Chapter 35:

Uh oh. Argo and I exchanged worried glances. Someone else might have killed a man. That didn't bode well for any of us. An unclaimed kill meant a third party was at play. Sure, someone may have stumbled into the middle of the firefight and shot the first person they saw. Maybe they were acting in self-defense, too.

It was also possible that Valley Moor's guards were regrouping for a counterattack. We had taken them by surprise and no doubt they were in the dark about how many of us there actually were. Their best move would've been to pull back to analyze the situation. Or perhaps they considered the town lost and left altogether. That was the best-case scenario.

The worst? Pro players. Here to make sure the people of Valley Moor didn't get their hands on me before they did. Argo must have reached the same conclusion because she redoubled her efforts in tinkering with the console.

"Keep your guard up, guys. We're almost done down here," I said, neglecting to add the 'I hope' at the end.

Another white dot left the power plant on the monitor and hit the lone yellow blip north of the map. Something outside whirred again but increased in power rather than dying down to a slow rattle. Argo grinned underneath her hood.

"Atta girl. That yellow one needs more juice to get her goin'," she purred, reaching out and turning a knob slowly. At the same time, I flipped a lever and held down a button next to it. Two more dots hit the yellow blip, then three, then five.

The mechanical noises outside rose up in volume, working together in harmony like an orchestra warming up for its set. Lights flickered on and for a split second, the massive room outside was bathed in fluorescent lighting, revealing turbines as big as a semi-truck at the bottom of a room that rivaled the Sistine Chapel in size.

And then I heard a furious, inhuman screech come from outside, the sound so horrific I physically recoiled as it pierced my ears. It was like nails on a chalkboard being put through a megaphone. Metal twisted and snapped. I saw sparks flying through one of the windows and then a heavy thumping reverberated above us.

"Argo," I said through gritted teeth, raising my MP7 towards the only door in the room. I didn't dare tear my eyes away for even an instant.

"Hold on. Just give it a minute."

"A lot can happen in a minute," I said. The thumps increased in frequency and intensity, then a clatter came from outside. I didn't see whatever was on the other side of the door, rather I felt it. An angry, violent presence that brought with it no peace.

Tension settled on my shoulders. I found myself gritting my teeth and made a conscious effort to relax. Whatever was on the other side, I'd deal with it the same way I did with everything else: by kicking and screaming and making a general nuisance of myself.

"I don't suppose whoever's out there is here to sell vacuum cleaners, right?" I barked out a low chuckle at my own joke. The tension melted away slightly and I cracked a slight grin. That's the nice thing about humor. As long as it distracts you from the stresses of daily life for even a moment, it did its job perfectly.

"Ah-ha!" Argo exclaimed. The constant din coming from outside rose to a mechanical crescendo. The bright ceiling lights flickered on as I looked back on the monitor. The lone yellow blip on the map turned into a vibrant green. Argo pointed at it with a large grin. "I know that place. It's a cave. The Wastelands fulla them so I conduct business in them from time to time. That's our next stop."

I tried to say something, but a frenzied howl drew my attention back to the door just as it was wrenched off its frame and tossed to the side like it was cardboard. The thing came inside and all at once the tension came rushing back to me.

I could only describe it as a human woman in the loosest sense of the term. It had arms and legs, sure, but they were too long for its body. The white jumpsuit it wore was torn in several places along its belly and a sleeve was missing entirely. Its fingers were the size of butcher knives and honed to a razor-sharp point. Tufts of white stringy hair clung to its scalp. Its lower jaw was missing. Even more disturbingly, its chest cavity was completely ripped open, exposing a rib cage made out of some kind of black synthetic material.

The moment it laid its glowing red eyes on us, a life bar appeared over its head with a skull right next to its name. Ruined Prototype.

"Sorry, I already have a vacuum cleaner," was all I could say before the Prototype wailed with an unrepentant fury and launched itself at me with unnatural grace and speed. Time slowed down to a crawl, and for some reason, despite the fact that I was only less than a second away from death, I couldn't help but notice the youthful features of its face, twisted with hatred as it was.

Argo tackled me to the ground at the last possible moment and the Prototype's claw buried itself into the console behind us. She rolled off me and rose to materialize her shotgun, but the Prototype was already moving, planting its feet on the console and using it to springboard up onto the ceiling where it started skittering back towards the door.

Argo corrected her aim and fired, putting a slug right into its spine. Blue blood sprayed from its back and the thing whipped its head back at her, eyes alight.

Its health bar didn't even move.

I scrambled to my feet and fired my MP7, but I might as well have been throwing rocks for how little it did. The rounds squashed themselves against its skin which only seemed to piss it off more. The Prototype dropped from the ceiling, twisted itself upright, and lunged for me again the moment it hit the ground.

