I feel the hypersonic shockwave of the round as it flies over my head before I feel the muzzle blast of the canon itself. The concussion blows me backward down the rise right before the shell explodes against a tree twenty yards behind me.
As I lay there, knocked completely senseless, a terrible sound reaches my ringing ears.
"CRACK, CRACK, CRUNCH," The shell blew clear through an ancient jungle tree nearly ten feet thick and the trunk begins to fall straight on top of me with a sickening roar. Instinctively, I roll to the left just in time to avoid being crushed by the tree's massive limbs.
"Get up! Get up, Snow!" I keep yelling to myself, but it's no use. The shock has left me in too much of a daze. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the feeling returns back to my limbs. I manage to start climbing to my feet only to see a hunter standing at the crest of the rise, his assault rifle pointed directly at my head.
"So this is how it ends…" I think as I see him move his finger to the trigger with a sadistic smile. A loud burst of heavy machine gun fire rips over the top of the rise, slicing the hunter in half. I hear the roar of the tank engine as it begins to maneuver toward me on the other side of the hill. "Note to self: Do not get in front of that turret because those tankers don't give a damn what gets in their way…"
I am on my feet again, running around the far side of the hill trying to get back into cover. I hear the shouts of the surviving hunters over the roar of the engine and the grinding of the tracks.
"WHAT THE HELL!" One of them screams.
"It was his own damn fault! Don't get too cocky and cross into their line of fire. They don't see very well in that thing."
Maybe I can use that. Make them fight your fight. I suddenly peel to the right and dive over the top of the rise, firing my assault rifle at the hunters as I sprint across the road fifty feet in front of them. One of the survivors is hit and falls to the ground dead. Before the other hunters return fire, the tank's turret swings toward my direction and they scatter like leaves hoping to avoid a repeat of their friend's death.
"Six dismounts left." I hit the ground and lay as flat as I can as the anticipated main gun round flies blindly in my general direction. The shell screams fifty feet past my right and flies deep into the forest, exploding harmlessly to my rear. I hear the pinging sound of the empty shell casing as it is ejected from the rear of the tank's turret and smashes into the ground. I remember that it takes about five seconds for that tank model's autoloader to ram another round in the main gun's breach and ready it to fire. That's five seconds that I have to make something else happen.
I dive forward out of the trees and open fire on the dismounts until my magazine is empty. Another three victims fall in my impromptu ambush before I am forced to withdraw back into the trees. As I draw another magazine from my chest rig and slam it into my rifle I think,
"Three more down, three left to go…"
I hear the hunters starting to panic. The tank is still scanning wildly with its turret trying to acquire me. The crew begins to drive the beast forward. The Hunters dive for the edge of the roadway.
"He's moving to damn fast!"
"Where is he?"
"Get Tracks outta here! He's only gonna get us killed."
The tank crew also seems to be growing impatient with me. The turret swings all the way to its side and begins raking the tree line with automatic fire. I crawl low, parallel to the road hoping to get a jump on the remaining three hunters who are too afraid to come after me considering what they've seen the tank just do to their friend. The ground underneath my chest rumbles as the tank's massive treads rip at the earth. The turret continues to fire its machine guns wildly into the jungle, hoping that somehow I will be hit. I guess they don't know me very well…
I crawl back to the edge of the roadway and look to my left. The three remaining hunters are huddled in a ditch, screaming in terror as the automatic fire slices through the air less than ten feet above their heads. The noise is absolutely deafening. All they can hear is the roar of the tank and the terror of their cries. Perfect.
I quickly raise my rifle and fire right at the paralyzed hunters. All of them are dead before they know what happened. The tank continues to fire without stopping, seemingly unaware of the loss of all the dismounts.
"Well, Ohm, should have spent just a little more and gotten an experienced tank crew…Alright, Tracks, it's just you and me…"
There's no time to think about my own mortality. Hesitation means certain death. There are only two ways that I know of to take out a tank from the ground. Disable it at the tracks, or go for the crew. Even if I had the right amount of explosives, I don't want to destroy this prize. I plan to take it whole.
