-Starcraft
--Dead on Delivery
---Chapter 7: Running of the Zerg
It was funny to see daytime. Mostly because we all needed sleep but couldn't because there were so many people after us now. We'd just have to suffer insomnia for awhile, until this was over. Of course... man... the road looked like a gray blob surrounded by two other yellow blobs if I didn't blink a lot. The sky just disappeared. And it took forever to focus on the things closest to the truck. Then there was the nodding off sometimes... Crick hit me plenty to get my eyes on the road and not the floor of the truck. Speaking of the truck, I hope this thing has gas to spare, because we had really gotten off the road. Without Zerg or Toss' or some crazy paranoid guy trying to kill us, we would have probably been done by now. Of course, I can't forget what a bad judge of time I am.
The bloodshed that had single handedly given us the truck was right before this long cliff where the road became a toothpick and the view made you feel like you were driving on the edge of the world. Man, if we met Zerg on this road, we'd be driving off into oblivion for sure. There was no doubt. I'm sure Crick and the rest of them would have agreed if they weren't so damn tired at the time.
"Aw... How much longer to Anchor Rock? I'm really getting tired of fleeing for my life." I muttered.
Crick heard me and yawned.
"After this is Deep Canyon. Really original name I know, but it's appropriate. Anchor Rock is right on the other side."
"Thank #$%ing God man." Orange muttered.
The rest of the road alongside the cliff was no big deal. Nothing happened, which didn't make me feel any better. If anything, every moment that passed where nothing happened, made me more and more insecure. Almost as if we were wondering what the Zerg were waiting for. They could devour planets without sleeping or doing any of the other habits most creatures needed to survive. I felt, as if they could have picked us out of the desert at any time. I mean... they waxed Fahren's truck guys... left... and... what the hell were they doing now? Getting a tan? I mean really...
Of course, then there was Protoss out here. Maybe they were duking it out with the Zerg Brood after us? Oh man... that would be great! We could slip right by as the alien weirdoes kick the shit out of each other. It was possible wasn't it? I mean really. Protoss are tough. They could probably buy us lots of time! ...but who am I kidding? The same Zerg that beat them a couple weeks ago was after us! The Zerg of Zerg...
"Yo, Raleigh. What's going on man?" Orange asked.
He was making reference to my grip of the wheel. I was shaking so hard that the truck had begun to drift back and forth gently.
"I... I... got a bad feeling." I stuttered.
"Join the club punk. Of course, I shouldn't really call you a punk anymore. You got skills. And that makes you somebody with us."
"Doesn't sound very UED-ish. I heard they were all about duty and loyalty."
"Yeah well... we aren't true blue UED guys. We were forced into their squad when they raided a shipyard. We all had graveyard shift and... well, what can I say? Timing."
"So... You're actually Dominion then?"
"Hell, we've changed sides so many times, we just consider ourselves on our own side." Crick cut in. "that's more or less what it's really like out here. We do favors, take jobs, and carry out some personal crap, but we never say we're here to stay."
Sounds good to me. It almost sounds better to be drifters. What could be a universal power one-day is the next day's trash. The UED made a great example of this. They came in acting like they owned the galaxy, and walked out with their heads in hand. Even Emperor Mengsk didn't last. Hell, it could be a matter of days before Kerrigan takes a dive. Who knows out here? It's the furthest reaches of space.
"Hey, Raleigh, cut the engine." Crick ordered suddenly. "Scratch thought he heard something'."
We came to a stop in the middle of this plateau. I could see the canyon off in the distance. We were so close... why stop now? My imagination took off. The Zerg? Are they coming to kill us before we escape for good? That figures! Or maybe it's the Toss? To give us a death sentence for getting caught with their property? Oh man... I just hope Scratch hurries this little pit stop up. Every second we weren't moving, was just making me feel like we were asking to get killed... I could see him too, the Ghost on top of the trailer looking off into the distance... for something.
It was quiet in the cab. I could hear Crick's headset crackle when Scratch spoke to him, but I couldn't make it out. All I saw was his eyes widen, his hand slowly drop to his side, and then clutch the shotgun. Orange whipped his head in my direction and I slowly turned to look too... There was nothing out there. No reason to look so worried, but there was that feeling. It turned into a sickness. I felt bad, physically bad. I started the engine up again and started to press the accelerator when we all heard it. Zerg. They sounded like they were right on top of us. But we couldn't see them. The more I made the truck move forward they louder it got.
That's when they erupted from the ground. A couple dozen of those Zergling bastards. They were burrowed! No wonder! We couldn't even scream in surprise. That's how sudden it was. Hydralisks and some other Zerg I didn't care to recognize popped out too. By now I was stomping the pedal and cursing at the truck for moving so slow. It had to move. It just had to! It had to move right now! Crick pointed his shotgun out the window, and gave some of those SOBs something to chew on. Orange couldn't do much except lean forward and fire flames out the window when Crick was reloading. I could hear Scratch's Canister Rifle going off... but not for long as some new tortured roar drowned everything out.