But Argo already had it in her sights. Her shotgun roared and the slug slammed into its face hard enough to send it flying backward. Despite that, the Prototype's health didn't drop.

Argo frowned as she pumped another shell. "Just a guess, but I don't think this is a fight we're s'posed to win."

I was inclined to agree with her. The mangled monstrosity of an android rolled itself up to its feet in a manner too smooth for any human to accomplish. With a deadly finesse almost bordering on otherworldly, it straightened its posture and jumped with from one surface to another, never staying in one place for long.

Argo and I took our chances. Shooting it would accomplish nothing except wasting ammo and time, neither of which we could afford to lose. We made a break for the door and I almost stumbled when I felt the air behind me get sliced in half. Argo was the first to make it outside and I followed after her as we hit the catwalk and broke into a dead sprint.

"Sinon, Noya, pack your stuff and get ready to move the second we get up there!" A crash came a moment later and when I looked over my shoulder, the Prototype was in hot pursuit, running on all fours and shaking the catwalk with every bound. By the time we were almost halfway across, it had already gained on us, howling with an animalistic madness as it swiped one of its claws at me.

I managed to duck and narrowly avoided getting decapitated, but my relief was short-lived. The claw sailed over my head and cut through one of the wire ropes suspending the bridge. It snapped. The catwalk suddenly listed to one side and I lost my balance.

I slammed into the guardrail. Pain flared up in my ribs, but I was too keyed up to worry about it and used the momentum to push off and continue my dead sprint along the new awkward angle we were running in. Argo made it to the elevator and forced open the scissor gate with a heave while I was only a few dozen feet away.

She whipped around and leveled her shotgun back at me, the bullet line coming from its barrel shook furiously, trying to aim for the Prototype, but I was right in front of it, and unintentional human shield.

There was nothing for it. I had to take a gamble and hope she seized the chance. Once my foot hit the ground, I used it to launch myself forward in a dive, hitting my chin on the grate floor and holding on for dear life lest I roll off into the spinning turbines below. Argo's shotgun went off. The plastic cracked, and metal screeched. I twisted my head around to see the Prototype sprawled out on its back, a flurry of blue and white fire escaping its open chest.

It bought me a few seconds of time. I scrambled to my feet and bolted into the elevator. Argo slammed the gate shut behind me and I all but smashed my fist against the button to take us up.

The flames spilling out of the android's ribs were suddenly snuffed out like a candle, and then it rose to its feet again. When its gleaming red eyes saw me already behind the safety of the elevator's gate, it bellowed its ear-splitting cry and then jumped out of sight.

I leaned my back against the elevator's wall and slid down into a sitting position while we ascended. I felt exhausted. Drained. Even if fatigue wasn't stimulated by the Amu Sphere, I couldn't deny that a good nap sounded wonderful at the moment.

"Phew, well that was an event," Argo said, flicking her head to get her hair out of her eyes. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Welcome to my life for the past few months," I grinned up at her. "Appreciate the assist, by the way. You saved my skin."

"Ah, it ain't nothin'. Ya get what ya pay for."

I wiped a hand over my face and pressed my fingertips against my eyelids. "What the hell was that thing? I've never seen anything like it before."

"Ya got me," Argo admitted. That surprised me. If she didn't know, then we truly were heading into uncharted territory.

"If that was the prototype, I'd hate to meet the final product," I said.

Sinon's voice suddenly spoke into my ear. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're on our way back up. Still shooting guys up there?" I asked, taking a glance at her health bar out of concern. About a fourth of it was gone, but she was still well in the green.

"No. That's the problem," she said. She wouldn't admit it, but I could hear the subtle tension in her voice. "All the guards in town are gone, but I'm certain we didn't kill all of them."

"They disappeared," Noya's voice chimed in. "The town's completely deserted. There's something else going on here."

A cold, uneasy feeling gnawed at my guts and I ran a hand over my hair. "Take up defensive positions. We'll be up there soon.

It felt like an eternity passed when the elevator slowed to a stop. Argo and I exited and hurried up the staircase out of the basement into the main store. Sinon was already waiting for us, peering out of the front window with her Glock still in hand.

"It's quiet outside," she said, giving us the briefest of glances. "I don't like it."

"Well, we're done here so we don't have any reason to stick around. How are you doing on ammo?" I asked.

"Hecate is dry, but I still have enough magazines for my pistol. I'll be fine," she said. The three of us exited the store. Sinon took point and kept an eye out for unseen threats like it was second nature. But I was tempted to think there was no need. The town was dead in more than one sense of the word. Buildings were riddled with bullet holes.

Scorch marks dotted the street where I had thrown the grenades that started the firefight. A couple of guns were scattered around, dropped by their former owners. Through it all, a cloud of heavy silence hung over Valley Moor, as it had once again been taken by the bleak, lifeless terrain that surrounded it.

