Luisa

“Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!” Luisa heard the cries ring out from the spectators. With one swift movement she plunged her machete deep in the girl's chest stabbing her heart. Cheers erupted, the stadium around the cage shaking in excitement. Luisa kept her eyes on her blade handle. She hated the look they made when they died, the way the light left them gave her nightmares. Close to the end of the blade she saw silver catch the light. It was a heart-shaped locket on a long chain. Just this once, she thought. She grabbed onto it and started to pull it off when the girl grabbed her hand, Luisa looked up startled thinking she was dead. The girl started to mouth a word or a name. ‘Cal Ca” it was like a wordless cry as the girl drowned in her own blood, red spilling from her mouth. Her hand went limp freeing Luisa from the momentary spell. She got her wits back shaking her head and pulled the necklace from her. She gutted the machete free and raised it in the air. “100!” She shouted.

“100! 100! 100!'' The crowd repeated what she said with vigor. She walked to the edge of the cage and looked up at the guard. The tall man gazed up to the arena's King, Luisa followed his eyes and soon everyone else in the crowd quieted. She made eye contact with the man who kept her prisoner for years to make her fight for his entertainment. The King looked upset to lose his favorite fighter, but he gave the guard a nod. He got up and looked down from his perch, “As promised, after 100 kills you are free to go.” The crowd grew even louder. Luisa thought this building was about to collapse under all the excitement. Not that she would mind, It should have been destroyed in the atomic blasts 5 years ago. The guard opened up the cage and let her walk free. She made it out of there with just her tattered clothing, machete and a necklace she nicked off the last soul she took. She had nothing, but her life was now her own. The calm deafening silence overtook her the instant she left the arena.

6 months later.

Luisa was running at full speed through the city’s swap meet, passing travelers and vendors. Shifting herself between people trying not to get knocked down and lose her lead. The man she was chasing kept looking back at her getting more terrified as she closed the gap between them. She could see Nina up ahead ready to come in and intercept him. Damn she’s fast, Luisa thought as she picked up speed. She slid and swiped the assailants’ feet as Nina came in and knocked his chest causing the guy to do a flip before he hit the ground hard. Nina reached out and gave Luisa her hand to help her up from the ground. Nina bent a knee on the guy's chest and held her knife to his throat, “You resist, you die.” The guy could barely breathe, much less resist. Nina and her theatrics, Luisa rolled her eyes and gave her the piece of rope hanging on her waist to tie him up. Both of them grabbed each side of the recaptured prisoner and walked him through the market as many took a chance to look and whisper amongst themselves.

---

Glasses clattered at the pub, people talking and chatting away. Nina was dropping gold coins on the table counting them out. Luisa took a long swig from her cup, drinking down the bitter homemade beer.

“Out of all the people who survived the end, you’d think at least one would have been a cervecero,” she said with disdain.

“If there was a brewer here, they would be king,” Nina looked up at her smiling.

“Yea, I’d give all the coins we just earned for a decent cerveza,” Luisa smirked. Nina shaking her head, “Speak for yourself. I would give it all for a decent fuck though.” She looked around, not impressed.

“Aye loca, quit acting like you're not going home with James later.” He was currently at the bar with his crew giving them glances every so often.

“Well he’s the only one not afraid I'm gonna cut his dick off, so there's that,” Nina brought up.

“Well if that doesn’t make him the one, I don’t know what will,“ Luisa said mockingly.

Nina rolled her eyes, but perked up when James walked over and sat backwards on the empty chair next to them, “Ladies, that was quite the catch you pulled tonight. Can’t you leave any bounties for the rest of us?” Nina glared at him, “And why would we do that when we can have it all to ourselves?” James just smiled at her and kept her gaze, it wasn’t long till she was grinning like a cat, cunning with a bit of mischief.

James was a good looking guy as his face remained unscathed, but Nina had told Luisa before that he had a severe burn mark along his torso and left thigh. It was hard to find anyone who didn’t have some sort of burn or scar on them now. Marks of an atomic war and the chaos that happened after polite society fell and this new savage one took its place. The unlucky people who actually survived the events either died at the hands of someone else, or if proved useful were put to work by the ones who deemed themselves “leaders”. James was a bounty hunter like Luisa and Nina, occupation before unknown. Not that it mattered what someone did before unless they were in the medical field or had a beneficial trade. Luisa had zero skills except for the fighting techniques her marine dad taught her growing up. So she got really good at fighting, not that she had a choice after being thrown into the fighting pits; it was either fight or die, simple as that. The so proclaimed “King” offered Luisa to be his, but she would rather die than let that jackass inside her.

