Massacre

The wind ruffled his hair and clothes as he clung to the edges of the truck bed of the Makinaw Warhorse, feeling the vibration of the engine thrumming through his body. He gazed out at the passing scenery.

Several other's were with him on the truck bed, these were the fighters so to speak. Most in the camp were not fond of fighting and couldn't even shoot worth a damn. So besides his mom and a few other's, there weren't many who kept weapons or who could fight.

So only a select few took patrolling. Though currently their job was extermination. They had to take out the few Wraiths that wandered near their camp. There was about 15 of them left apparently.

Blake overlooked the faces of the four men cramped together on the truck bed.

Dominic. Black hair cut into a buzzcut with two ocular implants, at his side a large light machine gun that fit him due to his large built that nearly took all the space in the truck bed.

Second, James and Andrew. Twins, like Dominic they had short black hair and wore simple attire that helped them move around easier. They both had prosthetic arms, James had a right one while Andrew a left one. Each had simple simple assault rifles at their side.

Lastly Tommy, he was a large man, not Dominics size but large nonetheless. He was bald with a goatee. His body was litterd with chunks of cyberwear and his eye's had patches of black implants placed on them. He had a singular revolver hoisted to his side.

("An Midnight Arms MA70 HB, two Moron Labe's and a single Techtronika RT-46 Burya. I've got an O'Five rifle while Tony's got another assault rifle. Then the guy infont just has a old fashioned glock.") They had decent fire power, but that's all it was, decent. There was also just about 7 of them counting himself, they were gonna go up against 15 people. They were outnumbered.

"What's the matter kid, 'bout to piss yourself?" Blake spared Tommy a dull look as the latter lit a cigarette. "If ya want we can drop you off at the side of the road."

"Oh is the princess scared?" One of the twins mocked yet Blake paid them no mind.

"Not scared, just cautious. We're gonna be outnumbered once we get there."

"Relax kid, me and Andrew scouted the area way before. These few Wraiths have gonk implants and even crappier gear." James stated.

"The two of you might as well be sharing a braincell so I'm not sure if your words could be trusted." The twins merely flipped Blake off.

("Still though, I've got a feeling thing's are gonna go to shit.") But it was just a feeling.

"Alright boys, we're here!" Tony's voice came from the drivers seat as the truck slowed down and eventually stopped.

They were now parked atop a hill overlooking their destination, an abandoned gas station sat next to the main road. From where they were, he could make out the few Wraiths walking around the area.

"Right, let's get to work." Dominic finnaly spoke as everyone got out of the truck.

Blake took his position at the edge of as the other's prepared their weapons.

"Okay, it's a simple objective folks. We move in clear 'em out then we delta, got it?" Tony received a few confirmations as he turned to Blake.

"And kid your jo-"

"Yeah I know, provide cover. It's the reason I have a sniper." Blake interrupted as Tony let out a grunt.

"Fine then, let's move out." Without another word the six made their way down the steep hill carefully, and it was not long till they reached the bottom.

Now they only needed to cross the road to get to the gas station occupied by the few Wraiths. And cross it they did and not long after have they been spotted. A Wraith hosited atop the gas station roof screamed out something as he pointed at the fast approaching men before he started firing his weapon wildly.

A few more Wraiths exited from the small convenient store smack dab in the middle of the gas station and immediately a gun fight broke out. With Tony and the other's taking cover behind a few old and abandoned cars.

Bullets flew in every direction as the sound of gunfire filled the air. Bullets ricocheting of cars as each side pushed for any kind of advantage. Even from where he was positioned, he could almost smell the gunpowder.

But no matter how tense the atmosphere below seemed or how outnumbered they were, they had the advantage of superior weaponry.

Heavy gun fire from Dominic ripped through several Wraiths, tearing through them as if they were paper. That left the group with eleven to deal with.

"Minus one." Blake mutterd as he perfectly aligned a shot before pulling the trigger. The bullet shot out with a loud bang as in the next instance a Wraith found the upper section of his face missing. But he didn't stop there, quickly adjusting his position he aimed at another Wraiths torso, before he shot again. The bullet easily tore through the Wraiths mesely body armour as his body violently convolsed, as it harshly shot back and fell to the ground. He also made sure to kill the Wraith that hid on the roof.

