Chapter 97 – EVO
***Tirnanog, Old Camp***
***Magnus***
“By everything holy!” I exclaimed when Loops touched down at the Old Camp. It was a battlefield, and yet not a battlefield. The bodies lay every-which way imaginable. From the looks of it, some had been caught while trying to flee. Others had apparently taken care of themselves, and another sizeable number had torn each other to pieces from the looks of it.
Thankfully, I hadn’t much first-hand experience with the aftermath of many battles. Only one true one, Tros, and it hadnt been pretty. Nonetheless, the aftermath at Tros had been clear one party against another. But this
Somehow I knew what had gone down here must have been pure madness.
I threw a concerned sideways glance at Thalia, seeing her in a totally new light. Everyone had told me of her potential, but I guess I hadn’t truly rationalized the psychic’s true capabilities.
That was you?
Thalia raised her chin and looked down on me from atop her much larger mount. ~They~ did it to themselves.
I am not judging. I raised both hands in an appeasing gesture and allowed myself to slide down from Loop’s back. The flight had been relatively short and there wasn’t any obvious danger nearby, so I had opted to risk riding my drake properly.
Besides… through necessity, I had now confirmed at least one way to prevent immediate death if I ended up falling off. Landing anywhere except on water wouldn’t be pretty, since cancelling out inertia with flash step only semi-worked. But I had high confidence in my survival. Plus, Loops had notably calmed down over the last few days and was no longer trying to impress the two females at every opportunity with risky aerial manoeuvres.
I gave myself another moment to take in the scene.
Note to myself: Never piss off the psychic who can turn an entire settlement into suicidal maniacs, I commented while I wandered through the remains of what was once the Old Camp. Are you sure there are more survivors inside the bunker?
Yes, Thalia replied curtly. We went to get you before checking it out.
There was no doubt she was currently trying to cope with issues of her own.
What about them? I gestured at the people my Second Sight revealed among the ruins. Those with some semblance of sanity were hiding like rats. Others others didnt care at all, staring off into space or doing something anything which worked as a coping mechanism for them.
Was one trying to dig himself a hole to hide?
I squinted at the silhouette I could see through the wooden walls of a shed and shook my head.
They got a full blast of Thalia’s ability, Astra explained. They won’t be a threat for some time. Normally, it takes a day or two for someone to regain his marbles after a full dosage.
What about those inside the bunker? I asked.
They won’t be affected to the same degree, Thalia explained. Nobody has managed to explain how exactly psychic mutations work, but many of the abilities classed as psychic can be shielded against with large amounts of mass. The more material you have between yourself and the psychic, the better the isolation. My range is around five hundred metres with a clear line of sight and I can sense strong emotions through a layer of concrete, but my ability to affect people falls off drastically with obstacles. Also, wielding my ability at full power to cover a large area makes fine control impossible. Which means I am not much of a help with allies nearby unless you are willing to make the sacrifice.
Okay. I nodded. Like a wireless connection then?
Thalia sighed. Like a wireless connection. Though, our research has proven psychic abilities are most certainly not some sort of electromagnetic signal.
Would be too obvious.
I turned and we made our way to the bunker.
***Tirnanog, Old Camp***
***Mark***
They were screaming.
Wherever I turned, people were screaming as the monsters took them. It wasn’t unusual for some predator to find a way past the wall. At worst, a single creature might take out a shelter or two before the clanners would hunt it down depending on how adventurous they felt.
If the monster went rampant for too long, the settlements exiles would organize a hunting party of their own, but such a thing would usually take much longer than having the clanners take care of it because it required more people.
A single predator getting past the wall was bad, but not the end of the world. However, this was a goddamn invasion! Did we have a hole in the wall? Had some god damned idiot opened the stupid gates which were nothing more than a safety hazard in my modest opinion?
I cursed and ducked behind a vendor’s stall as something resembling a huge ass centipede rushed down the street, chasing two exiles who were trying to get to the bunker.
The slower one was screaming for his friend to wait, but the other man wasnt listening. After all, if a predator was chasing you, you just had to run faster than the guy next to you.
Unfortunately, he would have no luck, even if he got to the bunker at the cost of sacrificing his friend. Because that was where I was coming from.
Gurney had been my first thought when my shelter was breached and so I made my way over there when I managed to slip past the omnieye which trashed the longhouse I was staying at. But the bunker was closed and on total lockdown. When I banged against the blast door, nobody answered. There was no getting in and standing out on the plaza was suicide. So I left.
