No Name

Chapter 6 - VI

Authors Note: Sorry for it being in one block, I really wanted to get something up, even unedited.

---------------

Holly came to the second the bounty hunter was lifted into the air. Geoffrey (was that the name? Holly didn't remember) was viciously leaping at the demon, but there was some kind of shield around it that was deterring the wolf. "Come on!" Holly yelled to Elizabeth, pulling her out of the ditch and grabbing her revolver, plugging the demon in the back of the head with a whole round, then clicking back the hammer and putting six more into its (Now visible) skull. "Hey! Corpse breath!" Holly yelled, trying to get its attention. Quite suddenly, the demon's head twisted around 180 degrees to stare at them. Matt let out a scream from in mid-air, Geoffrey howling as his master was subjected to unspeakable torment. Holly kept shooting.

It kept coming back to faces. First, Matt walked through the ruins of the citadel, disembowelled, headless human corpses littering the streets, intestines hung over the ruined city like horrible streamers. However much he wanted to run away, scream, do anything, Matt was forced to walk down the main plaza. He saw the council of twelve hung from the terminal balcony like piñatas. Jacob's body was standing up; looking at him with a contorted scream on his face, the look of pure agony inscribed on his face, his squad of guards standing behind him with various mortal injuries all over their uniforms. A voice whispered through the street. "Welcome to your future, hunter." No. No. Matt realised it was he who was speaking, his voice piercing the veil of horrible silence that hung over the gallery of death. 'NO!" he screamed, finding his voice. He saw the purple Nebula in front of him. And he reached out for it without hesitation.
"NO!" Matt screamed as Holly fired shot after shot into the Demon. "Holly, we need to-" Elizabeth began but was suddenly silent. She pointed wordlessly at the bounty hunter. "I REFUSE!" He roared. A purple aura was forming around him, fighting against waves of black and green that came from the Demon. Then, he opened his eyes. They were glowing purple, a thick solid light that burned through the darkness that the demon was pressing onto him. Suddenly, the shield around it broke, and the Demon's power waned. And Holly shot it in the head.
Matt fell to the ground, watching as the Demon shattered into a thousand fragments of golden light. "ahh" He moaned, clutching his sides. "Dammit." He muttered, overcoming his nausea. At least he hadn't exploded this time. He pushed himself to all fours, and Geoffrey rushed to support him, shooting warning growls at Holly and the Librarian. He pushed himself to his feet With Geoffrey's assistance, and retrieved his rifle. "Well." Matt said, catching his breath. "That escalated quickly."

Holly looked on Matt fished a canteen out of his pack and gulped down some water. "How long have you been following us?" the Librarian asked icily. "A few days. You have no idea how much I had to work to keep you two safe. The amount of bandits- well anyway, a couple of days." Matt finished, draining his canteen. Holly poured him some water from her own, which would never empty anyway. "Cheers." He said, and took a long gulp of water. "So I assume Declen put you up to this?" Holly asked, already knowing the answer. "Well... Uh... yeah. I normally wouldn't tell you, but considering the circumstances... " Matt finished awkwardly. Holly sighed; trust her brother to do that. She loved him, but he could be over protective. "Thanks. You know, for back there." Holly said. Matt remained silent. Eventually, he gave a shaky smile. "Yeah no problem. I do this a ton you know, running around and sacrificing myself for random strangers." Holly smiled back. "So, was that in the job description?" Matt thought on this. "Not particularly. All I really have to do is hunt people, take some names, and be a Badass. It's simple really." He replied at last with an actual smile. He was already regaining some colour. Elizabeth attempting to start a fire, building a small pit for it to hide as much light as possible. They had camped (on Matt's advice) in the middle of a small clump of bush with just enough cover for a comfortable night. Holly had no idea what Matt had seen, but she had heard the stories, People being driven insane or worse from being attacked by one of those things. Matt fished a small disposable lighter from his pack and tossed it to Elizabeth, who caught it apprehensively. "Try that." Matt said. She put away her own lighter, and tried Matt's. Instantly, a small merry little blaze popped up, radiating heat like a small sun. "Artefact?" Holly asked. Matt nodded. "Found it in a derelict Mega-Mart a few years back. It never fails to start a fire." He absently stroked Geoffrey as he said this, scratching the wolf behind the ears. "So, how does one end up with a wolf as a pet?" Holly asked. Matt sighed, obviously tired. "What is this, show and tell?" he said, but continued. "I found him in a forest a day or so after the collapse had started, nursed him back to health. The mother had died, and he was starving." Holly nodded. The wolf nuzzled Matt's hand affectionately, and then padded away into the brush. "He'll keep watch." Matt said, and pulled a sleeping bag out of his pack. How it fitted in there, Holly didn't know, but he set it down and unrolled it, then removed his boots and climbed inside, and the sleeping bag suddenly rose a few inches above the ground, supporting his weight and eliminating the need for a bedroll or mattress. He seemed to have a huge collection of miscellaneous artefacts. Holly even guessed the bag was one too, with some form of extended capacity. Maybe the items were transported to a pocket dimension? Matt curled up beside the fire. "By the way, only I can open the backpack." Matt said without opening his eyes. "And If you attempt to kill me, Geoffrey will eat you." He advised. Holly made the mistake of laughing. "I kid thee not." Matt said seriously, and rolled over. Once she was sure he was asleep, she turned to Elizabeth. "Well, he's terrifying." She said quietly. Holly gave a small nod. "Just a little bit. But cut him some slack. He did just save our lives like, nine times over." And faced down a demon. She thought to herself. That could break a person. If Matt Texer was still sane in the morning, she would be impressed.