The rest began advancing as the Wraiths numbers grew scarce, coupled with the heavy fire of Dominic and coupled with the onslaught of the rest of the group, the Wraiths did not have much options. The onslaught did not last long as the few Wraiths found themselves torn apart by the fire of Dominics weapon, he seemed to be doing all the work really. His gun was all but steaming as he overlooked what was left of the Wraiths.

And just like that the 15 Wraiths were reduced to nothing. The gunfight, if it could even be called that had not even lasted a few minutes. It was laughably easy, which made Blake worry. Wraiths were no pushover and usually even grunts had half decent implants, not to mention Wraiths knew their way around a gun fight.

But these few 15? They could barely aim their weapons, and couldn't even handle the recoil.

"Decoys?" He mutterd to himself as he overlooked the scene with his scope. Maybe those people weren't Wraiths, just some people nabbed and put into Wraith gear. Far fetched? Maybe. But the Wraiths were scumbags on par with Scavs.

Blake quickly tried to get into contact with Tony via holo call. But before he could proceed he caught something in his Peripheral vision, moving in the distance.

Three large black trucks about slightly smaller then their own, sleek in design were moving down the road, heading straight to the gas station where the other's still were.

"Shit." Was all Blake could say as a dozen or so Wraiths exited the trucks and all but charged at the few men at the gas station.

It didn't take them long to take note of the on coming Wraiths, but it was too late. Gun fire reverberated through the air once more as Andrew and James found their bodies riddled with bullets. They didn't even have time to react as their mutilated bodies hit the floor.

Tommy quickly gained his bearings as he swiftly aimed his revolver at the Wraiths but it was all for naught as a bullet tore through his hand, ridding it of his fingers and whatever cyberwear he had on it. But he could not even scream in pain as he immediately became riddled with bullets. Chunks of his implants scatterd to the ground along with chunks of flesh.

The other guy who's name he didn't bother remembering tried to make an escape, but obviously to no avail as bullets tore through his entire body.

Tony and Dominic had quickly retreated to the convenient store as bullets rained down on them, the two taking cover behind the counter.

Blake overlooked the scene but did not act. There were about just 12 Wraiths this time, but they had some major implants and some heavy gun power. He'd be hard pressed to kill them all, besides once they close in he was done for.

He was confident in his close quarters skills, but he was still just a organic kid with only the mandatory implants. Chrome junkies like them would tear him to pieces.

Speaking of tearing thing's to pieces, the Wraiths seemed annoyed to be wasting too much ammo so they tossed in grenades to the convenient store. Just as Dominic and Tony were prepared to fire, they took note of the grenades tossed their way, a deafening explosion was heard, followed by a blinding flash of light and a massive shockwave sent glass and slight debris flying through the air. There was no need to check if the two were still alive.

In less then a few seconds their group was taken out. Blake watched as the Wraiths loaded of the bodies of the few that were still intact, into their trucks.

"Prolly gonna harvest their implants and organs. Thought they were Wraiths not Scavs." Blake mutterd to himself not really minding the deaths of his group. Why would he? It wasn't as if they were close or anything, they just knew eachothers name's and that was about it.

But he paid it no mind as he watched as the few Wraiths go back into their vehicles and quickly speed off towards,

"North? The direction of the...fuck!" Blake immediately stood up from his sniping position as he went to the Makinwa War house parked nearby. Wasting no time he got in as he started the engine. He could barely, properly see beyond the steering wheel but he didn't care.

He might be paranoid but the Wraiths had there eye's on the camp for awhile now, so he threw caution to the wind.

He quickly navigated a way down the hill, the truck bouncing on the hard ground as it landed with a heavy thud on the road, it skidded on the road slightly before Blake got his barrings.

Slamming his foot on the accelerator he quickly sped off, making sure to keep steady. Luckily there were no other car's in the road so it was easy enough to drive through even if he had little experience driving. It was also easier to spot the Wraiths.

