1st Draft. -- Decaying Genes --chapter 2

Two––
Nearly everyone in Sloan was a regular at the Iron Horse. Usually stopping by sometime during the night. Sloan has been a sort of crossroads for truckers and travelers for years. Now it became a trader’s outpost for people who couldn’t afford to live in major cities anymore or choose not to live under the new corporate rule of the North American Union. Thing’s have changed, and we lost the United States of America with out a shot even being fired. No one raged or protested. The world is something that no one could of predicted in the early twentieth century.
The Iron Horse hummed with activity, It was the closest place that seemed to keep away the local Sheriff. He was a mean bastard, with cold black eyes. He was the type of man you didn’t want to be on his bad side. People stood out on the cat walk one the second floor. Cars and motorcycles filled the parking lot. It smelt of car parts and beer. The Iron horse wasn’t as fancy as some of the places in the North; Las Vegas proper. Clint’s workshop was right behind the Iron Horse. He built it himself in the desert, rusty scraps of cars and heavy machinery formed a driveway up to a warehouse. This is what Clint called home. Tyler was one of the few friends Clint ever had.
Two feet was his Navajo name. Navajo and Japanese, he always had one foot in each world at the same time. Tyler may have been his birth name, but if anyone asked Two Feet was his true name. These two great cultures carried great weight for him. Especially now that the world is turning into such a strange place. There are barely any all natural people out there. Science is almost like magic now. People can create things of wonder, with enough knowledge. It’s with that hope that people are starting to realize that with the mass production of cheap products, that they also lack any real quality. Cheap isn’t always better some have learned.
It’s been four years since they’ve been back in Sloan, or to the Iron Horse for that matter. When he left he didn’t know where the army was sending him, all that he knew is that the draft was his only choice now. Passports were almost impossible to get. Impossible if you hadn’t served yet. He got out early, he took a few shells. He healed with the Hopi. It was a safe place, for someone who was a “pure”. A medical student that was working there as a healer. Always had a eye for him, and last March they got married. Two Feet healed like new shortly after they discharged him. The elders said that it wasn’t time for him to leave this world yet.
It always made him feel uneasy. If something was so important to save him from death, he could only imagine how much of a pain in the ass it was going to wind up dealing with. He silently prayed that they were wrong.
Looking at the Iron Horse a flood of memories came back to him, he remembered Valentina. Carl and Raymond’s sister. Maybe not blood, but they have stuck together since they were young. No one ever knew if they were actually related or not. She joined up with the Army when they did, she never wanted to be left behind. Walking up the stairs the hard steel steps were comforting in a world where not much was certain these days. The handworked wooden doors opened easily on oiled hinges. Two circular brick fireplaces sat in the center. Quiet comfortable tables followed the wall on the right, a long darkwood bar flowed until the end of the room on the right. A curtained staircase was in the back of the room. A hallway to the kitchen and the bathrooms were the farthest end of the room.
A dart wizzes by Tyler hitting the wall above the dartboard.
“Whoa!” Tyler looked amazed. A short olive skinned girl was standing there with her hand on her hip.
“Well it took you long enough to notice me.” Carmen said with a evil grin, her dark locks flowing over her newly developed breasts. A black tank top barely containing her. She was barely sixteen and barely over five feet tall.
“Carmen?” Tyler said in disbelief.
Running up to him she flung her arms around him, and he spun her around like he use to when she was still little. “You got big.”
“See what you miss when you disappear for so long?” She punched him in the arm, a little harder than Tyler would care to admit. “Carl and Marcus are already here.” They grabbed a table in the back by the fire. “Well what have you been up to while we’ve been gone? Besides growing.”
Her keen eyes noticed a few other old friends
“Who is it?” Tyler asked
Before he could get an answer her lithe body was sliding through the crowd of bar patrons with considerable ease. Tyler and Clint were not as lucky.
Carl was a ox of a man, his arms were as thick as a normal man’s thighs. His long black hair only accentuated his build. He had it pulled to the back to show off his gauged ears. His broad smile gleamed even in the firelight.
“ I would think that your brother would be here with you Carl.”
“ I am.” Said a voice from the shadows behind Carl. Inky black eyes seemed to suck in all light, and his gray skin didn’t help either. “I hope my appearance doesn’t bother you Tyler”. Clint’s utter disgust was more than visible. It took a minute to adjust and while they were adjusting they stared at him wondering what could of made him look this way.
Leaning in to Tyler Carl whispered, “He’s given up a lot for what he is now. It’s pretty scary, and a touchy subject for him.”
He sat back into the shadows his face barely illuminated by the electric glow of his screen. Faint blue lights could be seen blinking from underneath his hood. It was as if all the joy was temporarily sucked out of the room.
Leaning into Carl Tyler whispered “that’s dangerous stuff he’s dabbling in.” Tyler said warning.
Carl could only silently mouth “Later”.
“We ran into some trouble when we were on the outskirts of town. Who are these people?” Tyler asked while finding his seat.
“A few years ago people dressed in suits came here calling themselves “The new government” that was when it all changed. It seems like it’s happening all over the place. These guys with the new government show up then things change.”
Carl pointed out one of the Sheriff’s new deputies that claimed that he was part of the new government.
Alexa swept up past Carl and Marcus, her fire red hair engulfing Carl in the most hypnotizing scent. Alexa always had a crush on Carl but she was four years younger than him and she was barely developing when he left, and now that he was back she was determined to make him notice her. She did this easily, she had him under her spell the first time she walked past him.
The bar was starting to jump with activity now. People’s laughter filled the space, the smell of food tempting even the most moderate of people’s appetite. Carl looked on at Alexa, and when she turned. He coughed Marcus slapped him on the shoulder and called to Alexa “Carl was just saying how good the food looked, how bout you bring some for the table?”
“Sounds good Marc” Alexa called back, never taking her eyes off of Carl. Her smile was bewitching, more than any man would ever admit. Moments later Alexa came out with a large prime rib that looked like it could feed the whole table. She left as soon as she put it down, and came back with a pitcher of beer and a manilla envelope. “This came for you” handing it over to Tyler, the eyes of everyone else was on him. “What is it son?” Clint asked concern in his voice.
“It’s Valentina , she’s not coming.” Tyler said folding the paper and putting it in his back pocket. “Well she could of at least sent it to me, I was the one you all promised after all.” Clint grumbled to himself. Carmen swiftly kicked him in the side of his shin. “Oww! Have you lost your mind girl?” Then he looked up and saw the worry worn look on Tyler’s face. It was then that they heard the children’s laughter. A old man was telling stories about how the world use to be when he was a kid, they all gathered around laughing. “Tell us one about a princess!” One little girl squealed.
“My sister must have a good reason for not coming.” Adrian said from the shadows of the corner. A digital buzz emanated from his wrist and he promptly grabbed a drink from the table and downed a handful of multicolored pills in one big gulp. He rolled up one sleeve and all that remained of was once his left are was his hand and a few scattered patches of flesh. Copper machinery filled in the gaps where his muscles should be. USB ports and various inputs were contained under a small lid in his fore arm. He was once as healthy as his brother, now sickness ravaged his thin body.
“Well if the new government is here A lot could of happened in just a few years.” Marcus said, with a look of concern on his face. “I’ve seen them while I was traveling. They are never a good sign.”