They made their way down devastated hills.

The crimson streaming down Ned’s side left a trail for Tenner to follow and the clouds his desert legs kicked up morphed so that Tenner couldn’t ever see his bounty.

Tenner’s sneakers weren’t made for the desolation and the bloody pistol reeked. At the same time, he still had all his limbs and endurance from years of chasing kids. Nausea and foot pain didn’t matter -- he would win.

I wonder if I’ll get his perk when I kill him. This ability would be insanely useful. My perks are pretty good, but they’re not the all aces this guy has, Tenner thought and tried out [Fate Is My Weapon] a couple times to no avail, then the rest of his arsenal. Nothing. He took a look at what would do something: the pistol in his grip was light for its size. Tiny pipes went from the magazine, which stuck out of the handle’s bottom, to the barrel’s end. On the side, there was a shattered screen that showed three red pixels: one glowed brightly, one blinked while the last stayed dark. Not a lot of shots left, I think.

Ned made it through a few desolation biomes before slowing down beside the mountain of mist Tenner had seen before holing up in the gas station. Inside the mist, a light brightened and dimmed, like there was a lighthouse.

Not having to worry about suffocation and a bounty, Tenner would explore it later.

The evening sun started merging with the ground.

Limping, Ned reached the remains of a lake, full of pits, bones, dead seaweed and puddles. He was so weak that the trail of dust barely formed any patterns.

Tenner tried his luck with a shot. It missed, kicked up some dirt and redirected Ned a few degrees to the right. I’m too good of a shot to miss like that, Tenner steamed. He got an idea. No... this is exactly how I wanted it to be!

I never miss.

Tenner’s sixth and seventh missed shot went close to Ned. Even though they didn’t kill, they were fulfilling their purpose. One had to change Ned’s direction, the other -- drive fear. The laserpistol’s side screen blinked and the eighth shot screeched through the air. The trail of dust faded.

Ned had planted into a puddle. It dyed red, but he was still alive as he stood up and swayed for a moment to regain balance.

Right, time to decide. Tenner faced a choice: did he want Ned’s information more than finding out what the mist hid right now? Forget that -- do I make it easy for myself or hard?

The answer to Tenner’s question rippled out of his gut and he fired.

One laser flew between Ned’s legs as he jumped out of the puddle. Tenner looked down at the gun. I know I was on target. This thing sucks so much it’s impossible to hit a shot. Not even the best marksman in this damn world could! Tenner cursed and smacked the pistol. The screen on its side flickered. Only one pixel remained glowing.

Tenner, done with everything, pulled down on the trigger without any intention to let go.

The first shot blew Ned’s face into two blobs of gore. They fell on opposite sides of his limp body.

Ten.

Tenner kept running and firing for a moment longer then stopped a few meters from the corpse, covering his mouth. He gagged.

Goodness, what a disgusting sight.

The ground around the corpse turned crimson.

I gotta start getting used to it though it’s already easier -- I didn’t throw up--

Tenner’s stomach contents surged into his mouth, his face soured, and his tongue pushed it all back.

...Like I did when the hobo fell by my hand.

***

[Congratulations! Minor public bounty claimed: killed Ned “Desertlegs” Dick; Reward: +130C$]

Not bad, I guess, Tenner tucked the pistol in and crouched beside the corpse.

There were a few hidden pockets over his chest and a needle-shaped zipper going down the middle of the suit. The shoes attracted the most attention: they were sturdy and reinforced with steel.

Tenner would award himself a bonus for a job well done by looting the man, but first he had to don those shoes -- his throbbing legs begged him. He didn’t care that the shoes didn’t match his style.

Something inside the right one’s tip stung Tenner’s toe.

Balancing on one leg, he took his foot back out and shuffled the shoe. After a few tries, a tiny black metal square with “charges” etched on its front fell out.

That is fucking ammo. Tenner held the magazine in front of himself for a while then chucked it behind his belt and finished putting on the shoes. That worthless piece of shit could’ve told me he had more.

The shoes fit Tenner quite well and after a while, he’d get used to the hard soles and rough sides. No risk of spraining ankle too. He gave a short funeral to the sneakers he’d worn for the past two years. Now they were torn, full of dirt and would be forever a part of the wasteland.

Blood covered over half of Ned’s suit, the massive red patch almost reaching his pockets. The man had to have had some sort of mutated organism: running for so long whilst leaking blood like a pipe in the under mechanisms leaked rats, getting shot and having enough to cover one’s entire clothes in crimson simply didn’t add up.

Yeah, I knew this chase was unfair. Tenner hurried, unzipping Ned’s outer pockets and the suit. First-ever real bounty and I have to kill a superhuman.

An abundance of food cans and laserpistol parts were tucked into the pockets whilst the inner ones contained a wrinkled paper map and a black box locked by a padlock.