Matt Texer dreamed. And relived the whole experience in slow-mo. Every stupid decision he would never normally make replayed for him with tactical commentary by his own head. Reckless, stupid and pig-headed. Not what I expect from us, Matt. But he fell to pieces around portal spawn. He mentally wrestled with himself all night. Maybe he should have just walked away and told Declen they had perished at the hands of Demons. He was certainly capable of that. But, he had instead thrown himself at the demon. What did he have to prove? Nothing. Then why had he done it? It would have been so much easier to just metaphorically drop the mic and walk away. He slowly returned to consciousness. Daylight was streaming through the leaves of the small scraggly snow locked trees, and something was cooking. He pulled himself out of bed and sat down on his floating sleeping bag and put his boots back on. "'Morning." Holly said. Oh yeah. He had company. He nodded awkwardly in return. Elizabeth just scowled and turned the bacon over. "Just asking, but where did you get bacon?" Matt said, the heavenly aroma of cooked food wafting across the sunlit clearing, rays of light bouncing off the pure, unblemished snow, and shining through melting icicles that hung off the weak tree branches. "The Citadel owns some farms out in the sixth ring that just recently turned out. Bacon, pork, beef, and plenty of crops too. Should solve all the food issues we have at the moment." The Librarian explained coldly. Matt forgot she attended all the council meetings. She must have extensive knowledge of the Citadel's inner workings. "So, I'm still expected to..." Matt said, pausing to choose his words. "Escort us?" Holly said, beating him to it. Matt nodded. "Well, I guess it won't hurt to have a third party member. Especially a bounty hunter." She said, looking at the Librarian. She looked back, and then stared daggers at Matt. "Let's talk this out Holly." She said and drew her companion away from the camp fire. Matt turned the bacon over. He was fine with distrust. Not really uncommon. He preferred to just maintain an air of professionalism and get the job done, let his reputation do the talking. Far easier. The pair returned. "You can stay." Holly said. The Librarian looked at him with pure undisguised loathing. Matt had no idea why she was so mad, but he stood up silently and packed up, folding his sleeping bag into its cover and slipping it into his bag. He assumed the items he put inside went to some form of pocket dimension, but he had no idea how that worked or why it had happened. The Artefacts were kind of like a giant RNG, a random number generator. They could do anything, with no algorithm or pattern. Just random abilities. Sometimes relating to the item's original purpose, or just a totally random effect. For example, Matt had once found a wrench that broke every piece of machinery it touched. Man, that would have come in handy on numerous occasions; however, the artefact had disintegrated into fine black dust the first time he had desperately thrown it at an approaching truck. (Long story) Holly passed around bacon. Matt wolfed it down, and passed some to Geoffrey, who literally wolfed it down. And, they were on their way. Matt had seen no signs of the so called mist Declen had mentioned, but he kept an eye out, trailing in front of Holly and the Librarian, essentially doing the same job as before. Matt quickly and efficiently cleared out a small group of Broken, the nickname for a group of bandits that operated along the great highway. Which was pretty much why no one used the Great highway anymore. In a small population, people wisen up a whole lot quicker. News travels faster, and people were now hardened veterans of an apocalypse. They mostly knew what was up. Matt swept a path of bush with his scope, moving the crosshairs over the small cluster of trees and struggling bushes. All clear. He had kept an open eye for Portal spawn especially. He walked ahead of the other two, generally avoiding conversation. He didn't really mind it either. He and Geoffrey walked alongside each other on the small paths that lead to the Apex ring. Because the rings got bigger and bigger as they got closer to the centre, The second ring was exceptionally large. They had passed another pillar that morning, and Matt for the first time, had paid attention to the runes inscribed on the old tree-high pillars of rock. He had heard Warlock scholars had been trying to crack them for years. Even the Oracle had tried and failed. And he didn't mind being better at things than the Oracle. He had always been good at puzzles. He studied the runes whist the other two explored a small, nearly abandoned village. Clearly the Mar'Kell had spread the word about the mist. Only a few stubborn citizens remained. Matt normally would have picked through the ruins, but decided not to out of respect for the remaining people. He started to notice a pattern, the fame few runes appearing over and over. Maybe a common word? Some sort of code? Possibly just a vowel in the language? Matt started running them through his head. Another rune he kept seeing was a tiny depiction of four small circles gathered around a long line. He reached out and ran his hand over the cool rough stone.
