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Rage2: A better way to Die
By solidshoe
A Darker way to Die: Rage 2
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The Last Great Adventures of Wyatt Hayes
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By Solidshoe (Jacob Shaw)
Destiny Calls
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The 91’ Escort GT carried three passengers into the steel night of Maco City. The black economy car could not be seen traveling the shadowing bridges in the industrial area; even with the lights on, the car was invisible. Luckily, nobody traveled the dark interior of Maco’s Industrial zone, not a night. It was a fact that was not lost on Wyatt. He was definitely scared, though not simply of the Maco night.
What scared Wyatt, were the things the woman in the passenger seat were saying to him. It was bad enough that he’d had to drive all the way out into the dark patch of city to find, but what made the situation unbearably volatile was the little Asian girl sitting in the back seat. She was a doll, like her mother, wearing a cotton head covering and neatly pressed jeans and light coat. She looked all of twelve years old. She was very quiet, unlike her mother.
Wyatt had done some strange things in his life; had met strange people and been to strange places, but this was somehow weirder than anything he’d ever encountered. Earlier in the night, he’d received a shatteringly edgy call, had listened to the soft speech of a cold and calculating woman. Worse, it was a voice he’d heard before, though he couldn’t place it.
“I know you, Mr. Hayes, and you know me. If you value your future, that is, if you don’t wish to end up in prison, you’ll come to pick me up. There are things that must be discussed.” She had said, and Wyatt, not knowing exactly why, was sure that he should comply. He had done some pretty unsavory things in life, that was how grand his adventures had been, and now it seemed somebody was expecting him to pay up.
He’d been given instructions to drive to the outskirts. A small duplex on the edge of industry. He’d blown the horn, not daring to step foot outside his vehicle. When the door to the place opened, and the two Asian females had come out, Wyatt’s heart had immediately sunk. He knew this woman all right, hadn’t seen in a bit of years, but knew her all the same. Question was: How.
Now they were driving. Driving, and the woman was talking, cold. Cold as ice.
“You know my face, but you don’t know me. You never stopped to ask my name, not before, or even after what you did to me.” The woman said.
“Yeah, I never forget a face. But what did I do to you? What are you holding over my head, and who’s the kid?”
“She’s your daughter. Her name is May Ling.”
“What the hell? Lady, I’ve got no kids.” Wyatt burst.
“Twelve years ago. We were both students at VIVU. I was waitressing to put myself through, and you…you were writing those god-awful poems. How you won anything is quite beyond me.”
“Shit…” Wyatt could guess the words before she even spoke them. Some broad he’d screwed in college. Some Asian woman who had carried his kid, moved on with her life, and actually kept tabs on him, which was the scary part. Why now?
“Remember now? You said I had a pretty face.”
“Lady, no offence, but I had my share of….(looking back at the kid) fun in college. That’s why its college, fun times.”
“Fun? You still don’t remember? How dare you! You raped me!”
Silence. Unbearable silence.
“Lady, I’ve never done such a thing. Never….” But something was on the tip of his brain.
Suddenly, the Asian woman reached for his shirt. Before Wyatt could object, the woman pulled his shirt and pointed at something on his body. “Look! Look damn you..”
Wyatt looked down. There it was…the scar that had been on his stomach, the one that he had been sure had simply appeared, for whatever reason, out of thin air. He never remembered being cut on the stomach. Could she have done this?
“You weren’t drunk, or even high. Just hot. I could see it in your damn eyes. You wanted some, and right then. You thought I liked you, and at some point, I even did, but on that night I said no. We were in the parking lot, I was coming out of work, and you took me right there. Threw me in the back of that balmy white van and fucked me against my will. I couldn’t stop you, but I sure as hell could mark you, and so I cut your stomach with my nails. ”
White van? Oh shit, Wyatt realized. The white van, Dr. Calypso, the tests. It was all a blur. Wyatt had been subjected to things in College at the whim of the madman Ernest Calypso, things he could only slightly remember, even twelve years later.
