METAVERSE GAMES: OMNIBUS

by William Kurth

  Overwhelming fear mixed with his natural aggression shot adrenaline through him. He had been in some tight spots before, but never this dire. He was surrounded. For everyone he destroyed five more showed up. There are few things that humans instinctively fear, being hunted by something that will eat you while you still live is right at the top of the list.

  Haus was accustomed to the adrenaline surges. His momentary escape into defeatism angered him. He hadn’t survived this long to perish here. Rather than being paralyzed by the fear he used the extra energy kick to move into action.

  Ignoring the creatures closing from behind him, and the ones to his right and left, he glared at the mob. He was as much a hunter as they, and right now they looked like prey to him. The Outfitter marched towards the things now struggling with each other to squeeze into the narrow row of containers.

  Haus angled the light into the eyes of the front row of DEVO’s, who tried to back away from it but were pushed forward by the dozens behind them. As he did before, Haus used the targeting sight and quickly shot as he moved the laser dot from an exploding creature to a screeching advancing one. Haus passed the container rows opening to his left and right, forcing himself to not even look at the DEVO’s coming from those directions. He entered the last narrow row between him and the open pier and the water beyond, He needed to keep his focus and his ammo on the task at hand. The only DEVO’s that Haus paid attention to were the ones obstructing his path to the water. He blocked from his focus those advancing from his flanks and rear; he barely had enough ammo for the things in front of him. There was no point concerning himself with anything other than moving forward.

  The barrel grew hot and the residual gun powder smoke filled the area between containers as Haus went through thirty rounds. A pile of DEVO’s laid waste by the exploding shells filled the middle of the row. The screeching behind him grew louder as those creatures joined the ones from the right and left rows. The danger from his flanks gone now as he moved past the opening into the narrow confines of the container aisle. The creatures merged into a large group behind him, double stacks of container cars lined both sides. Ignoring all but the ones most directly between him and the water he continued his advance.

  Haus concentrated on a center line between him and the water. Another twenty rounds and more of the monstrous things laid twitching and jerking on the pavement as hordes continued to fill in the space from the right and left sides of the pier under the cranes. Another fifteen rounds and Haus finally succeeded in pushing them back, or at least destroying so many that the ones behind the growing pile of bodies could not easily advance on him.

  He was nearly parallel with the last two containers in that row and nearly out of rounds. He didn’t dare take his eyes from his targets to check the counter but experience told him from the decreased weight he was down to probably no more than two dozen rounds left in the drum mounted to the underside of the shot gun.

  Swinging the street-sweeper to the left and right in a small arc—just enough to clear a path, the muscular man fired quickly as he broke into a fast walk. His peripheral vision divulged that creatures, countless in number were on both sides as he cut down one after another. Other’s behind were either stunned by the exploding creature in front of them or driven back by the light.

  Haus broke into a run as he shot several more so close that the rounds only detonated after they exited the first and entering another before exploding. Just feet from the water’s edge he broke into a full-on sprint. Two creatures jumped in front of him. Haus shot the one to the left, the explosion blowing its body parts into the water. Swinging the gun to the right the laser illuminated on the mouth of the thing not a half meter in front of him and closing fast, Haus squeezed the trigger.

  Click.

  He cursed as he swung the barrel across his body to block the now leaping creature. Haus set himself into motion as he pushed with all his might forward and into the thing. It became even more crazed, sensing it was about to feast on the thing it wanted most, human flesh. The creature clanked its teeth as its mouth opened wide before rapidly closing it then opening it. Biting up and down on the shotgun that Haus held out in front of him.

  Like a football lineman leaping into the end zone He cleared the edge of the pier with the monster attached to his shotgun at the mouth even as Haus felt a claw from another grab his boot, but it was too late. He and the creature flew out over the concrete edge of the pier; a second later they entered the water together

  After a moment, Haus broke the surface. The thing did also as it shrieked and clawed at the water before disappearing into it.

  Haus looked up at the pier just feet away from him as he treaded water. What he saw terrified and amazed him. How had he escaped?

  In the moonlight on the pier stood hundreds, perhaps thousands of DEVO’s. They were just feet away and while they clacked their teeth and shrieked none dare reach into the water for him. Haus turned and swam away from the pier before they pelted him with whatever they could throw, their constant screaming making him swim as fast as he could.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Holy shit!” Logan exhaled into his mic. The dimly lit screen illuminated his face as the blood ran from it for the umpteenth time that evening. There before his eyes were more DEVO’s than he’d ever seen, massing in numbers that he could not begin to count, all coming for him. Easily several thousand in number, they gathered around the front of the passenger train terminal. The things moved with a purpose now, they were on the hunt for a delicious meal, and he would be the appetizer if not the main course.

  Logan hit the record button that would stream the images to his mobile. Had the GPS and data antenna’s not been sheared off it would have gone back to the team HQ. At least if he survived, he would have a record of what they faced. If he didn’t then hopefully someone would find the device and see his last stand unless the phone was eaten along with his flesh. He laughed at the absurdity of the thought, but the terrifying reality of what he would become took away the humor.

