Chapter 17
The Battle for the Claremont
I looked at them and crossed my arms, and when no one had said anything for about ten seconds, I frowned.
“Okay, don’t piss me off. I’m usually a nice guy, but I haven’t killed anything today, and I'm getting the itch to stab something, so I’d start talking if I were you.” I told them. The woman audibly gulped at my words. I turned to her and gave her a smile, much too bright and cheery for the situation, and the woman shivered at my gaze.
I looked over at Beth standing behind our guests. They couldn’t see her face. It was a good thing cuz when I looked at her, all proud of my intimidation techniques. Beth was holding back laughter with both her hands clamped down on her mouth, and she was shaking with almost unrestrained mirth. I was really trying, and Beth kind of hurt my feelings. Well, not really, but I thought I had done okay.
I frowned, and I think our guests took that as me, showing my displeasure with their silence. Our new friends blurted out that they could take me there now and that it wasn’t far. I had to stop them and ask one of them to tell me so I could actually understand what they were saying rather than just hearing a cacophony of half-understandable nonsense.
Once I actually got a proper sentence out of one of them, we were on our way. We didn’t end up walking too far, about six blocks, and then we were led into the basement of a mostly collapsed residential home. When they showed us how to enter the hideout, I took the group member, a guy who looked to be the leader, with me inside while Beth and our other new friend waited outside in case of an ambush.
Once we entered the building, it wasn’t actually that bad. The house's basement had been cleaned up a lot, and there were supports to hold the ceiling up. It was a great disguise for a base camp, and I almost wished we’d thought of something like this, but then I realized the tree house was so much cooler.
We walked into a small room that looked almost like a mud room, but I noticed a small hole cut into a large, heavy door at the back of the room. Once we were standing in the mud room, I heard a voice coming from the little window in the door. The guy I was walking with dropped to the floor and shouted,
“Now! Do it now!” The next thing I knew, I got shot like twenty times, and it hurt a bit, but it was like getting sprayed with a paintball gun. It was annoying, and I hurt, but it wasn’t that bad. I might have some welts, but that was it. When the rain of bullets stopped, I looked down, and my arms were fine, just a few welts as I thought. The super frustrating part of the whole ordeal was that any piece of clothing that had been exposed now was rattled with holes.
I really wasn’t so mad they shot at me. Well, I wasn't hurt, so no harm, no foul, right? If I was being honest, I kind of expected something like this, but they fucked up my shirt, and that, for some reason, pissed me off a lot. I just put my finger through one of the holes in my shirt, and that was it. I was pissed now.
I looked at where the shots had been coming from and growled. Then, in a moment of anger, I punched right through the wall and connected with something or someone. Then, the next second, I heard a body drop. I pulled my fist free of the door and then put my foot through it. I had totally forgotten about the guy who had dropped to the ground and had given the order to fire, but as I was about to walk through the remains of the door into their base camp, the man spoke up.
“Please, please don’t hurt them. They were just following my orders. Please. I fucked up. I really fucked up! Please forgive them for my mistake.” The man was pleading with me down on his knees, which totally took the anger right out of me. I growled, then let out a breath.
“Fuck, man. I know we came off as super scary, and that was totally my fault. Honestly, I should have dealt with this whole situation better. We’re not assholes, and we just want to help people in this new crazy world. There’s too much trying to kill us nowadays. Better to work together than doom us all, right? I’m sorry, man. I’m Travis, and the lady with me outside is Beth. Can we all start over?” I said to the man. The man just blinked at me and then started laughing.
“I really thought you were about to kill us all. Then you do a 180? Fuck dude, I think I need a drink.” The man said, still laughing.
“I mean, I was kinda gonna do that,” I said, then reached my hand up and scratched my head, smiling at him goofily.
The man stopped laughing, and then his face dropped, but he recovered nicely, letting out a few nervous chuckles before coughing and telling me to follow him inside. As we were walking through the doorway to the inner part of the complex, I asked if we should just leave his companion and Beth outside. I told him Beth had probably heard the shots. That she might have beat up his friends, so it was probably a good idea to let her know I was okay. Hopefully, his friends were still alright.
The man’s eyes went wide, and he made a quick about-face, then we were out and back inside, this time with Beth and the man’s team member in toe. We walked into a small room where two women and a man stood with machine guns pointed, fear clear as day on their faces. The man who led us in waved at them with his hands and then told them everything was okay. Beth passed them the guy who had been injured. Beth had been helping him walk. They took the guy and led him off deeper into the hideout.
