Pheonix Rising
Phoenix Rising
The only way out of this is through
Cross my heart and hope to die beyond hope
I've seen the phoenix rise
Out of my ashes
Born out
Born out of it
“Airborne Ashes” - Eartheater
Desert sun beamed down over my forearms. Although my Javelina had UV protection, I opted to have the windows open during this segment of our drive. Judy sat beside me, tinkering with ways to play her own music over the speakers so we wouldn’t have to continue listening to the radio. By this time, I had basically memorized the little schpeals the radio host announced.
“Goooooood morning party people! Can you believe it? Another clear, and sunny day in the southwestern armpit of the NUSA!” I mimicked his voice, as the radio host and I spoke in unison.
Judy rolled her eyes and sighed, still tinkering around with the sound system. She was attempting to install another personal link, one that would solely contain the ability to play personal music data the user had saved in their systems.
“I remember those old-ass cars… You could just plug a wire into the holo and it would play anything you want.” Judy muttered, frustrated.
I chuckled a bit, glancing over to admire the gorgeous woman hacking away at some databoard.
“Y’know, you could just connect to the car’s data pad. Then just download the songs you want to the audio interface. I mean yeah, kinda old fashioned, but seems easier than what y’er tryna do.” I chimed.
Judy sighed and placed her tools on the dash. She crossed her arms and looked bitterly out the window.
“I guess.” She mumbled.
I reached a hand over and squeezed her thigh.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, we got plenty of time for you to customize this bad boy.” I briefly smiled over in her direction.
Judy looked at me and returned a small smirk, resting one of her hands over mine.
“Always soooo optimistic. You’d never know you were dyin’.” She murmured.
I squeezed her thigh tighter and sighed softly. Her words hurt me, although she was right. I am dying, and so far it’s out of my control. I’m blindly handing my fate over to Judy, Panam, this Nate choom, and hopefully Pablo.
“Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.” Judy suddenly remarked softly, squeezing my hand.
I glanced over at her, squinting my eyes in confusion.
“Okay, so first I’m a pumpkin, now you’re sayin’ I’m some fire-bird?” I chuckled.
Judy laughed softly and glanced in my direction.
“Yeah, because you’ve been through hell and back… Twice now. Indestructible, yet… So fragile. But you made it through, and you’re gonna make it through again.” She replied quietly.
I rubbed my thumb over her hand and smiled.
“Hell yeah I am.”
***
Sudden gunshots caused me to swerve the Javelina with a meticulous precision, as to avoid any direct hits. The car screeched as I swiftly braked before crashing into the guardrail, then immediately straightened back into the driving lane. Judy held her head down and grabbed onto the handlebar above her head. She poked her head up to peer in the passenger side window to spot a trail of four cars tailing us and the nomad caravan.
“Fuckin’ hell!” She hissed before glancing over at me.
I felt her eyes burning into the side of my face, but refused to meet her glance. I needed to keep full attention to the road.
“V, who the fuck are these bastards?” Judy asked, voice more nervous now.
I quickly swerved to dodge some more gunfire being thrown our way.
I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.” I replied promptly.
The gunslingers quickly caught up to speed, nearing the sides of the Aldecaldo vehicle behind us.
“Hey, Panam? Any clue what the fuck is going on here?” I growled over the holocall.
Panam’s line was staticy for a while.
“...Panam?” I said again.
“Sorry, V, was trying to see if I could I.D. any of these assholes. Assuming they aren’t trying to be chooms, that’s all I know.” Panam replied, voice solid and authoritative, despite the sudden battle taking place around us.
“Ah, wouldn’t have guessed! But jokes aside, you pulling together a plan to get us out of this mess-” I started replying before I was cut off by a truck ramming into the side of the Javelina.
“V!” Panam and Judy said simultaneously.
The Javelina was quickly thrust into the guardrail, impacting at an angle that forced the vehicle to shoot up in the air, followed by its sudden plummet into the desert soil on the other side.
Blackness.
My father knelt in front of me, gun resting against the back of his head. He looked up at me and smiled.
How is he smiling in his last moments? I had thought to myself.
A sudden loud gunshot boomed in my ears. My eyes were squeezed shut and I erupted into a blood curdling scream.
Jackie’s face suddenly shot into vision. His hand reached over, the relic behind presented to me as his final wish.
“Hold on to it… For me.”
Then, Johnny Silverhand’s hand gently squeezed my shoulder. The last gesture before he vanished into the depths of cyberspace.
No…
My eyes fluttered open. Soil coated my mouth, hot sun burning into the back of my neck. I opened my eyes fully only to see I was at eye level with the ground, dozens of feet in front of me.
“V!” A distant voice called out.
I pulled my arms up to my sides and attempted lifting myself from the ground, I was met with residence. A solid foot-shaped pressure dug into my back between my shoulders. The pressure grew stronger, crushing me down further into the orange sand.
“Let go of her.” Panam’s voice snarled.
I tried to lift my head up the best I could, to at least gain some kind of understanding of what was happening. Upon lifting my head, the foot of my captor then pressed into my skull, pushing me back down into the ground.
“Mmf,” I groaned, suddenly feeling intense pain from the contact.
“I said, let go of her.” Panam hissed.
