Castaway Island
Chapter 11: The Hill
-DAY 22-
Early that morning the two of them got to work as soon as they woke up. A quick shower, a good breakfast and they were gearing up with supplies they would need. They got supplies, decent clothing for the hike up there, Yang got her best spear with her in case they ran into anything, and she wanted to converse ammo for as long as she could.
The time here on the island she had spent an among of time carefully taking apart her wet rounds to see if they could either still function or salvage what she could. By the end of it she had one full spare set of ammo, the rest she wasn't sure she wanted to fire them off so they would use the fire dust in them for other things if they needed them.
After gearing up they took all their supplies and the copy of the map they painstakingly made with them. It was smaller of course but they wanted something in case they needed it. They got into the cart and headed off towards the back of the complex. They eventually found a path that led to the fence that apparently ran around most of the compound. There was a gate that was shut and locked, thankfully with all the keys they had gathered up they could just open it.
They both figured this was preventing some animals from just walking in from the jungle area and making a home out of the place. The only animals they had seen were smaller ones that were making homes out of the abandoned areas that they could get to since most doors and undamaged windows were closed when they arrived.
They both looked at the dirt road in front of them as it was flat until it hit the tree line, then it started to ramp up the hill. They also noticed that a small pole with wires were next to the gate, but the wires went at an angle into the ground.
"Why did they do that?" Jaune wondered.
"They most likely kept the lines under the ground," Yang offered. "It's safer that way since it means less chance of a tree knocking them down and also to stop Grimm from taking out power lines and stuff like that. They do that on Patch too, it's expensive but worth it. This means that they are most likely under the ground in a long system of protective pipes running up the hill."
She pointed at where the cables went into the ground and then up the hill. "Given this is outside of the main compound there's less chance of them getting damaged or birds using them. I mean remember that storm that hit? Imaging a tree getting blown down onto a power line."
"Never heard of Grimm attacking power lines." Jaune tilted his head thinking about it but then again, he hadn't had a formal education in Grimm before joining Beacon.
"That's because most people bury them outside of fortified areas and cities," Yang explained to him. "Some are smart enough to know if they mess with them, then humans are going to show up and well…"
"Ah, right," now he got the picture.
"Well on the bright side any cables should be intact, I just hope they got their own power supply up there." Yang looked up at the huge hill in front of them. Honestly it was almost like a small mountain, but she wasn't sure if it was big enough to qualify for mountain status.
"You think the cart can make that?" Jaune asked although he had a guess at what she would say.
Yang sighed, "I doubt it, these things are meant for flat land, not off roading. Might as well see how far we can make it."
Turns out, not very far.
As soon as they ground started to incline that's when the car started to struggle. Yang really didn't like how it sounded as the electric motor tried to get up the slope and at a pace it was struggling to move at, she was sure they could walk just as fast if not faster. She killed the engine as it rolled down the hill and stopped when it hit flat ground again.
"Yeah, we're walking," she said and while she expected this, she was still a bit disappointed.
Jaune looked up the hill, it was a huge hill and would take them hours just to walk up it. "I wish we had hiking packs for this."
"Same," Yang pulled out the two regular backpacks they got from the clothing store. The store had a very small and limited selection in backpacks and suitcases, most likely in case someone's stuff was lost or stolen so they could replace them. They couldn't carry much in them, they both had bottles of water, some food and a bag a trail mix. Yang carried some tools just in case while Jaune had the medical supplies they could stuff into it.
She picked up her spear as they got to walking.
"I still wish I had more ammo," she stated after fifteen minutes as she carried the spear with her metal arm. "I would feel more confident if I could use my weapons without worrying about ammo all the time."
"For once I'm glad I stuck with the classics," Jaune grinned knowing his sword and shield didn't have a need for ammo.
"Oh, sure rub that into my face," she said but in a joking way. "Although when we get back to civilization and I get my hands on a weapon's forge I think I'll put a blade onto Ember Cecelia. Like a retractable one that I can pop out or something. I need to start thinking what I'll do in case I can't access or run out of ammo again while on a mission or something."
"Can you do that here?" He asked.
Yang made a face. "Not likely, I need tools that I lack here. I mean sure maybe I could do something, but it wouldn't be very good. Hell, this spear will most likely break with overuse after a while. I need materials and a place geared for this kind of thing to make anything permanent."
While the mechanical building had a decent shop for some items, weapons required a lot of specialized equipment for forging and maintenance. The most she could do was some welding and sharpening, there was no forge or any way to make specialty parts here after all.
An hour later they were still walking up the dirt path, Jaune was sweating from the armor he was wearing but at least with the t-shirt and shorts it wasn't as bad as hid older hoodie and pants would have been. There also wasn't much to see up the path as they were slowly making their way up the hill.
