Chapter 38
Belly of the Beast
Running forward, Leo/Joseph hurled the gas can into the Boss's gaping smoking mouth, firing at the gas can with the last of his ammo. The gas ignited, releasing a ball of flame and dark foul-smelling smoke. The Boss screamed in rage, lashing out with its tentacles. Leo tossed his empty gun aside and attacked, cutting off any slower-moving tentacles he encountered and dodging the rest.
The mouth closed with a horrible hissing noise, putting out the fire. In the distance, Leo/Joseph knew Jason/Gavin was still shooting at it, but it all happened slowly.
A tentacle grabbed him by the leg and picked him up. He sliced it in two, it fell to the ground next to a pile of ineffectually squirming severed tentacles. The Boss's mouth reopened, letting off a deafening scream. Leo/Joseph threw himself into its mouth attacking from within with his kukri knives, cutting anything that might be a weak point. Time would speed up soon, and he had to make every second count.
The virtual stench of burnt flesh and gasoline made him gag. The mouth closed as it tried to swallow him. Darkness. Leo held his breath and kept hacking at the giant mouth. Sick mucus-like fluids covered him, burning his skin. They must be acidic. His health bar went down. He kept stabbing and hacking, searching for any organ that might be a weak point. This was an all of nothing attack. If he failed here, they were done for.
Hacking deeper inside the creature, he encountered a pulsing organ the size of a basketball. He stabbed. It exploded, a hot, tar-like fluid combined with the rest of the fluids covering Leo/Joseph. He desperately tried to breathe and couldn't. Everything started going black.
There was light as its mouth was wrenched open, and hands reached in to pull him out. He collapsed outside, coughing up fluids and gasping for breath. His health bar firmly in the red.
With a loud shuddering breath, the Boss breathed its last.
They'd done it.
“Congratulations! You have completed your quest!” Imp said. “You have also leveled up in running, hiding, and fighting virtual monsters, virtual shooting, and knife-wielding skills, and you have gained 30 Demon Tears.”
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Another cut-scene began. A tired, dirty, banged up, battered Gunslinger Gavin stood on top of the dead monster Boss and shouted. “WHO'S NEXT?”
Leo thought this was unfair considering he'd done most of the work of killing the thing, but kept it to himself.
One of the few surviving late general's, soldiers waved a white tee-shirt in surrender.
In the distance, the DUMB representative made a run for it. Gavin raised a pistol and fired, shooting out her left knee and sending her crashing to the ground.
“We just want to go home, see our families again, assuming we have any left,” a crying soldier said. All fourteen surviving soldiers (of the original fifty) had been disarmed and surrounded by heavily armed preppers who were less than happy with them. One of the younger prepper men had picked up the “Don't Tread on Me,” flag and was trying to brush off the footprints with his hands.
Thanks to the general throwing things around, the prepper supplies were scattered all over the valley. One of the older prepper women was organizing the children to gather the supplies to return them to storage.
The two boys followed the DUMB official as she crawled away, quickly catching up with her.
“Not so tough now your general isn't around,” Gavin said, sucking on his vape pen, taking another hit of his medication. She stared up at him, a plastic smile still on her face, but her eyes full of hate. “I distinctly remember asking you a question. Now, the way I see it, you've still got one good knee, two good arms, feet, shoulders, hips. And I got plenty of bullets from those surrendering soldiers.”
She spat in his direction. “Idiots!” she hissed. “You've gotten yourselves into more trouble than you can imagine! My people will crush you. They will annihilate you!”
“Then it must be Wednesday,” Gavin yawned. “My answer?” he raised his gun.
“Sir? Uh, sir?” a voice came from behind them. “Sorry to bother you, but the Constitution forbids torture.”
“It does not. Does it?” Jason/Gavin looked at Leo/Joseph.
Leo/Joseph shrugged. Civics had never been his strong suit.
“The eighth amendment to the constitution states 'nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted'.” The NPC (non-player character) speaker, a short gray-haired man, looked at them nervously.
“So what should--” Jason/Gavin started to say.
There was a high-pitched humming noise. The lights went out, and he was back in his gaming capsule.
With a groan, Leo pushed open the lid and climbed out. He was so exhausted he could barely stand. How long had they been playing?
“Just what do you two think you're doing?”
Leo jumped. The woman's voice reminded him of the evil DUMB official in the game.
“Hi Mom,” said Jason, emerging from his own pod, looking scared.
The woman stood next to a large, musclebound man in the doorway. They looked pissed.
Shit. This was going to be bad.