Zombie Road | Book 8 | Crossroads of Chaos Simpson, A. (new books to read .txt) 📖

“Understandable, Traveler.” She said. “But you wish something from me. What will you pay for this service?”

“We have coins and relics from ancient star cruisers.” Jessie said.

“Useless baubles.” She said dismissively. “What else?”

“My blasters.” Jessie replied but she scoffed before he could finish.

“Junk. What else?”

“The only other thing I have is my ship.” Jessie said and she laughed cruelly.

“More trash I don’t want or need.” She said. “You have nothing yet you come seeking something. You are a fool on a fool’s journey.”

Jessie’s cheeks burned at the rebuke from the ancient child but he held his anger in check. He was in a strange land and at her mercy.

“I am sorry to have bothered you.” He said “I’ll take my leave and not darken your door again.”

“Not without payment, you won’t.” she said and barked something in reptilian.

A hulking giant of a lizard man flashed a wicked fang-toothed grin and stepped out of line. His armored tail swished back and forth as he approached and his footsteps shook the whole room. It was impossible, they were messing with the force field, making it vibrate and thunder but the results were pretty effective at instilling fear.

“For wasting my time, you will entertain me.” She said. “A battle. Choose your weapon, no blasters. If they leave their holster, you’ll be taking a long flight to the gardens below then be dismembered and fed to the dakners.”

Jessie had no clue what a dakner was but it probably didn’t matter. The fall would kill him before he had to worry about getting cut to pieces.

The reptilian placed his rifle in a rack and chose a shield and a long, spike encrusted battle axe. He swiped it a few times, got used to the heft and clanged it against his chest. His armor was some kind of metal alloy and covered most of his body. His tail had a wicked looking spiked ball attached to it and Jessie wondered how fast he could move.

30

The Arena

The Queen looked excited, tucked her knees under her on the throne and held the scepter in both hands. The child was reasserting itself, the old and wizened part of her pushed away so she could enjoy the show. The lizard men circling the hall started stamping their feet in unison, a slow thunderous sound.

“Are there any rules?” Jessie asked the blue woman, knowing better to question the Queen.

“Rules? No.” the Queen said. “Whoever wins is the winner.”

“Does it matter how we battle?” Jessie asked the woman who wore an amused expression.

“No, you go until someone wins. Choose your weapon and lets go!”

“So it’s not until somebody dies?” Jessie asked as he examined the rack of oversized maces and swords and hammers.

“No, you don’t have to kill him but he can kill you if he wants.” She said and started bouncing. “Hurry! Choose!”

“I choose rock, paper, scissors.” Jessie declared and turned to face her. “Best two out of three.”

They rhythmic stomping died out and there were confused looks among the lizard men.

“What?” the Queen said. “What is that?”

“Stone, cloth, blade.” Jessie said in Universal. “On my world, it’s an honorable game that mighty warriors, men of great cunning and strength play to settle differences.”

He hoped it would pique her interest. She seemed to like playing games and he wanted to avoid bloodshed. Especially his own. If the lizard guy got even one lucky hit on him, it would cut him in half.

She frowned as he approached and explained the rules. It only took a moment, the game was simple and she squealed in delight when she threw blade and he held out cloth. The lizard man only had four fingers and it took him a little longer to understand but he was grinning once he got the hang of it. A big, toothy grin. The rest of the guards left their posts, shed their weapons and helmets and came over to watch. The elders whispered among themselves and the blue woman was actually grinning at the boy’s audacity. Jessie rolled his shoulders, waggled his fingers and made a show of it. The rhythmic stomping started again as their fingers flashed the countdown.

One.

Two.

Three.

Jessie threw blade and the reptilian threw rock. The lizard man smashed down hard, nearly breaking Jessie’s hand. Cheers erupted and the stomping shook the top of the pyramid. He thought about telling the guy that hurting your opponent wasn’t really part of the game but let it go. They seemed to be enjoying that aspect of it the most. The delighted squeals of the Queen could be heard above it all and the blue skinned woman lowered her head and went back to her reading. Jessie gave them a show, shook his head in sorrow, flapped his smashed hand and walked in tight circles. He rolled his shoulders, practiced throwing all three signs in rapid succession and finally stepped back up to the lizard that towered above him. He had a wide grin on his face and started bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Jessie noticed a few credit chips came out and bets were placed. They faced each other and this time everyone counted down and crowded around to see what sign the fighters would throw. Jessie’s paper covered the man’s rock fist and his friends groaned. He crushed the giant fist with everything he had, straining to make the behemoth feel pain. It was the reptilians turn to stomp around and psyche himself up for the final battle. He roared and thumped his chest, his mighty fists nearly denting the metal. He circled twice and worked himself into a frenzy, the final throw would determine the victor. They faced off again and the foot stomping started back up. They stared into each other’s eyes, cobalt blue and icy black, then raised their fists and held them. Slowly they brought them up to shoulder level and threw them down starting the count. Everyone shouted the numbers and when Jessie lost with