Chapter Eighteen: Heart Beat
Slowly, the roaring screams of the alarm began to deafen, and a low frequency buzzing took its place. At that, I lowered my hands from my ears and found my weapon – my laser rifle. Through the dim-red lighting, I was able to spot the door to the stairs and bolted straight for it. I lingered in the doorway for only a moment, with a quick glance toward the others I motioned that I was going ahead, and then ran through.
I took a running jump over Anton, prone and rubbing his head, and began up the stairwell taking two stairs at a time; I raced as fast as my legs would carry me up the steps. But I didn't get far, as suddenly a hand slashed mere centimeters from my face and it was all I could do to avoid the strike. And equally as quickly, I found myself aiming at the target, hopping into V.A.T.S. and sizing up the target.
A ghoul.
My Geiger counter clicked as I secured my target and let V.A.T.S. take two shots. The first slammed against the creature's arm and the other zipped wide, splashing against the wall and leaving a burn mark. Before I could make any other plans, a small hail of bullets riddled the ghoul and it slumped over – hopefully dead.
"Aim for the head, Miss, they need their brains like any other being," the familiar voice informed me, slowly climbing the stairs to stand beside me.
I nodded, readied my weapon, and began my climb once more. I had no real objective in mind, but my gut was telling me that I needed to get to the first floor as soon as possible.
"Another one!" Anton called out and took aim, as I was distracted with my thoughts. He peppered the ghoul with another hail of bullets, and within moments the creature collapsed.
I barely had time to take a step before another appeared, this one was practically tumbling down the stairs, tripping over its own feet in an attempt to reach us. With one quick activation of V.A.T.S. I fired three times, each with above sixty percent chance to land, but only two found the target. Anton took care to drop the thing before it could reach us.
He hastily reloaded as a small group set down the stairs and immediately began suppressive fire. Instead of using V.A.T.S. I tried dry firing until the battery emptied, reloaded another, and then quickly switched over to my 10mm pistol. Within the few seconds it took to take the five shots on my rifle and swapping weapons, Anton and I had taken down the trio, but it didn't seem to slow the rest down in the slightest. Which made emergency actions immediately upon drawing my pistol a must.
I was forced to duck below a swipe, and pistol whipped the ghoul in return, it barely seemed to register the blow; but Anton was able to bash it in the forehead before the thing could take a second swing, where I'd likely have much lower odds of dodging. Even through the faint low whine hymn of the alarm, I could hear the explosion of a grenade, and could make only one guess as to the cause: Blake fighting back. Shaking my head to rid the distraction and focus, as I just couldn't let myself be distracted, I blocked another swing from a second ghoul and punched it in the schnauz. It tumbled backwards for the briefest of moments at the same moment my Geiger counter clicked once more, and I hopped into V.A.T.S. selected my target and landed three headshots.
With that, we were able to push our way up the stairs, and, with a slight motion toward the others, Anton called out for the others. A frantic, yet effective, "Hurry!"
Barely three steps higher and more ghouls were already pushing down the stairs. Where did they come from?! This place was practically deserted when we came down!
Nonetheless, I emptied my magazine into the group and, with Anton's assistance, the three toppled over like nothing. Decidedly, we kept pressing upwards, not slowing unless another ghoul showed up. The others would just have to play catch-up. And catch up they did!
"There are so many of these things!" Kyle cried out. It didn't take a mathematician to know that we've run into close to ten of these things already.
Step after step we climbed, not slowed or deterred by any aggressing ghouls. One of us would simply push it back while the others sprayed it with bullets. Addison stayed in the middle, mostly out of harm's way. Yet it wasn't until we reached the floor above that I noticed something: Kyle was huffing and puffing. I knew his stamina levels, and I knew that this amount of movement shouldn't have been an issue; which means something else had to be at play.
So making the decision for the group, I kicked in the door for this level's stairs (leading to the central chamber), and hopped through the door, checked for ghouls, before forcefully dragging Kyle through. He didn't even have the chance to react before I was shooting at the ghouls that suddenly appeared through the opened doors left open from earlier. I emptied my magazine into the few, and then shoved Kyle harshly against the wall and then planted a rad-away into his palm and a stimpack into his thigh.
The moment the others stepped through, having just momentarily cleared the stairs, I jumped to the other side and secured the door shut. If I had more time, I could explain to them what I wanted; but at present, things were too harsh to involve them. Kyle was clearly out of his depth against this swarm, and I couldn't let Addison continue to get put in needless danger. If it was just me, then I wouldn't have to worry – they wouldn't face danger.
Even as I took the first few steps, I could hear the pounding against the door. But I barred it well enough that it wouldn't budge that easily. A frown crept across my face, but a single shake of the head cleared it right away as I set my mind toward climbing higher – toward where my gut told me to go. Stashing my 10mm in one of my vest straps, I pulled out my shotgun and started up the stairs at a running pace.
As I took three stairs at a time, I only stopped for the briefest of moments to fire my shotgun into a ghoul – giving them no time to get close, no chance to set off my Geiger counter. By the time I had reached the next level, the ghouls had slowed and I only stumbled across four others on the way up; each taken out with a single shotgun blast. I couldn't speak about any others climbing up the stairs, but I barred the door to the first floor just after stepping through. I then took a moment to set up my frag mine in such a way, so that it would explode if something forced the door open.
My back slumped against the cold metal and a ragged breath forced its way past my lips from deep within my throat. I did my best to ignore it, pushing off and stumbling toward the door to security, my shotgun on alert for any movement; luckily, none showed up.
I reached inside my vest and pulled out the security keycard Anton had given me earlier, and fumbled to push it into the slot, my hand shaking up a storm. After a moment, it slid right in and the door snap-hissed open; then, as if a snake were striking, a grey blur nearly smashed against my cheek. I tumbled backwards, having lost my balance due to a sudden sense of blurred vision, only barely having saved me from getting struck.