The three black trucks drove close together, most of the Wraiths were on the truck bed so it didn't take long for them to take note of him. They shouted something as most took aim.

Blake ducked his head low as bullets shot through the windshield and scraped againts the insides of the Makinaw, pushing down harder on the accelerator it wasn't long till he got results.

The sound of metal slamming against metal echoed for all to hear as Blake collided with one of the trucks, the Makinaw being slightly bigger it rocked the smaller truck harshly. A few Wraiths couldn't withstand the collision as they fell out of the tuck bed.

The driver of the truck struggled to get his bearings as the truck skidded out of control, it went off road as it crashed againts a large rock immbedded into the ground.

Blake didn't pay his handy work any mind as he stayed low as more bullets whizzed through the now open windshield, as other's collided with the Makinaw. While the onslaught was raining down on him he accessed his contact's as he tried to get Gwen on the holo call. It rang for a few seconds before she actually picked up.

[Blake? Where the fuck are you!? And is that gunfire in the back?]

"Look some Wraiths are on their way to the camp, so delta the fuck out." Blake wasted no time in addressing the situation to his sister.

[What? Wraiths, I gotta warn the other's-]

"Don't be a dumbass!" Blake berated his sister as a bullet whizzed past his face. "Get to mom and get the fuck outta there."

[You just expect me to leave these guy's to die?]

"Yes, the Wraiths aren't playing around and I ain't sure if I can stop them."

[Sorry but I can't do that, I'll delta once I warn everyone. And I'll try to save your guitar.] His words were ignored as the call ended.

"Fuck! Stupid bi-" He couldn't finish his sentence as one of the Wraith trucks pulled back slightly till they were at his side. They slammed into his side as he was quickly sent into dissary. With the bullets still raining down on him he struggled to keep himself steady.

He skidded off road as the Makinaw road unsteadily. The Wraiths took advantage of this as another slammed into his side harshly, it was now Blake realized where he was positioned. Over a small cliff. The Makinaw no longer touched the ground as it went pummeling below.

"Shi-"

It landed harshly below as Blake's head collided with the steering wheel, hard. And in that instance his vision went black.

----------------------------------

"Hngh..." Blake let out a groan as he struggled to get his vision straight. His head was pounding and his forehead felt wet. He reached towards it with his hand and it was clear to see why. A red liquid stained his hand now, it was his blood.

He shook his head, trying to get out of his stupor. He reached for the handle of the the Makinaw door. Opening it he nearly fell out as he leaned against the door. But he shakingly kept his balance as his unfocused eye's went over the wrecked Makinaw Warhorse.

He had only suffered a minor concussion, he had a wound on his forehead as well. But no broken limbs or missing eye's. But as his eye's wandered to the sky...

"Fuck! It's dawn!" How many hours was he passed out? No it didn't matter, his eye's flashed slightly as he tried to access his holo phone.

[ERROR ERROR. DAMAGE TO NEURALWEAR.]

"Of fucking course." Blake cursed to himself as he started running, the cliff he fell off of wasn't too far down so he should still be able to make it to the camp on foot.

So all he could do was run, luckily the heat wasn't so intense when it neared night time. Regardless he still had a pounding headache and his vision wouldn't stay focused. But still with his mom out Gwen was defenceless. She couldn't fight worth a damn and she couldn't stomach killing.

"Shit, shit, shit." The Wraiths were sick bastards who didn't know the meaning of moderation. They'd kill anyone to take what they want. Men, women or children. They didn't give a rat's ass. And to someone as hopeful as Gwen? They would use and break her just for shits and giggles.

Blake stopped his dark thoughts as he neared his camp, or what was left of it. He came to a halt as he studied everything. Tents were torn apart and the area was practically litterd with corpses. The stench of blood hung in the air as Blake's eye's wildly darted around.

He ran further in, heading straight for his tent. It wasn't long till he reached it, like the other's it was torn down, everything worth something was taken but no sign of a body.

