章 34: Fighter
(Meghan)
Meghan watched as the two boys gushed over Ray's new weapon. It was his old cricket bat that he found while rummaging around in his bedroom. The two of them had carefully hammered a few iron nails to the end of it, converting it into a makeshift morning star. They even reinforced the grip with some cloth and tape. Meghan didn't get why they looked so excited, she figured it was probably a guy thing.
She lifted up her spear and twirled it in her hand. It no longer had dried blood all over it. Meghan had cleaned it thoroughly when the boys were busy with the cricket bat. A hint of a smile appeared on her face. She gripped her weapon tightly and realized that it now felt much more comfortable than when she first handled it. The strange foreign sensation she felt back in her apartment had dissipated by a large extent. It was instead replaced by a fleeting sense of familiarity.
Meghan turned towards the living room and found that Samantha hadn't moved from her spot. She had been sitting there ever since their discussion ended. Meghan didn't mind that she wasn't helping them but her lousy attitude was starting to get on her nerves.
Deciding to ignore her for now, she walked over to the breakfast counter where Ray and Rody seemed to be talking through something important.
"What's up?" Meghan asked.
Ray looked at her and spoke, "Did you know that our building has a fire axe inside the emergency box on the ground floor?"
"Uhh—there is?" Meghan asked, "I didn't know that."
Ray nodded, "We were trying to decide whether or not it's a good idea to retrieve that to use as a weapon."
"For whom?"
"Me." Rody said and lifted up his hammer, "My current weapon isn't the best to be honest. When Ray and I fought that big dude by the pool, my attacks didn't even phase him. I think I need an upgrade. That axe will be much heavier but it'll be way more effective than this thing."
"Oh," said Meghan, "that makes sense. What are you discussing so much for then?"
"Well, the emergency box is usually locked." Ray explained, "The only way for us to access it is to smash the glass. But that automatically sets off the building's fire alarm. We'd be drawing an unnecessary amount of attention towards our building. It's going to make getting in and out of F block much harder."
"Hmmm…" Meghan understood why they were in two minds about getting the axe. On one hand you'd be getting a solid weapon but on the other you're making it much riskier to leave the building.
"Wait a sec," she said suddenly, "shouldn't every building have that emergency box? Can't we just break open the one that's far away from F block? We'll get the axe and also lure away any Deathless that's lurking nearby."
Ray raised his eyebrows and looked at Rody. He scratched his chin, nodding slowly as he did. Ray then turned back to Meghan with an impressed expression on his face.
"We honestly didn't think of that." He said. "That's actually a brilliant idea."
"Ahh," said Meghan with an awkward smile, "thanks…"
"Alright, let's do that then."
"Tonight?" Meghan asked.
"No, not tonight." Ray replied. "We're just going to observe, remember? Recon mission. We'll do this on another day. Honestly, it'll be a good idea to do it on the day we leave Prime for good. It'll act as the perfect bait and draw away all the Deathless, giving us a clear path to the main gate."
"Ohhh, smart." Rody said, "I guess I'll have to adjust with something else till then. I'll see if I can make a weapon for myself while you two are gone."
"Great," Ray said and turned to Meghan, "It's almost time. You ready to go?"
For some reason Meghan tensed up a bit but she still nodded her head in response.
Ray clasped Rody's shoulder once before making his way towards the main door. Meghan followed close behind him with the spear clutched firmly in both hands. Ray placed a hand against the door and peered out through the peephole.
"Dammit, it's dark. I can't see anything." He said. "I forgot that no one's going to turn on the building lights tonight."
"We can use the torch on my phone again." Meghan suggested.
Ray shook his head, "It's kinda inconvenient to have one hand constantly holding up the phone no? Wait here, I just thought of something."
Saying so, Ray rushed back into his bedroom leaving Meghan and Rody by the main door. She looked over at Rody as if to silently ask if he knew what Ray was up to. Rody casually shrugged his shoulders.
About a minute later, Ray returned back to the main door with a thin, cylindrical object around the same size as a tube of toothpaste in one hand and a roll of black tape in the other.
"It's a mini LED flashlight" he said, lifting up the cylindrical object. "It may look small but it's surprisingly bright."
"What's with the tape?" Meghan asked.
"Ahh," Ray said as if he was waiting for her to ask. He plopped the flashlight onto his shoulder and wore a big smile on his face as if it was the most amazing idea in the world.
Meghan sighed. "Which game is that from?" she asked.
Ray's expression fell a little. He seemed disappointed that Meghan didn't think his idea was as fantastic as he did. "Umm well, it's there in multiple first-person shooters…"
"Really?" Rody asked, "Which ones?"
"Ohh, Battle Ops 2, Strike Squad Elite, Warfront Siege…"
"Awesome!" Meghan interrupted, "We're all very impressed. Can we go now, Rambo?"
