Disclaimer: I do not own Borderlands nor the cover image. They belong to their respective owners. I hope that's pretty evident.
Chapter 1: Intro
I couldn't stop myself from letting slip that groan of agony. It'd be the first time in a while since I felt this way; lying on the ground, gasping for air, feeling like I was gonna die.
Man this hurt...
This hurt A LOT. The way I fell off my tower - it'd knocked the wind outta me completely. The damn snow bank didn't even soften my fall. In fact, it probably made it twice as bad because now that massive hole in my right shoulder was throbbing... As if it didn't ALREADY feel like hell...
In case you couldn't already figure it out, I got shot. But you see, the thing is. I've been shot before. No biggie, my shields always covered my butt. Hell, on good nights, Spooner would take a couple pop shots at me, just to see if I was always alert.
I wish I'd appreciated his attitude before. Probably would've avoided this whole scenario if I didn't get so pissed off about him shooting at me.
But he always used that handgun of his, not a friggin' sniper rifle! And surely not a sniper rifle that shattered my shield AND catapulted me off my perch!
How the hell was I still even alive? I didn't have a clue. If I was honestly speaking, I should've ended up like Spooner. I tossed his arm off my bloody and wet chest after that thought though... Sorry, Spooner.
In that exact moment, I even hurled. It wasn't light either... I think my organs shifted a little. It didn't even feel slightly good like it was as if you ate too much. It burned. I moaned in pain and squirmed. Some of it got on me too... I was a mess.
And it was all because of that girl...
I don't know where she came from or why she was here. I never saw her around before. She couldn't possibly have been one of Flynt's... No. A cute girl like that? Flynt was a bastard. He would've kept her all to himself.
She moved with intent. Determination. Like she had to go through us or face something worse than death. Whatever her motives were, she slaughtered us.
"Fu...ck..." I rarely curse. More so out loud. But I was hurt. Real bad. So I excused myself.
"AHHHHGG-" BOOM!
Shoot, that was probably Brain, judging from that violent, blood-curdling scream. Double shoot, that explosion was really close by. Which means that girl was still in the camp.
I had to get up, but my muscles wouldn't obey. It was... frightening, not being able to move. More frightening than that girl or her damn robot. I could probably outrun her... if I hadn't been shot.
Hide? Could I hide? I was hiding now, amongst the corpses and bodies and snow. Even then I still felt unsafe, which is putting that lightly too. Pretty sure I was gonna die if I stayed here any longer.
Grunting, I sat up. Everywhere, my mates, my buds, my friends. Dead. Torn limb from limb. Blown up. Roasted into ash.
And yet it didn't bother me that much. I mean, I liked these guys but... eh.
I heard cheering. A single female voice. That girl was still near. Knowing that I staggered my butt towards my tower. Had to get a few things first.
Climbing that ladder was actually not as hard as I thought it would've been, though it did take twice as long. My shoulder was numb, probably from the cold, so it didn't kill me as I reached my nest.
There was some blood, mine, painting the floor and bed. My nude magazines were completely ruined from it.
That freaking girl, man.
Over in the corner, I found my rifle, stained a bit with red and resting halfway under the bed. When I got knocked off, I accidentally dropped it. Sarcasm intended... I was shot by a miniature cannon for heaven's sake.
Crap. I wasn't a lefty. Plus Jakobs Sniper Rifles packed a heavy punch... which meant I wasn't gonna be able to fire my baby with one hand. Even if I did, I wasn't gonna hit anything. Where the hell did I put those needles?
I was so close! Had her bot lined up in my sights... Then I saw her and... and... I just screwed up. Her face in my scope. All I had to do was pull the trigger. But I didn't, and she saw me.
Funny thing is... maybe it's from the blood loss, but I'm pretty sure she hesitated too... I didn't instantly get shot. About one or two seconds passed before I was whipped back. Why would she hesitate? I don't know. She had a freaking death bot and shouted "Murder time!" with a grin on her face. Who knew what those psychos thought anymore.
She didn't even look like a psycho with her pigtails and skirts and stockings annnd... boots. What the hell was this girl?!
RATA-TAT-TAT! PA-PAP!
More gunfire, from the back of the camp now, which meant whoever that girl was, is about to face Juggernaut. I found my rejuvenators too, so I could probably go back there and help him try to kill her.
Or I could run...
Jabbing the needle through my skin, directly into a vein. The red liquid began its work, giving me some time to think. Juggernaut was our leader for obvious reasons. He was big, tougher than any bully mong and had a little secret.
He was fast. Like really, really fast. He didn't show it at first but he could cover a couple yards in less than a SECOND. It was pretty crazy to see but also kinda cool.
If I helped him, we both could probably take that girl down. We had a chance. Juggernaut would distract the robot. I've seen him take so much worse and all I needed was one good shot on that girl and her brains would've been splattered across the snow.
Or I could run... That was a good idea too.
"YOU! LITTLE! BITCH!" There was the big guy himself, just like I called. He probably had his shotty in one hand and an assault rifle in another. I didn't hear him gloating, so that meant the girl with the bot was still alive.
That or he was silently basking in his victory. I wasn't stupid though. Juggernaut was never quiet about anything.
"I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR TINY EYES OUT!" Case in point.
If she was ballsy enough to fight through the grunts, me, Spooner, Brain, AND Juggernaut?
I don't know where she came from, or who she was for that matter but I was out of there, after some new clothes of course. After THAT, though...
Sorry, Jug. You're on your own, I thought, glancing over where the smoke was the heaviest, gunfire still cracking the air, before grabbing my goggles and mask. Hauling the Jakobs rifle on my back, and snatching a few more rejuvenators, I leaped down from my tower... and walked out the front gate of my camp...
Well... it wasn't my camp anymore.
End of Chapter
Author's Note: So here's my little experiment on first person narrative. Thought I'd try it out since Pandora is a great place for adventure and anarchy (that foreshadowing though). What do you guys think? And to any of my old readers, I didn't quit my other story. Don't worry.
I'll see you all next chapter, though. Have a spectacular day!