A laugh boomed from above me. I heard Panam growl and footsteps darting closer. I assumed Panam was racing over in my direction. This action caused my captor to laugh some more before pressing harder on my head. Suddenly, his foot shifted back between my shoulders and the pressure on my skull was replaced with a cool metal. I heard the safety unlock as I realized a gun was being pressed against me.
Wouldn’t be the first time, I thought.
“Ah-ah! Get any closer and she’s gone.” A man’s voice stated.
“Wha-what do you want?” Judy’s voice trembled in response.
Judy… Fuck she can’t see this happen to me.
The thought suddenly motivated me. Adrenaline pumped into my veins as I somehow was able to resist this man’s body weight and lift myself up off the ground. I swiftly lunged my elbow back, hitting what I assumed was the man’s gut. He groaned in agony but then quickly snatched my hands, sitting me up on my knees while holding my hands behind my back. I looked up to see the Aldecaldos staring at me fearfully. Panam was being held back by two muscle heads, with a clan’s insignia on their jackets that I didn’t recognize. Judy was on her knees, black tears streaming down her cheeks. We made eye contact and I strangely found myself smiling at her, I guess as some kind of measure of hope.
“Feisty little bitch, aren’t you?” The man behind me sneered.
I turned my head to look up at him. He was tall with lean muscles. Dirty blonde hair gathered into a bun on the back of his head. He adorned a tightly trimmed beard and had piercing blue eyes. He wore the same jacket as the men who were restraining the Aldecaldo leader. I squinted at the clan insignia and was able to make out the words, “Technomancers”.
Technomancers, out here? I thought to myself.
The group, previously a part of the Jodes clan, had ventured closer to Chicago… As far as I knew. I guess they started to spread themselves out. Technomancers are extremely tech savvy, borderline tech-cult types, and incredibly ruthless. They’ve historically made deals with many corporations in order to gather the latest and most innovative cyberware, weapons, vehicles, etc. A clan one wouldn’t normally want to come into contact with, let alone be held captive by.
Arasaka… I thought.
They must have made a deal with the ‘Mancers… They’ve been keeping an eye on me this whole time.
I used my Kiroshi’s to quickly scan my captor, hoping to gain some more intel.
Nathan “Nate” Richardson, born in Oklahoma, currently wanted by Maxtac for numerous reasons.
Nate… Wait, Panam’s “guy”?!
“Nate?” I asked dumbly.
My voice sounded weak.
Nate brought his glance down at me and smirked.
“Did your research, huh?” He mused.
I brought my attention over to Panam, shooting her a look that expressed something along the lines of, “what the actual fuck?”
Panam made eye contact with me before looking down, disappointed. I knew what was running through her head. She was disappointed with herself for trusting her contact. She feared she had, in turn, disappointed me.
“It’s not your fault.” I said.
She looked back up at me, realizing I had read her thoughts.
Enough time together in the Panzer will do that.
“Oh, Panam, she’s got a point.” Nate teased.
“And just what the hell do you mean, Nate?” Panam hissed.
Nate sighed and lowered the gun barrel away from my head. I sighed in relief.
“Listen, you couldn’t have known I was plannin’ on stealing your fancyass tank. Thing is, I was hoping to take it…as compensation?” He said.
“Wh-WHAT?” Panam shouted.
“Pan… Calm down.” Nate breathed.
“Calm? How can I be calm when you drove us off the road, and now you’re holding my friend at gunpoint?! Calm?! You have got to be seriously stupid to think anything about this situation is a-okay!” Panam huffed, clearly holding in a bout of screams.
“Listen bud, can we just si’down somewhere and talk about this? Maybe without holdin’ poor V here hostage?” Mitch’s voice suddenly asked.
I looked over and saw Mitch pushing his way to the front of the group, standing beside a fuming Panam.
“No, ‘cause, see here… ‘Poor V’ is the whole reason this is happening, got it? If it wasn’t for her needing Pablo, I wouldn’t have to be doing this. So really, it’s simple. Hand over the tank, and you get V and my contact, comprende?” Nate sighed before suddenly pressing the gun barrel back to my head.
“Just give him the damned tank, Panam!” Judy seethed.
I brought my eyes back over to Judy, still kneeling, head nestled in her hands. She suddenly burst into sobs. Panam looked over at her, face shifting from anger to a sudden devastation. She looked down briefly, and then back up at Nate. Fury immediately reignited.
“Fine. But take this as a warning, choom, the Aldecaldos are no longer your allies.” Panam spat.
“Hah, fine by me, choom.” Nate snickered before suddenly removing his grasp from my hands.
The abrupt action sent me shooting face-first into the dirt. Nate’s boot kicked my abdomen, stunning me, causing him to chuckle. The action left me limp on the ground, unable to muster the strength needed to sit myself up. Footsteps darted over to me. Gentle hands met my body, then pulled me up off the ground. Judy sat on the desert floor, holding me in her lap. She brushed dirt off my face before cupping my cheeks gingerly. Tears still rolling down her face, some dropping down on my skin. I attempted to sit myself up but was only met with a groan as I soon realized I was too weak.
“Shh, don’t force it baby, I got you.” Judy whispered.
She leaned down and kissed my forehead. A small smile met my lips as I looked up into her eyes. More footsteps started racing over towards us, Mitch’s voice rang in my ears but I couldn’t make out the words. My vision was beginning to darken around my peripherals. I continued looking at Judy, admiring the sheer beauty of the woman holding me.
“Judy, I-”
I love you.