They entered the walkway that connected the ship to the building, but as they were stepping out of it, two men suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in front of them. The men -- who might have been guards, because they were both armed -- were startled and started to cry out, but Stu raced forward and silenced them, driving a fist into one man's stomach and slamming the other face-first into the wall. These men were also relieved of their weapons, which were distributed to the women.
"Nice work," Berly commented, impressed.
"Thanks," he said, giving her a little smile. She smiled back.
Luna caught the exchange. She didn't say anything, but her eyes narrowed just a bit.
They managed to exit the building without incident; all that was left to do now was make their way to the eastern gate, where Millie and Lucky would hopefully be waiting for them, along with some transportation. Stu was beginning to believe that everything might go smoothly, and that they might actually succeed in escaping without being noticed. They were crossing a sort of parking lot now, full of old, rusted-out military vehicles; the perimeter fence wasn't far.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly called out, from some distance away. "Who are you? Where are you going?"
And that was all it took for all hell to break loose. Several things happened at once -- one of the women panicked and opened fire; Stu heard a yelp, followed by a woman's scream, followed by more gunfire; and Eldon whirled around and started blasting someone with the rifle he had acquired from the guard. Stu, Luna, Berly, and most of the other women scattered, diving for cover amidst the old vehicles.
"Get down!" someone shouted.
"Who are they?" someone else shouted back. The gunfire continued. It was a mad, confusing scene. Stu gritted his teeth. So much for getting out of here without being noticed.
The gunfire, of course, attracted even more attention; Stu heard more shouting, as the Desert King's men, alerted to the trouble, came running. "Now what?" Luna hissed.
"I don't know," he said uncertainly.
"Where are Millie and Lucky?"
"I don't know."
"Damn it! Everything's going to hell." She popped up out of cover and fired her pistol in the direction of Steckler's men. Berly, meanwhile, was crouched down next to him, clinging to his arm. "I think we're going die," she told him. "If Steckler catches us..."
"That's not going to happen."
The timer on his Night Vision skill was ticking down -- he only had about three minutes left -- but it was just as well; the eastern horizon was just now beginning to take on a soft bluish glow. It would be dawn in a few minutes.
Suddenly Eldon was there, ducking down next to them. "How many?" Stu asked.
"Maybe ten or fifteen so far. I hit a couple of them, at least, but I don't know if I killed them. Anyway, there's more coming."
"Shit," Luna muttered.
"We can't stay here," Stu decided. "They'll back us up against the fence, and then we'll be trapped."
"What do you suggest?"
Stu wasn't much of a strategist, but he knew they had to keep moving if they didn't want to be surrounded. "Let's go that way," he said, pointing south. "Maybe we can escape through the southern gate. That's the way we came in."
"What about Lucky?" Luna demanded. "And Millie? Weren't they supposed to meet us here?"
"I don't think they'll have any trouble finding us," he said grimly. "All they have to do is follow the sound of gunfire."
Eldon did his best to relay this information to the women, and soon they were all heading south, fighting a running battle with Steckler's men. They had to stop and take cover several times, but fortunately, in the dim light, the men had some trouble spotting them. The fact that most of the women were armed, and shooting back, made the men reluctant to come out of cover themselves, as did the fact that they seemed to have no idea who their opponents were. Stu, armed only with his chainsaw, allowed Luna, Berly, and the other women to cover for him.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It was about then that they started hearing screaming and shooting in the distance. It was coming from far away, practically on the other side of the base, and seemed unrelated to the gun battles that were going on around them. Had they started some kind of general uprising? What the hell was going on?
Their progress was very slow -- every few seconds they had to stop and take cover, either behind a building, a vehicle, or in some kind of ditch. He wasn't sure how many of the women were still with them; he could only see Berly, Luna, Eldon, and two or three others.
They were proceeding from one building to another, racing across an open avenue, when a gunman suddenly whirled into view, from around a corner, and fired at them. Luna and Berly were running alongside him; instinctively, Stu grabbed Luna by the hand, just as the bullets ripped between them. He heard Luna gasp, and though she started to stumble, he was able to drag her behind some cover, while Eldon fired his rifle at the gunman. The man fell to the ground, dead.
"Are you all right?" Stu asked Luna, still holding her hand.
