Doomsday Hunter

by Eric Vall

  As I opened my eyes, I saw Natalie fast approaching with a concerned look on her face.

  At the same time, I saw a large chunk of concrete fall down into the hole from above, with my rope still attached to it. It smashed into the other side of the metal donut, bounced off, and then landed on the level below us with another loud thud.

  Just in the nick of freaking time.

  “Hunter, are you alright?” Natalie whimpered as she ran over.

  “I’ll be fine,” I groaned and then got up on my hands and knees. “I think I just broke the entire left side of my ribcage, but that’s all.”

  Your vitals are fine, Karla spoke up through the chip. Though, judging by the look of things, you’re probably going to be in a lot of pain for a while. And I wouldn’t be surprised if your entire left side was purple and black when you wake up tomorrow.

  Natalie went to hug me as I stood up, but I quickly shook my head and held her at arm’s length.

  “Karla says I’ll be fine,” I chuckled through a grimace. “And she’s the one who’s got access to my medical record in real time, so I’ll trust her on this one.”

  “That looked like it hurt like a bitch,” Natalie said, and her face was still wrought with worry as she held out my E-Tool. “Also, I figured you’d want this back.”

  “Oh, it did hurt,” I admitted as I took it back. “It still does. But, at least we’re here, and we got inside without alerting any of the Rubberfaces to our presence. Now, let’s get down to the ground level, go to the operator’s room, and finish this mission once and for all.”

  “I love it when you talk all leader-like.” Natalie grinned.

  As we began to walk toward the metal stairs, the sound of an opening door echoed through the reactor building. Then we heard the sound that neither of us wanted to hear.

  “Loktar!” a gurgled voice called out from somewhere below. “Loktar skantrum!”

  Natalie and I both froze in place when we realized what had happened.

  The Rubberfaces must have heard our commotion and were coming to investigate.

  “Well,” Natalie sighed as she pulled her AK-47 over her shoulder. “We never said this mission was going to be easy.”

  Chapter 15

  This was it. Natalie and I were here, in the heart of a powered-down nuclear reactor, or the pressure vessel walkway, or wherever the fuck we were inside of this thing, and we had countless deadly and armed mutants headed our way.

  Now, the mission had literally become do or die.

  And I sure as hell didn’t intend to do the latter.

  “I’m going to try to avoid firing my weapon as much as possible,” Natalie warned. “The last thing we want to do is cause irreparable damage to the nuclear reactor. I’m sure that’s not all of the Rubberfaces in the plant, either. But, if we go around firing off our weapons all willy-nilly, we’re sure as fuck going to find out just how many there are.”

  “Stealth kills again?” I asked.

  “That’s going to be impossible.” Natalie shook her head. “Especially if they have weapons of their own. I would suggest we make sure any shots we take are efficient and lethal.”

  Efficient and lethal. Got it.

  The footsteps of the Rubberfaces were still very distant, but they were growing closer by the moment. Surely by now, they’d at least seen our ropes dangling from the hole in the ceiling, and it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

  The Rubberfaces knew we were here, and they were coming after us.

  My whole body may have felt like it’d just been through the wringer, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. Not a chance.

  “How many levels do you think we have to go down, Karla?” I questioned as I peered over the edge of the hole in the reactor’s center.

  According to the schematics, fifteen, the voice in my head noted.

  “Fifteen.” I nodded to my partner.

  “That’s not too many,” Natalie said as she holstered her pistol and took up her AK-47 once more.

  “That’s a lot of time for Rubberfaces to show up,” I sighed.

  “Then we’d better make it quick.” Natalie nodded, and then she headed over toward the metal steps.

  I hustled after her, and then we both treaded lightly as we descended to the next level. We only made it down one set of stairs, though, when we finally heard the whispers of the Rubberfaces.

  “Iktuna?” one of them hissed as their footfalls echoed through the reactor.

  “Iktunar,” another one corrected.

  Natalie raised her hand in a silent order to stop.

