Chapter 10: If It Moves...
Waking up for the ninth time, Maxwell gave up on sleeping, his uniform was soaked with sweat and his hand unconsciously went to his neck. It turned out that he could no longer sleep without protecting his neck and collarbone with his hand, which for some reason was the part that zombies most liked to bite.
Getting up, Maxwell walks past the sleeping Benjamin, the poor man was holding the P2016 tightly even though he was asleep, his brow furrowed and covered in sweat.
"It's not easy for anyone hmm, I'm going to get us out of here alive, one way or another."
Moving forward, his footsteps made the wood of the floor creak, but he didn't worry about the wood breaking, because even if he fell to the second floor, there were no zombies inside the town. Looking outside, Maxwell realized that it was dusk and that they should start their tasks.
Maxwell checked his ECHO, he had enough food for a week, but his water canteen was reaching critical levels. He licked his cracked lips and couldn't resist taking a sip.
Feeling refreshed, he sits down on the floor and begins to clean his Data Knife and his kunai.
[Blade Mastery lv.6>7]
'Can cleaning my knives also upgrade my skills?' Maxwell felt relieved with every increase, even the smallest, in his skills, which meant an increase in the percentage of getting off the island alive. His knife skills have proved very useful in situations where using firearms is unfeasible.
Knives don't run out of ammunition, they are as lethal as a firearm when used well. In addition, they are light and small, which allows you to make several consecutive blows without getting tired, and they are not difficult to maintain.
*Bam* *bam*
"Hmm?!" Maxwell stood up when he heard a muffled noise, it sounded like something hitting a wall. Jumping down from the second floor, Maxwell makes his way to where the noise was coming from, his now clean Data Knife held firmly in his hand.
Taking advantage of the fact that the houses are made of wooden planks, Maxwell makes a hole in the wall with his knife and looks through the hole, he is surprised to see a familiar robotic figure.
"A claptrap unit, I'd forgotten there was one in Jakobs Cove." Maxwell mutters.
"ARGHH! A ZOMBIE THAT OPENS DOORS!" The claptrap screams in terror as it suddenly sees the door open.
Immediately feeling regret when he heard the robot's annoying screams, Maxwell finally understood why Jack had chosen to destroy the entire Claptrap production line. These robots were supposed to be used in domestic and business services, but to make them with such a high-pitched voice and clumsy programming, for heaven's sake.
He'd be doing the galaxy a favor and selling Titanfall MRVN when he gets his corporation established. Marvins were clearly better than claptraps and were quiet and cute with their emotes.
"I'm not a zombie. Now, you can choose between collaborating and saving us time, or I'll need to use less... pleasant methods to get what I want." He punctuates his words with his fingers deftly twirling his Data Knife.
"Oh, you mean you're not a zombie? Wow, that changes everything! But, look, I'm programmed to obey human beings, so I guess I'll have to cooperate... But, you could be a very convincing zombie, you know? Haha ha please don't kill me."
"Nah, too easy. I'm still going to make someone play Russian roulette with a Wingman." Maxwell looked somewhat disappointed. He's becoming more open to the use of violence, or as a certain psychopath once said; I'm tuning in to humanity.
"Anyway, let's get down to business. How can I get off this island without going by sea?"
"There are tunnels that lead to the mainland, and there's also a Fast Travel station if you follow the path behind the city. Those are the only ways off the island unless you have a ship."
"Fast Travel... Is it operational?"
"I'm not sure, my job is just to look after this residential area, well, it was."
"Hmm, I'll have to check, that's the easiest and safest way out of here." Maxwell mutters to himself, cheering up as he sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
With a possible way off the island, taking care of the side missions was now best. Returning his focus to the claptrap, Maxwell asks. "What is Dr. Ned's current location? I just want to talk to him."
"How do you know about Dr. Ned? That information about his employment on the island is restricted."
*Ziiiiiii*
Without saying a word Maxwell scrapes the tip of his Data Knife across the chassis of the claptrap, sparks flying from the friction caused.
"I've sent the coordinates to your ECHO."
"That's better, but I need to make sure you don't warn my target about my presence."
"Wait! What are you going t-"
Like a blur, Maxwell's knife comes into contact with the unsuspecting claptrap who didn't expect to suffer any aggression.
2%
69%
100%
"Go to Fast Travel and check on the situation, and also check which locations he can take. Send the information to my ECHO." Removing his Data Knife, Maxwell orders.
Claptrap doesn't argue back and follows orders, leaving Maxwell's presence and heading for his goal.
"Aaah, how hard it is to be me, having to take matters into my own hands tsk." Maxwell asks as he sees the claptrap move away, he believes that the zombies wouldn't attack the robot because it is made of iron.