  Groups of creatures pulled carts loaded with barrels of what could only be their favorite and all too often powerful weapon, petroleum of some type. Increasing the magnification, Logan could see a good many others carrying Molotov cocktails. They were not just a mob. They were a mob with a purpose and he and his teammates were their objective. Logan felt genuine fear even in the safe confines of the armored JLTV.

  Zooming out and rotating the turret to the right, an even greater number appeared on the monitor, easily another two thousand or three, or four. They slowly but relentlessly moved down the street towards his position in front of the train station, pulling their carts and waving their torches. Others carried what looked like spears. They resembled an army more now than disorganized crazed beings.

  Most people thought of DEVO’s as mindless demented creatures, and with almost every one of them you encountered, that was true. But there was a hierarchy, and they were often organized by leaders. It was easy to forget that these things, gruesome and hideous as they appeared, were once human with all the intelligence and cunning that went with being one. Some of those attributes must have remained in many of them.

  Those things and their sheer numbers are what made them successful in their hunts. That’s why no infiltration team ever survived in the downtown business district if they were stuck down here at sundown. Every one of them perished at the claws and teeth of the creatures now assembling.

  The throngs filled in all around the train station, its parking lots and the streets feeding into the complex. Although he couldn’t see past the first wave, there was little doubt that what showed themselves only represented a fraction of their number. They would mass and mass and mass. Countless thousands must be on their way to this location, beckoned by the constant shrieking that passed for communication. Logan moved the JLTV to the other side of the building to reconnoiter that flank.

  For the second time in a minute, Logan’s face went white. Emerging from between bu
ildings and now converging on the streets that abutted the Radio Building on that side were thousands, no tens of thousands of DEVO’s. The night vision optics that made the dark outside light as day made clear the gathering numbers. Logan set aside his initial disbelief that his lying eyes were telling him; unless Andy and Keith got the UV lights on, even the fortress-like Radio Building would not stop them. While the Vulcan would massacre them by the thousands, there wasn’t enough ammo in the rig to even finish more than a small percentage.

  He hadn’t fired a single round in this battle, yet he could not ignore the obvious—it was already lost if those lights didn’t come on. The JLTV’s limited and damaged Torchlight system would not hold them back, not that many. The many caution lights representing all the various things that at any moment might cripple the wounded rig reminded him that powerful as he felt inside it with the wrath of a god at his thumbs, the things outside had supremacy and would soon make their fury felt to him and his companions.

  Logan studied the gathering figures on the side opposite the train terminal moving with their distinct stiff but relentless gait. The buildings behind them would give them cover to retreat into or behind, something that only UV light would cause them to do. Those buildings also offered an effective backstop for the exploding 20mm rounds. It would maximize the destructive power of the shells catching the creatures out in the open who would advance until none were left, creatures or cannon rounds. DEVO’s did not retreat.

  Logan waited, wanting more of the things to get closer and denser to make the most of his ammo. If he was lucky, he could mow down a few thousand of them, collapse some buildings and create some fires, slowing the creatures that were massed behind the lead positions of the hordes. Then he would move over to the other side and do the same.

  Logan worried that the DEVO’s on that side could already be in the parking lot of the Radio Building. He thought about sending up a flare to that side to drive them back but fought back the temptation; he would need those flares later, if for nothing else to aid in his escape. Watching their slow advance, Logan hoped that the Radio Building was as secure as Andy said it would be. The alternative was too horrible to consider as the image of the creature wearing his team’s uniform flashed in his mind.

  Logan thought about his options, he could not let the DEVO’s trap the JLTV and burn him out of it, or in it. He thought about the harbor and wondered if he could tread water all night if the current didn’t carry him off. Still, that was better than becoming a meal for the awful things and then becoming one. The water would be the only avenue of escape if he couldn’t get to the building or they were all forced out. Use the flares as cover, then run for it. The real trick was to fight until all was lost and still get out and get away. Most of the time when infiltrators were taken it was because they were fighting down to the last round and man; something reinforced in training. It was all about having a winning mindset that it was possible to snatch victory from the clacking jaws of defeat.

  Watching the creatures, their slow, steady steps brought Logan back to the present. For the time being, he had plenty of ammo and flares to do what needed to be done. Logan zoomed onto some of the leading columns, knowing they would be the first to be vaporized.

  The infiltration community had long quit using the term killed. The things were already half dead, and unless they were somehow torn apart, they really didn’t die. Bullets, particularly handgun and rifle non-exploding rounds had limited effects on them, mostly just passing through them.

  Headshots might if the brain were taken out, not something hard to do with a rifle and scope from a safe vantage point but far more difficult when you had to fight dozens or hundreds or even thousands and tonight probably tens of thousands in close proximity. The heavier machine guns and mini guns were more effective, but even so, the things would crawl and drag themselves toward you if their bodies were even moderately intact.

  The 20mm Vulcan cannon was the perfect weapon for this environment and tonight it would surely prove its worth.