  I fell down on one knee, raised the sight of my pistol up to my eyes, and waited for the first poor bastard to pop his head up through the staircase.

  Meanwhile, Natalie pulled out her knife, unfolded it, and then flipped it up so she was holding it by its blade.

  Seconds later, we saw one of the ugly, deformed faces of the Rubberfaces rise up over the edge of the staircase.

  The instant he did so, Natalie hauled back and tossed her knife straight at him.

  It twirled through the air like a deadly boomerang before stabbing right between the Rubberface’s eyes. The mutant’s mouth went agape with surprise, but then he simply slumped forward and laid motionless.

  Three more of the mutants dashed up the stairs, but I was more than ready for them.

  I fired off three shots in rapid succession and then watched as each of the ugly suckers stumbled back from the impact. My bullets were loud, sporadic, and hastily-aimed, so none of them were quite the insta-kill shots I was going for.

  Still, they got the job done.

  Blood sprayed from the neck of one of the Rubberfaces as he tried in vain to halt the geyser of gore that came from his ruptured artery. Within seconds, he went into shock and collapsed to the ground as he bled out.

  The other two mutants had been hit in the chest, and they quickly recovered from the assault.

  Unfortunately for them, Natalie was right there to finish the job.

  I watched in awe as the blonde Scavenger smacked the butt of her AK-47 into the face of one Rubberface and sent him staggering backwards. Then, before the second one could make a move, she smacked out his legs from underneath him with the barrel of her rifle. Once he was down on the ground, she proceeded to smash his head in with the hard butt of her weapon.

  At the same time, I fired off two more shots into the stunned Rubberface. Two blasts of red mist sprayed into the air as the buckshot tore through his torso, and then he fell back onto the ground and began to twitch.

  When I finally walked over to Natalie, I saw there was nothing left of her opponent other than a mushy pile of blood, brains, and skull fragments.

  “You think he’s dead?” I joked.

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “Don’t get too cocky yet. I’m sure that wasn’t all of them. In fact… ”

  The blonde woman nodded downward just as more footsteps began to ascend metal stairs and platforms.

  Natalie and I moved as quickly as we could, and we got down to level eleven before our progress was impeded once more.

  This time, it was a much more… aggressive stop.

  Sparks flew as a hailstorm of bullets shot up from underneath the ground, and Natalie was just able to hop back and avoid being torn to shreds by the deadly metal hornets.

  “Back!” the Scavenger hissed as she threw her arm out against my chest and then pushed us both back against the wall.

  The Rubberfaces’ bullets tore through the thin metal of the floor in a line that followed the curve of the structure, only a few inches in front of our bodies.

  Had we been a foot or so out from the wall, our bodies would have been turned into bloody chunks of swiss cheese.

  Suddenly, the hailstorm stopped, and we heard the clomp of boots headed up the stairs.

  So, Natalie jumped forward, held her AK-47 out in front of her, and took aim.

  “Our turn,” she growled.

  The Scavenger sque
ezed the trigger on her rifle just as the first few Rubberfaces came up the stairs. They weren’t ready for the attack, and the ugly mutant bastards were torn to shreds by her swarm of bullets. Chunks of their guts were splattered onto their comrades behind them as they went down, and then their bodies went limp.

  The remaining Rubberfaces ducked back to safety, and Natalie motioned for me to make a move.

  I holstered my pistol, slid the shotgun off my shoulder, and ran over to the ledge. The second the barrel was in position, I squeezed the trigger and held on tight as a muzzle flare burst forth from my shotgun.

  One of the mutants down below screamed as the buckshot separated his arm from his torso at the shoulder, and a spray of crimson blood arced into the air. The blast didn’t completely take the limb off, however, so the Rubberface was left with an appendage that was hanging by only a mangled string of muscle and skin.

  I pumped the action and went to load another round, but I wasn’t quick enough. One of the ugly bastards grabbed the barrel of my shotgun and gave it a good yank, and I felt myself pulled off my feet.

