Chapter 26

“Here’s your gun back.” Emma handed the pistol to Anya. “Only fire when necessary, you only have four rounds left.”

The girl pressed the magazine release, allowing the clip to fall out. She then counted the remaining bullets in her hand.

“There are only three shots left,” Anya said perplexingly.

“There’s one more in the chamber. Don’t trust that I can count?” The woman crossed her arms.

“That wasn’t what I was trying to do, sorry.” The girl aligned the barrel to her eye in an attempt to observe the bullet inside. When she did, Emma immediately snatched the gun out of her hands.

“Don’t… do that,” Emma sighed. “You’re really making me question my decision to return your gun.” The woman grabbed the clip from Anya’s hands and placed it back within the pistol. “Have you ever learned trigger discipline?”

“What’s that?”

Emma sighed again. “I guess not then. That explains quite a lot, actually.” She held onto Anya’s hand and gently placed the gun back into the child’s palm. “Listen, two rules, you need to follow them closely. One, do not aim at anything you don’t plan to kill. And two, keep your fingers off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Got it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good.” The woman released Anya’s hand. “Now, make sure that nothing’s obstructing the bullet."

Upon hearing the woman’s command, Anya returned a suspicious gaze before peeking inside the barrel. The moment Anya aligned the barrel to her eye, Emma seized the gun again and chopped the child on the head.

“Ow!” The girl yelped while rubbing her head.

“What did I just say?!” Emma voiced her frustration, baffled, unsure of whether the little girl ignored her words or if she was just that gullible. With her index finger and thumb, Emma rubbed the inner corners of her eyes to relieve the built up frustration. “That… was a test. I think I should hold on to this for now. Just… stick closely behind me and do exactly as I say, understand?”

“O-Okay…” Anya continued to rub her head, the thin gloves that the woman wore provided little in terms of cushioning the strike. “B-But I’m not handing over my rifle!”

“That’s fine.”

“Really? You’re fine with me carrying this?” The girl questioned, loosening her grip on the rifle.

“Yeah, it’s empty.” Emma pulled a small handheld radio from underneath her cloak. “This is Emma, I’ve got the package.”

“…”

“This is Emma, I’ve acquired the package and am proceeding to rendezvous.”

“…”

“We’re out of range.” Emma tucked away the radio. “Come on, we have to move close enough to contact them so that I can request for extraction.”

“Your friends?”

“No, just mercenaries my client hired.” The woman pushed the door open and walked out with the little girl following closely behind her.

“Why aren’t they here with you?”

Emma shrugged her shoulders. “They won’t venture anywhere past the five-kilometer mark.”

Five kilometers didn’t sound like much to Anya, but she wanted to make sure. “Wait, so how far do we have to walk?”

After a bit of hesitation, the woman patted the child’s head before responding. “We’ve got some ways to go.”

Anya drooped her shoulder at the somewhat ambiguous answer, for it implied that the journey ahead must be a long one. Her disposition was worsened by the fact that she had been spoiled by the Crawlers who carried her everywhere. Now that it was no longer an option, she was forced to rely on her least favorite form of transportation: her own two feet.

***

Like before, the hallway remained cluttered and in disarray. However, without the looming threat of the mechanical beast, Anya felt at ease for the first time since she entered the compound. The child knew that underneath the woman’s cloak was a weapon of raw destructive power. Nothing Anya had ever witnessed could match with the bulky gun’s devastating prowess.

“So, how did you end up here anyway?” Emma asked casually.

“I’ve told you, I fell through a hole.”

“I know that, but what were you doing this far from Luminus? Or from any town for that matter? Where are your companions? Don’t tell me you came here alone.”

“... No, I had companions.” Anya answered in a soft and melancholy voice.

“I see, I apologize for bringing it up.”

Anya shook her head. “It’s fine, it wasn’t your fault anyway.”

...

The two navigated the maze-like halls in silence, for the atmosphere became unsuitable for new conversations to develop.

In spite of that, Emma attempted nonetheless, desiring to dispel the unpleasantness.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? This place… well, when you disregard the homicidal machines, that is.”

“Huh?” The girl was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic.

“From what I’ve heard, this city has been running for centuries. Yet, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that this place was built today -- without actually seeing it. Clean and well kept, nothing like the surface.”

“...”

Anya did not comment, thus Emma continued. “The reception could use some improvement though.”

