It was taking forever to make these repairs. I was out in the deadlands with a broken hoverbike and hands that could never work as fast as my brain. “Shit,” I muttered disdainfully. It was just me around, for now, and as far as this particular patch of land goes there was just junk scattered. Piles of old car parts and automatons lying around, it was like a graveyard for old era trash. There was a musty sent to the air that mixed oil and rust and the sky seemed grey out despite the hues of the setting sun. I had already spent the last four hours looking for an old compression unit for Jinsoo’s new airship prototype, cheap ass didn’t wanna waste money on a new one, but came up empty handed. Now I’m stuck out here with this hunk of junk.
“The pumps are fucking cracked. Great.” Just as the language in my inner monologue became more colorful there was a sudden clutter a few feet from where I was stationed under my bike. Everything seemed more tense, I didn’t bother calling out or looking around, that could get me killed quicker by whatever the hell happened to be scavenging around this old junkyard. I slid out from under my hoverbike and reached into the satchel hanging from the throttle.
I was just about to pull out some well needed duct tape when all of a sudden my ankle was snatched and I was pulled harshly just a little ways away from my vehicle. I latched to the ground out of instinct to stay grounded but just ended up dragging some dirt away with me. “Well well well, what do we have here,” the woman lingering above looked like a Shifter, not a very nice one either. “You have got to be shi-”
“Shut it, brat,” she cut my rude comment short with a snarl. I was not ready, nor willing, to be ripped apart by a Netvor who likes to lurk around junkyards. The Shifter made a repulsive show of swiping her long snake-like tongue over her lips before lapping the wet appendage over my neck and cheek. I shivered, this was absolutely disgusting and lord knows there’s only so much I can do. Quickly assessing the situation I got myself into I made up a quick, and risky, plan of how to stay alive a little longer. “You smell like fear, Cutie. Pretty little fleshling like you shou-?!”
No time for her games, I threw dirt in her eyes. Probably just added fuel to the fire but I gave no time to think about my reckless decision because I hopped up and bolted as far as I could. The reptile-like woman let out an ear-piercing scream of anger and my legs started to pick up the pace. I knew I had to drop my scent, shifters had an especially keen sense of smell and I refuse to let that be my downfall of all things. A large puddle of some disgusting liquid was pooled at the ground. It looked greenish-brown and bubbly, so I could only assume it was some mixture of rust and oil with a hint of acid rain water. I did the first thing I could think of and that was to toss myself into it. In that moment, I was grateful that I never took my goggles off when I was fixing the blasted hoverbike. The liquid was pungent and smelled of gasoline and rot, common for junkyards from the old era. My leg stiffened and I found a little twig of metal poking out from the prosthetic, hindering me from continuing my escape. I let out a few labored curses and tried to remove it as quickly and as carefully as possible, “There you are, Little Human.” Fuck, I had a plan for this and it was out of the window because my fucking leg had to go and catch a piece of fucking metal between the knee and femoral joint. The woman broke into a sprint on all fours, arms and legs bending in a way that should not be possible.
Before I could celebrate the removal of this shitty metal from my prosthetic I was submerged in gunk, nearly choking at the sudden splurge of cold goop in my mouth. I quickly spit the nasty slop back at the Netvor above. She didn’t like any of that. With ugly, sharp, elongated hands, she gripped my throat and shoved my head under once again.
“This is it, I was going to drown, in a musty pool of mud no less.” Something about living a mediocre life makes you really think about what you have to go back to. There’s Jinsoo, who would never get his stupid compression unit, my big dumb dog and her cute dumb face, then my bigger dumb sister (who was very loving all things considered). I missed it already, as small as the list may be. In a last attempt to not die out in the deadlands I started using the little metal twig as a weapon, slashing it around sporadically in my hysterics. I needed to breathe and the work of my thrashing was just making it harder by the moment until I felt the twig get caught in something. I wasted no time and quickly jammed the ragged tool farther into the shifter before slicing a gash into the skin of her neck.
