Free Legend of Mace by Daniel J. Williams Page B

pit where she teetered. Her arms swung wildly as she tried to keep her balance.  It was too late. She slowly toppled over.
    Her hands hit dirt as her face landed solidly in mud. Mace walked up behind Travis, who stood horrified as Maya surfaced. She was not happy. On the edge of the pit, Mace extended his foot and gave Travis a push to the butt. Travis fell straight over into the mud with a splunk.
    The boys watching rolled on the ground, laughing in hysterics. Chelsea lifted her head and spit out a wad of wet dirt. Travis looked nervously at Maya. She stood a few inches away. They were both completely brown. He smiled and his teeth stuck out like white Chiclets. “Sorry,” he said weakly.
    “Go play with your trucks,” Maya said as she wiped mud off her face. Travis spent his spare time building and tweaking a few remote controlled vehicles. The camp used them for fun and security.
    “When will you kids learn?” Mace asked loudly from the edge of the pit.
    Kelly returned to the pit once she realized she was all alone on the run. “What happened?” she asked over the roar of laughter.
    “Justice,” Mace said. Recognizing that as an outsider Mace’s actions might come back to haunt her, she headed to the edge of the pit and put her hand out for Maya. “C’mon, let’s finish the race together.”
    Surprised by the offer, Maya trudged towards her as Chelsea tried to spit the remaining mud out of her mouth. Standing up, Chelsea wobbled and stumbled around. “I can’t see!” She almost fell down. “I can’t see! Somebody help me!” Her face was caked with mud. She held her hands out in front of her as she tried to feel her way around.
    Mace walked around the pit. “Just stand still, Chelse. I’ll get it,” he said as he approached. He put his fingers out to wipe the mud out of her eyes. As soon as he was within grasp, though, she grabbed the front of his shirt and smeared her face hard against it.
    “Aww shit,” he said quietly as he stared at the brown crud that now covered his shirt. Still coated in mud, Chelsea could at least now open her eyes. “Justice,” she said, smiling up at him.
    “Right,” Mace replied, smiling back sarcastically. Reaching out, he grabbed her and tossed her directly into the mud pit. She flew backwards and landed with a splunk.
    A gunshot far off in the distance instantly diverted everyone’s attention. Mace’s head whipped in its direction. “Patrol!” he announced loudly as he immediately moved for his weapons and vest. He stopped and pointed at Roger. “You stay here,” then, “I want four with me, the rest secure the perimeter.”
    Lisa flew through the gate as Mace rolled the Harley fast behind her. On dirt-bikes, four boys raced through the dirt cloud. Their engines squealed.
    At the mud pit, Chelsea slowly dragged herself out, helped by Maya and Kelly. Travis scampered out at the first sound of the gunshot.
    “Nice plan,” Chelsea said sarcastically to Maya.
    “Yeah, nice plan,” reiterated Kelly. “Too bad it backfired, bitches,” she exclaimed with a laugh. Maya and Chelsea briefly locked eyes before Chelsea tugged on Kelly’s arm while Maya pushed her from behind. They all squealed as they fell back in the mud.
    Another shot helped Mace zero in on the gunman’s position and he zoomed past Lisa, making a beeline for the source. He maneuvered the bike swiftly around debris piles. They’d firebombed most of the buildings within a mile radius, burning them to the ground. They’d stacked the debris in piles, creating pathways around them. All of a sudden he saw them: Four men. They appeared up ahead. As soon as the men spotted him they fired. They were far out of range. He slowed the bike down to a stop and waited for Lisa and the boys to catch up.
    “Plaguers,” he said, as they pulled up around him.
    Lisa stared out at the men. “How do you know?”
    “Who else would be foolish enough to waste ammo like that?”
    “What do you want to