Frank made his way to the window and could see that the convoy was already nearing.
He cursed out loud and looked around in confusion. There was no way they could run away from here especially considering the condition Elena was in. He then looked at Joey's jeep that stood in the corner of the garage.
"Joey, get inside the jeep," he said as Joey entered inside the garage. "Turn on the cloaking device. Take the others with you inside and put any shit you guys brought with you inside as well. Hurry up."
"Is it working?" Joey asked.
"I was working on it last night and didn't test it. But we've got no other choice."
Joey rounded up the others and they all squeezed inside the dust-colored jeep. Joey activated the cloaking device and Frank was pleased to see it was working. He could barely notice the faint translucent outlines of the jeep and that too because he knew what he was looking for. He just hoped now that the Nazi soldiers would not notice it.
He went back to his work trying to appear as relaxed as he could before he heard the loud knock on the door. He opened it and three Nazis instantly entered inside the garage.
"What's going on?" he asked acting surprised.
"You know exactly what is going on," the leader among them said. "It was announced over the radio. There are fugitives that escaped the Peak City and we are looking for them."
"Oh, right," replied Frank trying to appear as calm as he could. "Well, you're welcome to check all you want officer."
The soldiers entered the shack beside the garage and came out after they had checked every inch of it and confirmed to the officer that there was nothing inside the house. The officer then looked among the cars and observed them intently.
"Quite the designs you've put on these," he said and Frank could tell he wasn't searching for the fugitives but admiring them now. The officer barked an order to his soldiers to wait for him outside. Every time the officer turned towards the cloaked car his heart skip a beat. Please don't let him see it, please don't let him see it.
When the officer was getting near the cloaked jeep, Frank decided to distract him. "You like them? I could customize some of your cars too for a fair price."
The officer turned around and considered it. "I am on duty now and well that Humvee outside isn't mine. I wish it was…"
Just as he turned around, the cloak on the jeep faltered for a second and Frank almost let out a yelp. He could feel his palms getting sweaty but he kept on the nervous smile.
The officer looked around for a while and made his way back to the entrance, much to Frank's joy. The officer barked orders to his soldiers and they continued their search by rejoining the convoy outside.
Frank looked out from the window making sure the convoy had gone out of sight before approaching the cloaked jeep which he had noticed was faltering more consistently now.
"That was fucking close, Joey," he said letting out a laugh. He was sweating all over. "God, Joey, the whole place is going to be swarming with people looking around for you. You better get going soon. They'll find you guys eventually if you stay here for too long."
They both decided that it would be best to leave the garage at night after the patrols had inspected the whole town and security around the town would have lessened. It would also give Elena time to heal properly.
"The cloak still needs more modifications," said Frank. "Should be done with it by the time you leave."
The day passed by fairly quickly with Michael being asked the same questions by Elena that Joey had asked him and he gave the exact same answers. After that, he had tried to string up conversations with her but she had not talked much saying she needed her space. She spent the time talking and playing with Sidra trying her best to distract the little girl. She was mad at him and it would take some time for him to prove to her that he wasn't a bad person. That he wasn't like Chuck. That he wasn't evil or any different from other humans.
It was in the dead of night that Joey drove the jeep along with the passengers with the cloak turned on. There were a few checkpoints set at the main exits throughout the town but Frank knew another way out through a cramped opening between a fence through which they could get through fairly easily.
The weather outside was cold and Michael looked outside for the whole journey. Stars glimmered in the sky over the desert whose landscape appeared purple in the dead of night. He could still remember knowing that deserts were very hot in the morning and cold at night but still it fascinated him. It felt as if he had been transported into another world even though it was the same desert. He looked towards Elena who was looking outside through the other window. She turned towards Sidra who was sleeping with her head in her lap. She glanced at him and then quickly turned away back to the window. She hates me, he thought. She hates me because I am one of them. Because I belong to the respawners who killed both their mothers.
After half an hour of their journey, Michael noticed spotlights shining in the distance and they beamed into the night sky. As they got closer towards them, they could hear a lot of noise and cheering.
"What's going on there, Uncle Joey?" asked Elena. Michael could see she was as confused as he was.
"There's a demolition derby going on there. Cars ramming and destroying each other with the last one standing winning," he explained.
"What's the point of that?" asked Elena.
"It's sport. It's entertaining to watch."
"But isn't it dangerous?"
"It is but the competitors do it because the cash prizes are enormous. Demolition derbies are huge in the deserts since everyone has so many jacked up cars there. That's why you saw a lot of cars at Frank's garage. They take the sport seriously."
Elena sighed. "It's stupid."
They approached the demolition derby and Michael was amazed by how a huge a crowd had gathered. The derby was taking place under a cliff where there was a huge flat section of ground that was over the size of a football pitch. Thick barriers had been placed around as boundaries between which the competitors drove with full speed and crashed into each other. Huge spotlights attached to trucks flooded the area with so much light that you wouldn't have thought it was the dead of night. Michael could hear the sickening crunch each time the cars crashed into each other and the crowd would roar. Elena winced each time she heard the sound. There were all sorts of cars parked around the boundaries upon which people stood and watched the proceedings.
