Lightless City - Ring of Fire

My breath echoed in my ears. My chest ached. I could hear growling and screeching tyres. I turned as Xenah jumped off the truck and landed next to me, doing a small commando roll.

"Castiel move!" She grunted. I turned and kept running. The sound of diesel engines echoed behind us like two hungry dragons. The wind was picking up in the city, carrying the sounds to us.

"Xenah, I can't, I have to stop!" I puffed

"No Castiel, we have to keep moving!" Xenah panicked

"My chest...it hurts!" I panted "My heart don't need this aggravation!". I could hear the engines getting closer. We had really pissed them off this time!

"Castiel, we have to move now!" Yelled Xenah, ripping me to my feet "Get up and go!". We both jumped suddenly as there was an explosion. "THEY'RE HERE!! RUN!!" Screamed Xenah. I bolted after her as another explosion rocked the buildings around us. A burning car smashed to the ground next to us as yellow and white lights washed over us. Diesel engines roared and guns fired before there was a bang and another explosion blew out our escape route. We stopped and turned as the two trucks beared down on us.

"Xenah, in here!" I yelled. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to an open doorway just as the Humvee slid to a stop out the front.

"FUCKIN' GO, GO, GO!!!" Yelled a voice as two people followed us into the building...

2 hours earlier...
Ring of fire - The armoured Humvee
Location: Memorial Hospital, somewhere in Lightless City
Time: Unknown

I walked along the corridor with Xenah. She held a spear, I held Gator's Colt Python. We had come to the local memorial hospital to scavenge some supplies for the Dr to help Gator. I stopped as Xenah peered into a room with a damaged door.

"OK, here" she said "Stay at the door and keep an eye out. I'll go and grab the supplies for the doctor"

"Roger that" I said as Xenah walked into the room. I stayed by the door, keeping an eye out for any mutants. Xenah went into the room, fumbling in the dark. I shone my torch into the room as Xenah gathered up some stuff we needed. I kept my eyes out, Xenah only took about 5 minutes to collect the stuff. She came walking out into the light of the hallway and looked at me.

"Got the stuff we need" she said. She grabbed a sheet off a nearby bed and wrapped everything in it before tying it off on the end of the IV pole. She slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her spear, using it as a walking stick.

"That was quick Xenah" I said "Are you sure you got all the stuff?"

"Yes Castiel" she said "When you don't have a firearm, you learn how to gather the stuff you need quickly so you can get out of danger. It's a skill we have to avoid mutants and confrontation"

"Oh I see" I said. I followed her down to the ground floor, keeping an eye out for mutants. I didn't really serve a purpose out here. Xenah was capable of doing everything but she brought me with her for backup. She carefully opened the sliding door to the street. I followed her, ducking under the large Emergency sign and went over to the hearse, parked a few metres away. Xenah opened the back door and threw everything in the back. I kept an eye out as she shut the door and looked around before reaching into her top. I watched as she pulled a cigarette and lighter out from between her breasts and lit it up.

"Smoke?" she asked

"I'm not a smoker" I said as she shrugged and placed her lighter between her breasts. I was surprised. I never took Xenah for the smoker type. She always seemed serious and down to Earth but not a smoker. She took a puff and blew smoke.

"I'm just gonna have this and then we leave" she said, taking another puff. I leaned against the hearse as Xenah blew smoke and flicked her ash beside the hearse. I looked at her and began taking notice of her war paint. It seemed to follow the contours of her body. An example is that the lines on her sides followed her curvy figure, where as, say, lines on her stomach were more circular, which was more prominent around her belly button and her breasts. The patterns were intriguing but I wonder if they served a purpose?

"Something caught your eye?" Xenah asked. I snapped out of my trance and looked at Xenah. She was peering at me, cigarette in hand.

"S-Sorry, I was just admiring your war paint" I said. Xenah looked down at her stomach and shrugged.

