1 comments/ 972 views/ 0 favorites Jeurridam Ch. 07: Henderson (Mid) By: StillnessIsTheTruth Jeurridam Ch. 07: Henderson (Mid) "Free schools?" Luke asked, the idea sounding too good to be true. "It's a big idea but I feel it can be pulled off with enough research, money and control over the population... My dad already has one foot in the door with that but with our relationship so strained at the moment, I'll have to let him cool down. And he would not buy a single word I say until I can prove to him I don't need him. And if that's the case, he may still be upset that I'm the cause of the wrench in his empire and just be too difficult to work with..." I sighed. "Who else can help?" Luke asked. "My sister's best friend can... But I already used him once, don't wanna use him again. He's such a nice kid but will fucking hurt you!!!! I don't even want to open that door again." I said back. "Ugh, every relationship you ever had sounded strained..." Luke noted. "Yeah, I kinda have that effect on people." I shrugged. He looked at me with a grin, slowly reaching for my hand. "You have more effects on people than you know." He said, propping his feet up on the dash. "I do, huh?" I responded with a chuckle. "You're like so driven and cutthroat but really, really genuine and kind despite your ambitions. I've seen how people who're driven can get. I've never really seen a person go after their dreams and succeed the way you have yet still stay down to earth. You left the streets, that escort life and not long after, you're here... with a job, making a way for yourself! Like, who does that? Who can do that? Who's that driven, let alone blessed. I mean, if you can follow your dreams, I can follow mine..." He said. "You know I really don't like praise..." I laughed. "Sorry." Luke shrugged. "And what's your dream?" I asked, truly curious. "I know this is going to sound so dumb, but I wanna be with you, Zeek. Like, forget everything else! I just want it to be you and me!" He said, looking deep into my eyes. It truly shocked me. This boy had fallen for me but I wasn't quite there yet. However, with time, I easily could fall for him just as he's fallen for me. I tended to fall relatively easily, anyways. Maybe I was a hopeless romantic. We reached the lake, filling up the water tank with the pumps. Many people were here filling up their tanks as well. This place had me on edge, being too close to Fool's Paradise for my liking. I looked around and the drum filled up. Da Lagon was known to have informants lurking in unexpected locations when a potential conflict was going on. Considering how high ranking Rion was within Da Lagon and how wicked he could be, I didn't want to take chances. The beretta was on my hip, ready for any quick action. Maybe I should have rode to the Arizona side of the Bay of Vegas to fill up the tank. Then again, they probably would have expected that and be staked out over there or something, I don't know. Da Lagon had me just that nervous. "You okay?" Luke asked, sensing my worry. "Yeah, um just not a fan of this location. Too close to East Paradise... That's prime Da Lagon's territory." "Oh..." Luke sighed, now understand. Da Lagon was big enough to be a serious threat to any faction in Jeurridam and had quite a bit of pull. With it just being Luke and I on our own, we stood no chance. I didn't quite know if Da Lagon was done with me yet, and I'd be a fool to think it was. With Luke being someone I cared for, the last thing I wanted was for him to be caught in the middle. He'd most certainly get hurt. "Let's get moving..." I said, the tank reaching capacity. We left, heading dozens of miles south to Jackrabbit Territory. The Sonoran was nothing but cactus, shrubs and dirt. No one was around for miles, just us. I reached for the glove department, pulling out a scope. "It is foraging time for jackrabbits," I said to Luke, "They'll be out in the open but still are ridiculously hard to see. Look for big pink ears." He took the scope. "Okay." He responded. I got up walking to the back of the truck. I opened the truck box, pulling out a brand spanking new deer rifle. It was resting next to Uncle Miguel's shotgun. "Zeek..." Luke called out, sounding unnerved. "Yeah." I responded. "There's someone out here." He said. It caused me to look up. Luke was sitting on the hood of the truck, looking down the scope. "What?" I asked, going to see for myself. I looked down the monocular seeing a buggy, one with alarming familiarity, "That's Da Lagon. Damn it, we shouldn't have went to the lake! I knew we'd get followed." Luke looked at me, not liking the way I sounded. "Followed?" He asked. "Yes... We, my friend, are being stalked..." I sighed, not at all pleased, "An informant must have seen us at The Bay of Vegas... They now know what we look like, what we're riding