Chapter XII: RAID!

"The guy said they store the weapons and food near the back of this place."

"Alright, let's move fast, in and out. We'll signal the others when we've confirmed the goods."

I listened in on the conversations of the Hunters, who were clearly staging a quiet raid on the settlement. I assumed the 'others' were a team outside the wall waiting to extract these degenerates once they'd taken what they came for.

They wouldn't be leaving this place.

They made their way to the back of the warehouse, and I was both surprised and irritated that the stockpile building was left completely unmanned by the settlement; Leaving me to wonder how many times this stockpile had been robbed before. Once they reached a particular set of crates, they unsheathed crowbars and began hacking off the locks and lids and breaking open the crates.

"Perfect." One of them, who I assumed to be the leader, muttered with delight. He gestured to the other Hunters to begin looting, and I allowed them to do so, for an advantageous reason.

Once they were fully burdened with all manner of weapons and goods, the leader gestured to the exit.

"Alright, let's get the fuck outta here."

The other Hunters nodded and slowly made their way back towards the front of the warehouse, encumbered by their newfound supplies. The leader lagged behind, ensuring they were all moving in front of him, and leaving him perfectly vulnerable as no one was watching his back.

Shick!


(Music: "Head Rush", by Gustavo Santaolalla)


"H-!"

The leader's strangled grunts were unheard by the others, who were too far away now, as I had crept up behind him and used one arm to cover his mouth and jabbed the knife into the side of his throat; He struggled against my iron grip as blood spurted from his cut artery, and bled out quickly, slumping in my arms. I quietly laid him to the floor, slinking up to the next Hunter holding the rear.

"H-Hey-!"

Shick!

Unfortunately, this Hunter had noticed me before I could silence him, alerting the others to my presence as I slithered the edge of the knife up and into his armpit.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Greatly annoyed, I finished stabbing the Hunter, having punctured the artery in his side, and threw him aside, leaping at the next Hunter, who was too burdened by supplies to unholster his pistol. He tried to unshoulder the heavy bags on him-

SHICK! SHICK-SHICK!

-And was too late in doing so, my knife sliding between his ribs and puncturing his organs. He collapsed in a bloody, gurgling fit, and I turned my predatory focus on the next Hunter, who was trying to make a sprint for the exit, but tripped over his own foot and slammed to the ground, cursing loudly. I was about to pounce on him, when I saw the last Hunter, having relieved himself of baggage, begin to unholster his own sidearm. In a moment of panic, I flipped the knife in my hand, holding it by the blade, and flung it at the Hunter with gusto.

Thwip-Shick!

"AAAAHHHH!" The hunter cried out, as the knife slammed into his chest, though non-fatal as it had lodged in the center of his ribcage. Still, he crumpled to the ground in great pain as he held the knife in his chest with agony. I took advantage of the moment, frantically searching one of the dead Hunters for a weapon, and finding a knife holstered at his side. I unsheathed the knife, running up to the Hunter recovering from a slip, and pounced on him, puncturing his throat with violent fervor.

Shick-Shick-Shick! Shick!

Blood spewed from his exposed esophagus, the Hunter's eyes filled with fear and terror as he clutched at his throat with horror, flailing wildly on the ground. I released a gust of pent-up breath between my parted teeth, morbidly enjoying the return to excitement. Unlodging the knife from the Hunter's throat, I walked over to the last one agonizing on the ground, and held his shoulder as I stabbed him through the eye, into his brain.

Looking around at the aftermath, I went around the bodies and stabbed through their eyes to confirm their deaths, before heading out the door, leaving the supplies behind. I would first need to deal with the remaining Hunters.

I winded my way back to the settlement wall, walking up to the hole and-

Oh. Shit.


(Music: "Stick Up", by grandson)


It was then that I was witness to several Hunters trying to climb through the hole, only to see my face staring back at them. My eyes gleamed over the weapons in their hands; Axes, maces, clubs, handguns...

All of their eyes set on me.