Luisa grabbed her portion of the bounty and went to sit at the bar to order another drink. How many does it take to actually feel something, she thought as she absentmindedly clasped onto her necklace’s heart locket. Someone slid into the seat next to her and Luisa tucked the pendant away. The barkeep brought her drink and she was going to put money down when the person next to her did. “I’ll get hers and a round for me” the guy said with a deep voice that came out like honey. Fuck me, she thought, the owner is gonna ban me again if I get into another fight. She looked up at the bartender who was waiting for her lead. She nodded her head as omission singling she was fine and no trouble would start. Luisa bit her lower lip and tried to smile, but it came out in a grimace. Luisa looked forward and said, “Thanks.” Without looking, she knew he definitely wasn’t from around there, or he'd know she wasn’t someone that he wanted to mess with. She finally looked at him and was staring into deep blue eyes with a hint of fire in the middle. Pretty boy, was the 1st thing that came to her mind, maybe late 20s now. Taking in his gear she could see that wasn’t concealed and the way he sat ready for action, definitely military.

“Where were you stationed?” His eyes widened, slightly shocked he was made, but gained his composure just as quickly.

“San Diego, but I was on leave when...” they bombed the shit out of our country, Luisa finished the sentence in her head.

“Army?” Luisa guessed.

“You insult me miss.”

She glanced at him up and down, “Must be a jarhead then, you're too built to be a pilot.” He smiled at her nodding his head. He put his hand out, “Caleb Davis,” she looked at his bare hand for a moment before grabbing her drink for another swig, “Luisa Hernández.” He smirked as he grabbed his drink to join her.

“What the hell is that?” he asked.

“Beer supposedly, but it beats blacking out on their backwater moonshine here. Pinche Gringos.” She smirked at his visible disdain. Caleb nodded in agreement, “Well whatever gets me drunk.”

After a few more drinks, she decided Caleb didn’t annoy her and after a few more Nina’s words came back to her “I would give it all for a decent fuck though.” They were both stumbling through the back alley behind the bar an hour later, Luisa had her arms wrapped around Caleb's neck, as he gripped her hips firmly. He braced her against the wall as he continued to kiss her and started to tear at her clothes. She just got his belt unbuckled when Caleb was kissing down her neck to her chest. He was reaching to pull up her shirt when her engraved locket caught his eye. The next second he had one arm braced against her chest and the other holding a dagger at her throat.

“I’m all for knife play, but this is a bit much don’t you think?” Luisa said with a sneer. Caleb yanked the necklace off Luisa and put it in her face, “Where did you get this?!”

“I traded for it," she said, picking her words carefully, "in the swap meet.”

“There is no way Sara would have traded this.” He pressed his blade against her, Luisa could feel the sharpness, “I found it in the pits.”

“What the hell are the pits?” Caleb said, confused.

“You really aren’t from around here,” she said irritatedly.

“Tell me where she is!” Caleb tightened his grip on Luisa.

“She’s dead!” Luisa shouted back.

Caleb, surprised, eased up enough for Luisa to push him away and disarmed him, taking his knife as the necklace dropped on the floor. He was bigger, but she was quicker. She held the blade against his carotid artery, “The king had her fight in the death pits and she lost. She died like countless others by the hands of other prisoners like her.” Pain shot across his face, he glared at Luisa next, “Why do you have her necklace?” Staring back blankly, “I’m the one who killed her." Luisa plunged the dagger in Caleb’s throat, blood splattered on her face. She pulled back the knife and watched him bleed out, not looking away, “I’m sorry, you just can’t trust anyone these days.”

The backdoor banged open suddenly, James and Nina were coming through laughing till they saw the bloody mess Luisa made. “What the fuck happened?” Nina asked, looking down at Caleb’s limp body. Luisa bent down and retrieved her pendant off the ground and tied it around her neck. “100th’s lover paid me a visit.” Nina stared at the necklace registering what she meant. “Damn honey, you really do slice and dice em.” James said whistling. Luisa walked towards them expressionless, “Nina see if the caretaker at the arena can take care of the body, he owes me a favor." Nina nodded her head and left taking James with her. Luisa backed up against the opposite wall where Caleb laid. She slumped down bringing her knees against her chest. Tears slowly rolled down her face, the image of him dying burned in her brain. She opened the heart-shaped locket and looked at the happy picture of Sara and Caleb together. Luisa had stared at this picture thousands of times in the past 6 months, and imagined their lives before the dooming war. It was a fantasy that kept her mind occupied, combating the numbness she felt constantly. “You fight or you die,” she said to herself. Luisa then cried her eyes out for the 1st time since this all started till she couldn't anymore.