“Jesus. Lady, I’ve been through quite a bit. Most of it started when I was in college. Some people, they did….things to me, and most of my junior year is a blur. Calypso, Dr. Ernest Calypso. I wasn’t the only student. I wasn’t!”
The woman seemed to take it all in. Something in her eyes changed. Wyatt could clearly see that she had been planning this moment for what was probably the second half of her life. She probably had an entire speech to give, full of venom and spite. How could she take it now, the suggestion that Wyatt hadn’t been in his right mind?
“Tests? What kinds of tests?”
“It’s a long, rough story, and one I’m not about to repeat now. Just tell me what you want. What kind of black mail is this?”
“Are you familiar with these parts of the city? Gangs rule, and not the average drug dealers, but real players. Understand?”
“No, not a damn word of it.”
“I raised my…our daughter, but I’ve been marked since our encounter twelve years ago. You see, I was part of a small group called ‘Blades’, a Chinese ring of students who made certain vows, one of which was to never bear the child of a man outside my race. At the same time, I was forbidden to have an abortion, nor did I want one, because I love my daughter. The students of the group are now grown men and women, and they decide the fate of the industrial area. We are in Blades territory now.”
“What purpose does this group hold?”
“None significant. Just that it is there, like a golf club, or secret society. They have no real impact on the outside world, but down here, in the dark of Maco City, they rule. For the last twelve years, I have been on death sentence. ‘Blades’ has allowed me to raise my daughter, to see that she turns twelve before I am put to death for my treachery against the group. Unwilling treachery that you caused.”
“Death? Why the hell would you bring me down here? Wait, because I raped you, and you want take me down with you, right?”
The Asian woman spit in his face. The curd was hot on his skin.
“You have to get my daughter out. Your daughter is free to live even after my passing, but she is to be made a whore of the men in the gang. A whore, as I have been to them for the last twelve years.”
“I’m….sorry.” Wyatt said, turning to look at kid in the back. His daughter..it sounded so unreal.
“I cannot let them do it. I have watched you, Wyatt. Watched and followed you. In spite of what you did to me, I have seen you do some pretty marvelous things. I have had people on the outside watching you for the last twelve years. And now I am playing my card. I had hoped to get you to help through the use of Blackmail, yes, but things are different now. You’re not what I was expecting. May Ling is your daughter. I command you to get her out of the Industrial area.”
“And you?”
“I am to die, as I have said. Tomorrow night. You must get out tonight.”
“Why can’t you come to? Why die for-for something that was beyond your control.”
“To buy time. If I am not seen by the Leader of this gang, Yuri, you will have no hope. He must see me tonight. It is my last supper.”
Wyatt stopped the car. The skid sounded off into the night. Once fully stopped, he turned to the woman.
“Bullshit! Look, I got you into this; I’ll get you out. This is nothing new for me, as I guess you’re aware. I can’t go on knowing I let an innocent woman suffer for twelve years, then let her die. I’m sure your daughter agrees with me.” Wyatt turned to the back. May Ling was crying. Not sobbing tears, but quiet, strong tears.
“My daughter knows that it is the only way. The three of us would never make it.” And then the woman suddenly opened her door and was running into the night.
“Hey! Stop!” Wyatt screamed as she vanished into the dark, heading back to the gangland.
“Mommy! Come back, Mommy!!” May Ling start crying to herself.
Then they were alone. Alone in the shoddy two door relic from 91’.
“What was her name? She never told me her name.”
“They call her ‘Red Leaf’, but my mom’s real name is Shu Ling. Remember it, because you are now my daddy, and you did this to her. YOU!!!”
Wyatt feared the crying would never end. He pulled off, heading toward the skyline of the city.
Yuri the Demon Steel Peddler
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They drove into the black night, desperately seeking the city skyline. Wyatt could no longer stomach the dead steel mills and text-tile plants.
“Daddy-“
“Hey, ummm, don’t call me that. I’m not your daddy. Not in any sense of the word.”
