Chapter I - 7: Guard Duty

Around midnight, in a brick wall's crevice in a back alley, two men were warming up by a campfire eating their potatoes. Both had heavy winter clothing from head to toe. A bearded man with a beanie seemed fed up with his fur-hat-wearing friend. The latter was annoyed by his current disposition. The smell of petrichor permeated the air.

"Damn rain… I can barely hear myself think! And why are we on the lookout in this alley again?"

"We've had this talk before, it's a matter of precaution."

"And I'll tell you once again: no men-eater ever goes by this decrepit corner of our settlement."

"Yuri, please… Stop whining. Keep on the lookout and eat."

"Eat!? Come on Mack, aren't you fed up with the potatoes!"

The older man aggressively stood up, "Hey! That's the hard work of the community! Show some respect, for Helion's sake!"

The response aggravated too, "Not when this is the third month of the same damn thing!"

"What the heck am I to do, then? At least we've got water! And say that to Mayor's face, I dare you, you little piece of-"

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Their eyes widened as they heard movement in the distance, amidst the thundering rain. It then stopped as fast as it made itself known.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Immediately extinguishing their major source of warmth with a fire blanket, they went prone and looked outside. In the distance, they saw an armoured female Gigan.

Mack addressed his partner, "No activities, you said?"

Yuri simply waved his hand around, "Yeah, yeah, whatever old man… What's it doing?"

"How would I know? She's just standing here."

"They all still look menacingly… Even when doing nothing…"

THUD!

Both flinched.

The Gigan now sat on the ground, back to the wall, seemingly motionless. The sentries looked sceptical and did not know what to do.

Yuri eventually spoke, "It's dead?"

"Nah kid, look at the subtle hand twitches. Probably slumbering."

Yuri squinted at the new arrival, "Still, anything particular with it?"

"Hmmm… The suit doesn't look like the G's standard Lorica assembly line. Looks more advanced…"

"You think it's with the Division?"

"I hope not. It's unlikely though… Her entrance doesn't fit the Reapers' modus operandi. Radio the camp."

There was a short awkward silence from Yuri as he searched his backpack. Wincing, he replied, "Well… you see… I may… Have left behind the communicator."

Mack disappointedly side-glanced him for a second and resumed his watch, "We can't return in this weather… I guess we should just let the rain subside and hope this Gigan is just a soldier drunk from a party. Hold onto your shapka, son, we're in for a long night."

His partner merely nodded.

***

Yuri hastily woke up.

He heard no downpour outside and the inside of where they were holed up was illuminated by daylight. He even heard birds chirping in the distance.

He muttered to himself, "Shoot… Must have dozed off."

"Relax lad." It was Mack, who noticed his awakening. He took a sip from his canteen. "Gigan's still knocked out. And you youngsters do need more sleep, don't you?"

The younger man grunted but held onto his remark, "You stayed up all night?"

"Not my first rodeo."

"What's a 'rodeo'? " Confusion about the term was written all over his face.

Mack sighed, mumbling, "Helion, I swear, kids these days…"

He resumed, "In any case, the rain's stopping. I'll pack the blanket; you get the Line Thrower. We're going back to base to report in."

Yuri huffed as he took out the tool from his backpack. Peeking outside, he aimed, ready to fire. However, at this exact moment, he was terrified to notice the Gigan's expressionless helmet directly looking at them.

A roped hook was ejected from the machine and shortly embedded itself into the ground. He rushed Mack, "The G saw us! Hurry!"