After the Winter (The Silent Earth, Book 1) Read Free Page B

rolling over the debris, its engine a menacing, throaty growl. He took his time as he savoured the kill. The broad slash of his teeth was the first distinguishable feature as he approached, his exaltation at having tracked me down evident even from a distance. He rumbled to a halt nearby, the snarl of the engine quietened suddenly like an obedient beast. Swinging his leg over the seat, he sauntered toward me triumphantly amid a wash of black exhaust fumes.
    “Well well ,” he leered, calling out over the noise of the drone.  “Now this really is a pretty sight. It’s been a long time I’ve been chasing you around the place, yeah?”
    He wore a black bandana on his head, a filthy scarf around his neck, and, like all Marauders, the synthetic skin on his cheeks had been carved in swirling patterns, revealing the glinting silver of his alloy cheekbones and jaw beneath. He wore no shirt, and through the grime I could see an intricate dragon tattoo etched across his chest and belly, its wings spread wide.
    “Screw you,” I spat.
    “Aww, now don’t be like that. It was a fair fight, and the best man won.” His mouth split apart again in a vicious smile, his teeth starkly white against his unwashed skin.
    I clutched at my wrist but tried not to let the pain mar my face. “So where are your friends?”
    He looked back to the west casually.  “They thought you’d headed north.  You fooled ‘em, I guess.  But you didn’t fool me, yeah?”  He laughed.  “Wraith is gonna be pissed . He really wanted you for himself.” He pulled a machete slowly from its scabbard, allowing it to rasp as he dragged it out, his eyes boring into me as he savoured the moment. “Better this way. I get to keep all of your juicy parts for myself. They’ll fetch a nice price.” He looked me over hungrily, like a piece of meat, then pointed the blade at a wire cage that was mounted on the back of the bike. “But I’m going to have to dice you up pretty good to fit you in there.” He laughed. “Hope that’s okay, yeah?”
    “Just get it over with.”
    “Oh, no.  I don’t just get it over with . You made me chase you a long time, yeah? Only fair that I return the favour.” He ran his finger along the edge of the machete. “I’m gonna take my time with you.”
    He came and stood looking up at me, and I kicked out at him, narrowly missing his face. He didn’t so much as flinch. He just stood there giggling to himself, shaking his head.
    “Is this about your girlfriend?” I yelled, making my voice clearly heard over the drone. “Because that bitch deserved to die.”
    The smile was gone in an instant, replaced by indignation and rage.  His lips pulled back against his teeth and he took an angry swipe at my legs.  I swung them upward, the machete scraping against the brickwork, and as I brought them back down I crunched my boot into his nose, hearing the rewarding smack as it collected him flush and sent him tumbling backward into the rubble.
    “You fuck! ” he screeched, picking himself up. “You should have left her alone!”
    “Well, she was trying to rip my head off my body,” I said.  “Not much I could do.  Oh, and by the way, she had to be the ugliest clank I ever laid eyes on. Face like the grille of a garbage truck!”
    He made a gurgling, wordless sound of rage in his throat, climbing to his feet with the blade raised. I readied myself for his charge, hoping that if I couldn’t somehow overpower him, that I’d at least goaded him into making a quick kill. He moved forward.
    Then he stopped, his face a mask of shock and surprise as a large hand appeared at his shoulder, then a second. He shouted in terror as they pulled him downward like massive anchors.
    Unheard by either of us, Max had crawled across the asphalt, his movements masked by the buzzing of the drone.
    “What the...?” The Marauder called out, and he swung the machete over his shoulder, where it embedded in Max’s upper arm. Unperturbed, the