...

...

...

S

H

I

T

.

"GEEEEEEEET 'IIIIIMMMMM!"

"SHIIIIIIITTTTT!"

BANG-Whizz-BANG-Whizz-Whizz! Whizz! BANG!

Whizz-Whizz-Whizz! BANG!

I screamed in panic as I ran for cover, being shot at in rapid succession as the Hunters rushed in through the hole and found cover behind the various objects and buildings around them. I hadn't realized this was a full-blown invasion!

BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!

Whizz! Whizz-Whizz-Whizz!

BANG-BANG! BANG! Whizz! Whizz-BANG!

I tried to steady my breathing as bullets whizzed over my head, realizing my dismal cover behind the various benches and trash cans around the street were not adequate enough to cover me-

BANG! BANG! Whizz-Whizz-Whizz!

Whizz! Whizz!

"HUNTERS! HUNTERS ARE IN JACKSON! GET THE OTHERS!"

WhirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-

Relief flooded my mind as I heard the settlement sirens wailing, accompanied by the sounds of alerted settlement guards. Still- It was time to fight!

BANG! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T!

BANG-BANG-BANG!

Machine guns and small arms fire filled the air, and I dared to look over the bench to see that the Hunters were gathering in numbers, but were bunched up near the hole as a few armed citizens began garrisoning houses and buildings around the area, taking potshots at the Hunters. The air was filled with the sounds of yelling, gunfire, and wailing sirens.

BANG! BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

The sounds of gunfire and hellfire ramped up in rapid pace as more and more combatants from both sides joined into the fray, bringing heavier weaponry by the minute- WHAT THE FUCK WAS I DOING HERE?!

BANG! BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

BANG-BANG-BANG! BRRRRTTT-T-T-T! BANG-BANG!

It took everything I had to keep my head and body below adequate cover, as more of the street was filled with lead and shrapnel, storms of bullets tearing apart benches, buildings and people alike!

I needed to get away from this awful cover and find a better position, and so I looked around desperately at the battlefield as I waited for my moment to make a run for it. However, as I compared the size of the invading force against the current defenders, a sinking feeling came over me as I realized that the Hunters would proliferate around the settlement and sabotage, loot, and burn buildings as they saw fit. Not only that, but finding these little parasites in the aftermath would lead to more deaths- No doubt, they would be hiding in buildings or storage units and ambushing any civilians or guards that passed by, and who knows how long that problem would persist- possibly for days or weeks!

They had to be chokepointed here, or the potential damages could be catastrophic. Gritting my teeth in anxious determination, I realized that I needed to hold them off as long as possible- Until more settlement militia came to help.


(Music: "Outta My Mind", by Des Rocs)


"HHHHHGGGGGGHHHHH!"

I screamed internally in pure terror as I made a gamble, and sprinted from cover for a dead Jacksonite's rifle, rolled over the weapon, and picked it up, just barely managing to get behind cover as a bullet storm peppered my previous position seconds ago. My heart beat with such intensity that I imagined it would explode right then and there in the midst of an already-bloody battlefield.

Whizz-Whizz! Whizz!

I watched with climbing fear as bullets slammed into the snow and the assorted buildings around me; This was a certified battleground. For most of my life, I had yearned to avoid such massive gunfights as this as I had been forced through in my earliest years, because it was battles like this that lowered my chances of survival the most. I had sufficed off killing through ambushes and attacking the enemy when they were at a massive disadvantage, but this was just plain, open warfare- And everyone was just as equally likely to catch a bullet through the skull.

Would I be dying here?! Right as I reached my destination?! It would be quite characteristic of this shit-eating universe! To snuff out my hope like another tragic tale!

THAT WOULDN'T BE ME!

I pulled back the chamber of the rifle, confirming it was loaded, and took out the magazine to count my bullets. It was full, with all 30 inside. Grimacing at the prospect of dying before ever firing a bullet, I shoved the magazine back in the rifle and cocked the chamber, then leveled my rifle over the barricade and took aim.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Whizz! Whizz-Whizz-Whizz! Whizz~!

