45 Hones (2/2)

'Feces?' the thought crosses Ika's mind, but he doesn't want to imagine what possessed the other man to bathe in waste.

”Here you---” Ika says, about to toss the keys to the Savage.

The Savage leader grins and backs away from Ika.

”Pull it up there.” Raco points farther up the dirt road, the other side of the hill. ”You'll regret this if you leave without an introduction.”

After speaking, Raco walks away. Ika grinds his teeth and debates dropping the keys in the dirt and leaving. Ika watches the man jogging away from him. Raco limps up the hill and disappears on the other side. The four unknowns retreat to the other side as well.

”...”

Turner and Nard are waiting beside the truck when Ika opens the passenger door. They all get in and he tosses the keys to Turner.

”Pull it up there,” Ika mutters before he checks his weapon and pats the sides of his legs.

'Check. Check. Check,' he thinks after patting the last pocket on his leg.

Turner pulls the car up the road and leaves the keys in the ignition. When they get out, they are on the other side of the hill and can see several figures standing together facing away from them. Ika sighs and walks over to the group. Turner and Nard stick close with their weapons drawn.

The area around the pit has been tread over, by feet and vehicles, so many times grass ceases to grow there. It's all rocks and dirt.

Muffled screams and moaning can be heard when they get a few feet from the small crowd. There are seven hooded figures and three Savages standing over a pit. Ika keeps his distance from them and stands across from them at the other end of the pit. The three mercenaries look down into the pit. Ika pales. Nardo and Turner freeze, their weapons waver and point toward the ground.

The pit is a deeply dug hole that connects to a tunnel. The tunnel is dark and wide enough to admit a 16 wheeler truck with room to spare. They can't see how far it actually goes.

”Interesting isn't it? They have tunnels like those that go on for miles...right across this field even!” Raco informs them.

Silence.

”So, what is this?” Ika asks loud enough to be heard from across the pit.

All of the hooded figures look over to Ika. They seem as nonchalant as Ika's facade. They keep their hoods up, and their heads tilted, so their faces are concealed in shadows. Some of them are wearing dark shorts and some are wearing torn pants. Their skin complexions vary from pale to dark brown.

One of the hooded figures answers, ”A transaction.”

It's the voice of a calm woman.

Ika tilts his head back and looks to Nard in his peripheral. Nard's hands tremble. Gradually, his pistol is raising to aim for one of the figures.

”These nice fellows have decided to exchange some snacks that their Master hasn't dined to consume yet. Useful workers indebted to their saviors....,” Raco snorts. ”Or back to the fridge.”

Raco looks across to Ika and widely grins.

'He knows...of course, he knows.' Ika thinks before grabbing Nard's elbow.

”Those people are already dead, you hear me?” Ika whispers to him before glancing at Turner.

Turner's eyes are wide in horror. He is frowning down at the pit and the people below...at the two men below. Ika releases his grip on Nard's arm to examine the pit once more.

Ralph and one of the men in his crew are gagged and bound. Their legs are tied up and connected to the person beside them. Their hands are tied and forced to clasp at their chests. The mercenary scout, Ralph, looks severely beaten. Half his face is swollen and the side of his skull looks deformed. Even with the damage and grit, Ika can recognize the Asian features on the other side of his face and the decorative patches on his leather jacket. One of the patches is a symbol all mercenaries would recognize, a black star.

All of the people are covered in mud and waste. Ika's eyebrow twitches as he goes over the situation.

”You wanted to meet us,” Ika says. ”We've met. Anything else?”

A different hooded figure speaks, ”The future will be quite different from what it is now. From what it was. The culling has not been completed.”

Their voice sounds male.

Raco nods, ”Our new beginning...They agree is a great start to clearing the weak, so the mighty don't suffer under their parasitic hold.”

”If we get rid of the weak, who do we profit from? The mighty don't have a habit of sharing well.” Ika responds.

Raco laughs. Nils and Slim retreat from the crowd and begin walking toward the green truck.

The hooded figure stares over at Raco, he coughs and quiets down. Ika squints at the pair.

”I hope this isn't a start to a lecture...We have places to be.” Ika says before motioning to the sky with his weapon.

Raco takes a few steps back behind the hooded figures. The hooded figure waves down to the bound people below.

”Your man has informed us of the deal you have with the surrounding areas.”

'My man?' Ika thinks.

”Oh, really? What of it?” Ika asks.

”Pick any that you want. There are more to come. We even catch valuable insects that your man said you process for their most useful parts.” The hooded man says.

Ika scowls at Raco, but the man is hidden behind the other figures. When Ika opens his mouth to reply, the screams below get wilder. Turner and Nard step closer to the pit and raise their guns.

A gigantic wolf spider crawls out of the tunnel and grabs the legs of the nearest human. While it consumes the person, the ropes that are eaten pull on those connected to the other end of the rope.

”Aaaaaaah!!” One of the women screams with her gag moved to her chin. ”Help me! Please...Help me!!”

”You should hurry. The best ones might get gobbled up first.” the hooded male says before pulling out a whistle.

The figures beside him observe the wolf spider tugging another person toward its mouth.

”Do it.” Ika mutters as he pulls up his rifle and takes aim.

Swiftly, Turner reaches into the back of his pants and grasps his flare gun. It fires it into the sky.

Raco drops down to his belly.

Nard shoots at the wolf spider. The hooded figures jump at the gunfire. Three of them rush toward the mercenaries. Ika shoots down all three of the hooded attackers.

Gunfire sounds in the field northeast of their position. The whole situation becomes unmanageable from there.