The girl chuckled slightly. “Yeah, maybe just a little.”

As Emma witnessed the child’s smile, she, too, couldn’t help but unravel a subtle grin while she snuck a quick glance. Anya’s jet-black hair was in disorder, however, its messiness only emphasized the girl’s childish nature. The specks of dirt and dust that spotted her clothing gave the child an aura of the wilderness as if she was an untamed kitten. Usually, Emma avoided children, but this time she had to willfully suppress her desire to cuddle the adorable creature in her arms. Emma obviously could not do such a thing, thus she had to limit herself to only rubs and pats on the head. Something about the child stimulated her maternal instincts, but she was unable to put her finger on it.

“Wait,” Emma commanded suddenly, breaking free from her train of thought. A tiny squeaking caught her attention. The woman stretched her arm out in front of Anya as her focus was drawn to the dark hallways that laid ahead. “What happened to the lights here?”

Peeking her head past Emma’s arm, Anya stared into the darkness beyond. Although it was difficult to see, the girl was able to spot a faint glint that appeared on the ground whenever the loose wires sparked.

“T-The lights… they were shattered…” The child’s voice shuddered.

“Shattered? By the machine? That can’t be, I made sure it was out of commission.” The woman’s hand reached for her weapon as she honed her senses to the surrounding terrain.

“N-No, it was the nurse’s doing…”

“The nurse?” With both hands firmly gripped onto her weapon, she scouted the shrouded corridor with the night vision scope. If she was in complete darkness, then the scope could have provided clear vision up to two hundred yards. Unfortunately, the bright lights that hung overhead rendered the attachment completely useless.

“Damnit, this won’t work.” Quickly, Emma unhinged the scope and placed it within one of her hidden pouches. “What do you know about this ‘nurse’?”

“S-She only travels in the dark, but she will smash the lights!”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know-”

Swoosh! Crash!

An object flew from the void and struck the ceiling light four feet behind them. By reflex, Emma fired a reaction shot.

POOMB!

The shell slammed into the wall at the end of the hallway, bursting with a bright flash of light. In that brief moment, Emma saw it, the strange machine that Anya called ‘the nurse’ as it dashed away.

“D-Did you hit her?” Anya slowly lifted her palms from her ears.

“No, it ran away.” The woman lowered her weapon and glanced at Anya. The child hands trembled, despite trying her hardest to hide it, Emma could clearly see what was transpiring under the cloak.

“Give me your hand.” Emma held out her palm. Anya did not understand the woman’s intention but shyly extended her hand nonetheless. Suddenly, Emma grabbed her hand and held it tightly, allowing the warmth to seep into her skin.

“Let’s get out of here before that thing returns.”

A delicate blush surfaced on the child’s face. To Anya, it felt like decades since someone last held her hand. It was embarrassing to her, not because the girl felt that she was too old but because she was not used to this sort of hospitality. Her fingers wiggled itself a bit deeper into Emma’s embrace. Having submitted to the comfort, Anya nodded lightly.

…

Not far from the boundary where the light and shadow melded together, the entity stalked them. Though they could not see it, Emma could feel it. Whenever they attempted to rest, the machine would promptly disturb them and then run away. Anya was clueless as to why the nurse would do such a thing, but Emma knew -- it wanted to instill fear. By not allowing them to rest, even for a moment, their bodies would be worn down as their sanity drained. After the second time she missed her shot, Emma understood that it purposely taunted her response, for her gun was the only thing that kept their stalker at bay.

The woman checked her magazine to find that only five shells remained, excluding the one currently in the chamber. Considering the distance they would have to travel after escaping the hospital, she would have to ration what was left the best she could. On the other hand, she had plenty of ammo for her 9mm sidearm, but regrettably, it was not very effective against the heaps of moving metal.

“W-Why is this place s-so cold?” Anya asked as she shivered. Parts of her clothing remained damp from sweat, which allowed the frigid cold to be intensified by the unrelenting breeze.

“Air conditioning,” Emma answered. “This entire building is air conditioned.”

“Really?!” The child’s eyes widened with wonder. “For a big building like this? They must've been really rich!”

“Every one of these buildings is air conditioned. And Anya, have you never experienced air conditioning before?”

“No, Daddy said they used up too much power and working ones were really expensive, so we didn’t have any.”

“What about the vehicles? Surely you’ve ridden those before, right?”

