Chapter 20: Pyro and Emu Bush
As Pyro prepared to fire his Flame Thrower once more, the Engineers took out their Wrenches while Bobbie unsheathed the Three-Rune Blade. Then without hesitation, the company jumped off the bridge to the dirt-covered ground below. Above them, Pyro's flames engulfed the other side of the bridge causing fiery planks to rain down. Running away, Bobbie and the Engineers managed to avoid the debris altogether. Meanwhile, Pyro's legs creaked as they moved causing several mounds of gold to crumble.
"I see age hasn't been kind to you, Pyro," Theron smirked. "You're all rusted and broken!"
Pyro's eyes flashed angrily.
"Aw, did I make you mad?" Theron said mockingly.
"Silenc! (Silence!)" Pyro shouted and turned the Flame Thrower on.
This forced Bobbie and the Engineers to retreat into another tunnel that was underneath the remains of a building. Seeing them go, Pyro lowered the Flame Thrower to the tunnel's level.
"U mai b smal, but u cant hid forevr! (You may be small, but you can't hide forever!)" When he heard no reply, Pyro allowed the Flame Thrower to unleash its full fury.
He listened for the screams of dying Engineers, but there was silence instead. Confused, he turned the Flame Thrower off and looked inside. Pitch blackness greeted him, and then he saw several small shapes making their way across an iron bridge beyond the rubble.
"Tryn to escape, eh? (Trying to escape, eh?)" Pyro slowly walked toward the bridge with the Flame Thrower in hand. "Ani las words before Ifri ur buns to a crisp? (Any last words before I fry your buns to a crisp?)"
"Only one," Theron said as he and the others reached the other side. "Watch your step!"
Not heeding Theron's warning, Pyro stepped onto the bridge which started to wobble under his weight. Then before he had anytime to react, the bridge collapsed underneath him sending him down into the valley below. There was an earth-shattering thud and then silence. While the Engineers cheered triumphantly, Bobbie noticed a fire was starting to spread as Pyro's Flame Thrower was turned on before he fell. Seeing it, the Engineers watched as Pyro emerged from the trees and stood over them.
"Itll take mor than that to bet me (It'll take more than that to beat me)," Pyro said triumphantly.
Raising his right hand, Pyro scanned the Engineers before deciding to send it down on Braze. Quickly, Bobbie grabbed Braze and dragged him into the pine trees next to a rocky cliff. The other Engineers did the same as Pyro prepared to do the same to them. Then while Pyro turned on his infrared scanners, the Engineers and Bobbie stood perfectly still behind the trees.
"If I cant find u, then Ill havto smoke u out! (If I can't find you, then I'll have to smoke you out!)" Pyro said as he grabbed his Flame Thrower from the burning valley.
But as he picked it up, something caught his eye. Looking southward, Pyro noticed a small cluster of lights in the distance.
"Izzat…Tufort Citi? (Is that…Teufort City?)" Pyro remarked. "Ithas tobe! Thradio transmisons Ivebenn herring wercomin from this directon. Mayb I shod pay them a litlvisit (It has to be! The radio transmissions I've been hearing were coming from this direction. Maybe I should pay them a little visit)."
Then as Pyro moved steadily down the valley, Bobbie was about to scale the cliff but Theron held him back.
"You want him to see us, boy?" Theron said in an angry whisper.
"But…if we don't stop him…" Bobbie struggled to say as he fought back tears. "Everyone in Teufort will die, including our friends!"
"There's nothing we can do for them now," Theron responded somberly. "Except pray that they'll make it out alive."
###
Back in Teufort, the remaining Engineers were holed up at Brent's house after sustaining injuries from the Robot Attack several days ago. While Brent was out searching for Rüdiger the Mad, who apparently served as the town's doctor, Sunny was busy treating the Engineer's wounds with Tristan and Blake assisting her.
"What's taking Daddy so long?" Tristan asked as she was laying wet bandages out to dry. "He should be back soon."
"Yes," Sunny agreed, washing bandages in the kitchen sink.
"Um, Sis?" Blake said, carrying some blood-stained bandages in his hands. "You might want to look outside."
Irritably, Sunny looked out the window above the sink and saw a growing light near one of the Thunder Mountains. But as she continued to stare at it, a dark shape appeared and obscured the light completely.
"What is it?" Tristan said, noticing the nervous look on her sister's face.
"I don't know," Sunny replied. "It looks like…fire, but there's something else too."
"Ooh, can I see?" Blake said excitedly.
After cleaning her hands, Sunny lifted Blake up slightly and showed him to the window. He saw the black shape and became scared.
"That's Pyro!" Blake exclaimed. "He's heading this way!"
"No, that can't be it," Sunny denied. "He's been inactive for years. There's no way he should be able to leave Thunder Mountain and come down here."
"Unfortunately, your brother is right," Brent said, appearing in the kitchen doorway.
"Daddy!" Tristan cried, hugging Brent around the waist. "Did you find the crazy doctor guy?"
Brent shook his head. "No, but I found someone else."
Behind Brent appeared Tallara, who looked pale and tired. This caught Finley's attention, who was the least injured of the group apart from Blaze.
"What's a Sniper doing here?" Finley demanded, reaching for his Wrench.
"She's well-versed in Aborigines medicine and wants to help us," Brent explained.
"Are you kidding me?" Finley said doubtfully. "She's one of the Snipers who captured me and my colleagues back in the Badlands!"
