The Elementals : The Dawn of Darkness

Chapter 20 - Hide and Seek with a Man-eating Death Machine

We scattered, all of us hoping that the giant man-eating death machine didn't choose them to follow. I darted quickly between the vats, weaving to stay out of that things line of sight and line of fire, my heartbeat already pounding in fear and sweat pouring from my forehead. I dropped down and cowered behind a giant pipe, hands covering my mouth and nose, desperately trying to slow my breathing as that thing seemed to be getting a lot closer.

Then again, I wasn't exactly sure where the thing was, it could be right behind me or at the far end of the complex and I'd never know. Every footstep it made echoed, its voice reverberated around the walls, we were in a labyrinth of disorientation and the automaton knew the paths. Our chances were dropping into the thousand to one category now, but hey, there's no fun keeping to those odds.

With my breathing back to a semi-normal state, I slowly peered over the edge of my pipe and scanned the environment. The air was thick with soot, but my visibility was just fine to see the hulking, shiny, amalgamate of wires and metal hauling itself around the corner. I frowned slightly, it didn't look so good anymore. Its muzzle was bent and crooked, like a car had hit it, its jaw was hanging open as if it was dislocated, two of its long claws were gone and a large gash and dent were buried in its chest. Had one of the others managed to hurt it?

No time for theories now though as it limped towards me and my hiding place. I crawled quickly away from the pipe and made my way slowly through the twisting maze of wires and pipes underneath the pots and cauldrons, staying low to the ground and trying not to make any noise. I looked over my shoulder and froze, the automatons massive head was now inspecting my original pipe, its claws inches from where I was just sat.

What was it doing? It was just examining the spot like it was trying to smell me out, but it couldn't do that, it didn't have any nostrils, it couldn't smell. Was it tracing my heat source? No, it couldn't, I couldn't see when I used my thermal vision, so I could be damned sure that it couldn't either. So, what the hell was it doing? I realised I probably didn't want to stick around to find out, so I started crawling, flat on my belly in the other direction.

After a while and certain the automaton wasn't anywhere near me anymore, I hauled myself out of the crawlspace and back into the open room. I had somehow managed to do a full loop and was back out in front of the door, or what was left of it after the contraption had punched its way through. That could be our way out of here, I just had to find the others and tell them my plan. Eagerly I peered over the bent metal at the corridor outside and failed to suppress a horrified yell, as the army waiting for me hurled something towards my head.

The cannisters exploded upon impact with the floor and instantly started spilling out a pale coloured smoky gas. The automaton must have heard the commotion and was making its way towards me and fast, so without a moment of hesitation I threw myself under a vile smelling container and covered my mouth with the hem of my shirt in case whatever was in that stuff was dangerous, and at this rate everything was trying to kill us.

Clanking footsteps sent my body rigid in fear as the long claws of the robot fell into view. Its head soon followed, weaving round like a snake against the floor, its orange eyes blazing and trying to pick something up. Then, like I was in Jurassic freaking Park its eye fell onto me and froze in place as it stared. I didn't move, I held my breath and prayed for it just to go away, prayed for its vision to rely on movement.

A moan broke its attention and it instantly went over to investigate the sound it had heard. My relief was only momentary because I then remembered that there were four of us in this room, and one of them was lying unconscious on the floor and he had chosen this moment to come around from Shadow's cannonball. I watched in horror as the automaton peered closely at the man, tilting its head this way and that, watching for something. Movement? He was lying immobile except for his heavy, laboured breathing–