in now and probably are relaying every bit of information to whoever's in charge... I hope they're not following me for the reasons I think they are... This, man I hope not..." I said, upset and confused. "So what are we going to do? What does this mean? Are we in trouble?" Luke asked, quite fearful. I didn't like seeing him this worried. "Just hold on..." I said, going back to the rear of the truck. I loaded a clip of .306s into the rifle. Luke watched as I entered the truck, rolling down the driver's window. "What are you doing?" He asked as I looked down the scope of the rifle. Two shots rang across the desert, startling the boy. He looked at me, completely horrified, "You didn't..." "I did... I don't like games and Da Lagon most certainly thinks we're game to play." I said. Luke looked down the monocular, seeing two dead informants, one's head pressed against the dashboard while the other hanging half out the bed of the buggy, blood pouring from his head. The boy was so shocked, obviously never seeing dead people before. "Get in the truck..." I said. He looked on, seeing me in a very different light, now. There was a bit of apprehension but he got in nonetheless. His eyes were locked onto the rifle sitting across my lap. Horror filled his eyes as he saw the truck was heading towards the Da Lagon buggy. "Wait... we're going over...." "Yeah..." I said, sensing the boy's fear. We arrived at the buggy. I wasted no time in searching the bodies and the buggy. Luke just stood there, horrified. I didn't blame him. He was naive to this lifestyle and he needed to learn quickly, especially if he was going to be with me. "You okay?" I asked him. "Yeah..." He nodded. "Good," I said, moving the the dead man in the passenger seat to the bed of the buggy, "Follow me in the truck... We got to get rid of the buggy." "How?" He asked. "We're," I said, checking every possible nook and cranny of the buggy for a tracking device, "Are gonna drop this buggy in the bottom of the Bay of Vegas... From the Arizona Side..." "Okay..." He nodded, pushing himself along. I applauded him for this. Many people would fall apart at the sight of murder but Luke was holding his own. We rode across the Hoover Dam to the eastern shores of the Bay of Vegas. I tied heavy dredging chains to the two men, putting the buggy in neutral. Luke was there to help me push the buggy into the deep water. We watched the buggy and men sink. Despite Luke's willingness to go along with this, the murders would forever loom in his mind. "I'm so sorry..." I said to him. "You did what you needed to." He sighed, forcing himself to wrap his head around it all. The boy was a straight trooper. I spent the day taking precautions just in case things blew up. I dropped my safe off with every single thing I've earned at the Mill in A99. If my truck was ever looted, no one could steal anything too important. Luke stayed on look out, making sure we weren't being watched from afar. By the time we sorted everything out, it was nightfall. I couldn't let us go hungry tonight. We rode to Western Jeurridam, the City of Rust. "There's a place," I began, "Called Sal's Mojave Kitchen. I used to go all the time but haven't been on that side of town since I was like sixteen." "Cool... they're still open at this time of night?" He asked. "They close in about forty minutes so we need to hurry." I laughed. We arrived to a very short line. There was a familiar face working the night shift. "Darren!!!" I called out. The boy looked up, surprised to see me. "Oh my God, Zeek it's been so long!" The boy sneered. Luke and I ordered, waiting for our food, Darren just staring at him, "He's your new boy toy?" "I wouldn't say that... we're trying to make it mutual." I said, blushing. Luke looked at me with those lustful green eyes. "Uncle Sal hired this new guy... he's fucking hot! Like, I feel like I should know him from somewhere but I can't put my finger on it. He's like one of the guys you feel love at first sight for. The thing is though, he's been working here for a few weeks and I don't know a single detail about him! Not only that but he's mean as fuck! He had the audacity to make it plain and clear we aren't friends..." Darren chuckled, preparing our orders. "He sounds like a real keeper..." I teased. "Man, I can't talk to him. He keeps it super work casual... I was running late today because my buggy was having ignition rod issues and he chewed me a new asshole! Then one of the Merchant Clan boys chatted him up about going to the northern Mojave for whatever reason and he was game! I was like what the fuck, you're gonna go to the fucking wasteland with some scrawny little desert idiot but not even talk to me... I tried to warn him about the Mojave, how dangerous it is but bruh... He wasn't having it! He was like, you don't know me