He told his people that we were new allies here to help with the cause, which didn’t seem to help relieve their stress much, but it did look like it helped a little. They definitely still looked scared of me, but let us walk into the next room unimpeded. The next room was a large room that looked like sleeping quarters, a living space, and a mission prep area all in one. There were about fifteen people in the room, and several drew weapons on us as we entered.
“Frank! What the fuck is this? Are you good? Is everything alright? Who are these people?” The guy who had brought us in must have been Frank.
“All good, Devin. They are here to help get the people out of the Claremont. They’re strong as fuck, too, so don’t go insulting them. This guy could probably kill us all without breaking a sweat, so Devin, play nice, or he just might kill you.” Devin blinked and then looked me over again, this time much more thoroughly, and then he scoffed.
“Yeah, okay, Frank, I think you’re getting senile. He’s just a skinny little fucker. He has a bit of muscle, but kill us all? Come on, Frank? Look, you skinny little shit, if you think you gonna come in here and just take over, you got another thing coming. I slowly began walking over to Devin. Devin did not like that and started yelling at me to stay where I was and to stop walking.
When I didn’t listen to his words, he warned me that he was going to shoot, and I ignored him. Devin shot me in the chest with his shotgun, and when the shot did nothing to me at point-blank range, his eyes went wide. It actually did hurt a bit. It didn’t break the skin. Well, I wasn’t sure, but I knew I would have a bruise. After getting shot, I leaned in, grabbed his gun, and bent it in half. He let go, and then I dropped the gun to the ground.
“Anyone else thinks I’m just a weak little skinny shit,” I said, and when all I got in reply was crickets, I continued.
“Good, now what’s your fucking plan, cuz? I’m pretty sure it sucks, but the good news is that we're here to make it not suck. It’s your lucky day.” When I finished my little speech, Frank just started laughing again. Thirty minutes later, we were leaving the compound and headed back to the tree house. We were a good ten-minute walk from our new friends when Beth turned to me and stopped walking.
“So, wait a fucking second, so you can just take a blast from a shotgun now? Like, what the fuck did you know you could do that?” Beth asked me. I just started laughing.
“Fuck no! I didn’t know I could do that. Honestly, I legitimately thought I was about to get fucked up. After my bullet shower, when I entered the building. I was pretty sure I would be fine, but it was a gamble. The shotgun blast felt like a punch, but It didn’t hurt that bad. I still felt the bullets hit me. I’ll probably have some bruises, but I'll be fine.
I was more pissed they ruined my shirt. Not like I have a fuck ton of those nowadays. I’m down to my last nice shirt, and I was saving that one, damn it!” Beth just blinked at me and then started laughing.
“You dipshit. I was worried about you, and you're just pissed off they messed up your shirt? God damn it, Travis, you idiot.” Beth said. She was chuckling all the way back to the treehouse, but I didn’t get it. I thought I reacted perfectly reasonably. I mean, come on, my fucking shirt! Bastard’s.
We told Janet about our little impromptu summit with our new allies, and Janet was kind of bummed that she missed all the fun. She was also pretty pissed that she missed my intimidation attempt. She fucking pushed my shoulder and laughed in my face. That kind of hurt my feelings a little, but I got over it. I wasn’t really too proud of that moment in my life.
We told her we had planned to meet up with them the next day at a spot near the Claremont. At that point, we would start the plan to take back the hotel. Janet said it was whatever as long as we got to kill those Claremont asshats. Night came and went. In the morning, we told Tilly that today we were gonna go beat up some bad people and that she would have to stay here until we got back.
Tilly didn’t want to stay behind alone, which was totally understandable. However, Tilly wasn’t really able to get in and out of the tree without us, so in the end, it wasn’t like she had a choice. Beth sat with Tilly, and they talked until, after fifteen minutes, Tilly was wiping her eyes, and Beth was rubbing the back of Tilly’s head.
We got our gear together and did a last check to make sure we had everything we needed for the little plan we’d cooked up. Right before we left, we all gathered at the door to the tree house and said goodbye to Tilly. She wiped away one more tear that snuck out of her eye, smiled at us, then spoke.
“I know you guys gotta go do this and help those people, cuz that would suck, and I think it’s really good you guys are gonna help them. I just know you guys are gonna kick butt and beat up those bad people and make them set all those people free, so just do it fast so I’m not alone too long, okay? And don’t get hurt, okay?” Beth smiled at Tilly, then bent down and hugged her.
