“And this way we can hit it from both sides,” said Jack squatting down on the forest floor with a stick in his hand. On the mud were some crude drawings indicating the plan of attack. “Soja will handle the broken Exo under the fall. See if it is working and bag anything you can while we distract Big Red.”

The plump boy nodded looking apprehensive. “We are still cutting it a little close to the buzzer.”

Tanner agreed. “We should be able to hold it for ten minutes. It will take another five to climb the cliff.”

“Still close,” Soja grimaced, still looking worried.

“It will have to do,” said Jack, clapping Soja on the shoulder. He got up, dusting off the grime off of his shirt. “Don’t look so glum. We will be back before you know it.”

“Yeah, just going to kick some Exo butt!” grinned Tanner, getting up as well.

Soja followed suit and got to his feet, with a determined look on his face. His previous skittishness wasn’t entirely gone but the plump boy forced his misgivings down and put his trust in his friends.

Soja looked at the two boys. “Don’t get yourselves killed.”

Tanner shrugged. “Dying costs money.”

Soja continued without missing a beat. “And don’t do anything stupid.”

“Define stupid,” Jack laughed. He jerked his head towards the waterfall. “Go on then, we will hold It off.”

The plump boy nodded and took off. He looked around the forest with apprehension as he left, finally having to face the dangers of the forest alone. Turning back, he gave the two of them a nervous wave before disappearing into the forest.

Jack watched Soja leave and the smile that he had been wearing, slipped off his face.

“Alright,” he sighed, pulling his right arm over his left shoulder, stretching his tensed-up muscles.

Tanner followed a similar set of routine as he prepared for the fight. “Never thought that I would be corralling and Exo.”

“No better day than today,” said Jack as he moved from his arms to his legs, loosening up his calves. He had a feeling that he would be doing a lot of running in the next few minutes.

“Ready?” asked Tanner. The tall boy had finished his warm-up and was looking eager for the fight. Now that they had a plan, his earlier reservations were gone and his keen battle instincts was bubbling forth.

Jack was similarly feeling the rush and spoke with bared teeth. “Let's move.”

Gathering the little bit of aura he had left, Jack launched himself into the trees. Tanner moved beside him with effortless ease, leaping from tree to tree as they rushed towards the Exo. Trees zipped by them in a blur as the boys slipped past shadows, concealing their presence as much as possible. There was no need in making their distracted enemy’s job any easier. The metal giant was still intently scanning the forest floor for any would be candidates.

Jack’s heart was hammering loudly in his chest as they approached the behemoth. Fog came out his mouth as he breathed in the chilly damp air but his blood was burning hot at the trill of the hunt. Adrenaline coursed through his veins making his mind sharper and clearer. All other extraneous thoughts were pushed aside and his entire focus was on the red Exo.

“This is it. Time to split,” said Tanner, taking a deep breath. In his hands were the beast pills that they had been saving till now. “I’ll take the left.”

“And I’ll be right,” said Jack, fishing out his own set of pills. “Good luck.”

The two boys separated and made for the Exo in a pincer formation, preparing to take the metal giant on from both sides. The plan required two people to play distraction for it to work.

Jack’s heart was hammering in his chest as he traced a giant arc around the Exo, waiting for Tanner’s signal. The tall boy had already disappeared from sight as he made to the other side of the walking tank. He should be making his move any minute now and Jack kept his eyes peeled for that very event.

The Exo moved ponderously through the forest looking for more candidates. Its titanic footfalls echoed through the forest and trees were uprooted as it passed by. He clutched the pills in his hands with sweaty trembling fingers as he waited, trying to calm himself down.

“One, two. Snake in my shoe.”

Jack made a beeline for the red Exo, weaving through the dense canopy of trees. It should happen any second now. His eyes were laser focused on the giant machine as he moved. There was a whistling sound in the air and Jack saw something flying towards the Exo.

Thud!

A fist sized rock struck the Exo on the side of the head with a dull thunk. Jack had his mouth open in shock at the balls on Tanner. He had gone off script and decided to spice up their attack plan. The metal colossus turned its giant head towards where the throw had come from when something else struck it right in the face. The beast pill exploded in a cloud of red smoke in front of the Exo, blocking its external cameras. The giant machine waved its arms in front of its face trying to clear its vision.

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Jack took in a sharp breath as he watched the Exo home in on Tanner’s hidden location and ready itself to charge in the direction of the throw. With a roar of its engines, it took off.

“That’s my cue.” Jack took the beast pill in hand and followed the rampaging Exo. Its vivid red paint made it easy to follow in the dark. Taking aim Jack tossed out two pills in quick succession. He didn’t have Tanner’s accuracy and could only keep his fingers crossed that at least one of the pills will hit its mark.

The first pill sailed over the Exo’s head and exploded above it while the second one hit it squarely in the back. The metal colossus paused for a moment and turned towards Jack, in confusion. Taking the opportunity, Jack tossed out another pill which struck it on its chest plate and a giant smoke cloud bloomed in front of the Exo, blocking its face.

The giant Exo stood still for the first time, slowly looking from left to right. It had probably clued in on what Tanner and Jack were trying to do. There was no point in a single person trying to bait an Exo. They will be caught in moments. Even Tanner would probably last only ten minutes. So, what if there were two people doing the same thing? He eventually would have to choose one of them, leaving the other free to harass it with impunity.

