by R H Nolan
Max’s heart broke all over again when he found Trox’s dad lying there on the floor. A pool of blood had already grown so large around him that he couldn’t possibly still be alive.
The man’s eyes were still open, though, glittering with what looked like crystals against his purple-tinted eyelids and the dark, frozen color of the rest of him.
He was only a few yards away, but he’d either bled out or frozen to death—or both—before he could get to his son.
Tearing his gaze away from Dr. Pell, Max scanned the lab again, where the Sandwalkers were starting to move now.
Most of them still had Health over 89%, though a few had obviously fought each other for their meals and had dropped, though no lower than 81%.
At least the highest was only 95%. And Max had taken care of the biggest, strongest ones first, so the rest should be easier—as long as none of the others could regenerate too.
Two Sandwalkers began eating the bodies Max had brought down himself. They fed noisily, making his stomach clench in disgust.
Then one of the cannibalistic mutants lifted its head and started towards Max and the other kids.
No, not toward them, he realized.
The thing was going for Dr. Pell’s body.
Max lifted his other hand and fired the energy blast he hadn’t used yet. It hit the thing in the belly, made it stumble, and only took its Health down by 11%.
Max leapt toward the closest cage again and disintegrated.
In the same second, he heard the scrape of metal on metal, followed by a roaring cry of hatred.
A dark blur darted past him from behind, and before Max recognized what it was, Trox had rammed the Sandwalker so hard with the sparking tip of the electric rod that it went right through the thing’s mottled belly.
The enhanced mutant roared, spittle flying everywhere, and lashed out at Trox with a paw of a hand.
Max sent an energy blast into the thing’s head, and it went down.
Still screaming, Trox jerked the rod from the corpse.
Max had to admit the kid’s bravery was pretty impressive—and gut-wrenching to watch. If they’d been anywhere else, in any other situation, he would have gone to Trox and tried to help calm him down, if he could.
But the ferocity of Trox’s scream had now attracted the attention of all the other mutated creatures.
Bloodied faces lifted and turned toward Max and the others, and Max disintegrated again to get ready.
“You guys know how to fight?” he asked, turning his head towards Herk, Ayla, and Lyra behind him.
“Do video games count?” Herk answered.
Max had no idea what a video game was, but the way Herk said it, Max was guessing ‘no.’
Small metal doors banged open, and Max glanced at Ayla and Lyra rummaging through the cabinets against the wall.
They found two energy blasters. Ayla handed one to Herk and kept the other for herself.
Each of Lyra’s metal hands held what looked like much shorter, smaller versions of Trox’s electric rod.
“We can fight,” Ayla said.
All the kids nodded at Max, their faces grimly set in determination and fear.
Trox didn’t turn around, his chest heaving as he glared at all the other Sandwalkers stalking toward them with wary, shuffling steps.
Max thought about trying to get him to go back with the others, but he doubted it would work. Trox was off in his own world of rage and anguish.
“Stay behind me if you can,” Max said to the others.
“I’d settle for just staying alive,” Herk said, his prosthetic leg thumping down on the floor as he took a step forward.
Max nodded. “That works, too.”
21
Max had expected that he would have to take down all of the mutants by himself, and that he would have to protect his new friends.
He quickly learned that the other kids needed a lot less protecting than he’d imagined… although they still needed his help.
Red streaks of blaster fire blazed across the lab. Ayla and Herk were surprisingly good shots, but the blasters only took the Sandwalkers down by a few percentage points, if that.
And if anyone had thought Trox had only been running his mouth about being fast, the kid definitely proved himself now. He also proved he was just a little too eager to get back at the creatures for what they’d done to his dad.
The kid rushed the closest Sandwalker, who seemed to expect a lot less from Trox than even the boy’s smaller size suggested.
Max disintegrated and fired energy blasts as quickly as he could, trying to take down the snarling mutant before it seriously hurt Trox.
The kid swung wildly and lunged, stabbing with the electric rod and screaming like a battle-crazed Bloodletter. But he held his own.
Max brought the thing’s Health down to 4% with a fifth shot, and Trox’s rod came up to spear the Sandwalker under the chin and through its skull. Despite that final blow going to Trox, Max still received the huge gray orb from the thing’s corpse, and his Soul Points grew again by seventy.
“Max!”
He turned to see two Sandwalkers closing in on Ayla and Lyra.
“Come on, Ayla and the others need your help back here!” Max shouted at Trox, hoping that would dissuade the boy from any suicidal rushes at the Sandwalkers.
Max’s next two shots blasted the chest of the mutant snarling at Herk, then Max ran towards the girls.
“Get back!” he yelled.
Thankfully, they listened.
When he crouched to disintegrate the floor just feet behind the mutants, he didn’t even bother to stand—he just sent a huge burst of electric current sparking through the air into their bodies.
The Sandwalkers went rigid, jerking and shuddering against the current coursing through them.
Ayla kept firing with the blaster at them, and when the electric current ended, Lyra leapt forward to shove both ends of the mini electric rods into one mutant’s face.
