Page 53 of The Pale Rider
“And don’t get grabby with my girl. She will totally kick your ass.”
“You’re no fun, Aeron.”
The sliding panel on the side of the garbage truck slid open. Aeron backed Meremoth up, and we took a running start. Meremoth jumped inside, then skidded across the metal floor. Amazingly, he landed on all four hooves and didn’t throw us when he landed on the ground on the other side.
“If the hot chick is important, do you want an escort to San Quintin?”
“The hot chick has a name and doesn’t like to be called the hot chick,” I snapped.
“Well, then be polite and introduce yourself if you don’t want me giving you a nickname.”
This guy right here.
“You can call me Speedy.”
“Speedy doesn’t sound like a scientist’s name.”
“You watch too many movies, Martinez. When has my word never been good enough for you? We need her. What does the road to San Quintin look like since I’ve been gone?”
“Burned. There was some crossfire with a patrol and one of the gangs. They wasted good tequila throwing Molotov cocktails and started a huge fire. It raged out of control for several days before the rains finally came.”
“So, my safe house is probably toast.”
“And there will be stretches where you won’t find a replacement place to crash either.”
“I’ve got a tent. Is there a suitable area to camp?”
“Find the most burned-out area you can. Humans don’t go there anymore because there is nothing to steal, and there’s not a lot of Rage Heads because there are not a lot of humans to eat.”
“Thanks, Martinez. We’ll be on our way.”
Was Aeron really going to ignore the fact that we got offered an escort? If people were burning shit down, I wouldn’t mind more than the two of us to stop them from killing us. As soon as we were out of earshot of the piggish guard, I called Aeron on it.
“Is there any reason you didn’t take him up on a guard for our journey?”
“Too many guns and egos.”
“Oh, there’s a raging ego, and it’s sitting behind me on this horse. How are you and your fucking ego going to stop an entire gang when they throw Molotov cocktails at our tent?”
“The same way I dealt with the gangs at the gate. You heard Martinez. They have no reason to go back to a burned-out neighborhood. We’ll find an area with good cover and pitch a tent for the night. I only have two sleeping bags, and you know how cold it gets at night. You can either freeze or stop being stubborn and let me keep you warm.”
“So, you’re back to being a dick to me?”
“I’m being logical. I won’t deny that I want to hold you again, but the fact remains that the temperature drops at night, and we can’t light a fire. It’s cold cans and the snacks Mabel gave us for the road.”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was there when you said you were bringing me back to my apartment?”
“Because I knew seeing her face would help you remember better than me just mentioning it.”
“I will be so mad if we manage to end this, and she’s gone when I get back.”
“Mabel will be waiting for you when you get back. I can guarantee you that.”
“She has to be in her nineties now. Can I help it if I want to spend every minute with her now?”
“You will. We are just taking a detour to save the world.”
We traveled through the street in silence. A few Rage Heads tried to bum rush us on the horse. I either got them with Smurfette or Aeron chopped their heads off with his sword. The Rage Heads here were a lot grosser than I’d seen in other states. These were burned to a crisp and stunk worse than the other.
