RULE #4

Did you scout ahead? No? What the fuck are you waiting for! Spend a day to get familiar with your surroundings and return to safer ground. Only then venture forward. IDIOT!

~ The Scavenger’s Handbook

“What do you think they are waiting for?” Cake asked and shifted her gun slightly, following the target she had picked up.

Her sunglasses hang from the edge of her mouth, which made her voice somewhat muffled. That wasn’t much of a change, since she either produced high-pitched noises or chewed her words. It did not stop Grey from forming a scowl behind his gas mask. At least those Axion brats were not around to see her eyes. They weren’t that bad when one got used to the sight, but they were sure as creepy as hell. For one the colour was wrong. Where there was supposed to be white, there was black. The white circles inside those pools of darkness were split in two by a thin orange line. In a way, Cake’s eyes resembled more those of a reptile than those of a human.

Even Grey had recoiled when he first saw them. Most people did and the once that didn’t weren’t right in the head. As odd as it was, every person had done the same thing. First, their shoulders tensed and they took a step back. Then the hand would freeze in a position between the person and their weapon, or their finger would dance around the trigger. In the end, they would smile nervously and avoid looking at the girl’s eyes by turning their head to the right. Always to the right.

It was one of the reasons people avoided Cake. The other was the girl herself. She was a proper pain in the ass, always picking up fights and obsessed with painting hearts and smiles on everything. Not even her rifle was spared the decoration. When she was a child, Grey was convinced it was only a phase, but as the years passed, he was starting to worry. The small voice at the back of his head was growing louder and louder, warning him, that she might mutate even further. Well, only time would tell, if that was the case.

He was about to offer an answer to her question when Cake’s rifle barked. “Got him in the throat!” She giggled and the weapon danced again.

Unlike them, the Axion group on the ground level was shooting constantly at anything that moved. They were persistent, he had to give them that. However, this was not how the world worked, effort got you nowhere. So far, despite their fancy tech, not a single Skin was marked by the teens’ guns. Red streaks of light crossed the open space, burning lines into the husks of cars and ruined walls. The laser rifles were deadly for sure, but they required to be fixed on a target for an extra second or two. Radioactive dust and all manner of other nasty things reduced the effectiveness of this kind of advanced tech. That was why a great deal of Scavengers survived a surprise encounter with an automated turret or a wondering robot.

“They are waiting for the brats to run out of ammo,” Grey said and pressed the trigger. A Skin female, or it could have been a young male, screamed faded away as she coughed out the blood that was gathering in her lungs.

“That could take hours…” Cake moaned next to him. “And those flashlights are starting to hurt my eyes.” She ducked behind the short balustrade which edged the roof and rubbed her face. “I counted about twenty on this side.”

“Ten more on the left.” He added and followed his next target. “We are lucky they rushed us before encircling the building. If I had to guess, I’d say they are too hungry to wait for much longer.”

“Nah…” The girl shook her head. “It’s mostly younglings and a few adults. Didn’t you notice?”

“Cake, it’s rather dark for me to make out such details,” Grey grunted as his shot clipped a Skin on the shoulder

“Right. I keep forgetting that you, normal people, can’t see as well me.” There was a hint of venom in her voice as she snarled at him.

Reminding her that she was a mutant always ticked her off. What Cake said, wasn’t that far from the truth or at least Grey assumed as much. Based on previous experiences, he had concluded that she could see as well in the night as in the day.

“Nice try,” he snapped back at her and fired again. “Keep the attitude and when this is over, I’m sending you back to Véi Dron.”

“Ok, ok. Jeez,” She stood up and fired several shots in quick succession. The thing was that they were not aimed at the Skins, instead, the bullets bounced off from the rusted barrels, Heather’s group used as cover. “Will you assholes stop with the fucking light-show! If you are in such a hurry to get yourselves killed, use a god damn flare!”

“Shit!” Grey cursed. How could he have missed it? “Cake, are you sure they are mostly kids?”

“I bet my ass. Last year’s breeding season was very bountiful by the looks of it.” The girl ducked back down in time for a couple of lucky arrows to drop harmlessly on the concrete next to her.

Grey noted that he should have a chat with her since she clearly had no clue how simple biology worked. That could wait. He had a bigger issue on his plate. Thankfully the Skins were armed with makeshift primitive weapons. Mostly bows and slingshots, but he had seen several riffles as well. The only reason they were not using them had to be because they were out of bullets. Yet, something was stuck at the back of his mind. Some odd feeling that he was missing something obvious.

