Synopsis: The world has been forever changed with ELIDs roaming the globe, destroying or infecting everything they come across. T-dolls struggle to survive alongside their human compatriots as they seek sanctuary from the unending hordes.
AR Team, comprised of four AR dolls, M4A1, SOPMOD ll, AR-15 and M16, were rescued from their stasis pods by a survivor group. They are now helping them endure and survive the harsh and unforgiving landscape of a world forever changed.
Chapter 1
The wind blows in her face, causing the dark-brown hair to flow as it catches the breeze. A white jacket, tied around her waist, rustles in the wind. She adjusts her grip on her gun, a customised M4A1 assault rifle, as she looks over the field with her dark-brown eyes. The sky is tinged with a black smog, as if mother nature had enough of trying to purify it and was content to let it hang in the air all around. In front of her stands a group of humanoid figures, some wearing clothes stained in blood or covered in filth and muck, others almost stark naked, wandering the fields and the road on her path.
"Another group of those poor bastards, huh?"
The girl looks over her right shoulder to see another girl with black hair and an eyepatch walk towards her.
"Another one all right, M16."
"We keep running into them everywhere." The girl called M16 sighed and looked back at the small group of fighters setting up defensive positions in the middle of the road. "This is the 6th group of ELIDs we've had to fight today."
M4 thought back to what she knew about about the topic. ELIDs, or Eurosky Low-Emission Infectious Disease, was an infection caused by exposure to Collapse Fluids, or CF for short. CF would react with any kind of matter it came into contact with and randomly transformed it into anything, though the end result for humans was always the same.
It mutated them into ravenous and feral creatures, who would stop at nothing to consume any other kind of matter around them. Depending on who you asked, the survivors called them a number of things, though the most common was either 'Mutants' or 'Zombies'.
After months of fighting and surviving, the old ways, and lives were dead. Those who survived have learnt to adapt to their new circumstances. A new way of life grew from the ashes of the old…
"...Everyone's getting pretty tired, M4." M16 continued on. "I've already seen a number of them napping on the way here instead of being on the alert."
"…How's AR-15 and SOP?" M4 asked.
"The usual." M16 used her right thumb to point behind her, towards the armoured technical at the rear of the group. "SOP's trying to make something from all the scrap we picked up at the junkyard. She's working with Larry to piece it together last I checked. Said that the 'ELID sacks would fall at its touch'. "
"Honestly," M4 groaned a little. "I would be a lot more assured of what she's trying to create if it didn't blow up in her face so often."
"Ha ha, true." M16 laughed, which caused M4 to smile.
"AR-15 is just standing behind our truck, preparing for the fight ahead. She's busy sharpening that combat knife of hers." M16 looked at M4. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be preparing that sledgehammer of yours?"
M4 just looked down to the road at her feet. "I'd rather not fight." She whispered, almost inaudible.
M16 patted M4's back. "Well, we're going to have to clear the way for the main caravan group behind us anyway." She started walking back to the assembling fighters. "Come on."
…
"Okay, folks. Listen up." The leader of the band of fighters called out to the group. "I know many of you are battle-weary and are hoping to catch a break soon, but before that, we have to clear the way for the caravans coming behind us. Their safety depends on us."
A collective groan echoed from the group. M4 looked at the group of ELID mutants warily in case they heard them. Thankfully, they remained oblivious to their presence.
"The battle plans are the same." The leader continued, ignoring the groans made by the group. We'll have our technical, MGs and marksmen loaded and formed in a defensive line on the road. Scouts, draw small groups of mutants towards the melee teams, where they will beat them and take them out quickly. The dolls will form their own group, acting as both our reserve and backup. Understood?"
A chorus of weary affirmatives sounded before the group broke up. M4 and M16 went behind the technical to meet up with AR-15 and SOP.
"Yo." SOP called out as they approached the back of the technical. "How's it going?"
"Could be better." M16 replied. "The rest of the fighters are rather weary from all the fighting we've done so far."
"Meh." SOP replied as she hopped off the truck. "I'll never get tired of shooting up mutants. It's pretty good at relieving boredom for me."
"Well, you might be able to shoot them if you hadn't turned your gun into a club a couple of days ago, SOP." AR-15 said, sheathing her knife as she rounded the back of the technical.
"Aw come on. Why are you still going on about that? That mutant was almost on top of me and my gun had jammed, so I had to bash it in the head with the stock."
"I'm pretty sure bashing it in the head didn't require you to actually hit the mutant until the back of its head had caved in."
"I just had to make sure it was really dead." SOP answered, a maniac grin on her face. "It was pretty satisfying, though."
AR-15 sighed. M4 hesitantly stepped forward.
"AR-15, we- "
"I know." AR-15 cut M4 off. "We heard it over the Zener network." She looked over at M4. "You have to learn to step it up. We can't be covering for your constant fumbling and self-doubting all the time. Where's your sledgehammer?"
"In our truck bed." M4 replied. "But I don't really- "
"Go get it." AR-15 cut M4 off again. "You don't want to be unarmed when your gun runs out of bullets."
