24 Backtracking

Ray quickly shifted the gear to reverse and stepped down on the accelerator. The car gave a sudden jerk and zoomed backwards. He held onto the steering wheel tightly, making quick adjustments whenever necessary.

Ray frantically switched his attention from the road in the rear view mirror to the crazed Deathless that was relentlessly chasing them. She flailed her arms about wildly as she sprinted after the car, screeching maniacally. Her head bounced crookedly on her shoulders with every stride. Even though she ran with a bit of a limp, her speed frightened Ray. His foot had been fully pressed down on the accelerator and yet, the woman managed to keep pace with them.

"I can't outrun her by going in reverse." He said, "She's too fast."

"What do we do then?" Meghan asked.

"Should we get out and fight?" Rody asked.

"I think we'll have to." Ray replied, "You'll back me up?"

"Of course."

"Alright. Everyone hold on. This is going to get bumpy."

Ray suddenly slammed down the breaks and the vehicle screeched to an abrupt halt. The woman chasing them had no way of slowing herself down. She rammed into the car' bonnet with a loud crash as a bit of blood splattered onto the windscreen.

Though she had just been hit by a car, the Deathless showed no signs of pain. She instead started swiping at the glass, snarling repugnantly as she tried to reach them.

Ray immediately shifted the gear back to drive and stepped on it. The car shot forward, carrying the woman along. She writhed helplessly on the bonnet as the momentum prevented her from being thrown off. But that's just what Ray was hoping for.

He guided the car towards the red bus, maintaining their current speed. A single drop of sweat dripped down the side of his head. He gulped hard and steadied his breathing. His hands started to quiver. He immediately tightened his grip on the steering wheel, causing his fingers to go white.

"Get ready Rody!" he called out.

Less than two meters away from the bus, Ray hit the brakes. The back tires skidded slightly as the vehicle jerked to a stop. The deathless woman flew into the air and collided with the roof of the bus. She hit the ground hard and seemed dazed from the impact.

"Now!" Ray yelled as he threw open the car door and leapt out.

Rody followed him and drew out the hammer from his belt loop.

"Ray, here!" Meghan said as she handed the javelin over to him.

Clutching it firmly in his hands, he charged at the downed Deathless with Rody sprinting close behind.

Ray could see the Deathless woman slowly rise to her feet. She seemed less aggressive than before. He figured that she was still recovering from the shock of being thrown off. Before she had a chance to recuperate fully, Ray rushed forward with his javelin ready and impaled the woman through the chest.

The Deathless grunted in surprise but didn't even register the weapon sticking out of her body. Using all his strength, Ray shoved the woman up against the bus and tried to restrain her. The moment her eyes fell on Ray, she screeched loudly, grabbed the handle of the javelin with both hands and began to push back.

Ray's arms trembled. He gritted his teeth and held on as firmly as he could. But the woman pressed back even stronger. She snapped her teeth several times in his direction. Ray knew that he wouldn't be able to hold her off for long.

"Rody," he called out weakly.

Ray's feet had started grinding backwards on the asphalt. Goosebumps erupted all along his arms. His whole body shook from the immense amount of pressure. The Deathless, on the other hand, smiled at him eerily. She slowly opened her mouth, causing saliva to drip onto her top. Ray could almost feel her hunger manifest into a tangible entity.

"Dude…?" he called again in desperation.

Just before Ray lost all his strength, Rody stepped forward and clobbered the woman on the head with his hammer.

The Deathless stopped pushing immediately and collapsed on the ground. The sudden alleviation of pressure caused Ray to lose balance and tumble onto his knees. He let out a long breath of relief and started to pant in exhaustion.

In front of him, he saw the Deathless stir slightly on the ground.

"She's still moving." Said Ray.

This time Rody did not delay. He immediately knelt beside her body and struck down his hammer multiple times, bludgeoning her skull to a bloody pulp.

After about half a dozen strikes, he finally stopped his assault and stood up. Ray's knees felt weak but he managed to get back on his feet as well.

"What—what took you so long?" he panted, "I almost ran out of strength."