"I spy with my little eye…" Jaune started.
"I swear if you say green again, I'll slap you," a slightly annoyed Yang stated. She didn't mind something to pass the time but after the fifth thing that was 'green' it got old.
"There's not much else around!" He defended himself. He looked around and then paused. "Hey look."
"Aren't you supposed to give me a clue first?"
"No, Yang look!" He pointed ahead of them.
She looked over and squinted her eyes as something was there near the side of the road. As they got closer, they could see a weather worn vehicle. It was some kind of jeep with faded and slightly rusted parts that looked like it had run off the road. It looked to have skidded or something and then wedged itself against a tree.
"Whoa, think it can still work?" Jaune asked.
"Let me pop the hood," She got to the front and didn't like the look of it. It hit the tree pretty hard to bend the front of it and she had to nearly rip the hood off to get it opened once she found the latch. Looking at the engine it had seen better days. She saw the reminds of an old nest that some bird had made which was long abandoned but at least the engine block was still in one piece.
"Well, the engine doesn't look cracked at least but I see a dangling hose, they either ripped out an oil line or maybe even transmission." She looked under the vehicle and she could see more clearing the broken cable. "If it was transmission this thing is dead as it can't change gears and for a jeep that's really bad."
"Hey, the keys are still here," Jaune said seeing them in the front seat. "Should I see if it starts?"
Yang backed away, "Give it a shot."
Jaune turned the key and the sounds that came out of the jeep were less then promising. Yang could see the engine wasn't turning over and the engine was vibrating in a bad way, like something was loose on the inside from what she was hearing. She made a gesture for him to stop trying.
"Yeah, this thing is toast," Yang sighed. "I mean we could pull it out and roll it down the hill but then we'd have to push this thing all the way to the mechanical shop or something. This is a full day's work and some of the tires are shot too."
She pointed to how at least the tires looked pretty bad from being exposed to the elements all the time with no maintenance on them. She closed the hood as she looked it over, it would take a massive undertaking and they weren't sure they could even salvage this thing.
"Well at least we know where it went," Jaune decided to add the key to his keyring on the off chance they did come back for it. "Still why did they crash?"
"Not sure," Yang looked at the dirt road, but years of weather had washed any way evidence. "Best guess? They might have been coming down the hill in a storm and with the roads all wet they might have crashed. It wasn't far from the hotel from here so they might have walked back."
"Seems like whatever happened that day when everyone left the island had been a bad one," Jaune thought about what they had learned so far. There had been some kind of storm, from the inside of the hotel they figured people had been gathered in the dining area for safety but then Grimm had also attacked, most likely drawn in by all the fear and panic. Some people had been killed but, in the end, it looked like most were evacuated off the island and no one came back.
"Maybe they were coming from the radio tower to report that recuse was coming?" Jaune offered.
Yang shrugged, sounded as good to her as any other theory and she hoped that had been the case.
They continued up the hill taking a break every time they needed it rest up and get in some water. It was a long trek, and it was nearly noon by the time they finally made it up there. What they saw didn't exactly fill them with hope. There had been a radio tower, but it was bent halfway, the rest of it lying on the island ground. There was a small building next to it that looked to operate the radio, when it worked that is.
"Can't we catch just one little break?" Yang said exasperated. All that time and effort to get up here and the radio tower was knocked down.
"Now we know why we never saw the tower," Jaune muttered. "You think we could still get a signal out if enough of it works? I mean what if we stick the antenna on the part that's still up?"
Yang mulled it over she was no radio operator, but it was better than nothing. It anything maybe they could at least send out a general SOS and anyone in the area could pick it up and investigate. It would all come down to what they had to power it with and how much was left.
"There better be something we could do after getting up here." Yang was not in a good mood as they started to walk to the small building. She was hating the fact that they had a bright spot of hope only for it to look like it was totally dashed as soon as the got here.
The building wasn't much, as she saw cables coming out of the ground to a pole which led into the building. So at least the under-ground lines looked like they made it all the way up here, at least she hoped. If one of the lines broke it could take years to dig up the entire line to find out where the break was without proper equipment or knowledge of where the lines were. That was a thought she didn't want to continue with.
The building itself wasn't anything special, just a small building, a few broken windows and a steel door that looked like it had been left open. She didn't like the idea of all that equipment in there being exposed to the elements.
"I'll look for trying to find the antenna." Jaune went off to where the rest of the tower was.