"Kill Dr. Ned and collect the virus data. Who will pay me more, Altas or Jakobs?" He would leave that for later, for now, he had to go and call Benjamin. He made his way to the house, stopping by the second-floor window.
Without a second thought, Maxwell took a step backward, his muscles tensing. With one swift movement, he leaped towards the window, his hand reaching out to grasp the sill. His fingers closed around the frame and, with a strong tug, he stood up, his body propelling itself through the open window.
Approaching the still-sleeping figure, Maxwell crouches down.
"Hey, Ben. Wake up," Maxwell nudged him gently, shaking him awake.
"AHH NO NO! Uh?!" Bishop woke up startled, almost shooting Maxwell as he thought some zombie had broken into the house.
"Calm down, it's me, Maxwell, don't go into shell shock now buddy." Maxwell raises his hands. "We need to move. Rook's body is on the beach, and he's not going to be dug up by himself... I think."
Benjamin blinked, with a confused expression, before realizing it. "Right, let's go," he replied, pushing himself off the ground.
"Will we need to follow the same route as the forest?" Asked Benjamin as he climbed down the window using the ropes, he wasn't a monster like Maxwell.
"Nah, I've got another idea." Maxwell said as he approached the gate, which was still full of zombies that hadn't given up on eating them. The gate looked slightly crooked, it seemed that it wasn't smart to trust it so much.
"Give me my P2016."
"What are you going to do?"
"Strategize." Maxwell takes his pistol back and removes the silencer. Aiming at the zombies at the gate, he doesn't hesitate at any moment.
*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*
"What the fuck Max, what are you doing?!?!" Benjamin felt his heart sink as he heard the crack of gunfire, had Maxwell lost his mind? He was practically drawing the attention of every zombie on the island, the gate was strong, but it couldn't withstand a huge horde.
Benjamin tries to take the P2016 back, but Maxwell doesn't even try to stop him, he's already done what he wants. Moving forward, he opens the city gates and steps back to check the turrets. With dead eyes, Benjamin followed him.
With everything ready, Maxwell sat down a few meters away from the gate, waiting for the guests, who didn't take long, even though they were slowly walking.
*BRRRRRRRRRR*
The turrets began to fire a hail of bullets, the deafening sound echoing in the twilight. The first victims were the zombie runners, who advanced at speed but were quickly shot down. The bullets were of such a strong caliber that they pierced two or three zombies, causing them to fall one after the other without offering any resistance.
"MAHHAHAHAHA!!!" Maxwell burst out laughing as he saw the effectiveness of the turrets in action, feeling all the frustration and tension built up over more than 48 hours disperse. This wasn't a game, there was blood and corpses that could move at any moment, and being in a state of constant alert drained every drop of sanity Maxwell had, he was even on alert against the damn sound of mosquitoes. So you could imagine how he felt when he saw his greatest threat piling up in front of the gate, forming a grotesque barricade.
Then the slower zombies, former Jakobs workers, began to appear. Their movements were dragged and clumsy, each step a visible effort. They wore worn and dirty work clothes, now covered in mud and dried blood. The turrets made no distinction, and the bullets continued to fly, piercing the rotting bodies of the zombified workers.
Maxwell stood up, feeling the adrenaline rush through his veins. It was time to go to the beach, the path was probably much safer. "Come on, Ben, we need to go now," he said, addressing Benjamin who was still stunned by the scene of destruction.
Benjamin nodded, although he was still visibly shaken, a smile unconsciously growing on his face. "You really don't do things by halves, do you?" he muttered, following Maxwell.
Seeing the zombie-free entrance, Maxwell and Benjamin ran towards the beach. The sound of turrets echoed in the distance occasionally, a clear reminder that some zombies were still arriving late. Arriving at the beach, Rook's body lay exactly where Maxwell had left it, half-buried in the sand, the sea probably having washed away much of the sand.
Working together, they quickly dug up Rook's body and started going through his belongings, looking for anything that might be useful for their escape from the zombie-infested island.
Chapter 11: Fluorescent Adolescent
With Rook's body dug up and placed back on the sand, Maxwell quickly removed the ECHO from the corpse's belt and activated it. The screen flashed with a bluish light before displaying the stored items. Meanwhile, Benjamin, still breathing heavily from the effort, approached to observe.
"Let's see what we've got here," Maxwell muttered, his fingers working deftly to navigate the files. Meanwhile, Benjamin put Rook's body back in his tomb.
(Welcome back Alexander, wait a moment until your items are categorized.)
(...)