I arouse from the wet dirt and grime sucking in breaths like a newborn child. I pushed the shifter away from me and did my best to stand up, with my prosthetic now able to move freely I could stand and wipe some of the mud from my body. I pushed my goggles up and shook the goo from my hands and wiping the rest from my face. The shifter below laid limp with steady blood gushing from her wound making my stomach turn. Looking around now I could see that her purplish blood had stained most of the ground and my own clothing. I took off my vest, undoing the buttons with shaky hands before my ears caught the soft sounds of something...sizzling?
I dare not look down, god forbid I was unlucky enough to cross paths with a class 3 shifter. My eyes betrayed me though, curiosity killed the cat. Her neck gash was wide and growing, another head was sprouting from the wound and I know I only have about 20 seconds before she regains consciousness and resumes her presuit. I started running again, this time back to my bike. I didn’t care if it was stupid for futile but I’m never going to get out of here alive with a pissed and hungry Hydra shifter on my heels. So after I grabbed the satchel from the ground I frantically searched for the duct tape and screwdriver.
There wasn’t enough time in the world as a blood curdling screech sounded. It pierced my heart and chilled my bones to the core and I finally found the shit I needed just to drop the mother fuckers on the ground, it didn’t matter though because I was going to have to go down there anyways. I got on my knees just as the various clanks and clutters of metal rang in the air, she can’t find me if she doesn’t have my scent and I bathed in the mud long enough for get this stupid bike fixed. Instantaneously, I grabbed the duct tape first and sealed the cracked glass on one of the fuel pumps. Just as I was about to start screwing the bolts back down the she-demon screeched again and I made a note to move a lot quicker than my tired body was willing to go. “Come play with us little human,” the two heads wailed simultaneously. I hopped back on the bike and flicked the pedal ignition just as she climbed the top of a junk pile. “AH! There you are little fleshling!”
I rolled the fucking throttle so hard that the bike almost rolled over. My heart was pumping harshly in my chest as I tried again. I risked a glance back and the sight that met my eyes was horrifying. She was crawling towards me on all fours, arms and legs bent disgustingly with her limbs twisted and joints disconnected. As her two heads hissed and smiled minically I thought to myself that I’m gonna fucking die in a second if this goddamn bike doesn-
That thought was cut short as the engine reeved and the lights flicked. I pressed the gas so hard that I think I got whiplash when the bike took off.
“COME BACK LITTLE BIRD, COME BACK LITTLE BIRD, COME BACK LITTLE BIRD!”
My foot gassed the pedal harder as I tried to go faster, If I make it out of here alive I’m getting a new bike. Just as I thought I was scottfree my rear caught and I flew backwards harshly. Time seemed to slow down as I plummeted a good eight feet to the ground below. The bike plummeted to the ground with a echoing crash and rolled a few more feet away. I tried to get up but my prosthetic was cracked and I could feel the broken leg under me. I tried to crawl away, a futile effort, I know, but hope was still in me that by some miracle I’d survive and walk away with ONLY the broken prosthetic.
When my head was forced down into dry dirt and I tasted the dead grass on my tongue I knew I was done for. My body gave up the good fight and for the first time in a long while I felt fear overcome me. At least a few minutes ago there was this fleeting hope that I could get away, that everything would be mildly okay. But I know better now, I’m going to die here. On this dry patch of land with a shattered leg and broke down hoverbike. I’m going to die covered in mud and pathetically crying.
“Don’t cry little human, we’ll make it all better.” The Hyda shifter flipped my body and wrapped her long blood covered fingers around my jaw, I could feel her nails cutting into the skin under my ear. “We’ll show you how you die, pretty bird,” she whispered sweetly. The woman's mouth opened and her jagged teeth came close to my neck, I merely closed my eyes and waited for it to be over.
Just as I was about to get my cute little head chomped by this two headed snake lady an aggressive cry thundered through the air. I opened my eyes just in time to see the blur of a blade slash the Hydra shifter’s heads clean off. The caster dropped the blade to the dirt with a dramatic clang as she gripped the two stumped necks and whispered a simple spell.
“Sear.”
![Broken Gears [may be edited]](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/148953511-64-k764462.jpg)