Yang nodded not taking her eyes off the building. "You better be somewhat working, I swear." She told the building as she got closer. There was a steel fence around the building that had collapsed in certain areas. Well that only just made it easier to get into the compound but also let who knows what type of animals in. Granted she didn't expect much, this was pretty high altitude compared to the beach areas of the island.
She stepped onto the rusting metal fence when something caught her eye. She looked down and noticed that the fence wasn't exactly in one piece. The chain-link fence had broken lines on it, tilting her head and looking at it differently. Her eyes widened as she noticed they weren't just broken but slashed.
"That can't be good," Yang looked around her senses on alert. They were obviously very large claw marks, the kind that Grimm left behind. She looked around but didn't see anything, that's when she noticed something off. It was just a little too quiet, it was the birds. They had been going on and on since they got to this island that it was just background noise to her at this point. There were trees around and yes, they were high up, but she had been hearing bird songs all the way up the hill.
She had her gauntlet transform into its battle form as she readied her spear just in case. She wanted to call out to Jaune, but she was pretty sure it was too late. She slowly started to make her way towards him hoping that she could get within ear shot. That's when the creaking noise of the metal door opening slightly happened. She slowly looked at the door and saw it open just a little bit.
She got herself ready to fight or run to Jaune.
That's when the door burst open as a creature of Grimm shot out screeching at her. She only got a moment to analyze it. It wasn't the typical ones she had fought before but there were plenty of Grimm types she hadn't come across as some were regional. This one looked like a cross between a lizard and a bird with feathery arm-wing limbs with small, clawed hands. There was a long thing neck and matching face with the white skull like mask over its face that all Grimm had. There was a long tail that ended with a barbed end and birdlike legs with sharp taloned feet.
She dodged to the right and thrust out her spear only scoring a glancing blow. She was about to fire her weapon when she remembered her limited ammo. Better to save it for when she really needed it. The creature hissed at her before twisting and its tail came at her. She blocked it with her metal arm deflecting it back. As the body twisted back, she lunged again sinking the spear deep into the core of the body. She was off as she impaled it, but it wasn't a lethal wound.
That was the problem with Grimm, no one could just cut one open and figure out how they worked inside because they vanished when they died leaving nothing behind. When it screeched at her it twisted its body pulling the weapon out of her grip but still inside. She was pulled forward and into the slash of one of its taloned feet.
She felt the pain of it hitting her, but her aura flashed taking the hit. That was fine, she still had plenty left and every hit only fueled her semblance. It tried snapping at her a few times, but she dodged it, she kept herself moving with her arms up in her practiced peek-a-poo style of boxing. She felt it trying to slash her arms again with more hits to her aura.
Her eyes turned red as her hair started to take on a fire like appearance.
"I've had enough of you," She growled out as went it went for another snap she instead of dodging to the left or right went under it. She wasn't aiming for the Grimm, but the end of the spear still lodged in it. She punched the blunt end sticking out sending the weapon through the creature's body. It cried out in pain before it slumped to the side now dead the body starting to fade away.
"Damn it, should have known," Yang picked up the spear. She was trying to remember which Grimm type this was. It looked familiar from their Grimm Studies, what as it again?
A Ryptor! That's it, she knew she remembered it, there was something else too. That's when she heard a fight going on in Jaune's direction and him yelling. It then clicked for her, they hunted in packs and were ambush hunters. She ran in Jaune's direction hoping he could hold off until she got there to back him up.
Jaune had found the antenna piece and honestly it looked to have seen better days. There were long poles which he guessed where the antenna, not knowing much about radio he guessed whatever was at the top was the antenna. They looked to be intact and there were cables connecting them, he just hoped the fall hasn't damaged them. Kneeling down he saw that with a wrench they could at least take them off, maybe stick them up onto the broken part if the place had power.
He was looking it over when he heard something stepping in the grass behind him.
"Hey Yang, you done already?" He asked but when he didn't hear back that's when he tensed up. Now he had gained a lot of experience on his journey with Ruby, Ren and Nora fighting all kinds of Grimm. It hadn't been an easy travel after all and so when whatever was behind him didn't answer he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
He remembered back when Pyrrha explained that Grimm had no souls and if you knew what to look for you could almost sense the 'wrongness' of a Grimm. He hadn't really noticed that kind of sense until his journey from Patch but sensing it now, yeah, he could feel something was off here. He had placed his sword on the ground as he slowly gripped it, when it was in his hand, he spun around extending his shield just in time for the jaws of some kind of Grimm bite into it.
The force sent him onto his back as the creature was larger than him, he struggles to keep it off him, he felt something claw at his lower body, his aura taking the blow, but he couldn't let this continue. With a war cry he pushed up hard making it raise its neck just enough for him to stab into it. There was a choking sound as it released, took a few steps back and landed with a thud. Juane got up but he soon saw that it hadn't been just one.
