FA+
Shop
1353 submissions
Gods for the Machines 54: Welcoming party
PATREON:http://www.patreon.com/Morpheus
Paypal:https://www.paypal.me/AMKibbe
Discord:https://discord.gg/B5PJ2x2
My Books for sale on LULU:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/amk1954
Chapter 54: Welcoming Party
The streets were abandoned, windows were smashed, and even with the ATV’s they were barely moving faster than the 4 or so pursuers due to the need to dodge glass bricks, fallen street lamps, and abandoned cars.
“Hail Mary by the father’s light may he….” Mary was shaking, her death grip on the handlebars making the ATV shake, while Kate tried to hang on while looking back and winging daggers at their pursuers.
“It’s like the apocalypse!” Sam shouted, “Where are we even going?”
Kate tried her best to shout back over Mary, who’s random prayers had only gotten louder at the mention of the word ‘apocalypse’, “Valborg’s got a population in the millions no WAY it’s all like this without us knowing”. Kate wasn’t totally sure if that made sense or if she was just telling herself that, she had to believe Atasi was safe, “As for where we’re going, Military base, police station, University. Pick one.”
“Why the universi-LOOK OUT!” Sam shouted. Kate looked back to the front just in time for Mary to plow into a dresser that had fallen out of the sky. The impact sent her and Kate over the handlebars and sprawling onto the ground.
“FUCK ME!” Kate shouted staggering up, “They’re in the buildings too!”
“Ow, ow, ow” Mary whimpered slowly getting up, too slowly, one of their pursuers was almost on top of her, claws bared and charging. Kate lurched and managed to grab one of Mary’s ankles and pull her away while quickly forming the sword for a big slash through the pursuer’s neck.
“GET UP!” Kate grabbed Mary by the back of her pants and practically threw her at Sam, “DRIVE!”
“What about...?”
“I’ll be fine!”
Same started driving again, Mary half on the back of the ATV and clinging to him while Kate slashed at the increasingly numerous attackers they had attracted. Her sword had shifted into more of a whip, arcing back and forth over a large area and nipping at the now almost a dozen freaks at their back. She alternated between giving a slash or two then jumping up to glide towards Sam and Mary, keeping the distance down as they progressed deeper into the city. Also of concern was a growing rumbling noise, like a low-grade earthquake from under the pavement that seemed to be following them.
“Guys I think we have a problem” Sam said. He source of the problem was soon evident as the road they were on dead ended with multiple sideways busses fully blocking the street.
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Mary stammered gripping onto Sam like a vice.
“You see a way though?” Kate asked between gasps, she wasn’t back to full yet, so the fight east tiring her, as was trying to force her wings to flap to keep up and avoid landing more often then she needed.
They looked around desperately as Sam kept going. There didn’t seem to be a way through though, the end of the street was entirely blocked with busses.
“Think we can climb it?” Sam suggested as they rapidly closed the distance to the busses, “You can give us a boost, right?”
Kate nodded but was increasingly distracted be the growing noise she both heard and felt from under them. Something was definitely going on that they would have to deal with eventually, but for now they had to just not die for the next few minutes. Then all thoughts of anything were quickly wiped from their minds.
The busses seemed to explode. The lights were blinding, the noise deafening, and the pursuers quickly stumbled as pieces started to fly off of them. Sam realized what was going on and slammed on the brakes and slid off the ATV away from the busses, he and Mary ending up on the ground behind the rumbling machine.
Kate joined them on the ground. The apparently wall of gunmen in the busses seemed to be targeting the demons, which was good, but also wouldn’t be able to NOT target Kate due to not seeing her, which would be less good, and also was a legitimate reason to hide behind her friends for cover.
The cacophony of gunfire finally started to die down. The noise and chaos it introduced quicky replaced with an almost deafening silence except for the rumbling noises from below. As their senses came back to them a booming voice broke the silence.
“What in the name of all that is holy are you two doing out here?!” The voice boomed out over a loudspeaker. Turning to the source they saw a gruff looking wolf in fatigues leaning out form one of the barricade buss’s doors, “Get your rears over here before we have to waste more money saving your asses.”
