Planet Chimera (10 page)

At last, the gun broke
free, the force within my own body felling me to the filthy floor.
I stood up, shaking my head, and reached for the gun, taking a
closer look at the weapon. It was slightly heavy, the grip of the
rifle rough and broad, and had numerous scratch marks all over the
barrel. I exhaled, cocking the gun back, and pointing it at the
wall, my hand pressed slightly on the trigger.
This will serve me well
, I
thought.

“I think we should leave now,” Salyanna
whispered, her back against the wall, her gun holstered above her
chest, as she tracked something outside. “The mutant beasts are on
the move again.”

“Show me,” I said, moving towards her,
shifting around one of the mounted cannons, “How many are
there?”

“About a dozen or so,” she replied, pointing
her index through the spherical hole. “They appeared two hours ago,
and they have done nothing but watch us from the shadows.”

“The first thing you need is a distraction,”
I added, placing my right hand on the cannon’s breach, my eyes
locked on the box of shells beneath it. “One of you will have to
stay as bait, operating these cannons, whilst the rest of us
advance towards the madman’s stronghold.”

“But that will be suicide, Rave, the person
who stays will most likely be ripped apart,” Siron exclaimed,
shifting nervously around, both of his hands holding his rifle.
“But then again, running through that forest will be also
suicide.”

“If we stay here, we will all be killed,”
Salyanna screamed at him, with a look of anger on her face. “The
chimeras will eventually find a way to get inside, like they did
with the first group of guards, and they will slaughter us all, so
we cannot afford to stay here.”

“I trust, you have made your decision?” I
interrupted, taking a few steps to the stairs leading downstairs.
“I really don’t care if you come with me or not, or whether you all
survive this mission or not—the oath I made with the mayor was to
kill the madman and destroy his chimera army. So your lives mean
nothing to me, if I can be honest.”

“You truly are a monster, as the rumors
said,” Siron hissed, blinking, a look of anger on his face. “You
might not care about your life, but I care for my life; I have
family and friends, and I want to go back to them when all of this
is over.”

“Like I said, the only reason why I am
aiding your rebellion is for a ship,” I snarled, my head facing the
staircase below, and the gun in my left hand. “I truly don’t care
less what happens to everyone, when this is over.”

“Why you conniving…..bastard” Siron roared,
trudging towards me, with his right, gloved hand clenched into a
fist. “You caused all of this, and this is all that you have to say
to us?”

“Enough, already,” Salyanna boomed, standing
in his path, both of her hands extended outwards, in an attempt to
stop him from advancing. “You have made your motives clear to us,
Rave, and to be honest with you, I respect you for it. At least, we
now know where you stand in all of this.”

“I will leave it to the four of you to
decide who will accompany me to the base, and who will stay behind
as a distraction.”

“Where are you going, if I may ask?”
Salyanna asked.

“Don’t worry, I am going out to thin the
herd a little—in other words, I will be outside killing more mutant
chimeras. I really want to see how this gun handles against larger
foes.”

I descended down the flight of stairs,
listening to them bicker in a low tone, the wooden tread squeaking
whenever I pressed my feet against it. Jutcer passed by me, nodding
at me without ushering a word, ascending up to the second floor. I
turned left, plodding through the gloomy corridor, glancing at the
objects around me. Most of the lamps, mounted on the both sides of
the walls, were not functioning at all. I could hear the echoing
wind from the cracks in the structures, and the temperature inside
had dropped significantly from what it had been a few hours ago. By
the door, they had placed a metal bed frame against it, an empty
gun shelf beneath it, and a few blocks of granite rocks in the
back, to stop anyone from entering in without permission. Halting,
I glanced down, bending my knees, as I picked up two magazines
clips. I anchored the gun sideways, releasing the currents magazine
from its slot, and jamming one of the full ones inside. I cocked
the gun back, releasing the safety mechanism, a smile on my face.
My wounds had finally healed, the pain in my leg gone, and for some
unknown reason, I felt so refreshed and clearheaded. Although, on
several occasions, I pondered on where the bullets inside my body
went, or what would happened if my head was cut off—the answers to
these questions eluded me, but I never let it bother me. I mean,
why complain when you are immortal, right?