He was facing a pack of them had they been hiding in the trees all this time? He didn't have much time to think as he raised his shield.
"Well now we know if this island had any Grimm left," Jaune muttered to himself hoping that Yang was okay.
Jaune looked around as he was being encircled, this was bad. If one of them attacked him it would leave him open for the others to blindside him. He quickly shifted his stance to which ever one was closer as they slowly moved forward getting ready to pounce. If he ran, they would run him down, if he attacked one the others would join in, if he did nothing, they would gang up on him. Jaune wasn't liking his odds.
That's when a familiar cry from Yang was heard as she seemed to come out of nowhere and slammed her fist into the side of one of the creatures, her semblance still activated as the creature got the full force of her blow sending it into another of the pack. Jaune was so glad to see her but didn't let this moment last too long. While one of the Grimm closest to him looked at the new threat she charged in.
The Grimm turned its head back to him when it noticed that he was charging it leapt back and roared at him, only for a spear to pierce its side. The roar turned into cry of pain as Jaune never stopping, thrust his sword into the open mouth of the creature and aiming to pierce the brain. While people weren't sure what internal organs (if any) a Grimm had, certain lethal blows for most living creatures seemed to work.
Massive wounds to the torso, decapitation, attacking where the brain is for everything else and other such things seemed to work. The cry of pain suddenly cut off as the creature went limp and started to turn to ashes. Jaune cast a quick look to see Yang dealing with two others, she used one of her last rounds on the open mouth of one hurting but not killing it.
He heard the spear hit the ground and given the shield was connected to the armor on his left hand he was able to pick it up and rush over. When he was close enough, he tossed her weapon back.
"Yang, here!" He yelled out tossing it.
Yang did a roundhouse kick to the head of one Grimm catching the weapon on the turn before trying to stab the other with it.
"Thanks!" she called out to him as he turned to face another one that was running up.
The two of them ended up fighting back-to-back trying to keep from being swarmed. Yang was glad that she had someone watching her back, she wasn't used to fighting with a spear. Sure, she had learned how to fish with it but that was a lot different than fighting with one. She just didn't have any experience with it, so she knew her attacks were sloppy and full of holes. If only she didn't have to worry about ammo she could just let loose with her own weapons.
"Got a plan?" Yang asked fighting off two of the creatures.
"They got us boxed in, we're going to have to try and take them down one at a time before they tire us out." Jaune told her.
"Well, we either win this or not together." Yang nodded.
"I don't plan on dying, you?"
Yang grinned, "Hell no, I got plenty of stuff I want to do, like get off this damn island." She again pushed out and fired a round into the mouth of the creature aiming for down the throat. While it did shuffle back injured the other one clamped down on her arm.
"AWWWW! FUCKER! THAT'S MY GOOD ARM!" She screamed at it as she saw her yellow aura flare but, if she didn't get it off it soon her aura would break and then the thing would take her arm. She didn't want to lose her other arm, she didn't want to go through all that again as her heart seized up as she tried not to think of Adam and how he took her other arm.
Jaune looked over and pivoted and slashed down with his sword at the long thin neck of the creature, with all the word he had been doing his swing was strong enough to decapitate it. The head loss all strength as it let go as Yang started to feel relieved. She looked ready to give him thanks when her eyes widened.
"Down!" she yelled out.
Jaune ducked as she threw her spear right into the eye of the Grimm charging at him. Its head twisted almost like it was questioning things before he fell with a skid on the ground.
"Thanks," he said.
"Back at you," She turned to face anymore Grimm as Jaune did the same. They only had two left from the pack now. Jaune pulled the spear in front of him and toss it back to Yang again as she took it with both hands. Jaune decided now was the time to go all out as he put his sword into the shield and activated the two-handed long sword mode.
As the two last Grimm circled them, they both turned with them keeping their backs to each other. In that moment there was a stand off as the tension rose up and it was in that moment that Yang and Jaune cast a look at each other. In that one moment with just a look they were in sync as a plan formed without words needed to be said. It was one of those rare times when people in extremely dangerous circumstances just seemed to be of one mind.
As soon as the Grimm were done waiting, they both charged, both Yang and Jaune waited until they overextended with a leap. That's when they switched, both twisting to their lefts they surprised the Grimm and in that split second of confusion they attacked. Jaune swung his sword down cleaving the head of the Grimm down the center as Yang's spear went for the dead center of its chest, the forward momentum helping to bury it deep inside.
Both creatures fell dead as Yang and Jaune took a moment to breath and look around.
"I don't see anymore." Yang said after a moment.
