CHAPTER 103: WWND
“I now know WWND,” said Nick as he and Lamar sat in tree branches observing the Scyrric base through binoculars from quite a bit away.
The base was different than any they’d seen before, and keeping their distance was necessary. The trees in front of the base had been cleared away. There was a wall about 12 feet tall, not difficult to jump or get over, but the wall was completely translucent. They could see through the wall, and the Scyrric could stand guard inside the safety of the walls, watching anything that approached them.
What Lamar and Nick saw inside the base was more than disturbing, and it took a lot of control for Lamar not to vomit from it. Besides six buildings that faced the front gate, and possibly more buildings behind, there was a large area to the side where they could see the taken humans.
Thousands of humans were out in the open, and it looked like they were tied to the ground. In front of them were long troughs, like you might see for horses outside a saloon in a western movie. One trough was water, and the other trough oozed a vile green.
Lamar really hoped the base was temperature controlled, because the December air was cold, and those humans had been removed of their clothes. Some were naked while most wore sack cloth like outfits. It was easy to see the shivering.
In the half an hour that they had observed the base, the Scyrric had moved around with organized purpose. Everyone seemed to know where to be and what to do. They gave no look or consideration to the humans and the humans were clearly avoiding drawing attention. Most of the humans were even on the ground, and Lamar couldn’t tell if they were resting, sleeping, or something else.
The one deviation Lamar saw, was when a Scyrric looked like he was reprimanded by another. Once free, that Scyrric went over to the humans, selecting one at random and removing whatever leg bindings he wore. A teenage boy was brought to the side where the Scyrric proceeded to beat him viciously. It was uncertain if the lizard man was holding back his strength or not, because that amount of violence should have killed the level zero human.
When he was finished, and the boy didn’t rise again, the Scyrric threw the body back where it had been, and the surrounding humans rushed to refasten the restraints. The Scyrric looked satisfied, like it was some form of stress relief. Once the Scyrric was gone, the humans did scramble to make sure the boy was alright, trying to figure out the severity of his injuries.
Lamar could only fantasize about Adam seeing that and leveling the whole base, those horrible invaders and all.
“I know what Adam would do here,” whispered Lamar. “What will Nick do?”
“Get the hell out of here for reinforcements,” whispered Nick. He looked appalled by what they had seen and enraged by it too.
Just before they dropped from the tree, a Scyrric that was dressed in what was probably fancier attire instead of armor, walked out of the central building. Behind him was a small Scyrric wearing robes with a hood covering its face. Then came ten rather large and tougher looking Scyrric. They each had very ornate weapons. Lamar got a bad feeling from them.
The fancier one walked more upright than the others, with his claws clasped behind his back. His tail was much longer than the others and seemed to have more girth to it. Lamar thought it was an odd detail to notice, but for some reason it drew his eye, as if the tail contained his power.
From this distance Lamar could barely make out his tag, even with the binoculars. Lamar saw it as “Base Overseer [32]”. The tougher looking Scyrric behind him each had tags that said “Riot Enforcers” with levels varying from 24 to 28.
After looking around into the forest in different directions, the overseer spoke. He used the trick that Adam did with the Rift Menu to make his voice appear somewhere else within the base. The overseer also projected the voice from all directions to outside the base, clearly unsure of the direction he needed, but Lamar could hear it quite clearly.
“One of our scavenger units has been killed by natives. I am aware that you are watching us, as our Scryer has felt your presence outside of our territory for some time now. They have also seen parts of your fight with the scavengers.”
The overseer’s voice was scratchy but had a rumble to it as well. He spoke more clearly than any invader Lamar had heard, while saying his words with clear conviction.
Lamar shifted his gaze to the smaller Scyrric behind the overseer and saw a tag that said “Watcher [16].” This watcher was trying to make himself look smaller but also seemed to be sniffing the air in different directions.
“We entreat you to turn yourselves in so that you may learn your place in this world and universe. That will be for the benefit of you and the rest of the natives. You are nothing before the might of the Scyrric, even if you follow that tagless aberration. Believing yourselves to be more than our possessions will just lead to the needless loss of your people. These natives have learned their place and are the better for it.”
The overseer paused for a moment, as if to give them time to turn themselves in. Other Scyrric were coming out of buildings or from around them and forming groups of 20. The forming units stood at attention and waited for their orders.
Lamar felt queasy while his heart and head pounded furious. At that moment he wished he was anywhere but here. While he wanted to leave, he felt like he had to watch, to see what was coming next.
“Very well. Since you won’t do your duty as our possessions, we shall treat you as you wish,” continued the Scyrric. He nodded at the riot enforcers, who turned towards the lines of humans.
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“The valuation will be woefully inaccurate but if we used true worth for the punishment then there would be no natives left. You took the lives of 20 glorious Scyrric. Each Scyrric is worth hundreds of you pitiful natives. We will daily execute two natives for each of those valuable lives you took.”
The riot enforcers arrived at the humans that were already trying to escape their leg restraints to get away from the vicious swords and axes that came towards them. The large lizard men started hacking away at the humans, felling them quickly. There were screams and sobs. A few tried to fight back.
The overseer tsked.
“You vermin need to learn proper etiquette. Screams and avoidance are inappropriate when punishment is given. Wound those who struggle or make noise.”
Lamar had seen enough. He had to get out of there. Adam’s rage didn’t seem so over the top now, as Lamar felt it just as strongly. His head was swimming and he felt dizzy as he turned to look at Nick, but Nick was already gone.
Activating [Creep], Lamar then used [Withdraw]. The surroundings blurred and Lamar was behind a tree about 30 feet away. He turned and moved as fast as he could while keeping [Creep] active.