Tenner’s face glowed -- this was exactly what he’d needed. A superhuman who’s certainly gonna compensate me for the trouble, he thought, reaching towards the loot--

A screen popped up, stopping his hand.

[Warning! Damage: -1 to health]

It-- IT FUCKING HAPPENED AGAIN! Tenner clenched his fists and searched for the source of the damage. How does anyone travel through this wasteland without LOSING THEIR FUCKING MINDS?!

No creatures attacked, no rats munched on his feet and not even as little as a scratch had reached his mask. Like with the toxic air, Tenner spent a while figuring out what was off. The minuscule amount of damage meant what caused it would be tiny too -- he put his focus towards the details. And then he saw it.

The puddle Ned had fallen into returned to its natural color, the remaining spot of blood disappearing right before Tenner’s eyes. Above it, blobs of air gained a violet hue and levitated towards him.

A drop of sweat ran down his face as his eyes locked onto the anomaly. Maybe I can still get that loot, climb out of here and reach the mist before... something bad happens. His left reached for the corpse whilst his right finished untucking the laserpistol.

The purple blobs began emerging all around him, some morphing into tentacles. One went straight for the corpse.

[Warning! Damage: -1 to health]

No, I can’t. Stepping away, Tenner pulled his left back and put it on the pistol’s handle. I have a feeling if I get that loot, I won’t get the chance to use it.

This was no longer just toxic wasteland air. This was something way worse, something that feasted on blood, formed tentacles and... seeped through masks.

The trial of blood Ned had left behind fractured into little drops of blood which then slivered into the puddles, making them start throbbing.

Out of the puddle where Ned’s blood had disappeared, a creature emerged.

Maybe this is why I didn’t see all that many travelers or creatures wandering about. Tenner laid down a getaway plan in his head and waited for his legs to start running on their own.

The creature landed on land, revealing itself as a huge black slime with a pair of eyes hanging off. Moving towards Tenner, blood dripped from its skin and translucent purple tentacles stemmed out of its eyes.

The feeling of the purple air engulfing Tenner made him shiver and start running, “dismiss” on repeat in his mind.

From the other puddles, many smaller slimes emerged, forming a circle around him.

Tenner stopped and looked around.

Within seconds, the creatures blocked every way out.

He raised a grin and the laserpistol. These things don’t scare me! He started firing. They’re nothing more than blood-hungry target practice!

Dozens of shots went up into the sky, down into the ground or out into the horizon, and two hit, blowing a small slime into smithereens.

Tenner ran out of the opening where black slime rained and ran forward. No looking back, no stopping. Those creatures aren’t worth my time. His vision entered a tunnel, his consciousness blanked out.

The sky had become a few times darker, the terrain -- unfamiliar.

Tenner tripped on a wire sticking out of the ground and crashed into the dirt, returning from twenty minutes of intense focus. He looked around and saw -- one thing was still the same.

The slimes streamed after him, dragging less than fifty meters behind. They were the most determined foe he’d ever come across, more than just target practice, and had to be obliterated, else they’d never give up.

Eyes wide, Tenner jumped to his feet, fired a few accurate shots then retreated a few meters.

The lasers hit the slimes and destroyed them, but compared to the size of the horde, four dead meant nothing.

No, I’ve gotta commit to killing each and every one of them, or else they’ll use my glorious strategy and run me down. Tenner halted with no intention to lift his feet or move another centimeter.

The last pixel on the laserpistol’s side blinked.

Tenner threw the old magazine away and put in the new charges.

The screen died and the weapon chilled.

Come on, I know this thing has to work! He urged the pistol with his thoughts and a few angry taps.

The screen flared up, each pixel glowing as bright as the lasers the gun fired.

It had its rest, now time for it to fulfill its duty! Tenner eyed the black slimes and waved them goodbye.

The laserpistol deafeningly screeched, the neverending stream of red flashes evaporating half of the horde in moments. The other half somehow slipped through and began their attack.

Tenner dodged their mushy bodies, kicked them away and unleashed a stream of lasers. Black rain covered his hands in goo, making it hard to keep them straight.

Five creatures survived, backed off and molded into one. Their huge mass shifted into different shapes until it became a slivering wall.

Tenner fought the heat in his grip and the weight on his arms to fire a final pair of lasers.

They evaporated a hole in the middle of the slime that momentarily started patching itself.

Tenner held his breath and jumped. On the other side, his heart started beating again -- he’d made it through without even a hair to spare.

The slime shapeshifted, ripping through the ground, tripped Tenner, its tentacles blocking him from retreating even a meter more.

He stood, bedazzled at the creature’s speed, letting the laserpistol burn his palms.

More tentacles of slime emerged out of the ground, crawling up his legs, formed teeth and bit down.

