Technomancer 29: Blood & Prayers

Guns, blood, guts, gore, death, faith, rape mentioned but not shown

"Are you there, God? It's me..." Masa whispered, her voice wavering beneath the weight of her nervous breaths. Her handgun rested on the top of her bag. The sound of gunfire echoed in the distance at the far side of the settlement, followed by the screams of women, men and children. Using the weapon meant the possibility of saving them. It could also harm her child. Another scream, and she reached for it with her shaking hand, heart pounding at the risk she was taking. "I know I've never spoken to you before, but please, this time, can you protect my child?" She took it, threw her bag over her shoulder and rushed for the door.

Her mother grasped her arm. "What are you doing? You can't do that in your condition. We should be hiding or trying to escape."

Masa removed her mother's hand from her arm. The words of Leron 2.0 were fresh in her mind from the phone call. Even the AI understood that family was important. "No. This time I will protect my family." She pushed her way outside and crouched, moving along the building where she and her mother were staying, keeping to the shadows. Smoke filled the air from one of the nearby structures. The crunch of gravel beneath her feet caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Her hand tightened on the grip of the weapon, pointing it at the ready.

Where would Felipe have gathered the men? It didn't help that she didn't know the layout of the settlement. If only she spent more time here, but she was busy trying to travel north to find Leron. What is the strategic point of defence? As far as she could tell, there were none. The settlement was nothing more than a scattering of structures surrounded by open fields. Frustrated, she gripped the handgun and swore. Felipe should have known better. Her heart pounded while she tried to make sense of the surrounding chaos. Loretta was closest.

The gravel crunched behind her, and she turned, pointing her gun at the approaching threat.

It was her mother, a handgun in her hands.

Masa relaxed, dropping the point. "Don't do that," she hissed.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you," her mother responded.

"Do you know how to use that?"

"Of course."

Masa nodded. "Follow me." She made her way along the metal and wood buildings towards Loretta's home, keeping to the shadows. Her muscles remembered the stances, but her body refused to comply, moving more slowly with the added weight of her child. Each time she moved around a corner, she was aware that her belly was the first thing to poke out.

At the front of Loretta's shack, she heard masculine laughs followed by a scream. Masa feared the worst as she peeked around the corner. Outside the door, Loretta struggled against her attacker. He held her against the wall, his hand against her throat. He ran his free hand down the side of her face and whispered something in her ear. His hand went lower.

The babies' cries filled the air, and Masa went into a panic. Feelings of anger, fear, and desperation surged through her body as it responded to the cries, freezing her in place. She had to protect him and Sara. Where was Sara? Why was she silent? She fought to regain control of herself. Raising her trembling hand, she pointed the gun at the attacker and pulled the trigger.

The man fell.

Her mother pulled Masa back behind the wall as bullets bounced off it, sending wood chips flying through the air and scattering upon the ground. Her mother moved in front of her and continued firing.

Masa crossed her arms beneath her breasts and worked to control her feelings. She counted back from ten to calm herself, and searched deep within her to find the anger she used to drive herself forward. Her confidence as a soldier gave way to complacency in peace. Her weapon, an unknown stranger in her hands. If she didn't get a grip, they would die. Pulling her gun, she stood beside her mother and fired.

From the corner of her eye, Loretta remained frozen against the wall, eyes wide with fear and panting like a wild animal.

"Loretta! Move!" Masa screamed, but she didn't respond.

Masa caught one of the attackers, and her mother shot the other.

A third shooter began firing at Loretta. Masa rushed from behind the wall and dove towards her, knocking her to the ground as bullets bounced off the wall where she had been standing. Pain. Down her side, it exploded, arching along her belly. "Oohh...." she groaned, clutching her side. Another gunshot. She raised her gun just as her mother shot the man through the head.

"That was incredibly stupid," her mother yelled, rushing towards them. She offered her hand and aided Masa back onto her feet. Before Masa could say anything else, her mother embraced her, pulling her in tight. "I can't lose you again."

Masa tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she nodded. Pain shot down her side again, and she clutched her side. "Mmm...it was." She leaned against the building, trying to steady her breath.

"I'll get the baby," her mother said, rushing inside.

On the ground, Loretta remained frozen, mumbling.

Ignoring the pain, Masa stumbled towards her and knelt, taking Loretta's hand. "Where are the children?" Masa shook her hand when she did not respond and tapped the side of her face. "Loretta, it's Masa. You have to snap out of it. I need you to get the children out of here."

Loretta blinked and nodded. Masa helped her to her feet and held her. "It's over. It will be okay."

Her mother returned with the baby, rocking it and trying to soothe its cries and passed it to Loretta. "I couldn't find the little girl."

