Chapter 10
Two Bosses
Memories continued.
In an abandoned weed-filled backyard in a ghost town, lying next to a broken, rusted-out wheelbarrow, seconds from getting eaten by a pissed-off Boss.
This time he maxed it out, pushing as many Demon Tears as he could into the skill, supercharging it. The Demon Tears would increase the duration and effect of this skill. But as always, cool down was a bitch.
He'd have one minute. For him, that one minute would feel like fifteen. It would be days before he could use this skill again, but he'd burn that bridge if he lived long enough.
The world around him slowed. He flung himself to the side as a piece of the house missed him by inches. A claw slashed toward his head. This time, he was expecting it. Ducking back, he swung the sword he'd somehow hung on to, cutting off one of the dirty claws along with part of the Boss's finger. For a Boss that was a flesh wound, and the finger and claw would grow back in a day or less.
With an angry roar, the Boss's foot connected with Leo, a glancing blow, sending him some twenty feet into a broken-down cement block wall.
Leo felt something coming at him from behind. He forced himself up and jumped over the broken wall, backing frantically into what was left of the street.
There were two Bosses now, directly in front of him. The second Boss was a little smaller than the first, but just as fast, the dirty yellow fang on the left side of its mouth was chipped. He wondered how it got that way.
With loud, low-pitched growls, the two Bosses spread out, coming at him from opposite sides.
He backed up quickly, keeping both of them in view. He was a little faster than they were now, but they were bigger, stronger, and covered with heavy bone armor that he knew from experience was hard to penetrate.
He rushed the larger Boss, Boss-One, his sword held high. It raised its hands to block his sword and grab him while the second Boss moved around behind him to pen him in. Instead of swinging his sword at the Boss's head, he dove between its legs, putting all of his strength into pushing his sword through Boss-one's left foot. Its feet were armored too, but not as well.
He drove his sword through the bony foot and into the broken asphalt beneath while rolling between Boss-one's legs. Once he was behind it, he pulled out his backup dagger, a long ice pick he'd picked up at some forgotten location.
There was a small gap between the thick bone armor of the Boss's skull and its almost nonexistent neck. If it wasn't for this gap, the Boss would have been unable to move its head. As the Boss reached down to pull Leo's sword from its foot, Leo had the perfect opportunity to jump on its back and shove his ice pick through that gap and into its brain.
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A wildly swinging arm from the dying Boss-one caught Leo and hurled him back. Ignoring the pain, he forced himself up. He rushed forward and jumped on the Boss's back and used its body to fling himself up into the air at Boss-two. While flying through the air, he activated his second skill, Wind-Sword.
Wind-Sword: A psychokinetic sword with a long range and excellent armor penetration, that you can summon at will.
Like his other skill, its cool-down was a bitch. Which was why he saved it for emergencies. Like now.
Boss-two backed away from Leo, like a linebacker going out for a catch, knowing that if it caught Leo, it could tear him to shreds instantly.
Leo swung his wind-sword at Boss-two as fast as he could, using it like an axe to cut through its armor. His wind-sword was unable to penetrate its heavy bone armor, but did damage it. He focused his strikes where the side of the boss's armored head rested on its chest and shoulder, cutting away at the bone covering the side of its head, neck, and collarbone.
Then, just before he was within the grabbing distance of the Boss, he pointed the wind-sword downward, sliding it beneath the Boss's collarbone into its heart. Twisting to the side, somehow avoiding its grasping arms, then, pushing off its head, he dropped to the ground and kept running. Boss-two slowly collapsed behind him.
Two Boss Monsters down, and he still had over forty seconds of real time left. Ten minutes for him. He retrieved his sword from Boss one's foot and ran around the area, killing every Afflicted he could find. Compared to Bosses, ordinary runners were cake.
Both time-dilation and adrenaline wore off as he approached the abandoned house where the humans were hiding. He wanted to collapse with exhaustion but forced himself to stand up straight, casually walking up to the house and knocking on what remained of the front door.
There were five humans in the house: a young man, a pregnant woman, and three small children. The pregnant woman appeared to be in her early twenties and looked exhausted. Her eyes stared off into the distance, like she'd seen too much.
“You saved us,” said the man. Like many people these days, his face was lined, prematurely aged from fighting to stay alive. “You're Goblin, right? I've heard of you. That ugly, deformed guy with an implant.”
“Yeah, that's me. Pleased to meet you, too,” Leo said. “Haven't seen another human since the group I sheltered with got wiped out over a month ago. I was foraging for supplies or they'd have gotten me, too.”
The truth was, he'd seen the Afflicted coming, and knowing there was nothing he could do to protect the other residents, he'd run for it. What could he say? Being a coward worked for him.
“Your timing is impressive,” the young man said. He raised his left arm and activated his implant so it glowed violet. Implant wearers greeting. “Illusionist, Rare.”
Leo smiled sadly, raised his own arm, and did the same. “Swordsman Common.” Illusionist was so much better than a swordsman. Illusionists could turn invisible, hiding themselves and others from Afflicted runners and Low-Level Bosses. In addition, Rare meant the Illusionist would get more advanced and unusual special skills to begin with.
The young man pulled out a map. “You don't owe us anything, but if my charges are going to survive, I have to lead our pursuers away. If you can get them here,” he pointed at a dot on the map, “without being followed, someone will meet you. If you're followed, nobody will meet you, and you'll probably die out there.”
Leo studied the map and nodded. “I'll do it.”
“There's a nearby stream you can use to throw them off your scent. Good luck.”
“You as well,” Leo answered.
The illusionist vanished. Leo never saw the man again.
***
Leo's bedroom door inched open, ejecting him from his past. It was his sister sneaking into his room to return his VR gaming glasses. Leo stopped doing squats and hid behind the door, waiting for her to come inside. When she did, he shut the door silently behind her.