[Warning! Damage: -6 to health]

Screaming, Tenner gnawed and kicked. Fear broke through to the center of his mind and intense regret overwhelmed him. He didn’t even realize his legs had started running down the sprawling hill, dodging the shifting earth, the emerging tentacles and the mini sinkholes. He knew the main mass of the creature would catch up in a second so he jumped, falling at least ten meters.

[Warning! Damage: -24 to health]

[Being’s HP: + ½ ]

Indeed, the massive machination of slime crawled halfway down the vertical landscape in mere seconds.

Tenner finished tumbling down and struggled to his feet, having picked up a few scars on them.

Honestly, that creature is terrifying. Still, it isn’t stronger than me nor is it worth my respect. In fact, it’s so unworthy I might as well stop this fight here and now, and remove myself!

...Though I just have to figure where to. He looked away from the slime and towards the dark wasteland.

His pants and parts of his coat were covered in blood. The ground under him was red too. There was a long trail of blood… the one his bounty had left behind.

Tenner turned and saw the mist, a light brightly glowing deep inside.

It was the only way he could go to avoid giving any more of his attention to the slime. So he went there, as fast as his sore legs allowed.

The slime didn’t back down, fueled by the blood to chase at an insane speed to get some more.

Tenner quickly lost distance, hope -- even quicker. Maybe he could return to the trail of blood? The slime was fueled by its scent, but going over, it slowed down every dozen meters to suck it up. He could slow down and--

No. He trudged forth, starting to limp. I’ll see the light. And I won’t listen to this stupid voice of doubt...

The darkness made it hard to gauge distance -- unexpectedly, the massive dust mist swallowed him, taking away the last of the visibility.

Even if he couldn’t see, he knew the slime was close.

[Warning! Damage: -5 to health] [7x]

[Being’s HP: ½ ]

Half a minute later, the seemingly enormous mist was already behind him. A rumble came from the left and a truck--with blinding headlights--levitated past.

Tenner’s face glowed. I did it, he thought, starting to tail the vehicle. I outran that stupid--

If his legs weren’t injured, it might’ve been caught. Instead, the vehicle’s glowing engines blasted it away from him, doubling the gap every second. In its wake, magnificent clouds of dust ascended and shifted into mist.

At the same time, the gap between Tenner and the slime eroded.

Shock overwhelmed his thoughts, letting his instincts do the work. He’d missed the only way out of this desolation and wouldn’t see civilization for a long time. All because of that creature. It reached the end of the scale, going from being disrespectful, to not worthy of his time to worthy of only death.

Tenner would show that pathetic fucking slime what it meant to mess with his dreams, dual-wielding the axe and laserpistol, and faced the creature.

As the slime neared, lights appeared far behind it. The creature’s body cast a huge shadow over Tenner, making it look grand like a mountain.

Tenner lowered the axe and his vision lost focus -- a realization had set in. This is a trail.

The massive mist and flickering light are here not because of one of these trucks, but countless, which pass without stop.

He had to obliterate the slime until the truck reached him and then hop on it. That would be his way out. Not all was lost, yet teaching the creature a well-deserved lesson would be tricky… considering how close it had gotten in the moment Tenner used to think.

He returned from his thoughts, refocusing on his vision. With the creature in sight, he pulled down the trigger, fury flowing through the finger.

The laserpistol started collapsing in his hands: each shot became louder than the last, sometimes causing intense recoil or sending flashes of heat down the handle.

The slime soaked up the lasers and shrunk with every hit, but still managed to move forward like nothing happened.

Tenner threw the pistol on the ground, unable to bear its heat any longer, and thought, what do I do?!

His hands equipped his axe and faced a question. They could continue with his plan and finish off the slime instead of jumping on the vehicle which was right ahead. There was a simple risk there: the slime might pull a dirty trick and no more trucks might fly down this trail. Then, he’d really be screwed.

The other choice would be to forgive the slime’s disrespect and carry on with what mattered most to him.

Ah, if that truck would only slow down for a second so I could kill this creature! Tenner frowned and spun, slicing the slime once before breaking into a run after the vehicle.

The axe did quite a lot of damage--more than any laser had--blowing off a chunk of sludge. The creature remained alive and should’ve bowed before Tenner’s forgiveness -- he’d spared its pitiful life.

Tenner reached a point behind the truck perfect for jumping on. Then, the remainder of the ungrateful slime shapeshifted and rocked the ground. He tripped over the newly formed rocks under his feet. But right before falling face-first into them, he caught his balance, using them as a ramp.

He jumped. And clung to the truck’s edge by the tips of his fingers.

Tentacles of purple air tried to seep into his mask and the slime tried to shift into a shape that could clamber atop the vehicle, but the vehicle was too fast.

Hands shaking, mind pumped full of adrenaline, Tenner stood up and sneaked over to the back where he found a metal door.