well enough to think I can't handle myself out there so stop trying! I know the damn desert better than you know the crack of your ass!" Darren continued. "Damn, he sounds vicious..." I joked. "I mean... no. He actually didn't yell or shout or anything... he just said it as plain as day like normal conversation... That's what made it bite the most! That's how I knew it was genuine disinterest. What made it worse was how he kept saying he needed to get away from it all, take a break, saying he had a lot going on... However, he didn't go into specific detail always diverting me away. All it does is make me want him more..." Darren smiled. "It may be a blessing in disguise bruh... This dude sounds uptight as hell. You don't want a relationship of that kind with someone you're gonna have to be in the workplace with." I advised. "You may be right... What am I supposed to do when I show up to work tomorrow? I always try and talk with him but damn, he's just too vicious." Darren asked. "I don't know..." I said shrugging, "With someone like that, I'd suggest you keep it super work casual with them. No small talking, just straight professionalism. This dude seems like he's totally stressed about something and taking it out on you because you're coming off as the odd man out. In a way, you're bringing this upon yourself... I know you Darren. Don't be late to work! Don't use your title over him! Don't even prod into his life... This is what you do bruh... impress the dude with work efficiency and crack little jokes every now and again to try and see if he has a sense of humor. Do not be pushy... I know how you get when you want something." "Bruh, thanks!" Darren laughed, "You always got that good words to spare..." "Thanks." I said back, Darren handing us our food, "We're off..." "No! NO!" Darren shouted, coming out of the shack, "How the hell you're just gonna appear like this then vanish the same way... with you and your boy toy... No, you're gonna tell me how you've been." He pointed to a bench, ushering us to sit. "Man, about three months ago, I was strung out. Did something stupid and got out of it by the grace of a helpful friend and a determined sister. I've been clean since but that little stupid thing I did, ruined my dad's empire and now he's piecing everything back together... I got kicked out and have been on my own for about a month and a half and things are looking up for me." I sighed. "God, bro, where are you staying?" He asked. "I'm camped out in Henderson." I said. "Damn, that's not safe! Bruh, that's not safe at all!!!! You know you can stay with me..." Darren offered. "No, that's not an option. I got a goal bruh." I smiled. Darren slowly turned to Luke. "And you?" "Zeek and I are just," Luke said, nothing but lust in his eyes, "travelling together..." "Zeek? He let you call him that... You're doing more than just traveling together..." Darren prodded. "See, this is why that guy you like at the restaurant is treating you like shit for remarks like that!" I joked. "Bruh... please tell me you're not boning each other! Please let me be wrong! Y'all can't lie to me!" Darren laughed. "I mean..." Luke responded, unsure how to answer. "Oh God, you are! How'd you two meet?" Darren asked. Luke and I looked at each other. "We were escorting the same stretch of street... Decided to work together... have been inseparable ever since." I shrugged. "Damn..." Darren said, liking the way it sounded, "Just wish I could meet someone that way..." "You will bro..." I said, getting up, patting Luke on the shoulder, "Come on..." "You two seem to be in a rush..." Darren said, watching us leave. "I got to wake up early for work tomorrow!" I laughed. "Come back soon, ya here!" Darren said. "I will!" I smiled. Luke and I rode back to Henderson. "You two seem to know each other quite well." Luke noted. "We do... He's an old family friend... a bit of an idiot but seems like he's getting his shit together so I'm glad for him." I said. "Not even gonna lie," Luke began, "That was my first time in the City of Rust..." "Really?" I asked surprised. "Yeah, it's beautiful... like a metal forest." Luke said, "I can't believe people actually live there..." "It's not like the rest of the desert. It's quite comfortable there... Not even gonna lie, if my relationship with the Merchant Clan wasn't so strained, I'd move there in a heartbeat." I chuckled. "Merchant Clan?" Luke asked. "Biiiiiggggggah tribe of bandits. Huge! Almost as big as the Logatti. They control the northwest, we control the Logatti control the southeast. When they clash, everything caught in the middle is just obliterated! Gangs like Da Lagon, Raging Diablos, and the Sky Carps get the hell out the way. No one wants that kind of heat..." I said. "Damn." Luke said, truly astounded, "So... we're being stalked by Da Lagon?" "Yeah