Three shot dead, with several bullets returning in my direction -one of the bullets came close enough that it could have shaved the hairs on my face- and I ducked below the heavily-peppered iron bench (thank GOD it was iron and not wood!) once more, biding time as the invaders began focusing on my position. Seeing a tight alleyway, a grand idea to flank the invaders came to me, and so I quickly slinked between the bench to the narrow alleyway, keeping my barrel pointed forward incase any of the-

BANG!

My muscle memory responded more quickly than my brain could process, and before I knew it, a Hunter dropped dead to the ground, having had the same idea as I, but with a slower trigger finger. I braced myself for others to show up, but after a few hair-raising seconds, I realized he was acting alone, and pushed forward, seeing exactly where he had flanked from.

A morbidly mixed feeling of horror and fascination sundered my thoughts in that defining moment; I realized how close the line was between killing the foe and being the one dead on the floor.

The winner and the loser.

A vile glee overcame me as I slinked through the passage and peeked my head out ever so slightly from the other end, to see several Hunters' backs facing towards me.

Without hesitation, I raised the rifle barrel, switching it to full-auto-

BRRRRT-T-T-T-T-T!

A hail of bullets slew the numerous enemy dead where they stood, perforating through their exposed backs and sending plumes of crimson through the cold, brisk air. I watched their bodies drop, and immediately dropped to the ground on my stomach, scavenging a dead Hunter for the same ammunition while other Hunters (now alert to my position) began firing relentlessly at me.

"SHIT!" I cursed, realizing the only dead combatant near me had a different type of ammunition. I dropped the rifle I was currently holding for the one lying on his corpse, wrenching it from his post-mortem grip and grabbing the magazines inside his coat pockets; Reloading while under intense gunfire was never a fun experience, but I had finally managed it before whipping my rifle over the barricade, blind firing in the general direction of the oncoming bullets.

BRRRRT-T-T-T!

Although glad I had kept them holed up at the entrance of their wall perforation, I was also alive with fright! The entirety of the enemy was now focused solely on ending my life, which was made evident by the renewed and far more intense hail of gunfire-

Clink, clink.

"AAAAHHH!"

I shouted in terror as I saw not one, but two improvised grenades land in the snow next to me, and realized in a microsecond that they were attempting to flush me out. The alleyway was too narrow to rush through to get away from the blast... My only option was-

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A war cry erupted from the deepest parts of my guts, carrying me over the barricade; I fired wildly at the enemy, completely exposed to gunfire- only hoping that the bullets would miss.

BOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

I was thrown forward by the blast behind me, feeling bits of shrapnel slam into my back. I cried out in pain, writhing on the ground as I saw many of the Hunters find cover behind various barricades as returning fire from more settlement guards and armed citizens began to grow in volume. Still, I had to make a mad dash for cover as countless bullets ricocheted and slammed into the surroundings near me, many of them missing by mere inches. I tripped over a body, saving me from even more bullets, and decided to take cover behind a market stall next to the corpse.

"Huh?"

Picking myself up from the ground, it was then that I noticed the Hunter's body I had stumbled upon had a backpack, and I searched frantically inside to find an unlit Molotov. Grinning madly, I held the Molotov in one hand and the rifle in the other, an idea in mind for lighting it. I scrambled for another temporary cover behind a mailbox, then blind-fired over the top.

BRRRRT-T-T-T-T!

Whizz-Whizz! Whizz-Whizz-Whizz!

Ignoring the near-hitting return fire, I used the scorching-hot part of the rifle barrel and pressed it against the rag stuffed into the gasoline-filled bottle, feeling sheer excitement as the rag suddenly lit on fire, and snuck a peek at the Hunters' positions. I was within a few meters of the hole, where more Hunters were crawling through by the minute, and waited until they were all bunched up at the entrance of the hole.