When Beth and Tilly ended their embrace, Tilly stepped in front of me, smiled at me, and held her arms open for a hug.
“For good luck. Don’t die,” she said. I laughed, bent down, and picked Tilly up into a hug. She slapped me once and told me to put her down, but she was laughing the whole time. I put her down, and she told me I was a jerk, then walked over to Janet.
Tilly looked at Janet for a good couple of seconds. Janet was definitely starting to look noticeably uncomfortable, and it was hard not to laugh at how uncomfortable Janet was. Then, Tilly spoke,
“I know we didn’t start off right, but we should start over. You did help to save me as well, so I owe you, I guess. Friends?” She finished talking, and Janet looked a little shocked at her words.
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Then Janet smiled, bent down, and gave Tilly a quick hug. It was a sweet moment, and soon after, we were out of the tree house and on the way to meet up with our new potential allies. After a few minutes on our journey, I looked at Janet’s back as she was walking in front of me, and she had a piece of paper taped to the back of her armor that said kick me. I walked a little bit quicker and caught up with her. Then, without her noticing, I grabbed the note on her back. Then I crumpled it up and threw it off into the bushes.
“What was that?” Janet said, and she looked back at me.
"What was what?” I said with a confused look on my face. Janet just shrugged and kept walking. We made it to the meet-up spot, which was a collapsed school about a block or two from the Claremont Hotel, and our new friends were sitting around waiting for us. When we walked into the small hidden command center where we were to meet our new friends, at first glance, everyone looked pretty anointed with us.
I guess we were later than I thought. Janet saw everyone’s faces and said,
“What? What the fuck are you looking at?” everyone in the room flinched a little, then Frank Broke the awkward silence with a sharp laugh. Laughing, Frank walked over to our trio and patted me on the shoulder.
“You all actually came! I told you they wouldn’t leave us hanging, Devin. Good to see you again, Beth, Travis, and you must be Janet. Nice to meet you.” He said, then stuck his hand out to Janet. Janet was caught off guard by the whole thing, and she looked a little surprised at first, then she smiled. The smile Janet gave the man had a bit too much teeth behind it, and Frank was definitely sweating as he took Janet’s hand.
It looked like he was starting to regret his decision to be so friendly right now. As they shook hands, Janet applied a bit of pressure, and after a few seconds, it looked like he was starting to feel some real pain. Frank paled visibly, and his eyes began shifting between Janet and me as if looking for help. Then Janet dramatically shook his hand up and down and said,
“Well, very nice to meet you, Frank. Thanks for the warm welcome,” then released the man’s hand. Frank jerked his hand back and started rubbing it, then put a fake smile on his face and answered Janet, “Of course, it's always nice to meet new, um… strong friends.” His face dropped for a fraction of a second as he said strong, then picked right back up into a smile as he said friends.
Janet just smiled brightly back at him. We took in the group in front of us. They were all fit people, and pre-integration, they would have probably kicked my ass in anything they fucking wanted to, but now we were the human weapons, and that had to be fucking with them a little. They were all dressed in what looked like military gear or tactical shit, dark pants, shirts, and belts with what looked like extra ammo packs, and I saw a few grenades spread around. They were even wearing bullet-proof vests. Everyone had a rifle or firearm of some kind, and I definitely noticed a few police patches here and there.
This group looked like they were a tough bunch of men and women, but I knew at the end of the day they were so weak compared to us that I alone could kill everyone in that room if I wanted, damn, and fucking probably with one arm tied behind my back for real, that was just a fucking trip.
Frank was a fit, good-looking man in his mid-sixties. He had a face full of gray scruff and short-cut gray hair hidden under a black baseball cap. Devin was around the same age and had a similar look about him as Frank. Janet decided it was time to get down to business.
“So what the hell? Are you guys ready to do this or what?” The next twenty minutes were introductions and coordinating the plan we had all worked on the day before. When everything was said and done, we headed out to fuck this up. I was in a bush, close to one of the barricaded gates, and Beth was on the other. I had been sitting crouched in this bush for about forty minutes now. I was flip-flopping between trying not to fall asleep and holding my breath at every little noise I heard and made. Then I heard the signal.
