chapter 11 [https://i.imgur.com/eXda07E.png]
Concept art for the monster horde
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"Over here!"
In the distance, Lucy had found the mining facility. It was a heavily armoured dome hidden behind a rock face that had a narrow entrance. The main blast doors were closed but someone had managed to open a manhole and people were clambering to get inside. There was a narrow mountain pass leading to the dome, allowing only 10 people in at a time, and everyone was pushing to get further into the passage. The main bottleneck was the manhole, being large enough to only allow one person at a time to jump in. It was too slow for the hundreds of people waiting. Time was running out.
Eric and the others, being the last to arrive, were at the entrance of the mountain pass, on the fringe of the pack. They would be the first people to meet the horde of monsters.
"No I'm not dying today! Let. Me. Through! Let me through!" Ben shoved his way through the crowd and disappeared from view.
Eric and the others tried to follow Ben, but in the haste of the situation the hole had already closed as others were also pushing forward. People in the middle were getting squashed as those in front were pushing back. Killian tried to yank someone back and take their spot but in retaliation was pushed to the ground. People were yelling to stop pushing as they were getting squashed and were struggling to breathe because of the pressure from the crowd. Lucy couldn't control the crowd. Panic was taking over.
"Ben!" Eric called out to the crowd. "Ben!"
Ben had left them.
Eric turned to Killian, Mervyn and Jaden. They also had desperate looks in their eyes and looked to him for guidance. The sun had fully set and the sky was slowly deepening its blue hues towards darkness. Behind them Eric could see a horde of monsters running straight towards them.
Eric looked to the manhole in the distance. He could see Lucy and Elizabeth yelling at people to move faster. "Jump straight in. Don't climb down the stairs, there's no time! Just jump and roll out of the way for the next person. Hurry up!" They too were flustered and afraid. He saw the rest of the people clambering, trying to be the next person to use the manhole. His heart sunk as he realised their fates. There wasn't enough time for them. The others would close the hatch before everyone could get in. That's what he would do if he was in Lucy's position. There was nothing else he could do to stay alive.
Eric looked back at his 3 friends. No, his brothers. His circle.
He wrapped his arms around his brothers, grabbed their occiputs and brought their heads close until their foreheads smashed against his.
"Fight." He said in a small voice. But all wasn't lost for everyone else. He could give them more time and maybe a few more people might be saved.
"Fight! Protect the others! Give the others a chance at survival. Recruits look out for each other!"
Shock. Anguish. Grim resolution. Fleeting emotions passed over their faces. "Fight!!" Jaden replied in turn.
"Fight!" They psyched each other up. Eric turned around and was about to yell at the horde when -
Rift.
He faltered, and for him, time began to distort as his brain recognised his impending death. The world slowed down into bullet time and Eric saw seven monsters running directly for him. Four more were already jumping at his limbs and one had jumped at his torso. His body was moving too slowly for his brain. He couldn't get out of the way. His brain had made him a passenger and he was only allowed to watch his demise in slow motion.
He gritted his teeth. Rift that! I'm not dying yet!
"Emergency override. Battle mode activate."
⟡Did you mean activate battle armour?⟡
"Rift yes! Just give me the damn protection!"
The monsters connected with solid metal. The AI voice had played a trick on him. It had already activated the armour on his initial request.
Two katars slid down in front of his metal gloves and travelled 15cm in front of his fist.
⟡Power remaining 95%, 90%.⟡ Eric was reminded by the AI voice that he only had a few seconds left.
He had no form when he fought, but he didn't need any. With the sheer number of monsters around him, every slice and stab would rend a few of them in half. Eric moved with fury and purpose. The only thought in his mind was to keep swinging. Keep fighting, keep standing, and hope that none of the monsters passed his guard.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Suddenly he felt pain. The armour and katars were gone and he was standing in the black suit, exposed for the monsters to ravenge. It hardened all over to protect him from the bites, but the teeth were too sharp and the jaws were too powerful. Immediately Eric cried out in pain as he suffered hundreds of puncture wounds.
Eric turned around and saw Mervyn, Jaden, and Killian also fighting in battle armour. They must have followed his lead and activated their battle armour after him because they still had power. He tried to yell out to them for help, but the words got caught in his mouth as he coughed up blood. The monsters had bitten his thorax and punctured his lungs. His eyes started to tear.
"I'm sorry", he croaked. Eric's knees buckled. The monsters had bitten him and refused to let go. The sheer weight of the monsters hanging off his body brought him to his knees. As he was brought lower, more monsters jumped, aiming for his unprotected head.