“Not really, I've only ridden in an iron carriage once and it was in the cargo hold.”

“In the cargo hold?” Emma was bewildered. Never mind that air conditioning was not really that uncommon, she was more perturbed that the girl would be transported in the cargo hold like an animal. “Were you caged up as well?” She jested.

“Not on that occasion.” Anya’s eyes were met with a pitiful gaze and thus felt that she had said something she shouldn’t have.

“That occasion? So there was a time…?” Emma decided not to pursue the subject further, seeing as how the child lowered her head in shame. “Let’s… just keep on moving…”

“Ummm” Anya mumbled, “about the-”

“Anya,” The woman interrupted.

“W-What is it?”

“It’s back… We have to run.”

...

Anya’s breath was short and frantic. Even with Emma doing most of the work, dragging her along, the child struggled to keep herself together. Their stalker had become more aggressive, most likely in response to its failed attrition tactics. Now, the creature unveiled its hostile intentions without the hint of reservation. With a swift glance behind them, Emma found that the darkness chased them vehemently though she still could not spot their assailant.

PA-PA-PA!

While running, the woman fired blindly at where she assumed their pursuer would be, however, all her efforts ended in ricochets. Whether Emma had actually hit her target was not important to her since she didn’t expect much damage from the 9mm anyway. It was mostly a bluff, to show the entity that she was not afraid to expend ammo when provoked.

CRASH!

Another light was extinguished, the creature was not falling for her ruse. They turned a corner and arrived at the outermost parameter of the hospital. Windows neatly aligned on one side of the walls, granting the light outside a passage inwards. It was not enough to clearly see the creature in all its detail, but just enough to distinguish its location. Emma switched out her pistol for her primary weapon. In order to fire the Ravager, she needed to use both hands or run the risk of breaking an arm in the process.

Emma knew she had only one chance to carry out her plan.

“Anya, keep on running.”

“Huh?” Before the child could process what the woman’s words meant, Emma had already let go of her hand. Immediately, the girl lost her footing and fell. Emma carried on regardless, she spun her body around and aimed her weapon. Her erratic breath destabilized her hands to the point where she could barely aim.

POOMB!

She missed.

The creature crawled on its four appendages like a spider, giving it a low profile, which would have proven to be difficult to hit even in the best of conditions. Fatigue, coupled with the massive recoil, threw her off balance. There was no time, the creature was just a few feet away from her. She attempted for another shot, but wasn’t able to move her limbs quickly enough.

CRASH!

Stunned, Emma watched in slow motion as the creature slammed into the nearby wall. The supposed bulletproof glass fractured into a million tiny pieces before descending to the ground like winter snow. A deep, bullet-sized dent was observed on the side of entity’s head as the creature twitched slightly.

Breaking from her daze, Emma adjusted her aim and quickly fired without hesitation.

POOMB!

This time, the shot connected directly with its torso, vaporizing what remained of its twisted and jagged form.

***

Atop the uppermost balcony of a nearby soaring clock tower, a lone man waited patiently with his bandage-wrapped sniper rifle strapped to his back. The large hole far above made the man aware of the fleeting sky as the cavern down below receded its warmth. Temperatures were lower than usual, which signaled the inevitable winter months that were soon to come. The cold did not bother him, however, as his brown overcoat prevented any heat from escaping. Leather gloves insulated his fingers from the steel body of his trusted binocular.

Bong…Bong…Bong…Bong…Bong…Bong…Bong…

The deafening rings of the colossal bell behind him was muffled by his ushanka hat. Raising his binocular, the man observed a structure seven-hundred meters away from his current position.

“Where are you…?” he mumbled in his thick accent.

Just then, he spotted a bright flash of light in one of the windows. The man quickly grabbed his rifle and zeroed in on its location. Two figures zoomed past as a strange being chased closely behind. There was no wind to worry about in the underground city, only bullet drop. He led his target, aiming roughly an inch higher, and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

POM!

At the pull of the trigger, the metal slug bolted out the barrel.

Through his scope, a small speck of light soared through the open air and arched toward the window. The round easily penetrated the thin glass before making contact with the strange machine.

After confirming that the target was neutralized, the man pulled a portable radio from his chest pocket and spoke into it.

“Boris here, do you read?”

“Szzzzzz” Static returned his call.

“No range.”

The man then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips. Using one hand to hold the lighter while the other cradled the flame, the man lit the tip