Ray scratched his head awkwardly and smiled from the corner of his mouth. He asked Rody to tape the flashlight onto his right shoulder. Rody did as he requested before stepping back. Ray curved his arm into a 'C' shaped and clicked the button on the flashlight. A bright beam shot out of its end, illuminating the door in front of them.
"Sweet," Ray said, "Okay, let's go."
He undid the latches of the main door and grabbed the handle. He slowly twisted it open and adjusted his body such that the light from the flashlight lit up the dark corridor.
"It's clear," he whispered and stepped outside.
Meghan crept through the door as well and turned back towards Rody. "It'll be safer to lock the door. Just make sure you're nearby to open it when we come back."
Rody nodded, "Be careful, okay?" he said before closing the door. Meghan heard the locks click as she walked up to Ray who was near the fire exit.
"Listen," he whispered to her, "we need to be extra careful while going down. I told you about the Deathless we trapped inside, right? I think it might be an Erratic. So keep your guard up. That thing could be anywhere; it could even sneak up behind us."
"Okay, my spear and I will be ready." Meghan assured him.
Ray gave her a small smile before yanking open the fire exit door. His flashlight illuminated the dark staircase as they stepped through the doorway.
Meghan took smaller breaths and descended the stairs as quietly as possible. This was perhaps the only thing she wished she didn't have to do. Climbing down fourteen floors was a nightmare. But she would rather do this than sit inside the flat with a feeling that she was being a burden on the guys. Meghan could pull her own weight and she was determined to prove it.
Ten floors went by without them sighting the Erratic. Meghan panted softly. She wiped her forehead with the back of her palm. Not only was the descent tiring but it was also very humid inside the fire exit. She tugged lightly on Ray's T-shirt.
He turned towards her and whispered, "What's up?"
"Can we take a small break? It's so stuffy in here…" she replied.
"Oh, sure." He said and sat down on one of the steps.
Meghan leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground. They were in the middle of the third and fourth floors. She looked over at Ray and found him panting as well. He almost looked glad that Meghan had requested taking a break.
"No sign of the Erratic," he said softly.
"Yeah, you think it might still be on the ground floor?"
"It is possible," He replied. "Now that I think about it, the Erratic was blind. It makes sense that it wouldn't be able to use the stairs properly."
"Wait, did you say blind?" Meghan asked.
"Yeah. Both its eyes are missing from the sockets."
Meghan groaned, "Yuck! I really don't want to see that. It will probably scar me for life."
Ray chuckled, "If you thinks that's bad wait till you see its—"
He stopped speaking abruptly and turned to the right. Meghan had heard it too. It was a disgruntled moan, coming from somewhere in the lower floors. The two of them stood up quickly, weapons at the ready.
The light from Ray's flashlight shone over the area around the third floor's fire exit door. There wasn't anything there but the moan definitely sounded close. Meghan swallowed hard. Going face to face with a Deathless was never an easy task. She didn't know if she would ever be fully prepare to fight one head-on.
A few seconds later, they heard the moan again. It sounded closer this time. Whatever was responsible for the noise, it was slowly making its way up towards them.
Then she saw it. The sight almost made her faint with shock.
A Deathless with a horribly mangled face was ominously crawling up the stairs on all fours. Blood and pus was oozing out from the exposed flesh. Just like Ray had mentioned, it had no eyes. Only two black empty sockets. The way it felt its way up the steps looked vulgar and bestial.
Ice cold shivers ran along Meghan's whole body. Fear had essentially petrified her limbs. Even though the Deathless was blind and was moving up at a snail's pace, the mere sight of it made her want to scream and run in the opposite direction.
Meghan gripped her spear so tightly that her hands started to hurt. She blinked twice and shook her head. The pain seemed to have snapped her out of it.
'What's wrong with you, Meghan?' she scolded herself, 'Are you some kind of damsel in distress? No! You're a fighter. Now go kill that creepy thing and prove to everyone just how reliable you can be.'
With newfound courage instilled in herself, Meghan tapped Ray with the end of her spear and whispered, "I'll handle this."
Ray stared at her for a few seconds before reluctantly moving out of the way. She pointed her spear forward and took a few careful steps towards the faceless boy. Both Meghan and the Deathless moved closer to each other with every nerve-racking second. When she was finally within striking range of the Deathless, Meghan took up a wide stance and held the end of her spear with both hands. She raised the weapon high into the air, aiming its point at the Deathless crawling beneath her.
She clenched her jaw tight and struck downward, putting her body weight into the attack. The blade of her weapon penetrated deep into the faceless boy's skull. She then stepped on his head and yanked out the spear, spraying dark blood onto the tiled steps.
Meghan flicked the blood off her spear, causing red splatters to appear on the walls. She then planted the end of the weapon beside her in a victorious stance.
'I'm not a damsel in distress!' she declared in her mind, 'I am a fighter.'
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