Work Text:
A New World
by Aiden
The world as we know it no longer exist. Global warming was a fact, seas and oceans dried up and land turned into desert. Wars started between countries, families and friends. It lasted ten years before peace became the truth and people started slowly to heal.
Cities started to rise from the ashes of a scorched and wounded earth. People felt safe inside the city walls, there where laws to obey and someone was chosen to be their leader. Outside in the desert it was survival of the fittest, because water was scarce and enemies were lurking around. Still a lot of people were roaming the deserts, not wanting to stay in one place or submit to the city laws, they where nomads former POW. Slavery was a reality, most of them were prisoners or deserters from the war.
A convoy of two trucks and two jeeps were traveling south to the city of Amea. A fast growing city with already a population of 800 souls and it was a good place to trade some merchandise. If they were lucky they could trade some of the merchandise they had stowed on the trucks for gasoline, water and food.
"You think we'll find what we need in Amea?" Mac asked Warrick who was driving the first truck. Mac was seated next to him and behind them in the backseat were Alexx, Calleigh and Stella.
"I heard Amea is occupied by a lot of traders so I think we're going to be lucky this time," Warrick answered, remembering what happened in the last city they visited. They wanted to trade gas and water for the women.
'Heads up, something in front of us,' came Horatio's voice through the radio.
Mac picked it up, "What do you see?"
'A truck on this side,' H answered.
"Could be a trap," Warrick said. There were a lot of scavengers roaming the desert looking for an easy prey.
"What do you think?" he asked Horatio. "Warrick said that it could be a trap."
'We're going to take a look, but be prepared for anything,' H warned.
"Okay," Mac said, grabbing a shotgun from under his seat. These men were ex-military, bearing the scars from the war and not only on the outside. They had fought together, mourned together for fallen comrades and now they traveled together.
The convoy came to a stop and the men climbed out of the vehicles weapons ready. "Keep your eyes open men." Mac commended. He saw Nick and Horatio walking to the left, Don and Jim to the right, Eric, Greg and Warrick walked up with him towards the truck. There where several men lying near the truck, it looked like they where robbed themselves. "Anyone still alive?" he yelled.
"Oh yeah," came a voice from behind the truck and in seconds they where surrounded by at least 15 men. One of the men moved to the truck, pointing the gun at the women.
"Do anything stupid and they die," a man said, probably the leader. "We just want what you have on those trucks and we'll be on our way."
All of the sudden a gunshot was heard and the man who was standing by the truck dropped to the ground with a hole in his head. The rest turned around in surprise but didn't see anyone. A voice called out in a language Mac and the rest didn't understand.
"Fuck," the leader cursed and dropped his gun, signaling to his men to do the same. A group of men appeared from behind a dune on horse back, weapons raised.
The men approached and one of them lead his horse to the scared man. He looked him up and down, "You again. How many times have I told you to stay away from here?" He dismounted his horse and walked up to the man, who backed away till he was stopped by another man on horse back. All the men where dressed in loose robes and on their heads they wore a shemagh that covered their faces completely except for their eyes.
"Who are they?" Greg asked Eric.
"Nomads, former POW," Eric said with nothing but respect in his voice. He had heard about these people, they roamed the deserts and weren't bound to any law other than their own.
Mac stood next to them, "Yes they went through a lot during the war. I'm not sure how bad it was in those prison camps, but what I have heard is a lot of them went in and never came out." He looked at the two young men, they had been through a lot themselves, Greg lost his left arm just a few inches below his elbow in an explosion and Eric's right leg had to be amputated below his knee to save his life; Luckily for them being in the service meant good health insurance and high tech prosthetics, not that Greg would wear it anyways. They both had adjusted fine to their disability. He brought his attention back to the new arrivals and saw the one he knew was the leader dragging the scared man to the ground.
"You still don't learn, do you? I told you if you ever showed your face here again, you were going to pay for it," the man growled. He pushed the man face down in the sand and planted his knee painfully in the man's back, drew a knife and stabbed him in his back.
Mac and the others just stood there in shock, not believing what they had just seen. They had fought, killed but always in self-defense, never in cold blood.
H was the first to find his voice again, "You just killed that man in cold blood."
The man turned his face and looked at H, his left eye was covered by a black patch, "You're not in any city, here in the desert we have different laws and thievery is punishable by death." He stood and signaled his men to round up the rest of the thieves.
"Your just going to kill them all?" Jim asked.
"No, first we're going to have a little fun with them," the man answered.
"That's just cruel," Calleigh said. She and the other women had exited the vehicle.
The man walked up to her, "Cruel? You don't even know the meaning of that word, lady." He raised his left hand and stroked her cheek, there were no fingers and thumb and he had scars on the back of his hand.
Mac and H walked up to the them and Mac placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "Back off, now!" he demanded.
The man raised his hands and backed off, "You have no say about what we do to these men. You know, some of them were guards at the camps so we have every right to let them suffer before we kill them."
"Then you are no better then they are," Eric pointed at the captured men.
"I never said I was," the man answered. "Where are you heading anyway?"
Mac looked at H and he nodded, "Amea," he said.
The man looked up at the sky, "You'll never make it before dark and you don't want to be out here at night." He talked to one of the men, again in the language they didn't understand. "Why don't you people come to our camp and continue your travels tomorrow."
They all looked at each other and H nodded, "Okay, we will accept your hospitality."
He watched how the men gathered the prisoners and wondered what would happen to them.
"You think he will kill them?" Alexx asked.
Horatio looked at the stranger who gave the orders to his men and he had seen the coldness in his eye when he had killed the bandits leader, "I wouldn't be surprised if he did, not surprised at all," he answered with a sad smile.
end part 1