Kat led the way down the stairs and edged around the corner. Nero stood beside her and leaned out as well. They seemed to be in some kind of station where several tube lines came together. They were at one side of it, on a platform. Before them was the lowered section where the train lines, rusted and broken as they were, sat unused. Beyond that was another platform, more train lines, then another platform, train lines, and finally the last platform and the far wall. The darkness down here would typically have obscured this as the light from their torches didn’t extend that far, but there were already several fires down here, roaring away, and figures moving about before them.
‘Crap,’ Kat said. ‘These guys weren’t here last time.’
‘This might complicate matters,’ Nero said. ‘Where do we need to get to?’
Kat pointed off to her right and the tunnel at the end of the platform they were standing on. ‘It’s down there,’ she said.
‘Then we drop down there, run like hell, and hope those guys don’t see us.’
‘Who the hell are they?’ she asked.
‘If I had to guess, I’d say mutants, but hopefully, we’ll never find out,’ he said. ‘Come on, let’s go.’ They both stepped out and started to make their way over to the edge of the platform, only to hear movement and footsteps behind them. Nero turned, his shotgun ready. Standing behind them in the alcove at the bottom of the stairs they had taken to get down here, stood a short, deformed man wearing scraps of clothing. His right shoulder was bulging and covered in grotesque looking discoloured skin. The mutant cocked its head to one side, looking at the pair of them in confusion.
Nero didn’t wait. He raised his gun and fired in one smooth motion.
The enormous sound echoed through the station as the Mutie flew backwards and hit the wall with a wet slap, blood splattering everywhere.
Nero looked back over the station, right into the faces of the mutants two platforms over who had now spotted them and stood there, alert, brandishing improvised weapons.
‘Run along the platform Now!’ Nero yelled at Kat as he set off himself. She didn’t need telling, though. She was already charging off towards the tunnel. As they ran, the mutants whooped and hollered as they bounded off their platform and ran towards them. One of them was bigger than the others and seemed to be directing the group, pointing and shouting in guttural tones as he ran towards the tunnel they were going for.
This one was intelligent, Nero thought.
Mutants ran the gamut from human-level intelligence to mindless raving lunatics. This big one seemed to have something approaching a certain level of wherewithal, though. The mutants vaulted up onto the next platform over, and as the first one of them approached, Nero aimed his gun and fired, blasting it back onto the ground. The other mutants screamed at him in rage.
‘We’re not going to make it,’ Kat shouted back to him.
‘Then we fight our way through,’ Nero yelled back at her. Another Mutie approached on the next platform over. Nero fired again, catching this one in the shoulder, spinning him as he screamed in pain.
As they continued to run, two of the mutants paused on the platform they were on and started to throw things. A rock smashed into the floor beside him, followed by a wicked looking spear that clattered to the ground as Nero ducked back, barely dodging it. Nero reacted without really thinking and fired again, sending one to the floor. The other joined his friends and kept advancing.
There were three Muties closer to them now, and four more further on that were being directed by the big guy. The ones furthest away had made it to the same platform as Kat and himself and were approaching, brandishing clubs.
‘I’ll deal with these,’ Kat said and ran forward towards the four in front of them. As she went, the three closer to Nero seemed to understand what was happening and suddenly focused on Nero before charging forward, running and jumping off the platform into the train tracks before him. Nero fired, but his shot went wide, missing his target because of the Mutie’s erratic movements.
Nero backed off as the first one leapt up onto the platform. Dropping his torch, Nero got a better grip on the forestock of his shotgun, racked it and fired, catching the first guy right in the chest, sending him flying back onto the tracks below.
The other two were up on the platform now and the closest mutant, who wore a spiked shoulder pad, ducked to Nero’s right and then lunged at him. Nero swung his gun to his right and caught Spike in the face, knocking him back. The other mutant ran in, seeing his chance and delivered a powerful kick to Nero’s stomach. Nero fell back, pulling his gun in and blasted Kicker, catching him full in the leg, ironically enough. Kicker dropped to the ground with a howl as Spike rushed in from Nero’s right, swinging his bone club and catching Nero hard across the face.