“Knock, knock, knock bitches!!! Wake the fuck up! I’m here to fuck your day all the way up, assholes!” Janet yelled from about thirty feet out from the barricade. A voice came from behind the walls about a minute after Janet made her presence known.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you crazy bitch! You sure got some fucking spunk, you fucking slut! Why don’t you come in, and I will put you to good use bitch!” The voice yelled at Janet.
“Wow, the fucking mouth on you! Good thing your mom is probably dead cuz she fucking wash your mouth out with soap, you gross piece of shit. Oh, and I wouldn’t ever fuck you in your wildest dream. Like if I was really fucking drunk, and I mean I’d have to be FUCKED UP, I mean holy shit like alcohol poisoning close to death fucked up. Even then, if I were even gonna think about fucking you, your dick probably wouldn’t even fucking work, all that alcohol for nothing. Why don't I remove it for you?” Janet just yelled back at the wall.
I think that really pissed the guy off, and it took a second, but the next sound I heard was gunfire. That lasted a good minute, then it was quiet. A minute went by, and then, out of the quiet, Janet’s voice rang out again,
“You missed, you fucking losers! Wow, you guys really fucking suck at this! Isn’t this like all you do, like all day? How are you guys this bad at aiming?” Another volley of shots rang out, and I started to hear voices coming from people gathering behind the wall. It was almost time.
As more people gathered, Janet kept pestering them, and honestly, I think she was really pissing them off. Like, really fucking pissing them off. One guy even hopped the wall and ran at Janet with only a pistol. I couldn't see Janet from my position in the bush, but I saw the guy hop the wall. There was some yelling for a little while, then the yelling cut off, and that was that, and Janet was Back at it.
We were ten minutes into Janet’s taunts, and it was time. A good group of people were behind the wall now, and I could hear a bunch of yelling and angry voices. I took two magical grenades from my bag of holding, primed them, and tossed them over the wall, then pulled two more out and threw them.
I repeated that twice more, and by then, the first bombs I had thrown blew. There was a series of loud bombs, then a lot of screaming. Beth and I rolled a grenade each to the center of the barricade, and a moment later, it was gone. We then advanced through the destroyed barricades, tossing grenades here and there as we moved. Janet wasn’t far behind us.
As we advanced through the property, we heard loud bangs behind us. Just as planned. It was Frank and his people entering the compound behind us. There was a lot of smoke in the air now. We had definitely hit some vehicles with our grenades, which started some fires and made some pretty cool explosions. Well, cool to me, not the people burning in the flames.
Janet, Beth, and I were also given a couple of pre-integration smoke grenades from our new friends, and we had been tossing them here and there as we advanced through the compound. We entered the property and began our attack in their parking lot. They had a bunch of different vehicles ranging in size, but most were pick-up trucks with lift kits and massive tiers. I’m not saying they were all like that, but I’m telling you a good forty percent were in that category, so it was noticeable.
We had made a map of the compound before we attacked, or well, Franks people had drawn one up, so we knew basically where to go. We had planned an order of targets to take down so we could take the Claremont as efficiently and quickly as possible. The first target was the main work camp Janet and I had seen when scouting. The first target went down easy, surprisingly easy, actually.
When we had killed all the men and women guarding the people in the main work camp, we made sure Franks people cut the bodies from the fences that had been hung up as an escape deterrent before moving on. It was fucking sick. No one deserved that treatment. After that disgusting mess of human rights violations, we headed deeper into the camp till we came to what looked like the asshole’s living quarters. The first thing we did was toss a bunch of grenades into the mass tents.
Blasts started to go off left and right, and people started screaming. It was like the gates of hell opened. We headed into the destruction after the blast died down and cleaned up. It wasn’t my favorite job, but I didn’t flinch. This had to be done. However, I didn’t have to enjoy it. Beheading a man burnt to shit, missing a limb or two, and screaming. All I could do was try not to puke. I kept telling myself that I was stopping these fucking pieces of shit from torturing innocent people. People who didn’t deserve such cruelty at the dawn of a new world.
As we finished clearing the area, we began taking fire from a raised area, and we took cover. Then I remembered that bullets didn’t really do anything to us now, and I charged the group. I reached the wall and jumped, grabbing the edge and pulling myself over. As soon as I hopped the wall, I was immediately blasted with machine gun fire.
I have to admit it did start to hurt after a few seconds. In fact, I was getting hit so many times in the same spots that my skin was beginning to rip apart in places. When I got to the point where it was actually starting to really hurt, Beth and Janet had vaulted the railing. Beth got in front of me with her shield and I got a little relief.
