Chapter 64 - Rebuilding the Team (2/2)

Were these two able to hide in the sky? Disappear into the ground? They slipped through their clutches every time!

Greenland Outpost was sealed off, and the surround forests were deadly to put it mildly. Beyond that the wastelands stretched far into the horizon. Escape would not be easy for this pair of troublemakers, and slipping out of the dungeon didn’t mean fleeing the outpost.

The three mutants ordered the gates closed and simultaneously dispatched scores of guards to canvas the area. Every house was searched, every ruin picked through, every stone overturned as they hunted for leads.

With every passing minute the search team was getting closer to where they hid.

Cloudhawk felt anxiety welling up within him. It was only a matter of time before they came to this basement. How were they going to escape?

Suddenly the door to the basement was pulled open. An outpost guard pushed his way in bearing a rifle.

Cloudhawk sprang to his feet like a leopard and threw up his fists, ready for a fight.

“It’s me.”

“Mantis? What are you doing dressed like that?”

“Shut up and change. We have to go.”

Mantis had brought two more disguises for them, also outpost guard attire. They included two sets of worn-out armor, veils and rifles. Once they changed clothes they were practically indistinguishable from real personnel.

Mantis led the other two from the basement. They swaggered through the outpost trying to blend in among the sweepers and guards that were searching for them. Hundreds of sweepers went from house to house searching for them while they pushed past headed the other direction.

Cloudhawk felt like his heart was going to burst through his chest.

Mantis, by contrast, walked around as though he’d done this a hundred times. Be it posture or attitude he was the spitting image of any outpost guard. The three demon lieutenants were leading their teams from the inside of the city to its far reaches, for they didn’t think their targets would be heading deeper into the outpost.

What they saw when they entered the Greenland Fort was nothing short of stunning.

It looked like the outpost was preparing for war. Everyone was affected, however they were used to the turmoil and seemed numb to it. The first floor of the fort was a market where they sold alcohol, tobacco, various materials and components, weapons, food, and medicine. You could find almost anything here, including whatever they might need to help the Queen.

But that’s not where they went – where in the world was Mantis taking them?

The small group picked their way through the fort until they reached the top level. The entire floor was rife with guards. It was obvious by the way they held themselves that these fighters were the elite, far superior to the rabble they encountered outside. If Cloudhawk didn’t know Mantis better, he might be afraid the assassin was getting ready to sell them out.

Mantis fed a pair of bodyguards a line about his identity and purpose. They seemed content with this information and led them through the hallways.

Eventually they stopped in front of an office.

Cloudhawk had never seen a room this large before in his life. It was even larger than the Queen’s former chambers and decorated with tidy furnishings. There was a lengthy couch where a middle-aged woman sat with her small son. On a nearby table there was a collection of four or five brightly colored fruits – a luxury among luxuries in the wasteland.

There were also two people dressed in doctor’s attire working busily.

Then as they looked on, a burly figure appeared amongst the small crowd. Cloudhawk and the Queen exchanged a frightened glance.

Cloudhawk gripped his staff tightly and grit his teeth. “Leonine? Fuckin’ you again!”

Leonine didn’t respond right away. He looked at the woman on the couch and spoke to her first. “Go and take a look.”

She knew how to act in delicate company and left the small gathering.

Once she’d gone the slaver returned his attention to Cloudhawk and the Bloodsoaked Queen. “Starting now, we’re a team. I’m here to help you do whatever needs to be done.”

Cloudhawk snorted like he’d heard a funny joke. “You? Help us? What a goddamn joke!”

“He is serious.” Hydra appeared from outside. “Leonine is under my command. He works for me. From now on he’ll be part of your group.”

Cloudhawk stared at Hydra incredulously.

Hydra went on unperturbed. “Listen, those bastard mutants are scouring the outpost looking for you. They’re ordering my people around as they please and fuckin’ up my territory – exploiting me and my resources like they own the goddamn place. I am the leader of this outpost, and I’m not going to put up with this bullshit. We may not have the same goals, but we have the same enemy. I need you, and you need me. Am I wrong?”

Cloudhawk was forced to agree. Without question, Leonine’s addition to their team added real combat power.

Hydra had taken charge of Leonine’s wife and children. They lived in the fort, but more like hostages than guests. Leonine wouldn’t dare betray Hydra, for it would mean putting his family in danger.

No one could have anticipated the twists and turns that brought them to this place. A new team had been assembled.

For days Cloudhawk had fled from one place to another with the Bloodsoaked Queen, and goddamn was he tired of it! Now he had Hydra’s help, along with Leonine and Mantis by his side. He finally felt like he could take a breath!

1. This is a standard method of pattern differentiation and diagnosis in Chinese medicine. There are six pulse locations that tell the practitioner the condition of a patient’s organs. . When checking pulse we make a determination based on; location (cun, guan, chi), strength (strong, normal, weak), depth (superficial, normal, deep), speed (fast, slow, normal), rhythm (regular, irregular, regularly irregular, irregularly irregular), length (long, short, stunted), and several miscellaneous manifestations like sluggishness, scattered sensation, etc. Someone who is on the cusp of death for a condition like the Queen’s would likely have a very weak or almost impalpable pulse that feels ‘empty’ like there’s no blood, deep, slow, and likely irregular as the heart fails. In the final moments before death the pulse will suddenly become superficial and rapid, which in TCM we call the last light of the setting sun – the body gives a final burst of energy and then gives in. Previous ChapterNext Chapte