and I'm not at all happy about it. Da Lagon's mercs are masters of surveillance... I mean it's scary how good they are at it. That's why I wasted no time in killing those two goons." I sighed. "So why are they coming after us?" Luke asked. "They're not after us... They're after me! Rion obviously doesn't want to let me go. He said never step foot back in Paradise and I didn't. This though, stalking me, can't be good." I sighed. "So am I in danger then? What are we going to do?" Luke asked. "I don't know..." I shrugged, "I say we carry on at Henderson but just be extra on guard... We don't have single off guard moment..." "You know," He began, "I will ride with you until the end... Like, no matter what happens out here, I want it to be you and I." I looked at him intently. "It will be..." I said. He held my hand, this bond we were foraging becoming something I knew would last forever. As soon as the truck parked in Henderson, the boy was on top of me! He quickly began undressing me, kissing me every which way. He was nothing but raw passion. Slow kisses led down to yet another amazing blow job. However, this time, he didn't finish me off with a cum-ready tongue. He stripped out of his clothes and was ready to hop onto it. I couldn't let him simply do that. I laid him across the dash, spreading his cheeks. My long tongue slid between his splayed ass, hitting all the right marks. The boy's body squirmed in pleasure as I laid my tongue down right. I brought him back down to my shaft, it sliding into his ass with an audible pop. Every inch of my shift disappeared up his ass. Luke knew how to work that ass! He'd go down loose, spreading his ass. Then he'd come up with his ass clenched adding an intoxicating amount of pressure. Gawd, he knew how to work this ass. It was only a quickie but it was everlasting in our minds. That night, we slept cradled on each other in the back of the truck until the blare of my watch sounded. The routine was the same, a brisk morning workout followed by some kinky morning sex in the desert. I'd work, come back to the camp to find Luke studying his heart away. Then we'd go out hunting, growing closer and closer to one another. It was all I could ask for, all I ever wanted... Saturday came and it was my day off. We spent it rummaging through the town, shopping for necessary things and talking to the Henderson locals. Despite this being a camping settlement with many lesser privileged people, these people were some of the nicest most genuine people you'd ever meet! Everyone knew each other well and Luke and I were starting to become local favorites, despite it only being three days. We were in a market warehouse, sorting through produce. We wanted to try something a bit different for dinner tonight. Luke stood over the long rows of fruits and vegetables, unsure what he wanted. "How the hell do they even grow this out here in the desert?" Luke asked. "You haven't seen Star Nursery right up the road in Whitney, have you?" I asked him smiling. "No, what is it?" He responded, looking at me. "It's a mega greenhouse with like every plant growing there! It's Logatti..." I chuckled. "I swear, everything on this side of town is Logatti." Luke said, not too surprised. "Yeah, their hands are in absolutely everything..." I said, looking at the custard apples on the stand. They were very firm and healthy. I remember Heaven making a salad out of this. "So there's an entire building filled with like... plants other than desert shrubs and cacti?" Luke asked. "Yeah, but it's heavily guarded since it's the highest desert commodity." I said, chuckling, "Let's get some turnip greens and head out." "Okay." He said. We got a small amount of groceries, heading back to our camp. It was a walk made quite uncomfortable when Luke's keen eye noticed a vaguely familiar face tailing us. He tapped my shoulder. "Zeek..." Luke said, sounding weary. "Yeah?" I responded, looking at him. Worry was written all across his face. "There's this guy..." He said, quickly glancing back, "He's been following us all day but stay just out of like suspicion range, or so he thinks... Not to big a fan of this..." "Do you have your pistol?" I asked. "No, I left it in the safe back in A99." He said. "I told you to keep it with you at all times!!" I said through the grit of my teeth. "I didn't think I needed it, when I'm with you!" He said back, as innocent as ever. "Look... This place will throw you a curveball faster than you ever could think!" I said, reaching into my pants, "Here," He grabbed my spare matte baretta, "Keep this on you at all times..." He looked at me, somewhat shocked by this. "Okay." He said, putting the gun under his clothes. We arrived back at the camp, setting up some chairs around two large kettles. Luke looked around trying to find the mysterious man