  “Hunter!” Natalie gasped as I fell down the stairs and felt the shotgun leave my hands.

  Bursts of pain shot through my body with each jagged metal step I slammed into, and in just a second or two, I was laying prone on the ground.

  Right at the center of three more Rubberfaces. All of whom had guns.

  I instinctively threw up my feet and kangaroo-kicked the mutant standing at my lower half.

  He grunted as his eyes went wide, and he stumbled backward. Then, he lost his footing and flailed helplessly as he slipped over the edge of the metal platform.

  The other two Rubberfaces didn’t even try to help him. They just watched him, with confusion plastered on their faces.

  Maybe they weren’t as bright as Natalie had feared.

  So, I quickly unfolded my E-Tool and lashed out at the mutant on my right.

  His shins were sliced open as he turned back to face me, and then he fell down onto his knees. As he did so, I thrust my spade straight up into the soft spot of his mandible and skewered him straight through his brain from below.

  The third Rubberface raised his rifle up to my head, but I was too quick with my E-Tool for the fucker. I ducked down, lashed out with the pointed end of the spade, and slashed it across his tunic-covered stomach.

  The Rubberface let out a gurgled cry as his guts spilled out onto the metal floor with a steaming hiss, and then he fell over on top of them. His body twitched for a moment before I stabbed my weapon through his brain and put him out of his misery.

  “You okay?” Natalie called out as she made her way down the stairs.

  “Still aching all over,” I chuckled as she helped me back to my feet. “And covered in blood and guts. Otherwise, I’m peachy.”

  “Now, you’re starting to sound like a true Scavenger,” the blonde woman noted.

  I picked up my shotgun from one of the dead mutants, slung it over my shoulder, and then reloaded as we ascended the next set of stairs. The journey from our current level to the ground was uneventful, but that still didn’t stop my heart from palpitating in my chest. Finally, when we reached the bottom, I let out a sigh of relief.

  I should have known that it would be premature.

  Suddenly, the door on the far side of the structure burst open, and three more Rubberfaces dashed in with their guns at the ready.

  Thankfully, Natalie was a quick thinker.

  The Scavenger aimed her rifle down at the metal meshed floor beneath our feet.

  “Haktra!” she hissed at the mutants. “Haktra dakrtrata!”

  All three of the mutants stopped in their tracks, and their eyes were wide in horror.

  “Iktunar!” they hissed, but none of them seemed to dare to make a move.

  “I just threatened to shoot the core,” Natalie explained without glancing at me. “If I do that, there goes any chance they have at a mid-morning snack.”

  We stood in this tense Mexican standoff for what seemed like hours, though it was probably only a few minutes. Both parties had their fingers on their triggers, and it was only a matter of who could get their shots off first.

  Think, Hunter… There were three of them, and two of us. There had to be a way to even up the odds.

  That’s when it hit me.

  I had to give myself up.

  If these creatures really were as sentient as we thought, that would at least give Natalie a chance to catch them off guard.

  “Can those things understand us?” I questioned, and Natalie just shrugged.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Why? What are you about to do?”

  “Something really stupid,” I warned. “You’ll know what to do when it happens.”

  Before the blonde could ask any questions, I slowly laid my shotgun down onto the ground and then kicked it away with my foot. Next, I held my hands in the air and took a step forward.

  “You really weren’t kidding,” Natalie growled.

  “I give up,” I lied as I faced the mutants. “See? Look. No weapons.”

  I took another step, and the mutants pointed all of their rifles at me.

  That’s right… Just keep them away from Natalie.

  “Iktuna!” the mutant on the far right hissed. “Slak Iktuna!”

  My heart was now hammering like a war drum as I approached the deadly creatures, beings who could tear me apart with their bare hands if they wanted to.

  Then again, with their high-powered rifles, they really didn’t have to.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Natalie hissed behind me, but I ignored her.

  “Let her go, and take me,” I offered my opponents. “We’re sorry we crashed your party, but nobody else has to die. Just let the girl go.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” the Scavenger hissed. “Don’t go soft on me now, Hunter.”

