Bad Boys Pt2

Vas was accustomed to the harsh heat the sun pounded out to the bare planet and with no ATV it was taking some time to navigate the street to get to the Gold Strike. Unfortunately, Vas had struck out since the Doc had just left but some of the ladies kindly pointed him in the direction the Doc went. Off the punk trotted hoping maybe this trip was a waste and Doc was already back at the ship? Right? Seriously how much trouble could one card shark, womanizing dentist get into?

Vas had to skid to a halt as he saw the Doc, his Doc, being accosted. He didn’t know they were cops so all he saw was a pair of jackasses that hadmistaken the Doc as fair game.

Well.

Shit.

Vas huffed and stalked his pace starting to quicken he was bull about to bust this china shop up. Time to even the odds. “Hey you Bun tyen shung duh ee dway ro (Stupid Inbred Stack of Meat )!? The fuck you think you doing?!” He all but snarled as he approached. Riley was going to be SO ticked! Come hell or high water though he was not going back empty-handed!

“Back off -- this isn’t your business”Jon warned, extending his billy club at the charging man.

The world was wrong. The sky was black. A bizarre sort of pattern zigzagged its’ way from one horizon to the other. Yet, though he regarded this sky, he couldn’t make sense of the chunks of dirt...stranger still, the constant upward dripping of his own blood. It pooled in the sky until enough forced the blood to run in rivulets among the zigzags.

A familiar voice...he knew it from recent days...young fellow...wait…”Mister Vas?” he asked sluggishly before the world crashed into focus. Dorian lifted his head from where it had hung off the back seat of the police vehicle. He forgot the blood on the black floorboard as he was greeted with the site of Vas attempting to rush the two cops. “No...no…” he whispered. It hurt to move...but move he must. The police cruiser was unlocked.

“The hell is aint!” Vas postured his anger building. “You gone and beat down on the Doc and I been set to fetch ‘em and here I find you standing between me ‘n him.” The punk stepped closer bristling, the tip of Jon’s baton butting against Vas’s chest, daring the man to strike.

“Hey Doc.” Vas answered coolly.

“You the one to lay ‘em up?” Vas asked Jon, blue eyes narrowing as he cocked his head.

“I said, this ain’t your concern, less you wanna join ‘em.”

The sudden sharp report of the police pump action shotgun caused everyone to flinch. Both officers spun to see their prisoner, leaning on unsteady feet against their cruiser. He pumped another round into the chamber as he trained the weapon upon the woman. “Unh unh unh,” he managed a weak grin as she made a try for her gun. “Next one turns yah head inta a chili bowl. Put it down.”

Vas wasn’t going to waste a chance like this. Idiot turned away so the way Vas figured he had it coming. In all fairness, the punk chose not to draw he machete for a number of reasons one being it would make a mess! That being said the hawked thug surged forward striking the man in the throat, quickly following with a rapid series on punches to the torso.

This left the man, Jon, retching and gasping as he stumbled back, eyes wide in shock and fear. He swung his baton wildly in desperation to drive the attacker back.

Vas ducked under the swing while taking a step in to trap the arm as Jon tried to swing again, Vas twisted the poor man's arm into a lock. The thug leaned into the locked arm putting his weight into it, there was a sickening crackling sound as Vas jerked the man bending the arm in a way it never was meant to.

Jon could only wheeze, whimper and gasp his face contorted in pain and the blood draining from his face as he fell to his knees.

Vas drew his machete while still having a firm grasp on the poor corrupt soul. He looked to the Doc. Doc DID get the beat down after all, so it seemed only right if the Doc got to choose what kind of justice he wanted.

The woman cop...Lara...was now spread-eagled on the ground. Dorian stuffed her sidearm into a pocket at the shotgun’s muzzle lay upon the back of her neck. She was still, her flesh pale, watching in mute terror for her own fate as Vas proved the harbinger of her partner’s.

Injured as he was, Dorian could still admire the almost fluid grace Vas brought to the violence he wrought. Try as he might, it was something he’d never been able to gain proficiency in, thus fostering a further dependence upon his skill with a gun. When Vas raised his eyes, the message was conveyed instantly...of codes and honor that were handed from one warrior culture to the next. Respect and friendship...even in this most brutal moment...a gesture so pure in its’ intent that Dorian could not help but be touched by the earnest valor. He pressed the shotgun barrel into the women’s neck to regain her attention. “Remembah when Ah said Ah’d kill yah both?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Change of plans. Mister Vas?”

Vas didn’t miss a beat after being given the go-ahead and snatched at the man's hair and in a smooth motion slid the newly sharpened machete across the dirty cop's neck, smooth and butter.

Worse part, Vas didn’t feel a thing, not a single drop or remorse. The man had hurt his and his own. So he hurt him back, Doc hurt him back. So that couldn’t have been a bad thing? It wasn’t a betrayal of what he was trying to run away from?

