the Raven. He murdered countless innocents during the Revolution, and later in the Shiprock Riots. Unable to quench his thirst for blood, he became a bounty hunter, taking money to kill anyone without question."

The crowd booed even louder as an image of him in his exoshield, covered in blood, ran across the screens. The picture looked like his guild photo, except that it'd been heavily doctored. While he was impressed that the speaker knew he'd served in two wars, they clearly didn't know about Wilds Rising, which would've really got the crowd going.

The speaker continued. "Havoc was finally caught when he tried to murder an MRC administrator in cold blood in the Midlands earlier this week. He faces justice today on the Devil's Dance Floor!"

The crowd cheered.

"You're a bounty hunter?"

Joe turned to see Bobo glaring at him.

"I'm in here because of one of your buddies," Bobo spat.

Joe shook his head. "Don't listen to them. They're just trying to rile up the crowd and turn us against each other."

From the continued glare on Bobo's face, the speaker's words had delivered the desired effect.

Well, crap.

The speaker continued when the cheers quelled, "These two convicted murderers will face none other than Wendigo, part man, part polar bear, all wild animal!"

That announcement really got the crowd going. The ground rumbled beneath Joe's feet from the applause and foot stomping. He took the moment to scan the ground. The broken wood pike lay nearby. Other tools lay near the edges of the arena, by the cage bars. A hoe was nearest to Joe, and a shovel lay a little farther away.

He frowned. He was going up against a mutant, and all they provided were old garden tools? He felt naked without his exoshield. Worse, he felt helpless without a decent weapon.

"The bids for each participant begin at two hundred credits and will be increased in ten-credit increments. The event begins in sixty seconds," the voice said, and a countdown appeared on the screens.

Bystanders outside the cage tapped at tablets, and Joe wondered if the Sloan brothers were entering bids at that moment, too. Who was he kidding? Of course they were. They'd probably sent him here just to make money off his death.

Joe cast another look at Bobo, who was still glaring at him. The guy knew he wasn't the one who'd captured him, right? Joe turned away, jogged over to the edge of the cage, and picked up the hoe. He felt the weight and swung it a couple of times. The wooden handle seemed sturdy enough, though the metal was rusty and stained with dried blood. He looked around, trying to determine where the mutant—Wendigo—would come from, but he couldn't tell. There were over a half dozen doors along two sides of the cage. Any one of those doors could be holding back a monster.