SPACEROff to the East he could just make out tiny pin-points of luminescence. Janos became hopeful. With any luck, he'd have enough fuel to make it there.

SPACERJanos reached into his saddlebags for his spy-noc scopes and a strawberry Twizzler. He chewed on the sweet snack while peering into the infrared spectrum of his spy-nocs. With his right forefinger, Janos adjusted the range on the scopes and brought the tiny pinpoints into clear view.

SPACERIt was a settlement, sure enough, but most settlements this large meant trouble. And trouble was not on the night's agenda.

SPACERDropping the spy-nocs back into his saddlebag, Janos finished his strawberry Twizzler and grabbed another. Last one.

SPACERFuck.

-

SPACERThe pink neon of the overhead sign lit up Janos' face in the Wasteland's cruel night atmosphere. Its cool, cotton-candy color washed over him, highlighting his chiseled features. 'Dead End,' it read. And it was.

SPACERThe building itself towered high above most of the settlement's other structures. Made of rock and various car parts, Dead End's exterior was intimidating, despite its run-down demeanor. Enormous torches fashioned from rusty mufflers hung to either side of its dull, grey, double-doored entrance. The doors themselves were the sliding, side type from an old Chevy van. The stones that were haphazardly cemented together in the aperture were stained near the ground in all the colors of bodily fluids. Various patrons had painted, scraped, and pissed their names, who they loved, and what sucked all over the foyer's grainy walls.

SPACERSeveral Sanders stood outside the front entrance. Most of them were standing about, talking and laughing. A few lay amongst the rats and rubble of the gutter. One, dressed in jeans and a large leather vest, stood a foot or so above the conglomerate of patronage. Mirrored sunglasses wrapped around a head of greasy, brown ponytail. His enormous arms were tattooed from wrist to shoulder and his hairy chest bore three pronounced scars running the length of his abdomen. He stood next to the entrance of the noise hall, arms crossed, defying anyone to enter uninvited.

SPACERJanos heeled his kickstand to the gravel and set his bike to lean. He dismounted and brushed the Wasteland's dust from his sleeves. He walked passed the Sanders to his left. They looked up from the joint they were passing just long enough to decide they couldn't care less who Janos was. The Sanders on the right were talking to a mutant prostitute with enough tits to suckle a large litter of dust dogs. Their backs turned, they didn't notice Janos so much as they noticed his bike. Sunglasses, on the other hand, did notice Janos. And noticed him plenty. He spoke as Janos neared the double-doored entrance.

SPACER"How's it going?" he said without so much as looking up.

SPACERJanos stopped and stood without turning his head, staring straight passed the bow-tie Chevy symbols in the entrance's windows.

SPACER"Nice bike," Sunglasses said.

SPACERJanos nodded once.

SPACERSunglasses turned his head and looked at Janos, arms still crossed over his enormous belly. "I don't want any trouble in there," he said.

SPACERJanos turned his head enough to see two reflections of himself in the burly man's silver lenses. He noticed the man wore a large, hoop-earring in his lower lip and he was chewing on a bullet.

SPACER"Neither do I."

-

SPACERInside, the Dead End was full of the Wasteland's elite: the movers and the shakers, so to speak. Every deadhead, mutant, and Sander in the settlement seemed to be here, drinking, talking, punching, grabbing, grinding, and laughing with one another. On a stage made of old cars and scrap metal, a three-man band ground out chest-thumping, nerve-grating noises and screamed at the top of their lungs. The crowd loved them. At the bar, every other seat was occupied by cheap whores and the men who would buy their bodies that night.

SPACERJanos took a seat there and called for the barkeep. The bartender was an old man in a white apron. He wore a metallic patch that covered his entire left cheek and eye. The mechanical eye that had replaced his true eye was a soft blue bulb that glowed brighter when he was focusing. Janos noticed that Patch was strapped with a 9mm in a shoulder holster underneath his apron.

SPACER"Water," Janos called out to him. He had to yell to be heard over the band. Patch nodded.

SPACER"Make it two!" added a voice from just behind Janos. He turned his head to see a young woman smiling at him. Whore, he thought as he held his one index finger up to Patch. Patch nodded again and walked off.

SPACER"My name's Misha," the young girl screamed above the screeching sounds from the stage. "What's yours?"