Jack swallowed nervously. This certainly wouldn’t have worked if there weren’t for another condition that had been set. No missiles. This was Jack’s gamble. The Exo definitely wouldn’t fire. Why would it if it meant alerting the security forces exactly where it was.

The Exo finally raised its head. It looked like it had finished deliberating. It turned towards Jack in a sudden lurch and began sprinting towards him.

“Scheiße!”

He turned tail and ran for his life. The metal colossus tore apart trees as it tried to get to him, while Jack desperately jumped from tree to tree to keep his distance. The machine engines roared in anger as it chased him and Jack juked left and right trying to tear the Exo from his tail.

“Com’on Tanner! I’m dying out here.” Jack screamed.

His prayers didn’t go unanswered. A loud thunk echoed through the forest and the footfalls of the Exo slowed down. Jack risked turning back to see three more rocks flying towards the Exo. One bounced off its shoulder while the other struck it in the back. The final and biggest one hit it in the face. Sensing the opportunity Jack lobbed a beast pill high in the air, showering the Exo in a cloud of red dust completely blocking its view.

Both boys circled the Exo like a pack of wild dogs, constantly nipping at its heels. Death by a thousand cuts was the intention and they planned to hold off the metal giant for as long as possible. Hopefully, they won’t run out of beast pills before the task was done.

Jack gritted his teeth as he prepared for the next onslaught. They had to keep doing it until the pilot realized that there was nothing that he could do. He couldn’t fire at them, he couldn’t catch them, he couldn’t keep hanging around the waterfall without getting harassed.

“This is checkmate, a**hole. Just give up already.” Jack spat out. The Exo had to pull out. It was the only option. Even if he didn’t fire at them, the red smoke floating around them was a giant red flag. The security forces would come sooner or later once they spotted all the commotion. The only sane choice would be for it to leave while it could.

The eyes of the Exo came alive as the metal giant turned slowly towards Jack. A chill raced through his spine and the hairs on the back of his head stood up. Jack felt his pupils constrict to pinpoints as he was hit by an intense sense of premonition. He had been gambling on the fact that the Exo could never risk firing at them. No sane person would.

But Reavers weren’t people, and they certainly weren’t sane.

The red Exo raised one armored hand towards Jack as it took aim.

“No!”

Machine gunfire rang through the forest and the trees around Jack exploded into fine powder. Jack was already leaping away from his previous hidey-hole even before the Exo raised its hand. The bullets sailed past his head barely missing him by a couple of inches.

“F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! You dumb mutter f**ker, don’t you care about getting caught?”

The Exo made a sweep with its fist as it blindly fired into the forest. Leaves, branches, and trees broke apart as Jack ran out of the rain of bullets. The metal slugs whistled through the air as the Exo emptied clip after clip into the dense forest around it.

Jack ducked behind a particularly large tree and sneaked a glance behind him. The sturdy evergreen was like paper mâché in front of the Exo, and would barely give him a second of protection, but he was that desperate. There was finally a pause in the Exo’s relentless firing. It considered the direction it had been firing for a second and then trained its fist towards the only section that it hadn’t shot at.

Jack watched in horror as the fist moved slowly towards him until he was staring straight down the barrel mounted underneath the metal hand.

THUD!

A loud thunk echoed through the forest. The Exo was struck with what looked like a small boulder the size of a human head. Turning to the side, Jack saw Tanner flying through the trees lobbing rock after rock at the Exo. The metal giant turned its massive head towards Tanner and was struck with yet another beast pill. Waving its arms out in front of it, the colossus charged towards where it thought Tanner was. The tall boy seeing this immediately ducked behind a tree and started to make his escape.

Jack gritted his teeth and followed. This was the worst-case scenario that he had imagined. The Exo was supposed to back off but it looked like the pilot didn’t like being teased by a couple of high school brats. The metal giant had its hand outstretched in front of it as it charged through the forest, firing indiscriminately.

Heart pounding in his chest, Jack emptied the beast pill bottle into his hand and began throwing pill after pill at the Exo. There was no point in being conservative when they could die a second later.

Tanner seeing the blooming red clouds behind him began waving his arms frantically. Jack stared as the tall boy signed with his hands, pointing at his wrist. Stunned, Jack checked the clock on his phone. Five minutes had passed already. Turning back to Tanner he saw the boy giving him a two finger salute before disappearing into the trees.

With intense unwillingness, Jack gritted his teeth as he threw more pills at the Exo. He knew exactly what Tanner was trying to tell. They had discussed this exact scenario, but was he really supposed to leave him like this?

He had been too naïve. Whenever he made plans, he failed to account for the people behind the equation. He expected his opponents to be sound of mind and make the rational choice when it came to their life. Ideological zealots hardly fit into that mold and his brash decisions were now going to cost him.

Jack took in a deep breath and forced himself to think. He had to calm down. Despite the dire straits, it looked like the Exo was still prudent. It hadn’t fired any missiles and went with the machine gun. That was a lot more silent but it would still attract the security forces soon enough. Maybe they still had a chance.

Clenching his fist, Jack turned away from the running Exo and headed towards the waterfall. He could only put his trust in Tanner. The tall boy was one of the most resourceful people he knew, and there was no one else in the world that he would trust more with this mission.

Racing through the trees, Jack hoped that they managed to buy enough time for Soja to finish.

“It’s all on you now, Soj.”