"Was she taken?" He questioned himself, it was possible but from the corpses he's seen even other women were left, and even those with a few implants. Gwen only had a singular ocular implant, meaning they wouldn't bother taking her to harvest a single implant. But they could still take her organs. But still it wouldn't make sense, there were a fair number of corpses here still, meaning they didn't take her. Besides he took down one truck, so they didn't have the transport to transfer the bodies.

Maybe he was getting too hopeful but he was just using logical thinking. But there was still his mom who he didn't need to worry about. She would massacre these few Wraiths. Maybe she had gotten to Gwen and was looking for him? Maybe but standing around here wouldn't answer his question.

So Blake enterd the ruined and ransacked tent, he looked around and didn't spot much besides a single gun. His mother's crates were most likely taken as well as his own stuff, which only included a singular guitar he got for one of his birthday's. He was a fan of music but rarely got a chance to listen to it.

Notheless he took the gun.

"Constitutional Arms Unity, Gwen's." It was a simple pistol, with a light grey colour. He still needed to head back and get his sniper. But then where was he suppose to go? He currently couldn't contact either Gwen or his mom, his neuralware was damaged. They could be anywhere.

"Could always hire a fixer." But that would involve going to a place that was chock full of them. Night City, a place he rather avoid.

So stepping out of the tent he spared his surroundings another glance.

"Grhaaaaa!" A shrill scream reached his ears as he snapped his head towards the source.

A man was charging right at him. Bald with ink black eye's, no doubt some eye modification. But what was more noticeable was the blades extending from his fore arms. He must've been a Wraith that stayed behind for some reason. But judging from his unfocused and crazy movements he wasn't in the right state of mind.

Perhaps he had gone cyberpshyco, though beside the Mantis Blades, Blake didn't see any other note worthy implants. Maybe they were all internal. Regardless Blake couldn't spend too much time thinking on it as the man pounced on him with the agility of a wild beast.

Blake quickly moved to the side as the man's blades immbedded themselves into the ground where his target should've been. As he pulled out his blades, Blake didn't waste any time.

Taking aim he shot at the man, the bullets reached his target yet did not achieve the desired results. They scraped against his skin as if colliding with metal.

He seemed unbotherd as he shrugged off the bullet, immediately he charged at Blake again. The latter ducked as a blade flew overhead. Quickly raising his gun he shot at the man's defenceless abdomen, but he received the same results. The bullet ricocheted of it and nearly hit him.

So Blake backed further away as he narrowly avoided a blade looking to carve his face.

("Great. Just what I fuckin' need. Some fuck just had to stay behind. And said fuck just had to be chock full of chrome.") His thoughts didn't continue long as the man began charging at him again.

Blake took aim again, trying to focus on his eye's. It might've been vulnerable. But before he could take a shot the man suddenly blurred out of existence. It took a moment for Blake to register what occured.

"Shit! Sandi-" He chocked on his words as a blade stabbed through his right shoulder, the man now suddenly infont of him, his eye's unfocused as he pushed the blade in deeper. Blake grit his teeth as his back hit the ground. The man raised his free blade to finish the job.

But it was an opening Blake took advantage of, despite the immense pain.

He shoved the barrel of the gun into the man's mouth. He didn't waste any words on the soon to be corpse as he pulled the trigger. Blood, bone, and brain matter sprayed outwards in a gruesome and grotesque display. The force of the blast sent their body tumbling to the ground, lifeless and unrecognizable.

Blake didn't spare it a glance as he tried to stand up, his adrenaline doing nothing to help with the pain. As he tried to stand up he fell back down quickly. His legs felt wobbily and his body numb. And he felt like throwing up.

But why? He didn't loose too much blood. But the answer came when he stated at his arm. His veins were more apparent and pulsed with a purple unnatural colour.

"F-fuck, toxin." He fell back as he grew more weak. The man's Mantis Blades must've had a feature that injected toxin into it's target. It wouldn't be long before said toxin spread to his heart as it enterd directly into his bloodstream.

He couldn't even utter out any words as his eyelids grew heavily. Eventually they closed, the only sound he heard was approaching footsteps.