“Father, is that better?” Before Wyatt could object, “Father. You’re going to have to take care of me now. Now I can tell, father I can tell, you don’t want this, but you made me, all the same. You’re going to have to learn to love me.”
Who the fuck did this kid think she was?
“Love? Kid I don’t know you. I don’t even know if I can take care of you now, let alone later. This plan of your mother’s….it wasn’t the best-laid plan. Why wait twelve years? I could have done this sooner.”
“Further dis-honor to Blades would have resulted in terrible punishment. Believe it or not, this is the only safe time.”
“Bullshit, it’s a silly plan. Excuse the language kid, but your mother didn’t have to die for anything. I made her life hell, I was willing to pay for it.”
May Ling started to contemplate. Her eyes suddenly shone with great excitement.
“Go get her! Come on, go back and get her. Please, father? You said yourself: it was a stupid mistake. Make it right.”
“I’m not putting you in jeopardy. I may not know you, but you’re still my kid. I don’t put my blood in harm’s way.”
“They’ll find us, you know. Yuri is invincible. They all know it. He is the Demon Steel. ‘Blades has a strict code. Yuri won’t give up until he finds me, which means you’ll probably die. Maybe not tonight, maybe not for a year. But it’s coming. My mother knew it, which is why she never ran. That’s why it’s got to be you.”
“Kid, you sound too much like my voice of reason. Do us a favor and shut the fuck up.”
The skyline came into view.
The Escort pulled onto the freeway, and like that, they were gone from Maco’s private hell.
Later, much later, under the comfort of city lights, and inside a cozy Motel 8 room, May Ling spoke again. Wyatt had been trying to get the little girl to shut up for three hours now. It was going on 3 in the morning, and he hoped like hell that she would be getting sleepy.
“Father..”
“Kid! Enough!”
“Father, I miss my mom. Father, have you decided yet?”
Wyatt was tempted to pick up the alarm clock and throw it his daughter. He dared a glance at her. She was just as cold as her mother, though very pretty. She was adorable in fact, and the way she pouted was getting to Wyatt. He couldn’t help but smile while shaking his head.
“Kid, you’re too much. Go to sleep already? Please? I’ve already said it, I’m not going to-“
Before Wyatt could finish, the girl ran up and jumped into his arms. Good grief, he thought, feeling awkward under the pressure of the kids embracing hug. She was crying into his chest. Crying and doing a good job of getting further on Wyatt’s nerves. Finally, Wyatt just put his arms around her and gave her what she wanted. He could feel her relaxing in his arms, and he was glad. The kid was just a little too hyper for his tastes.
“Father, please save my mother. She didn’t think things through, and she’s the only mother I have. It’s that darned Blades. They pull you into the legacy and myth, and then grab you with their power. She’s just confused. Please help her.”
“Tell me about this Yuri, this Demon Steel, as you called him.”
May Ling relaxed and fell back into bed. As she lay back, her nightgown accidentally moved up, baring her genitals. Suddenly Wyatt was staring, and May Ling noticed it. The little girl blushed a deep red, having never been exposed in the company of man. Then she was suddenly horrified, repulsed. This was her father!
Before she could scream at him, Wyatt spoke.
“How did you get that scar above your….abdomen?”
May Ling suddenly relaxed. Of course her father wasn’t looking at her vagina. He was looking her scar, the one from her belly button down to start of her abdomen. Not thinking, she raised her gown higher, meaning to show him the entire scar. She was back to being a child, not even caring about the childish antics of being nude.
“How did you get it? And put your gown down. Plenty of dirty old men in the world.”
“Sorry father.” She blushed again. “ It’s a symbol. My mother says it represents the Chinese wound of fear, the tear of the whore. I was to be a whore for men.” May Ling was almost crying.
Fear? Wyatt began to wonder.
“Come here. Lift up her gown and come here.”
“Father! You just said-“ May Ling blushed again, still a child.
“Do as I say, and close your eyes. Bad enough I have to do this.”