"Meh" she said casually. She dragged the last of her cigarette and threw it down, smothering it with her bare foot. She opened the door of the hearse and climbed in as I got into the passenger seat. I checked the car's clock as Xenah fired it up, we had only been out here an hour. I shut my door and shivered as Xenah sighed. How she wasn't freezing, I don't know. I mean, she was naked! All she had covering her was some fur around her waist and some fur around her chest. They left nothing to the imagination!

"Aren't you cold Xenah?" I asked suddenly. Dammit! I wasn't meant to do that!

"Nah" She said, not taking any sign of offence "I'm used to it. It's the heat I don't like". I said nothing. Xenah started the hearse, the old wagon coughing into life with a throaty rumble. Xenah started to drive until I saw yellow lights. My heart leapt into my throat. Yellow lights meant one thing and one thing only! Monster trains!

"Xe-Xenah, stop!" I whispered

"What?" She asked. The hearse groaned as it stopped, the last thing we needed.

"Look!" I whispered. The light were getting brighter, but the only thing was, the ground wasn't shaking.

"Is that light what I think it is?" she said

"I don't know?" I whispered. I sat there, spellbound, as the light kept coming until it shrunk down. Wait a minute?

"Wait, that's not-" Xenah said as a vehicle came around the corner. "Castiel!" she scolded

"What? I thought it was a train!" I defended myself. The vehicle crawled closer to us. It was a small vehicle with a wide body, like a Hummer or an 80 series Landcruiser. It growled as it crawled along, no doubt a custom engine was fitted to it.

"Hey Castiel, is it just me or are you getting that "pre-rape" feeling?" Xenah asked

"You've been raped before?" I asked in shock

"No! Oh good God no!!" she said "I mean, do you get that foreboding feeling that something isn't right?"

"No..." I said. Why was Xenah worried? The vehicle was closer now. It stopped in front of us and revved its engine. That's when it hit me! Why Xenah was so worried! "Uhm...?" I asked.

"FUCK THIS!" Xenah yelled and hit reverse. The hearse screamed as it shot backwards. The vehicle gave chase to us, it sounded like a lion roaring after us. Xenah sped backwards before the hearse stopped with a sickening crunch.

"What! What the hell did we hit!?" I asked

"I don't know?" Xenah said "The hearse won't budge!". The tyres screamed as the hearse did a burnout. White smoke rose up and the engine rumbled and growled. The other vehicle stopped in front of us, revving its engine again. Xenah turned as it flashed its lights three times and stopped the hearse.

"What are they doing?" she whispered. I didn't get to say a word before a truck horn blared three times and a white light washed over us. Aw hell! A loud engine fired up, sounding like a father dragon defending his family.

"XENAH! GO!" I screamed. She shifted to drive and sped off, the two trucks giving pursuit. Xenah sped through the remains of the city at top speed, the old hearse bucking and weaving over the uneven road surfaces. I could hear the trucks behind us, giving chase. There were no gunshots yet, I noticed, but I wasn't about to contemplate it. I cracked my head on the roof as the hearse jumped over a collapsed subway tunnel and hit the ground with a screech.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Xenah panicked. The two trucks were still there, like hellhounds on our tail. Only one thing crossed my mind though, Xenah had to let up. If we crashed at this speed, we'd be killed.

"Xenah, slow down a bit!" I said, cracking my head on the roof as the hearse left the road again.

"What?! Castiel are you fucking stupid!? If we slow down they'll catch us and kill us!" She said

"And they'll also kill us if we crash because of you driving like a mad man!" I pointed out. My head was suddenly jerked back and crashed into the armoured window as Xenah tried to weave between trucks.

"Castiel shut u-OH SHIT!" Xenah screamed. She slammed the brakes, locking the wheels up. I gripped the dashboard and watched as a drop approached. In those few seconds, I realised Xenah had sped onto a damaged bridge and we were heading for the edge. The hearse screamed as it approached, my eyes closed. We were gonna die! The front of the hearse dropped with a bang, stopping it dead. I opened my eyes and saw the windscreen faced a pit of lava. Before I could scream, Xenah flew into reverse and slammed her foot down. The hearse screeched as its tyres gripped but nothing happened. If anything, it slid forward even more. Any second we were going over.

