Let's kill those bastards

Elliot, his head pressed to the ground and the sound of bullets piercing wood and glass all around him, couldn't help but curse his luck. "Why the hell did I want to come here? What the fuck was in my head?" He thought as he felt the weight of the situation crush him.

In his past life, he had always been a coward when it came to real confrontations. But here, in this rotten world, death was a constant, and if you weren't willing to fight, you were doomed. Still, facing armed cannibals eager for revenge wasn't exactly his idea of ​​a quiet afternoon.

Mel, crouched next to him, frantically reloaded her rifle as she muttered. "You have to move, Elliot! We can't just stand here as easy targets."

Elliot lifted his head just an inch, just enough to see how the bullets continued to shatter the walls of the house. "Move where, Mel? Straight to hell? Because we're almost there."

"Stop whining and shoot!" Abby roared from across the room, her voice thick with frustration as she took cover behind an overturned piece of furniture. "You and your damn habit of getting us into trouble."

"Oh, right," Elliot replied, sarcasm in his voice. "Because this is obviously all my fault. I was the one who invited you two over, right?"

"Stop it, you two!" Manny yelled from the kitchen, where he was sporadically firing his shotgun at the attackers. "Can you two save your personal shit for later? We've got people outside who want to rip our heads off, remember?"

Owen, near a shattered window, was firing his pistol into the darkness outside, though it was obvious he wasn't accomplishing much. "I can't see anything, Abby! These guys are well covered."

"Then stop shooting like an idiot and help me come up with a plan!" Abby replied as she checked her own clip, clearly furious. "How many are there, Elliot? Did you see how many there were when you faced them earlier?"

Elliot snorted as he leaned against a broken wall, his rifle secured in his hands. "There were at least five in the last house, and if this is their entire gang, it's probably twice that many. Maybe more."

"Damn it!" Abby muttered, slamming a fist into the ground. "We can't stay here. They're going to fuck us alive if we don't do something."

The exchange of fire continued, the cannibals outside shouting insults and threats as they fired incessantly. "Damn sons of bitches! Come out and face us like men!" a deep, raspy voice roared. "Jack and the others were our brothers, and they're going to pay for what they did!"

Elliot turned to Mel, who already had his rifle ready and a determined look on his face. "How are your sniping skills?" he asked with a nervous smile.

Mel shot him a quick glance. "I can take down a couple if I can just peek out, but those bastards have us surrounded. It's not going to be easy."

"Nothing is," Elliot muttered, gritting his teeth as he checked his ammo. "Manny, do you have anything explosive in there?"

"If I did, I'd have blown them to hell by now!" Manny replied from his position.

Suddenly, an awkward silence stretched out for a brief moment, interrupted only by the sound of footsteps approaching the house. Elliot looked up and whispered, "They're moving in."

Abby nodded, standing up slightly to look toward the front entrance. "If they get here, it'll be a bloodbath. We need to take them on before they get in."

"Do you have a brilliant plan, or are we just going to die in a group?" Elliot asked, his tone acidic as he loaded his rifle.

"Yeah, I have a plan," Abby replied, ignoring his sarcasm. "You and Manny cover the front entrance. Mel, take that broken window and keep them away from the flanks. Owen, come with me. We'll set up a barricade on the stairs to delay them if they manage to get in."

"And you, big leader," Elliot said, his gaze fixed on Abby. "What are you going to do while we play heroes?"

Abby turned to him, her eyes alight with fury. "I'm going to make sure they don't kill us all, like always."

Before Elliot could retort, a shot went through the window, striking dangerously close to where Mel stood. She gasped, but quickly responded with a shot of her own, wounding one of the attackers who peeked out from between the trees.

"One down!" Mel shouted, her voice steady despite the situation.

Elliot stood next to Manny at the entrance, where they had improvised a barricade with broken furniture and planks. The footsteps outside grew louder, and soon the growls and laughter of the attackers could be heard just outside the door.

"They're here!" Manny announced, raising his shotgun.

The door shook as one of the cannibals banged hard on it, while another tried to force it open with a crowbar. Elliot took a deep breath, his muscles tense as his body prepared for confrontation.

"Come in, you bastards! We're waiting for you!" he shouted, his voice charged with adrenaline.

