Chapter Ten
Cordite Execution

(Preview)

Toby clung to Wint like a backpack as they moved down the hallway. His head was turned hard over, all the way to the stops that prevented him from overrunning the range of motion on his neck and he was staring hard into the darkness behind them. They seemed to have outrun the murder drones and the only sound now was Wint's laboured breathing and the slow tapping of his boots along the cold steel floor. Toby flinched as a brief flash of light caught his attention, before realizing that it was just the reflection of his own displayed eyes. He quickly looked away and began scanning again in a different spectrum, as if that would help. The glimpse of his own reflection was haunting. Distorted by the curves in the sheet metal, his eyes were pencil thin circles of dull white light, partially obscured by the multitude of underlining highlights his system displayed to indicate 'Fear' or 'Stress'. Unfortunately, this was accurate to how he felt. Something clattered in the distance behind them and Toby snapped his attention to where the sound had come from. Wint started, and stumbled along the corridor for a few steps until he caught himself. Toby noticed that his friend was shaking, and had started to limp on every other step. As quietly as he could, and without turning his head, Toby whispered "All Good?"

Wint drew in a loud rasping breath and whispered back, "Yeah. Good."

Wint stopped as the pitch black corridor ahead suddenly made a sharp turn. A soft metallic noise echoed away from them as he gently leaned against the wall and raised his shotgun so that the barrel was just hidden behind the corner. The faint glow from the underslung nanite stinger cast unsettling shadows into the darkness beyond. Judging by the scent of petroleum products wafting down the corridor, Wint guessed it was probably a good thing they couldn't see very far. Toby shifted himself on Wint's back as his friend took a deep breath, raised his weapon to the firing position, and stepped out from behind their cover.

The Hallway was empty.

Wint did a brief sweep with his gun, just in case anything was hiding in plain sight, and then raised his hand to switch on his helmet-mounted lights. He baulked as the cold dual white beams lit up a gore stained corridor. Ahead of them dismembered drone bodies littered the pathway and steaming swaths of tar-like oil sprawled up the walls and dripped in patches from the ceiling. Arms and legs lay scattered about, some stuck in mangled doorways and a few simply embedded in the wall at odd angles. Wint caught a lump in his throat and swallowed hard, forcing it back down. He felt his hands shaking and squeezed the shotgun tighter in his grip.

"Eyes up Toby" He whispered.

A quiet whirring of servos was all he heard in reply. Carefully shifting the little drone on his back Wint began to step around the debris on the floor. His heart thundered furiously in his chest as he accidentally kicked a body part and the sound of clattering metal echoed down the corridor. Somewhere in the distance, a dull roar reverberated through the complex. Wint shifted his weight again and moved more quickly. Metal clattered nearby and he broke into a careful jog. Toby jostled at each impact of Wint's boots on the floor, his plastic chassis clacking against the HEP suit. Suddenly Wint stopped. Toby snapped his head around to see what the problem was.

Ahead of them a slimy pile of oil soaked bodies were haphazardly piled in the corridor, blocking the way forward, and glistening in the beams of Wint's lights. Toby felt Wint shaking and could hear the soft jittering of his armoured gloves against his weapon as his lights panned across the pile and over to an open doorway immediately next to them. Streaks of oil lead through the doorway, almost in the shape of an arrow, where the bodies had so obviously been dragged through.

"Fuck that, Fuck that, FUCK that," Wint cursed under his breath.

He carefully sidled up to the doorway, chest heaving, and very slowly peered inside. The room was pitch dark and littered with debris. Smashed out lights and ventilation ducts were scattered among the vague body parts on the floor. Wint leaned in for a better look and then stopped. Toby felt a small buzzing vibration where his chest plate rested on the back of the HEP suit, right near Wint's neck. Wint suddenly snapped a hand back as if he had been stung. His glove smacked into the steel door frame and a strangled whine squeezed out of his throat. Tumbling backwards, he landed with a clatter on his ass. Toby had to fight to hold on as Wint scrambled towards the pile of bodies. With a yell, he lunged forward, and landed hard in the mess of steel, plastic, and oil.

An ungodly roar of rage erupted behind them over the clatter of disturbed parts. Toby turned just in time to see a blurred form explode through the doorway in a spray of fluid and shrapnel. The form roared again as it slid across the oil soaked floor and smashed itself against the wall where they had just been standing. Shards of glass and glowing yellow liquid sprayed up into the air.

Toby lost sight of the thing as Wint tumbled over the barrier. Another screech echoed from nearby. Debris rained down and the ceiling shook with a clatter as the rapid thuds of deforming ventilation duct thundered above them.

Clutching his weapon in both hands, Wint tucked and rolled as they slammed into the ground at the base of the barrier. The force of the impact knocked Toby loose, but the little drone managed to snag Wint's arm as the man bounded to his feet again. The shifting weight threw Wint off his balance, sending him careening into the wall at full running speed. A volley of blue sparks accompanied the loud crunch of metal as the heavily armoured man scraped along the corridor.

Toby, still hanging from Wint's arm, gave a surprised yelp as the man swung him back into position on his neck, using the little drone's weight to correct his path and avoid rebounding into the opposite wall. Once back in place, Toby latched into position like a mechanical scarf, too preoccupied with holding on to notice the smashed plastic and scraped steel where his arm had been caught between Wint and the wall.

A haphazard volley of lead sprayed down the corridor behind them, followed by a scream of rage and pain as the Murder Drone plowed through the gruesome barricade in pursuit. Wint sprinted down the corridor, arms pumping, voice screaming and Toby watching in horror as their pursuer clumsily closed the gap...