"Xenah! Stop, you're making it worse!" I panicked

"How!" She yelled. She stopped as the hearse groaned loudly and leaned forward. It was going over!

"GET OUT!" I screamed. I opened my door and dived out just as the hearse went over the edge with a groan, hitting the lava with a sickening thunk. I felt sick, had Xenah gone over with it? I lifted my head and found her, sprawled on the edge, arms and legs spread out for stability. I climbed to my feet and ran over to Xenah as she rolled onto her back.

"Ow" she said, staring up at me

"Get up!" I said, pulling her up "We gotta get off this bridge now!". I pulled Xenah to her feet and turned just as a set of lights flashed at us. Shit! The trucks! I forgot!

"Castiel, what do we do!?" she asked "We're trapped and our car is gone!"

"I-I don't know!" I said. Engine's revved again. We were cornered!

"Oh God, we're gonna die!" Xenah said in fear. I looked around for an escape plan. Peeking over the edge, I spotted a ray of hope. The hearse was still above the lava! If we could get to it, we'd be able to use the debris to get to land.

"Xenah!" I said "I have an idea!"

"W-What?" she asked. I pointed to the hearse.

"It's still above the lava" I said "If we can land on it, we can use the chunks of debris to get to dry land and escape!"

"Castiel, you're crazy. If we miss, we burn alive!" she said

"Got no choice" I said as I looked behind me "On 3. 1...2...3!". I jumped off the bridge. My stomach dropped as I sailed through the air and hit the hearse hard. It shifted violently to the left as I hit the roof. I grabbed the rack to stabilise myself before Xenah hit the hearse. It groaned loudly before bubbling as the front end began sinking. Xenah was already gone, leaping across the debris like a frog. I hurried to catch her as footsteps echoed above us, running to our jump spot. I followed Xenah's path as she hit the dirt and fell to her knees, crawling to the bridge's pylon. I hit the dirt and stopped to catch my breath.

"Xenah, we gotta get moving before they catch us" I panted

"Castiel, gimme a second" she panted

"We haven't got a second Xenah, we have to go now!" I said. I grabbed her shoulder and pushed her up the side of the bridge to the road. I stopped and peeked around the edge to find the two trucks. The smaller one was closer to me and from what I could see, it was some sort of armoured Humvee. I could see Angel and Mala standing with two other women. One was chubby, the other was short. I snuck out from behind the bridge and motioned for Xenah to remain quiet. I tip-toed towards a bus before Mala turned, her piercing black eyes locking straight onto us. She grabbed a small handgun and fired two shots, hitting the ground at my feet.

"Castiel! Run!" Xenah screamed. I turned and bolted after her. For someone who was barefoot and nearly naked, she could really move! I could hear engines firing up before tyres screamed. They were after us!

"Oh shit!" I gasped. I kept running, following Xenah. She leapt onto a pick up truck and vaulted onto a truck. She slipped and fell as I landed on the truck next to her. Before I had a chance, she was on her feet again. My breath echoed in my ears. My chest ached. I could hear growling and screeching tyres. I turned as Xenah jumped off the truck and landed next to me, doing a small commando roll.

"Castiel move!" She grunted. I turned and kept running. The sound of diesel engines echoed behind us like two hungry dragons. The wind was picking up in the city, carrying the sounds to us.

"Xenah, I can't, I have to stop!" I puffed

"No Castiel, we have to keep moving!" Xenah panicked

"My chest...it hurts!" I panted "My heart don't need this aggravation!". I could hear the engines getting closer. We had really pissed them off this time!

"Castiel, we have to move now!" Yelled Xenah, ripping me to my feet "Get up and go!". We both jumped suddenly as there was an explosion. "THEY'RE HERE!! RUN!!" Screamed Xenah. I bolted after her as another explosion rocked the buildings around us. A burning car smashed to the ground next to us as yellow and white lights washed over us. Diesel engines roared and guns fired before there was a bang and another explosion blew out our escape route. We stopped and turned as the two trucks beared down on us.

"Xenah, in here!" I yelled. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to an open doorway just as the Humvee slid to a stop out the front.

