Tales from the Wasteland | The No Leaf Clover

Chapter 15

AS ROD VENTURES THROUGH THE SKYSCRAPER.

The trip to the skyscraper is more difficult than Alena first anticipated. Several of the street crossings are collapsed into the sewer system below, and one alley is walled up by rusted vehicles. How they were stacked on top of each other is anyone's guess. A couple of the buildings tipped over at one point, causing a domino effect which systemically obstructs four street blocks. Alena is becoming quite irritated with the whole situation. She curses Rod a couple of times and even claims that she'll leave him behind.

As the armored van makes its turn on the next street, Alena catches a glimpse of two shadowy figures running along the buildings to her right. Promptly she flicks the headlights off to not draw the attention of the figures. They do not appear to notice the van and continue down the next alley. She kills the engine and turns to her sidekick. "Poppy, I'm going to investigate the alley. Go into defensive mode."

The little robot salutes the captain and returns to laboriously typing on the keyboard. Alena slides her goggles down and presses a small button. A low hum sounds as the goggles switch to night vision. The goggles absorb all available light for the young hunter, displaying the world in green monochrome.

She exits the van and creeps down the street in route to her prey. She hears the van doors lock behind her and hastens to the corner of the alleyway, drawing her sidearm. With her back against the wall, the hunter peers out into the alleyway. Nothing but overgrown vegetation protruding from the fractured walls.

In the middle of the alley sit several large chunks of decaying bricks from the outer wall of the building. The rubble creates a good hiding spot for the figures to spring a trap. Alena turns the corner of the alley, with her sidearm extended in front of her. She does her best to keep the echo of her footsteps to a low whisper. With each encroaching step, her body stiffens like a coiled snake ready to strike. Three yards from the rubble, the young hunter tightens the grip of her sidearm. She stops, taking a quick glance to her flank. Nothing, good.

She turns ahead, taking a deep breath, and sidesteps past the rubble. Swiftly, she points her gun in anticipation of the figures lying in wait. Alena is greeted, however, by tall weeds and several scurrying vermin.

The young hunter scans the remainder of the alleyway, then continues moving forward with her gun at the ready. Suddenly, a small object taps against the wall behind her. She swings around with her index finger hugging the trigger and her heart beating a mile a minute. Again, nothing.

Alena looks around one more time, making sure she didn't miss anything. Her back loosens as the monochrome view reveals nothing out of the ordinary. She holsters the sidearm only to get hit with a sharp pain across her back. All the air from her lungs escapes from the strike. Alena drops to her knees coughing and fighting to take a breath. A warm body approaches from behind, putting the hunter into a full nelson arm lock and heaving her off the ground.

She's able to catch her breath just as another figure materializes from the corner of the alley. The figure rears back and lands a jab into her gut. Her body retracts on impact, struggling for yet another breath. The other assailant secures the lock on her arms as the young hunter squirms from the punch. Two more figures advance toward Alena.

All four men are green and black in color from her night vision goggles. Their eyes emit white light like demons. The middleman grins as he walks closer to her, "You picked the wrong night to follow us, little girl."

He pulls out a dagger from behind his back and places it under her chin. Able to breathe again, Alena can tell the blade is dull. The other pair of demon-eyed figures walks closer to the dagger-wielding perpetrator. The figure licks his lips as he continues speaking. "Looks like we get a nice little treat before the real festivities begin, boys."