The Collector and Her Steed

Chapter 9

Landing on the ground with a thunk, Mira slowly stood and took in her surroundings. The hole had dropped her into what appeared to be a dimly lit hallway. Frowning, she looked back up at the hole, only to see Heisenberg looking down at her.

"I do hope you make it through this sweetheart, your cooking is absolutely delicious. The clock is ticking and you better keep me entertained." The disheveled man gripped onto the metal grate, slowly lowering it. "Tick tock, tick tock," and with that he slammed the grate back down to cover the hole.

Letting out a groan Mira looked at the two pathway options she had. Weighing the possibilities of different types of danger, Mira decided to go down the way on the right. As soon as she took her first step however the loud screech of a drill being driven through metal rang out again, this time much closer. Sparks flew as a large humanoid creature made its way around the corner down the right hand side of the path. It had the shape of a human but was covered in metal and wire, with its hands replaced with large augers. Taking a few steps back Mira turned and booked it. Sliding around the corner on the left hand side of the path, she sprinted down the narrowing hallway only to find a deadend. "Fucking shit, I should have never agreed to that prick's test." Looking around for a way out of the deadend, she noticed a grate covering a shute. It didn't take much effort for her to lift the grate and as she peered down the shute, the creature rounded the corner and began to charge at her. Not having much of a choice she jumped down into the shute.

Exiting the shute she barely had enough time to curl up into a ball before she slammed down onto a large pile of scrap metal. Without giving herself a moment to recover from the drop, Mira was on her feet and ready to flee if that thing fell down through the shute. Taking a few steps back she looked up, watching for the creature to come tumbling down. After a minute or so she decided that the creature must have been too dense to follow her so she glanced around her surroundings.

She was now in a large pit full of scrap in varying degrees of rust and decay. A large claw machine of sorts was scoopings up loads of scrap and depositing it on the opposite side of a walkway that led through the middle of the room. Making her way over towards the walkway, she notices a crate that looked oddly like the ones she had used to transfer her stuff. Walking over to it she frowned. "That fucker stole my herbs, I was wondering where that shipment had gone to." Raising her foot, she promptly kicks the crate open. Reaching inside she pulled out a few herbs and slid off her backpack. Slipping them into the bag, she reached in and pulled out the pistol. Loading the magazine she stood back up and headed back towards the walkway. Using a pile of debris as a makeshift ramp, she climbed up onto the walkway and began looking for a way out. Not seeing a door that wasn't completely blocked, she made her way over to a large vent and tested out how easy it would be to pry it off of the wall. Grabbing onto the handle, she hoisted up a foot to rest on the wall to help give her leverage as she pulled. Groaning as the rusty screws were ripped from the wall, the vent came off after a few tugs.

Getting down on her hands and knees Mira made her way through the vent, regretting wearing a dress that day. Nonetheless she pushed on and made her way out into a vast area of the factory. The lighting through the steamy air made it extremely dreary. Red lights blinked in the distance, lighting up large conveyors of what looked like the same creature as from before. Letting out a shutter Mira made her way along the platform she had crawled out onto. She soon came up upon a large elevator. Looking at the control panel next to the elevator it was clear that it was missing a fuse. Taking off her hat she ran her fingers through her hair and groaned. It was going to be a bitch to find a fuse in this factory.

Slipping her hat back on she made her way through a set of doors at the end of the platform. The room was pitch black other than a very faint glow of red in the distance. Moving to a wall she began making her way forward, slowly taking each step to ensure she didn't trip and injure herself. If she ended up with an injured ankle or leg she'd be fresh meat for whatever creatures lurked in the factory. As she made her way towards the light the doors behind her suddenly were smashed open. Spinning around she saw the silhouette of the creature from before, or at least one like it, standing there. Shuffling forward it started towards her, it's augers hanging at its sides, exposing the glowing red machinery that had replaced its heart. Taking a few steps back Mira brought out the pistol and aimed with shaky hands. Pulling the trigger she watched as the bullet slammed into where the face would be, sparks flying as the bullet collided with the metal helm that covered the creature's head.

With the sound of the shot echoing around them, the creature began to charge at her. Aiming towards the red glowing machinery, Mira took a second shot. The bullet hit the target and the creature stopped, covering the hole that exposed its weak spot. Going back to its shuffle the creature continued forward as Mira popped off a few more shots, hitting the weak spot. Moving to the other side of the passage Mira continued to aim shots at the spot until the creature fell to its knees. It began vibrating violently before exploding. Mira barely got her arms up in time to protect her face from the shrapnel.