As soon as the centipede was gone, I rose and ran down the street as fast as I dared to while keeping close to potential hiding spots. Speed was of the essence, but not getting into a fight was even more important.
The dagger clattered to the ground and the monster tossed away something.
Was that my hand?
At the edge of sanity, I realized I was hyperventilating as I fiddled for my quiver, my feet treading empty air as I tried to retrieve an arrow.
Another hand-paw closed around my good arm as the monster changed its grip on me. And another squeezed down on my throat, reducing my air intake without cutting it off completely.
Being choked returned me to my senses a little bit because of the reduced oxygen intake as I stared defiantly into my tormentors eyes.
Had the beast intended to bring me back to my senses to savour my terror? I didn’t know.
Strangely enough, I was more concerned with the fact that it now held down all my limbs and a foot!
Could it use its legs just like its arms?
There was nothing I could do as the monster brought my face ever closer to its maw, presumably balancing peculiarly on one leg. Would it swallow me whole? Or chew off my face? Could I bite that damned, pink tongue as a last Fuck you!?
and then it toppled forward and fell on me. My face entered its maw and the impossibly sharp teeth nicked my cheek, but the monster didn’t bite down as the muscular tongue muffled my terrified screams.
Was the fucking thing trying to French me!?
I struggled, screamed, and squirmed, but nothing happened.
It took me much, much too long to realize what had happened.
My poisonous blood had finally come through, better late than never.
I wiggled and somehow managed to free my remaining arm from the paralysed beast’s grasp. Then I immediately retrieved my head from its maw and pushed myself awkwardly out from beneath my foe.
Not knowing how reliable the paralysing effect of my blood would be, I reached for the nearby dagger and, unable to resist at least a little bit of revenge, pushed it as slowly as I could into the beast’s eye. No doubt, the creature was still awake and aware, because the other eye went mad as the oval pupil flicked back and forth. But there was nothing it could do.
Once I pierced the eyeball completely, I encountered resistance, preventing the dagger from going any further. So I leant forward and placed my sternum on the daggers pommel. Bringing my weight into play did the trick and the dagger overcame whatever barrier prevented it from going further.
It sank in all the way in one go until it was hilted fully inside the beast’s skull.
Despite the paralysation effect, the beast shuddered for a second or two until it went still.
Then I took stock as I leant above my foe for a few more seconds. I was in pain, my body broken and with an injury which reduced my survival chances to practically zero.
I found myself laughing with madness, much like fucking insane Tulkas. The lucky bastard had escaped this hellhole right before the shit hit the fan.
Curse my life!
For the first time, I dared to look down at my severed hand and winced. It was chewed off right at the elbow. Normally, I should have bled out, but the monsters tight grip on my upper arm was enough to squeeze off the arteries.
I pried the beasts hand-paw loose and rolled the body off of me. The pain was still agonizing, but it was nothing compared to feeling the teeth grinding through my bone. And more pain was yet to come because I had to seal the wound somehow.
If I lost consciousness now, it would mean my certain death. The starfish mutation ensured I would heal with time, but the keyword was time. There would be no healing if I lost too much blood.
Already seeing stars in my vision, I got up and staggered over to the forge, leading with the stump of my arm as I grit my teeth. Thankfully, it was still hot and the metal hissed as I pressed the wound against the furnaces cover.
I almost lost consciousness right then and there, but somehow I managed to stay awake. I felt disconnected from reality, but I had to pull myself together one last time.
My eyes landed on the open cover of Bastion’s shelter. A heavy, metal door at the back of his shop. Miraculously, it lay open, inviting me in.
But not yet.
With my vision swimming sideways, I missed the handle of the forges hot poker on the first attempt but grabbed it on the second. Then I made my way over to the creature and raised the poker before I struck down, lodging the nasty hook at the pokers side into my opponents throat.
When I pulled, it hooked firmly into the jaw.
I giggled, aware of the insanity I was planning.
As I was now, my survival chances were close to zero, even if I survived the night. I had no illusions about the settlements survival. Whatever had happened was bad and tomorrow would be survival of the fittest with winter just a few weeks away.
I took my first step, pulling the corpse with me. Step by agonizing step, but with a mad grin on my face. It was time to roll the dice.
You wanted to eat me, bastard? Well, now I will eat you! Never mess with a bank accountant! We tend to take whole bodies when you offer a little finger.