They did not need to be told twice and staggered up and scooted towards the bus, rushing in through the open door. Kate’s tail almost got clipped by the door behind them as it closed. Inside the bus looked less like a bus and more like a fortress. All the chairs had been removed, allowing much more freedom of motion, and metal paneling had been added along the side that faced where they had come from. The bunker-bus was a makeshift but nevertheless decently well-constructed armored wall.
The trio made for the other side of the bus where the rear door opened onto the other side, only to be stopped by a half dozen guns in their face and a collection of grumpy looking soldiers glaring at them.
“I.. I .. I can explain” Sam stammered.
“You better!” The wolf from before snapped, “You two better not be looters, or so help me I’ll leave you out there. So, before I decide to feed you to the demons myself, why in the name of fuck were you two out there?”
Mary looked like she wanted to cry, and before she fully thought things through blurted out, “We came to help fight them, we brought the angel and we had to get her to town or…” She trailed off realizing that their plan really didn’t go much farther than that.
“You daft, little river rat?” The wolf snarled, “FIGHT them? With what a busted ATV and your fists? And what’s this about an Angel?”
“That would be me.” Kate offered, causing an immediate pause and shifting among the solders as her voice had quite clearly come from the side of Mary where no one was standing.
“This some sort of ventriloquist joke?” The wolf started.
“Its not” Kate said, cutting back in, “I’m here and I need to get through”
The wolf stepped closer peering intently at the nothing that was talking to him. His hand reached out towards Kate, and she made no attempt to avoid it as his fingers bumped into her face, feeling around her muzzle and neck, confirming that there was indeed someone there.”
To the surprise of both Kate and her friends, the wolf only seemed momentarily surprised, and the next line he spoke wasn’t an expression of disbelief or demanding to know how this was possible, but a much more mundane question.
“What is your name, your title, and who are you looking for?” He said glaring at Kate intensely, eyes only a bit out of focus from looking at the wall behind her.
Kate felt like this was a test of some sort but didn’t have any way of knowing what kind of answers this man was expecting so she defaulted to the truth, “Uh. Well, my name is Kate. I suppose my title would be ‘Watcher’ or at least that’s the closest answer I got, and if I were to say I was looking for anyone it would have to be my, ah, er, my friend Atasi”
The wolf paused for a long moment, in reality probably only a few seconds, before letting out a long sigh and turning to one of the other soldiers, “Sergeant”
“Yes sir?” The youngish looking cougar woman responded.
“Give these… these three a ride up to HQ. Let the Irregulars know you’re coming.”
“SIR!” she said and nodded her head for them to follow.
They shared a look then trotted after her, the other soldiers making way for them as they clambered off the other side of the bus and followed the feline woman to a Humvee. They piled into the back while the women sergeant sat shotgun while another soldier drove.
“I take it you were expecting us?” Sam said, breaking the silence and voicing what they were all thinking, then nodded over to Kate, “Or at least her”
“Order came out to be on the ‘look out’ as much as it was possible for an invisible angel like woman, named Kate and calling herself ‘The watcher’. Would have sounded insane a couple days ago.”
“So, Atasi told you all about me huh? Guess it makes sense in context” Kate said.
“Not a clue who ‘Atasi’ is personally, ma’am. All I know is she’s in charge of research into this spirit nonsense crap, so you’re her problem as soon as we get to HQ. You can bother her with your question there.” The woman had a bit of an ‘and that’s all’ tone to her voice so none of them bothered to try to get any more out of her. Kate didn’t know how she felt about her existence being common knowledge but given the situation she supposed the miliary being informed in advance that she was a friend was a wise move. She sighed and leaned against the window trying to calm her shaking muscles. She was feeling better but would still need time, hopefully HQ had a place to rest, but for now at least she could take some comfort in the fact that the city they were driving through looked decidedly NOT destroyed.
This side of the barricade looked like a mostly normal place, cars and buildings and even the occasional person, though she didn’t see very many pedestrians and even fewer open windows. They were clearly scared, but for the most part the city was not an apocalyptic hellscape, barring a neighborhood or two that the military had walled off anyway. The fight was clearly far from over, but it was far from a lost cause either. Kate smiled waiting as the familiar streets leading to the university past by outside.
