"Did you at least do, oh I don't know. ANYTHING productive?" Demanded Artisan.
"Blame this piece of shit." Sergei said. Passing the buck to Adrian, who was still chuckling from Sergei trying to find his specs. Adrian pulled a small, sleek handgun from his belt and swiped a magazine in. He pulled the back of the pistol and listened to the satisfying ca-chink it made as it indicated it was ready for any kind of blizzard. Sergei was holding a hard, heavy sledge hammer in his right hand. Artisan was already armed to the teeth with his billhook and current bad temper. He could heat up the whole warehouse if he wanted to. Pathfinder walked into view with her newly sharpened arm-blade and a can of tear gas. Nobody knew what to call the blade, but she was otherwise efficient with it. Zach was right behind her, trying not to look excited at all that he would get to fight with his love interest instead of just standing on top of the warehouse, taking a shot or two at invaders.
He confidently held his spear firmly in grip, with his goggles bright and well powered. Servo eventually gathered everyone else around the gathering, avoiding Artisan and staying close to Captain, who was watching Sergei and Adrian passing a rather large buck between each other for the past 5 minutes. They were carrying a shotgun and a white bag around their torso, the bag staying close to their upper leg. Captain wondered how they would be able to handle the attack without Swan. Every person counted. The warehouse consisted of a large empty space, with rooms on the side and a balcony almost nobody used. Small storage containers were lined up and piled in the middle, full of whatever they found lying around. That's where they always met up during the storms. Suddenly, the air started turning grayish blue, thick with the cold sensation trying to tell you that you're going to die, and you should accept the fate. It always told you that. Sergei stepped out front with Artisan, who had brought out a manual turret before hand.
He sat down behind it, billhook laid down next to him and gripped the handles. Adrian pointed his gun out front, peering through the iron sights mounted on the barrel. Servo braced their right leg behind them and held the shotgun, firmly trapped in their shoulder. Zach was trying to focus on looking for an incoming wave and not on Pathfinder while she crouched down, preparing a lunge with the tear gas contained in her grip. Captain released the heavy machine gun from his lower back and held onto the handle. He pulled the chord, for real this time and held his finger gingerly on the smooth material of the trigger.
"Incoming!" Sergei yelled and Pathfinder immediately started running out into the masses.
There were a horde of scavengers, all in rag-tag clothing and whatever else they could find. Armed with knives, tools, pipes, the rare gun and even a katana. Pathfinder jumped up toward a small group and threw the tear gas angrily. The only thing you could see through the smoke was the crimson light from her eyepiece and splashed blood thrown around like water from a bottle. Shrieking was the only audible thing coming from the foggy mass the tear gas left behind. The scavengers rushing in tried to take no notice, morale wasn't high for anyone as it was. Zach held his spear up to his head like an Olympic javelin thrower and launched it at a scavenger, breaching their rib cage and intruding through their insides. Artisan pulled his welding helmet down and began to hold onto the trigger for dear life as he did his best to aim with the recoil the turret threw at him. Sergei was gone from sight like the scavengers who were hit by the tear gas, but it wasn't of concern for now. Adrian fired on a charging scavenger and landed a bullet to the head, their crowbar escaping their grip. Servo moved up forward, shotgun still firm in their shoulder.
A scavenger with an AK noticed them immediately and began raining a hailstorm of bullets onto the metal surface of their body. Servo swiftly jumped onto the ground to avoid fire and pulled the trigger. The scavenger's head blew up like a squashed watermelon while the body was lunged backward like a leaf in a wind gust. Captain moved up forward, walking on the concrete transitioned to treading carefully on the bloodstained snow. Machine gun in hand, he concentrated a stream of bullets into a group of scavengers, armed to the teeth with whatever they had in hand. One by one, they dropped to the floor, donating any blood they had to the snow, soaking it up and dying it a war-torn red. As he ceased fire, with sudden and hard force, Captain was smashed onto his side. He yelled in pain as his right arm felt fractured. A bulky scavenger armed with a sledge hammer and motorbike helmet dawned upon his vulnerable body. The sledge hammer rose up over their helmet, like an executioner ready to strike. And like the executioner, down came the hammer. Captain rolled to the side as the hammer smashes full force into the soft snow. His arm hurting like hell from the initial impact. The hammer came up for one more swing until the man was bludgeoned in the head with his own medicine. He fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. Sergei was right behind the body as he too loomed over Captain. He flourished his sledge hammer effortlessly with grace, like a duel was about to start.
