Mistrunner 2 - Chapter 44 - Battlefield (Patreon)

In an effort to placate the Coyotes, I killed Wash today. Executed him in front of half the tribe. It was so easy; the man wasn’t exactly friendly, so nobody was willing to speak up for him. Not against me, at least. I just hope it’s enough to show Roberto that Wash’s actions weren’t endorsed by the Specters.

Nora Lancaster

I stood at the edge of the clearing, clutching my assault rifle in a white-knuckled grip as I beheld the destroyed landscape before me. The crater was at least a hundred feet deep, with sharply sloped sides that were miles apart. It took me a few minutes to realize why I found the scene so disturbing, but when I finally understood why, it took my breath away.

“There’s nothing alive down there,” I muttered.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the tanks weren’t just rusted out. Some were almost completely destroyed, with bits and pieces having been ripped away by some incredible force. Most were still intact, though because of their obvious age, they were completely inoperable, and many had been overturned and flipped onto their sides.

Other vehicles were in evidence as well. I recognized the remains of a few armored personnel carriers, and dozens of downed ancient aircraft. Their wings were broken, and their fuselages bore dozens of holes, making it difficult to even recognize what they had once been. I also saw the remains of heavy artillery, but they were scattered across the battlefield, suggesting that they’d been thrown aside by some unknown force.

Even amongst the other odd sights, the huge skeleton drew the bulk of my attention. In addition to the expected white of bone on the skeleton, there was a good deal of metal as well. I’d seen something similar in a few monsters I’d fought, so that wasn’t such a surprise. What was shocking was its size, though. To date, the biggest monster I had seen was the alligator I’d fought while traveling from Nova City to Mobile, but this skeleton’s size made that huge creature look like a mundane gecko. It had once been as big as a building – a frightening prospect.

“Remy told me about this,” Patrick spoke up from beside me.

“He did?” I asked, glancing at my companion. His face reflected my own emotions, with shock, awe, and fear dancing across his features.

He swallowed hard, nodding as he said, “Before the Initialization, people had developed some very damaging weapons. Bombs that could destroy everything for miles. So, when it became clear that their other weapons weren’t useful for fighting the mutated creatures, that’s where they turned. This…this is the result.”

My jaw dropped. With my skills and abilities, I could create a truly fearsome explosion. What would I be capable of with such a destructive bomb? If it could destroy so much even before the Initialization took full root, what could it do with my modifiers?

“What happened to them?” I asked.

“Some of them were used,” he answered. “Others were confiscated by the aliens. But at some point, what was left just stopped working. Something about the Mist interfering with that kind of thing. The way Remy described it, it was a good thing, too. Otherwise, they’d have killed everyone and everything. These bombs, they don’t just explode and kill everything. They poison the earth until nothing can even grow there.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “Remy called it something, but, honestly, I didn’t really believe him about any of it. It sounded so…unreal. I mean, if someone told me they had a bomb that could do that much damage now, I might believe it. But pre-Initialization?”

“I know. It…it doesn’t seem possible,” I said. Then, I gestured to the old battlefield, adding, “But I guess that kind of speaks for itself, huh? I don’t know anything else that could do that.”

Indeed, if there was one thing I’d learned about the local flora, it was that it was indomitable. Even keeping a place like Mobile from becoming overgrown was a constant battle, so out in the wilderness, it was a particularly eerie sight. Perhaps pre-Initialization humanity was more dangerous than I’d given them credit for.

“This poison, does it stick around?” I asked.

Patrick shrugged. “I have no idea,” he said.

I glanced at the huge crater. I could scarcely see the edge on the other side, and I didn’t know how wide it really was. So, we had a choice: either we went around, which could potentially add weeks to our journey – after all, the road we’d been following ended at the crater, which meant that we would have to go ahead on foot, at least for a while until we found another road. Or we could cut across and brave whatever poison had been left behind.

It didn’t take a genius to come to the right choice.

“We should go around,” I said.

“I…I agree,” Patrick stated. His Constitution was much lower than mine, and he didn’t have the advantage of abilities like Regeneration or Resistance to protect him. So, it wasn’t a surprise that he wanted nothing to do with whatever had kept the vegetation from growing within the crater.

“But I want to look around for a bit,” I said. “Just on the edges, and not for long. Maybe thirty minutes or –”

“What is that?” he asked, pointing into the crater.

I whipped my attention in that direction, but for a moment, I didn’t see what he meant. Then, I did.

And I desperately wished I hadn’t.

The ground a hundred or so yards into the crater had begun to shift.

