Chapter 37:
11:15 pm.
*SKSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!*
Smoke suddenly fills the dark room. IF covers her mouth and nose with one hand but her opponent in front isn't even disturbed by this.
"We've got her now! 4-Alpha cover the alley, 3-Alpha and 4-Beta surround the building! She'll try going through the front! I'll cover the roof!"
"Smart bastards—!" IF grumbles.
Adam must have relayed the info that these things are only concentrated on her. It's either IF gets killed by this thing or she gets shot down while escaping.
"Wait…? Something's wro⸻!"
*GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*
That thing didn't give her time to think, she ducked as she heard it scream. A gust of wind scrambles overhead as it passes by. IF takes a deep breath and runs to the right.
She exits the smokescreen and is met with a long corridor. The corridor is short, at full sprint it'll take 2 steps before she reaches the end of it. There's a window, a door to the left, and a staircase to the right at the end.
The door would lead to a room, forcing IF to jump through the window and into the main street. That idea would get her gunned down. The window would force her to run through the alley again but with this thing after her, she'll get eaten alive.
*GIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!*
She puts her foot behind her and turns on the spot, before the momentum leaves her, she jumps to the first landing of the stairs.
*HAHAHAHAHA!* *KSHANK!*
The thing crashes through the window. IF lands and quickly hops onto the next floor. She grabs onto the wooden guard rail, forcing herself to make a sharp right turn towards the next set of stairs.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
*GIIIIIIIII!* *GIIIIIIIII!* *GIIIIIIIII!*
The floor suddenly breaks behind her, wooden shrapnel flies out. The distinct sound of laughter plays out from behind her. IF doesn't need to look back, she already knew that thing had taken a shortcut towards her through the floor.
"I swear to gawd you're annoying!" IF says, her feet continuing to run.
*GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*
Reaching the stairs, she hops onto the first landing, then using the same foot, turns towards the top of the stairs. IF bends, putting power on her one foot, and ju⸻!
Her body refuses to launch from the wooden landing. She instinctively looks at her feet. Something pink , slimy,wet and glossy is wrapped around her ankle.
"Shi⸻!" Suddenly, her leg gets pulled from behind her violently. She puts her hands up in front of her just before her face meets the wooden landing of the stairs.
*BAM!*
The moment her hands slam against the wood, she looks behind her.
*GUHIHIHIHIHI!*
That thing is now in the air, right above of her. Its mouth is wide open, aiming for her head. She pulls out her knife and swings it. Like a rope tied to its waist, it suddenly dodges to the side, and its tongue is still wrapped around IF's ankle.
Before it lands, she slams her knife down towards the wet slimy organ. The tongue retreats into its owner's mouth. IF jumps up and shoots at it. It jumps back perfectly dodging the shots. It then hides into a corner at the end of the hall.
*SCHMACK!* *PING!*
A sniper shot suddenly shoots through the window, shattering it.
"No call-in from the earpiece!" As IF curses, she jumps halfway and then another to the top of the staircase. The same floor layout greeted her.
"They're not trying to take me out!?" IF senses it. Her instincts say so. If Lastation wants her dead right now, why bother with surrounding the building? Adam knows about them having tunnel vision, assuming that info has been relayed, they should be safe to surround the floor they were in. Even The Gust of Wind that blows through Gamindustri is no match for an extended fight with that thing. It'd be easy to take out after the fight has settled.
But instead, they used a smoke grenade. As if blatantly saying, "We'll cover your escape".
Another piece of evidence was when the sniper shot through the window, but she heard the bullet impact ahead of her. Intentionally missing her, almost as if saying, "Run".
"Are they trying to lead me somewhere?" Her gut asks. She doesn't have a mole in Lastation Special Forces that's helping her out. And even if there were, Adam would've likely filtered him out already. If her being led somewhere is true, then where? There's nothing of value here other than the ICBMs.
"So, what do I do?" Should she play along? Or change her target? But changing targets now means she'll have to come up with a new plan, and with Adam right behind her, she'll get caught in the process. There are no more Planeptunian militia fighters left that IF can use to launch a counterattack. And even if she were to rally the few scattered forces, it'd be another long and drawn-out battle.
So she must end this war right now.
"So, Adam is using my objective as bait? Crafty son of a bitch."
As IF reaches the top of the stairs, she puts power in her legs and hardens her shoulder.
*SLAMS*
She slams the door open and steps onto the roof.
[Line Break]
10:00 pm.
*VROOOOOOOOOM!*
*AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* - *CLICK!* *CLICK!*
"SHIT!" Peter switches to his sidearm.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
"JASON! ARE WE THERE YET!?"
"WE ARE! JUST HOLD ON! COMPA, ON MY SIGNAL!"
"Alright!"
They've reached the place Jason aimed for. While the bushes and grass have overgrown, the trees still look the same as he remembers. He darts his eyes back and forth, looking for a particular cave in the darkness. A legend from his childhood.
He can't expect to be lucky like last time, an ancient dragon doesn't just fly in the sky. Moreover, Lowee is famous for its lack of monsters in its territory. So, using the bait earlier wouldn't have attracted a lot of monsters to distract it.
"KH! I'M TURNING! GRAB ON!" Jason shouts, quickly turning the bike to the left, leaning it hard. He twists the gas and the Yamaha XTZ 125 roars before driving off.
"Oi! Where the fuck are we going!?" Peter asks.
"I'm looking for something!"
"Find it fast, we've got no more bullets left!"
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Jason turns the bike hard to the right. They haven't been following a trail at all since they'd been chased. The thick forest and overgrown bushes are making it hard to gauge where they are. And with only a single source of light, it's doubly so.
"Shit! Where the fuck is it!?" Jason grumbled, sharpening his ears and nose, trying to get a sound and whiff of what he was looking for.
"JASON! WE'RE SLOWING DOWN!"
*GUHIIIIIIIIIII!*
As soon as Peter shouted, that thing suddenly appeared from the left. Its body bumps into the bike's front lights, breaking it and causing the bike to swerve.
"SHIT!" Jason shouts as he regains controland twists the gas handle.
The forest in front of him has gone completely dark. The only headlight are now broken with only the ambient light lighting their way.
"Dammit all!" Jason puts on his panoramic night vision goggles. The forest appears in a green filter.
"Hey, Peter! You okay there!?"
"…"
"Oi! Peter!"
"*Sniff!*"
*BUMP!* *THUD!* *THUD!* *THUD!*
The bike just got lighter. The rear wheel looks like it's been relieved from some weight. Jason's sweat suddenly crawls from his head to his face, as if unaffected by the wind. He dares not to look, but instead, asks the nurse.
"Compa, you okay?"
"Mhm! Bu-But! Peter he-!?"
"Use the bait. We can't let them chase us." The few that their bait attracts are most likely enough.
"Mhm…" Compa obediently complies, pulling out a canister and then pulling the pin before throwing it.
Only 2 remain.
Edited by:
TMCraze, Verthin