Paypal:https://www.paypal.me/AMKibbe
Discord:https://discord.gg/B5PJ2x2
My Books for sale on LULU:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/amk1954
Chapter 54: Welcoming Party
The streets were abandoned, windows were smashed, and even with the ATV’s they were barely moving faster than the 4 or so pursuers due to the need to dodge glass bricks, fallen street lamps, and abandoned cars.
“Hail Mary by the father’s light may he….” Mary was shaking, her death grip on the handlebars making the ATV shake, while Kate tried to hang on while looking back and winging daggers at their pursuers.
“It’s like the apocalypse!” Sam shouted, “Where are we even going?”
Kate tried her best to shout back over Mary, who’s random prayers had only gotten louder at the mention of the word ‘apocalypse’, “Valborg’s got a population in the millions no WAY it’s all like this without us knowing”. Kate wasn’t totally sure if that made sense or if she was just telling herself that, she had to believe Atasi was safe, “As for where we’re going, Military base, police station, University. Pick one.”
“Why the universi-LOOK OUT!” Sam shouted. Kate looked back to the front just in time for Mary to plow into a dresser that had fallen out of the sky. The impact sent her and Kate over the handlebars and sprawling onto the ground.
“FUCK ME!” Kate shouted staggering up, “They’re in the buildings too!”
“Ow, ow, ow” Mary whimpered slowly getting up, too slowly, one of their pursuers was almost on top of her, claws bared and charging. Kate lurched and managed to grab one of Mary’s ankles and pull her away while quickly forming the sword for a big slash through the pursuer’s neck.
“GET UP!” Kate grabbed Mary by the back of her pants and practically threw her at Sam, “DRIVE!”
“What about...?”
“I’ll be fine!”
Same started driving again, Mary half on the back of the ATV and clinging to him while Kate slashed at the increasingly numerous attackers they had attracted. Her sword had shifted into more of a whip, arcing back and forth over a large area and nipping at the now almost a dozen freaks at their back. She alternated between giving a slash or two then jumping up to glide towards Sam and Mary, keeping the distance down as they progressed deeper into the city. Also of concern was a growing rumbling noise, like a low-grade earthquake from under the pavement that seemed to be following them.
“Guys I think we have a problem” Sam said. He source of the problem was soon evident as the road they were on dead ended with multiple sideways busses fully blocking the street.
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Mary stammered gripping onto Sam like a vice.
“You see a way though?” Kate asked between gasps, she wasn’t back to full yet, so the fight east tiring her, as was trying to force her wings to flap to keep up and avoid landing more often then she needed.
They looked around desperately as Sam kept going. There didn’t seem to be a way through though, the end of the street was entirely blocked with busses.
“Think we can climb it?” Sam suggested as they rapidly closed the distance to the busses, “You can give us a boost, right?”
Kate nodded but was increasingly distracted be the growing noise she both heard and felt from under them. Something was definitely going on that they would have to deal with eventually, but for now they had to just not die for the next few minutes. Then all thoughts of anything were quickly wiped from their minds.
The busses seemed to explode. The lights were blinding, the noise deafening, and the pursuers quickly stumbled as pieces started to fly off of them. Sam realized what was going on and slammed on the brakes and slid off the ATV away from the busses, he and Mary ending up on the ground behind the rumbling machine.
Kate joined them on the ground. The apparently wall of gunmen in the busses seemed to be targeting the demons, which was good, but also wouldn’t be able to NOT target Kate due to not seeing her, which would be less good, and also was a legitimate reason to hide behind her friends for cover.
The cacophony of gunfire finally started to die down. The noise and chaos it introduced quicky replaced with an almost deafening silence except for the rumbling noises from below. As their senses came back to them a booming voice broke the silence.
“What in the name of all that is holy are you two doing out here?!” The voice boomed out over a loudspeaker. Turning to the source they saw a gruff looking wolf in fatigues leaning out form one of the barricade buss’s doors, “Get your rears over here before we have to waste more money saving your asses.”