"Same," Jaune wiped his brow.
Both were sweating from the heat and the higher altitude was not helping their lungs as they struggled for some breath. They hadn't noticed it in the fight but exerting themselves after climbing the hill and not getting used to the higher altitude was influencing them.
Both of them ended up resting against each other's backs looking around trying to catch their breaths.
"You think that's the last of them?" Jaune eventually asked.
"God, I hope so," Yang stated. "But we should be prepared just in case."
Hopefully this was the only pack left over but most of the island was unexplored, so they had no idea. The only reason they hadn't known about this group was that it had made their territory in the high hills where they hadn't gone to until now.
She looked at her hand and remembered how that Grimm had nearly taken her flesh and blood arm. Her hand started to shake but she clenched her fist to stop it.
'Not now,' She thought to herself. 'Have a freak out later, focus on the job.'
She felt the heat of Jaune's armor through her top, she figured he had to be burning up with all that armor on. "Come on, let's get something to drink." She left her bag by where she had been attacked.
"Yeah, oh I found the antenna." He pointed it out.
"Well deal with it after we rest up," She wanted them fresher in case more Grimm were up here. They spend the next fifteen minutes in the shade of the building since the inside was hot and muggy. They finished off a full water bottle as they just sat there in the quiet.
Jaune was thankful that they had made it through it all as he rested his head against the brick wall of the building. Now that they knew there could be more Grimm, they had to be more careful. Still, fighting with Yang had been kind of great. He missed fighting as a team, and it was just nice to have someone watching your back.
Yang was of a similar mind, also she kept thinking of her arm in the jaws of that creature. The terror she had felt, well she hated feeling that. Losing a limb had changed her, that much she knew, she no longer felt invisible. What she hated was how fragile she felt now and then. But then Jaune had saved her arm and she doubted he knew just how thankful she was for that.
The armor had cooled off, so she rested her head on his shoulder, he was a bit surprised but didn't say anything. He felt like they were having some kind of moment and didn't want to open his mouth and ruin it.
The gentle wind blew over them as they just stared out into the grass field in front of them as they could see parts of the island and sea. If their circumstances weren't so dire, it would have been a very nice view to appreciate. After a bit Yang figured it was time to do what they came here for.
She followed Jaune with the tools and thankfully she had one to unscrew the antenna. While she carried it back to the building, Jaune would roll up the cables it was connected to. The one piece of good news was the cables were still intact. Placing them inside of the building to protect them from the elements they looked around.
There wasn't much here, there was a small area with double bunkbeds that looked like it was for two people to be stationed here at least, or four if they worked in two person shifts of twelve hours each. There was a small kitchen with a fridge, which they quickly closed when they opened it and the smell hit them. A small TV and portable radio, the batteries were long dead, but they hoped to at least see if they could pick up the mainland radio with some new batteries. If they could hear it, then they knew they were at least closet to the mainland.
Looking around the rest of the place, there was no power. They found an emergency generator, but it was out of dust fuel. Most likely it had been on during a storm and left on. It would be a pain, but it did have wheels and they could technically bring it down the hill. When Yang looked at the radio equipment her heart sank.
Smashed up windows were in front of the equipment, and it was covered in grime and leaves. She pulled open the covering and the insides looked like hell.
"How's it look?" Jaune asked.
Yang breathed out harshly looking at it. "I'm no expert but in a word…fucked."
Jaune knew that Yang didn't swear often but when she did, she meant it. His hopes started to sink but then he thought of something. "Hey, you remember that radio equipment we found on the first day here? You know by the dock?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't have the power to reach very long," she told him remembering how it was just a small portable one that wasn't meant to long range communications. "The antenna just isn't powerful."
"Well…what if it has a more powerful one?" He asked looking at the antenna on the floor off to the side.
Yang tilted her head. "Maybe…but I'm not sure if they are compatible. It's going to take some trail and error to get it working and even then, we have no way of testing it…but I got no other ideas."
She looked at the trashed equipment here, she had no idea what was needed to even make this work, her skills were in motorbikes not radio electronics damn it, but she was the closest thing they had. Even if she couldn't get it working, they had to try something. It also meant that if it worked, they would need a place to set it up and she didn't think coming all the way up here was safe or secure. Maybe the top of the hotel?
"If we're doing this, that means we're going to have to take down the antenna, the cables and that generator because it's going to need power." Yang signed thinking how much trouble this was going to be. "This is going to suck bringing all this down that hill."
"Yeah," Jaune sighed and thought about it. "Want to have lunch first before we do this?"
"Please, I'm starving and I'm going to need the energy."
TBC…
For those wondering I based this Grimm on Velociraptors