The veteran Scavenger stopped tracking his target and focused on the larger picture instead. At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary, just a bunch of malnourished cannibals that resembled plague rats. Dishevelled mangy hair which grew in dirty clumps on their deformed inbred heads. Bone splinters used as piercings decorated their throats and upper arms and of course the human skin they used as clothing which was the origin of their name. Yes, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then he noticed it. Just as Cake had said, they were mostly children and they were not from the same tribe. Grey counted at least three different sets of letters carved on their foreheads. A long time ago, they might have had a meaning, but no one could remember at this point and the Skins weren’t exactly known of talking like normal people. No, their language was a strange mixture of at least several others and those were spoken very poorly at beast, mixed with all manner of grunts and animal sounds. Besides, no one was going to bother to have a chat with one of their kind. The best thing to do was put a bullet in their head as quickly as possible and move on.

Spurred by this observation, Grey moved the scope of his weapon towards the building the cannibals nested at. There was movement. A lot of movement. The Skins were clearing out the wrecks from the road passing along the mammoth structures and leading towards the refuelling station. Pushing the zoom of the optics and his eyes to their respective limits, Grey struggled to make out what was happening in the darkness.

“Cake,” he called out to the girl who was engaged in spewing curses at Heather and her team. “I need your help for a moment.”

“Yay! Cake will be useful!” She was like a loyal dog, the way she straightened up and trotted to his side with a wide green on her face. Were her canines getting larger? Grey, shook his head, his eyes were playing tricks on him because he had been avoiding Cake for so long. The girl had the attention span of a cat and all he could do was worry that he had failed…

Grey stopped the thought before it could manifest. She was not his kid, just some stray, he had picked up. A lost creature in need of shelter and protection, the only two things he could provide. Because he had no idea how to take care of living things, he had allowed the girl to become too attached and he couldn’t help but worry about her.

“When did you become like this Grey?” He whispered to himself. “It’s because you know what it is to be alone and frightened… Right, get a grip old man.” He closed his eyes and swallowed the painful memories of his childhood.

“The street over, there,” he pointed at where he had seen the movement.

“Shit… That’s a lot of Skins!” Cake spat and her weapon danced as she scanned the area.

“How many?” Grey was not sure he wanted an answer, but at the same time, not knowing presented a serious problem for his desire to continue being alive.

“The I’m-not-sure-we’ll-be-enough-for-dinner number.” He could see the temptation to just start shooting, but the girl stopped herself. She was insane, not suicidal.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Grey murmured. “Why are there so many of them here?”

“Hey, Grey,” Cake’s voice was shaking almost sounding frightened, “You remember telling me story about those strange men-machines a few years back? What did they look like?”

Armageddon’s Children were the descendants of the experiments that had survived the purge of Laboratory Complex 21. They were hatred driven amalgamation between men and machine born by some delirious mind and old-world tech. Their limbs were usually a combination of tools and exposed cabling. When his father, Ash, first told him about them, Grey had assumed that the old man meant they had prosthetics. Just like the one Ash had in place of a left arm. Functional, but otherwise not the same as a natural limb.

Grey had been wrong, so very wrong. Armageddon’s Children were monsters and to this day, he had no idea how he had survived for five years among the ruins of his home in Sector 21. The last time Grey had seen one of their kind was a dead one deep in the tunnels of Sector 7. It was almost enough to make him mark the entire region with 'Stay Away' signs. After spending several days scouting, he had seen no other sign of them, so he had assumed that some animal or one of the Wardens had dragged that one there.

But now Cake’s question made cold sweat slide down his spine. They couldn’t have made it this to here without anyone noticing them. Then again, no one had noticed that so many Skins had gathered around the bridge.

“Cake, I swear, if this is one of your pranks or just a random question, I am going to beat the shit out of you.” Grey wasn’t sure how, but he managed to keep his voice level.

“Dude!” The girl gave him that childish look of hurt, which she used when she felt she was wrongly accused. “I know when something has you sweating bullets. Your face goes all stiff and blank… Look there, by the cargo-truck.” Caked shoved her rifle in his chest. “Use mine, it has better optics than that old junk you call a gun.”