The rearview mirror didn't do justice. It was huge. I could see a leg, and maybe a long curved blade as it stomped past the back of the truck and began to circle us. It shook the ground, rattled the cab and caused the other Zerg to back away from the truck as if giving it room. I had no real idea. All I know was this was a key moment in my life. I got to meet the Torrasque. With it's red carapace and it's gigantic Kaiser Blades. Somehow, I just knew it was larger than standard Ultralisks. That it was just as horrible as Crick and Orange said it was. That it was out here to clean us up once and for all. Whatever limited definition the Zerg had for mercy, there'd be none of it now...
"Go Raleigh go! For the love of all that's holy! Move it!"
That was also the first time I heard Crick talk like he cared about anything. It figures it would be his own life that would bring the emotion out of his hardened head. But call me a hypocrite, I was just as hysterical as he was, probably even more so since I hadn't been a tough marine.
"Oh god! This is it!" Orange yelled. "That son of a bitch is here to collect!"
I whipped my head to our right to see it running right alongside the truck. It let out another roar that almost caused me to lose grip of the wheel. It hurt my ears, and I wanted to cover them badly. But the wheel needed to be attended to. We were coming up on that canyon and the ground was beginning to slope. The truck went a bit faster, but so did that Torrasque thing. In fact, it was probably faster than the truck anyway so what the hell am I doing comparing speed for?
"Hold on to somethin'!" Crick barked.
This is when that overgrown Ultralisk smashed itself into the side of the truck. It was so violent, I thought the whole truck was about to roll. I just remember watching the road tilt and Orange sliding into me. I didn't even see what happened to Scratch, but I could only assume he hung on somehow. Crick cursed up a storm and the Torrasque backed away to slam us again, seeing how the truck would take a couple cracks to tumble.
"Oh shit!"
But a miracle happened. We reached the canyon, and the clearance wasn't wide enough for the Torrasque to keep running up alongside us. It took an outcropping head on and lost. It took me awhile to realize, and when I did, I started laughing. But the two guys next to me just shook their heads. I saw why soon enough. Through the mirror, I could see the Torrasque was unscathed. It hardly even slowed down. It just made it's way around the outcropping and resumed it's chase along with the other Zerg after us.
Damn, it looked like we were outrunning a river of alien monstrosities. You couldn't see where the little bastards ended. They just looked like one solid mass with the exception of the Torrasque due to it's color and sheer size. Whatever Zerg didn't make way got crushed in a blind fury. You could hear some Zerg cry out in agony as the Torrasque turned them into pancakes. But despite this strange form of friendly fire, you could tell none of them cared. All they cared about was killing us and if anything, the Torrasque just drove them harder.
"Shit! Scratch! Do something about those little bastards behind us! They're gaining!" Crick yelled.
#$%! I didn't even notice. They're were Zerglings running up alongside the wheels, and taking swings at them with their claws. Most got caught and were crushed by the tires instantly. But stopping us wasn't the goal. They weren't there to give us a flat. The goal was to slow us down enough so that their big brother Torrasque could take us apart limb by limb.
"Goddamn! They're throwin' themselves under the tires!" Crick reported. "They're slowin' us down!"
The sound of Scratch's Canister Rifle never sounded so good before. He sniped those up front, so when their dead bodies fell to the ground, they'd trip up the other Zerglings and Hydralisks behind them. It was a good plan. But it didn't do a thing to stop the Torrasque which just steamrolled anything that didn't stay ahead of it. It'd do us in the same way if we couldn't keep this truck rolling at a steady rate down the canyon. Of course, that's assuming there would be a canyon left to drive through. Whenever that Torrasque thing roared, dirt and small rocks fell around us like rain. Who knew when boulders would come crashing down...
"Little bastards!" Crick yelled as he fired off his shotgun. "Come a little closer! I got something for you! I got something for each and every one of you!"
You could see Crick paint the sides of the canyon with Zergling blood and whatever else they had for internal organs. But as many as he killed wasn't enough to keep them away for long. The rearview mirror became more and more depressing as Zerg took up more and more space. They were just moving in despite our best attempts to hold them back. Is this what it feels like to be overrun?
"We're gonna get crushed..." I muttered.
The whole truck shook like never before when the Torrasque took a crack at it with it's indestructible blades. I was half surprised to find the trailer was still holding together. Seemed to me like anything would fall apart under the weight of that thing behind us. I couldn't believe the trailer was still in one piece...
"Here it comes again!"
But the Torrasque never got to take a second crack at the trailer. Scratch had caught it's attention and earned it's wrath. It began to swing its blades along the top of the trailer to cut our Ghost friend in half. Good thing he was an Olympic gymnast or some crap like that, because he dodged it all. Then he cloaked, and the Torrasque remembered the truck it was trying to stop. Oh well, so much for that maneuver. Because even when Scratch shot it in the face with his rifle, it only seemed to annoy it. In the face! I mean, for the love of God... this thing was made of titanium...
"Hydralisk!" Orange yelled.
"Big deal... I see lots of them all over us." I yelled back.
"No! I mean! Hydralisk! There!"