​Masa ran inside and began tearing the place apart searching for Sara. What if she hid and one of the stray bullets hit her? She whimpered, and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Where was she? There. A door of one of the cabinets was cracked open in the corner. Diving for it, she ripped it open. "Sara?"

Curled up in the corner of the cabinet, the little girl kept her face hidden in her knees; her arms wrapped around them in a death grip. She was fine, and there was no blood. Masa breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sara? It's alright."

"MM....MM...Masa?" she said, looking up. Sara lunged for her, wrapping her hands around Masa's neck tightly. Her hot tears dripped onto Masa's dress.

"I've got you," Masa said, pulling her from the cabinet. "Loretta is alright, too. We're going to get you to safety."

Sara managed a nod.

"I need you to be strong and walk, okay?" She said, placing Sara back on the ground. They walked outside. The sounds of gunfire were growing in the distance, and the part of the settlement surrounding Loretta's home grew quiet.

"Here," her mother yelled, reaching into her pocket and throwing something, before returning to stand guard.

Masa caught the set of keys.

She took Loretta's hand and shoved them inside. "Do you still know how to drive?"

Loretta nodded, calm once more, though tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"Get the children out of here. We'll meet in the fields to the west beneath I35. Tell anyone else you find. They will be expecting anyone escaping to go south towards the city."

The three of them ran in the direction of the car, and Masa watched them disappear into the darkness. Feeling relieved, Masa considered her next course of action while she ran, shooting any intruders in sight and taking cover behind the edges of buildings. Numbers were better, and she should join the men in the direction of the gunfire, but she thought of the other women and children. The men needed to know they were safe.

"Masa? Where are we going?" asked her mother, from behind her.

"To the other shacks. We need to get the women and children out."

The first shack was empty. The second shack contained a mother and her children huddling in the bedroom. Masa told them to move and gave them directions to the rendezvous point. They, too, disappeared towards the west. More followed, the elderly, and mothers with children. She told those who could not manage the walk to hide in the farm sheds at the far side of the settlement.

"I wish we had told Loretta to wait," Masa grumbled, beginning to feel the exhaustion creep up on her. "She could have helped transport the elderly."

"Masa, calm down," her mother responded. "They were the ones you cared about the most, and all you could think about was getting them to safety."

"I know, but..."

"You can't save them all. None of this should have happened, but it did."

Masa considered her words as they continued to move from shack to shack, firing on attackers and ignoring the pain at her side. Her mother was right, and they were all doing the best they could, given the situation. One shack after another, they helped the women escape into the darkness and told them to head west. Three of the women pulled out knives and firearms and joined her group. In total, the five of them began clearing a portion of the settlement.

Just as they were evacuating the last house on the western side of the settlement, a horse whinied, and flames erupted from the house across from them, causing Masa to jump. She froze, her hand quivering on the grip of her weapon, afraid the man on the horse would discover them. From the far side of the building, the rider laughed, yipped and ran onto the next one. Their attackers were moving closer, determined to destroy what little remained. The next shack was empty, and the one following that. The fires burned down low, bathing the settlement in darkness, and the screams began to grow silent.

"We need a vehicle. Are there any in the settlement?" Masa whispered, watching their attackers from a distance. Gathered around the fire, they laughed, smoking and drinking. What remained of the women they captured, huddled beside a truck in a group, their clothes torn and their faces bruised. The men were most likely dead. Behind them, she could make out SUVs scattered across the fields. Horses moved alongside them, left to feed at will.

"We were never able to get our hands on one," Susanna said, from beside her. The dark mess of curls she normally wore in a bun came loose and hung over her fleece pyjamas.

"If we took one from the bandits, do you think you could drive it?" Masa asked.

"I can," said Jada, also pregnant and risking her child's hearing. From the look, she was only at the beginning of her second trimester.

"We need a distraction," Masa said. "Jada. Susanna. Double back and make your way through the tall grass. I'll work with my mother to create a distraction so you can take one of the vehicles. We can meet at the rendezvous point west of town."

"No, you should go," said her mother.

"I agree," said Jada. "Your mother and Susanna can run fast. You and I, not so much."

Susanna nodded in agreement.

Masa stared at them, watching their worried looks. "Okay. Give us about twenty minutes to get into position," Masa whispered. She hated giving in, but the pain in her side was growing. She hugged her mother. "Be safe. I'll see you." She tried to pull away, but her mother wouldn't let go.

"My Masa. I'm so proud of you." Her mother pulled back, tears in her eyes. She smiled, and tears threatened to escape he own eyes. "Now, go."

