Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

Vik realized that he was getting a holo-call that was ringing inside his already-hurting head. The effects of a hangover had intensified as a result.

Tory had been wide awake long before he got up. Or more precisely, he didn’t sleep. He was smoking a cigarette and staring into space.

Vik shook his head hard before picking up the phone. It was from one of the clan members of the gypsy clan he once belonged to, JJ James AKA Jimmy.

“Yo, Jimmy. What’s up?”

Vicky answered casually. He pressed his forehead with his hands as he did that.

“Vik, where are you? And are you okay? Did you manage to escape?”

Jimmy’s voice was coated in an unmasked urgency and a dash of worry. But Vik was too buzzed to notice these subtle changes.

“Escape? What do you mean? Are you talking about the announcement about us?”

Vik thought that Jimmy was now aware that they had bounties on their heads. Thinking about this, Vik had a sudden urge to cut the call. What if Jimmy decides to hunt him for the bounty money?

Anything was possible these days. Mothers would sell their own children for money. It wasn’t even that Vik and Jimmy were solid enough for Jimmy to think twice about making money off of Vik’s head.

And yet, there was some part of Vik that wanted to know what his old pal was up to. He was also starting to realize that whatever Jimmy has to say might not be what he is thinking it to be.

“What announcement?”

Jimmy asked with his eyebrows raised. He soon got his reply in the form of another question by Vik.

“Didn’t you visit Oasis? Haven’t you heard about us?”

At this point, Jimmy and Vik both realized that they weren’t on the same page. So Jimmy cleared the air about his call.

“No, Vik. What are you talking about? It’s been a few days since I stepped into Oasis. So I don’t know about any announcements.

I’m exploring the Badlands right now. Away from any city-state. That’s how I managed to survive I guess.”

Vik started pacing around the space while listening to Jimmy. He chuckled before responding to him.

“Hehe! What did you do, Jimmy? Bet it certainly won’t be bigger than what we’ve done!”

A loud band was heard from the other side of Vik. It was apparent that Jimmy had struck something with his fist after hearing Vik’s reply.

“Have you gone completely insane, Vik? Now is not the time to fool around. Do you even know what happened to our clan?”

Vik’s expression got grim and he looked at Tory after hearing what Jimmy just said. The former realized that their involvement in the Oasis pods heist had started affecting other people. People that weren’t even in the picture.

Tory stopped smoking after seeing the look on Vik’s face. Tossing the cigarette to the ground, he stepped on it before nodding to the former. Hinting at putting the holo-call on the shared view.

Vik obliged. Now they both could see a lone man driving a beat-up pullover, and zipping his way through what looked like an open road in the middle of a desert.

Vik’s silence was an answer in itself for Jimmy. He spoke further.

“So you really don’t know. Wow.

Alright. Listen, Vik. Things are bad. I mean “bad” bad.

Someone has attacked our clan. Maybe it’s another clan that wants to expand. Or the wraiths. Or some private army from those fu*king City-states.

But they’ve killed most of our clan members from our main camp. And I also heard from Pamela who managed to escape the ambush that they are looking for survivors.”

Vik’s eyes opened wide when he heard Jimmy’s words. Now it was Tory who patted his friend’s shoulder and made him aware he was with him.

Jimmy took a short pause and sighed before adding up.

“They are hunting us down, Vik. Things are still unclear what caused this. But it’ll be a while before I can contact you again. If I can contact you again that is.

Consider this as a heads-up, man. Haha! Now we are even, you know. I don’t owe you anything after this, aight? Stay safe and keep moving.”

Jimmy disconnected the call right after saying all that, leaving Vik and Tory to their devices. The duo looked at each other with a meaningful glint in their eyes.

They both knew what, or more specifically, who had caused this.

It was Raquel. She was using every means possible, legal or illegal, to target everyone that was linked with Vik and Tory. She wasn’t pulling punches.

The multi-billionaire had put a kill order on all those people who once knew the duo. Vik didn’t know what to feel.

