Bounty Hunter

Chapter 46

Joe was at the mercy of that hard, dilapidated mattress for two days before the medicines in the bio-wraps healed him enough to let him move without torment, though he still had quite a limp, and where the arrow had pierced his side gave him a constant cramp. His forearm was badly bruised from the arrow wound, and he still wore bio-wraps on his leg, side, and forearm. But his shoulder had completely healed—the mutant's cut hadn't been as deep as he'd first thought. He put on his boots with a small wince, then stretched away the stiffness in his muscles.

Kit walked in wearing his exoshield, with blasters in thigh holsters and a sword in a scabbard on his back. His chest plate read TURBO, and Joe was surprised that Kit had kept his Raven call sign rather than taking on a new one when joining the guild. The name suited Kit; he could drive any vehicle, and drive it better than anyone else out there.

Kit carried his helmet under his arm and held a blaster in his free hand, which he handed to Joe. "I'll expect you to return that pistol once you get your own weapons back."

Joe smirked. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a cheapskate like you." He slid the pistol into his belt. "So, what do you do with all those credits you make on the job? You sure don't put them into this place."

Kit motioned for Joe to follow, and Joe limped behind him, through the small apartment and to the parking unit.

Joe whistled. "I should've known you'd spend your credits on your cutter."

Kit waved a hand toward the sleek gray vehicle. It had no obvious armor or weaponry, but Joe knew it was likely better armored than Monster. "Joe, meet Silver Shark. Treat her with respect, or else you can find yourself another ride to Cavil."

"I wouldn't dream of disrespecting another man's cutter," Joe said as he walked around and climbed into the passenger seat.

Kit put on his helmet, climbed in behind the yoke, and powered up the rig's systems. Lights and sounds emitted from the dash that curved around him.

"We'll go to Sara's house first," Joe said. "I'm assuming they left my exoshield behind, since it wouldn't be of use to anyone, and they assumed I was heading off to be killed by someone's pet mutant. After that, we'll look for the kids."

"Kids, plural? I thought Nick and Sara only had one kid," Kit said.

"They did. Their son's name is Nick, but there's an orphan—Romy—staying with them, too."

Kit's lips thinned. "Plenty of orphans around nowadays."

Joe looked out the window as Kit backed out of the parking unit. The windows instantly darkened against the bright sun. "I thought we'd start seeing fewer orphans after the Revolution, but it seems I see more and more with every year."

"Things didn't quite turn out how the MRC's sales pitch made it sound. Sure, they're plenty different from Zenith State, but they're not any better."

"We all fell for their sales pitch. Otherwise, we never would've fought for them." Joe shrugged. "Looking back, it's hard to believe that the murcs started off as the rebels, trying to kick a corrupt government out of the zones. Sometimes I wonder if things wouldn't have been better to have left Zenith in control and save us a few wars."

"No," Kit said darkly. "Things would not have been better with Zenith State. We're free now."

Joe remained quiet. The murcs had won the Revolution, and the people were free, and he agreed with Kit that things wouldn't have been better under Zenith's control, but he also didn't believe things would've been worse under Zenith's control. Zenith State had at least attempted to unite the wastelands—but they'd been assholes with how they'd gone about it. The MRC's laissez-faire approach created openings for corrupt murc administrators to step in and take control of their own towns, just like the Sloan brothers were doing. Some murcs were better than others, but Joe had yet to meet any that were significantly better than Zenith State's representatives. A government was only as good as its leaders, and the MRC had succumbed to the plague that had claimed every government before it: greed.