Chapter 8: Chapter 7
"..."
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"Listen dude, I don't want to start any fight. So how about we talk this through, yeah?"
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"...I-I'll accept your proposal. But the moment you start doing anything suspicious, I will use this thing"
"Fine by me... So anyway, who are you and what are you doing in this place?"
"My n-name's none of your matter! And plus, I should be the one asking you that question. Who the hell are you and what are you doing in this place?"
Telling him the truth will most certainly make this guy panic in our confrontation. And that is the worst-case scenario that I don't want happening. So for now, I should try lying to him.
"Chill, dude no need to be so paranoid. I'm just a simple scavenger, looking for places to scavenge"
"T-then... I advise you to leave! I found this place first and I'm not sharing anything in here!"
"So, you're a scavenger as well?"
"That's none of your business! Plus, you saying that your scavenger, I don't believe one bit. What kind of scavenger wears clean and neat clothing?"
Shit...
"Hey mate, just because you have poor taste in clothes doesn't mean everyone with clean clothing is out to kill you"
"W-what?"
"Besides... Isn't this place owned by the Settlement just west of here. You claiming this place as your own is a very dishonest act, if I say so myself
"W-w-well they left this camp unguarded. S-so you can't b-blame me if I took the o-opportunity to steal from them"
"Are you sure about that?"
"W-what do y-you mean?"
"I came to this place through west of here. And from my exploration, I've seen a few of the Settlement guards making their way through here
"H-huh..."
What I've said to him was nothing but a bluff. The reason of why I even tried to do it, is to make the person paranoid and drop his guard.
"T-that's a-a lie, if it's true then why are you even here in the first place"
"Well... I'm here just for the same reason as you"
"Bullshit! The most logical thing to do would be to not come to this place"
"Hey now... you said so yourself. One should take the opportunity to steal from a place if left unguarded"
"Huh... t-that's-that's.. that's"
Confused at the bluff that I've said, the man finally left his guard. Noticing the opportunity, I readied myself and slowly place my hand to my pistol.
But before I can even begin my plan on fighting back. A sudden unexpected occurrence occurred in the place that I was in.
-ROAR!!!!!
"The hell was that?"
Hearing a familiar loud sound echoed to the place. We both slowly checked the source of the sound. What we saw was truly a hyperbole of unforeseen events and seeing the scene left the man in filthy clothing shaken to the core.
"T-t-the hell are there so m-many of these things"
The source of the sound came from the many giant rats that surround the outside fence area of the camp. Seeing this many rats stare at us with fierce eyes and loud roars, I can't help but panic for a little bit inside my mind.
"W-w-why are there so many r-rathounds in h-here"
-Sigh
"Could you please try calming down and explain what is happening"
"H-huh... I don't know what's h-happening either. Rathounds usually only comes in pack of 3 or 6. But having this many could only mean that they're hunting for something that they deemed extremely dangerous"
Hearing the explanation of the man, I was quickly reminded of the giant rat that I let escape earlier.
Don't tell me that the reason why there are this many rats in here is because of that.
"Shit-shit-shit... what the fuck do we do?"
"Calm down will you, we're still safe inside th-"
But before I can finish my sentence. A single rathound suddenly came into our vicinity.
Fuck, I forgot the door was open.
Having a standoff with a giant rat, I suddenly felt a heavy sense of pressure fall upon me. Unlike my previous encounter with these creatures, I now am currently face to face with it and without any cover.
Seeing its prey within sight. The rathound immediately bare its fangs and position itself to an attack. Seeing the single rathound entered inside the fence, the many rathounds from outside hurriedly enter the area using the open fence door.
Seeing the current development of the situation, I can already foresee the disaster that is about to happen. Having no way or plan of dealing with the situation, I was left with no choice.
"Run"
"What?"
"I said run! We can't deal with this"
Saying said words, I hurriedly tried escaping the place. Seeing my actions, the man immediately panicked and soon followed suit.
"W-wait, w-what are you d-doing... s-shit, wait for me"
Seeing the actions that we have taken, the rats immediately chased after us. A typical chase scenario occurred between me and a bunch of rats. And seeing this scenario happened, I kind of regretted not choosing the Sprint feat.
While running as quickly as possible, we have reached the end of the fence area. Seeing no door are at sight, I swiftly tried climbing the fence. Seeing my action, the man soon followed suit. Looking at his desperate look, he somewhat reminds me of myself back when I was fired at my job.
Jumping over the fence, I quickly took a glance at the giant rats. Seeing how quickly they're approaching; I resumed my running along with the man.
"I don't want to die-I don't want to die"
"Calm down will you! You're still alive. Now listen whoever you are, do you know place where we can escape and hide from these rats!"
