Chapter 4
The old truck creaked and rumbled as Rusty drove it through desolate lands caked in human waste. The wheels glided over the trash and dirt as if it wasn't there at all. Rusty's mechanical arm shifted the truck into gear, while Slayer watched his arm in action. "Must be hard having an arm like that" Slayer said. "Eh, I got used to it after a while." replied Rusty. "How did you end up with it?" asked Slayer. "Bullhide's guys ripped it off. Before I joined the Talons I was just a lone fugitive. Several motor psychos caught me, tied me between two dirt bikes. One bike dragged my body, the other dragged away my right arm. Lost consciousness from blood loss there. Woke back up at one of the camps Captain and The Talons had set up. She took me in after acknowledging my knowledge in robotics, and the rest is history."
Slayer hung his head low. "That's the one thing that baffles me about you humans." said Slayer. "Why are you all fighting each other instead of the STRI-KRs? Buy N' Large got you into this mess and still remains a huge threat to your lives! Don't any of you try fighting back at them first or at least try forming alliances?!" "That 'huge threat' isn't as much of a threat as you think." explained Rusty. "They aren't doing shit to us. We may come across a handful of STRI-KRs but that's really it. As for all the violence we commit, it's all for survival. Everyone's almost out for themselves in this wasteland. Hell, even gangs split up into smaller gangs and begin fighting each other." "Whatever happened to survival in numbers?" asked Slayer. "If everyone collaborated and dealt with the bigger threat, then survival would be much easier for all of you!" "If" Rusty pointed out. No more words were spoken between either of them as they continued past the baron lands, caked in garbage.
When they approached the city, Slayer started hearing a strange noise. "You hear that?" he asked. Rusty heard it a few seconds before Slayer did. He hushed Slayer and quickly rolled down the window. "What is it?" asked Slayer. "Hang on a second." Rusty responded as he quickly turned the truck towards a nearby bridge. Rusty screeched to a halt underneath the bridge and turned off the engine. Slayer could start hearing the sounds of old plane engines, both piston powered and jet powered ones. He poked his head out of the window of the truck and saw three black fighter planes zooming by overhead. Two were American fighters and another was a jet powered Messerschmitt, all from the second world war. "Thunder Warriors," said Rusty. "They get into the most fights with STRI-KRs. Those fruitcakes pretty much rule the skies." Slayer and Rusty watched the old planes fly towards them, hoping they weren't seen.
"Those planes don't look too good," Slayer noted. "They rebuilt them from scratch. The planes were stolen from an air force museum somewhere." responded Rusty. The planes screamed over the bridge and continued flying towards the northern half of the city, which was growing nearer. As the noise died down, Rusty turned the key to start the truck and headed back towards the city.
A half-hour later, as they approached the city, they stopped by the garbage incinerators, where they stood motionless. No smoke was coming from its smokestacks. The clashes and rumbles the machines made could no longer be heard. Only the sound of metal settling and wind blowing around it could be heard. Piles of trash on its tall conveyor stood motionless. "We walk from here." Slayer said, while staring at the incinerators. Both Rusty and Slayer hopped out and grabbed their assault rifles. "I'm guessing the truck can't fit through the city streets?" Rusty asked. Slayer didn't respond, he just kept looking around the incinerator, looking to see if any STRI-KRs were on the platforms. "Something wrong?" asked Rusty. "These hulks should be running, they never turn them off nor are they without guards." replied Slayer. He looked around the incinerator and noticed the others weren't running either nor were they being guarded. "Ah fuck it." said Slayer. "They're all probably busted." Slayer began heading into the cities with Rusty following behind.
The two snuck through the lifeless, garbage and dirt plagued city streets, keeping their eyes open for any potential threats. "Not many STRI-KRs out in this area, it seems." said Rusty. "Something doesn't feel right here," said Slayer. "Don't let your guard down, though." As they continued through the alleys and past tall buildings and trash cube towers, a small camera bot from the top of a nearby building which had gotten lost from its group, had noticed the two sneaking through the city. It kept a low profile and started recording their every move. Eventually, Rusty and Slayer passed his sector's exercise grounds. Slayer turned a corner, then stopped dead in his tracks and almost dropped his gun in utter shock.