May Ling slowly pulled her gown back up, revealing bare skin again. She was aware enough to lock her legs together. She crawled over to Wyatt, took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and lay down. Suddenly, there were fingers poking at her! Intruding fingers! Her father was a sick man after all!
“It’s not what you think, kid. Believe me.” Wyatt assured, seeing the worry on her face. He was testing, and he prayed he didn’t find what he was looking for. “I’m as uncomfortable doing this as you are feeling it.” Then a moment later, the fingers were gone.
May Ling shot up. She thrust her gown down and looked at Wyatt. He had a terrible look on his face, like he’d just seen a ghost.
“Father, what? What’s wrong? You told me to!”
“It’s not that. May, that’s not just a symbol on your stomach. They…they operated on you, my guess is when you were too young to remember.”
“What did they do? Father, what did they do to me?”
Wyatt took a deep breath. This was hard, but he wasn’t a man to beat around the bush.
“Your ovaries. They took out your ovaries. You’ll never be able to have kids, kid. I’m sorry. Your mother should have told you.”
May Ling was suddenly crying. How she wanted kids! Wyatt suddenly cared for the kid. How much could she go through? He grabbed her up and gave her a fatherly hug. “I’m sorry. May, listen to me. I need you to do two things for me, ok?”
May Ling looked up into her father’s eyes. She nodded. “Ok. What do you need me to do?”
“First, tell me everything you know about this Yuri. Even stuff you don’t think you believe, tell me.”
“Ok. What else.”
“A map. I want you to draw a map.”
Black Spot on Reality
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It was coming up on dawn when Wyatt Hayes stepped out in the Maco night. The Escort was waiting for him, the weapons of his labor residing in the trunk of the car. May Ling was fast asleep, and he’d been sure to leave a note. It was simple really:
Gone to get mom. If not back by night, call 678-8899 and ask for Jessica. She’ll come for you. Don’t leave the room for anything.
Dad….
So he was going to get the woman he’d unintentionally raped. Going to get the woman who had put him in this otherworldly situation. But that wasn’t it. These ‘Blades’, these bastards, had taken out his daughter’s ovaries; ruined any chance she might have for mothering her own family. And for what? To make an Asian whore? It didn’t jive with Wyatt. No, that certainly wasn’t ok. Not the least bit ok. He didn’t really know May Ling, couldn’t dare say he loved her like a daughter, but there was the principal. He knew what Dr. Calypso had done to him as a child. He could see May Ling in himself.
It didn’t take him long to get back into the industrial zone. The Escort pulled off the freeway, and suddenly Wyatt was in hell again. The sun seemed to battle with the darkness of the steel, and the sun was loosing. The old buildings were successfully blotting out the sun, keeping the down and dirty dumps dark with shadow. It was easy to get lost in the Zone. Easy as hell, and Wyatt hoped that the little girl’s map was sufficient. She’d detailed the front and back streets to the “Rail”, the lair of the Blades members. According to May Ling, sacrifice took place in the Garden. There would be two hundred people present. There was no way Wyatt could just stroll in there and grab the girl’s mother. It would take something a bit more cunning.
The map was correct, and Wyatt appreciated it. May had gone through a lot of trouble to make it as accurate as possible, even detailing two escape routes, both of which ran through sewers. Wyatt didn’t want to be down in the sewers under the zone. Being on the surface was bad enough. The building known as ‘Rails’ was just where the little girl had depicted. It was a hidden building, impossible to see from the dirty streets. A person couldn’t bloody well drive up to it. Wyatt had to stick to the alleys and abandoned factories, briskly strolling through the cold pockets of steel while he carried his lucky backpack.
Five minutes had passed before he’d finally seen the building. ‘Rails’ was the bastard offspring of a Chinese garden and a loading dock. It was beautiful, green and silver, and haunting. Sticking to the shadows of a nearby parking lot, Wyatt could see that there were easily two hundred men, and probably more that he couldn’t see.
He only cared about two. One woman and one man.
Demon Steel Yuri was going to die.