"FUCKIN' GO, GO, GO!!!" Yelled a voice as two people followed us into the building. I pushed Xenah through a door into an alleyway, filled with collapsing buildings. Two sets of footsteps ran after us before a truck slid to a stop in front of us. Xenah jumped over the front bumped and kept running, I did a commando roll under the truck and got back to my feet, running after Xenah.

"Xenah, here, through this alley!" I panted. I grabbed her and pushed her down a dark alleyway as the truck swung around to pursue us. I found an open door and threw Xenah into it, before slamming it shut, just as a bright white light washed over it. I couldn't hear anything but the truck outside until footsteps came walking down the alleyway.

"Shit! They're coming!" Xenah whispered. I grabbed a nearby pipe and lodged it into the doorhandle, sealing it shut. I motioned for Xenah to stay quiet as the footsteps walked past the door, slowly and deliberately.

"There's nothing here" said a voice. A female voice.

"Venus, I swear!" said Drako's voice "I saw them run down here!"

"Drako, this alleyway is a dead end" said a voice which I assumed was Venus "They couldn't have gone down here and just vanished!"

"What about that door?" Drako said. There was silence as another engine rumbled, probably the Humvee. I sat there with Xenah as the door suddenly rattled violently and stopped.

"Nope, the door is jammed shut" said Venus

"Dammit!" Drako's voice growled "That Castiel bitch got away again!"

"Alright, roll out, we'll see if we can find Castiel and her naked little friend" said Axel's voice as doors slammed. Engines rumbled before they left, getting quieter until there was silence.

"Holy shit!" whispered Xenah

"You OK?" I asked "That was some crazy shit!"

"I'm fine, just miffed that the hearse is gone. I need a cigarette" she said. She reached into her top before a look of horror came over her face. "Oh my God, my cigarettes aren't in my top!" She gasped.

"We'll worry about that later" I said as I pulled the pipe out and kicked the door open. I was greeted by an empty alleyway, posing no immediate threats. Xenah came after me, following me to the street.

"Well, at least we're near the interchange" Xenah said. I looked at the ground and found a large 50 Cal. bullet. I picked it up and studied it.

"Look at this" I said. Xenah turned as I showed it to her. "I studied war books before the Holocaust and I can tell you this is an armour peircing 50 Cal. bullet"

"They're getting frustrated" Xenah said "What did you do to piss them off so much?"

"We uh...threatened them with guns and attacked them and...they...kinda want revenge" I said. Xenah rubbed her head and stared at the sky.

"Well shit" she said "Look, let's get back to the interchange and let Dragan know they're in the area" she said. I nodded and followed her down the street to a subway station. I followed Xenah into the darkness, illuminated by spot fires. We went down to the platform and found a subway train sitting there. "Oh sweet! Thank you Aria!" She said.

"Sorry?" I asked

"One of our scavenger trains" Xenah said "We leave them as is to disguise them from other survivors. Thanks to Aria, we have a way to safely get back to the interchange"

"Are you sure you found the right one?" I asked as Xenah stepped aboard and went into the driver's cabin. I sat down as the motor fired up.

"Yep, I found one of them" Xenah said as the train jolted with a groan and began to clack along the tracks. The powerful lights illuminated the tunnel ahead, full of debris and twisted tracks. Puddles of lava lined the tracks as the car crawled through the tunnel until it came to a blocked up wall with a large door. Xenah stopped and blared the horn before the gate opened, revealing the tribe within. The car slowly crawled into the interchange and stopped as the gate shut with a bang. Kids and adults looked at us as Xenah opened the front door and dropped to the tracks. I followed her and landed on a rail, stumbling a bit.

"Xe-Xenah, wha? How? Why?" Dragan stuttered as he came over, a shocked look on his face "Wha-what happened? Where's the hearse?"

"Those bastards!!" she said, pointing to the roof of the interchange "That fucking Drako!!"

"What happened?" asked another man "You're all scratched up?"

"We got ambushed" I said, taking my place beside Xenah "We got ambushed by Drako"

"And he has help!" Xenah said "Someone with a Humvee. They cornered us on a damaged bridge!"

