Apocalypse game, p.13
Apocalypse Game, page 13
It can wait until after I’m out of the decrepit and smelly cavern. Get your ass up.
It took a few moments, but I eventually picked up my tired bones and surveyed the cistern. After a cursory search, all I found was a breeding ground. Small egg clutches in the dampest part of the cistern. They were gray and lumpy, about the size of a football, and were clustered in groups of four or five.
Need to find some way to dispose of them, if only I had some Molotovs. Though Adeline has that nifty little fire spell, bet that could burn them out.
I could either push on ahead or head back and check the other tunnel on the side of the cistern. I have no idea how far that tunnel goes. It’s been years since I’ve been back here. Might want to hold off for now and come back with the others.
I turned around and headed back the way I came and took the left path this time. It flowed back the way we’d all come for a few minutes until I reached another junction in the labyrinth.
Let’s pick another random direction and hope I don’t get lost.
There were over half a dozen exits to the Sewers, and almost every tunnel led to an entrance or a room with an exit via a maintenance hatch. The only trouble would be if we had to go through the prohibition tunnels. Those had a ton of dead ends designed to confuse people.
Instead of standing around trying to decide, I turned right and pushed on. I knew I picked the right direction when I came across dead Charade Beasts a few minutes in. Their heads were nothing but mush with yellow blood dripping out, and I tried to avoid stepping in as much as I could while moving forward. There were short gunfire bursts just ahead of me, and I sped up to reach whoever was shooting.
Rounding the bend in the tunnel, I found Finn engaged with three Charade Beasts of his own. The tunnel widened and split into two separate corridors, which meant that more than one beast could attack him at once.
Two were on him while the third crab waited in the wings for its turn at bat. I was about to run in and help, but Finn didn’t look afraid. He grinned from ear to ear as he kept his rifle fire in short bursts, all while pushing the two beasts back into their friend.
“Gotcha!”
Finn reared back like he was about to throw a baseball, and a small glowing blue ball formed in his hand. It pulsed with ethereal light and sped up the longer he held it. He backed up and tossed the ball into the center of the three crabs.
He turned and sprinted away from them and noticed me. “Run!”
I did just that, turning and hightailing it out of there as an enormous explosion rocketed through the tunnel, sending a wave of dust towards us. I coughed as debris filled my vision and lungs and wiped my face.
“Ugh, Phantom Grenade?” I asked, spitting out the chalky dust that settled on my tongue.
“Badass, right?”
“I’ll say.” I stood and offered him my hand, which he took.
I hauled him to his feet and dusted a thick patch of concrete crumbs off his shoulder.
He jerked his thumb back towards the crabs. ”Just wait till you see what it does up close.”
I followed him back to see that “effective” was an understatement.
All three of the Charade Beasts were dead, blown into unrecognizable chunks of meat and blood. The concrete tunnel had cracked and shattered from the force of the explosion, and there were dozens of gallons of beast blood painting every inch of the space. Scraps of meat and carapace stuck to the ceiling and walls, and I fought not to hurl at the sight.
“You get used to it,” Finn said, and slapped me on the back.
“It looks like someone dumped gallons of mustard over an equal number of gallons of crab paste. And now, I can never eat either of those things ever again.”
“You mean you haven’t tried monster meat? It’s surprisingly delicious,” he said with a straight face.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Of course I am. Have you smelled that shit? Ugh. No thank you.”
“You have a strange sense of humor, y’know that?”
“Coming from the man who’s made not one but two cartoon references in the last hour? There’s a limit, man, and you’re almost at yours,” he said, smiling as he ran his hands roughly through what little hair he had, dislodging even more dust particles.
“Touché.”
We both stared at each other for a solid second before we burst into a fit of laughter. It was much needed at that moment for both of us, and I doubled over, clutching at my side.
“Told you, Hermano. You gotta enjoy the little things, cuz this shit piles up fast, and we’re going to be neck-deep before it’s all over.”
I was about to agree when a faint scream and a bark of gunfire split the air. Both of us turned at the sound and stared at each other for half a second.
Adeline!
Chapter 10- The Charade King
We both ran full sprint towards the gunfire as fast as our legs could carry us. We’d killed most of the monsters in our path already, but there were still more to deal with. Not caring about the ammo loss, I switched to full auto and just hosed down anything in our path. I wasted dozens of bullets and only killed a few Charade Beasts.
I clumsily reloaded on the move, almost dropping the magazine as I dug it from my satchel. I slapped it home and chambered a round as we followed the trail of charred corpses and ash piles Adeline left in her wake.
It only took us a minute to find her.
Finn and I reached the end of the tunnels and entered a partially collapsed red brick building. A cracked water pipe overhead spilled brackish water down the metal and brick. It had worn them down over the years and cracked, falling inward to reveal a previously hidden section of the prohibition tunnels.
Adeline was hiding inside.
It was an old storeroom for booze. Seven or eight large wooden casks sat abandoned in the corner of the room on the dirt floor. Though they’d once held illegal liquor, they’d been left to decay and rot in the damp.
The heavy scent of mildew and wood rot filled the air and soaked into my lungs with every breath.