(1: Scorpion Turret x1
2: AR490 Glorious Havoc x1
3: 7.62x39mm 20-round box x10
4: 9x19mm 50-round box x3
5: MRE x5
…)
"Hmm... Glorious Havoc." Maxwell's eyes slowly drifted down, checking each item on the list before returning to the beginning, fixating on the icon of a gun with a fire symbol. Meanwhile, Benjamin seemed lost in memories of the man using the gun.
"This is Rook's favorite weapon, a fire element Atlas HMG. A capacity of 72 shots, you'll need a lot of strength to hold that gun." Benjamin comments, his eyes going unfocused.
"Fire?" Now that Maxwell thought about it, the Geneva Convention was a joke in Borderlands since almost every corporation creates and sells incendiary and toxic weapons, not to mention the countless heinous acts that are and will be committed by corporations.
It's no secret how Dahl treated his prisoners of war, forcing them to engage in dangerous mining operations on Pandora and leaving them to rot on the planet after failing to receive generous returns. Not to mention Heitor...
Hyperion would be following behind as he continues his excavations for Iridium and the Vault, and not stopping there, Hyperion carries out countless tests on the inhabitants of Pandora using Iridium. All this with the intention of awakening an ancient Eridian weapon to commit a huge genocide on Pandora.
Then there was Jakobs, Zombie Island was just the beginning of the countless biological experiments carried out by Jakobs. Even though the company was focused on making weapons with wooden finishes, that didn't stop Jakobs from trying to enter other fields. Jakobs' next victim would be Gehenna, and Maxwell was looking forward to visiting the planet soon.
"Max?" Benjamin shook Maxwell's shoulder as he saw the man lost in thought while looking at Havoc.
"It's nothing, just thinking about war crimes."
"What did you say?"
"I said we need to go and find a man called Dr. Ned. To get information about a claptrap unit, this man was responsible for the island's medical care."
"Right, but we'd better take a look at the Scorpion. There's not much 10mm ammo left, and I have to be honest it's a bad idea to rely on a gun that uses a caliber that's not as common as 10mm."
"The P2016 is just a stand-in, I was going to swap it for a revolver and an SMG, but I ran out of money at the time." Maxwell had plans to buy a B3 or Elite Wingman, both of which would destroy anything meaty in one shot, and a CAR as his primary, second favorite Titanfall weapon.
Removing the Scorpion Turret from its ECHO, the machine raises a cloud of sand as it falls to the ground after being fully digistructed.
*Bam*
The design was quite simple: a thick iron rod supported the entire unit, which consisted of a machine gun with a laser sight. It could operate in automatic or manual mode. It could receive attachments such as shields, ammunition replenishment, and a first aid station.
The Scorpion came with an SD that stored all the resources needed to make ammunition, as well as bandages and some metabolism syringes for emergencies.
Maxwell just wanted to use the Scorpion's forging functions, and with Benjamin's help, he made the machine produce more ammunition for his P2016 and rifles. The machine produced a little noise during manufacture, but there were no zombies in the vicinity.
Having obtained a decent amount of ammunition, Benjamin filled the magazines of his rifle and handed the P2016 over to Maxwell.
"Are you really going to use Rook's gun? No disrespect to you Max, but Rook was a mountain of muscle and you're skinny in comparison." Asks Benjamin when Maxwell doesn't pick up his rifle.
"It's my best choice, a fire gun will be a great help against the zombies." Maxwell knew that a weapon with a fire element caused more damage against the flesh, the effectiveness would be worth the effort. Turning his attention to checking the coordinates given by the claptrap on his ECHO, he would be paying a visit to Dr. Ned before leaving the island.
After a tiring walk along the sands of the beach to the east, they finally reached the docks. The sight was desolate —abandoned boats and house structures submerged in the seawater.
The infirmary was unmistakable, marked by the holographic badge in the shape of a cross that floated above the roof. Built of gray bricks adorned with green moss, the structure rested on the surface of the sea, supported by thick wooden logs. A rustic wooden bridge connected the cliffs of the beach to its welcoming entrance. The windows gave off an inviting orange glow and the chimney exhaled clouds of black smoke, signaling the presence of residents.
"Dr.Ned's bleeding heart infirmary. Better off red than… undead." Benjamin read the large sign, which was resting on a thick log that was lost in the depths of the sea. The last part caught Benjamin's attention.
Had the infection been spreading for so long on the island? It seemed that Jakobs kept things well under wraps, hoping to sweep things under the carpet afterward. After all, an incident like this could jeopardize the value of his shares. Experiments using humans were commonplace, but that didn't mean that investors liked them, as they could be the next guinea pigs, a not-at-all-pleasant thought.