They did not need to be told twice and staggered up and scooted towards the bus, rushing in through the open door. Kate’s tail almost got clipped by the door behind them as it closed. Inside the bus looked less like a bus and more like a fortress. All the chairs had been removed, allowing much more freedom of motion, and metal paneling had been added along the side that faced where they had come from. The bunker-bus was a makeshift but nevertheless decently well-constructed armored wall.
The trio made for the other side of the bus where the rear door opened onto the other side, only to be stopped by a half dozen guns in their face and a collection of grumpy looking soldiers glaring at them.
“I.. I .. I can explain” Sam stammered.
“You better!” The wolf from before snapped, “You two better not be looters, or so help me I’ll leave you out there. So, before I decide to feed you to the demons myself, why in the name of fuck were you two out there?”
Mary looked like she wanted to cry, and before she fully thought things through blurted out, “We came to help fight them, we brought the angel and we had to get her to town or…” She trailed off realizing that their plan really didn’t go much farther than that.
“You daft, little river rat?” The wolf snarled, “FIGHT them? With what a busted ATV and your fists? And what’s this about an Angel?”
“That would be me.” Kate offered, causing an immediate pause and shifting among the solders as her voice had quite clearly come from the side of Mary where no one was standing.
“This some sort of ventriloquist joke?” The wolf started.
“Its not” Kate said, cutting back in, “I’m here and I need to get through”
The wolf stepped closer peering intently at the nothing that was talking to him. His hand reached out towards Kate, and she made no attempt to avoid it as his fingers bumped into her face, feeling around her muzzle and neck, confirming that there was indeed someone there.”
To the surprise of both Kate and her friends, the wolf only seemed momentarily surprised, and the next line he spoke wasn’t an expression of disbelief or demanding to know how this was possible, but a much more mundane question.
“What is your name, your title, and who are you looking for?” He said glaring at Kate intensely, eyes only a bit out of focus from looking at the wall behind her.
Kate felt like this was a test of some sort but didn’t have any way of knowing what kind of answers this man was expecting so she defaulted to the truth, “Uh. Well, my name is Kate. I suppose my title would be ‘Watcher’ or at least that’s the closest answer I got, and if I were to say I was looking for anyone it would have to be my, ah, er, my friend Atasi”
The wolf paused for a long moment, in reality probably only a few seconds, before letting out a long sigh and turning to one of the other soldiers, “Sergeant”
“Yes sir?” The youngish looking cougar woman responded.
“Give these… these three a ride up to HQ. Let the Irregulars know you’re coming.”
“SIR!” she said and nodded her head for them to follow.
They shared a look then trotted after her, the other soldiers making way for them as they clambered off the other side of the bus and followed the feline woman to a Humvee. They piled into the back while the women sergeant sat shotgun while another soldier drove.
“I take it you were expecting us?” Sam said, breaking the silence and voicing what they were all thinking, then nodded over to Kate, “Or at least her”
“Order came out to be on the ‘look out’ as much as it was possible for an invisible angel like woman, named Kate and calling herself ‘The watcher’. Would have sounded insane a couple days ago.”
“So, Atasi told you all about me huh? Guess it makes sense in context” Kate said.
“Not a clue who ‘Atasi’ is personally, ma’am. All I know is she’s in charge of research into this spirit nonsense crap, so you’re her problem as soon as we get to HQ. You can bother her with your question there.” The woman had a bit of an ‘and that’s all’ tone to her voice so none of them bothered to try to get any more out of her. Kate didn’t know how she felt about her existence being common knowledge but given the situation she supposed the miliary being informed in advance that she was a friend was a wise move. She sighed and leaned against the window trying to calm her shaking muscles. She was feeling better but would still need time, hopefully HQ had a place to rest, but for now at least she could take some comfort in the fact that the city they were driving through looked decidedly NOT destroyed.
This side of the barricade looked like a mostly normal place, cars and buildings and even the occasional person, though she didn’t see very many pedestrians and even fewer open windows. They were clearly scared, but for the most part the city was not an apocalyptic hellscape, barring a neighborhood or two that the military had walled off anyway. The fight was clearly far from over, but it was far from a lost cause either. Kate smiled waiting as the familiar streets leading to the university past by outside.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 104.3 kB
Comments