Blood filled his mouth as a tooth came loose. Rolling with the momentum of the club hit, Nero did a full turn and brought his gun up as the mutant went for him again.
The shotgun fired, catching Spike in the groin and throwing him back. Spike screamed in pain as he crunched to the floor, his hands grasping the wound between his legs.
Nero sat up, his head ringing from the hit with the club in time to see Kicker scrambling towards him on two hands and one leg. His other leg hung limply and wasn’t much use to him anymore. Kicker attempted to throw himself at Nero, only to get a shotgun blast to his face. Kicker fell backwards and disappeared over the edge of the platform.
Leaning to his right, Nero spat blood and a back-tooth to the platform floor. ‘Fuck,’ he grunted to himself. His right cheek and jaw felt twice their usual size and stung like crazy. Looking down the platform, Kat was fighting with the four other mutants down there, swinging her sword and moving gracefully between her attackers.
Nero picked himself up. Grabbing his torch as he went, he ran down the platform, watching as Kat dispatched first one, and then another mutant in short order before taking a hit from a club in her side.
She rolled and brought her sword up in time to defend herself from the next attack as Nero sprinted. Raising his gun, he fired, doing his best to keep the shot well away from Kat. He successfully missed hitting Kat, but also only managed to clip one of the two remaining mutants in the shoulder with the edge of his shot.
The gun did manage to distract them, though, and they looked up at him in surprise.
Kat took advantage of the pause in their attacks and slashed upwards at the closest one, rising up to one knee in the process. Her blade cut the mutant from his groin to his chest, dropping him to the floor in a growing pool of blood.
The second mutant watched his mate fall and hesitated for a second, looking suddenly scared. Kat turned her sword and slashed at him, too, raking her weapon across the Mutie’s belly and spilling his guts. He fell with a strained whimper to slowly die where he lay.
Nero finally reached Kat and skidded to a stop beside her as she stood and looked over at the final mutant. He was a big one, maybe eight or nine feet tall, covered in rippling muscle and mottled, diseased looking skin, riddled with varicose veins. Lumps, bumps, and liquid-filled pustules grew up around his shoulders and neck, just visible beneath the rags and salvaged armour he’d strapped to his body. The mutant frowned at Nero, his pronounced brow knitting together while his strong underbite made the mutant drool through his broken teeth. Lifting his giant spiked club, the mutant slamming it down into the ground in frustration and roared at them.
‘Fuck off,’ Nero said, raising his gun and firing at the massive creature, catching it right in its head as it turned to try and dodge the shot.
The beast man stumbled, staggering back and hit the wall behind it before turning back to Nero with the left side of its face a bloody ruin with visible bone amidst the gore.
Nero fired, again and again, blasting the thing, its body jerking with each shot as more blood and gore poured from it before it finally fell to the floor, tipping forward and smashing its face into the ground.
Nero stood there, his gun pointed at t
he thing for a few seconds more, waiting to see if it would move again. It didn’t, so he relaxed, placed his gun back in its holster, and looked over at Kat.
‘A few less mutants in the world is never a bad thing,’ he said.
She looked up at him and smiled.
An almighty roar behind him made him flinch as Kat suddenly looked shocked before leaping forward and swinging her blade behind him, missing him by inches. Nero dropped to the floor, thinking she’d just tried to attack him, only to look up and see that the colossal mutant had risen up and had been reaching for him. Kat’s sword sang as she swung it again and sliced into the mutant leader's neck. The blade cut deep, but not all the way through before she withdrew it. The mutant looked surprised before it hit the platform and then fell off onto the tracks below. Nero and Kat scrambled to the edge of the platform and looked down. The thing’s head was mostly severed and gaping open.
‘Let’s not take any chances,’ Kat said, before dropping down and proceeding to hack away at the things neck a few more times until the head fell away completely.
‘Well, that was gross,’ Nero said, looking down at the bloodbath below. Kat was splattered from head to toe in thick red blood. She looked horrific.
Kat didn’t respond, she simply started to walk towards the tunnel. ‘Come on, this way,’ she said as she grabbed her torch from the platform as she passed it and moved into the darkness.
