As Stan unpacked a new crate that was filled with old fashioned hunting carbines, the outline of a new customer caught his attention, “Isn’t that…”
“How’s going, Stan?” Dex appeared in front of Stan. Unlike usual, Dex was dressed in a t-shirt with the word ‘swag’ painted on it and a pair of shorts with a few ripped holes.
“Nice costumes as always,” Stan moved to Dex with an unwrapped carbine, “so, what are you here for? New non-official weapons for your hero play? However, don’t expect me to sale one of those bear traps, I don’t want any more of that trouble again.”
“Of course I’m not here for that,” Dex laughed nervously, and glancing around to make sure that no one is overhearing their conversation, “that time was really out of expectation. I didn’t expect that the guy would trip and get landed his head in the trap…”
Annoyedly, Stan swung the carbine a few inches away from Dex nose, “thank you very much for that, now I have forbidden to sale any more body traps for hunting.”
Dex stepped back a bit, “Well, I’m just here to ask a question.”
“What?”
“Have you been selling heavy calibre machine gun ammo recently?” asked Dex.
Stan looked curiously at Dex, “Why do you ask? Is your sister involved in that project too?”
“What project?” Dex asked back.
Stan turned around and walked back to his counter, then he came back with a tablet and list, “See here, look at how many purchases of 20mm+ calibre ammo belts are made this month.”
Dex looked over the list and compared the number of belts purchased as well as the purchase dates, “this is very unusual isn’t it, I am pretty sure the world is at peace now.”
“Maybe,” replied Stan, “but there is this project hosted by North Köloñ where kids at universities have to make some killing automated turrets and my store is getting crowded with kids every week.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Really?” Dex gave the list back to Stan, “Do you know when they will usually show up?”
“I seriously don’t know,” Stan rubbed his chin, “it depends how much they want to test fire.”
It was already midnight, but Tann’s awareness was at maximum (thanks to all the energy drinks). She had her trust NOVA on her back, her revolver in the holder on her waist and her new CZ75 auto pistol in her hand. Yet, on her other hand, she held a compass. No matter how much time had passed, she remained crouched in the dark corner waiting for her prey/hunter to show up.
“Not tonight?”
Tann looked down at her compass quickly: the needle was still stationary. She looked back at the broken window which fenced the night outside.
“Come on,” Tann moved a little to feel more comfortable, “I hate waiting.”
Suddenly, she felt a tiny vibration in her hand, so she looked down and realised that the needle was spinning rapidly, “Nice…”
She threw the compass aside and grabbed her keyboard to activate all the ‘gravity traps around the room.
The wait continued.
“Just attack already,” Tann muttered while making sure that every entrance of the abandoned room was covered with a sufficient number of traps.
CLINK!
Something flew into the room through the window and stuck to a wall. Tann quickly focused her gaze at it. The object has a smooth and flat surface and it appeared to be a piece of a shattered mirror.
“Hang on…” Just as Tann saw her reflection in the mirror, she realised there is something wrong. She reached out towards the mirror and she could see a strange spectrum of light being reflected off the mirror as well. Yet, the next second she realised something even stranger: something is slowly appearing behind her inside the reflection.
Instead of turning around to check, Tann dived forwards and did a front roll. Just as her a body reaches the ground, a deadly breeze passed above her and a new mirror pierced and stuck to the opposite wall. Tann quickly got up from the ground and blasted her CZ fiercely. However, she soon realised that she was shooting in the air.
CLINK! CLINK!
Two more mirrors appeared around the room, one stuck in the ceiling and one poking out from the ground.
“What the heck?!’ Tann quickly noticed a dark shadow behind her in one of the mirrors, instead of shooting behind with her pistol, she swapped to her shotgun and blasted the mirror to bits.
Finally, the sense of a being behind her was gone, but facing her, the Hetzer slowly appeared out of nowhere. Unlike its previous brothers, this one had a gigantic spherical head compared to its skinny body constructed of reflective metal blades and it doesn’t have the black and fluid-like substances surrounding its body.
“You are a new version?” Tann asked and signalled her ace in the sleeve.
With a quick pre-fire rotation, the turret opened fire, covering the room with the lead. However, the Hetzer seemed to vanish into thin air. Tann paused the firing, and the Hetzer reappeared in front of her. Through the glass openings on its head, the Hetzer blasted a terrifying shriek what made Tann’s ears bleed. Before Tann can recover, it launched two of its blade mirrors at her which sliced through her arms and stuck into the walls behind her. Then the Hetzer dashed at Tann, who with great pain still managed to fire back with her revolver, but the just before the bullet made contact, the Hetzer disappeared and reflected behind her. With a desperate attempt, Tann signalled the turret to change its target from the Hetzer to the mirrors.
Braaaaaaaaa!
The mirrors turned into tiny fragments and scattered the floor, but the Hetzer’s teleportation appeared to be more frequent, now, it could be at any place at any time.
“NO!” Tann cried as she rushed towards a plain wall, at the same time, the turret’s shots removed the wall for her.
Without hesitation, Tann jumped out just as a few more blades flew past her, leaving a few long cuts on her body.
SPLASH!
Tann landed in the artificial river which was filled with water. Right before losing consciousness, she looked back and saw the creature staring at her through the hole she made on the building, then, she started sinking.