This is it. Eric didn't run from his death. He fought to keep his eyes open, watching his predators as they flew forwards his face, jaws wide open.
“RRRAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” It was a final gurgling yell of defiance before he met the Goddess.
Suddenly his eyes glazed over. And when he snapped back to attention, the monsters weren't there anymore. In fact, most of the monsters on him had also been knocked off. He still had a few monsters on him but they looked like they were chewed in half, eaten by their fellow monsters who also wanted a bite of him. Despite being surrounded by monsters, Eric was freed. He couldn't make sense of it. The Goddess must still want him alive.
People in battle armour rushed past him and protected the four who had returned back their default suits.
Eric sat there, still on his knees. They had been saved. Someone slid their arms through his armpits and hugged him from behind, lifted him up and dragged him away from the front line.
Eric looked up and saw that it was Ella.
"You can't die yet."
He fought to stop her. "Help. the other. three first!" Eric gasped out a command.
"They're okay! Other people have them."
He didn't believe her. "They're. not okay! They're. in those. mounds. over there. Ran. out of. power. Dying!"
He looked back. The mounds were missing. Instead armoured warriors were slicing apart the monsters that rabidly pushed forward. He could see his Killian and Mervyn being dragged behind him. An armoured person had Jaden and was carrying him over their shoulder. Eric dropped his head.
"Thanks."
Don't thank me yet, we're not out of danger."
She pulled him back to the edge of the crowd and collapsed on the ground, exhausted from all the sprinting and carrying.
Lucy had run to the frontline and was coordinating with the others.
"The next ten get ready. Okay switch!"
More people with battle armour appeared and took over those who ran out of power and turned back to black suits.
Ella hugged Eric again and started dragging him. "Let's go. We're both out of power, so we can't fight."
"Stop. Stop. It's okay, I can walk." His suit had been punctured everywhere but his ankle in particular was in tatters, suit and underlying tissue.
She stared at his wounds for a second before accepting his stubborn words and picked him up. She supported his left arm like a crutch and helped him hobble towards the manhole. Eric couldn't put any weight on his left leg and limped with her support.
"Sorry, I just wanted to help."
"You. saved. my life."
"Lucy saved your life. I, I, I'm useless. I used up the stupid battle armour to bully you."
She started to tear up, "I was wrong. I heard you talk about Lucy's leadership back at the stone gate, and I got angry. I know your circle doesn't trust Lucy and me, but, but..." She sniffed and wiped her tears on her arm. "I saw you looking at me. And then I saw you turn around and start fighting to protect us. I wish I could be half the person you are."
"Recruits. look out. for each other. You. Me. Circle."
She gasped out a single laugh. "You're a hopeless dreamer. Not everyone has the same principles."
In the distance Lucy was yelling, "fall back! Next group, switch!"
"Stop talking and save your breath. Focus on staying alive."
Eric and Ella hobbled to the manhole in silence.
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With the coordinated effort led by Lucy, there was enough time for everyone to tactically retreat and jump through the manhole. A third of the recruits had to participate in the defence, using their reserve to power the battle armour for a few seconds.
They had a geographic advantage. The narrow passageway in the rock face limited the flow of monsters. Lucy capitalised on that to provide a complete wall to wall human barrier against the oncoming waves of monsters. Fully armoured humans slaughtered monsters until the ground was covered with layers of dead monsters.
Zac was helping outside the whole time. Punching and kicking where he could. Lucy stayed until the last second, activating her armour and protecting the last few from next to the manhole, giving them time to jump inside. Just before she ran in and closed the hatch, Zac jumped in along with a few critters.
Suddenly blue light appeared all around him.
Zac jumped in shock. The bloody remains of the monsters lay around him. He was reminded of the shower room scene and very much realised that could have easily been him if he had been one step to either side.
Looking at the source of blue light, he saw a battle armoured person holding a similar device to the captain in the auditorium.
Lucy closed the hatch and jumped down. The armour disappeared and Zac saw that it was Ella. The two girls ran towards each other and hugged.
"Thank the Goddess you're alive."
"If it wasn't for Eric, we never would have had the idea to stall for time."
Outside they could hear constant banging as the monsters tried to bite and scrape their way through the solid metal hatch. Zac thanked the stars that the hatch was made of thick solid metal and that years of dereliction and rust hadn't impacted its function.
"Let's go in. I want to be as far away from that as I can."
"Good idea". The girls laughed and walked inside.