#us45

“Never seen ‘er,” Marlon said. “What do you want with that poor girl that’s worth beating her like that?”

The man lowered the picture. “She has information we need. Information that is of no concern to you.”

“Can’t help ya, Pal,” Gil said.

Najia watched as another man motioned to the Trans Am with his assault rifle.

“Hiding someone?”

The rifles cocked around them.

“Out of the car,” he growled. “Now.”

“There’s no one else here,” Shane hissed.

The rifle turned to him.

“You’ll be the first to drop,” the man barked to him.

Najia stumbled out of the car, her body shaking as she raised her arms in the air.

“Don’t.” Her voice was too soft. “Don’t,” she squeaked. She stepped into the headlights, in front of Shane.

“Najia.”

“I’m the one you want,” she said softly. “Please don’t hurt them.”

“Najia,” Shane barked at her.

“Take her,” the man grunted. “Shoot anyone the moment they step a toe out of line.”

Two men pushed forward, grabbing Najia violently and pushing her into one of the dark cars.

“What do you want with her?” Shane shouted.

The man raised his gun and fired at the vehicles, popping their tires. Air hissed out of them as the cars slunk to the ground, useless. He turned to them and smiled. “Thank you for your cooperation,” he said. “We’ll be on our way now.”

The men piled into their cars and sped away, leaving them alone in the canyon.

Shane’s body shook, his breathing shallow as he watched the headlights disappear. A rifle cocked. He closed his eyes as he felt the barrel at his head.

“You better start fucking talking,” John hissed.

“What makes you think I fucking know anything?” Shane spat at him.

“You know something. What do they want with my granddaughter?” His voice shook. “What are they going to do with her?”

Shane met his gaze. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “Why don’t you tell me what you know?”

He pushed the barrel of the gun into Shane. “Excuse me?”

“You’re the reason this happened,” Shane hissed. “Do you even know what happened to her in the city?”

The barrel backed off just slightly. “What are you talking about?”

“Before the invasion,” Shane said. “Najia was kidnapped. People who wanted to know about Stardew Valley.” He hesitated. “They beat her for information she didn’t have, all because you told her to come here. She had no idea they were working for the Shadow People. She escaped, and they’ve been looking for her ever since.”

“I don’t understand,” John muttered, lowering his rifle. “How would they know that I told her about Stardew Valley?”

Shane shrugged. “Spies?” He shook his head. “She escaped the city, and the invasion happened right after that.” He sucked in a breath. “And now they have her.”

“They said they weren’t with the Shadow People,” Alex said.

“They’re lying,” Gil hissed. “They can’t be trusted.”

“Maybe not,” Kent said, shaking his head. “This war is bigger than we realize. This isn’t human versus Shadow People.”

“What do you mean?” Marlon asked.

Kent hesitated. “They could be from the Gotoro Empire. When I was oversees, we had intel of a possible invasion. We were fighting with the Gotoro, joining our armies. But they had other ideas. They wanted in on the invasion, to act as double agents. They thought they could destroy the Shadow People from the inside. They wanted to team up with the Dwarves, who had driven the Shadow People out of their homes in the first place and started this mess.”

“Let me get this straight,” Alex said. “Us, the Ferngill Republic, are in a war with the Shadow People, and at war with the Gotoro Empire and their Dwarven allies?”

“Something like that,” Kent said.

“So, what’s the deal with them and the Dwarves? Are they good guys or bad guys?”

Kent shook his head. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” he said. “They want to bring down the Shadow People just as much as we do. And while they’re not our enemies, we will quickly become the enemy if we get in their way and try to stop them from eliminating the Shadow People.”

“I don’t understand,” Alex said. “We both want the same things, don’t we?”

“The Dwarves are the reason the Shadow People attacked in the first place,” Kent said. “They’re not exactly innocent good guys. They should have kept to their damn selves.”

“So,” Alex started. “There’s good guys, bad guys, and basically asshole guys?”

“The good, the bad, and the ugly,” Marlon muttered.

Shane turned anxiously toward where the Gotoro army disappeared with Najia. “What’s the plan?” he said, his voice hard. “They’re getting away with her.”

“They won’t kill her,” Kent said.

“They’ll beat her until she dies,” Shane hissed.

“What do they want with her and Stardew Valley?” John asked.

Kent shook his head. “I don’t know. Likely just information. Anything that they can use to destroy the Shadow People.”

“They can’t just ask nicely?” Alex muttered.

“They don’t do anything nicely,” Kent said. “This war has become so twisted, no one can trust anyone else. They know what they need and they’ll do what they have to do to get it and end the war.”

“There goes my plan of knocking on their door and asking for her back,” Alex said.

“I have an idea of where they could have taken her,” Kent said.

“Great,” Shane muttered. “Let’s just drive on over there.” He gestured to the flat tires.

“And pick up our lost trailer while we’re at it,” Alex said.

“We’ll have to hoof it,” Marlon said.

“Where are we going?” John asked Kent.

“They have a base on the southern coast,” Kent said. “If we drive fast, straight through, we can get there in two days.”

“We can get back to the store” John said. “Get ourselves some cars there.”

Shane turned and started walking the edge of the river, back to where they entered the canyon. The five other men followed suit.

Within a couple of hours, they had hiked their way out of the canyon and made their way back onto the interstate. They followed the road back into town where they scoured for three more vehicles.

“Found an open one,” Marlon called from across the lot.

Shane slid in and hot wired the car. The engine sputtered to life. He searched the lot until he found a truck with the windows smashed open. He peered around inside before reaching in and opening the door. He hot wired it easily and closed the door behind him, sinking into the seat and sighing. He fiddled with the items left in the center console. A wallet with a license, a couple of bills, and a condom. Shane examined the picture on the license and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I bet you got laid a lot, dude,” he muttered to himself. He tossed the wallet onto the floor and fished through the glove compartment. He pulled out a cigar and a book of CDs. He flipped through them, disinterested, before searching the compartment for a lighter. He lit the cigar and sighed.

“You gonna share that?” Marlon asked as he passed the truck. He leaned against the door.

Shane shrugged and passed him the cigar.

Marlon peered at it for a moment. “Not what I thought you were smoking,” he said casually. “But, it’ll do.”

Two vehicles pulled up in front of them. John leaned out the car in front. “Let’s go,” he grunted to them.