I popped a Senzuketa Bean into my mouth, and my body started regenerating itself. It only took me a few moments to regain most of my strength. By that point, Janet had already begun laying into our enemies. It was a good thing Janet did because Beth Shield hadn't held up too well against the bullets. Beth tossed her shield to the ground while simultaneously pulling a new shield from her bag.
Beth and I joined Janet, and together, we made quick, bloody work of our opponents. Moving forward, we realized we were by the pool area where all those fucked up people were being held. We could hear rifle fire, and as we reached the pool area proper, we could see a contingent of Claremont assholes pinned down by what must have been the small group of Franks people.
We had sent a group of fighters to secure the rear exit in case anyone tried to make a run for it. The three of us snuck up on the group from behind and swiftly executed the group. We went to check on the people in the pools, and most were dead, some by starvation, but most looked like they had been shot recently.
As we stood there looking at the piles of dead in the pool. We all were stone-faced. There was no time for emotions at the moment. More people needed to die. I thought as my teeth ground together. As we were about to continue on, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a body move. I stopped, turned, and walked over to the edge of the pool.
Then, I saw what had caught my eye. There was a man. He had hidden beneath his fellows to avoid death, and as he emerged, more people began pushing forward. Then, we were pushing through the bodies to help the survivors get out of the pool. A few moments after we had hopped in the pool, the team that had been pinned down by the Claremont fighters we had taken care of made it to use. We work together with them, pulling people from the pool, and after a few minutes, we let them take over the effort.
I was filled with renewed rage as we headed into the center of the complex. There, we found the leadership’s area, more or less where we figured it would be when planning our attack. There were palm trees and large white tents. It almost looked like a scene from ancient Egypt. When we arrived, the leadership we sought was hiding behind a massive barricade.
It looked like the barricade was made of tables, chairs, and mattresses. It honestly looked like they had just pilled most of their shit up into one larger defensive structure. They had propped their barricade against some of the rubble from the collapsed hotel and touched themselves behind it.
They had left their attendants outside to fend for themselves in their rush for safety. About twenty of Franks's fighters were tucked behind cover, but the people behind the barricade were letting out bursts of fire, keeping Frank's fights pinned down.
Their attendants, by the way, were all naked women and a few naked men here and there, but I mean, I’m talking like a five-to-one ratio of naked girls to guys, so not really an even split, you feel me. They all looked terrified and were just trying not to get shot. As we approached the barricade, they let off a few shots at us, but when they saw that we were still advancing on them, undeterred, a voice from behind the barrier called out to us.
“Stop right there! One more step, and will blow you the fuck away, you fuck mother fuckers! Stay back!” We all just stood there looking at their cobbled-together defensive fortifications for a few moments, and then Janet Let out a harsh laugh. “Fuck you, asshole,” was all Janet said before tossing two grenades she pulled from her bag of holding at the barricade, and boom!
Bodies went flying, and blood was everywhere. Then, out of the smoke from the explosion, a blast rang out, and Janet took an explosion to the chest and was sent flying back almost fifteen feet. The next second, Beth and I both got A blasted to the chest and were in the same spot as Janet, Laying on the ground in a lot of fucking pain.
“What the fuck was that” Janet managed to wheeze out. Her breastplate had been hit hard, all of ours had, and the metal didn’t look like it could take another blast like that. Out of the smoke, a figure emerged holding a gun with a huge barrel and an extremely large magazine attached, pointed right at us.
“You fucking motherfuckers have fucked everything up! All the shit I built! I was just trying to bring civilization back. The world has gone insane if you haven’t noticed, and I will lead us into the future! If some need to suffer a little to help a new power rise in this world, then so be it! I will prevail today, and I shall right this land under the fist of my immense power, behold! I am the lord of Ragnarok! My journey will not end here. Now, die and feed my strength. ”
The leader finished his little monologue, let out an insane laugh, and opened fire on us again. Janet managed to dodge to the side and only took a glancing blow that spun her around. Beth was still a little sluggish from the first shot, and she didn’t move quite fast enough and got walloped again by what I figured now was probably a grenade launcher.
As for me, I saw him fire at Janet and immediately activated Step Lightly, disappearing. The next second, I was standing right behind the leader and apparent lord of the whatever to these fucking losers. With no mercy, I swiped out with my Halbert and took his head off. In one smooth motion, the man died, and the battle for the Claremont was over.