Chapter Eight

She walked along a huge crevice in the soiled land. Along the bottom of it flowed a small stream of sludgy water. Unable from her vantage point to truly discern what made it so murky and whether this crevice had been there before the creatures had spilled their evil plans outwards from their shuttle. The crevice snaked down the hills in front of the Autobot base but started to taper out as it neared a once forested area which only extended another 5km which finished at a cliff face. It'd taken Marie about an hour and a half to reach this point, no longer able to see the massive structure she'd escaped or the horrors that lay about it, a poignant and gloomy reminder of humanity's complete lack of ability to fight these beasts. Beginning what was most likely going to be a strenuous climb down the cliff face to a valley below did concern her, her limbs started to ache at the same time she became aware she was hungry, unable to even estimate when she was given some form of sustenance. Why would such creatures bother with the nutritional needs of humans when they planned on destroying them eventually? It was a little rude, though. She tried not to imagine the state of her lungs as she gave a weak splutter to try and dislodge the large blob of phlegm from her throat which was irritated by the heavy levels of soot and ash in the air she breathed. She felt something wet dribble down her side and noticed it was a small amount of blood oozing from where one of the tubes had passed into her body. God only knew what their purpose had been. Again, she tried not to think about such things. It took her about 34 unsteady and nervous minutes to reach the bottom of the cliff.

There was a huge hole at the bottom of the cliff just to her left, obviously the remains of a lake or river's beginning, judging by the erosion on the rock face perhaps a water fall had flowed down and formed a river. She didn't' need two guesses as to how this place had met its smouldering end. Marie began a walk along the dead river bed, thoroughly exhausted, but what else was she meant too do? She couldn't very well turn back, and without any knowledge of the geography of this country she really wasn't in any position to break out a map and track her path and destination, of course, she didn't have a map. Her thoughts were so scrambled that she didn't notice the sound of a vehicle increasing as it approached.

The young woman stumbled upon a few loose rocks as she decided to cross the dry river bed, dead fish and clumps of various water dwelling plant life was strewn about. Marie then found herself picked up and hurling through the air, she slammed into the far bank before her violently ceased memento caused her to roll back down into the muddy cranny. Groaning, she reached up with dirty hands and gripped her head. A shadow passed between her and the almost pitch sky.

"Lost?"

His voice was condescending.

Her hands came back down to her sides and her eyes strained to focus on the being. It was most obviously one of those damn machines.

"Perceptor's lab is most certainly the last place you would want to find yourself, but to those who obey him he is more then obliging. You, you miserable bag of flesh, will find your end in his abode".

The creature bent down to pick her up, he was a mostly forest green in colour with sparse amounts of a dusky tan. The feature of his that concerned her the most was the shoulder mounted cannon, something that would end her life probably faster then she could blink, however, given the fate she would meet if she was returned to Perceptor's custody an instant death would be much more welcome.

"Of course, giving you over to him doesn't mean I can't have a bit of fun myself first… in the interests of intelligence".

He bent down and picked her up, holding the woman in front of his face as he gave her a quick squeeze.

"Since we're going to be spending a bit of time together I think I should introduce myself, it'd be only proper. I'm Hound. No one who has heard my name has forgotten it".

He followed up with a blood chilling laugh. Marie struggled to get free; he continued to laugh as she squirmed. There was a moment where his grip wasn't as tight and she found herself able to wriggle out from her shabby gown, the drop to the ground below wasn't something she'd wish to repeat, but with no time to contemplate on her ouchies she was up and running, or rather limping. The Autobot gave a single chuckle and watched her, intending that she would exhaust herself fleeing from something inescapable.

Hound very rarely made an error in judgement; the stakes were just too high. To make a mistake in the Autobot army did not bode well, especially if someone found out. So when Hound realised the human had leapt from the cliff face, where another water fall had once dropped, he felt a rage known to many Autobots. He marched towards the edge and peered over just as he saw her dive head first, limbs failing, into a large pool of sludge below. His lip components formed a smirk as his knowledge of human anatomy told him in all likelihood she was now deceased, the flesh creature probably smacking her cranial chamber into the rocks hidden by the muck. Hound folded down into his jeep mode and rode up the edge of the river bank and along the path towards the bottom. It was most probably prudent to ensure she was one deceased bag of organic material.

From her perspective Marie was hoping the jump would kill her as her chance of outrunning him was slim. The geography was deceptive as it rolled up and down forming crevices and lake beds; the cliff top which dropped the river wasn't visible until she was nearly on top of it. She had only seconds to consider her options but as she found herself falling and without too much regret. The muddy sludge she landed in was probably more human remains and bodily fluids, amazingly the muck gave her a good deal of cushioning. Once she had figured out how to wade free a momentarily thought erupted in her mind that perhaps she could escape this creature. Turning her gaze upwards she could see a slight variation in the lighting from the dust it kicked up as it rolled along.

She clambered up the sides of the bank and off she ran towards another series of hills and cliff faces, hoping to find a cave or some other hiding place. She was about three metres from an entrance to a cave she thought could benefit her when a huge fiery blast ripped up the blackened ground to her left. The force of the blast caused her to looser her balance momentarily, she didn't fall, but she did stagger into the remains of a charred tree. She took a glance over her shoulder and saw Hound unfolding into his robot form, he started running, another blast from his shoulder cannon ripped into the tree next to her, splintering the blackened wood.

"Fuck!"

She screeched as she ducked, covering her head as larger clunks flew her way.

The Autobot laughed, and continued to fire. He literally dived at her, hitting the dirt two and a half metres from her and then started sliding through the gritty soil. Hound followed through with a vicious swat to Marie's legs, loosing her balance and falling into the sludgy ground.

"You won't die here".

The Autobot calmly stated as clutched her in front of his face; he stood slowly, thoughtfully and then chuckled cruelly.