The last thing Lamar heard the overseer say as he dashed away was, “make sure their bodies are intact when you catch them. We’ll need to present them to the aberration so he knows who they are.”
***
When Lamar arrived at the church, he saw that Nick was already taking action.
Before they had gone to check the base, they had found a rather new pick-up truck behind a mechanic’s garage. It had a lot of horsepower and a topper over the rear bed. While it wouldn’t be comfortable, all of Swan’s 23 kids could fit in it and the cab if they held on to each other, while the topper would keep them from falling out.
They had packed the bed with blankets and sleeping bags for cushioning. The truck also had a hitch, so Nick had hooked up a box trailer, loaded with his loot and supplies.
“We have no time, Swan! We need to go right NOW!” shouted Nick as he rushed to grab kids and stick them in the back. Swan was arguing with Nick but couldn’t get him to stop. The kids could barely flail their bodies in rebellion before they were stashed away, due to Nick’s speed.
When Swan noticed Lamar running towards her with a look of horror on his face, she stepped away.
“They’re coming. At least 100, maybe 200. There were a lot of units forming,” Lamar panted. “We won’t survive this if they catch us.”
“What happened?” demanded Swan, realization appearing on her face.
“Death squads are coming and you want an explanation?” complained Nick. “Just…get…in!”
Swan looked terrified, then rushed to the driver’s seat. When Nick got the last kid in either the cab or the bed, he pulled his knife and cut the hitch off, showing how desperate things were that he was leaving his loot behind. He rushed to the driver’s side and pushed Swan further into the truck and took the wheel.
Lamar barely had time to jump into the back before Nick gunned the engine. The truck tore through the town.
***
The trip down I-840 should have taken almost an hour, but the way Nick was driving it only took 20 minutes. He wasn’t going as fast as Adam on his motorcycle, though even with no traffic and a straight path, the kids in the back were bumped all over the place. A few cried, a few got car sick, and many bruises were suffered, but it was better than not going fast enough.
To get onto route 40, they had to go through a roundabout highway merge. For that, Nick slowed down. Unfortunately, halfway through the turn, the back window of the cab was slid open and Nick spoke through it.
“They’ve caught up. We’re in trouble,” Nick said, surprisingly calm, though speaking loudly over the sound of crying kids.
“How the hell did they go so fast?” asked Lamar, feeling panic setting in.
“They’re on the fugliest beast mounts I’ve ever seen. It looks like both the riders and the mounts are using skills to propel them forwards.”
Lamar flipped open the topper back, thankful for the fresh air. He watched as what must have been two units, 40 Scyrric, came bounding down the highway. What they rode looked like Komodo dragons, except they had four wing like flaps of skin that rapidly went up and down, giving their heavy looking frame a break from gravity. Their heads were difficult to see, while their legs looked like a chicken’s except with rough reptilian hide. Then their tail moved like a shark, swinging back and forth creating more thrust for them to move forward.
The beasts wiggled back and forth while they took large leaping strides. The Scyrric sat on them oddly, their own tails straight back as if a ship’s rudder on the top. Their necks and bodies were low on the beasts, creating as little drag as possible. They were moving even faster than the truck he was in.
“Any options?” asked Lamar, his mind going blank.
“Only bad ones. I’m choosing from the least of them,” returned Nick.
“That is?”
“I’m going to try and slow them down, or at least take out as many as I can. Swan will have to drive while you shoot any that get close.”
“That’s suicide,” insisted Lamar.
“I’m the only one with any chance of getting away once on the ground, even if it’s low. You’re the one that can fight while moving. It’s the only play worth doing.”
“The only play, huh?” Lamar asked numbly.
“Well, we could crash the car, ditch the kids, and use our skills to try to get away,” joked Nick sarcastically. Swan got even more frantic, not realizing it was a joke.
“We still wouldn’t get away from that many,” responded Lamar, not in a joking mood. “You know Adam won’t be showing up at the last minute to pull us out. The appointment skill says he’s been further west for a while.”
“I know,” sighed Nick. “Would be nice though.”
“When are we doing this?”
“I’m going to pick up speed for a minute, then Swan will need to take control while I climb onto the side of the truck. If she can slow to 40 mph, then I’ll jump off while stealthed. Swan, you’ll then need to drive as fast as you can.”
“That’s crazy! You two are crazy! I’m already shaking and now I have to drive like a maniac?!” shouted Swan over the yelling of the children.
“If you want to live more than one minute, then yes. Lamar will cover you as best as possible.”
The plan really was crazy. Swan almost tipped over the truck trying to take control. Lamar knew he couldn’t hit any of the Scyrric with his bow due to all the bumping that was happening. Hopefully he’d be able to do enough damage to their mounts to slow them down.
Lamar didn’t see Nick drop off the truck when it momentarily slowed, but he saw a puff of dust where he probably landed. He moved all the kids as close to the cab as they could go, then laid on his stomach facing the topper opening. He had to angle the bow horizontally just to get enough space to draw the wire.
Normal arrows taken from a sporting goods store were removed from Lamar’s pack so he could test out the range and stability of his shots without wasting his powerful arrows. Even using [Steady Shot] the arrow shifted in the currents created by the truck. Lamar would have to wait until they were within 20 feet to have a good shot. This was so far from ideal, bordering on impossible.
“Uh, Lamar,” squealed Swan through the window. The car swerved and almost flipped before straightening out. “We have another problem.”
Lamar propped himself on his elbows and looked through the cab’s back window and windshield. Much further down the highway, creating so much heat in the cold that they caused the air to become wavy like a mirage, the road was blocked. Hundreds of vehicles were taking up both lanes of the highway and moving at high speeds right towards them. They were sandwiched in.
Lamar groaned. He wasn’t going to have enough arrows.