Surprised, Brent turned to Tallara. "Is this true?"
Reluctantly, Tallara nodded. "But I'm not here to—
"Boom!" shouted a familiar voice as a Robot Scout came crashing in through the living-room window wielding a Force-A-Nature gun. "I'm back, dummies!"
"I remember you," Baize said, pointing a bruised finger at the Robot Scout. "You're Alclad's Second-in-Command, Bolt!"
"Bingo!" the Robot Scout responded. "Now you get the chance to die first!"
"Thanks for standing still," said Matthias as he impaled Bolt through the chest with a Kukri Knife. "You're the best target I've hit so far."
"Oh, yeah?" Bolt mocked, turning his head completely around. "Then you're in for a treat!"
Using his metal arms, Bolt was able to immobilize Matthias who attempted to retract the knife. Unfortunately, the knife was deeply lodged in and couldn't be removed. So Matthias kicked Bolt, but that only made him move closer as the Robot's arms still clenched his shoulders.
"Oi," Matthias said. "You want to see something funny?"
The Robot's eyes didn't blink as Matthias briefly closed his mouth and produced a wad of spit. It hit one of Bolt's eyes causing him to cry out in pain and let go. This allowed Matthias to grab the knife and kick Bolt down as he pulled the blade out. Sparks flew as Bolt was clutching his left eye and then he leaped over a nearby fence prompting Matthias to follow.
Inside, Brent led his children and the Engineers into the basement while Tallara considered following Matthias. In the end, she chose not to and followed Brent into the basement. Down there Brent was laying Kinley, Oage, Olan, and Baize on the cold floor.
"This feels like a tomb," Kinley muttered. "Am I dead?"
Concerned, Tallara felt his forehead and examined the giant scar on his chest which was swollen.
"He's got a high fever going on and his wound's infected," Tallara stated. Then she turned to Brent. "Do you have any Eucalyptus Oil or Emu Bush lying around?"
"We have Eucalyptus Oil, but no Emu Bush," Brent answered. "My wife used to grow them, before she died."
"Then I take it you don't have fresh ones?" When Brent shook his head, Tallara looked toward the Engineers. "Who among you is well enough to walk?"
"I am," Blaze said, holding a bandaged hand up.
"Bring me some Emu Bush from out there," Tallara said, pointing to the basement window. "You'll recognize them by the magenta flowers they produce. Understand?"
Before Blaze could respond, Finley interrupted. "Wait, how's a bush going to help my brother?"
"It'll clean his wound of infection," Tallara said.
Finley looked doubtful. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
"Why would I lie to you about something like this? Sure, I'm not a professional doctor but my knowledge of Aboriginal medicine is excellent."
"Sure, but didn't your leader send you and your boyfriend to get us back?"
Tallara sighed. "First of all, Matthias is not my boyfriend. Second, your brother's very sick and if we don't get him the proper medicine soon he'll die."
This made Finley go silent.
"Now go," Tallara said to Blaze. "And be quick about it!"
"Sure thing, ma'am," Blaze responded and headed for the basement window.
###
While Blaze was searching for Emu Bush, Tallara explained to the other Engineers that she had been sent to retrieve them but had gone beyond the Badlands' territory without permission thus making her a traitor according to Jarrah's laws.
"I'm guessing Matthias was ordered to kill me, but since he didn't I don't know why he showed up," Tallara said as she attempted to answer a question Olan posed.
"Maybe he was going to persuade you to come back with him peacefully," Sunny suggested. "He seems to like you based on what you've described."
"Yes, he has made his feelings clear," Tallara admitted. "But I'm not sure if I like him back."
It was then that Kinley's eyes fluttered open and he found himself gazing at Tallara through a hazy vision. She noticed him looking and asked something but her words were muffled. He tried to speak but a sharp pain shot from his chest. Groaning, Kinley cringed as Tallara spoke to someone and there were footsteps followed by a loud shutting noise. Next, there were rubbing sounds and a soft humming which seemed to brighten Kinley's spirits.
He looked up and realized the humming was coming from Tallara whose hands were green and her face was drawing ever closer. This made Kinley's heart skip a little as he felt something being rubbed on his chest that was sharp at first but ultimately soothing. Then as his vision cleared, he noticed something sticking out of Tallara's vest and recognized it as Teddy Roosebelt.
She kept the bear, Kinley thought as his vision started fading. Does that mean she's…
Seeing him pass out, Tallara pressed her hand against Kinley's forehead and smiled. "He's resting now. The fever should be over by the time he wakes up."
Then while Tallara went to work treating the other Engineers' wounds, Sunny and Tristan helped her while Brent and Blake watched. Outside the town, Matthias was still chasing after Bolt who despite being wounded was able to outrun him. A sudden tremor caught Matthias' attention and he looked toward the mountain where a lumbering figure was moving slowly toward the town.
"Holy crap!" Bolt said as he stopped abruptly. "That's a Giant Robot Pyro! My boss will be so thrilled when he hears about this!"
"Aw, no you don't!" Matthias said withdrawing his bow and loading an arrow into it. "You'll be dead before that happens."
"Try and shoot me, chucklehead!" Bolt taunted and ran off.
Matthias shot several arrows at him, but each one was a few inches from the target. Dismayed, he cursed at himself before looking at the Giant Robot.
"Tallara…" Matthias muttered, and headed back to Teufort.
To be continued…