Michael found the whole scene fascinating. He knew if Chuck was here he would have said Hardcore! out loud and he wouldn't have disagreed with her. He wished Joey would stop by as they drove past but he knew time was a luxury they could not afford to waste.
He turned back to the window and his thoughts drifted to the car drivers ramming into each other. He was sure that a lot of people must have died in the sport. Death. His heart dropped as he remembered killing the respawner again. Michael did not feel happy at all about what he had done. He had not really wanted to and had just done it in defense of Elena who he owed so much. He still remembered the sick, wet thunk of the blade entering the respawner's flesh. He remembered the blood that had splashed onto his hands and could still feel it on his hands even though he had washed it away. He remembered the life leaving the respawner's eyes and he remembered the deaths of the other people in the city. It was a grotesque scene that he knew would always haunt him.
He had killed someone and something told him that it was not he last time he would have to kill…
The next day, Joey slowed down his jeep as they approached the border of the respawner Evan's zone. Joey had travelled through these parts many times and knew all the border locations by heart. Everyone held their breath as the jeep crossed it. They waited to see if anything would happen.
"That is good," said Joey after a few minutes. "This means you can traverse across the zones."
"Can respawners not cross them?" asked Michael.
"No, they're restricted to their zones. They can cross them for a small period of time but they begin to fade away and respawn back inside. Some zones have weaker respawners than others or respawners that don't kill in such large masses. Some we can handle while some we can't."
Joey revved up the engine and they resumed their journey.
"So, who's the respawner in this zone?" asked Michael.
"Billy the Kid," answered Joey. "One of the most feared cowboys in history. It is said that he killed twenty-one people for each year of his lifetime. And now that he's immortal, he's caused even more havoc in the new Wild West. He's creating his own empire there which is incredible."
"He's given everyone hell," said Matt. "The supply trains run through his zones and he's been raiding them ever since the respawners arrived."
Sidra looked scared and cuddled closer to Elena. The respawner Evans still haunted her dreams and she could not bear to face another monster like him. Joey saw their reactions through the rear window.
"Don't worry about it," said Joey pressing a button on the steering wheel. "I just activated the cloaking device on the jeep. They can't see us. I've been through these lands plenty of times. As long we stick to the borders, we'll be fine."
I hope so, at least, he thought. He pressed his pocket to make sure his gun was still there.
After a few hours, during which they had crossed another border, Matt stopped the jeep.
"I don't believe it," Joey cursed. "How could I have forgotten?"
They had stopped right at the crest of a cliff below which a whole crowd was gathered around a point where four borders intersected that had been marked with black lines. The crowds stretched far into the distance among which were the small buildings of towns. There seemed to be a buzz of anticipation flowing through the people as they chattered excitedly. Michael could see people were standing on their cars parked at the edges, standing on roofs and anywhere they could get a decent view. There were four people standing at each side of the intersection wearing strange-looking outfits that included cowboy hats, leather clothing and cowboy boots. They had their hands clasped onto the pistols which hung inside holsters at their sides.
They were having a standoff.
"The Crossroads Standoff," said Joey. "They have it every month. All the respawners of the Wild West at each section of the crossroads challenge each other. Whoever wins, gets access to a certain amount of loot that the other respawners have gathered and of course, bragging rights. I had no idea that they would be having it today."
"They're all there," said Matt. "Billy the Kid, the Apache Kid, Jesse James and John Wesley. It's like I'm watching movies from the '60s."
"Don't get too excited," muttered Joey. "We're sitting ducks until these shenanigans are over."
Billy the Kid had the largest crowd. That was because he had won the standoff the most and so had generated more followers.
There were lookouts too stationed around the whole crossroads scene along with the respawners' henchmen keeping watch over the proceedings. There was always great tension between the opponents at the standoff because of the wars that had taken place between their armies for years. Raiding, looting, killing, destroying; the West had begun to crumble because of the wars. With life in the deserted West becoming harder because of extreme weather changes and lack of water, the numbers of the respawners' followers were depleting until finally a truce had been proposed between them which involved the crossroads standoff happening each month. The truce had fixed a lot of problems including the survival of the people in the West. But it had not changed the enmity between the respawers. The standoff was as important to the town's survival as it was to the respawners' power and ego.
One of the lookouts was right above where the jeep was parked of whom the people inside were unaware of. The lookout was from Apache Kid's side of the crossroads. Luckily, the lookout hadn't noticed them since the jeep was cloaked.
Billy the Kid spat to his side and said mockingly, "Ya'll know you're gonna lose to me. Might as well hand me the goods now while ye'r skulls are still whole."
"Don't get too cocky, Billy," said John Wesley. "That's the reason why you started losing in the first place."
There was a church towards Jesse's side of the crossroads and everyone grew silent as they waited for the clock hand to hit twelve. The atmosphere was as tense as the hot sun that blazed upon the scene.