No.

Can’t run if you’re dead. Can’t be friends if someone kills them.

No.

He was defending them. It was just a constellation that he got to put the jackass in the ground. Vas let the man drop to bleed out on the ground twitching. Vas wiped his blade on the man's shirt. “What about her?” He asked glancing at the women Dorian had at gunpoint.

“That’s a fair question,” Dorian replied. He could feel his strength ebbing. Whatever they did next, he understood that he had to get to the ship. He nudged the woman again. “Well, darlin’? Care tah offer an opinion in tha matter?”

“Don’t kill me. Look Jon…” Her eyes teared up “I’m not him -- He went too far. I’m not like him. Just go and I’ll make up something that happened to him.” even more disconcerting was the fact that Jon’s cold, dead eyes stared up at her from the head separated from its body. “Please. I have a son at home and he depends on me.”

Dorian snorted. “Got folk dependin’ upon me as well...but that didn’t enter yah mind when yah were standin’ there just bein’ “not him.” ” He steadied himself. “Mr. Vas,” kindly put our decapitated friend there inta tha police cruiser. But please turn out his pockets. He’s carryin’ mah property.” As the young warrior set about his task, Dorian spoke again. “What’s yah name, mei mei?”

“Walker. Lara Walker.” Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. “Jon was on the force longer than me.”

“Well, Lara Walker,” he replied, “yah just gained seniority. Get on yah feet.” He stepped back, wobbling a bit as the cop took to her feet. “Mister Vas,” he said slowly, “This is Officer Lara Walker. She’s gonna give us a police escort back tah the boat. If you’ll kindly take tha mule, tha officer and Ah shall follow in her cruiser.”

Vas tried not to let his eyes roll out of his head. Whatever this woman was selling, this thug wasn’t buying. Regardless he focused on the task at hand and on recovering Dorian’s personal effects, as well as the dead man personal effect.

What? Not like the guy could use it anymore.

He moved the body and all the loose bits into the trunk. He hoped this didn’t count on stuffing someone into a box otherwise it would just be another thing for the Lieutenant to have an aneurysm over. First the Fed, then the mechanic, now a nearly headless Jon.

Vas nodded at the request. “As you say Doc.” He smiled as he sauntered to the ATV, sliding the cleaned machete back in its place.

“Yah might want this,” Dorian offered the shotgun to Vas, “just in case.” He beckoned the woman to enter the cruiser through the passenger door. Now with his pistols returned, Dorian kept one on her as he took his seat. “Pull out nice an’ easy. Just follow mah friend. If it looks like he’s drawin’ Federal interest, flash yah lights an’ wave ‘em off. Yah boy,” he said. ‘What’s his name?”

“John. Not -- It was just a coincidence. He was named after my husband, not Bates.”

Dorian’s eye traversed the street. Vas was riding ahead, with the police cruiser following smoothly behind. Though Fed soldiers would occasionally stop to gawk at the odd little caravan, none seemed motivated to react thus far. “Well,” Dorian responded, “This is gonna be simple. Just do as we say, an’ you’ll be readin’ little Johnny a bedtime story tahnight,” he smiled. “Once he’s driven aboard, you an’ Ah will find a place tah stash tha cruiser. Then,” he concluded, “yah’ll come aboard an’ help us. Once we’re clear, we’ll set yah down and this whole day becomes a memory.”

“Did you really do it?” She asked, turning the wheel slightly with the divots in the unpaved road. She looked up at Dorian in the rearview mirror. “Kill all those people it said in the book?”

He shrugged, despite the fact that everything was beginning to hurt. “Tha count is mostly correct,” Adler nodded, “but tha stories were fluffed up to excite young boys who haven’t discovered girls yet.” Ahead lay Lunar Veil. They’d made it back. “Just pull on past tha cargo ramp,” Dorian instructed as Vas turned the mule smartly. “Up ahead,” he said, pointing toward the greying boards of the old barn. “Pull in there.” Not wanting to end up like Jon, the female officer complied, though her hands were shaking as she did. The old barn was deserted, she was alone with two killers. She was fairly certain the next few minutes would be her last.

Dorian nodded his approval as she ducked the police vehicle into the deepening shadows at the barn’s rear. “Perfect,” he said. “Now, let’s go meet tha crew.” He waited for her to climb out. Once clear of the cruiser, Dorian placed his left arm around her waist. His pistol, concealed beneath the duster coat, nudged gently against her ribs. “Yah partner put me in a bad way,” he said as they stepped into the open terrain. “Ah’d appreciate yah help walkin’ tah tha ship.” For a moment, he felt like Dimitri...another kidnapper forcing a uniformed victim aboard the Lunar Veil. As the couple made their way toward the boat, Dorian managed a smile at the thought.