They retraced their path, running by several shacks. Along the ground, corpses of bandits and members of the Monterrey Group lay abandoned in the dirt paths, running between the walls.

"Help," came a man's voice from beside one of the doors.

Masa rushed towards him.

"We don't have time for this," Jada said.

"There is always time to help someone," Masa said. While she felt the urgency, she knew it was what Leron would have done. If they didn't have time for something as small as helping someone else, what world were they fighting to save?

At the corner of one of the walls, she found a man she didn't recognise, bleeding out from his leg. An attacker. She pointed her gun at him, ready to fire, but hesitated. No, if she were in his position, she would want mercy.

"Help," he cried again. His eyes went wide when he saw her. "No, please don't kill me."

"I'll do what I can." She looked at the leg. The wound was round in the shape of a bullet hole. Blood dripped from it, trickling down his leg in a steady stream. He needed a tourniquet or he would die. She tore the hem from her dress and created a tourniquet above the wound. "I don't have time to help you to safety," she said, "but this will help you survive." She tore another strip and pushed it into his hand. "Put pressure on it."

"I can't believe you helped one of them," Jada said bitterly as they returned toward the grass. "Do you know how many people he probably killed?"

"Only because he was following orders," Masa argued. "The person responsible is the one leading the attack. That's what the men do. They went out and, under the council's orders, attacked other groups and gangs for supplies. I would want them to do it for me."

"But still..." Jada sighed and shook her head.

The wind blew, moving through the dense undergrowth when they entered. Smoke drifted in their direction from the settlement, causing her to cough.

"Bastards. They really came to destroy it all, didn't they?" whispered Jada.

"We should never have let ourselves get caught up in the peace of this place." The vehicles were growing closer, just barely a shade darker than the sky. The glint of the fire bounced off their metal on their hoods. "I don't understand why Felipe would not have put up defences."

"You were busy getting supplies," Jada said. "The council met and decided they didn't want to appear threatening to Laredo when they set up their settlement."

Masa swore. They should have known better. Had their time in the brutal chaos of Mexico taught them nothing?

Both fell silent, kneeling and crawling along the ground. It brushed along her belly, sending itchy tingling sensations along the surface. She scratched at her skin and groaned, wishing with all her heart that she weren't pregnant.

Outside the SUV, a young man stood, gripping a rifle nervously in his hands. He kept glancing around, his back against the metal. Where was the distraction? Something had to be done. Turning her head, Masa nodded to Jada, reholstering her handgun and pulling her bushknife from its cover - their backup plan.

Jada disappeared into the undergrowth, moving towards the back of the vehicle.

Masa moaned, clutching the side of her belly and keeping the knife hidden.

The young man approached, aiming the rifle in his hand.

"Help," she cried. "I think the baby is coming."

He dropped his guard, aiming the rifle towards the ground when he leaned over her, and Masa took the opportunity.

She stabbed him in the throat, and blood sprayed everywhere. He collapsed on top of her, weighing her down.

Masa pushed him off and struggled back onto her feet. She used her dress to wipe the blood from her face.

Jada was already in the SUV, struggling with the keys in her shaking hand. Masa ran towards her and stopped when the hammer of a gun clicked into place.

"Don't move came a man's voice."

Jada looked at her, eyes wide with fear. The SUV rumbled into action, and she took off, disappearing in the direction of the people hiding in the grass.

"You're coming with me." The man said. She turned. It was Miguel, one of Filipe's original squad.

"It's okay, Miguel. It's me. Masa."

"I know."

Masa thought back to the battle of Walmart. Someone betrayed the meeting to Don Eros and his men. Everyone assumed it was someone in Don Marco's settlement, but now she wasn't so sure. "You betrayed us to Don Eros. This whole time. It was you!"

He laughed, binding her hands with a zip tie. It cut into her wrist. "It took me a while to get back in contact with him, but I was eventually able to send him a message through one of the contacts in Laredo. "Now move." He pushed her food through the grass.

Tears streamed from her eyes, and the words of a prayer left her trembling lips in the form of a whisper. Beneath her feet, the gravel crunched. Don Eros' men paused their laughter and watched. What of her mother and Susanna? Where was the distraction?

"Be quiet. Don Eros wants to see you. I told him of your little warning about us, and he wants to know how you knew we were coming."

"Oh." She frowned. It wasn't as if it were a secret. She could tell him the truth - that Leron hacked into Ms. Brent's computer. She was in prison in San Antonio and couldn't do anything to harm him.

Beside the fire, two men were talking. She had never seen Don Eros, but she recognised the other. It was the man they left tied up in the desert. She and many others wanted to kill him, but even more argued against it. It was Mattias.

Masa sent up yet another prayer.