Vik felt guilty that his clan was getting targeted because of him. But that guilt wasn’t strong enough to make him take crazy steps like launching a kamikaze attack on the Oasis Corp or Raquel’s faction.

Most of his clan members had died. And the survivors were now forced to run and hide. But so what? This was part of the deal in those days anyway when you were part of the gypsy clan.

His parents also suffered a lot because of someone else’s mistakes. They had lost many chances to get their lifespan expanded in the black market just because someone fu*ked up in the Op.

Various others had also killed a few of the clan members while Vik was still part of the clan. But he grew up watching those things not affecting the people responsible for those fu*k ups.

As a result, Vik became immune to death and responsibilities. That’s why he hated the gypsy clans. Being in a gypsy clan was more advantageous for people who liked to mess things up for themselves. Because the repercussions affect all clan members.

But those who had performed brilliantly in any job they’d been assigned to would at best get a pat on their back. But then those benefits would get shared with unworthy clan members who had been nothing but a nuisance.

Vik wanted to get what he deserved and keep that all to himself. Fair and square, he wanted the amount he earned. That’s why he never liked the clan system.

But that didn’t mean he hated his clan members. Nor did he find satisfaction in knowing that some of the clan members he knew who deserved to be hunted were on the run because of him.

Raquel had overboard. She was working above and beyond to suppress what transpired at the facility at the time. But there was nothing that they could do apart from keeping tabs on the shitshow that was happening around them.

Tory was frustrated after hearing this. And he was also worried about his girlfriend’s safety. He called her up and told her not to visit any cities from now on.

Phiona had gone back to her gypsy clan to meet some people. She was off the grid at the time. So she wasn’t in immediate danger. But Tory told her to move to a more secure location. Deep into the desolate lands. So that she could hide there until the dust settled down.

Phiona wanted Tory and Vik to come with her. But they both knew doing that would just put her in more danger. Therefore they refused.

Tory only put the call down when he had made sure that Phiona followed all their suggestions to a T. The guy took a long breath after talking with his girlfriend.

‘This might be the last time we talk, Pheebs!’

Tory had this thought and lit up a freshly lit cigarette once again.

***

“Please tell me you can find a way to get back at them, Vik. Because I can tell you one thing.

I’m not into suicides. Despite that, I’m not one to go down without swinging.”

Tory said after Vik was done talking with Jimmy.

“The way things are looking, it won’t be long before they get to us. The reaper is going to come for us one way or the other.

That’s why I want to stop hiding now. I’d rather die spectacularly than die in vain.”

A visible expression of anger filled Tory’s face as he clenched his fists.

“You know she’s planning to kill all those we know and put the blame on us. Making us look like some kind of monster.”

His next words were laced with unwavering determination.

We might as well become the monsters she has accused us of if that’s the case.”

Vik knew Tory was being serious when he made that claim. He sighed and had a monologue with himself. His thoughts slowly registered his helplessness.

Maybe what Tory said was true. They could only hide for so long. And with the way Raquel was handling things, she wasn’t about to let this matter slide unless they got caught by her or killed by her minions.

“I… I have a way.”

Vik smiled mirthlessly after saying that and looked at Tory. The latter smiled for the first time in a while after hearing that.

“A way to do what?”

He asked eagerly. Expectations of revenge were evident in his speech.

“A way to deal maximum damage to that bitch who thinks she can fuk us up from her high throne.

Miss Princess would have been able to accomplish her goals without any hiccups. But she just had to mess with the wrong dudes to act as her scapegoats.

We’ll hit her where it’d hurt the most.”

Tory smiled for the first time since yesterday when he heard his brother speak. He had been gunning to do something ever since his aunt Avril was killed.

Vik and Tory walked once again towards the truck. This time, they weren’t about to stop midway.

Two brothers fist-bumped at each other before stepping inside the Oasis pods. They knew that their lives were either going to forfeit or change after this step.

They just didn’t know by how much.

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