Max took the first mutant down with two energy blasts, but the second took three.
A huge thud and a grunt rose beside him. Max turned to see Herk pinned up against the wall, firing the blaster over and over at the massive Sandwalker still pressing toward him through the attack. Trox was jabbing at its back with the electrical prod—apparently Max had gotten through to him, and he had returned to help his friends.
Max made sure he was within point-blank range, then fired three energy blasts at the mutant. It pivoted away from Herk with surprising speed and charged Max instead.
He couldn’t disintegrate fast enough to let off more than one more energy blast before the mutant was on him. The thing’s fists glowed a fiery red just before both of them slammed into Max’s chest piece.
The force knocked him against the wall too, but the himirini was still doing its job.
HEALTH: 1202/1300 (92%)
SOUL POINTS: 755
ARMOR: 140/200 (70%)
Chest 55/100 (65%)
Back 85/100 (85%)
His hands went to the wall behind him to disintegrate, and he sent both energy shots into the Sandwalker, taking it down to 2%.
The thing staggered backward, screeching at Max, and its eyes flared into a red glow as it readied to attack him again.
The next thing Max knew, the mutant was flying across the lab. When it hit the floor and crashed into two others, it was already dead.
Max didn’t wait to watch the huge gray orb of spirit energy lift toward him; instead, he whipped his head around to see Herk planting his huge, sleek metal foot back onto the ground with a clink.
The kid patted his leg and nodded. “Roundhouse kick."
Max had already figured Herk was particularly strong, given his size and the way he moved. That prosthetic leg must have really packed a punch.
Max pivoted, crouched, and disintegrated again before directing another course of electric current through the air. It hit the two Sandwalkers struggling to their feet again after the
last had bowled them over.
Two seconds of electricity later, and both mutants’ Health fell below 20%. Max disintegrated and zapped them again. Ayla fired the blaster a few times, then both Sandwalkers collapsed.
It only briefly occurred to him that he was nearly halfway to Level 5 now, but the lab still teemed with enhanced Sandwalkers. That was definitely a lot more important.
Another fierce battle cry ripped its way from Trox’s throat as he slammed the tip of the electric rod up into another mutant’s face. The thing swiped at the kid, growling, and just barely missed taking Trox’s head off with a meaty fist.
Max disintegrated and aimed that way now. The mutant was at 49%, so Max figured it would only take him three or four more shots to bring it down.
Unfortunately, two more Sandwalkers left their gruesome meal at the other end of the lab and shambled forward to join the fray. They moved swiftly toward Trox, heads bent low.
A final energy blast killed the mutant closest to Trox. Then Max let off the other crackling yellow burst in a rapidfire attack, alternating between the other Sandwalkers just to distract them from going after Trox.
It worked. Both mutants shrieked and turned their discolored faces and bulging eyes toward Max.
Trox, though, wasn’t helping. The kid screamed again, bringing the electric rod down over and over onto the already dead Sandwalker at his feet. He didn’t even seem to notice the others coming for him, he was so focused on his rage and his grief.
Max dropped into another squat, disintegrated, and aimed an energy current again at the approaching Sandwalkers. In the next two seconds, both mutants dropped to 40% Health. They choked and convulsed where they stood, frozen in place by the electric jolts coursing through them.
Then Max alternated energy blasts from where he crouched on the floor. One Sandwalker collapsed under another three yellow blasts, though the other one still hung on at 13%.
Finally, Trox seemed to realize how useless his electric rod really was on a corpse, and he staggered backward, staring at the body he had beaten into a pulp.
The Sandwalker at 13% went after Trox, and Max acted on impulse. He charged the mutant, firing his last energy shot at the thing’s shoulder. Before he could think about needing to disintegrate again, his body slammed into the weakened Sandwalker, and they both went to the ground.
He was a lot faster than the enhanced mutant, scrambling around on the floor until he got on top of the thing.
But before he could disintegrate again, the Sandwalker’s massive, clammy hand clamped painfully around his wrist as it slammed a fist against Max’s himirini chest plate.
That alone might have sent him sprawling across the floor, but the thing held his wrist so tightly, he thought his shoulder would be ripped from its socket.
Max shouted at the pain, and a yellow glow rose beneath him.
When he looked down, he realized the Sandwalker’s hand was glowing yellow—not Max’s. The thing was trying to disintegrate the himirini armor, obviously unaware that it had been made specifically to resist that same power in Max.
An odd flare of insulted rage burst through Max, and his free hand shot up to grip the huge wrist clutching his chest. He disintegrated the Sandwalker’s flesh so much that when the thing jerked away in agony, its arm ripped away from what was left of its wrist beneath Max’s fingers.
Then Max raised his glowing fist and brought it down into the mutant’s scarred, mottled gray face.
The thing’s head burst beneath the impact, and that was it. It released his other wrist, and Max groaned at the ache in his shoulder. It helped a little to find that when he stood, his fist still crackled with absorbed energy even after that last punch.
Apparently he could use the power in his fist as some kind of energized battering ram.
When he stumbled quickly to his feet, he saw Herk grappling with another Sandwalker that had pinned the big kid against the wall.