Yes, she was mad at him now. In a way, Grey was amazed that she had remained stable and coherent for this long. Something was really messed up inside the girl’s head and it wasn’t because she was a mutant. Biting back the retort, he took the offered weapon and focused his attention at the place Cake had pointed out.

Damn it, he couldn’t see a thing. On instinct, Grey reached to remove his gas mask, but stopped his hand and turned it around to look at the wrist particle monitor strapped around his wrist. The readings weren’t in the green, but it had been a while since he had last seen them there. What mattered was that the air was clean enough not to harm him if he stayed a few hours without his mask.

Satisfied, Grey pulled up the damned thing and whipped the sweat off his face. Without the tinted oculars, he could see a little better. It was always better to be safe than sorry, but at the same time risk was part of everyday life. That’s why Grey had made it second nature to always make sure he wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks. The next seconds would determine if he had failed at that or not.

Adjusting the focus slightly, he looked at the rusted cargo-truck. His heart stopped for a second when he saw the pale moonlight reflect from shining metal. It was a moment later that he finally let go of the breath he had been holding. The things he was looking at weren’t Armageddon’s Children. Well, they sure as hell weren’t Skins, either. Their gear resembled that of the Axion tourists down on the ground, however, it could be mere salvage. Considering how mismatched it was, that had to be the case.

At least there was only two of them. The first one was larger, with what had to be a battery jutting out of its back. A swarm of cables connected to it and snaked their way inside the armour. That one did not have a helmet or a head for that matter. Instead, a bulky apparatus with a cage on top occupied that space. From this far away, that one could be mistaken for a human, unlike the second thing. Its upper body rotated on a small platform supported by a pair of thin robotic legs. The creature’s left arm was a hydraulic claw and the right wrist of the right one was replaced by a tentacle-like elector-whip. Interestingly enough, this one was connected to the battery of the first one. There could have been more, but this was all Grey could see. Only one thing was important and that was the two were directing the Skins.

“Cake, grab your things,” he said quietly and returned the weapon. “Take Maité’s team with and secure our exit.”

Grey grabbed her hand before she could dart off without so much as waiting for him to finish explaining what he was planning. The two of them weren’t used to doing runs with one another. Although he had taught her the basics, Cake had developed her own methods. Where Grey was composed and calculating, she was impulsive and aggressive. He preferred to avoid fights, whereas she actively searched for ones as if to prove herself. The girl might not have known this, but Grey paid attention to the stories people told about her. Not that this was a bad thing. Everyone went through a phase like that in their youth and the younger the Scavenger was, the more it showed. For now, Cake had the luxury of not having lost people she cared about because of her actions. The ruins always found ways to temper down people. But right now, Grey needed the girl to listen to him.

“They have explosives with them.”

“Really! I didn’t see any when we were going through their things back at the Hotel.” Excitement replaced the worry on her face and he could see how that would become a problem in the future.

“Small discs, that fir in your palm,” he fixed her with his grey eyes, the way he did when she was a child. “You remember them, the ones labelled dry water. The tourists said they were extra filters for their suits.”

“Wait,” Cake crouched back down next to him, “You sure those ain’t filters?” It was clear she wanted to believe him but found it hard to.

“It’s old-world tech. I’ve seen a long time ago.” What Grey failed to mention was that he had seen it in a magazine dedicated to advertising weapons. “Not very strong, but enough to collapse a tunnel's entrance. Do you understand?”

“I do.” A broad wild grin was slowly growing on her face and he could see the girl was barely controlling herself from slipping his grip and bolting to go make things go boom.

“Listen carefully, Cake. Take that group with you, don’t tell them how or why you know about the explosives and mine the tunnel entrance.” Grey put up a warning finger. “Ten minutes. That’s all the time I’m giving you. After that, we are legging it to you and the Skins will be following.”

“So, you want a firing line or something?”

“No, just you.” He brushed the hair from her face. “Because I can trust you to do what needs to be done.”

“Wow, wow, wow!” Cake backed off, disbelief twisting her face. “I’m not going to shoot you!”

“What?!” Grey couldn’t believe she had even thought about it.

“Look, Grey, if you get hurt, I’m coming to drag your ass…”

“How many screws do you have loos in that head of yours?!” He pulled her back down behind the balustrade. “I don’t want you to shoot me. For fuck’s sake, I’ll be at the first one through. But if the Skins are getting too close, make sure one of the tourists' trips.”

