NOVEL NEXT CHAPTER 73 : Demon Dogs & Betrayals
Atlas, on his way back from chatting with Amber, bumped into one of the guys who hadn't been working. The man squinted at him and said, "I'm Ronald. Can I get a pair of glasses? I know I didn’t help with the fighting, but I really couldn’t. My vision is so bad, all I see is a blur. I'm like minus 9.5. Please, I’ve got no chance in this wasteland without my vision. All I’m asking for is a chance."
Atlas felt a twinge of sympathy. In his first life, he’d had horrible vision too, almost as bad as Ronald’s. Now he had the benefits of the gene boosting from the MediPod. He relented. "Here, what’s your name?"
"Ronald," the man replied.
"Here, Ronald," Atlas said, handing him the last coin. "Take this. Go to the Miscellaneous by Mort machine. It’s got TruPrescribe glasses. Those work like contacts and will do the trick. After that, help the rest of the newbies on bone duty."
"Yes, sir," Ronald said, grateful as he hurried off.
Back at the bone duty station, Clark was busy putting in all the extra materials into the backpacks. He and the rest of the newbies were separating the bones into neat piles: leg bones in one, rib cages in another, and arms in yet another. "Let’s see hand bones connect to the arm bones, arm bone connects with the chest bones, chest bones connect to the…” he hummed as they methodically sorted the skeleton remains. Once they were done, they repacked all the normal supplies that the Portal Crushers had brought from Earth back into the backpacks as well. What wouldn’t fit into the now overstuffed backpacks were carried like logs.
Atlas watched Clark work and thought, ‘That guy does a good job. It's too bad that he's a weaselly betraying motherfucker.‘ Atlas narrowed his eyes. ‘Oh, I'm totally going to kill him. Do not let him escape. Do not let him weasel his way into this group again. Definitely do not forget this. Yeah, definitely. I could shoot him in the head right now, but there's literally no reason to cause panic. And the group has just settled in. I know—I’ll kill him right after the demon dogs tonight. Or maybe during? No, after, because butchering demon dogs is a huge pain in the ass. And he would be the perfect person to set up to do this. Hahaha.‘
As Atlas considered the various creative ways he could dispose of Clark, the Portal Crushers chatted among the new settlement, discussing their roles, strategies, and whether or not Alexander’s mullet was a chick magnet.
"Bet ya fifty coins the mullet comes back in style," Alexander boasted.
"Only if we're still stuck in the '80s," Kingsley shot back with a laugh.
‘‘‘
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon began to rise, a terrifying howl echoed through the settlement. The unmistakable howl of a demon dog. Without any runic protection, there was no true defense for the settlement. The Portal Crushers sprang to their feet. Wilfredo and Hank took their tank positions, while the rest of the Portal Crushers readied themselves.
“Just like in practice,” Atlas yelled, as the demon dog, looking like a skinned beast with black tears streaming from its bloodied eyes and slimy saliva dripping from its yellow teeth, leapt through the entryway to the settlement. It slammed into Hank, but the fence had done its job, funnelling the creature into the right spot. Hank was pushed back but held his ground. Wilfredo moved in to support him. Isabella took the opportunity to club the dog. As did Atlas and Stu.
CRACK!
John and Wang Bo stood ready, at the flanks, waiting for a shot.
The dog shrieked in pain but shrugged the club blows off. It leaped at Isabella, but Wilfredo got in the way this time. The Earth-made riot shield collapsed under the impact.
‘That’s the problem with any weapon from Earth,‘ thought Atlas as he watched the shield give way.
With no shield, the dog got its claws into Isabella. Blood streamed down as the bone was clearly visible. She screamed in pain and was knocked to the ground.
Stu yelled, “You fucking demon, I’ve got you!” He gave a swing with his club, catching the dog in its head before it could latch its jaws onto Isabella.
CRUNK!
The dog screamed in fury, the meal denied.
Atlas leapt into the air and, with a downward smash of his club, cracked the head of the demon dog.
SLAM!
It wasn’t dead yet, but it was stunned. John took this opportunity to go for a headshot. Unfortunately for him, the demon recovered before the headshot connected. The club swung by, and the dog, with a snarl, bit into John’s arm. Kingsley tried to get it off by clubbing it, but the dog jerked its head, ripping John’s arm right off.
TEAR!
With a toss, the severed arm was thrown into the air. John screamed as he collapsed. Blood spewing out in a sanguine fountain of gore.
The group was appalled, and the demon dog ran deeper into the settlement area.
As the demon dog charged deeper into the settlement, the newbies erupted into chaos, screaming and running in all directions.
“Save me!” screamed a guy in tightie whities, while frantically dodging the creature.
“Run!” shouted another, shoving people out of his way as he bolted toward the gates.
