FEED THE MACHINE || Demoman x Reader || MvM

Chapter I

The grit and ash that covered the ground rubbing against the soles of my boots was the only sound I could concentrate on, I didn't want to pay attention to the explosions in the distance or the metallic footsteps of the robots that were now destroying everything in their path. I could only run, no matter where to. I didn't care if I ended up on the ground with my legs unable to move due to fatigue. I just wanted to escape from those killer robots.

"It's not your fault, it's not your fault..." I repeated to myself from time to time.

The world was being invaded by robots with lethal weapons and I had something to do with it. I felt like my eyes would go on fire at any moment because of the smoke they were getting. I couldn't keep them open, otherwise the stinging I felt in them would increase and I would probably be left without sight. The gun in my hands was out of bullets and I couldn't find any boxes of ammunition to reload it with. I turned a corner of a building in search of an alley to hide in to rest for a while.

However, I came across the metallic chest of a Soldier-bot. I felt my heart in my throat as he tilted his head and analyzed me with its metallic gaze. I looked for a weapon with my eyes but found nothing, there were only a couple of cardboard boxes lying on the ground and half-shattered bricks. None of that would kill the Soldier-bot before it killed me.

I took a slow step backward, I moved away from the robot as slowly and steadily as possible so it wouldn't attack me with its shovel. I heard the buzzing of the robot's metal arm move and realized that it already had its arm raised.

"Shit!" I whispered as I dodged the shovel's blow.

The robot began to move towards me, if it were not for the buzzing of the wires and the electricity moving through its steel body, anyone could mistake it for a human. I sighed as I realized it didn't have a rocket launcher on any part of its body, thanks to that I knew I could escape from it if I didn't manage to kill it first. For the moment, I decided to run away and make him lose sight of me. If that didn't happen, I would look for another solution.

I knew that my legs did not want to run at that moment. They did not even have the strength to stand up, but if I wanted to live, I had to do it. Right now, the most important thing was to survive without any of those robots killing me painfully. I shook my head to avoid thinking about the death that probably awaited me.

I turned towards a narrow street. There was no electricity in the streets anymore, so I could only guide myself by the sound and the little sight I had. Back in the day, when there were no invading robots, I liked to climb up on a roof and look at the stars. Being in the middle of nowhere was a good option to not feel lonely with the number of stars in the sky. It seemed that instead of you looking at them, they were looking at you.

I yelped when my foot stepped on the edge of a hole deep enough to lose my balance and twist my ankle. The pain I felt at that moment was indescribable but I couldn't stop just to complain about it, seeing that I had the Soldier-bot almost literally at my heels. Because of the adrenaline, I started running as fast as I could and managed to forget about the flaming pain in my ankle for a moment. I ducked into an abandoned house and hid behind a door. I listened to the metallic and monotonous movement of the robot moving away and waited until I heard nothing but the distant explosions. I put my hands in my pockets and noticed something thin and cold in one of them. A single bullet laid in the palm of my hand. Physically it weighed next to nothing, but considering that I had one gun, a bullet and no motivation to continue in this life, it weighed like a thousand anvils on top of a thin wooden board. I grunted, killing myself would do nothing but end my life in an undignified way, it would make me look weak. And I wasn't. I slipped the bullet back into the pocket of my blue uniform and leaned my head against the wall as I sat down on the floor to rest while I thought of an escape plan.

I had to get to my old base in Teufort before the robots did. Once there, I would have food and ammunition for a couple of months approximately. The town was a few days walk from the city where I was right now and adding the robots it would be much longer if I stopped to fight any of them. I got up from the door and looked out to see if there were still any robots around. Nothing, everything was clear for the moment. I took a deep breath and started running towards the exit of the town. The distant explosions were still present in the atmosphere, as were the smoke and the dark gray sky. Although, I think this atmosphere would last much longer than I could imagine.

When I reached the old road I moved away from the tar road, if any car managed to pass that way it would not see me. The best option at this time was not to meet anyone. Seeing the situation of anarchism and crisis, anyone would do anything to survive. So much, they would even kill someone. I slowed down my speed, I was in a clear place right now, so if there were any robots nearby I would be able to see them miles away. I noticed some cactuses in the distance and remembered the time Sniper gave me a survival class. One of his lessons was that cactuses stored water in their stems, so if I was in a life or death situation, I could drink from them. Although, there was a problem, I couldn't pull the stem of a cactus with my bare hands. It would dig all its spines into my palm, and it was a pain I didn't dare to experience. I thought about trying to hit it with the gun, maybe I could get something out of it.

Just as I pulled the gun from the holster hanging from my belt, silence fell all around me. My hand began to shake rapidly and at the same time my heart was beating faster and faster, I could not move or say anything.

The distant explosions ceased.

And I knew perfectly well that silence in war was the worst sound of all.

(Unedited)