Wyatt saw a fire escape leading up into the old garage. It would suit his mission perfectly. Eyes silver with the glare of a killer, Wyatt Hayes crossed the lot and began his climb into darkness.
It was a brilliant ceremony. In the lush industrial garden, hundreds of Chinese men and women gathered. Great statues of iron surrounded them. There were soft birds; animals that Wyatt knew were foreign to the states. The fountains flowed with clear water. Between the people, guard dogs strolled. They seemed to be more attracted to chasing the birds than to guarding the clan. The Doberman’s looked particularly vicious though, and Wyatt was glad he hadn’t opted for a front door assault.
Calm, slow beats of music tapered out of the garden. Wyatt wondered if there was band somewhere down there. He found it hard to believe that ‘Blades’ would resort to using recordings. Everything else seemed so perfect. There were even children running through the park. They were having a good time and laughing it up. What a perfect hidden Utopia! A spot of beauty in an otherwise bleak place.
In his hands, the rifle was steady. He hadn’t needed Diazepam this time. His nerves were as the steel pillars: unmoving. His eye came to scope of the rifle. The garden was suddenly amplified. He could see prisoners down there. Six women and six men in handcuffs. Their jailers were speaking harshly into their faces. He scanned for May Ling’s mother and didn’t find her.
From the dark alcove across the dock from the garden, Wyatt laid in wait. He was silvery in his need for destruction, but maintained his nerve. It was all that saved the bastards down there from getting their heads blown off. His plan was simple. Shoot Yuri, cause a ruckus, then swoop down under cover and grab the woman. There was an open sewer pot on the ground floor of the building. Wyatt would be using the sewers after all. The bastards would be sure to follow, but without their leader, perhaps they would be in too much frenzy. May Ling had made it seem like the members of the clan were just mindless zombies, never being able to act without their Demon Steel leader.
“Show your face. I’ll show you demon steel.” Wyatt said, grinding his teeth.
The sounds coming from the garden changed. The slow music became droned out by cheerful jubilance. Wyatt guessed that somebody was cracking a joke. Fine. Let them have their fun. In a moment, it was retribution time. Wyatt moved his free hand up and touched a rotor on his weapon. It was a sound amplification module. The earphones he was wearing suddenly burst to life. Wyatt could hear what the people were saying, though too many of them were speak at once.
Suddenly, the crowd parted. The jubilation ceased. The children stopped playing. A man was walking along the grass. He was fairly tall, and he wore a gold silk robe that seemed to fly off of him like a snake fighting the wind. He wore the steel pedals on his feet, those metal sandals he was known for. According to May Ling, he could kick a hole through a man. She also said he was a ghost. That was how he kept his members in line. They believed he was the spirit of King Tsu, the leader of the original Blades, during the Ming Dynasty.
This tall man walked, and behind him, two bald warriors dragged something. Wyatt didn’t like the way the dogs sniffed at the object.
He focused on it.
“Shit, I’m too late!”
It was May’s mother. They dragged her body like so much worn carpet, leaving a trail of blood the dogs began to lap up. Her skin hung off of her in ragged chunks. Her neck was flayed like a torn leather jacket. Her scalp was bear. The bastards had skinned her alive. Skinned her and tortured her. Wyatt listened closely.
‘This whore has betrayed the clan. Her daughter, who was to take her place on her twelfth birthday, is missing. ‘Red Leaf’ admitted that she flung her daughter in the river. She would not let us have her only child. Her punishment was the hell of being skinned alive. As will be her daughters be, but not before I commit my dogs to have their way with her.”
“Smile asshole.” Wyatt said, and then pulled the trigger.
The top of Yuri’s head simply exploded. Brain and forehead flew with chunks of skull. The freak carcass stumbled in place, somehow balancing on two legs despite having a shattered brain. Wyatt was suddenly scared. Was this man really a ghost? How could he still be alive? Wyatt pulled the trigger again. The blow shattered the opposite side of the skull. Demon Steel Yuri was now a man with a jaw above his neck, and nothing more. Finally, the man fell into a pool of his blood. The Dogs were instantly on him.