  ***

  Andy and Keith switched on their infrared lights to illuminate the interior of the building with a light spectrum only visible to them through their night vision. They stepped into the parking structure after opening the thick steel door with the multiple locks and deadbolts. The building was designed as a fortress against disasters but not necessarily against heavy weapons. But for anything, the creatures bearing down on them might use he trusted it would be adequate.

  The DEVO’s, however, were not the only one’s hunting Andy and his crew tonight. The Outfits who claimed the city were out there and now with heavy weapons. They were the real danger. If he couldn’t secure the building first against the creatures and then get a VTAL out, the Outfits armed with potent weaponry or explosives would certainly find a way inside. Always the predator Andy had only been seriously hunted once before, he didn’t like it then, and he most definitely did not like it now.

  Passing the empty parking spaces save a couple of pickup trucks and one passenger van both men came to a steel reinforced door marked “Authorized Personnel Only.” Andy’s watch synced to it as it had to the locked door next to the garage and the bolts released.

  Stepping inside Andy moved to an electrical panel mounted to the wall. He saw the problem immediately. The batteries were below what was required to turn the generator engine over. The cells were maintained by a trickle charge via a photoelectric system on the roof. Either the panels were compromised, or the solar panel controller that regulated the amount of voltage the batteries received malfunctioned to not overcharge the system and dry out the arrays. The type of standby batteries on this system was not designed to be offline for extended periods of time. The solar system was a backup to the conventional trickle system from the power grid. Time and exposure wore down the panels. They could overheat or cause other issues that regular maintenance would have prevented. Either way, the system would need a jump.

  “Logan, Andy.”

  “Go for Logan, weak copy, over.”

  The antennas that were blasted off the JLTV made the transmission and reception of Logan barely perceptible and static filled.

  “It’s going to take a little while to get the building powered up. I may need the rig down here to jump start the system if I can’t find a good battery source. Keep the DEVO’s and especially the Outfits away as long as you can!”

  “Roger, kill anything that moves.” A scratchy broken voice replied.

  “Ten-four. Check back in five.”

  “Copy, five minutes be back with you, fixing to go loud and messy, Logan out.”

  Andy clicked his mic in response to acknowledge Logan, wondering what kind of situation was developing outside and imagining the worst. Andy could not have guessed that even his worst-case assumption would be conservative compared to what brewed out there both from creature and man alike.

  Chapter Twelve

  The loud monosyllabic grunts and groans accompanied by plenty of screeching from what had to be ten thousand DEVO’s on the side opposite the train station could be heard in the JLTV but not by Logan who kept his headset on. The greenish light of the monitor in front of him illuminated his body strapped into the turret’s captains seat. A myriad of switches and buttons around and above it.

  “Riggy, set for auto-defense.”

  An electromagnetic field surrounded the JLTV. The buzzing electrical field would drive any DEVO’s crazy that came within ten meters. The Microwave cooking option was out of order, the lights damaged or blown off by the explosion of the AT-4 projectile. If a creature did get close enough to touch the JLTV they would be hit by an electrical current. Logan felt the increased vibrations of the engine through his seat as it moved to a higher RPM to power the system. He tried, without much success to ignore the Christmas Tree of warning lights on another monitor. The rig was not fully operational and running on borrowed time. If the engine died or the transmission seized then it was game over. The Vulcan required a lot of p
ower to operate. The batteries would only hold out so long.

  The leading rows marching toward him were maybe a hundred meters out at the gate and now began flowing through. Hundreds and hundreds of others scaled the fence and onto the Radio Building parking lot.

  Pushing the right pedal Logan move the turret to the right, centering the site on the chain link fence at the far end of the property. Exhaling slightly Logan depressed both butterfly triggers now set to full-auto. The four cannons spun to life as they sent forth their devastating power. Logan pushed slightly on the left foot pedal while continuing to hold down the butterfly triggers swinging the turret slowly to the left. Logan ignored the flashing, brilliant explosions going on in the right of his screen and instead watched the targets yet to be engaged on the left side, just before the Vulcan sight covered it with a rain of destruction. Rather than running or trying to seek cover, both futile anyway, the DEVO’s continued to advance until they too were enveloped in the flaming destructive power of the 20mm shells, over a thousand of them exploding in their ranks. After the weapon sight passed the front gate and the front edge of the leading groups, Logan released the triggers. The last few spent casings rolled from the turret, clattering to the pavement where they joined a sea of brass.

  Slowly rotating the turret back to the right Logan saw his expectations were low; the effect of the 20mm rounds was even greater than he previously imagined. Where a half minute before, thousands of creatures massed along the fence line either shuffling along toward the gate or climbing over was now a wasteland of fires and body parts. The fence itself was cut down to a third of what it had been, the upper parts turned into shrapnel as the cannon rounds impacted it. For the shots that followed they probably went through at least one or two creatures before the full detonation took down two or three or four times that number that were around the ones hit. The cannon rounds were mercilessly efficient in that regard.