following us but he had vanished into the camp grounds. He sighed, watching as I began stripping the greens off the stem. "This is what you wanna do..." I began, "You want to grab the stem and gently twist the leaf off, then drop it in the kettle. Like this..." I demonstrated it to him. He tried it but found it quite difficult. Jeurridam Ch. 07: Henderson (Mid) "This... is damn impossible." He said, looking at me. "Try tearing the leaf from the stem like one inch at a time then snap the stem off halfway up the leaf." I suggested. He did so, this way of picking greens proving much easier for him. We finished sorting through the first small bunch. "You think you can pick them by yourself?" I asked. "Yeah..." He said, getting up to grab the second bunch. He looked around, his eyes scanning for anything out of place. We've been camped on the southeastern edge of Henderson for a very strategic region. All other camps were northwest of our location and sitting on lower ground. As a result, we could see anything coming from that direction. Directly to the south was the Sloan outer perimeter. Nothing could come from there. To the east was vast open desert, Luke's eyes scanning the ground ahead, looking through the windows of the truck. Despite the seemingly isolated location, were simply were on the edge of the camping grounds. It wouldn't draw attention to us being out here considering our camp looked no different from anyone else's. There was nothing to be suspicious over. Luke returned to his seat, beginning the long process of picking greens. I grabbed the already picked bunch, rolling them up. He watched closely as I cut the bundle into wide chunks. They fell into the other kettle. "And you think you can't cook?" Luke asked. "I'm telling you, my brother would put me to shame. If he was here, he'd be like no, no! You're doing it all wrong!!!! Seriously! He's the best!" I laughed. "Really?" Luke asked, throwing a stem to the ground. It got me to thinking. "I wonder what they'd taste like pickled..." I said. Luke looked at me, not pleased at the thought. "I wouldn't try it... sounds gross." He said with a shutter. "You know I'm pickling these greens right?" I asked him. He looked at me completely horrified. "Foreal, bro?" He asked. "Noooooooo..." I laughed, "I'm gonna salt the custard apples then saute them in worcestershire sauce along with some peppers and sausages. The greens, I'm just gonna sautee them shortly but why don't you like vinegar?" "It smells so bad, like I can't with it." Luke responded. "Have you ever tried it?" "No..." He laughed. "You know the vegetables from the other night?" I began. "Yeah?" "They were pickled..." I said. "NOOOOO!!!!" He said, unable to believe it. "I'm so serious! Go get the jar... Pop it open and you'll smell vinegar..." I said. He placed the bunch of greens in the chair, walking over to the truck. The faintest gunshot was heard in the distance. Suddenly, Luke fell. I grabbed him before he hit the ground, this being quite strange. "Bruh, you alright..." I asked, trying to figure out what caused him to trip. The ground was smooth around his feet. It didn't make sense. I looked at his face wondering he was staring so blankly. He didn't even blink! No breath was drawing from him, "Luke?" Something damp was pooling in the hand I used to support Luke's head. Blood was dripping on the ground. "Luke!" I said, shaking him but he didn't respond! I looked at that fixed face seeing something unmistakable. There was an exit wound right at his hairline. Luke had been shot! Everything around me was drowned out by silence as reality slowly began to pour in. Luke was dead... Sickeningly familiar laughter caused me to turn around. Rion prowled around, hands behind his back. "Were you two in love?" He asked, "You think that shit was legit? Were you trying to live your happily ever after?" I couldn't even come to respond. Rage began to swelter within me unlike anything I ever felt before. "Short of words, huh?"Rion continued, "You think it was that simple? That you could just walk away?" I reached under Luke's shirt grabbing the matte beretta. "I hope you know what you've just got yourself into..." I said through the grit of my teeth. I stood to look at the boy. Fear filled his eyes but if it was one thing I knew, fear fueled Rion. That cautious glare turned into a stomach churning smile. "I do..." He nodded. Suddenly I was struck from behind. A sack was placed over my head as I fell. Several men were holding me down, and they had better did so! If they weren't, I'd kill Rion three times over... Jeurridam Ch. 07: Henderson (Mid) "This boy..." Galveston sighed, following. Everyone climbed up the crude structure reaching the top. The sight was utterly horrifying. Every plate mech within the Acid Swamps had been slaughtered, drained of their