"-sob-sob... t-there's an abandoned terratech f-facility n-not far away from here –sob... m-maybe we can hide in t-there"
"Where is it then?"
"J-just straight of here, w-will soon r-reached the facility"
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While running for what seems to be a long time. We've finally reached the abandoned facility which the man has mentioned. I was starting to doubt its legitimacy when it took a somewhat long time to reached this place, but here we are.
"Haah-Haah... we've finally made it"
-Roar!!!
"W-what the!! They've already caught up to us, this quick!"
"Quit slacking off and get inside, quick!"
Seeing the fast-approaching army of rats getting closed to us. We quickly went inside the building and locked the door. Upon closing said door I can hear a loud sound from the outside and a great thud from the door. It seems that the rats are trying hard to get in.
"Ehhhh!!! they're getting in"
Knowing the disaster that will happen if the rats managed to get inside. I tried blocking the door with my body
-Thud -Thud
"Hey! quit standing there and help me block this door!"
"R-right"
Using both our bodies we manage to hold the door quite easily. Not long after we began holding said door, the thuds from the rats trying to get in suddenly stopped. Sensing said occurrence, a sudden sense of uneasiness quickly emerges from my body.
Somethings wrong
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"Phew! A-ahahah ahahaha t-they're f-finally gone... Thank God"
No, somethings definitely wrong about this situation. I can feel it...
Sensing that something is definitely not right. I tried scanning the area where we are currently in. Many rubble from fallen concretes can be seen along with countless of boxes and barrels. The floor above is blocked by a huge rubble along with the other rooms. And the only available room in this area is a small doorless room not too far away from where we at. Looking more closely at the only available room, all I managed to find was a small table. The table if I can describe it, looks somewhat similar to a typical computer desk; It has a few cabinets in it and a small open gap. I'm pretty sure if I use this type table, it would be hard to relax on due to not being to stretch my legs that much.
Not seeing anything wrong with the place. I tried scanning the area more. While in my exploration I've manage to find a few vent doors in the place. But aside from that, I didn't find anything unusual or useful.
Shit... am I being paranoid...
While being anxious about the current situation. A new text suddenly pops out in my view.
Certain Conditions Have Been Meet
-Emergency Quest is Now in Session
"Huh?"
Emergency Quest: Survive The Rathounds Encounter Without Leaving The Vicinity
-Failure of Condition will result in Death
"W-what..."
But before I can even have the time to process what I've just read. A sudden noise and rattle emerge from above the facility.
"What was that?"
The sound of rattling and footsteps can be heard more closely than ever. And judging from the sound, it seems that it's coming from the facility vents.
Don't tell me...
"Ehhhh!!! T-they're getting inside"
The sound that we are hearing are most likely from the Rathounds that is trying to get inside the facility.
"W-we need to leave q-quick!"
Having our situation turned from decent to worst. The man immediately panicked and tried escaping the facility. Seeing his action, I quickly tried stopping him from leaving the place.
Reading what the text just said earlier, leaving this place will result in my death. Not wanting my death to happen, I must stop this man at all cost.
"Stop!! Don't open that door!!"
But before the man can even reach the locked door. Another great thud emerges from the previously peaceful door.
"Ehhhh!!!!"
Just as I imagine, the rats didn't actually leave us alone. They were just waiting to trap us inside this building and kill us off by having the other rats get inside through the vents. And now that its comrades are coming near to us, the other rats are now trying they're hardest to get in by breaking the door.
"A-aaaahhhh-aaaahhhhh! W-we're t-trap. F-fuck w-we're doomed"
Sensing his doom, despair can be seen in the man's eyes.
Think Lawrence, Think!!! Find a way to survive this situation.
Knowing the disaster that will occur, I tried thinking hard to find a solution for our current issue. Looking more on our environment, I was suddenly struck with a thought that might probably save our asses.
"-Sob-sob ahhhhh-sob ahhh.. I-I don't want to d-die"
-Sigh
"Quit wasting your tears will you, it's not going to save us from this problem"
"-Sob B-but..."
"We've never really tried introducing ourselves, the names Bruce and what about yours?"
"-Sob M-Melvin..."
"Say, Melvin. I have a plan that might save us from this situation, but I will need your help with it. So... will you please help cooperate with me?"
"O-okay. So, p-sob p-please save me. I-I don't want to d-die"
"None of us want to die. So please get up now we have a lot of work to do"
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Luckily for us. We were able to complete our preparations before the rats could even enter the place. Those vents might have been pretty tight, for them to still not arrive.
"You okay there, Melvin?"
"A-ahhhh, Y-yes!"