Then, I lobbed the Molotov as hard as I could, hoping my off-hand aim was good enough to-

CRASH!

FWOOOOOSH!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'

"AAAUUUUUGGGGHHH!"

"OH, GOOOD! OH, GOOOOOOODDDDD!"

"HEEEELP! HEEELP! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

I cackled in delight as I watched the Molotov break on the metal wall right above the hole entrance, sprinkling the flaming liquid over the multiple unfortunate Hunters crawling through; They writhed in the snow in agony, trying to put out the engulfing fire that enveloped them; Just as I had finished reloading my rifle.

I took aim.

BANG-BANG-BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

The Hunters fell still in the snow as the bullets slammed into their bodies, killing them in droves. After a few more moments of unrelenting slaughter, the remaining Hunters began quickly retreating back through the hole, screaming at those on the other side to retreat as well. I advanced forward diligently and coldly, executing running Hunters and those trying to crawl back through the hole, plugging it with their corpses.

Only a minute later, as the settlement guards ran up to the ramparts to pick off the fleeing Hunters, the air then grew silent from the previously-alive battlefield atmosphere; Always a haunting experience, once the dust settled. Staring at the pile of corpses I had created, I was increasingly disturbed by the contrast in the beauty of the snow, and the morbid sight of the dead who lay there unmoving.

...

...

...


(Music: "Riptide", by grandson)


This was a nightmare manifested. I... I was beginning to loathe the sight before me with unbearable distaste; Where I would have once stood over their bodies cackling and looting them with impunity, I could only stand in deep discomfort and gaze at the pile of bodies, strewn about like ragdolls with no love from their deities- no soul to inhabit them.

Their personalities, behaviors, quirks, past connections, relationships, ambitions, worries, joys and sorrows...

Snuffed out. With only a few bullets.

By... me.

Plop.

I no longer had the strength to hold the killing weapon in my hands; Both from physical exhaustion and being dispirited so suddenly. It fell into the snow softly, more softly than the bodies it wrought on the same, blood-soaked ground.

No, I assured myself viciously. IT WAS NECESSARY. THEY WERE HERE TO KILL ME. THEY HAD TO DIE.

I suddenly found myself growling in confused anger, punching myself in the side of the head to try and clear my mind of the flooding guilt that was trying to overwhelm me.

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

"WHOOOOOOO!"

"WE FUCKIN' WON! FUCK YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Just as I was trying to purge my thoughts of this turmoil, a wealth of armed citizens and settlement guards alike had suddenly come running up to me, slinging their rifles over their shoulders and coming up to me with wide-grinning faces that radiated joy and a shared malicious pride that inevitably came over those who defended what was precious to them.

I suddenly felt myself being patted on the back plentifully, along with countless forms of praise- all of which irritated me beyond belief.

"That was fucking AMAZING, Jack!"

"Seeing you in action was just unreal. You were literally dodging bullets, I swear!"

"What the hell kind of shit did you experience outside the walls to be able to do all of that?!"

It didn't help that I was suffering through an existential turmoil, to then be receiving praise for slaughtering fleeing people en masse. I was beginning to cave in to exhaustion once more, but as the symptoms of unconsciousness began to manifest, I felt several hands grab me to steady me on my feet, along with mutters of worry and concern. I couldn't help but be cynical about their kindness, and yet still there was a warm, fuzzy feeling that faintly arose in my chest, a feeling I couldn't describe, but what I would have described similar to 'kinship'.

Regardless of what I thought of these people, they had saved my life several times in the firefight, even if they weren't aware of it.

"IT WAS THE FUCKIN' WYOTES, I'M TELLIN' YA!"

"What?! No way..."

"FUCK those motherfuckers! We oughta track 'em down to their little rat-cave and KILL 'EM ALL!"

That last statement from a random townsperson raised a raucous cheer for bloodlust momentarily from the crowd, but they inevitably brought their attention back to me-

Plump.

-As I lost the last bit of my physical effort to stay conscious, and plummeted into the snow...