The Lantern Bearers

chapter 9: the respawn cluster

As soon as they went their ways, with zeus absolutely zooming upstairs. Things began to calm down.....that is, until i heard a dreaded sound....

A thunder-like noise, followed by lightning strikes.

I would hear the corpses of the mutant dogs start to growl and move around...

They had been revived by an outside source....

A certain anomaly, that was out of detector range....

The respawn cluster.

The respawn cluster is an anomaly that takes the form of blactwitching, spastic body parts all in a vanta black cluster of energy. If you kill any mutants or monsters that's within it's area of effect, a bolt of energy will shoot from the anomaly instead and instantly revive anything killed.

Wounds, gone.
Mauled bodies, restored.
Turned to ash, back as if nothing happened.

The thing that makes these things such a pain in the ass, is that they tend to manifest in the most inconvenient locations and, like in this case, out of anomaly detector range. They can be anywhere.

There's a strict time limit in between killing things with them around. It becomes a hide and seek game when you kill something, because if you don't find the cluster in time, it will revive what you kill and you'd be back at square one. You can kill the monsters and then look for the cluster and it reviving them, but it only works if you're not detected by the monsters you killed.

The cluster itself, though freaky looking, is actually fragile as glass and will drop an artifact when it's killed, which is a hassle too if you're unlucky enough to get an radioactive artifact. See, there are some artifacts you can carry safely, some are covered in radiation, and they have to be carried in a specific kind of box, lined with lead.

The mutants would advance towards us two, with two of them slowly walking to my left, trying to flank me.

Yui got her drills out, but I put my hand out and shook my head. I would then hand her my anomaly detector.

"Find the respawn cluster.....otherwise we'll be killing these things all night." I said.

"Will you be okay master?" She asked with a tilted head.

I nodded.

She nodded and bolted outside.

It was just me and the dogs now. I have another two clips i can use, and have half a mag left, as well as my trusty knife.

I kept an eye on all three as the mutant dogs did the same with me.

It was a standstill, they wouldn't move and i wouldn't move. They learned from their previous life to not underestimate us. That's another effect of the cluster, it revives with memories intact. Which means that every time you kill something, it will learn to use different tactics from last time and try to find your weakness. This makes the cluster even more of a bother, because of this fact, if you don't take care of it, not only will you burn through supplies, but the enemy will get progressively smarter.

After a moment, i couldn't just wait for them to strike. Though Yui could break the cluster at any time, i'd still have these mutts to deal with. I acted like i was gonna book it to the left, baiting one on the left to lunge first, to which i shot it in the head and moved up to the stairs.

With the stair corridor being narrower, i wouldn't be flanked as easily, and i could pop them one at a time.....but if yui didn't destroy the cluster, I'd be wasting precious ammo.

One would lunge at me and i would swipe at it to deter it from attacking me. The other two behind it was snarling at me, with the one in the front bearing fangs. The were ugly looking dogs, covered in tumoruos masses and oozing a toxic looking substance from their mouths, filled crooked, jagged teeth. The anomalous part with them, is that studies have shown that their saliva carries a random poison or disease. You can't prepare against these things for a bite unless you have a razor sharp blade and can amputate your limb quick enough. Otherwise, they do go down easily with one or two shots to the head, but don't get their blood on you or your companions, it carries the same effect.

Next thing i knew, i heard a blast upstairs and zeus running down the stairs, scared but also proud?

"What was that up there?!" I yelled.

"I shot a black monster thingy!" He yelled back.

"A shadowman....did you break the crystal??" I yelled.

He shook his head.

"Shit, you have to break it for it'll come back!" I yelled.

"My gun is broken!"

"Then use your knife!"

"I...i dropped it when i freaked out!"

I  flung my knife near him and it stuck in the wall.

"Use mine! You started the fight, finish what you started!" I yelled.

"But it's too scary!" He whined.

"Then make yourself useful and throw yourself at it so i have one less thing to worry about!" I yelled.

He froze for a second, as if he was about to cry, but he then growled angrily and stormed upstairs. I felt bad for saying what i said, but it was the tensity in the moment that drove me up the wall.

I drew my pistol and focused on the beasts before me. I have half a mag and two to spare. I have enough to keep them down if they revive, but they'll get smarter each time they revive too.....but like i have a fucking choice.

One leapt at me, maws open for the kill. I quickly shot it in the mouth and out the backside of its skull, it flopping onto the floor lifeless. Another would try to go at my ankles, but i swiftly kicked it in the wall and shot it twice in the head, killing it. The final one outsmarted me and was mere inches away from my face, so i quickly ducked and weaved out of the way and it tried to lunge at me again, but this time i was able to line up my shot and popped it twice in the head.

I checked my surroundings for more dogs, but i was sure there were only three.

I took the bodies and dragged them to an open area and piled them on top of each other in a...heh, dog pile.

I pulled out a grenade i had stashed away for emergencies. Grenades are hard to come by and are expensive, so i felt really conflicted about using it on a pile of mutant dogs, but if i blew em sky high on revive, they wouldn't have time to think or strategize against me.

The grenade in question is a simple US M67, a grenade that doesn't require the "spoon" to be squeezed and the pin pulled, these only require the pin pulled, but have no timer and explode instantly once the pin is pulled. Meaning, its only good as a trap grenade.

I attached some twine to the grenade, crammed the grenade in the pile of bodies and walked behind the cashier counter and waited.

As soon as i seen the bolts struck the bodies, knowing that yui hasn't destroyed the cluster yet, i yanked on the twine, which pulled the pin from the grenade. I hid behind the counter as the grenade went off, shielding myself from shrapnel and debris. I checked on the carnage and there was blood, guts and bones everywhere.

It did the deed, but now i was surrounded in toxic, disease ridden blood and guts. All i could do now is wait for them to be revived again, so the blood and guts would reform and clean the room.

I pulled out my berreta M9 and aimed at where i killed those mutts with the grenade.

The bolts would strike them again and revived the mutant hounds, making me clench my teeth in anxiety because once they reform, i had to pop em again in the head, so they didn't get a chance to think and strategize.

As soon as they reformed, i was about to take a shot, but yui would crash through the ceiling, drill arms whirring and slammed into the mutts with them and drilled them into the ground, grinding them into mulch.

She would then hop out of the hole she made and presented a crystal fragment to me with a smile. She destroyed the respawn cluster.

Zeus would come running down the stairs.

"I got it! I killed the monster!" Zeus said happily as he held up the crystal of the shadowman.

"Great job guys, we'll be eating good for a while!" I said with a smile.