Holly smiled politely at the man who sold them food. He had a crazed look in his eyes, and his hands were constantly moving around the market stall like he was nervous. And he probably was. The lonely little street was mostly comprised of abandoned dwellings, and random objects that had been left behind when the population had cleared out. It was empty and rather depressing. Elizabeth packed the food away, sulking. "Seriously, what's wrong?" Holly asked as they walked back towards the pillar. She already suspected, but didn't know for sure. After a minute of silence, she spoke. "Holly, my dad died in the first Portal war. He was immune to the insanity, and he went off to fight with the others. He died. He was killed by a Demon. His men came back, and told me the story. He was lifted into the air by the demon, and he started to yell. He screamed my name, and then died." Her voice was shaky and unstable. "I lost him for a second time" she said on the verge of tears. "And to see- Him, come out of it just like that..." She said savagely, now shaking with rage. Holly laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. This was definitely not what she expected. Matt was lying on the ground next to the pillar, comfortably stroking Geoffrey whilst he relaxed. Holly shudder at what the guy must be going through. They say that demons invoke horrible nightmares, bring out the worst in people. He looked over, ran his eyes over Elizabeth's red, blotchy face and wisely decided not to comment. He got to his feet silently, and briefly examined the pillar he had been lying by. They moved on from the village, and walked in silence. Holly attempted to make small talk, but it was like trying to get a reaction out of a brick wall. The disturbingly calm bounty hunter wasn't much better. Holly hadn't known her parents. It had just been her and Declen from the get-go. Maybe that was why she was more cheerful than the entire citadel put together. No horrific memories of your loved ones going mental right in front of you. It was just a thing no-one mentioned, that hung in the air like a dark cloud. Holly pondered this as the group of three trudged up a small dirt path surrounded by small scraggly thorn bushes with strange pink buds. They were beautiful, in a minimalistic kind of way. Simple, yet beautiful. The sunset was really putting on a show, turning the clouds golden and the sky orange. In the distance, a fallen skyscraper was shining, the faded glass reflecting the light like a beacon, the green hanging moss that was barely visible glowing fluorescent in the light like a waterfall of plant life. Holly immediately started to feel better. The fallen skyscraper was their objective. It was a massive landmark for entering the Apex ring, called the Gateway. It was a famous trade site, right on the border of the Apex ring. They were probably a few hours out. The building grew closer and closer and the sun began to fade, shadows creeping across the moor. Holly's happy feelings were instantly replaced by a sense of foreboding, weariness and fatigue. Matt had stopped, and was looking up at the skyscraper. "Well, here we are." Matt said. Holly took the lead, and walked around the fallen building to its entrance, a broken revolving door. The other two followed. The inside was permeated by shafts of sunlight that fell from the few unobscured windows, slanting across the space. The lamps were darkened, but the sunlight was enough to illuminate the blood-spattered stalls and makeshift houses. "Oh my." Holly said quietly. Matt drew his rifle and pulled his goggles over his eyes. "Nothing here. Nothing with a pulse anyway." He reported. He didn't put his gun away. The building gave a loud rumble. Holly was nearly thrown to the ground, but she stayed on her feet. "The hell was that?!" Elizabeth asked, terrified. "I don't want to know. It's probably best we get the heck out of here though." Holly advised, and began to creep backwards. The other two followed suit. Suddenly, there was a massive rumble, and the three were thrown to the ground. Holly's blood turned to ice. The building was sinking into the ground.
Matt turned for the door and ran, avoiding the shards of glass falling from the ceiling, Geoffrey barking and rushing towards the door. The skyscraper lurched to the left, and he suddenly found himself standing on the wall. He fell towards the fragile windows, and caught a brief glimpse of a huge crevice that opened up into a caver filled with a huge underground last age city. Matt grabbed onto an office desk and swung himself up, Geoffrey landing beside him. Holly and the Librarian where nowhere to be seen. Matt looked around, trying to get a bearing on how the building was holding up. It was suspended on something, presumably some kind of- "Gah!" Matt yelled in shock as the building suddenly rocketed towards the ground, falling into the cavern below.
