Bounty Hunter

Chapter 45

Joe returned to consciousness to find himself on a relatively soft surface, at least, softer than the ground he last remembered lying on. His eyes opened, but they were dry, and he reached up to rub them. Pain in his left forearm and his right shoulder made him reconsider, and instead, he blinked the room into focus.

Seeing clearly added little detail to the sparse space. White walls bore no decorations; the only furniture in the room was a single bed. The room wasn't familiar. He tried to sit up, only to give up as he realized he lacked the strength and hurt all over. Instead, he gingerly pushed down the blanket to see that he was naked, which wasn't especially comforting. He checked his left thigh and found a bio-wrap around it. There were additional bio-wraps on his left arm, right shoulder, and left side.

So someone had saved his life. But why? Given his many enemies and few friends at the moment, he figured the most likely reason was to heal him enough to dump him back onto the Devil's Dance Floor.

"You're awake. I knew you were too hardheaded to die."

The owner of the voice stepped through the doorway. He was roughly Joe's height, and easily in as good shape as Joe—sans wounds—although his Asian features bore a few more wrinkles and a few more scars since the last time Joe had seen him, after the Shiprock War.

Joe smiled. "Kit Argall."

Kit stepped into the room and leaned against the wall. "Joe Ballast, the man who carries the weight of the world with him...and the foulest parts of it on his clothes. I washed them. Should've incinerated them."

Joe tapped the mattress. "And is this lumpy slab what you consider a mattress? The thing feels like it should've been put out of its misery before people moved into the silos. You still into that self-torture stuff?"

Kit's brow rose. "It's called frugality, and there's a lot to be said about being content with what I have. And is that your thank you for my saving your life? I see you haven't developed any manners since I last saw you."

"You saved me?" Joe said as he tried to remember.

"Of course I did, you idiot. If I hadn't shown up when I did, you wouldn't have lived another five minutes."

Joe sifted through his most recent memories. It took him a couple of seconds to remember the arrows and the blaster fire and...he gingerly reached up and felt his chin. "You punched me."

Kit's lips curved upward, almost into a smile. "I owed you that for leaving me hogtied in Nowhere Land."

Joe grinned, remembering better days. "You didn't seem so bothered at the time. In fact, I remember you were enjoying yourself."

"For the first ten minutes, maybe. I'll have you know that Susie left me tied like that for over two days." He held up two fingers. "That woman fed and watered me like I was a baby, and used me like I was her personal love slave. I won't even say what else she did, just that she was very creative."

Joe's smile faded. "I tried to reach out to you a few times after we left the Wilds. You never returned my calls."

Kit looked away before shrugging. "I guess I just needed to leave some things behind me and start fresh."

"I get that," Joe said. "There's been times I wished I could leave everything behind and start over, too."

Kit gave a knowing nod. "Yeah."

Joe eyed his caretaker. "You miss it, too? The war, the Ravens, all of that?"

Kit thought for a moment before sighing. "I miss almost all of it." Then he seemed to brush his thoughts away. "How'd you end up riding into the Salt Flats on a dilapidated bike with a leg that looks like someone went after you with an icepick?"