‘‘‘
Amidst the panic, Clark and Ronald seized the moment, grabbing two backpacks and sprinting toward the settlement stone. "Come on, quick, Ronald!" Clark urged as they squeezed their way into the ATM-like kiosk. It was cramped with both of them inside, but Clark didn’t waste any time.
Navigating through the menu with practiced ease from his last life, he quickly selected ‘Miscellaneous‘. His eyes scanned the options until he found what he was looking for: ‘Portal to adjacent territory?‘
‘Yes,‘ he confirmed, and a list of territory names appeared before them:
- ‘‘Sons of Valhalla‘‘
- ‘‘Earth’s Children‘‘
- ‘‘Cell Block 21‘‘
- ‘‘Belief‘‘
- ‘‘The Coven Clique‘‘
- ‘‘Faith‘‘
Clark’s fingers hovered over the options for a brief moment before he selected ‘‘Earth’s Children‘‘. He knew, from his past life, exactly what he was doing.
"Pay the coin," he ordered Ronald, who quickly fed the machine. A small red portal flickered into existence just outside the kiosk.
"Quickly!" Clark hissed, and the two of them jumped through the portal, their backpacks strapped on tight. Just as they disappeared, a few of the other newbies caught sight of the teleportation. They sprinted toward the portal, desperate to escape the chaos, but it was too late. The portal snapped shut behind Clark and Ronald, leaving the others trapped in the nightmare that was unfolding.
Back in the main area of the settlement, the Portal Crushers were doing their best to fend off the demon dog. With John down and Wilfredo’s shield shattered, the beast was proving more resilient than expected.
“Watch its claws!” Isabella warned, wincing as she clutched her wounded arm.
Hank, undeterred by the creature’s strength, charged at it with a ferocity that belied his usually calm demeanor. “You like playing fetch, mutt? Fetch this!” He hurled a jagged bone he had picked up from the ground directly at the dog’s face. The bone struck its target, momentarily blinding the demon dog.
Atlas seized the moment, “Stu, Kingsley, now!”
Together, the three of them descended upon the creature, raining blows on its head and back with their clubs. The dog’s skull began to crack under the relentless assault, black ichor oozing from its wounds.
The demon dog, ruthless in its desire to kill, continued attacking. A vicious desire to kill ingrained in its thoughts. Leaping into the air, pouncing towards the wounded John.
The demon dog was intercepted by Hank, who used his shields in a last-ditch effort. One shield was wedged into the demon's face, while the other attempted to pin it down. Together they hit the ground hard, Hank wrapped the dog up, and the Portal Crushers took their chance, launching a barrage of attacks until the demon dog was defeated.
CRACK!
Finally killing the demon dog, Hank looked like he had been mauled by a bear. Actually it was worse, he looked like he had been mauled by a demon dog, which he had been..
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:
TITLE: DOG CATCHER
‘Woof! Woof! Bad doggy!‘
BONUS: For killing the first demonic creature in the wasteland, you will now get a bonus towards fighting them.
‘Fuck! Thought Atlas, I underestimated how well the demon dog would do against team Portal Crushers. I shouldn’t have gone easy on the demon dog in the beginning, just so they could get more experience. I know injuries are the reality of the wasteland, but I didn’t think it would go this badly. This is on me. Maybe I shouldn’t have skipped the Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness. But that thing is a trap. I know it.‘
Barbara, as their main medic, scrambled to grab the first aid kits.
During portal training they had decided she would be perfect because her day job before deciding on fighting full time was actually as an ER doctor.
That’s why during portal training she had been the one to always practise out the “what if someone” gets hurt scenarios.
She was horrified, every backpack had a small first aid kit, but hers was a specialised one. They had packed the team's major medical supplies into it. And it was gone.
She was in disbelief that the tools and instruments were all missing, having been selected carefully for the team's emergency medical situations.
"Atlas, the med backpack is missing!" Barbara shouted
"What the fuck?!" Atlas exclaimed.
"I'll do what I can with what we have, but it won’t be pretty," Barbara said, hastily applying a tourniquet to John's bleeding stump and patching up Isabella. She worked quickly, knowing she didn’t have much time.
Barbara then rushed to Hank, whose injuries were also severe. She applied a quick tourniquet to the massive arterial bleed in his leg, tightening it to stop the haemorrhage. With his airway compromised, she carefully inserted an advanced airway device to ensure he could breathe.
Despite her efforts, the damage to his internal organs seemed severe. With her specialty instruments missing, Barbara stabilised him as best she could, but his condition remained critical. She knew the chances of survival beyond a day were slim without more comprehensive medical support.
They turned to look at John, who was pale but conscious, his severed arm lying a few feet away. “Well, guess I’m ambidextrous now,” John quipped weakly, managing a faint smile.
“Yeah, and you’re also getting treatment in the MediPod,” Atlas said, already motioning for Isabella to join him.
***
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