“Guess he was just a man after all.” Wyatt said, and then began firing silenced rounds into the crowd. He didn’t care anymore. Each shot was calculated. He shot women, men, and even those laughing children. Twenty more went down before the rifle became too hot to handle. Now the crowd was in an uproar. Rather than waiting for the gun to cool, Wyatt simply threw it down and ran for the fire escape.
The men were coming to surround the building, but they were unorganized, and far too late. By the time they reached the alcove, finding Wyatt’s calling card, Hayes had been far into the sewer.
In the riot of the crowd, a man stepped up. He wielded a large scythe blade. He was Yuri’s son, simply known as ‘Death’.
Death found the tampered sewer cover, guessed that the killer had made his exit there, and threw the cover aside. Then he jumped down, determined to give chase.
Last Great Adventures
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Wyatt thanked god for the accurate map again as he turned the corner in the darkness. Sewage and rats ran side by side, and the smell was terrible. His adrenaline was pumping, his eyes working overtime to see in the dark. He didn’t want to use lights because he was sure somebody was following him. He guessed that it was one man, because every time Wyatt stopped, every time he stopped shifting in the water, he still heard the water rumble way in the back. It wasn’t a group effort. A single man was coming, and he was fast. The splashing of the water was getting closer.
Wyatt reached into his backpack and pulled his Colt Army Express. Six shells, rapid reload. Death…
He stood at the crossroads and waited for his pursuer.
As Wyatt waited, the sloshing got closer, then closer still. Then the bald man came surging out of the tunnel opening, scaring the rats and causing them to flee in every direction. He was sweating with perspiration, and he was wielding a fantastically large curved blade.
“And just who might you be?” Wyatt asked calmly, never taking his pistol of off the man.
“My father, the Iron King, called me death. You killed my father, so I have come to kill you.”
“You and what army?” Wyatt asked calmly.
Rather than answer verbally, the man swung the terrific blade. Wyatt jumped to his right as the blade crashed into the water. He came down hard on his shoulder, and then groaned as he righted himself to aim at the man. Death came at him again, slashing in a line, attempting to cut out Wyatt’s guts. Wyatt laid straight down in the water, ducking completely under the blade as his head was, for a second, immersed in filthy liquid.
Before the man could bring the weapon up for a third and final blow, the barrel of the Express emerged from the water and blew a hole in the man’s neck. Death immediately dropped the scythe and fell backward into the filth, clutching his neck.
Wyatt stood from the dirty water and turned to walk on. The rats were coming. As Wyatt turned to climb the filthy ladder topside, he looked back at the man called death; gave him one final glance.
He saw nothing.
The rats were making short work of the fallen Chinaman. He appeared to be wearing a living, breathing coat of thick weaving rat-tails. Wyatt gave one last sigh, then climbed to sunlight.
He made it back to the car all right.
He hit the road and made it back to the freeway too.
There was no opposition. They simply weren’t coming.
Wyatt Hayes put the Zone behind him both symbolically and literally.
He never liked the Maco skyline more than on that bright and sunny day.
A hug was waiting for him when he got back. Little darling eyes were on him. May Ling stated matter-of-factly that she knew he’d be coming back. She shed tears when she didn’t see her mother. It would be hard. Wyatt, though heavy with the scent of death and rats, hugged her tight. He didn’t love her, not yet, but time would see that he did. He thanked her for the map, told her to be strong, and then hugged her again.
They had time on their side. The black 91’ Escort pulled out on the roads for the last time, and neither of them looked back. Wyatt thought of all the men he’d killed, thought of Calypso, the Barrens, Reg. Thought of the horrors he’d seen, of the people he’d saved. He had a daughter now, and it was enough. The Escort pulled off into the future, appropriately ending the last great adventure of Wyatt Hayes.
The End.
Special Thanks goes to Raptor Food, for lending me his name (Wyatt Hayes).
The above is not meant to be an accurate depiction of Chinese life or even names. It is complete fiction.
Bye.
7/25/2002 10:58:48 PM
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