"Sorry," he said simply, refusing to elaborate further.

Ray glanced at his friend's face. He couldn't quite read his expression. He had always known Rody to be a stoic individual. But what he saw on his face now was an expression he had never seen before. A slight chill caressed the back of Ray's neck. He thought it best to not push the issue any further.

Just then they heard the thumping sounds again. It was loud and repetitive. They could hear it much clearer now than when they were inside the car.

"Sounds like there are more of them inside the bus." Ray said, "We can't take this route anymore. I don't see a way we can move this hunk of metal. Let's get back to the car."

"What do we do now? Do you have another plan?"

"It's not exactly a plan. It's just the only available option we have left… backtracking."

"Backtracking?" Rody asked, "What, like going back to Prime? Are you nuts? Did you forget how much we struggled to get out of there?"

"You got a better idea?" asked Ray.

Rody went silent.

"Look, I'll explain in the car. Let's get off this road for now."

Rody didn't argue. The two of them walked back to their vehicle in silence. When they had both settled down in their seats, Ray let them know his idea.

"I think we should go back to Prime." He said.

As expected the two girls jumped in shock at his suggestion.

"I know, I know. It was a huge pain to get out of there in the first place. But things are far worse out here. This path is completely inaccessible now. That bus isn't going anywhere. And the other road leads to Athani. I don't think I need to explain why we won't be able to pass through there."

Meghan looked up uncertainly, "Is there no other way out?"

"If there was, I wouldn't be suggesting this." Ray said.

"How is going back to Prime any better than this?" she asked.

"Well for one, the apartment complex is familiar territory. We know it like the back of our hands. We can get around much easier there than anywhere else. Two, we all have flats in Prime. So long as we make it back inside one of our homes, we will have shelter and plenty of food. We may have to spend the night. Even though there are Deathless on almost every floor, I'd feel much safer within my own closed doors than risk camping outside somewhere, wouldn't you?"

"I guess…" Meghan said, still unsure of Ray's idea.

"But what are we going to do after getting back into the flat?" Rody asked, "You're not going to suggest waiting out this whole crisis, are you?"

"No, I'm not stupid. I do have a valid reason."

"Which is?"

"In a lot of games, there are often situations where you are blocked from progressing through to the next level. One of the reasons why this happens is because your character may not have the required experience points to continue. Your only solution then is to backtrack to the previous levels and acquire more experience points. Once you have enough, you will then be able to proceed."

"What?" Samantha asked, "That makes absolutely no sense. This isn't a game. This is real life! Has the computer fried your brain or something?"

"Sammy, shush." Rody said softly, "I'm sorry Ray, but I don't understand very well either."

Ray ignored Samantha and continued speaking, "My point is… we know far too little about the Deathless. Some of them are slow and easily avoidable, others are fast and volatile. Other than the fact that they all crave our flesh and that hitting them on the head hard enough kills then for good, we know absolutely nothing else. In short, we don't have enough experience."

"Wait… you want to go back to Prime to—to study them?" Meghan asked.

"Ahh, when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous but… yeah, something along those lines." Said Ray.

"You cannot be serious…" Samantha muttered under her breath.

Ray ignored her again, "I want to find out if they have any other weaknesses. Fire, sound, uhh—salt…"

"Salt?" Meghan asked, baffled.

"I don't know. It's a thing I've seen in some older games. Like garlic for vampires. Just ignore that last one. Anyways, I also want to find out something that I feel will be very important. I'm curious as to how the Deathless behave at night, does it make them more aggressive or do they become dormant? Once we figure all of that out, we can start making a legitimate plan on how we're going to make it past Athani."

"So basically, you want to backtrack to Prime and gain more experience to help us proceed to… uh—the next level." Rody said.

"More or less."

Ray noticed that the remaining three still looked unsure owing to the chancy nature of his plan.

"Umm… should we take a vote?" he asked.

"No need." Meghan said firmly, "If you think it's what we should do then we trust you. Right, guys?"

"For sure," said Rody while Samantha remained defiantly silent.

"Alright then," said Ray, "Backtracking it is."