circulatory fluid. It was one of the biggest mech massacres to strike this region in several decades. Considering how advanced the plate mechs were, how they managed to survive peaceful on their own for so long, this was so sad! "This will become a problem. Who ever is running the hive will be back for more and the only things left are my turrets..." Galveston sighed. "And the only thing that can stop those manticores is a high velocity armor piercing round. Cannon fodder just bounces off of them like it's nothing." June shrugged. "I'll think of something." I said, "We can go back to Sloan and I can find the hive leader... I can shut them all down..." Everyone looked at me. The drear in my tone made it clear I was taking this quite bad. "No," Galveston said, "I say we wait for them to come back here then we sweep them offline." "That could work..." I sighed. Beth placed a hand on my shoulder. "You okay bro?" She asked. I nodded. "I'm good." I said. We returned to the garage, everything returning back to normal. Galveston and I made slight tweaks to all the mechs, even the highly damaged manticore mech. Beth, June and Julio stood on the upper platform watching as Swish and Heaven sat on the hood of his buggy, playing a holographic game on a three dimensional console. Julio simply shook his head. "Disgusting..." He said. It caused Beth to slowly look at him. "What?" She growled. "I meant Swish..." He responded in his defense with both hands up. Beth slowly returned to watching her brother and his new found friend have a fun. June punched Julio's arm, laughing. Julio looked at his friend, eyes wide with shock. He pointed at Beth. "She's crazy..." He mouthed causing June to laugh even harder. "That's mine..." June whispered back staring lovingly at Beth. "You can have it." Julio said back, not bothering to whisper. He went down to his buggy, ready to start tuning it. Beth was so lost. "What?" She asked. "Nothing..." June laughed, wrapping her up in his arms. The girl laughed, obviously glad to have someone as crazy as she was to call her own. Galveston and I watched silently, laughing to ourselves. "Seems like everyone's hitching up..." Galveston noted, "Except Julio... He's the odd man out." I stared at the boy as he frustratedly tuned his suspension. "Is he gay?" I asked. Galveston laughed, looking up from his computer. "Red flags...?" He asked me. "Maybe but he has the same frustrations as Heaven just better at hiding it. That whole thing with Beth just proves it. I don't think he likes the fact that June and Beth are a thing... Beth may be the wedge in the bond the two boys share but I can't help but feel the bond is much deeper with Julio than it is with June... Even he'll reach his limit one day. Think we should do something?" I asked, unsure if Galveston was game for this. "No... He's not like Heaven. Julio will lash out and get destructive if we prod. I don't think he'll ever be okay with his sexuality," Galveston sighed, "He's at war with himself..." "I just can't stand by..." I said, not liking this one bit. Galveston placed a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head. "You can't save em all, babe..." He sighed. It was clear Galveston wanted to help but it'd be hard to find a solution with someone as guarded and difficult as Julio. I couldn't think of anything either but like Galveston, I'd have to sit and watch, observe until a glimpse of something wonderful was worth pulling out of Julio. Friday went smoothly, everyone preparing for the weekend out in the Corridor. There was no sign of any more manticore activity within the city but Galveston and I set up a wide sweeping network that would detect the unique signature of the manticores. Upon doing so, the mainframe back at the garage would hack into the machines, deactivate them and notify us. With that done, Saturday rolled in like freight train. We loaded the six hundred pound, elk-sized cyberlope onto a trolley. We rolled out early in the morning, heading north out of Jeurridam to the wasteland. "I wonder how this city got it's name..." Heaven wondered, sitting in the back with Swish. "This ship that crashed into the ancient city was known as the Jeurridam. It was named after a star cluster on the other side of the galaxy. I remember reading something quite special about it, about there being a tesseract outside of our solar system, inside a wormhole." I said. "Really?" Swish asked. "Yes really. Supposedly, a much more advanced race than our own opened it with the help of a black hole but that's all I know..." I sighed, "I got a feeling that war seven hundred years ago was caused by this..." "What the hell is a tesseract?" Heaven asked. "It is a fourth dimensional space where physics of a three dimensional space such as this universe, the ground we live on, don't really apply