The room itself was large and had once housed hundreds of thousands of gallons of contraband, but now was nearly deserted except for a plethora of nests burrowed into the ground along with several Charade Beasts slithering around.
I looked deeper in and found why Adeline had screamed.
At the very back of the room was what I could only describe as the Charade Beast Alpha.
It was easily two or three times the size of the others, its long gray and green tail stretching out around the room, scraping against the brick walls. Its crab-like body was far more humanoid than any of the others. Its body was red in hue, but the hard carapace that covered the others was thinner and looked like an imitation of body armor rather than a natural occurrence.
The beast’s head was also different. Though it still bore the same dead black eyes the others had, it had a rough human face or at least a facsimile of one: a malformed jawline and a disproportionate nose in its features.
Inspect.
Monster (Boss-Tier): Charade King
Health: 1200/1200
Mana: 400/400
Exp: 487
AC: 200
Mana? It has magic?
Shit, that thing’s a tank. And it can cast spells. This isn’t going to be an easy fight.
As I studied it, Adeline glanced over at us as she crouched behind a crumbling brick wall and motioned us over. She bumped the stock of her shotgun against the wall, and the thump sounded loud through the storeroom.
The Charade Beasts all turned at the sound as Adeline cursed.
“Fuck this,” she said and barreled around the corner, firing at the closest beast.
The buckshot shredded the entire top half of its face, spraying foulness in the air as a few pellets ricocheted off the brick behind it. Most thudded harmlessly into the dirt, but one scratched a thin groove along Adeline’s outer thigh.
Blood immediately soaked into her jeans as she stumbled as she put weight on the leg.
“Shit,” Finn said. “We need to get moving. They’ll frenzy her when they smell the blood.”
Adeline cocked the shotgun as another two sniffed the air and turned, slithering toward her, their tails kicking up a small sandstorm of dust from the floor. They hadn’t noticed us yet, but likely would any second now, and we had to get moving.
“Take out the mobs first before we focus on fighting the boss. They’ll just slow us down and waste our time if we try to go after the boss right away. Can you use your Phantom Grenade again?”
“Yeah, I have enough mana for two more charges.”
Mana again, why don’t I have a mana bar?
As if the Mantle read my mind, a new bar appeared in the corner of my vision underneath my health bar. It was bright blue with the word mana on it.
Mana: 275/350
Oh, there it is. Why is it just appearing now? Damn you, Callisto, for making me figure this shit out the hard way!
I assessed the room in an instant and pointed at a spot just ahead of Adeline. “Alright, throw a grenade behind the group far enough that Adeline won’t get hurt, and when they’re stunned and injured from the blast, we’ll rush in.”
“Understood!”
I readied my rifle and waited for the fireworks.
Adeline scrambled back as the beasts approached, keeping her shots as tight as possible. She fired again and struck another in the face as it lunged for her. Blood and brains splattered across the others as it died and tumbled to the ground with a cloud of dust.
Adeline aimed her shotgun again and pulled the trigger. It jammed. She tossed it down and held her palm out, ready to use her magic.
Fire. Shit!
“No flames, Adeline, get clear!”
She paused for a second and dropped her hand, going for her sidearm. She pulled her pistol and started firing as she backed up toward us.
Finn primed his skill, but there were a dozen coming after her. Finn chucked his grenade just past the group, and I shouted at Adeline. “Get to cover!”
She stared at the glowing blue ball as it tumbled to the dirt and didn’t hesitate before throwing herself behind a nearby brick wall and scrambling to cover herself.
Finn and I ducked behind the concrete walls and covered our ears as the Phantom Grenade went off.
The explosion rocked our world as a heavy wave of pressure rolled over us, sending a massive amount of dust scattering through the hole along with numerous bits of gore and viscera.
Even though it was my second time experiencing it, it still took a moment to reorient myself after having my bell rung so thoroughly.
Doubt I’ll ever get used to it.
I rubbed at my ear, hoping the ringing would go away as I held out my hand to Finn.
He took it, and I hauled him to his feet.
“Let’s go see what the damage is,” I said.
“After you,” he replied with a cheeky grin.
The first thing my eyes searched for was Adeline. She’d been closer to the blast than we had, and I wanted to make sure she was alright. She was still behind the wall, only a little worse for wear. She’d been far enough away that it hadn’t hurt her.
The weak brick wall she’d hidden behind had been struck by the torso of one of the Charade Beasts and buckled under the weight. It cracked and toppled over, missing Adeline by a few inches.
She stood and gave us both the finger as she dusted herself off. “Well, that sucked.”
I chuckled and ignored her, looking at the damage that had been done to the dozen or so beasts in the room.
For the monsters who were right next to it, it was their executioner. At least four or five of them died outright from the blast itself and were in bloody little pieces around the room. Several sizeable chunks of brick and wood from the ceiling had fallen and did minor damage themselves. However, most of the Charade Beasts were still alive, if a little worse for wear.
They’d been squeezed together, and some of them acted as meat shields for the others, inadvertently protecting them from fatal harm.