  I hadn’t done any acting since my second-grade play, but apparently I was a natural. Even if I knew I was lying, and the Rubberfaces might not have understood what I was saying, everyone was falling for it.

  Two of the Rubberfaces looked at each other, and then the one at the center nodded. The mutant on the left lowered his weapon, took a step forward, and reached out to grab me.

  But I quickly sidestepped his grip, pulled my E-Tool from my belt, and took off his arm at the elbow.

  The Rubberface screamed as the stump on his arm erupted in a geyser of blood, but I didn’t have time to revel in my victory.

  I threw up my boot, kicked the disoriented mutant in the chest, and shoved him back into his comrades.

  The Rubberface in the center went down, but the last one raised his rifle.

  Thankfully, Natalie was faster.

  The Scavenger raised her gun’s sight to her eyes, squeezed the trigger, and ripped her opponent apart with a swarm of bullets. Then, as his corpse collapsed to the ground, she turned her attention to the remaining Rubberface. Natalie squeezed the trigger once more, and his head exploded like a gore-filled balloon.

  Once the coast was clear, I ran over to the dismembered mutant and ended his life with a quick swipe of my E-Tool.

  “Not bad for a Pest Control Technician, eh?” I laughed as I stepped back and picked up my discarded shotgun.

  “Not bad at all.” Natalie grinned. “You’re a natural Scavenger, Hunter. Even if you did have to feign weakness to get us out of the situation.”

  “I didn’t get us out of the situation,” I noted, “you’re the one who had the idea to hold the nuclear reactor hostage. If you hadn’t done that, we’d both be bloody heaps on the ground right now. We make a good team.”

  “Yes,” she nodded as she stared into my eyes for a second.

  The Scavenger and I stepped over the corpses, slowly pulled open the door they’d emerged from, and then cautiously peeked inside.

  Beyond the door was a massive room with off-white eggshell walls covered from head to toe in various equipment. Dark, cracked screens a
nd gauges of every sort spread across the pale walls, while hundreds of buttons and switches were interspersed in between.

  Metal desks with dark, twenty-ten era monitors were littered throughout the space, on top of a decrepit old carpet that appeared to have been gray at one point. There were phones all over the place, too, but those things were long past the point of usability.

  This was it.

  The control room.

  “We’re in, Karla,” I announced as I holstered all my weapons. “What do I need to do to get this puppy back up and running?”

  Finally, Karla’s voice sighed. I was starting to get worried about you guys.

  “I appreciate the concern,” I mumbled, “but right now we just need to figure out how to restart the reactor.”

  My father checked out the systems of the plant here in Dimension One, she explained. According to his analysis, there should be a “mainframe” computer. It’d be the one at the very center of the room.

  I searched around until I saw what she was talking about. There, at the literal center of the space, was a circular desk with a single, large computer monitor at its center. The screen was apparently on, because it was currently showing one of those vintage “cgi pipe” screensavers.

  “The computer’s already on,” I noted to both Karla and Natalie. “I bet they have some solar powered generators somewhere that’s powering everything, but I think the Rubberfaces were probably already trying to mess with the computer when we got here.”

  I walked over to the desk, plopped myself down into the black rolling chair, and coughed as decades worth of dust sprayed up into the air. Once I was over the hacking fit, I moved the mouse and watched as the monitor sprang to life.

  There were about a dozen different tabs open on the screen, a further indicator that the Rubberfaces were trying to restart this thing on their own. I shut them all down in a flash, and then chuckled at the background on the desktop.

  It was this very power plant, back when it was still an active institution. Even better, the words “for a better future” were plastered across the bottom in comic sans writing.

  The owner of this computer didn’t know just how right they were.

  “Is this what the internet looks like?” Natalie questioned as she stared at the screen in awe. “We’ve found screens like this before in the Fallen Lands, but they’re always too broken to use. That, and we haven’t really mastered electricity yet.”