With a crash, the door gave way and the attackers began to pour in. Elliot didn't hesitate: he pulled the trigger, taking down the first one with a shot to the chest before launching himself at the next with a strength that still surprised him. His body moved almost by instinct, the movements precise and deadly thanks to the abilities the system had granted him.

"Come on, Manny!" he shouted, as he slammed the butt of his rifle into another attacker who tried to lunge at him.

Gunshots, screams, and the sound of fighting filled the house, turning it into a makeshift battlefield. Elliot came face to face with a burly man brandishing a rusty machete. The attacker slashed, but Elliot nimbly dodged it, countering with a punch to the face that sent the man reeling before he fell to the ground.

"They're not invincible! Let's take them out!" Abby shouted from the stairs, as she shot one of the attackers who tried to climb up.

Elliot, his breathing ragged and his hands stained with blood, knew they couldn't give in. "Let's kill those bastards," he muttered to himself before launching himself back into the chaos.

Elliot spun the machete in his hand, the blade covered in fresh blood. The body of the man he had just killed fell heavily to the ground, a wet gurgle escaping his throat as the life drained from him. Elliot barely had time to breathe before another attacker burst through the shattered door, a baseball bat raised high and a look of animal fury on his face.

"You're going to pay for that, motherfucker!" the man roared, lunging at Elliot with all his might.

Elliot blocked the first blow with the machete, the impact echoing like a metallic crunch. With a quick movement, he twisted his body and drove his knee into the attacker's abdomen, bending him double. Before the man could recover, Elliot drove the machete into his collarbone, pushing him with all his strength until the blade sank almost all the way in.

"Come one at a time, motherfuckers!" Elliot yelled, pushing his body back to free the machete. His eyes gleamed with a mix of fury and adrenaline.

From outside, the roar of an engine announced the arrival of another vehicle. Elliot turned toward the broken window just in time to see a beat-up pickup truck slam to a stop in front of the house. More men began to emerge from the vehicle, armed with guns, knives, and bats.

"Abby!" Elliot shouted, as he saw the new threat. "This is getting out of hand. There are too many of them!"

Abby, who was on the stairs fighting hand-to-hand with another attacker, turned her head toward him. Her face was streaked with blood, but her eyes still shone with fierce determination. "Then think of something, genius! Because if not, they're going to screw us all."

"Don't worry, Abby!" Manny chimed in from the kitchen, firing off his shotgun. "I've got enough lead for all these morons."

Yet even Manny was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Each shot was more desperate than the last, and ammo was quickly running out. Mel, from her position by the window, fired at the men trying to get in, but was constantly forced to take cover by gunfire from the van.

"They're coming in through the back!" Owen shouted, his voice filled with panic as he fired blindly into the kitchen.

Elliot had no time to argue. Machete in one hand and his rifle in the other, he ran to the back door. Peeking out, he saw two men already inside, advancing down the hallway toward Manny.

With a grunt, Elliot raised the rifle and shot the first, the bullet hitting his chest and knocking him back against the wall. Before the second could react, Elliot lunged at him, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him to the ground.

"You have no idea who you messed with!" Elliot growled as he raised the machete and plunged it into the man's neck, cutting off his scream of terror.

From the front of the house, a new scream rang out: "Fire!"

Elliot felt a chill run down his spine at those words. He quickly peeked through the broken window and saw one of the men with a bottle in his hand, a burning rag in his mouth.

"Molotov!" he shouted, his eyes widening as he watched the man throw the bottle towards the house.

The glass of the bottle shattered as it hit a wall in the living room, and the fire spread quickly, filling the room with smoke and scorching heat. Abby backed away, covering her face as she searched for a way out.

"We have to get out of here!" Manny shouted, trying to stay calm as he fired his last bullet. "This is no longer defensible."

Elliot gritted his teeth, his mind working frantically. They could try to escape, but they were surrounded outside. If they didn't find a way to turn the tables, they'd be dead in minutes.

"Mel, you got anything?" Elliot yelled, turning to her.

Mel, still firing from the window, yelled back, "Nothing useful! But if we stay here, the fire's going to kill us before they do."

Elliot looked around, his eyes desperately searching for something that might give them an advantage. Then he saw it: an old gas tank lying near the back entrance, probably forgotten by the house's previous occupants.

"The gas tank!" he thought, running toward it. "If I can get it close to those fuckers and blow it up, we might have a chance."