As the blood and dust settled, we swept into the room. The grenade had been our opening and had given us everything we needed. The only plan was to take out the Charade Beasts before we took on the king, and even if Adeline hadn’t been part of the discussion, she followed our lead perfectly as we opened fire on the wounded Charade Beasts.
I crouched and raised my M4, switching it back to semi-auto. I squeezed the trigger three times in rapid succession. Two rounds went high as my hands shook from the adrenaline flooding my system, smashing into the brick ceiling and sending chips flying off as they burrowed into it. I lowered my sights and sent my third round punching through the nose of a Charade Beast missing half its arm.
Finn and Adeline were methodical in their brand of death. Finn kept firing with his rifle, his shots grouped into tight three-round bursts. He missed with a few shots, but most struck home in the skulls of the beasts with practiced efficiency.
While Adeline let loose with her crimson fireballs, now that the dust settled. She hurled them and burned three Charade Beasts alive before the flame in the center of her palm fizzled out, and she went back to her pistol.
I covered her as a creature slithered across the room quickly and raised its claw while she was reloading. I fired quickly, making sure Adeline was out of my line of fire while I pumped round after round into its forehead.
Its skull obliterated under my assault as Adeline slammed home a fresh magazine.
She gave me a nod and raised her gun, firing at a monster across the room.
There were three left by then, and we each took one, slaughtering them in a handful of seconds.
I dropped the nearly dry magazine and reloaded while the symphony of destruction we’d rendered with our guns settled. Our rifles had suppressors, but Adeline’s pistol didn’t, and the echo of the gunshots lingered in my ears.
That was damned impressive. Even considering we haven’t figured out how to work together as a team yet. Adeline and I need to talk about her class and how best to use her skills when this is over.
Having Finn as backup is great, but he’s not part of our team. He’ll be leaving after this.
When everything settled, and we all had full magazines, we double-checked that we’d killed every Charade Beast in the old storeroom. The king still sat curled along the far wall. He hadn’t so much as moved as we slaughtered the others. Instead, he watched us impassively with his dead, obsidian gaze.
“What the hell’s his problem?” Adeline asked.
“I’m going to go with the fact that we just butchered his underlings,” I said with a wry smile. “It’d piss me off if someone killed my underlings.”
“Watch it,” Adeline growled with no heat. “Call me an underling again, and I’ll shove my shotgun where the sun don’t shine.”
I held a hand up, fighting back a laugh. “Okay, okay. Finn, you’re an underling. Adeline just got promoted to minion.”
“That means she’s my boss. Hot. I’m in,” he said, smiling wide as he kept his rifle trained on the king who hadn’t moved.
If it was just going to sit there, it gave me time to think and plan.
If this were a video game, the boss would be locked in this room, just waiting for us to get close enough to him. This is real life, though, which means he isn’t zone locked. They can clearly travel to the surface. Which means he’s waiting for us to come to him.
It’s a trap.
“Keep your guard up. We’re in for a nasty fight,” I said.
They sidled up to stand on either side of me while we took a moment to figure out what to do. “He hasn’t moved once since we got here and is just staring at us like he’s waiting for us to attack. I don’t like this, not one bit,” Adeline said.
“Trap?” Finn asked.
“Has to be,” Adeline replied, and turned to me. “What do you think, Kill?”
“It’s obviously a trap.”
Adeline frowned, her hand going to her chin while she stared at the giant creature. “What do we do about it?”
“We trigger it on our terms. With my skill, I’m a close-range fighter more than a ranged one, but by my guess, you’re out of mana, right, Ade?”
She nodded. “Bone dry.”
“Why don’t we just pull back and rain lead on him from the tunnel?” Finn asked, thumbing back to the giant hole in the wall.
I shook my head. “If we aggro him to the tunnels, we’re basically trapped with the three of us trying to shoot over each other to hit the same target. And he has magic. That’s an unknown factor that could prove lethal in an enclosed space. I’d rather fight where we have room to maneuver.”
“Good point, so what’s our plan?”
I glanced up at the ceiling, and a devious thought came over me. “I have an idea, but I need you to back me up. Finn, hold your last Phantom Grenade till I say so.”
They looked at me sideways, clearly expecting an explanation, but I just smiled as I strolled through into the warehouse like I didn’t have a care in the world.
Right into the Charade King's hands.
I stepped beyond two brick support columns that had seen better days. Water dripped down them, splashing onto the damp earth littered with chipped and cracked chunks of brick. As soon as my foot sunk into the moist ground, I triggered the trap that was waiting for me.
A blindingly bright, semi-transparent blue wall appeared behind me with a snap and sealed me off from Finn and Adeline.
There it is.
With Inspect active, I knew exactly what the spell had cost the king.
Monster (Boss-Tier): Charade King
Health: 1200/1200
Mana: 200/400
Exp: 487
AC: 200
I knew there was a trap waiting. Better to have sprung it myself than trap the others with me. Though that begs the question.
How the hell do I get rid of it?
The king’s mana pool dropped a point every second, so it was draining him to keep the barrier up, but even a handful of minutes seemed like an eternity.