Nero did the same, dropping off the platform, before holding his torch high as he followed on behind Kat. They walked for about five minutes before Kat spotted a pile of garbage leaning against the side of the tunnel up ahead and suddenly jogged forward towards it. ‘Here we go, it’s still here,’ she said.
‘It’s under all that?’ Nero asked.
‘Yes. Don’t worry, it’s easy to get to. It’s just hidden,’ she said and pulled aside two bits of plastic and a tarpaulin before slipping through a gap beneath it. Nero followed and saw something of a tight hole that led through a hidden door. He squeezed through, pulling the plastic sheet back into place behind him and found himself in a small alcove with a ladder that led up to a heavy looking grate above. Kat was already climbing up, but looked down and put her finger to her lips, urging him to be quiet.
The whole situation reminded him of following Nyx up the Watchtower to retrieve her sword. He’d enjoyed the view of climbing up beneath her then, and he couldn’t help but look up and enjoy this view as well. Kat reached the top of the ladder and stopped, listening. Nero paused behind her and listened, too. He could hear movement and snuffling sounds. It didn’t sound human, though. After a few moments, Kat reached up and eased the grate up with her hand. Either no one was there, or they just hadn’t seen her as she raised the grill right up and started to climb through. Once she was entirely out, she crouched next to the cover and waved him up.
Nero followed her up and found himself inside a barn-like building with cages along one wall. The floor was covered with dry grasses, rags, and anything else that might be used to absorb the mess of the animals that were in here. This debris had been covering the grate, which Kat now replaced and recovered. Nero took a better look at the cages and the powerful but nightmarish creatures that were inside. Each was unique in appearance, but all of them had at least four legs and looked demonic or monstrous with cruel-looking fangs, claws, and spikes. On seeing Kat and himself, the dogs started to growl and throw themselves at the cage doors trying to attack them.
The cages were each locked with a crude, but easy to open deadbolt. Nero smiled as he watched these vicious creatures desperately trying to attack them. His plan might just work, he thought.
‘Okay, we’re in, let’s get around to the building and see if we can’t get to the harem,’ Kat said. But Nero didn’t really hear her. Instead, he was looking around the inside of the kennels, developing the idea he’d first had after the zip wire and finalising his plan.
‘We’ll need some kind of distraction, I think, though. Have you got any ideas? Nero?’ Kat asked. ‘Nero?’
He’d heard her, but he’d been focused on something else entirely. He turned to her now, though, and smiled. ‘We have our distraction right here,’ he said and moved to one wall of the barn and pulled down a thin rope that was hung up there.
‘Huh? Are you going to do some rope tricks or something?’ Kat asked, looking confused.
‘Something like that.’ Nero smiled, choosing to let his actions do the talking rather than explain it all now.
Moving to the furthest cage, he tied the rope to the bolt. The daemon dog inside growled and slammed into the cage bars, but couldn’t get to him. Nero did his best to ignore it. With the knot tied, he got Kat to hold it and keep the bolt locked as he moved along the row of cages and proceeded to tie the rope to each bolt in turn. It only took him a few minutes until he finally stood in the corner, behind where the last cage door would open.
Nero beckoned Kat over to him. ‘Come here,’ he said and drew his shotgun. Kat ran over and stood next to him. ‘If I’m right, I’d wager that the guards here don’t treat these dogs very well, and it might be that these creatures want some revenge on their masters. Or, even if not, they should create some chaos,’ he said.
Kat smiled and nodded. ‘Let the chaos reign.’
‘Three, two, one,’ he said, and then pulled hard on the rope. As one, the blots slammed back, and the gates opened wide, with the nearest gate opening up and hitting the wall next to them, creating a little triangular cage for them, with the cage gate between them and the daemon dogs.
The dogs bounded from their cages. Some ran from the kennel building right away, others lingered for a moment, unsure what to do. One of the ones closest to Nero and Kat turned to look at them and growled a deep low rumble that reminded him that he was not at the top of the food chain anymore.
‘Hold that cage door in place,’ Nero said as the daemon dog bared its teeth and stared at them with those demonic eyes. Suddenly, without further warning, it leapt at them, its wicked claws reaching out to rend and tear.