I leap to my feet and fly back across the road. Tracks knows something is up now and ceases its fire, spinning the turret back center and continuing to scan for its target. Before the turret can get its sights to my location, I run up the rise, spin around and take a soaring leap. I fly through the air and land precisely where I want, directly on top of the turret.
The crew inside can hear me land on top of their steel sanctuary. The gunner begins to spin the turret wildly back and forth. Tracks has become a wild bull, trying to buck an unwelcome rider of its back. The driver slams on the gas, accelerating forward as fast he can. I fall to my knees but am able to grab hold of an antenna mount before I slide off the edge to be crushed by the steel treads below. I hear the hatch at the top of the turret open. The crewman inside sticks an assault rifle out the top and begins firing blindly along the sides of the vehicle, hoping to hit me with a lucky shot. I roll back and forth as bullets ricochet off the steel armor around me.
As I hear his weapon go dry with a loud "click" I raise up my own rifle and fire a burst directly into his arm which explodes into red mist. A loud scream echoes from inside the tank as his weapon drops to the ground speeding past below.
My free hand finds the last grenade on my belt and rips it free.
"Happy Reaping Day, Mother Fuc…" I let the grenade fly. It gently bounces on the edge of the hatch twice like a ball on a hoop before softly dropping inside the tank.
"BOOM!" The thunderous explosion inside the turret nearly knocks me to ground underneath the rolling tracks, but I hold firm.
I wait for the crew to come diving out the hatch, but Tracks simply rolls to an easy stop along the black road. Slowly, I climb back up onto the turret, raise my rifle to my cheek, and walk to the edge of the hatch. I can't see anything through the billowing smoke belching from inside the scorched interior.
A few deep breaths and then I jump inside. I look around and find the crew, all slumped over motionlessly at their stations…dead. I check the rest of the tank. Besides a few cracked screens and some superficial damage, everything inside the vehicle seems alright. One by one, I release the crew from their harnesses, haul their limp bodies out the top hatch, and dump them over the side. This is my vehicle now.
The armored weapons cases strapped to the outside of Tracks prove to be a treasure trove of new resources: spare magazines, rocket launchers, ammunition, explosives, flares, additional grenades, even food and water. I'm not worried about the Shiver anymore, by the time the clouds reach here, they'll have long since broken down into harmless vapor from exposure to the air. I'm also not concerned about more hunters coming in my direction, considering I'm wrapped up in 60 tons of protection. Plus, I'm not as incompetent behind these controls as Ohm's tankers were…
My strength is fading after going non-stop since this morning, so I take my time and have my first meal in almost twenty-four hours. It's only field rations, but it feels like I'm preparing a feast. I pull out a foil packet of beans and franks and place it on the engine exhaust to warm up. As I sit in the turret hatch, waiting for my hot meal, I look back up at the sky to the holoimage of Lizzy, still trapped the aquarium. Part of me feels guilty, taking this little break while she still is faced with the rising water, but I know I'll be no good to her if I just let myself go to collapse. I need this time to plan anyway.
"Just hold on baby," I whisper towards the sky. "I'll be there soon." I reach down into the ration packet and pull out a piece of milk chocolate, Lizzy's favorite. "Don't worry," I say holding the candy towards the sky as if she could see it. "I'm saving this for you."
After retrieving my now smoking hot beans and franks, I tear open the packet, take a big spoonful, and shovel it into my mouth.
"Obviously, Ohm isn't a culinary genius as well…"
The taste isn't stellar, but I don't really care. It's edible and it's hot. I sit for a minute or so, chowing down on my meal, when the epiphany strikes. I should have known that this is what it would take.For some reason, my best plans are always made when I have food in my stomach.
I know exactly how I'll get into the compound: right through the front door. With over 1000 horse power of armor at my disposal, I definitely have momentum to work with. Now, it's just about the details. I grin from ear to ear as I realize what Ohm's state of mind must be as he hears the status report of his latest blunder. If he was afraid before, he must be terrified now because I am the one with the tank.