“Where are you going, lad?” the last man, an
older gentleman in his 50s, with a thick grey mustache, wearing a
pair of focal goggles above his head, asked me. “I have barricaded
this whole forte, and if you want to leave, please let me know
first.”

“What is that noise?” I asked, ignoring his
annoying rant. “Is that coming from your arm?”

“Why yes, lad, it certainly is,” he smiled,
pulling back his arm with pride. “I lost my real arm ages ago and
had to replace it with a mechanical one.”

For a simple town, this is
rather amazing
, I thought. The whole arm
was made from a copper like metal, with gears and bolts lodged into
it. Tiny wires circulated through the arm, a large oil filtering
device placed behind the elbow. The wrist and fingers were made
from several fragments of a thick plastic coating, a glowing bulb
on the index finger, and whenever he moved the arm around, clear
steam shot through a shoulder pore. It was amazing. I mean, it
wasn’t as great and advanced as Cyborg City technology, on earth,
nonetheless, it was fascinating. And the thing that I truly liked
about this arm was the secret gun, anchored next to his shoulder,
with two magazine slots next to his scapula.

“Impressive, right?” he boasted, raising the
hand in the air, a load of hot steam blowing out of the arm. “With
this hand, I killed six mutant chimeras, and carried a four hundred
pounds singlehandedly.”

“It is impressive, and I hope you put that
arm to good use, sir, when the chimeras attack us again,” I added,
placing my gun on my back, inhaling slowly.

“Oh, I intend to—I can assure of that,” he
roared, proceeding to laugh in an egomaniacal manner. “With this
arm, I am invincible. Hahahahahah!”

What a obnoxious
jerk
, I thought.
He is so full of himself—I hope a mutant chimera whacks
him
.

I heard a howling sound, the noise rather
close, and then a vicious bang against the main door. The door was
slammed again, dust rising into the air, and the triple hinges
rattled inwards. The monster, on the other side of the door, roared
menacingly as it poured all of its strengths into smashing down the
wooden door.

“Stand back,” I warned the man, raising my
gun in the air, holding my breath.

A chunk of the door was knocked loose and it
hit the metal bed frame; the wind flew in through the hole in the
door, and suddenly, a pair of bright orange eyes presented
themselves to me. I angled forward, pressing my right foot against
the frame, the gun steady in my hands. Firing twice, the bullets
maimed the beast in the face, making it writhe in pain. It snarled
softly, some of it blood splashing on the door, as it fell against
the entry in a loud thump.

“What is going on?” Salyanna cried, rushing
through the corridor, her rifle raised above her stomach. “Have
they attacked us?”

“I am afraid so,” the elder man, with the
steam arm, sniffed, dropping his head down. “It was my fault; I
didn’t secure the door enough.”

“This is no one’s fault, I can assure you,”
Salyanna smirked, patting the man on the shoulder. “It was bound to
happen sooner or later, and at any rate, we must make preparations
to leave immediately.”

“Cleiver, we have decided that it would be
for the best if you stayed here, and guarded this outpost,” Siron
said, moving past Salyanna. “You are the strongest of us all, and
you are invulnerable, right?”

“Well, it the shoe fits,” the man joked, his
steam arm raised straight into the air, before laughing like a
raging lunatic. “Despite hearing those words of praise, despite
knowing them to be true for myself, I cannot help but feel you have
another agenda and motive, and I want to know what it is.”

“One of us must stay here and man the
cannons, creating a breakthrough for the rest of us, as we blitz
forward towards the madman’s lair.” Siron responded, his hands on
his waist, trudging towards the main door. “But for it happen, as I
have explained, we will need a strong man, a man with an
unbreakable will, to stay here and operate the cannons, whilst
guarding the remaining outpost from the mutant chimeras. So will
you do it, old friend?”

“
Your words have convinced
me so,” the elder man, known as Cleiver by his comrades, nodded
with a big grin on his face. “My stomach churned, when you
explained to me your reason, Siron. I know that this is a suicide
mission and I will probably die, isn’t that right,
Salyanna?”