Holly groaned and opened her eyes, looking around. A section of wall was pinning her to the ground, and the skyscraper was in shambles. Holly tried to move her legs to detach herself from the wall, but she was met with a solid brick wall of pain. Something was definitely broken down there. Panting with pain and desperately trying not to faint again, Holly looked around, trying to find Elizabeth, or Matt. "Hello?!" Her voice echoed through the dark corridor, dried blood spattered all over the walls, barely visible in the dim light. She was struck by a sudden fear; what if they were both dead? What if there was something down here, in this hidden city. She was definitely in the Apex ring. Even a normal human could sense the charge at this proximity. They had probably crossed the border whist falling. There was a crack from the end of the corridor. Something was moving down there. She could see its shadow, hunched over with small thin legs and arms, scampering across the ground. It definitely wasn't human. Holly shuddered, looking for her gun. There was a light scuffling, the sound of small tiny hands moving towards her. It was growling, small guttural sounds that came right from the throat. Holly whimpered in spite of herself. Suddenly, she spotted her revolver, lying a few feet away with her pack. But she dared not move lest the thing, whatever it was, see her. More scuffling at the end of the corridor. A terrifying snuffling, the shadow started moving again. Suddenly, it sprinted away down the other end of the corridor. Holly sighed with relief. Another shadow appeared at the end of the corridor. A familiar looking wolf bounded around the corner, master in tow. "Matt!" Holly called. He ran over, boots moving over the ground silently. "Geoffrey, keep watch." He said, and examined her predicament. "Anything broken?" Holly nodded, fatigue sweeping through her body. Holly looked at the wall, and realised just how heavy it was. There was no way he could lift it alone. "Yeah, I can't really lift that." He said, confirming her fears. He collected her pack and gun, and she thought for a second he would just leave, but he pulled out her canteen. "Water?" he asked. Holly nodded. Matt passed it over, and she drank. At least she had her hands free. "There was something down there." She said weakly. Matt nodded. "Did you find Elizabeth?" she asked. He shook his head, casting a weary look down the corridor. "I think I know how to get you out of there." He said a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "Uhh, are you really sure that-"he reached his hand out as though to touch the piece of wall, and suddenly, the wall began to lift. He levitated it into the air, over Holly, and then dropped it on the floor, kicking dust up everywhere. "Man that's difficult." He said, breathing hard. Holly looked down at her legs, and wished she hadn't. Her leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, and there was a massive gash on the other. Matt pulled a small medical kit out of his bag. "Don't move." He advised, and began to clean the wound. "Thanks." Matt remained silent, splinting and bandaging the leg. "How did you manage to get out ok?" Holly asked. "I didn't. Dislocated my shoulder on a desk." He said. "Did you have to-"Matt shuddered, and Holly decided not to press the topic. "Any idea as to why the Librarian hates me?" Matt asked abruptly, tying off the bandage, and securing the splint expertly. "Her dad died to demons. She just couldn't deal with the idea that you escaped and he didn't." Matt nodded. "Uh, don't tell her I told you that." Holly added quickly, suddenly feeling guilty. Matt nodded. "Well, everyone's a little unstable in their own way." He said. Matt stood up again. "That'll hold, but don't go doing any parkour or anything. Can you stand?" Holly tested the leg. "Give me a minute." She groaned, and rolled over, moving the leg as little as possible. "So, where do you think we are?" Matt asked, looking around. "In a corridor." Holly answered, closing her eyes and resting. Matt smiled. "Cheers, captain obvious. But really, why has no one discovered a giant underground city on the boarders of the Apex ring?" Holly pondered this statement. "Yeah, how did that even happen? A city doesn't sink underground overnight." She said. Matt shrugged. "This is the Apex ring. I don't think physics really gives a damn what happens in here." he said. "Uh, before you turned up, there was this thing at the end of the corridor. It was kind of hunched over, moved around on four legs. It definitely wasn't human." Holly said, shivering. Matt nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to go back out and look for the Librarian." He said. Holly nodded. "I'll leave Geoffrey here with you" He decided, and passed over Holly's revolver. At the sound of his name, Geoffrey trotted over, and sat upright next to Holly, nuzzling Matt's hand as he turned to go. "I'll be right back." He said, and vanished into the dark. Holly was suddenly very glad of Geoffrey's company. She propped herself up against the fallen piece of wall and sighed, her leg burning with pain. And suddenly, the shadow at the end of the corridor returned. And something began to shuffle up the corridor towards her. Holly readied her gun.