Hey there everyone, special thanks to CometGlider007 for being the only follower/favoriter of this story. It means a lot man. I will give you an internet cookie or whatever the hell they're called. Actually, you get an internet hug from me. *Hugs CometGlider007 in a manly non gay way.* Ya! What a bro! Hope you like this chapter man. You better, or I'll hunt you down and feast on... all the food in your pantry. Muhahahahaha! This is an add for when I was done. I got another follower/favorite, whoop whoop! Thanks shadowmwape! Anyways, here we go.
Zack launched himself to the roof with his blood while Bee just warped next to him. The young Conduits went to the skylight slowly and quietly. When they reached the edge they saw only darkness in the warehouse. They could make the top of shelves but only a few and they were up against the walls. They waited until the warehouse was rocked by an explosion.
"Alright you Militia shits, get your hands up!" They both shared a smile at the rowdy nature of the Rebels. They were all good men who wanted nothing more then to help protect their city, and Zack respected that. They had similar goals, and up until recently they just had different ways of completing them. Looking back Zack got more done working with the Rebels then he ever could have alone.
There was a bang and the warehouse lit up from what seemed to be a flash bang of sorts. Zack saw a large amount of silhouettes that made him gasp. Bee didn't see it and eyed him with confusion evident in her eyes.
"What's up?" Zack started to run back to the Rebels and Bee followed close behind.
"Swamp Monsters, dozens of them. The Rebels will be slaughtered, this was Kalahart's plan all along."
"Shit!" They sprinted to the side where they started and jumped off. The Rebels were just starting to enter but stopped when they saw Zack and Bee hop down.
"What's up?" Before Zack could speak a hoard of Swamp Monsters hopped out of the warehouse and either tackled or impaled the nearest Rebels. The ones who were farther away opened fire while Zack threw a blood bomb at the encroaching hoard and grinned slightly when most of them were boiled alive and into bloody piles by Zack.
While Zack could use the blood of the Swamp Monsters he preferred not to as it had to be cleaned which took quiet some time and energy on his part. There was a loud roar and the front of the warehouse was smashed when a large monster, none of them had ever seen before, stormed out.
It was at least ten feet tall, pale with skin that almost looked like bullet proof armor. It had a face that was un-proportional to the rest of the body and did not sit on a neck, rather right in between the shoulders. Muscular and letting out a low growl it looked around as if it had no clue where it was.
"What is that?" A man to the creatures left called out. The beast turned to him and let out a roar before rushing at him. He screamed and tried to run, only to be grabbed, hoisted into the air and smashed into a nasty bloody pulp. The beast let out a roaring, scream that made the men near it cover their ears. Some Swamp Monsters ran out and instead of attacking the Rebels attacked the beast.
Their bladed arms bounced off uselessly and this only caused the creature to turn and smash its hands into the ground and create a small explosion in the area around its hands. With one hit all the Monsters were killed and that left only the beast and the remaining Rebels. Nobody made a noise and the creature turned to them and cocked its head.
It didn't attack and almost seemed to look through them. It breathed in a large breath through its rather large nostrils and then turned to the nearest Rebel. It took in another whiff before running forward and punting the scared man into a wall, where he created a bloody splat and stopped moving.
Zack watched as it stood up again and looked around confused. A Rebel opened fire and the rounds jumped off the tough skin ineffectively and only drawing the attention of the beast. It charged him and batted him through the air and into a street lamp post. He bent it on impact and a loud snap echoed through the empty streets. He hit the ground and like the man before him stopped moving.
"Open fire!" The Rebels obeyed their leader and unleashed everything they had on it. All the rounds bounced off but the beast was confused. As Zack watched it he came to the realization that the beast was blind, or very near blind and relied on sound and smell to find its targets.
"It uses sound and smell to find you!" When he said this he ended up getting the unwanted attention of the beast. It roared at him and charged while flailing its arms to hit him. Zack used his blood and flew over its head while shooting a hot stream of blood onto the head. It shrieked in pain and clutched its head while shaking the small head back and forth.
Zack came to another realization. Heat was the one thing that this thing was weak to.
"Hit it with fire!" He heated up the blood that was already on its face even more and saw it was not enjoying the feeling. It, however, went into a rage and went forward and smashed through two Rebels. It hooked to the right and stomped on a running Rebel, turning him into a disgusting pile of blood, bone, whatever organs were left, and the crushed pieces of his gun. There was a bright light behind Zack and he saw a Rebel with a lit Molotov.
He threw it and cheered when it hit home right in the beasts face. It fell to its knees shrieking in pain while trying to wipe the fire off its face, and only spread the fire to its hands. The Rebels shot the face and the bullets went through the melted skin and really started to hurt the creature. It didn't last much longer and fell over, writhing in pain. The fire from the Rebels continued until the movement reduced to only the occasional twitch.
The Rebels were careful to approach the beast and poked it cautiously with the barrel of their guns. When they were sure it was dead they relaxed and let out sighs of relief. A large amount of Rebels had been killed in the fight against the beast and the Swamp Monsters. Reducing their numbers to meager amounts.
Zack went up to the warehouse and was still curious. He turned back and could see the Rebels were in no condition to continue forward. Zack turned to Bee who had the same stupid idea as he did.
"You all need to retreat. You're in no condition to fight, me and Bee will secure the warehouse." They started to argue when Zack raised a hand to get them to listen to him.