I immediately emptied two rounds into the target before me, but I couldn't make out the shape well enough for either shot to land – or even if it did, it likely wasn't effective. The grey blur rushed me down, and I held up the shotgun to act as a shield; just in time as something powerful slammed down upon the barrel and I could hear the metal rend under the force of impact. The aftereffect of the blow knocked me flat against the ground, and my mouth opened as air was driven from my lungs; even through the daze I could hear the soft clicking of my Geiger counter.
Gasping and choking, I rolled just in time for something to smash against the ground, a shockwave reverberated through my bones. I came to a stop not far from the blur, crouching with a palm to chest, attempting to bring air back to my lungs. Then I heard it: the growling. Guttural and mindless. Whatever I was fighting, it must have been moving on pure instinct alone. As the first hints of air returned to me, my vision slowly began to clear, and I could take in the appearance of my opponent for the first time.
It was a ghoul, yet unlike any I'd seen before as this one was encased in some sort of weird metal armor – a full suit, save the helmet. The armor continuously let out small groans and hisses, as if air was being pushed about or some motor were operating beneath the surface. Before I could concentrate on anything else, the armored ghoul leapt toward me, maw open and arms scrambling like a chicken with its head cut off.
With nary a moment to think, I shoved the butt of my poor shotgun into the thing's mouth and had to listen to the crunch and shattering of the wood. And, with all my might, I tried to push the thing away, but its gauntleted hand swiped at my leg and smacked across my thigh. Electricity shot threw my nerves as it felt like my entire leg would get torn right off. I bit my lip and rolled to my left (half just collapsing), looking for something, anything to slow this thing down.
Yet, before I could even begin to search, it was already bounding toward me. Barreling leg over leg, as if it were a newborn deer that had come out running. I braced myself, yet as it drew closer I dived out of the way. As I barely cleared the attack, I could hear it crash against the wall before toppling to the floor, each with a loud and clear note.
That's it!
I did a quick inventory check on my Pip-Boy before evading the next mad-dash of the armored ghoul, ducking under a wild right hook, and began formulating my strategy for victory. As it regained its footing and began the next dash, I hastily activated V.A.T.S. and took aim, but immediately canceled the aim assist and shot my freshly drawn 10mm. The bullet soared toward the only viable spot: the head.
The bullet shattered across the thick, rusted pauldron of the armor and I couldn't help but grimace as I dove out of the way, yet, unlike the last two times, the armored ghoul kicked haphazardly before crashing against the nearby wall. Electricity, once again, shot through my nerves as I took the hit to my hip. I swayed and nearly tumbled, but managed to stay upright; planting a palm against the wall, it was all I could do to stay standing.
Before I could even begin to dig for supplies, the ghoul charged once more. I dived between its legs, taking the blows of each leg smashing against me, but dodged the wild and deranged swipes of the claw-like hands. It thumped against the wall and tumbled toward the corner. Just then, an explosion filled the hall; but it was deafened due to the ever-increasing thumping in my ears or head.
Working through the pain, I shakily retrieved the item for the next step of my foolish and hastily cobbled together plan. I tossed the item I drew the moment I pulled the pin. The distance wouldn't be great, but the item clattered against the ghoul, knocked off-balance due to the explosion and wall colluding. I didn't stop there and proceeded to throw the remaining three toward the ghoul as well.
As I silently counted to three, I tried to scurry away, but the pain forced me to drop. Just like that, the world went silent – bar the whine now flooding my senses – as I was barraged with scrap metal and pellets. My arms planted over my head, it was all I could do to ride out the shockwaves and rain.
Cold.
I was cold.
As I opened my eyes, which I hadn't even realized were shut. I could see only darkness. A hazy, cold dark. Then, as if an answer to my confusion, I could spot flickering motes dancing, as if they were stars. And like that, I felt numb. I felt free?
Then I coughed, and I was cold once more. Blinking a few times, my vision began to clear somewhat, and I dug through my bag for some stimpack. All the while the erratic hammering of heart beat louder and louder, drowning out any other noise around me. I injected the two stimpack with hands that'd make a surgeon wince, and then pushed a med-x into my side, where it hurt the most.
For whatever reason, my chin felt wet, and as I wiped it, I quickly discovered why: I had coughed up blood. Doing my best to ignore it, I pushed myself up off the ground, and used the wall for support as I wobbled into security. My vision concentrated on the terminal console on the far wall. My gut told me what it was likely for; and even as I ran out of wall, I toppled over and began crawling toward the machine.
I ignored the pain radiating through my entire being; I'd reach as far as I could and pull with all my might, and shuffle my leg forward and kick myself closer. My lungs ached, my legs burned with the heat of immolation, and my arms slowly became numb; I already couldn't feel my fingers or toes. And even as one of my arms began to resist, I'd jab another med-x into my side and followed it up with another stimpack. With that, I coerced my body to listen once more, and, little by little, I gradually closed the distance to the console.
Finally, after what felt like ages, I'd arrived and used the terminal's desk to pull myself up. I shook where I stood, or, rather, slumped, and carefully activated the machine. As I waited, I jammed a stimpack into my leg. Once the terminal flickered its interaction screen, I quickly selected the most pressing entry and then watched as the world rushed around me.
I barely heard the thud as an announcement rang over the intercom system, sending a small wave of euphoria through my system and drowning out the beating of my heart, "Security shutdown has been lifted. Facility wide functions will now resume. Repeat: Security shutdown has been lifted. Facility wide functions will now resume."
With that, I surrendered to the sinking, murky feeling that crept through my entire being and succumbed to the abyss.
-Transmission In Progress-
-Level Up!-