"Where's the hearse?" Asked Dragan "Did you get the stuff?"

"We did, but it's in the hearse" I said

"Which is now sitting at the bottom of a pool of lava" said Xenah "We dived out with only a split second to spare, the hearse was lost"

"Then we tried sneaking past them but Mala saw us and they gave chase" I said "We got away but they're still in the area!"

"Dusty!" Dragan said, turning to the other man "Get up into that engine and lock this place down now! We need to keep those assholes away!!"

"On it!" he said, climbing up onto a nearby diesel locomotive. An alarm bleeped as the lights flashed before armoured gates dropped down, sealing the exits. The alarmed stopped and the lights returned, except a red strobe light flashed around the interchange.

"C'mon, Xenah, we need to get you patched up" said Dragan, taking Xenah's arm "And you Castiel, your husband is awake, but he's very weak". My heart filled with light. Gator was fine! It was like a giant weight lifted off my shoulders!

"C-Can I see him?" I asked

"He actually asked for you" Said Dragan. I practically bolted to the room they kept him in. I passed a few other people and opened the door to find Gator with the doctor and Sharlotte. The doctor had his head down, rooting around inside Gator's hip. Gator was still pale and weak, but he was awake. He used all his strength to look at me, his blue eyes sparkling.

"Aye, Cas!" He coughed. I didn't say anything, I just ran over and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Oh my god! You're OK!" I said as he smiled

"I told ya, I'm Australian. Aussies are tough as nails" he coughed as the doctordug deeper into his hip "Dah, Christ that's painful!" he wheezed.

"Forgive me sir, but I haven't got any numbing agents" the doctor said. He used a pair of pliers to part his skin and dropped his knife. "Ha ha! I found it! It's still in one piece!"

"What?" I asked as the doctor grabbed a pair of tweezers. Gator grunted in pain as he fished around and pulled out a large bullet.

"Oh my God!" said Xenah. I turned around as she came up to the bed, staring at the bullet in shock. "That was lodged in your hip?" She asked.

"He's lucky no more damage was done, otherwise I'd be sitting here with a dead body" the doctor said, placing the bullet in hot water. He turned to Xenah, eyeing up her scratches. "What happened to you? Did you get me what I needed?"

"Uh no" Xenah said "Drako..."

"He attacked them" Dragan said "He's got help! An armoured humvee. And as for the hearse..."

"We had the stuff, but it's in the hearse which is kinda melting in lava" Xenah said. The doctor slammed his hand down on the table, spilling the water bowl.

"I have just about had enough of those people!!!" he yelled "Everytime someone goes out there, they come back injured or don't come back at all!!!"

"I know Doc, but there was nothing we could do!" Xenah said. The doctor got up and left the room, slamming the door. Dragan went to go after him before Xenah stopped him.

"Hey, hey, he's fine, just let him walk it off" she whispered. Dragan looked at Xenah and stroked her face.

"Well, you sure you're OK?" he whispered "I still need to patch you up and repair your paint"

"It's fine, I just got a few scratches, nothing I haven't had before" she whispered. Dragan pulled her hair out of her eyes and gently kissed her lips. She kissed him again and put her hands around his shoulders.

"Let's go and discuss this back at our private quarters" he whispered as Xenah purred excitedly

"You read my mind Draggie" she whispered, leading him out the door by his hand. I turned to Gator and kissed him again as he placed a small patch over his wound.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" I whispered as he pulled my damaged bangs out of my face. He winced as he rolled over to face me.

"Yeah me too" he said "Once I'm well enough, I'm goin' after Drako and his fuckin' truck!"

"Uh yeah...uhm about that" I said "He...kinda has backup in the form of a Humvee..."

"That dun matter" he whispered, a glint of murder in his eyes "Because shootin' me, that lot have just signed, in ink, their deathwish"

"What are you saying?" I whispered as he came close to me

"They messed with the wrong fuckin' Aussie!" He growled "I'm gonna get them, and I'm gonna butcher every last one of them fuckers!"