"I don't want to risk any more unnecessary blood shed. Go home, we'll be fine." The final words were spoken and the Rebels turned and left only the two Conduits to stare at the gaping hole in the warehouse. They slowly turned to each other and Zack gave Bee a nod of reassurance before entering with her. It was dark and they could barely see anything so Zack used his phone as a light source as they walked through the warehouse.
It was something that would be a great idea for a haunted house, but it was not anywhere near Halloween and if it was then they wouldn't be in the mood to experience any jump scares from clowns hiding around the corners. Their pace was not a fast one, but rather one filled with caution and attentiveness at whatever could happen next. When they started to get to the end they saw a door that lead to the back of the warehouse. Light was seeping through the bottom of it so they knew someone was in there.
Zack put his phone back in his pocket and grabbed the handle. He slowly twisted and pushed it open, trying to make as little noise and possible. When they entered they saw a very large room where there was a large cloth piece over some hidden machine of sorts. They could barely make out the bottom of the device and it was a sleek black that had bolts holding it to the ground.
They approached it and as they were about to pull the cloth off they heard the noise of, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Didn't your mother tell you not to come into someone's home and touch their stuff? I doubt it seeing as she was probably a filthy Conduit much like you."
Zack spun around while drawing his machete, ready for any threat that was coming his way. He looked up and at the top of a staircase that was in the one dark corner of the room he saw Kalahart. He was surprised at how the Militia leader looked. He was pale and sickly, even worse then he remembered him to be. The leader climbed down and started coughing.
"Are you feeling high and mighty now? While you may be fine, the real, true people are suffering from sicknesses. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the cause of you filthy Conduits." Zack was shocked that this man could blame Conduits for things they had no control over so easily. It made Zack clench the handle of his machete a little tighter and he let out a growl of slight anger and annoyance.
"Did I strike a nerve?" The dying man sneered. He walked towards them before doubling over and coughing loudly and in a way that showed he didn't have long to live. This could be both good and bad. Good seeing as he wouldn't be plaguing the people of New Marais for much longer, but bad seeing as he would do anything to kill Zack and Bee. Even if it meant killing himself as well, seeing as he didn't have much, if anything, to lose.
"Just give up. Look at yourself, you're dying." Kalahart straightened up and gave Zack a glare that could kill lesser men where they stood, luckily, Zack was not a lesser man. Kalahart pointed a shaking, accusing finger at the bloody Conduit and started to shout his threats.
"You are a plague! Your kind can only bring violence, depression, hatred, and ultimately war! Don't talk down to me like I'm not worthy of being in your presence... Filth!" When he uttered that word he lost his composition and doubled over coughing worse then before. He started to cough up small amounts of blood and fell to his knees. He eventually stopped and stood while drawing a pistol. He pointed it at Zack who jumped in front of Bee in a defensive manner.
"I'll just have to kill you myself. I guess the old saying, 'You want something done, you gotta do it yourself' is real. No matter." Despite having a gun Zack knew he had the advantage. Kalahart probably couldn't see straight and his reflexes were so slow at this moment that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, even if he really focused. Zack could always shrug bullets off anyways, being a Conduit and having a pretty high pain tolerance. Even if he did get hit it wouldn't be fatal.
"Kalahart, look at yourself. Just put the gun down and live the rest of your life out peacefully." The leader of the Militia took an uneasy step forward and clicked the gun off safety while glaring at Zack.
"Wanna know how long I have?" Zack stood silently and waited for the inevitable answer.
"A week, tops. I figure, if I'm gonna die I might as well take a few hell bound monsters with me." He started to cough and the gun dropped. Zack responded by firing a string of blood at him and using it to pull the gun away from him. Kalahart grew enraged and ran as fast as he could towards the two heavily armed Conduits. He tried for a swing and Zack just moved to the side while holding out a foot.
Kalahart tripped and landed at the foot of the device. He crawled back and disappeared under the cloth and into the machine. Zack pulled the cloth back and followed him in. It was a large metal chamber with a single light on the top and multiple buttons along the side. Zack looked down to the ground to see the coughing leader of the Militia.
"Kalahart, give up already. You're disarmed and barely able to stand. This is getting nowhere." Kalahart looked up from his sleeve with a devilish grin.
"Or is it?" He looked right and pressed a button that caused a surge of electricity to swirl through the room. Arcs of electricity flew from the roof of the device and engulfed Zack and Kalahart and Zack could barely hear the scream of Bee.
"Zack!" Kalahart's laughter sounded out.
"Good lord above, take these abominations away and judge them to their eternal suffering in hell!" Zack tried to stay standing but fell to his knees. He started to get up but was forced to the ground and began to grow dizzy. His vision was getting fuzzy and he could barely make out the form of Kalahart now. Then white.
So, once more for those who didn't read the top, I finished typing this and I looked and guess what? I got another favorite/follower. Yay! Good for me and all that jazz. So a thanks again going out to shadowmwape for joining our crew... our mentally insane crew. At least insane people have more fun then the others. Ok then, hope you like it. I did. I was listening to a bunch of Zomboy songs while typing this so I had plenty of motivational music to help me out. LOL. There will be one more chapter so don't worry. The epilogue will be pretty damned good so don't worry about that. Anyways, keep calm and may the Aura be with you.