SPACER"Broke," Janos replied.

SPACER"Oh, that's OK. I just like to talk. Do you mind if I talk?"

SPACERJanos looked hard into her face. Seems harmless enough, he thought. But, then, those are the ones to watch out for, now, aren't they?

SPACERNo answer was a 'yes' to the enthusiastic redhead. "So, what brings you to our fair Settlement?"

SPACER"How do you know I'm not from here?" Janos asked as Patch brought him his solitary glass of water. Janos gave the man a credit and put his hands around the cool sides of the glass.

SPACER"Oh, I know mostly all the locals and I know that you must've just got here..." she paused and widened her smile, "I would've noticed you already."
SPACERJanos nodded into his glass of water. It was stale, but wet. He turned his attention on Misha.

SPACER"Janos."

SPACER"Beg your pardon?" she said.

SPACER"Name's Janos," he repeated. Janos took another long draw from his glass and signaled for Patch to bring him another.

SPACER"Oh!" Misha squealed. "Well, like I said, my name's Misha. It's very nice to meet you... Janos."

SPACERPatch brought the other glass and set it in front of him. Janos dropped another credit on the bartop and handed the drink to Misha.

SPACER"Likewise, I'm sure."

SPACERThe band quit playing just then and the dance floor cleared. The bar flooded with new customers, thirsty for anything to quench their throats, dry from slamming into one another for the passed hour. Janos never could understand dancing.

SPACER"Don't you just love Heck?" Misha cooed to Janos.

SPACER"Who?" he asked. He noticed, now that they didn't have to yell over the din of the stage, that Misha had a very melodious voice.

SPACER"Heck. You know, 'Heck'? The band? I just love them. Their music is so moving."

SPACER"Yea," Janos offered, "they're just fine."

SPACER"So, where are you from, 'Janos'?" Misha asked as she finished her water, stressing his name like she believed it an alias. She signaled Patch to bring another round.

SPACER"Nowhere," Janos answered her, slightly annoyed that he had bought her that first drink.

SPACER"I was born and raised right here in Hell," she continued. Patch brought two more drinks and looked to Janos for the tab. Janos looked at Misha who was nonchalantly and conveniently looking off into the crowd. Janos sighed and dug into his pocket for two more credits.

SPACER"Yea, I guess you could say I'm a local-yokel..." her voice drifted off as she took another sip from her glass.

SPACER"So, are you planning on staying here long?" she questioned.

SPACERJanos turned his head and eyed her for a long moment. Looking her up and down, he could see no ulterior motive coming on, yet he hesitated to answer. Long boots, cheaply made and ill-fitting; trousers pulled tight at her waist by a length of thick, leather cord; white blouse, torn along the sleeves and collar. Nerves, he blamed.

SPACER"Nope."

SPACER"Oh, that's too bad..." she drifted off again looking into the crowd. Janos tried to follow her eyes to see what she was searching for, but could not. He felt compelled to ask her, but decided it wasn't important enough.

SPACER"I plan to leave someday, too," she said, focusing on him again and smiling. "I've got dreams, y'know."

SPACERJanos nodded and drank the rest of his water. This conversation has grown as stale as my cup, he thought. Misha looked back into the crowd again as Heck retook the stage. But what is she looking at?

SPACERThere it was. In the sudden rush of people hurrying to take the dance floor, he saw what she was looking at. As he stared into the crowd of turned backs running toward the stage, one solemn face stared back. A man dressed in military fatigues and flak-jacket was keeping a concerned eye on them. As their eyes met, the man looked away and stood up. He picked up a black cowboy hat from his table and placed it on his head. Walking away, the man cast another look in Janos' direction.

SPACERJanos put his glass down on the bartop and looked into Misha's waiting face.

SPACER"Well, it was nice meeting you, Janos, but I--"

SPACERJanos tightened his hand around her wrist and pulled her close.

SPACER"Not so fast, 'Misha'," he cut her off. "Who's the cowboy?"

SPACERMisha looked off in the direction Cowboy had been sitting and then nervously at Janos. The band kicked in with a series of growls and bass-lines.