Chapter 18
Nero
Nero pulled the trigger on his shotgun, blasting the daemon dog, catching it in its side. The creature dropped back to the ground with a whimper and hobbled away from Nero and Kat. It looked up at them sheepishly, before backing off some more. The other daemon dogs around it who’d seen their pack mate injured, backed off, too. The wounded dog barked once and then ran out of the barn, taking the rest of the daemon dogs with it, leaving Nero and Kat alone in the kennels.
‘Holy shit, I thought we were done for,’ Kat said, and then looked over at Nero’s gun. ‘That’s not a normal gun, is it?’
Nero pushed the gate back and stepped out of the corner of the room. ‘No, it’s not,’ he said, as someone screamed off in the distance. Nero paused and listened, hearing another scream, followed by yelling and more screams.
Nero smiled and looked at Kat.
‘It’s working,’ Kat said.
‘Seems to be,’ Nero answered her, before walking off towards the door out of the building. Kat followed on behind. On reaching the door, Nero looked out and saw they were at one side of the compound, maybe two hundred feet or so from the main house where Nyx and the queen were likely to be.
All around them, people were running, and off in the distance, the large black shapes of the daemon dogs were chasing down the guards and others who lived in here. There was a gutted body not thirty feet away from the entrance to the kennels.
‘Good guess on the dogs’ Kat said.
‘I was feeling fairly confident about it,’ he said. Looking over towards the ranks of vehicles that were parked in here, he spotted his charger, apparently untouched, hiding between two larger vehicles. He felt a sense of satisfaction inside that he’d managed to keep his pride and joy safe.
‘I’ll be back for you soon,’ he said to himself under his breath, talking to the car. ‘So, the main building, then?’ Nero asked Kat.
‘That’s where they�
��ll be, yes,’ she said.
‘Okay, let’s go.’ Nero ran from the building, moving right and ran to a nearby car, ducking in close to it to use it as cover. Edging along it, he peered around the end and moved forward after checking it was clear. He ran again, making for a burning barrel and some piles of reclaimed wood. Ducking down again, he took cover and waited for Kat to join him. She crouched down beside him as movement to his right caught his attention. Nero raised his enchanted shotgun, not waiting to see who it was, and saw a guard run around the corner of the building. He spotted Nero’s gun right away and panicked, trying to raising his own rifle up to protect himself, but Nero was too quick and opened fire first, blasting the man full in the chest.
He didn’t get back up, so Nero looked back towards the house and then ran forward again, crossing the open space to another vehicle — a large armoured troop carrier this time — and got his first good look at the front door to the building.
A squad of guards stood before the front door, their guns and weapons at the ready as a daemon dog stalked towards them, its head low. As Nero watched, he saw the men firing their pistols, rifles, and shotguns at the thing, but having little effect on it other than to make it flinch occasionally. Nero scanned around behind him to make sure he wasn’t being flanked, before returning to watch as the dog suddenly leapt forward into the middle of the crowd of men and started tearing them apart. It slashed with its deadly claws, ripping people’s limbs clean off before biting others and shaking his head violently before throwing them to the floor. Blood was going everywhere, men and women were screaming, guns were being fired, but the thing still stood.
‘Follow me,’ Nero said, holding his gun ready as he moved forward towards the front door.
‘We’re going in through the front?’ Kat asked.
‘Damn right we are,’ Nero said.
‘Are you sure?’
‘We’ll find out.’
As they moved closer, one of the still living guards ran screaming from the massacre, running right past them and ignoring them entirely. Reaching the steps up to the front entrance, Nero climbed up the four stone steps and walked through the colonnade of pillars that surrounded the door. Before him, the dog held the head of one of the guards in its jaws, whipping his head back and forth as the guard screamed until, with a spray of more thick dark blood, the head came loose from the body. The dog looked up, the man’s skull between its teeth, and with a moment’s effort, crushed the skull, its jaws clamping shut as the bone cracked loudly. The daemon dog stood there for a moment, looking at them as mushed up human brains hung from its teeth. One guard was left standing, leaning back against the doors, his weapons gone, a piss stain on his trousers, looking between the dog and Nero with a look of pure terror on his face.
Wasteland Road Knights Trilogy Page 29