“Oh…” He could see the moment realisation dawned on her. “Oh, Grey! I didn’t know you could be like this.” Cake grabbed his face and kissed him on the forehead. “Thank you!”

“No.” He grabbed the girl by the ankle as she turned around in a hurry. “This is the last resort option! If it comes to it, I expect you to make it fast and clean.”

“Fine,” Cake rolled her eyes. “Take all the fun out of it. But Grey, you can’t protect them forever.”

“I know,” He adjusted the mask on his face and watched the girl sprint down the hatch leading to the roof.

Ten minutes is a long time when expecting your position to be overrun by hungry inbred cannibals. But ten minutes was close to nothing when preparing a safe exit. Cake understood that. She had seen shadows move through the buildings on both sides of the street while they run to the tunnel entrance. The predators had been stirred by the commotion and pretty soon this place would become a feeding ground.

“All done.” One of the boys in Maité’s gang shouted when they finished clearing the debris that blocked the hole in the tunnel’s ceiling.

The incline was steep and most likely very unstable, but it had to do. Before they committed to this idea, Cake had to be sure that there was nothing nasty waiting for them inside. The last thing she wanted, was to be trapped in a tight corridor with a hungry pack of shrimp-hounds or a functioning Warden.

“Take your gang and scout ahead,” she ordered Maité. “The Park is to the north if you see a junction make sure the right turn is safe to go through…”

“No need to speak to us as if we are children.” The girl fumed. “We all have a compass integrated into our helmets. Also, are you trying to make fun of me? The service tunnels always ran west to east and the right one will take us south.”

“Yeh, the left one leads to the fucking river, moron.” Cake snapped at the woman for wasting valuable time arguing. “Now move it… Wait!”

She stopped Maité before she could slide into the tunnel. Before the girl could react, she turned her around and opened her backpack and pulled out two of the small discs Grey had mentioned. Even if their exit was not safe, they should be ready to make it go boom. Yes, she liked that idea very much. Actually, those things could be very useful, so she stuffed one behind her belt.

“How do these things work? Are they on a timer or something?” Cake asked.

“Wait? No! Those are filters.” Maité screamed, but she could see the horror in the girl’s eyes.

Grey was right. Of course, he was! How could she have doubted him? If only No-eyes was here, he could tell Cake how stupid she was. Staying close to Grey had kept her anger in check, but she had to find a temporary friend to talk to before her mind exploded from all the thoughts swimming in it. Or, alternatively, she could stay with Grey while they were out here. Perhaps One-tooth had a point and Cake should tell him how she felt. No, it was No-eyes who was right. She should wait a few more days until her birthday came up.

“Miss Cake, are you alright?” Maité’s voice pulled her from the stupor.

“Don’t mess with me,” she snarled at the frightened girl. “I’ll fucking break your teeth if you don’t plant those booms!”

Cake didn’t realise she had pulled her machete and had it pressed at the woman’s throat. Now was not the time for one of her blackouts. Sure, they were very cathartic, but she always did stupid shit during them. With some effort, Cake pulled the blade away and spoke in a cold warning tone.

“I know what these things are, so drop the act. Otherwise, I’m going to leave your dead bodies to slow down the Skins, while we escape.”

“Fine,” Maité relented, but her eyes told Cake that this was not over. “Terrance, Sofia, go scout ahead. Caleb, help me plant the charges.”

The Axion gang were done with the task surprisingly fast and not a moment too late. The other tourists were sprinting towards their position with Grey at the head of the group, just as he had promised. They had made their escape in time to put a good distance between them and the Skins. Shit, there was a lot of the buggers, Cake noticed. Not only younglings this time, but adults as well and they were fast. One of the Axion brats had an arrow sticking out of his tight – good. He would make it, that much was obvious, but the tourists had to learn that mistakes had consequences. She waited for Grey to slide past her and down the slope of rubble before she gently squeezed the trigger of her rifle. The tourist fell like a bag of meat when the bullet pierced his skull. As expected, the closest Skins stopped and began fighting over the corpse, while the other Axion gangers slipped past her one after the other. To the cannibals, food was everything.

“Cake, what the fuck did you do?” Grey shouted from the tunnel.

“What had to be done.” She jumped down and walked past him. "The ruins always punish mistakes, your words, remember."