Beep, alerted her walker who pointed to a pile of debris and metal.
Wolf cautiously approached the trash heap.
The mangled Mannequin laid behind the trash heap beside a collection of empty aluminum cans. It shook sporadically. One arm moved, attempting to reconnect frayed wires. It looked as if it was trying to repair itself. The Mannequin's other arm failed to move. Black oils and grease covered the spot where she hit it with her bullet and left a trail to its new resting spot.
The walker pointed its large metal hand at the pile of cans. Breep, he sounded.
"These are just empty cans, Goalie," she muttered to her walker.
Wolf looked over at the detached head of the automaton. It stared back at her, blinking, and watching her every move. The porcelain-like plating of the automaton made the metal being look like one of Bloody Mirra's old dolls. She understood why people called them mannequins.
The Mannequin had a large sack full of trinkets and treasures. Wolf rifled through the large sack and pulled out cartridges of ammunition for varies firearms, knifes and blades, and complicated gadgets and technology.
Wolf passed the heavy sack to her walker, who loaded it into its cargo hull.
The walker once again pointed with its large right hand at the pile of cans.
"Alright, fine I'll check them," she replied, slightly annoyed.
Reaching in to the pile of empty cans she pulled out an unopened can with no tab to open it.
Wolf examined the full can and gently shook it beside her ear. It contained liquids.
Unable to read the words of the can, Wolf leaned the can backwards slightly. She could feel with her finger where the thin can was weakest when the air inside rose to the bottom.
Wolf pressed her finger through the thin aluminum can, creating a thumb-sized hole through it.
Wolf quickly pressed the open can to her lips and drank the pouring brown liquid.
The liquid was sweet and bubbly and full of sugars. It delighted Wolf's taste buds as she sipped through the tiny hole. She had never had this sort of drink before.
In minutes the delicious sugar drink was empty.
Wolf laid down her rifle. She hopped over closer to the pile and began searching for more unopened ones.
Beep, alerted her large machine, beep beep.
Wolf paid no attention to Goalie as she dug through the aluminum can graveyard.
A thin barbed metal stake pierced through Wolf's arm. Wolf turned towards the sharp excruciating pain and drew her sword from the sheath belted at her waist.
The barbed stake through her arm was connected to a fishing line. A harpoon and chain method used by Wasteland scavengers.
Wolf tugged on the fishing line and followed the line with her eyes. The stake pulled her to the dusty floor of debris and dragged her through the loose trash. Wolf reached for her rifle on the ground but it was already out of reach.
"Look what we have here," announced the scavenger who held a reeling rifle, a wasteland contraption that fired fine metal stakes attached to lines with an engine built-in to reel in the hooked prey.
Wolf sliced the line with her sharp sword, freeing herself from being pulled any further. She pressed her nails into the dirt to stop the momentum of the sliding from the pull.
A large group of scavengers emerged from behind the heaps of debris and trash. They enclosed around the wounded Wolf, armed with reeling rifles and various Wastelander favorites such as chainsaws, long single-edged blades, and lances built from sharp serrated blades welded to metal rods. A handful of the scavengers were dressed in make-shift scrap-metal armour and worn out gas masks.
Wolf knew her sword was too thin and fragile to strike through their welded armour.
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She licked her chapped lips and whistled a tune.
Her enormous metal giant, Goalie, charged towards the large force of scavengers.
The scavengers fired their barbed stakes towards Wolf, who dived to the floor, sliding towards the first scavenger who shot her arm.
Her machine swept up two of the armed men and crushed them to the dusty floor with its large right hand, pulverizing them into a blend of thick red paste and mangled armour with limbs and pieces protruding from the sides of the flattened mess. The scavengers turned their focus on the large machine. Wolf used this to her advantage.
Unable to reload his reeling rifle in time, the first scavenger tossed his gun to the floor and drew a slender, curved blade from the scabbard around his waist. The man swung at the dashing Wolf, who leaned over mid-dash- evading it.
Another scavenger looked over at his comrade, and ran towards them to assist in the fight.
Wolf charged the scavenger and aimed for his knee, dislocating it with a heavy kick.
The scavenger fell to his knees, yelling in pain. The second scavenger charged into the fray with a long jagged lance.
The first scavenger with no other option, swung his sword in desperation as he knelt on the floor.
Wolf held her thin blade up and parried his swing- sending his sword to the floor beside her. The second scavenger jolted forward thrusting his lance at her. The thin barbed stake through her arm tore her skin as she swung her blade, causing her to miss her first swing.
Wolf leaped up onto the long thrusting lance and with a quick flick of the wrist, she slit the first man's throat with a clean swing of her razor-like blade.
Noticing how ineffective his lance was on Wolf, the second scavenger dropped his lance, and drew a handgun from his belt.
"Enough with this," he insisted, "I'll kill you the easy way."
Wolf darted behind the first scavenger who held his throat together with his hands as blood rushed out of the deep laceration.
"Wait," he gargled, trying to speak through his neck wound.
The second man fired into his comrade. The first man shook as each shot lodged into him.
Wolf held up the dead scavenger as cover and reached into his holster pulling out a loaded handgun.
The second scavenger fired at Wolf, piercing a hole through the dead man's neck.
Wolf stuck the short barrel of the dead man's handgun through the fresh hole and fired back, effortlessly popping the second scavenger in the head.
The second scavenger fell to the dusty floor dead on impact.
"You wanted to do it the easy way," she sighed, holding the stake that penetrated her arm.
Wolf slowly pulled out the barbed stake from the opposite end so that the hooks were faced outwards.
The pain was excruciating.
Wolf turned her attention to her giant mech, Goalie.
Goalie lifted up its left arm and fired its anti-materiel Gauss cannon at the armoured scavengers, shattering their armour on impact and dismembering them. The massive rounds of its gun left them looking as if a grenade went off. He took away the fun, she thought.
Goalie was surrounded by dozens of scavengers, all firing their rifles and tossing fire bottles at it. The scavengers were trying to down the enormous machine to loot its cargo and wares. The mech itself was worth a fortune in ammunition.
Wolf quietly leaped behind the group of scavengers and retrieved her sniper rifle. She pulled back the rifle's bolt and expelled the empty shell from her earlier shot.
"À la vie , à la mort," she whispered.
Wolf swung her rifle onto her back with its shoulder strap. She cocked and reloaded her newfound handgun.
Wolf looked over, and analyzed her targets. She briefly hesitated, and then charged towards the scavengers- into the fray.