As the fire crackled and the attackers advanced, Elliot lifted the heavy tank and dragged it toward the window. "Abby, cover me," he ordered, his tone firm.

Abby looked at him in disbelief, but didn't argue. She raised her rifle and began firing toward the approaching men, holding them at bay as Elliot positioned the tank next to the window.

"Manny, you got one more bullet?" Elliot yelled.

"Not a single one!" Manny replied from the other side of the house.

Mel, who was closest, quickly moved toward him and handed him her pistol. "Here, use it."

Elliot nodded, raising the gun and aiming at the tank. "Everyone take cover!" he shouted before pulling the trigger.

The shot rang out, and a second later, the tank exploded with a deafening boom. The shockwave shattered the window and sent the nearby attackers flying. Fire spread outward, engulfing the truck and several men standing nearby.

"That'll teach them!" Abby shouted with a fierce grin as the few remaining attackers backed away, screaming in terror.

Elliot, panting and with shaking hands, looked around. The house was in ruins, but for now, they were alive. "We're not done yet," he muttered to himself. "Not until we're out of here."

Chaos engulfed the atmosphere as the group hurried out of the house through the back, barely taking the bare essentials with them. The screams of men, the crackling of burning wood, and the smell of smoke filled the air. Elliot helped Mel jump out the back window, taking a quick look around to make sure they weren't being followed.

"Damn! This is a fucking nightmare!" Elliot growled, his jaw clenching as he hefted his pack tighter. Beside him, Mel was breathing heavily, her hands shaking as she held her rifle.

Abby, visibly furious, glared at Elliot with blazing eyes. "This shouldn't have happened! You provoked them, Elliot!"

"Shut up, Abby!" he roared back, his tone laden with frustration. "They attacked us because they're fucking bastards, not because I asked them out on a date."

The argument was about to explode when everyone fell silent, their faces hardening as they heard the sound of engines starting up in front of the house. They ran to the front side, staying low and alert. Two beat-up vehicles sped away, leaving clouds of dust and the echo of their tires on the gravel.

"What the fuck?" Owen muttered, his gun still in his hand. "Why did they leave so fast?"

Elliot looked around with a frown, trying to process the situation. But his attention was caught by something he hadn't noticed before: a body lying on the ground in front of the house. "It's Jordan..." Mel muttered, her tone tinged with concern.

They all ran to the body, momentarily forgetting about the vehicles driving away. Jordan was unconscious, his shirt soaked with blood on his lower abdomen. A bullet had gone through his side, and his face was pale and sweaty.

"Shit!" Abby exclaimed, kneeling down beside him. "We need to stop the bleeding right now."

Elliot turned to Mel. "Find something to improvise as bandages. Now!"

Mel nodded and ran into what was left of the house in search of cloths or anything that might work. Meanwhile, Owen was pressing hard on Jordan's wound to try and stem the bleeding. "We can't move him much if he keeps losing blood like that," he said, his tone nervous.

Abby turned to Elliot, furious. "This is your fault. If you hadn't provoked them, none of us would be in this situation."

Elliot looked her straight in the eyes, his expression hardened. "You think you have time to point fingers now? Leah's not here. Don't you realize what that means?"

Leah's name made the group fall silent. It was Mel who returned, her eyes filled with terror. "She's gone. I checked inside the house while I was looking for the fabrics. Leah's not here."

"Shit!" Manny muttered, with a mix of disbelief and rage. "They kidnapped Leah? Those fucking bastards took Leah!"

Abby slammed her fist on the ground, her breathing rapid and uncontrolled. "It can't be… It can't be."

Owen stood up, his eyes filled with determination. "We have to go get her. We can't leave her with those animals."

Elliot, however, held up a hand to calm Owen. "Calm down. We can't just run after them like idiots. We have to make sure Jordan doesn't die first. If not, we're all going to end up equally screwed."

Abby glared at him, but she knew Elliot was right. "Okay," she said in an icy tone. "First we stabilize Jordan. But after that, we go after Leah. Those bastards don't know who they messed with."

Elliot looked out at the horizon where the vehicles had disappeared, his thoughts filled with fury and plans. "Yeah," he muttered to himself. "We're going to hunt them down. One by one, until there's not a single one left alive."

End of Chapter 16