"Ben, do you see that?" Maxwell asked in a whisper, pointing to the sky.
Benjamin looked up, his expression hardening.
"Rakks," he said, recognizing the creatures. "They're fast and attack in swarms. We need to be careful. Better to cross the area without attracting too much attention."
"We have no cover, I'm surprised we haven't been noticed yet. Besides, we've already made a mess back there, it's wrong, but we're going to do it anyway because I love a bit of trouble." Maxwell says as he pulls Havoc out of Rook's ECHO and starts filling the gun's magazine.
"You're getting too confident, Max, it seems that the Pandora air is finally driving you crazy. And it was you who messed things up back there, we could have followed the forest path, but you want to insist on acting like a teenager."
"But I am a teenager." Maxwell wasn't lying, he was twenty before he was reincarnated.
"You're not, I've seen your ID, Max."
"My soul is... *pfff* hahaha." Maxwell can't resist and ends up laughing, Benjamin would never understand what he was saying.
Benjamin just rolls his eyes, not expecting his companion to have a Peter Pan syndrome.
'If I'm attacked by one of these, does the secondary mission of not getting bitten count as a failure?' Maxwell thinks, watching the zombified Rakks with his magnified vision. The creatures, once inhabitants of Pandora's skies, were now transformed into grotesque monsters, with chunks of rotting flesh dangling from their wings.
There were three at the entrance to the infirmary, busy devouring a rotting corpse. Most were busy flying above the building.
Finishing the tedious task of putting 72 bullets into the magazine, Maxwell cocked the gun and aimed. His level in Trigger Discipline couldn't help much with the weight of the gun, which made his aim wobble a bit, but that only meant missing a few shots.
Maxwell holds his breath, Benjamin does the same as he notices his companion's preparation and raises his Atlas rifle, praying inwardly that all the Rakks are dead before they empty their magazines.
*BRRRRRRRRT*
"OH SHIT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" Maxwell's cry of surprise was completely drowned out. He had expected such a vicious recoil from the gun, but what he certainly hadn't expected was the intense heat when he fired.
*Trrrra* *trrrra* *trrrra*
*KYYYYA*
Benjamin didn't let up and fired controlled bursts at the Rakks on the ground, easily dispatching them and turning his attention to the Rakks that began flying towards them.
*Trrrra* *tic* *tic* *tic*
*BRRRRRRRRT*
Benjamin calmly made the change of runners, taking advantage of the suppression fire created by Maxwell's incessant bursts. He was inwardly impressed by Maxwell's strength to keep firing for so long.
In a matter of seconds, the Rakks were decimated without being able to cause any damage, a complete massacre.
After firing several bursts, the barrel of the Glorious Havoc glowed an intense crimson red, signaling the extreme heat generated by a fire element weapon. A snake of white smoke rose languidly from the end of the barrel.
"*Sigh* I'm starting to like the smell of gunpowder in the air after a gunfight." Maxwell inhales deeply with a tired smile. "But that smell of burnt flesh is new to me."
"You're starting to go mad. You're going to have to go through some psychiatric swabs when we get out of here." Benjamin comments, following Maxwell towards the infirmary, his shoulders slumped.
"Yeah, and it's not even a year since I entered this soldiering life. I should retire, how about starting a career as a singer?" Maxwell turns, casting a questioning glance at Benjamin. "What do you think?"
As they walk side by side, Benjamin replies with a resigned tone. "Whatever, if singing makes you feel better, then I recommend it."
"Right, *Ahem*, doooooo the bad thing, take off your wedding rin—"
"Shut up, what kind of fucking song are you singing Max?"
"Jealous of my fucking tuneful voice? Dude, I sing like an angel."
"You really... never mind, let's focus here."
Silence falls for a moment before Benjamin adds. "And as a doctor, I strongly advise against a singing career."
"Ooof." Maxwell replies with a feigned expression of pain.
Stopping in front of the door, Benjamin notices a piece of paper pinned up with the message: "Back in, never, minutes."
"What luck, the doctor isn't here."
"Let's check, on three, you and I will kick the door in."
"One! Two!"
"Or we could just knock on the door and see if anyone answers. Let's not scare the civilians."
*Knock* *knock*
"I don't think there's anyone."
*Knock*
*BOOOOM*
Maxwell didn't know what happened the next moment. One moment he was banging on the door and the next his body had been thrown through the air onto the beach, his body rolling in the sand until it lost speed.
A trail of blood had been left all along the way. A feeling of sleep came over Maxwell, his eyes beginning to close.
'Not this time bitch!!!' Biting his tongue, Maxwell felt his consciousness return. His trembling body began to rise, a strong tingling sensation.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
164 Power
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