much. It is a place beyond the existence regular spacetime." I explained. "That didn't help much." Heaven laughed. "Zanir..." Galveston said. "Yeah?" "You think it was wise to leave the mechs at home? What if something like... goes wrong?" Zanir asked. "I don't think anything will go wrong." I said. "Okay..." Galveston said, still feeling it wasn't a wise decision. We arrived at the wide and open wasteland, the western plateau beside the Corridor. Everyone stood around the bed of the trolley as I began the first boot sequences for the Leer. The diodes in the optics flickered, everyone jumping in anticipation. The machine suddenly stood up, bugling loudly. It stepped off the the trolley, heading towards the beacon source located on my watch. It looked at Galveston and I, inhaling our scent with it's wind bladder. The two of us looked at each other, mesmerized. This mech turned out much better than we anticipated. "Beth, how are vitals?" I asked. "Surprisingly," She said looking down at the computer, "Well..." "Really? So the little guy ain't showin' no trouble." I asked utterly shocked. "Nope..." She responded. "Okay, we go ahead with all routine protocols." I shrugged. Beth punched in commands and the Leer took off into an insane sprint. The machine had unmatched sprint speed, not even the manticores insane abilities could match it. It was designed this way so nothing on the ground or in the air for that matter could catch it. It was built to be the ultimate evasion machine. Not only that but the machine could cloak itself, completely erasing its signature. The only clue one would have to the presence of the Leer would be the trail of dust it left behind. It wasn't the only protocol. On its back was a thirty millimeter cannon as well as a micro rocket array. However, with the machine's insane speed, the small turret on it's back couldn't move without seriously sacrificing aerodynamic efficiency. As a result, the gun and the rocket array would recess deep into the chassis, becoming fixed in position. When the mech became stationary or was traveling at a low speed, it could move the turret. Since this was the very first test run, there was no ammunition in it. With everything going so well, we just let the Leer roam around and explore. We set up camp and relaxed, doing nothing but sitting out in the desert, here for each other's company. June brought his grill, a ton of booze and a huge fire starter kit. Swish brought his game console, him and Heaven in an intense match. Beth simply brought books to enjoy as well as a bikini. It wasn't like the girl needed to tan being half Olmec and all but hey, I was in nothing but a sun hat, some swimming trunks and a kimono. Maybe we should have went to the Lake considering everyone had water attire? Lake Mead was literally thirty minutes to the East. But I didn't really want to see people I didn't know so this was more than good enough. I sat in a beach chair just listening to the pounding music Heaven had playing. "Zanir..." Galveston called out. "Yeah?" I responded. "The Leer keeps going into alert mode and staring off to the north." He said. I looked at the Cyberlope. It was indeed standing incredibly alert with ears and eyes turned to something in the north. It's tail was completely erect, a sign of imminent danger. Galveston picked up his scope, scanning the horizon for anything. There was nothing there. "Huh, strange..." He shrugged, returning to watching June grill. "Beth, log in and see why the Leer's at attention." I asked. "Sure." She said, quick to boot up the laptop. She synched with the feed from the Leer, seeing nothing in particular. The Leer then returned to sniffing around and exploring the plateau. Julio sat on the outskirts of the camp, watching Heaven and Swish interact. Something was definitely wrong with that picture. The sheer amount of disgust on his face spoke volumes about his true feelings! He didn't share the same sentiments about Galveston and my relationship yet for Heaven and Swish, there was anguish. He had feelings for one of them but didn't know how to express it. I wondered which boy... I had a feeling it was Swish. The two had quite the history and with Swish's unexpected changes and new found assertiveness, it probably left Julio hanging... Who know's though. I could only imagine how Heaven and Swish's exchange of googly eyes was upsetting to Julio. Suddenly, something happened. Swish slowly leaned across the hood of the buggy. He kissed Heaven, the two sharing their first truly passionate moment. Everyone's jaw fell open at the sight. The burgers June was flipping fell off the spatula, back to the grill. Beth was left stunned as well. "Well Damn..." She chuckled before returningd to reading her book. Julio couldn't take it. He got up, walking back to the buggy. "Poor kid..." I sighed.