Its jaws snapped furiously, spittle flew everywhere. Herk just barely kept it from biting a chunk of flesh out of him, his forearm pressed against the thing’s throat as it shrieked.
Max saw the guy’s energy blaster on the ground. From this far away, he didn’t know if he could hit the Sandwalker accurately enough without ripping a hole through Herk in the process. So he ran toward them.
Max brought his still-glowing fist swinging up into the mutant’s ribs, felt bone crunch and flesh rip, and let off the energy blast just for good measure. The Sandwalker crumpled sideways onto the ground just as Ayla fired her weapon at it.
Of course, it was no longer there—which meant the blast hit Max square in the chest.
Red energy crackled across the himirini breast plate before fizzling out.
The overwhelming terror on Ayla’s face—which seemed even more intense than when they realized they had to fight off almost two dozen enhanced mutants—almost broke his heart.
“Max!” she screamed.
“I’m fine!” he shouted at her, and gave her a reassuring smile that put her a little more at ease.
His chest plate might not be so great, but at least it had taken the blow instead of him.
Max disintegrated the wall beside him and fired both shots into the Sandwalker he hadn’t quite killed yet. That did the job.
His arm still burned, especially the shoulder socket. His stats didn’t show anything critical like a dislocation, but the chest piece was a bit of a different story.
HEALTH: 1179/1300 (91%)
STRENGTH: 105/115
STAMINA: 227/250
AGILITY: 105/116
ENHANCEMENTS: Level 4
Energy Reserves: 0/3500
Disintegration
Efficiency: 23 units per cc
Energy Blast
Intensity: 3500
Base Range: 50 feet
Accuracy: 48%
Rapidfire
Intensity: 5 rounds of 700
Base Range: 50 feet
Accuracy: 39%
Lightwave
Intensity: 400
Focus: 40
Electrical Current
Intensity: 400 volts
Base Range: 4 feet
Accuracy: 55%
SOUL POINTS: 1315
ARMOR: 120/200 (60%)
Chest 35/100 (35%)
Back 85/100 (85%)
Max was still doing fairly well, all things considered. When he scanned the rest of the lab again, it felt a little impossible that there were still six Sandwalkers, snarling and snapping at each other as they focused their attention on the group.
But still, six to go after almost two dozen wasn’t that bad.
He heard the scrape of Herk picking up his energy blaster again.
Ayla and Lyra both nodded when Max shot them a questioning glance, though Ayla still looked sick for having shot him instead of the mutant. She would get over it, he hoped.
The remaining mutants came at them all at once—almost like they’d planned the attack. Max didn’t want to think about whether or not that was true.
They had to go between the rows of counters to get to Max, so they were all in a funnel.
Perfect for attacking them all at one time.
He crouched down low, disintegrated, and let fly with Rapidfire as fast as he could replenish his reserves.
His aim with it was definitely better now, and he caught all six of them in the attack. They bucked and screeched but kept on coming.
Red streaks of blaster fire darted past his head at the Sandwalkers, doing a little to add to Max’s attack.
He figured he needed to slow them down some, so he built up the biggest charge he could, and shot off one blast directly into the front creature.
Its chest turned into a smoking crater, and it collapsed onto the floor, making the next two stumble over on top of it.
Three others crawled up on top of the metal counters, though, and began racing along it on all fours.
Max disintegrated again and blasted an electric current
through the metal countertop.
All three Sandwalkers jolted and collapsed on top of the counter.
They weren’t dead—just momentarily paralyzed.
So Max disintegrated and hit them again with more electric current.
They went into spasms and writhed across the countertops.
But the other two who had merely stumbled had regained their footing and were coming towards him.
He switched back to Rapidfire and blasted them. One of them took another three shots before its Health reached 0%.
Two more energy bolts brought the other Sandwalker down to 6%, and Herk managed to kill that one off with rapid-fire blaster shots.
Then the three who had been on top of the countertops slithered off and ran for the group. They’d apparently realized the counters were not the safest places for them.
Max took down one with two blasts of yellow energy, but one of the other two lurched forward even faster towards Trox.
Three more energy shots took down the Sandwalker—just before it could bring its blue-glowing hands down on Trox’s neck.
That was all Max could do before the white light of leveling up consumed him. His skin prickled, all his muscles tingled, and then it was over.
He was just about to take a look at his new stats when he heard someone scream his name.
“Max!”
It was Herk.
Max spun toward the shout. The last Sandwalker had actually chomped down on one of Lyra’s silver forearms, driving her back against the wall.
Max swung his arm forward and let off the final energy blast crackling around his knuckles. It blasted the mutant’s back, leaving a smoking crater—but not killing it.
Lyra grunted and jammed her small electric rod against the thing’s head. The thing released its hold on her arm and stumbled backwards, giving Max just enough time for a short disintegration and a single bolt to its head that sent it sprawling to the floor, dead.
The lab became almost silent, the stillness interrupted only by their heavy breathing.
“That was close,” Lyra said, staring at the corpses before inspecting her arm.