SPACER"I...I'm..." she looked over Janos' shoulder toward the entrance. "I'm in deep shit." With a quick turn of her hand, Misha reversed the wrist hold and held Janos in a painful grasp. With her other hand, she pulled off her belt. It unrolled to a length of nearly 10 feet. She swirled it about at her feet in circles of nervousness. "If you don't want me to twist your hand off and bitch-slap you with it, be cool."

SPACERJanos' eyes widened and he breathed in hard. His shock disappeared as quickly as it had come, however, and he squinted at her in rage. But Misha wasn't paying attention to his reaction. She was looking passed him with a glint in her eye that looked part fear and part excitement.

SPACERJanos followed her eyes over his shoulder to the door and saw Sunglasses standing between two men in dark suits and what appeared to be small night-vision goggles. Sunglasses looked about at the crowd until his eyes fell on Janos and Misha. His finger pointed them out and he spoke to the Suits. The taller of the Suits turned around and called something out the door. Corporate Police stormed the building, knocking Sunglasses down the stairs and out of the way. Somebody yelled, "RAID!" just loud enough to be heard over Heck and the place erupted into anarchy.

SPACERMisha softened her grip on Janos' wrist and flicked her cord belt in tiny snaps of anticipation. She looked hard into his eyes.

SPACER"If you want to stay alive," she urged him, "then follow me!"

SPACERPeople were frantic, scrambling for exits. The CPs were throwing batons into people all around them. A few CPs launched gas grenades into the scurryin crowd on the dance floor. Yellow swirls of noxious smoke began to cloud the building. The Suits stood at the entrance staring at Janos.

SPACERJanos turned around to demand Misha tell him what was going on, but she was gone. He saw her running toward the rear of the building and pause only long enough to exchange a few words with Cowboy. Janos got his feet back and ran after her, bumping into Cowboy on the way. He stopped. Cowboy looked him in the face, smiled, and then disappeared into the yellow fog.

SPACERWhat the hell have I gotten into now? Janos asked himself as he followed Misha up some stairs and into a long hallway. And what the hell are Corporate Police doing here? Up ahead, Misha stopped at a doorway and began to shoulder it in.

SPACERMisha stepped back from the door and with one boot, kicked it in. The sounds of splintering wood and popping lock-bolts were followed by screams from the room's occupant.

SPACER"Hurry up!" she called back to Janos.

SPACERJanos sped up his pace and entered the room to find Misha searching about for an alternative exit. She peered out an enormous window on the opposite wall. The naked whore on the bed was screaming hysterically as Misha tried to force open the glass pane. Jammed.

SPACERMisha loosened her whip and unraveled its deadly grasp. She grabbed one side of a tattered armchair that rested beside the bed. As she neared the bed, the whore choked back her screams.

SPACER"Shut up, slut!" Misha yelled at the girl. She turned on Janos next, "Give me a hand with this!"

SPACERTogether they lifted the chair into the air. Misha nodded in the direction of the window. With the crashing sound of breaking glass, they tossed it out the window. Misha ran back to the bed and began tying the sheets together and then linked them to the bedpost. Janos looked out the second story window to the ground. At the bottom, he saw Cowboy standing beside his Sportster. Cowboy looked up, tilted his hat to the gawking Janos and turned to run off into an alleyway.

SPACERBefore he could regain momentum, Misha was standing next to him. SPACER"Don't just stand there! Let's go," she yelled at him, grabbing his shirt collar. "Or do you want to go through corporate interrogation?"

SPACERJanos was terribly confused, but he could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. That did not confuse him, so he threw a leg over the windowsill after Misha. He scaled down the side of the building with the bedsheets to the ground where Misha was waiting for him.

SPACER"How did my bike get to the back of the building?" he asked as he started its V-Twin engine and revved it up.

SPACER"Christian," Misha answered as she swung herself onto Janos' bike behind him and threw her arms around his body.

SPACERThey squealed off, streaking through street after street until they were free and clear of the settlement. Janos slowed his Sportster down about a mile away and watched the enormous pillar of flame crackling up into the night. He looked over his shoulder at the glossy eyed woman on the back of his bike.

SPACER"You're not from around here, are you?" he asked.

SPACERMisha only smiled.

SPACERWhat the hell have I gotten into now?

SPACERJanos kicked his bike in gear and rode off, fast and hard, into the night.

-