"I've been hit," she said, through gritted teeth. She touched her abdomen. "Here."
Indeed, he could see the blood beginning to well up, soaking into the gauzy silk nightgown she was wearing. It was a mortal wound...or it would have been, if Stu hadn't been holding her hand at the time. "You'll be okay," he told her, even though the sight of her, bleeding out in his arms, was more than a little distressing.
"I don't think so," she said. "Tell Lucky I..." She paused, touching the injury gingerly with a puzzled expression on her face. "It...it doesn't hurt."
"On your feet," he said, hoisting her up.
"I can't..." But she could; she was soon standing on her own two feet, without support. "What the hell is happening? I've been shot, but..."
"It's a new skill," he explained. "Protector, it's called. As long as I'm touching you, you'll heal just like I do."
She stared at him, but there was no time to consider this new development; they were being shot at again. Crouching low, they started working their way around another building, and were just about to clear it, when a female voice called out to them, out of the darkness: "Don't move."
Stu spun around. The two pink-haired warrior-women they had encountered back at Delta, both of whom had shotguns trained on them, were blocking their path. Eldon started to raise his rifle, but quickly thought better of it. "Drop your guns," one of the women ordered. "Now."
Stu ground his teeth, frustrated. The women did not really pose a threat to him -- he was stronger and faster and more durable than any ordinary human being, after all, and he had no fear of their guns -- but he couldn't protect everyone present here, even with his new Protector skill. Damn.
Berly dropped her gun, and Eldon started to, but just then they heard a sudden snarling, coming from somewhere behind the pink-haired women, and Stu, to his surprise, suddenly felt his Zombie Radar begin to buzz. He tensed...
...And a Level 3 Rager suddenly exploded out of the shadows, tackling one of the women to the ground. She screamed, as the zombie bit into her shoulder; she hadn't even had time to turn around and turn her gun on the thing. The other woman, surprised, did manage to swing her gun around and take aim at it, but before she could pull the trigger another zombie, a Level 4, lurched out of the dark and tackled her as well.
"Holy shit!" Eldon exclaimed. "Where the hell did they come from?"
Stu was hearing more screaming and shouting now, all around them. "Zombies!" he heard someone cry, and there was more gunfire.
But this was actually to their advantage, because the zombies -- wherever they had come from -- were sowing more confusion among their enemies. "Let's go!" Stu shouted.
Leaving the pink-haired women to their fate, they raced around the building, drawing nearer to the southern gate. Stu didn't see any guards on duty -- no doubt they were dealing with the zombies -- which meant that they could probably escape through this gate, but the desert stretched for miles in all directions and they really needed some kind of transportation. Besides, they couldn't leave without Millie and Lucky.
He wondered if anything had happened to them. Had Millie failed to rescue Lucky? Was she waiting for them, now, at the eastern gate? They might try making their way back to that gate, but with the settlement now inexplicably under attack by zombies, and with the sun beginning to rise in the east...well, he wasn't sure they could make it there without losing a few people.
And so, after escaping the zombies and arriving at a checkpoint station near the gate, he hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. Berly looked at him intently. "Well? What's the plan?"
"I'm not sure. We were hoping to meet up with some friends of ours, but--"
"We have to go," one of the women put forth. She looked terrified. "This place rots."
"We should leave," Berly agreed. "There's no one guarding the gate. We might not get another chance."
Luna grabbed his sleeve. "What about Lucky? And Millie?"
He frowned. "Maybe we can come back for them later. I don't think that--"
He was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle -- a pickup truck -- which suddenly came roaring down the street, its headlights illuminating the scene. It stopped only about a dozen yards away from where they were gathered, its tires kicking up clouds of dust.
Stu thought at first that it might be Millie and Lucky, with their transportation. A moment later, however, a voice arose over the shouts, screams, and smatterings of gunfire. "I'm not happy," the voice said ominously.
Stu swore. Beyond the glare of the headlights, he could see Eco Steckler, the Desert King, standing in the back of the truck, along with the man in the black hat and several of his personal guard -- the Elite, perhaps, that Eldon had mentioned.
And that wasn't all. To his surprise, a quest message suddenly appeared in his vision.
Quest Available: Vanquishing the Desert KingAccept quest? Y/N
"Shit," he muttered. But he pressed the "Yes" button all the same.