“Uh…”

“Run!” I shouted, seeing something humanoid erupt from the earth. I only had a moment to see that it looked like a wildling, but even more deformed than normal. It had the same unnaturally long arms and legs, but its stomach was distended, and its skin had a sickly yellow hue. But more than anything, I saw that, unlike most of the wildlings I’d seen so far, it was wearing clothes.

Or rags, really. Rotted and barely hanging on in strips, the clothing was coated in the same red dirt that covered the crater. However, with Observation running at full blast, I could see that the clothing had a camouflage pattern. And on its head was a green helmet – after a second glance, I realized that no, it wasn’t on its head. Rather, it was attached, with bits and pieces of the creature’s distorted skull having grown through it.

If the wildlings were disturbing, then this new creature was horrifying on an entirely different level that instantly made me feel like vomiting. But warring with that nausea was palpable fear that froze me in place, if only for a split second.

And then I reacted, shoving Patrick toward the hoverbike and taking aim at the creature. As I let out burst of gunfire, I screamed, “Take the bike! Just get away from here!”

My aim was true, but at the last moment, the mutated wildling twitched to the side, avoiding my attack. The way it moved reminded me of the alpha I’d killed outside Biloxi.

“What about you?!” Patrick yelled.

“I’ll be fine!” I spat, squeezing the trigger again. I’d already begun to shift away from the road; I hoped the enemy would keep its attention on me. Patrick was another story, though, so I shouted, “Just go! I can’t kill them and worry about you at the same time!”

That much was true. Patrick might be able to take care of himself against the normal threats found in the wilderness, but despite his dedication to training over the last few months, he still wasn’t up to fighting something like the monster before us.

Thankfully, he didn’t argue any more and hopped onto the hoverbike before speeding away. I’d have done so too, but I had already seen how fast a wildling alpha could run. And I didn’t want to chance the thing catching up to us. Instead, I aimed to take it out before it could pose that kind of threat. I’ll admit that my hubris played a part, too. I had plenty of room, a whole arsenal implant full of potent weapons, and the skills to back them up. I truly believed the danger to me – if not to someone like Patrick – was minimal.

Unfortunately, the wildling wasn’t alone.

Even as it broke into a shambling run that was far faster than seemed possible, a dozen more of the things burst from the ground and joined their fellow.

“Shit,” I muttered, already second guessing my decision to stay and fight.

But it was already done. Given how fast they were moving, I didn’t have much time for regret. And besides, it was for the best. I was far better off without having to watch out for Patrick.

Aiming down my sights, I continued to fire a stream of three-round bursts, but the wildling easily avoided my attacks. It was almost as if it had a preternatural instinct and was moving before I even squeezed the trigger. But as it drew closer, the time it had to react was greatly reduced. And as it came within fifteen yards, my rounds finally connected in a spray of blood.

Or that’s what I thought it was. However, it was green and glowing, so I couldn’t be completely sure.

Besides, I didn’t have much time to think about it before it was top of me. Its claws flashed, and I was forced to duck, firing another burst at point-blank range. My shots took it in the bulbous stomach, and the moment they hit, it burst like a punctured cyst, showering me with green goo.

That’s when the burning started.

It was like I’d just been submerged in boiling poison, and I instantly knew that if it weren’t for my inflated Constitution as well as my Resistances, I would have died, then and there.

But I didn’t.

I was just in agonizing pain that cut through my Pain Tolerance like nothing ever had. The only thing that had come even remotely close was when I’d been assaulted by the falling lights back in the Rift. But even that wasn’t quite at the same level, because I could feel bits and pieces of my skin sloughing off.

Which was all sorts of disconcerting.

Still, I kicked out, taking the monster in its spindly legs before barrel rolling away. I left a good bit of skin behind, but I didn’t have time to think about it. Instead, as soon as I was a few feet away, I pushed myself to one knee and fired another few shots into the wildling.

Thankfully, that was enough to put it down, which told me a couple of things.

First, these wildlings weren’t as durable as the alpha I’d fought. She’d taken the best I had to offer and kept kicking. Sure, I was a bit stronger now, but not so much that it should have made that much difference. No – the more appropriate conclusion was that these wildlings were fundamentally different than any I’d fought before.

Supporting that conclusion was the fact that it seemed to have been filled with acidic poison strong enough to erode my skin and set my stomach to twisting into knots. Even as I turned on the other mutated wildlings, I felt my entire body shaking uncontrollably.

I was done playing around, though. If I was going to live through this, I needed something with a little more oomph than my assault rifle. So, I dismissed it and summoned my BMAP.

Then, I fired.

With a thump, the weapon discharged a huge, explosive round. Then another. And another. I kept firing, putting six of the things in the air before the first one made contact.