I looked out my window to see one of those ugly mother #$%ers getting ready to attack with it's spines or whatnot. Of course, I had pretty much lost hope at that point, so it wasn't out of the question to drive like a suicidal mad man. I swerved the truck to the left and crushed the Hydralisk up against the canyon wall along with some of his ugly cousins. But I wasn't done yet, so I swerved on over to the right and crushed some more Zerg. This is only bad when you're concerned about speed, and we were. But I had figured at that point we were dead no matter what happened. Nothing was gonna get that Torrasque off our back. Nothing. It was going to roll the truck, and we were going to die.
"Yeah, let's kill them all!" I sang while swerving left again.
"Hey Crick! I think Raleigh lost it!" Orange said in a frantic manner.
Crick shot a glance at me and shook his head.
"He's fine. Let the man drive."
I swear, whenever that juiced-up Ultralisk took a crack at the trailer, I felt like my brain was going to fall out of my skull. That thing was brutal. Obviously its one and only strong point. Zerg never were the subtle type anyway...
"Shiat!"
The next time the Torrasque attacked, it got a good grip of the trailer with its awesome blades. Now, it was shaking us like a dog with a chew toy. That damn thing was a perfect earthquake simulator because soon you couldn't keep upright if you wanted too. You could almost hear the metal twist as it finally let go and slammed the trailer back to the ground. Now we were really losing speed...
"I think it finally broke something important!" I cried out.
"We're dragging the rear bumper!" Crick reported. "Scratch says the whole back of the trailer is shot to hell!"
At the same time, we could see the end of the canyon. In the distance, was the skyline of Anchor Rock. Holy shit. We were actually going to make it out of the canyon in one piece! ...should have known better than to jump to conclusions at that point. The minute we cleared the canyon and came out into open desert once again, the Zerg had a little somethin' waiting for us. I couldn't believe it. This Cerebrate might as well been a master strategist. We could all see the three twisted Defilers pop out of the ground. They had been waiting for us.
"Oh God! Defilers! Defilers! Defilers!" Crick yelled at the top of his lungs.
He said it as if wanting me to turn out of the way, but there was no time. They shot out of the ground, launched their toxic red crap all over the front of the cab and then disappeared back underground before we could run them over. Now I could hear this crackling sound... a sound like... something was eating the cab away. Like a sizzle. I looked up to see the metal frame of the cab begin to smoke. Oh my God, the Defiler toxin was eating away at the whole truck!
"It's Defiler Plague! We got problems Crick! The civilian don't got a suit!"
I looked over to Orange and Crick while smoke began to fill the cab.
"What does that mean?" I said frantically.
"It means the minute that shit touches you, you're going to experience every single disease known to man! It's gonna worse than any crap you could catch out here! You gotta bail! Before the toxins work its way inside!"
What? Leave them now? After all we'd been through? They'd saved my life whether I'd admit it at the time or not. If anything, I'd feel more obligated to die with them...
"No... I can't... you guys are gonna get killed!"
"Well you're gonna go first if you don't get out right now!"
"But you...."
"We don't got time for this sentimental shit Raleigh! Get the #$% out of the truck!" Crick ordered. "You saved me and now I'm saving you! Get lost!"
"You guys are the only friends I got out here!" I admitted. "I'm a small town loser. I don't know anyone! Lots of people pass through... but we're in this-"
I couldn't even finish my sentence when Orange leaned over to open the door. I could see the sands rushing by the truck as we sped across the desert. Then I felt a boot to my side. I swore it could have broken a rib. But that pain was minor when compared to me falling out of the truck and rolling across the sand. I must have said every curse word in the dictionary as I came to a stop face up. I sat there for a couple of seconds and then looked off to my right to see the Zerg horde heading right for me. I curled up into the fetal position and just prayed to whatever god still cared that it wouldn't be painful...
Of course, I have a way of making any situation overdramatic. The Zerg were still fixated on the truck and its contents, and they blew right past without so much as growling at me. It was crazy I know... but... why did they have to ignore me like that... I thought Zerg killed everything they came in contact with... I mean... I did drive the truck... Don't I deserve a little attention? I'm a loser... but I'm not that much of a loser...
Speaking of the truck, I could see it swerve away from me and head further off into the desert. They drove away from Anchor Rock. Away from it. But I guess I could see why, I mean... the Defiler toxin had ruined the cab and some of the trailer. Whatever crap they launched at us, it was as corrosive as hell. It ate away at everything. That meant the engine, the tires, the cab was going to be slop in a couple more minutes. Smoke rose through the air and I swore it was going to burst into some violent flame. But it didn't. They just kept going, and disappeared into the horizon with a million Zerg on their asses. The last thing I saw, was Scratch coming out of cloak with his rifle ready to go.
The pain of getting kicked out of a moving vehicle, the frustration of losing three guys who weren't that bad... I had tears in my eyes. Stupid #$%ing Zerg! It was their fault...
Then I turned toward Anchor Rock. Derringer... No... It was his fault!
Samuel Derringer... that bastard.
His death was going to be so graphic... I was gonna make Universe News Network headlines...
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Payday
