overreacted. I’m sorry.” He flicked at his cigarette’s filter, and sighed. “And that’s the weirdest response I’ve ever seen from a man with a gun in his face.” He reached out his hand. “Will you accept my apology?”
The Mechanic looked at him for a moment, doubtfully, then slowly took his hand and shook it, “Alright. I can’t say I understand; but I’ll try not to take it the wrong way.”
Wentworth nodded and looked up into the late-morning sun, “So if you’re not planning to kill me, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”
Raxx stared at the ground, thinking for a second. “Let’s keep moving and I’ll tell you.” The two of them got back into the vehicle and Raxx turned over the engine. Once they were moving at a good clip he started speaking “Like I was saying, rumours about you have reached the people who run Blackstock, the Seniors and the Councilman. They’re nervous that trouble is going to follow you and show up on their doorstep. That sort of thing has happened before, I’ve heard. So they’ve enlisted me, since they know we’ve been talking, to try and get rid of you.
“What I’m supposed to do is get you to leave town as soon as your bike is fixed without pissing you off in the process,” he glanced over for a second. “You might be an asshole but you’re not the sort of monster that they’re scared of. I tried to talk to them, but,” he exhaled. “They wouldn’t listen. Man… that’s what I took you out to tell you. It pissed me off. They wanted me to lie to you. That’s why I wanted to drive.
“You say you’re sorry for pulling a gun on me? Well, I’m sorry to be saying this to you. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Wentworth looked out the window at the scenery passing by. He thought for a while before speaking. “I don’t blame them. You gotta take care of your own”
The old loneliness swept over him. He looked over at Raxx, “I enjoyed our conversations. Shame it had to end like this. I appreciate everything — especially getting my bike back in working order. Too bad we couldn’t have shared a few more pints. But it’s about time for me to be moving on, anyway.” He sighed, “Let’s turn back around so that you can get my bike fixed and I can get out of everybody’s hair. And you can tell the Town Seniors that I’ll be leaving quietly.”
“Sorry man.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Raxx jerked the truck around, gunning the ignition to lose traction in the back tires and drift through the U- turn. The sun had risen to its zenith during the ride, and there was nothing left to say between them. The friendship was a still birth.
Wentworth lit up another smoke. He was used to being the stranger in a city full of cold faces. The highway stretched on further for him than it did for Raxx. The faded lines ticked off the seconds of his life.
Where was he was going to go next? If he was still being followed — and if they’d heard of him in Blackstock then that was a definite possibility — then asking for directions to the nearest town would be a mistake. It would leave a trail for them to pick up on. Better to take Raxx’s comments about civilization ‘back west’ and head for the setting sun. Eventually he’d find it.
Or it would find him.
Raxx remained silent as they drove, staring at the road in front of them.
It was Wentworth who first noticed something on the horizon. “Say,” he said, “Is that smoke?”
“Where?”
“Two fingers left of the highway.”
Raxx leaned forward and peered out the window, “Yeah, I think it is — too much for the coal flue. Might just be a grass fire — they happen this time of year. Shouldn’t be anything to worry about though.”
They continued driving, but as they approached the smoke was getting thicker. A black column was rising and spreading out across the sky.
Wentworth took another drag on his cigarette. “That grassfire must be huge. Look at it all. Are you sure the city’s okay?”
“The city should be fine, but I’m not sure about the farm fields. They have burn lines to protect them, but that’s a lot of smoke. It could be bad.” He spoke with a measured indifference but the wrinkle on his brow betrayed an underlying anxiety.
As they neared they could make out multiple sources for the smoke, twisting up into one. “It’s a lot thicker than you’d expect for a grassfire…” said Raxx.
Wentworth nodded. He thought twice about flicking his current cigarette, and decided to crush it against his boot first. He moved to roll up his window when Raxx spoke.
“Wait a second.” He waited, not sure what the Mechanic wanted, “Do you smell that?”
He sniffed the air, and looked over at Raxx.
“What is that?” asked the Mechanic.
Wentworth looked forward again. He didn’t really want to answer.
“Meat.”
Raxx bent over the steering column and revved up the throttle. He stared intently at the road ahead as if it could tell him what lay over the next hill. His hand found its way down to his hip and squeezed the revolver secured there. Wentworth took his rifle from the back, and adjusted it so that the butt was just under his armpit, letting it lay across his lap at a forty-five degree angle. He readied it with a precise motion, pulling back firmly on the cocking handle and letting it slam forward. His thumb flicked nervously at the safety.
“Just for the record,” said Wentworth, “whatever this is — it isn’t my storm. They wouldn’t have done anything to the town.”
Raxx nodded, intent on driving.
The truck finally crested the hill, and the town lay stretched out before them. Raxx slowed the vehicle and stopping just past Landfalls, nosing onto the Main Street. They stepped out of the truck slowly, weapons in hand, held loosely.
They wouldn’t need them. The town was empty.
There had been no movement as they’d driven in, and the only sound was the crackling of fire. The thatch was lit up, igniting the tar roofs of the older buildings. It smelt obscene.
An undercurrent of plastics filled the air with a carbonated rancidity. But as they walked towards the wreckage it got worse; meat, body odour, feces, and gunpowder wove their tendrils across the earth, filling them with a light-headed euphoria which sapped the strength from their limbs.
Wentworth was the first to see a body. A trail of blood led from the street to one of the buildings, as if the victim had been dragged or had crawled to the illusion of safety. The victim — either a child or a small woman — had died curled up in the doorway. The building must have ignited afterwards, or maybe they just hadn’t noticed the fire in their haze of pain. The roof of the building had collapsed and from the chest up the body had been caught in the inferno; it was the source, or at least a source, of the sweet, burnt smell. The skin had charred black, and the arms had been thrown up above the head as the heat tightened the tendons. The lower half was unharmed. Wentworth could make out flower designs on the sandals she’d been wearing.
Raxx was seized by a violent nausea. His first heave flew horizontally across the street before he could grab a nearby cart for support and expel the rest onto the ground. Wentworth looked behind and caught a glimpse of Landfalls, unharmed. A sudden pang went through him.
“I thought I’d left this kind of shit behind.” The internal turmoil he’d been feeling for days stepped up a notch and he began to feel dizzy — confused emotions swirled around in his chest, and his face flushed.
Raxx regained his composure, and looked over at Wentworth. His face was pale, but his eyes were dancing with hurt and anger. “These were good people. This shouldn’t have happened. This was a quiet area…” his eyes dropped to the ground, darted to the feed store — Wentworth remembered that a guy named Bill owned it — then back to the ground again, and around to other buildings while he took a moment to steel himself. He looked back up at Wentworth, panting. “Goddamnit!” He yelled, pacing now.
Wentworth reached out a hand but didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth and closed it. Emotions swirled around. For a second he though he heard a gunshot, but it was just memory. Along with it came a flash of anger — then all the emotions began to fade.
“I’m going after whoever did this!” said Raxx, eyes ablaze, “Listen, I — I could use a guy with your skills with me. You know what you’re doing, you showed me that the other day when we were getting your bike, plus there’s your reputation…” He shook his head and looked down.