"Where were you!" Captain shouted, still immobilized on the ground in pain.
"In time." He replied slyly. Captain slowly stood upright and hooked the the machine gun back on his waist. He couldn't hold the heavy machinery up anymore, with his right shoulder feeling fractured and out of place. They probably had an immobilizing splint somewhere, hopefully. He swiveled his head toward the hollow body, and the hammer lightly wrapped in the silk of the snow. Picking up the sledge hammer in his left hand, he tried to flourish it like Sergei did. As the hammer quickly made a thud on the ground, he quickly deemed it useless to do so.
Artisan kept holding on to the sweaty handles of the mounted gun, only to run out of ammunition. It's constant loud bang ceased as no more bullets escaped the clutches of the barrel.
"Damn it." He said. He stood upright and picked up his trusty billhook. He looked at Adrian who was patting himself by the waist, scavenging for any spare bullets he may have not noticed. What he did notice was a scavenger charging at Artisan.
"Look out!" He yelled. Artisan held up the handle of his billhook as the cleaver the scavenger held onto tightly carved into the handle. They both exchanged frustrated expressions before the scavenger was knocked unconscious by a thrown handgun. It fell to the floor with a light clang.
Artisan gave Adrian a hard stare.
"I could have handled it." He said.
"I'll remember that next time." Adrian lightly replied as Artisan moved upward.
"Frontline is much harder than I thought!" Yelled Zach as he held his spear up to parry an incoming swing. His ghillie suit used to match the calm snowy wastelands of this area. Now it matched the aftermath of a brutal torture session. As Zach prepared a thrust into the fragile heart, he was too late before Pathfinder sank her blade right through the scavenger's back. Blood splattered all over her robes as the scavenger fell to the ground.
"Uh...thanks." He stuttered, but Pathfinder had already left to ward off more of the dwindling numbers of the invaders.
"The hostiles are retreating!" Said Servo at a much higher, robotic tone. Holding the shotgun by the barrel. Adrian let out a cheer while Pathfinder slowly snuck back into one of the warehouse's rooms after chasing the scavengers. Zach greeted Captain upon his slow march toward the crates in the middle of the warehouse, searching vigorously with his left hand for an immobilizing splint. Anything that would ease the pain would suffice. Servo showed no interest in being quiet and swiftly clanked his way to Captain's side.
"Sir. Do you have any injuries?" They said worriedly. Captain kept his eyes on the crates, opening one after another, aimlessly moving his hand around in search for the splint. Each one containing a first aid kit, the next an advanced IFAK and antiseptic bandage. Painkillers. Amoxicillin. Everything that wouldn't help Captain in his situation.
"My right shoulder feels dislocated or fractured. Either way, it's not helping me at all." Captain said, putting a hand on it as if it would ease the pain. Servo reached out for his shoulder as Zach ran up to the pair.
"Cap'n, Cap'n!" He shouted, hyperventilating.
"Woah, woah. Calm yourself," Captain demanded, "what happened?" Zach had a blue and exhausted emotion on his face, as well as the blood from the the invasion. Or maybe that was his own blood.
"It's Sergei! He's badly injured!"
YOU ARE READING
Winter Collapse
FanfictionA fanfiction of Decaying Winter, with some twists and changes. I wrote it for an assignement, and finished it off soon after. This is one of my older works, and is not very well done. Cover from Decaying World, as I had no other better cover for it.