“You can refuse, if you don’t want to,” she
replied, shifting her weight around, avoid his solid gaze. “In my
heart, I know you are the only one who can do it, and the only one
with a high chance to survive against the chimera horde.”

“Is that so?” Cleiver said, turning his head
around, facing the opposite end of the corridor, his steam arm
clenched into a fist. “If any of you survive, tell my wife and
children that I am sorry.”

“No, you will survive and tell them
yourself—promise me that, Cleiver,” Salyanna said, pleading with
him, her right hand reaching out to him. “You cannot, and you won’t
die, okay?”

“Don’t waste your time lying to him,” I
interrupted, in a stoic manner, playing with my fingers. “If he
stays here, while we make a break for it, he will surely be killed,
and I believe that lying to him would be immoral.”

“Shut up, Rave,” Jutcer screamed, both of
his fist clenched, breathing heavily down his nose. “From the
moment you arrived on this planet, from the moment you came into
our lives, you have been nothing but a pain in the rear. Do you
feel any remorse and empathy for the horrors you have
unleashed?”

“Mind your tongue, Jutcer,” I hissed,
popping my wrist in a threatening manner. “Otherwise, I will cut it
off and shove it down your throat. If you recall correctly, your
people shot at me first, causing me to wreck into this stupid,
stinking planet you call a home.”

“Why are we even listening to you? Why are
you even accompanying us, if you don’t even care about us?” Siron
added, folding his arms, looking at me with a face of disgust.

“Fine, I will go alone,” I muttered, walking
forward to the door, and bending down to one knee. “Whether you all
come with me or not, it doesn’t really matter to me. Like I said,
as long as I get what I want, your lives don’t really matter to
me.”

“Enough, all of you,” Salyanna yelled,
causing me to turn my head around. “I know that you are all
frustrated and angry, I understand that. But if we fight amongst
ourselves like this, we will be slaughtered by the mutant chimeras,
and the quest will fail. Please, Rave, just this once, will you
stay and help us retake this region from the madman?”

“Only if you don’t get in my way,” I
replied, twisted my body around, to face them again. “I mean it
this time—I will not tolerate any comments, and insults from any of
you.”

Just as I finished my last sentence,
something slammed against the door, causing the hinges to come
loose. It snarled quietly, shaking the ground whenever it took a
step. Flabbergasted, we looked at each other, rifles firmly
gripped, before turning to the door, taking a few steps back. Long
claws, belonging to the massive beast, appeared through the hole in
the door, and started to pry it apart. I took it upon myself to
make the first move, firing at the creature with every bullet in
the magazine. Everyone else joined in after, and together, we
managed to push back the creature, maiming it beyond any reasonable
doubt.

“We have to go now,” I yelled, pushing away
the bed frame, and kicking the shelf next to it down. “Time is the
one thing we don’t have.”

“Good luck, Cleiver,” Siron said, taking the
elder man’s hand—his other real arm—and giving it a solid shake. “I
will see you on the other side, brother.”

“Travel well, Siron,” he replied, turning
around and giving Jutcer a manly, light hug. “Take care of Salyanna
and the others, Jutcer.”

“I will,” Jutcer nodded, avoiding his
gaze.

“And you, Salyanna, take……” Cleiver turned
around to hug her.

“Enough with this crap,” I spat,
interrupting him, holding the half open door with my right hand. “I
am going ahead, and if you want to come with me, I suggest you make
come, right now.”

“Sheesh! Okay, Rave, just calm down,” Siron
shrugged, pacing towards me, as he anchored his rifle in front of
him.

Opening the door wide, we all exited the
outpost, except for Cleiver, jumping over two dead mutants, as
Cleiver rigged some mines and explosives against the door, before
sealing it shut again. Strong winds whirled to the south, the snow
still falling to the ground as before. It was so bad that our feet
sunk into the snow, knee deep, whenever we walked through it. It
was still so dark, the moon was still shining brightly above, and
the cold winds blowing hard against us. Some of the trees, to the
east of the position, had been felled to the ground and lay against
the sides of the hill, like they had been placed there by some
unknown assailant. I heard twigs snapping, branches torn from
trees, and the sound of unfamiliar footsteps crunching against the
thick snow. Obviously, we were being watched.