I really hope nobody puts another bounty on me for shooting up a town. That would just ruin my day.

We came to a stop in the middle of the road, forming a loose circle. A second later, Noya came creeping out from the shadow of an old church down the street. He had taken his helmet and balaclava off, his white hair fluttering against the wind.

"Have fun?" I asked him when he came closer.

"Quite a bit," he said, the corner of his lip twitching.

"So where are we going? Argo mentioned something about a cave," Sinon said. I nodded and brought up a holographic map of the Wastelands, laying it down parallel to the ground.

"That cave is here on the northern edge of the zone. We fed it a whole bunch of power from that underground plant we were in. I'm still not exactly sure what it did, but we have reason enough to believe that's our next destination."

"Any idea what's there?" Sinon asked.

"I've been there before, but nothin' stood out at the time. Don't mean there isn't anything hidden inside, though," Argo tapped her chin in thought. "Could be the juice we gave that cave opens up another secret entrance like the one in the basement."

"Only one way to find out," I closed the map and gave the group a confident nod. "We're doing well so far, guys. Let's keep this up."

Argo returned the gesture and turned, walking out of the town. "Let me take the lead on this one. I know the quickest way there," She insisted. Noya shrugged at me and closely followed behind her. Sinon and I took a moment to check our gear when our eyes met briefly. We shared a small smile, then started after them.

Then they were gone.

The shockwave hit me without warning. It threw me off my feet. The world spun end over end. Heat, shrapnel, dirt, sand, all of it overwhelmed my senses. Then it all came to an abrupt stop. My back hit the ground and the overpowering scent of smoke filled my lungs.

"Wh-what the hell...?" I choked out, staring aimlessly at the red-colored sky and the blazing sun. I heard a voice, somewhere miles away or on the other side of the earth. The ringing in my ears made it hard to tell.

Days passed until a figure crouched over me. I blinked at it, trying to see past the shadows covering its face. Small hands took hold of my shoulders and shook me hard enough to refocus my vision.

Sinon glared back at me, gritting her teeth in a ferocious scowl. Sand caked her hair and red pixelated cuts covered her body.

"S-Sinon?" I croaked. I used what meager amount of strength I had to prop myself up by my elbows. "Wh-where…"

I looked down the street for Argo and Noya. There was no one there. Just a small crater where they once stood with colored orbs surrounding it. Dropped inventory. Their dropped inventory. I checked the health bars under mine and my stomach dropped.

Argo and Noya were gone. Killed.

"Aww, I missed a few."

A girl's voice drifted into my ear. It didn't belong to Sinon. It came from up high, on one of the building's rooftops. I craned my neck and looked up.

There were three people standing over us. One of them was a man built like a tree, wide and sturdy with a burly chest and heavy arms, wearing a set of forest green clothing. A Boonie hat covered in leaves sat atop his square-shaped head and he balanced a rifle against his shoulder. I couldn't make out exactly what it was, but I could tell just from its appearance that it wasn't some cheap knockoff. It was a gun made for marksmen, designed to kill from any range with lethal efficiency.

A flash of movement brought my attention to the second person and my jaw almost dropped. It was a girl with long golden hair, but unlike the mountain of a man next to her, she was practically the size of a child, dressed in a flak jacket and an old-fashioned army helmet. It would have been a comical sight if it weren't for the very serious rotary grenade launcher she had aimed in my direction. When she saw me staring at her, she smirked and waved like we were old friends.

"Hey, you sure this thing isn't broken? I wanted to blow all of them up!" The last member of the group said. It was another woman. Tall, slender, and wearing a black skintight catsuit that complimented her petite figure. Her raven-colored hair was tied in a high ponytail but left thick locks to frame an attractive face. But by far her most distinguishing features were the geometric tattoos on each cheek that stretched from the corners of her lips to her ears.

She grinned, but there was no warmth to it. Just pure wicked bloodlust. I saw it in her dark eyes, in the way they sparkled. We were nothing more than prey to her. Helpless victims she would slaughter for the sheer thrill.

The big man closed his eyes and spoke in a low tone. "We're supposed to take them alive."

"Yeah, yeah. But I wanted to have some fun with them first," she said. Her voice was one part honey and two parts venom. She hefted a rotary grenade launcher similar to the one Tiny held and aimed at me, smoke drifting lazily from its barrel.

I swallowed a mouthful of saliva to soothe my sore throat and glared up at her. "Let me guess. You're here for me, aren't you?"

"Oh? You think so?"

"It's been that kind of day," I said. Thin lips pulled back to sharp canines as the woman threw her head back and laughed.

"Well no sense in dancing around it, is there? Let's just get right to the good part then," The woman leaned forward, eyes wide as she grinned with sadistic glee. "Name's Pitohui. And you're all mine."