Wall-Es sat in the garbage, some laid lifeless face down in the dirt. Many had at least two or more missing body parts. Slayer approached one of the Wall-Es and noticed garbage was covering their solar power meter and sandstorm alert device, where their motherboards were kept behind in their rusty innards. Slayer removed the garbage, revealing several burnt holes from plasma pulse projectiles. Rusty eventually turned the same corner and stopped in his tracks as well. He looked all around him at the dead Wall-Es, then noticed Slayer moving further down the area where other Wall-Es laid. "What the fuck happened here?" asked Rusty. Slayer didn't respond, he slowly rolled through the area, looking at the bodies that littered the piles of garbage with feelings of shock and sorrow in his eyes.
"1..5..9..6" whispered a crackly voice. Slayer turned to where the voice was coming from. There, lying face up in the garbage was Wall-E 1467, who was barely alive. "1467!" Slayer called out as he rushed over to him and held him up. "Holy shit are you alright, what the hell happened?!" "Th-the STRI-KRs." said 1467, struggling to speak. "The general came a-along with other STRI-KRs a-and they all started firing at us and took pictures and videos of the dead." Slayer stuttered, he had no clue what to say or ask. "Buy N' Large used us as a false flag." continued Wall-E #1467 with his weakened voice. "They're going to send the photos t-to the captains, so they can show the p-public in space the W-wall-Es are failing. Operation: Cleanup was a farce. W-we were expendables."
Slayer tried to pick him up. Sparks flew from his friend's body. 1467 groaned in intense pain. Slayer quickly yet gently places him back onto the ground. A new feeling had crept into Slayer's motherboard, a painful one. "Y-you're going to be ok, brother!" Slayer said. He turned to Rusty who was behind him from a short distance. "You can fix him, right Rusty?!" Slayer asked. Rusty walked towards Wall-E 1467 and knelt down to check his motherboard. The plasma pulses didn't hit his motherboard much, except for one portion of it, which somehow didn't kill him, it only incapacitated him. Rusty knew what was wrong, and shook his head.
"He's far too damaged, Slayer. I'll end up killing him if I even try fixing him." Rusty replied solemnly. "NO!" snapped Slayer. "W-we can always transfer his data to a new hard drive and-" "Slayer," interrupted Rusty. "He's suffered enough." "He can always forget the pain." Slayer replied with slight denial in his voice. "I-I-I mean-" "L-listen to him, 1596." 1467 stuttered as more sparks flew out of him. "I want the pain to stop, just stop the pain." With what energy he had left, Wall-E 1467 pointed at Slayer's assault rifle.
Slayer looked down at his gun, then to Rusty, and then at his dying friend. That painful feeling of intense fear and sadness took over his motherboard, making his systems overheat just a little. "Stop the pain, b-brother." stammered 1467. Very slowly and with haste, Slayer lifted up his assault rifle and cocked it. The barrel of the gun pointed at 1467's motherboard. Slayer's finger trembled as he moved it onto the trigger. "Please," begged 1467. "Do it. Stop the pain. Plea-." The sound of laser pulses stopped 1467 from speaking, for good. The sparks stopped flying out, and the rest of 1467's body, now lifeless, fell to the dirty ground. Slayer dropped his rifle and gripped his chest. A sharp pain had gone through his motherboard, not unlike a heartbreak. His systems began heating up more. He felt like he wanted to cry, but he couldn't as he had no tear ducts or had any way of producing tears. Aircraft could be heard from the north. Rusty looked up and saw the same planes from earlier flying towards them. "We got company!" called Rusty as he began firing at the planes. The planes began firing plasma pulses at their direction
Slayer's systems were starting to overheat like crazy. In a matter of milliseconds, the sorrow soon turned into an intense aggression, one programmers thought could never be achieved by a robot, especially not from a Wall-E. Slayer picked back up his rifle and began to fire at the fighters, letting out one of the most vicious war cries until the ammo cartridge was emptied. Rusty stood back and could only watch as the planes were shot down, engulfed in flames, and crashed almost a quarter of a mile from where they were standing like fireballs. Some STRI-KRs had been patrolling around the area where Slayer and Rusty were located. Without hesitation, they followed the smoke and found the two. "It's the rogue!" called one of the STRI-KRs. Slayer swerved furiously before anybody fired a single shot and lurched forward, shooting multiple plasma pulses into several of the STRI-KRs.
