Frostpunk: The Last City On Earth
Chapter 9: A Risky Rescue
The bear's bloodied teeth inched close to his neck, and his arms started to shake as he felt his strength slowly weaken.
He could try and go for his gun.
But if he lets go of one of his arms, the bear will finish him off if he does. Jack felt so scared.
For once, he sensed that this was the end for him.
The smell of blood from the bear's mouth was awful. And Jack felt like he wanted to hurl right now.
His arms were shaking. It won't be long now.
With a final breath, Jack calls out to Walter.
"Walter, help." He lets out softly. But he doubts that Walter can hear him from here.
Jack turned his head away from the bear. He didn't want to see how he was going to die.
But in doing so, Jack saw a glint of light from up the hill he had just run down.
Jack gasped.
The light had come from Walter, but it looked like he was aiming at him. Was he going to shoot him?
Jack closes his eyes. He waits for his pending doom. He can still feel the bear breathing down on him.
In a split second, he heard a crack. And a roar from the bear. He felt the weight of the bear off of him. The gunshot rings from the back.
"I got it," Walter said in shock. He quickly loads another bullet into his rifle.
"Stupid, Jack, and his stupid plan." He mumbled in frustration.
"Jack! Get away from it!" Walter yelled on top of the hill.
Jack heard his voice.
He quickly opened his eyes.
He sees the bear stepping away, nursing its bloody ear.
Walter gets up, slings his rifle, and slides down the hill as fast as possible.
"Wait, the captain's gun," Jack remembers. He can now use it.
Jack pulls out his revolver and pulls back the hammer. He aimed the gun at the bear, but his tired arms made it hard to do so.
The survivor backed away as far as to avoid the two bears. He meets up with Jack and thanks him, "Thank you so much! You've saved my life!"
"Don't thank me yet. We still got the others to save as well. What's your name?" Jack asked.
"I'm John."
"Nice to meet you, John. I'm Jack. Up there is my partner Walter."
"Where did you two come from?" The survivor asked.
"New London," Jack answered.
"Wait, you're from a new city? We thought no one else would come all the way here."
"Well, here we are now. Which city did you guys come from, Winterhome?"
The survivor shakes his head, "No, we're not from Winterhome. We came from-"
Walter finally reaches the bottom of the hill and runs over to Jack.
"God dammit, Jack! Now we are in trouble. What's your plan now?" He asked him.
"I'm thinking of one as I go," Jack said.
"You're thinking!?" Walter yelled.
"I'm doing my best here!"
"Well, your best is not good enough! Think harder!"
The bear roars at them again, clawing the snow to charge at them.
"You are in so much trouble when we get back."
"Later, Walter, we still got lives to save."
Walter groans, "If we die here. I'm so going to kill you." He said.
"That doesn't make sense."
/-/
"Hey, did you hear that? Those were gunshots out there."
"We're saved!"
"Wait, they could be raiders for all we know. Check again." She said.
"I see two strangers, and but of them are armed." He said.
"But do they look like raiders?"
"Uh, no. But those two are wearing those lamps, though."
"That's not helping at all."
"Okay, but they saved John before the bear could eat him."
"John is still alive?"
"Yeah, I can see him with those two right now."
/-/
"I'm going to aim for its head," Walter said. He shoots his rifle, sending a bullet down range.
It hit the bear right in the head, "Got 'em!"
But the bear just shook it off.
"What the?"
"I think that bear has a thick skull. You're just making it angrier," Jack said.
"Its body's too thick either. I won't be able to tell if I can kill it. A single bullet isn't enough."
"Can you shoot it some more?" Jack asked.
"I don't have a lot of bullets, Jack!" Walter shouted.
Jack still has the captain's gun in his hand, "This isn't enough either."
"Help us!" Shouted the survivors.
"We will! Just hold on!" Jack shouted back.
"You guys got any fire? We can use it to scare them. The bears hate it." John suggested.
"Unless you got something that can help us," Walter said.
"Fire? But what-" Jack paused and remembered, "Wait, Walter, I've got an idea."
"What, what is it?" Walter asked, keeping watch of the bear. He can hear Jack searching through his backpack behind him.
"It's a little crazy, but I need you to trust me on this," Jack said as he stood up.
"Oh god. What are you doing now?"
"He's searching his bag for something," John said.
"Searching for what!?"
"Ah, there it is, just trusts me," Jack said.
Jack had two flares igniting.
Walter heard the flares. He turns back and sees Jack holding up two flares in his hands.
"What!? Don't you- God dammit, Jack!"
Jack ran off again.
"You're partner got guts."
"Yeah, and stupid ones." Walter groaned.
He gets up and follows him, "Jack! Don't get too close! Keep your distance!" He brings his rifle up at the ready.
"Come on, and stay behind me."
A/N: Do they have flares in the 1800s? Probably not. But it's steampunk with working robots. So I think they have some kind of flares. I'll get the next chapter soon, I hope. I got a surprise at the end of the encounter. It's wholesome, don't worry.
Jack does some crazy stuff. Honestly, I wouldn't run back to that bear for round 2. But that won't stop Jack. He needs to learn when to not jump in at certain times, but at least Walter is there to watch his back.
Thanks for reading.