MORTIS

Knee Deep

We moved out from the hideout with all of our gear after eating some canned goods and stocking up on supplies. Eli had grabbed his first aid bag from his place. Basically it was a tactical shoulder sling bag that was stuffed full of bandages, pain killers, adrenaline, and a bunch of other important shit.

I ditched my trench coat in favor of mobility. We'd be doing a lot of walking and it'd just get in the way, especially if we were going after Reapers. The whole thing felt like we were severely outnumbered, but at this point I was beyond caring. We were the only ones either brave enough or dumb enough to stand up against a massive gang that's a full blown cult.

It wasn't long before we ran into trouble. Eli kept the AK47 that he took from that Death Trooper, and he was already behind cover, sighting down whatever he saw. My dad saw it too, and got down beside him. I followed suit.

"I see a battle bus coming down the street." Eli stated.

Sure enough, a bus rolled down the street decked out in Reaper art, covered in spiked armor and bristling with gun emplacements and full of Reapers. We held our breaths as we waited for the battle bus to slowly crawl by, and we all breathed sighs of relief when it passed by.

If we were sighted, we would have been toast. There were at least 30 guys on that bus. We continued forward, eventually running into a barricaded alleyway.

My dad pointed at it and said "Stuff like this is what I was talking about. They've been very smart about barricading important streets off, almost as if they're corralling people to a certain direction. We're most likely being observed. It's what I would do."

We found an alternate path, passing through an old library. However, when we stepped out of the library, there were Reapers waiting for us. These guys looked nasty. None of them had guns, but there eight of them. Some had knives, some had pipes or bats or crowbars. The nastiest one was a buff motherfucker wearing a gas mask with a skull painted on it. He had a massive fucking chainsaw, and I could hear him breathing aggressively. He was probably hopped up on pills or meth. The lead man was decked out in jewelry and tattoos that were depicting holy symbols of death, and he had a fire ax as his weapon. He screamed out "GET IM BOYS, THE GIRL'S ALL MINE HAHAHA"

The minions let out a war cry. My dad immediately whipped out a pistol and started shooting, while Eli pulled out a machete.

A Reaper with a bat swung at Eli, and he dipped down, slashing out the man's knees, then driving the machete up into the base of his neck.

I pulled out my bayonet as a man with a balisong stabbed at me. I leapt back a little, and used my other hand to pull a switchblade from my chest rig.

I sliced at him, creating small scratches with the switch blade. The man got pissed, and tackled me. I got the wind knocked out of me, and he stabbed me in the shoulder. I shouted in pain, then grimaced as the man licked the blood from my wound.

"Ew you fucking animal!"

I kneed him in the junk and reached out and felt the solid grip of the bayonet. I lashed back with it, catching the man across the eyes. He howled in pain and clutched his eyes as I finished him off by stabbing straight through the side of his skull. I yanked the bayonet out, and didn't bother to watch the gray matter leak out of his head.

I saw that my dad had killed a few of the attackers, and had engaged the leader in hand to hand combat. The big boy had come into play though.

The big man let out a muffled laugh through his gas mask as he yanked the cord on the chainsaw, and I grimaced as the ugly snarl of it tore through air and the smell of gasoline assaulted my nose. He lunged at Eli, swinging wide with the chainsaw. Eli dodged, and stabbed at the man. He repeated this a couple of more times until the big man had headbutted Eli, knocking him silly. He then backhanded Eli, knocking him to the ground. He raised the chainsaw above his head in a cruel display of victory. Not on my watch.

I screamed out "HEY MEATHEAD! CHEW ON THIS!" as I a tossed a throwing knife at the chainsaw man. It let out a satisfying WHIZZZ as it zipped through the air, piercing the gas mask lens and going straight into his left eye. I stood defiant, until I heard him audibly grunt and rev the chainsaw.

I muttered "Oh, shit."

The man charged at me, and knocked me into a wall with his shoulder. I was dizzy, and I saw the teeth of the chainsaw whirring in front of me, the ugly snarl of the chainsaw tearing through the air.

I heard the sharp bark of a rifle as Eli put about six rounds into the man's back, but he was still relentless. Shit was getting desperate.

The chainsaw inched closer towards my face, and I had one last resort. I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a ballistic knife. I thumbed the button, aimed, then pressed the button. A small bark of gunpowder launched the deadly blade inside straight into the man's throat. He staggered back, clutching his throat. I got to my feet and grabbed my bayonet. I let out a ear splitting shriek as I slashed out the man's biceps and triceps. I went after the thigh muscles too, and saw that the man could barely lift his arms, and he was struggling to stand up straight. Eli ran his machete straight through the man's back, the sharp edge jutting out of his chest. I stabbed the bayonet into his heart, then Eli pulled his machete free and roared as he swung the machete, bringing the blade straight down on the man's neck. Blood sprayed everywhere as the gas mask clad head rolled down near my feet.

Eli and I stared at each other, both of us covered in blood. We heard my dad drag the leader over to us, and saw that he had broken the man's hands.

The man let out a weak chuckle and said "What do you hope to achieve by this?"

My dad said "There's less of you assholes every time we kill you."

The man replied "We don't fear death. Those of us that are true cultists don't fear death. Tell me, have you ever heard of the might of Thanatos?"

We just stared at him.

The man had a crazy look in his eyes as he said "He is our god, and Deathshead is a physical manifestation of him. Thanatos is an idea, he IS death. And he takes us all. Death consumes all, and our souls are his!"

My dad rolled his eyes and pressed his Beretta pistol to the side of the man's head.

"Man, you guys don't know when to shut the fuck up. I have a cure for that." said Dad.

Dad pulled the trigger, a sharp crack piercing the air as grey matter and blood sprayed out of the man's shattered skull.

Dad holstered his pistol and said "Let's go, we've got a few miles to cover."