More STRI-KRs begin to emerge from behind them. Both take cover from behind the wreck of Thunder Warrior aircraft and continue firing at the STRI-KRs. While Slayer's laser assault rifle picked off the robots like flies, Rusty's rifle was doing zero damage. Bullets would ping off the STRI-KRs' metal bodies. Rusty threw down his gun. "This fucking gun is useless!" he complained. Slayer had managed to blast away enough STRI-KRs so both could get away from the blazing mess of planes. Across the street was a Buy N' Large bank, where Slayer began rushing towards with Rusty following behind. Both run in and jump over the teller counters, which was made of a material that could withstand laser blasts. Several more STRI-KRs followed and began firing while taking cover themselves. Rusty and Slayer ducked down as plasma pulses rocket across the room. Slayer got up to shoot back then got back to the floor under the teller desk.
"We won't be able to hold them off at this rate!" yelled Slayer. "You better find a gun or something!" "There should be a security room somewhere in here. I'll see if it has any weapons!" replied Rusty. Keeping his body below the top of the table, he managed to exit the main hall of the bank and began searching the rooms. Eventually, he finds the main security room, and after ravaging it for a minute, he manages to find a laser pistol left behind by a security guard. He runs back in and begins shooting down the STRI-KRs. The blasts were powerful enough to kill the STRI-KRs. This helped as more STRI-KRs dropped dead at a faster rate.
"Fuck it, get one of the heavy classes here!" ordered one of the STRI-KRs. "Heavy what?!" Rusty repeated. "We're not gonna last long here" said Slayer. "We gotta get back to the truck!" Both Slayer and Rusty sneak out through the back door as fast as they could back to their truck. The Heavy Class STRI-KR that was with the group entered the building and began destroying the bulletproof counters. The counters were blasted to pieces as if they were made of paper. After discovering they were gone, the STRI-KRs begin going through the building. A few blocks away, Slayer and Rusty ran past the garbage incinerators and made it back to the truck safely. Rusty turned the key and sped off as fast as the truck could carry them.
The STRI-KRs exited the building through the back door Slayer and Rusty had just escaped through. "They couldn't have gone far. Track them down!" ordered a STRI-KR. While the truck sped away and the STRI-KRs began combing the area, a camera bot that had not noticed the action happening, spotted the truck and decided to follow behind, while keeping out of sight from the two.
Miles away from the cities, STRI-KR base and The Talons' campsite was Bullhide's campsite. Several small trucks rumbled in carrying the wrecks of the cars Slayer had annihilated a few days ago. The trucks honked as they came to a stop outside of their leader's hut. Bullhide walked out of his hut and was shocked to see.
"What the hell is this?!" asked Bullhide. "What happened?!" "We found these wrecks miles from our last raid on that convoy from The Talons." a marauder explained. "The bodies were burnt to a crisp." "We had spotted some tread tracks as well," said another marauder. "Someone got a tank rolling around here?!" asked Bullhide. "Well, no." explained another marauder. "They were small and close together, as if they came from a...Wall-E."
The motor-psycho warrior of the wasteland stared at the wrecks in disbelief. Two of his best soldiers, killed in the most brutal way, all committed by a primitive Buy N' Large robot. Bullhide's mind was soon clouded with thoughts of vengeance. Bullhide then walks towards and opens the passenger door to his assault semi. "Everyone into your vehicles!" he bellowed to his camp. "Let's go hunting!" The armored battle semi roared to life along with several motorbikes, pickups and old trashy cars as they began driving off into the wastelands.