M4 looked hesitatingly at AR-15 before slipping off to grab her weapon.
"You shouldn't be so hard on her, AR-15." M16 scolded.
"If we're not hard on her, she's going to be a liability in the fight." AR-15 countered. "I can't protect her all the time."
"That's why we're here together." M16 shot back. "We cover for each other and work together."
"Can we hurry and start killing them already?" SOP barged into the conversation, picking up a baseball bat that appeared to have a spinning saw blade in the middle of its tip and swinging it around. "They look so pitiful, wandering around like lost lil' puppies."
AR-15 and M16 both sighed while SOP tilted her head at both of them.
"Alright. Same procedure as usual. I'll be out front, M4 in the middle as a lookout and commander. AR-15 and SOP to the sides." M16 looked around, twirling her crowel, which had a shovel on one end and a crowbar on the other. "Don't see any unpleasant surprises, but still, be careful."
As soon as M4 returned, a hefty sledgehammer slung on her back, the team moved into position between the technical and the melee teams.
"Okay, scouts. Work your magic." The leader's voice came in over the radio.
Instantly, 3 pairs of humans ran towards the edge of the mutant horde. They started banging away on a metal pan that each pair carried.
The mutants on the edge of the herd close to the survivors stopped in their tracks and looked in the direction of the sound. Having been alerted to the group's presence, they began shambling over to the melee teams.
"Melee teams, ready…" The radio sounded. "Beat em down."
The melee teams moved forward, unified in their teams. One member each acted as distractor, baiting the mutant attacks, while the rest of the team focused on surrounding and beating the crap out of the mutant.
"Heads up, AR team! We got an aberrant heading your way!"
M4's head perked up as she scanned the horizon. A mutant had apparently ignored the melee and scout teams and was rushing towards the AR team.
"M16! Intercept it!" M4 called out, as she readied her gun.
"On it!" M16 called out. She stepped forward, her weapon, a cross between a shovel on one end and a crowbar on the other at the ready, and swung straight for the mutant's head as it got close to her.
But the aberrant mutant ducked low and barreled into M16's waist, knocking her onto her back. M4 involuntarily started moving towards her, but the mutant simply ignored M16 and sprinted towards M4 on all fours.
"Shit!" M4 exclaimed. She started firing shots from her suppressed rifle, but the mutant ran from side to side, evading the oncoming fire and continuing to rush at her. She dropped her rifle, reached for her sledgehammer and tried to block the mutant's charge. The mutant slammed into her guard, knocking her onto her butt. As she sat, dazed by the blow, the mutant circled around once and lunged at her.
AR-15 suddenly appeared to the right of M4, lunging and plunging her combat knife into the mutant's neck. The mutant howled and threw itself to the side.
AR-15 didn't slow down. She rolled on the ground, jumped to her feet, aimed her rifle and started hammering shots into the mutant's legs, causing it to tumble to the ground. SOPMOD ran forward and swung her bat, connecting in the mutant's chin with a meaty whack.
"DIE YOU SCUMBAG!" SOP screamed, raising her bat over the mutant's head and slamming it straight into the mutant's brain, the spinning saw turning it into mush and spraying blood everywhere.
"M4!" M16 called out. She rushed towards M4 and extended a hand.
M4 looked at the hand and grabbed it, using the additional help to haul herself back to her feet.
"What the hell were you doing?!" AR-15 started. "You nearly got turned into a wreck by that mutant!"
"S-sorry." M4 timidly replied.
"Don't 'sorry' me! You almost got killed there!" AR-15 vented.
"Okay, ease up, AR-15." M16 cut in. "There's no need to take it all out on M4 here."
AR-15 huffed, before turning around and walking back to their designated position, retrieving her knife from the dead mutant's corpse.
"AR-15…"
"Let her be." M16 patted M4 in the back. "You know she's just worried about you, even if she doesn't like to show it."
M4 nodded weakly. M16 knelt down, picked up M4's sledgehammer and handed it back to her.
"Come on, let's get back into position." M16 said. "And you, SOP. How many times do we have to tell you not to touch mutant blood or get it all over you? We don't know how much ELID contaminant is inside it.
Just as SOP was about to reply, a grave-sounding voice came in over the radio. It was the leader of the band of fighters.
"All forces! Pack up and move out! Pack up and move out! I just got a mayday from the convoy group! They're reporting a mutant assault on their position!"
"Crap." M16 cursed. "They don't have that many fighters with them. We got to go, now!"
"Get in!" AR-15 was already at the wheel of the team truck, it's engine roaring.
M4, M16 and SOP rushed back to the truck. As soon as the three dolls had leapt onto the truck bed, AR-15 slammed her foot onto the accelerator. The mutants they had been busy fighting moments ago shrunk to small specks as the truck raced away from them, towards the main caravan group.
Hi everyone. This may not be the first fic I've written, but it's certainly the first that I've worked up the courage to post anywhere public. Feel free to leave likes and/or any constructive criticisms. Have a good day. I'll see how well this chapter does before I decide if I want to post up more chapters.