The respawners had their hands held to the side, hovering above their holsters, watching each other intently. The clock struck twelve and the ringing of the bell began. Sweat poured down all the respawner's faces as they waited for the twelfth ring.
Each ring of the bell set the people's hearts racing.
Six rings… seven…eight
Nine…Ten…Eleven…
Twelve…
The respawners pulled out their guns at the exact moment. Billy the Kid aimed each pistol at John Wesley and Jesse at once. He took them all out instantly with a bullet in the head. He then aimed both the pistols at Apache Kid but before he could even touch the trigger, a bullet hit him in the head.
Apache Kid had won.
All his followers jumped and shouted around ecstatically. They hadn't won in over a year. The dead respawners spawned into their original positions with flashes of red lightning. They all looked disappointed and Billy the Kid kicked at the dirt in anger.
"How'd ya get me?! HOW?!" he yelled red with anger.
Apache Kid knew Billy was the best shooter here. He knew that whoever of the two respawners he would aim at would die instantly. Luckily, this time in the standoff he hadn't aimed at him which had allowed him to focus his attention directly at Billy. That too, he had barely managed to do.
"I'm just getting better I guess," replied Apache Kid with a wink.
"Goddamit!" Billy yelled and began to shoot his pistols around randomly. The bullets flew around in various direction.
"Stop it, Billy!" shouted Jesse dodging a bullet that was heading for his leg. "You're going to get someone killed again!"
One of the bullets managed to hit Apache Kid's lookout who plummeted off the cliff towards the hill. The crowd in the other towns cheered as the body fell.
"He's got one of your lookouts. Again," said John shaking his head.
Billy had thrown his empty revolvers to the ground after his tantrum. He ignored the respawner's complaints.
"That's the second time now," said Apache Kid. "You're out of your mind, Bill…"
"Wait," said John interrupting. He was straining his eyes. "Is he hovering in midair?"
Everyone turned towards where the dead lookout had fallen. He had fallen right on top of Joey's cloaked jeep.
"It's a Nazi jeep. Spies," said Billy looking suspiciously towards Apache Kid. "I had no idea you had teamed up with them. I thought we had a truce?"
The other respawners now glared at Apache Kid with suspicious stares.
"I have not made any alliances," said Apache Kid. "Stop making stupid accusations. You'll have a war started again. Whoever that is, is spying on all of us."
"Oh shit, they've spotted the body," said Matt revving up the engine and turning the jeep around.
He accelerated it forward just as red lightning struck in front of them. It was Apache Kid who immediately started firing bullets at them. As the bullets hit the jeep, the cloak begun to wear off. One of the bullets sped past Matt's head while the other hit Joey in the shoulder.
"Ram him!" shouted Joey whose teeth were clenched in pain. Matt floored the accelerator and the jeep bellowed like a bull and charged straight into the respawner. The jeep shook as it drove over Apache Kid before heading away from the standoff. But before they could cover any significant distance, the respawner spawned again in front of them and fired at them. Matt swerved the jeep to the side.
Sidra clung to Elena in fear who was making sure Joey's injury was not serious. Michael just stared ahead, frozen in shock. The jeep sped past the face of the hill which had been covering them from being seen by the other lookouts but now they were exposed. The lookouts fired their snipers at the jeep and the bullets rattled against the metal of the car. One of the sniper bullets just missed Matt and the bullet hit Michael straight in the head. In that split-second, his head bobbed to the side turning towards a mountain cliff far in the distance before his vision darkened and fell into Sidra's lap. The little girl screamed in horror but then suddenly, Michael's body was gone. A blue flash of lightning struck near the cliff which he had looked at before death.
Apache Kid spawned again in front of them and Matt swerved the car to the side again. The jeep was now dangerously close to the slope. The respawner spawned again at the edge of the slope and fired a bullet which hit Matt right in the hand which held the steering wheel. Pain shot through it and he turned the wheel to the right. The jeep plummeted down the slope to the ground where the standoff was taking place. Bullets continued to hit the jeep as it crashed down.
The jeep landed heavily as it reached the ground. The crowd that was gathered towards Apache's side began to run to their sides as the jeep raced forward towards them. Matt sped the jeep past them and Apache Kid who had respawned among them. It was headed towards Billy the Kid. He smiled and pulled out another pistol from his back pocket. He aimed and fired as the jeep ran him over.
A few moments later, the jeep came to a stop.
Matt was dead with a bullet wound in his forehead. His eyes were wide open and his head lay on the dashboard among the shattered glass of the windshield.
Billy the Kid spawned with red lightning in front of the jeep.
"A jeep with a cloaking mechanism," smiled Billy. "They're starting to pop up a lot these days. Don't mind if I do."
"That's mine," yelled out Apache Kid. "It was on my side."
"Well, it's on my side now," said Billy turning towards the car and opening the door. Joey held a pistol aimed at him while the others stared at him with a look of bewilderment and fear. Sidra was crying holding on to Elena.
"But I won the standoff. It's mine," insisted Apache Kid.
"You want it?" asked Billy turning to him. "Come and get it at the next standoff."