When my first round hit, it did so with an enormous conflagration that, even thirty yards away, sent me flying backward until I hit the trunk of an enormous oak tree. That first explosion was followed by a second. Then a third. A fourth, fifth, and sixth – each one sending out a shockwave that battered my already injured body. My insides felt like they’d been liquified, and a handful of metal debris – presumably from the remains of a tank or some other armament – sliced into me.

Then, I fell forward onto my hands and knees, my ears ringing from the explosions, and vomited blood and whatever was left of that morning’s breakfast. That definitely wasn’t good.

Even so, after a shake of my head, I pushed myself to my feet and cast my gaze toward the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the series of explosions. For a few seconds, nothing moved.

But then I saw them.

Hundreds of wildlings. No – thousands.

All running forward with the shambling gait of creatures whose legs are different lengths. It seemed that the crater wasn’t as devoid of life as I’d first thought. It was just that the life was of a different sort than I’d expected.

There was no way I could fight against so many. A dozen, sure. Maybe. But hundreds? Thousands? I’d run out of ammunition before I finished them off.

But what else was I going to do? In my battered state, I couldn’t outrun them. Perhaps I could make it a few miles on adrenaline and attributes alone, but my injuries would soon catch up to me. As much as I’d advanced, I wasn’t completely immune to internal injuries or blood loss.

Just mostly. And I felt that my wounds were pressed right up against what I could handle.

No – I had no choice but to fight, even if that fight was doomed from the very start.

The horde of mutated wildlings advanced with reckless abandon, vaulting over the debris all across the battlefield as I reloaded the BMAP. Once I’d replaced the ammunition, I slapped the cannister shut, then took aim, starting on the right and firing one round every second as I raked the weapon across the battlefield in a wide arc.

Even as explosions echoed across the battlefield, enveloping the wildlings and ripping them apart, I reloaded and repeated. It was an impressive expression of firepower – any other time, I’d have been grinning ear to ear at the mayhem – but it wasn’t nearly enough. I continued my cycle until I’d run out of the valuable ordinance, then dismissed the weapon and switched to grenades.

My throwing arm wasn’t quite as powerful as the BMAP, and my homemade explosives couldn’t compare to the rounds I’d bought in the bazaar. But with the surging horde of wildlings packed so closely together, it was still better than trying to pick them off with my assault rifle.

More explosions filled the air. Incendiary grenades burned the mutated wildlings to a crisp even as fragmentation grenades ripped others apart. But as many as I killed, there always seemed to be more to take their place. I’d killed dozens with my initial BMAP volley – and about half as many with my grenades – but it was barely a drop in the bucket.

I couldn’t stop, though.

Re-summoning my assault rifle, I peppered the mutated soldiers with one burst after another, but it proved wildly ineffective. Certainly, I put a few of them down, but my efforts didn’t even make a dent in their numbers.

I couldn’t stop, though. Any chance I had at escaping – slim though it was, even in the beginning – was gone. I had no choice but to fight it out.

So, I kept going until the first wave reached me.

I dodged a grotesquely mutated arm, dismissing my assault rifle and exchanging it for my nano-bladed sword. In melee, it was just a better option.

Then, I went to work, slicing through that arm with an upward strike before darting forward and aiming a sweeping attack at another creature’s spindly leg. Both attacks went off without a hitch, and I went to follow up with another.

But that’s when one of them landed a kick to my side.

I felt my ribs crack as I went flying into the arms of another wildling. With a quick pulse of Balance, I righted myself in mid-air, then sprang off of the wildling’s shoulder. As I went, I brought my sword down in a wicked hack that nearly severed its neck, but I knew it wouldn’t finish the mutated creature off. I couldn’t stop moving, though. Any hesitation, and I would be a goner. I’d already learned that lesson, and I didn’t intend to forget it.

So, I kept going, leaping, dodging ,and ducking as I became a whirlwind of swordstrikes. Each attack severed a limb, but even as I fought, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. It couldn’t be. There were too many, and I was incapable of killing them with a single strike. Even the ones whose limbs had fallen victim to my blade weren’t out of the fight.

But it wasn’t like I had a choice. My fate had been sealed the moment I’d erroneously decided to stand my ground.

I was in more pain than I’d ever experienced. In places, my skin had been melted from my very body. And my insides were twisting and turning, both from that poisonous green goo that had been in the first wildling’s belly as well as from the internal injuries I had sustained. In short, I wasn’t going to last much longer.

But I refused to give up.

After everything I had been through – the hellish training, the numerous fights for my life, and my quest for revenge, to name a few – I couldn’t even consider the idea of surrender.

Instead, I fought.

I knew it was useless. I knew I was destined to die. But I didn’t care. If that was how it was, then there was nothing I could do to change it. So, I resolved to take as many of the mutated monsters with me before I finally succumbed.

And succumb I would. It was only a matter of time.