The plan that I have in mind was pretty simple. What we did was just barricade ourselves in the only available room in the area, using the boxes and barrels laying around in this place. Putting some boxes and barrels to the only entrance of the room and stacking the table and the remaining barrels on top of it. We've made it possible to block the only entrance of the room, with only the gap of the table acting as the way of getting inside and also our view from the other side.
"A-are you sure this would work?"
"We can't really be certain about everything. So, how about focused on rats for now. Do you still remember on what to do?"
"Ahh! Y-yes. What I'll do is reload the guns that you'll use after they ran out of ammo, so that you won't have to stop from firing"
"That's good..."
Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one with a gun in this place. Melvin has 2 guns in his arsenal, both being a pistol and a smg. Both doesn't have much when it comes to ammo but combining with mine, I think it's enough to stop all this rats from killing us.
"Prepare yourself"
"G-got it"
Awaiting for the rats to arrive, I readied my pistol and the Aimed Shot ability in my hands. When I see a single rat enter our vicinity, I plan on activating the ability immediately and start shooting.
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-Rattle-Rattle... -Crash!!!
They're here.
A vent door suddenly fell from above along with a bunch of Rathounds. Seeing it occurred, I immediately did what I planned and activated my Aimed Shot ability. After which, I then started shooting at the unexpecting rats.
-Bang –Bang –Bang
Without thought, I mercilessly fired my gun at the giant rats. Bullets flew everywhere, which thanks to my activated ability, all hit the rats. Pain and loud shrieking can be seen and heard from the rats, as I mercilessly gun them down. Not wanting to die like sitting ducks, the surviving Rathounds swiftly approach our direction. Which for me only made them easier to shoot.
-Bang –Bang –Bang –Clank
Out of bullets
"Melvin!"
"Got it!"
Giving my current pistol to Melvin and receiving the smg, I continue to my shooting to the approaching rats. Despite already killing a lot of them, I can't help but feel that they're not getting smaller at all.
-Craaaack!!!
As if our situation wasn't bad enough. The door that was holding the other rats from outside has finally been busted. More rats essentially filled the place and I began shooting more harder as if my life depends on it.
-Roar!!
Due to the large number of rats filling the place, I wasn't able to thoroughly gun down every rat that approach the area where we're hiding. A few rats tried pouncing to the table gap, but thanks to barricades and me essentially gunning them down. We were able to keep them in place.
-Bang –Bang –Bang
While busy gunning down every Rathound that I can see, I was caught surprised when sudden rat appeared out of nowhere and jump to the table gap.
-ROARRR!!!!
"Ahhhahhhh!!! They're getting inside!"
Seeing a Rathound this close to us, Melvin as usual began panicking. But thanks to its thick size, it wasn't able to thoroughly fit its entire body from the gap. Having a hard time fitting in, the rat began stretching its head from where we at and tried biting us down with its sharp teeth. Struggling to do any sort of damage to us, I shot the immobile rat in the head; which ended its pitiful life.
"Focus Melvin, we're still at odds here"
"Y-yes"
With the rat at the table gap gone, we begone shooting the remaining rats as usual.
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Minutes has passed which for me felt like a very long time.
Our conflict with the rats has finally ended. There were some close calls that occurred while fighting them, but luckily to we didn't get hurt. Seeing how we just escape death through our efforts. I felt extremely relieved and accomplished about what I did.
"H-haaah-ahaahahaah!!!! Eat shit you fucking rats!! Ahahahahhah"
Still feeling the rush from fighting the Rathounds. I can't help but feel excited and say some words that I usually don't say, out of the blue.
"A-aaahhhhh-aaa-aahhhhhhh-sob aaahhh-sob, t-thank you s-sir Bruce. T-thank y-you for s-saving me... aahhh-sob ahhhh.."
Being grateful for what I did, Melvin suddenly hugged me with all his might.
"Aaaahhh-sob T-thank you sir B-Bruce... T-thaaannnk youuu soo much"
Seeing the pitiful display that Melvin has been showing. The rush that I was feeling earlier quickly wear out.
Well there goes all that rush that I was feeling.
-Sob-sob
"-Sigh. Could you please stop crying now? The rats are already dead"
"B-but..but."
"Could you at least try letting go of me. I'm not very keen on staying to an area filled with dead rats"
"O-oh! I see. As you wish master"
Oh god. His calling me master, now.
-Sigh
This day has been a pretty long one, if I say so myself. I wonder what Claire is doing now...
While deep in my thoughts, I noticed that I smell awfully bad. Soaking in rat blood most likely is the cause of this.
"God.. I need to take a bath"
While preparing to leave the facility. Another text suddenly appeared in my view.
-Quest Accomplished
-End of Chapter 7
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone