Chapter 08 Unexpected Company

Reed sat on the floor nearby, his monkey wrench resting across his lap. 

“Well, that was fun firework show,” he muttered, staring wide-eyed at the molten hole where the Abominator’s head used to be.

Mia stood; rifle still raised. 

“That… was insane! A god damn Abominator! He was nothing like the ones in the desert,” she said, looking at Dune. 

Sable peeked out from behind the doorway, his face pale.

 “Is it… is it dead?”

Dune smirked, leaning on her steel beam.

 “Dead enough. But I wouldn’t stick around to find out if it’s got any friends.”

The group stood in tense silence, staring at the smoldering wreckage of the Abominator.

“Well,” Reed said, standing and dusting himself off.

 “I say we keep moving before we meet its big brother.”

Dune nodded. 

“Agreed. Let’s grab what we came for and get the hell out of here.”

The smoke still lingered in the air as the group cautiously approached the remains of the Abominator. The massive weapon it had wielded—an oversized, heavy-caliber machine gun—lay on the ground. The ammunition backpack sat nearby, still intact, connected by a thick belt of linked bullets.

Mia crouched beside the weapon; her sniper rifle slung over her shoulder as she examined it. 

“This thing is a monster,” she muttered, her fingers brushing over its frame. The size of it dwarfed her petite form—it was nearly as tall as she was.

 “You’d need a mech or a power loader to carry this properly.”

Her hand traced along the ammo feed, stopping at the massive backpack that had powered the beast’s relentless gunfire. She tugged at the strap, trying to hoist it up, but it barely budged. With a grunt, Mia gave up.

“Nope. It’s like trying to lift a truck. This thing weighs more than I do.”

Dune stepped forward, her steel beam slung casually over her shoulder. She looked down at the weapon with a crooked grin.

 “Oh, come on, Mia. You’re just not eating enough.”

Mia shot her a glare. 

“Let’s see you try then, musclehead.”

Dune squatted down, cracked her knuckles, and grabbed the weapon by its handle. With a firm pull, she lifted the massive gun up, the barrel scraping against the floor with a heavy clang. She didn’t even flinch.

“See?” Dune said with a smirk, hoisting the weapon up. Her battle suit hummed faintly as it took some of the weight. 

“Gotta love this rig.”

She inspected the weapon briefly before her eyes landed on the backpack. With a click, she grabbed the feed line and slotted it back into place, straightening the jammed belt of ammunition. The HUD on the gun flickered to life, glowing with a green interface. A number popped up—1,092 rounds loaded.

Dune’s smirk widened as she let out an exaggerated, sarcastic laugh of joy.

 “Oh, hell yes.”

She slung the ammo backpack over her shoulder with a grunt, the weight barely registering against her enhanced suit. The linked belt of bullets fed perfectly into the side of the gun as she tested its heft, giving it a little spin in her hands like a toy.

“Look at this beauty! Over a thousand rounds? And here I was thinking today couldn’t get any better. It’s like Christmas morning in the apocalypse.”

Reed took a glance at her, leaning on his oversized monkey wrench.

 “Oh yeah, I see a beauty alright, hehe,” Reed said while eyeing Dunes curves.

Mia crossed her arms, unimpressed. 

“You’re really gonna carry that thing around? It’s like hauling a cannon.”

“Watch me,” Dune shot back, hoisting the machine gun with one arm for emphasis. 

“I’ve always wanted to start a fight with a literal wall of lead.”

Sable peeked out from behind the safety of the doorway, still looking pale.

 “Maybe we cannot test it out indoors? I’d rather not die from ricochets.”

Dune chuckled, resting the heavy weapon against her shoulder. 

“Relax, genius. I’ll save the fireworks for when we run into more trouble. And something tells me we’re not done yet.”

The group moved cautiously through the dark hallways, passing by shattered lab doors and remnants of a forgotten era. Thick cables hung like vines from the ceiling, swaying gently as if disturbed by something unseen. Some doors still blinked faint red warning lights, others groaned ominously when they passed.

Each lab they glimpsed through the cracked observation windows told a story of broken machinery, overturned tables, and piles of dust-covered instruments that hadn't been touched in centuries. 

 “Wait… this isn’t good,” Sable said stopping the group.

Ahead of them, the hallway was completely caved in. An enormous pile of concrete, twisted rebar, and crumbled steel beams sealed the path like an unmovable mountain. 

“Dammit…” he muttered, clutching his holo-device tighter. 

 “This—this can’t be happening. This was the only path on the map that gets us through to the lab.”

Dune stepped forward, inspecting the impassable blockage. 

“Well, that’s just great. We’ve got ourselves a nice little roadblock, huh?”

Reed picked up a loose rock from the rubble and tossed it aside lazily. It skittered down the pile with a hollow echo.

 “Looks like someone forgot to clean up after the apocalypse.”

Sable, however, wasn’t amused.

 “You don’t get it! This wasn’t on the map—this hallway is critical! I don’t have an alternate route planned out. If we don’t get through here, the entire mission is—”

“Toast?” Dune offered helpfully.

“Yes! Toast!” Sable nearly shouted, pulling nervously at his collar. 

“We can’t dig through this, and—” He gestured wildly at the blockage.

 “—we absolutely cannot risk using high explosives! A blast could cause further collapse and bury us alive! We’re stuck.”

Mia crouched near the rubble, running her fingers over the dirt-encrusted debris. 

“He’s right. This isn’t something we can just clear out with bare hands. This pile’s thick enough to be load-bearing. Blow it, and the whole hallway might come down.”

Reed leaned casually on his wrench, his face lit with his usual playful grin. 

“Well, unless someone’s been eating their spinach, I don’t think brute force is gonna work here.”

Sable looked genuinely panicked, pacing in small, frantic circles while muttering to himself. 

“No way around… no way through… we’re screwed… totally screwed…”

Dune rolled her eyes.

 “Would you calm down before you hyperventilate? Nobody’s screwed yet.” She tapped the barrel of her newly acquired machine gun against her shoulder, staring at the blockage with a considering look.

“You’ve got an idea?” Mia asked, rising to her feet.

“Maybe. But you’re not gonna like it.”

Sable stopped pacing, his panicked eyes darting up to her. 

“Please tell me it doesn’t involve collapsing even more of the ceiling on top of us.”

“Not quite. But it does involve me being awesome. Again.”

 She gestured for Reed to join her. 

“Hey, grease monkey, you and I are going to scout around. This hallway might be shot, but if we’re lucky, there’s a service passage or a ventilation shaft nearby. Bunkers like these always have backup routes.”

Reed grinned and hoisted his monkey wrench.

 “A little treasure hunt? I’m in. Let’s go.”

As Dune and Reed split off to search the immediate area, Sable slumped down against the wall, clutching his holo-device tightly like a stress ball. Mia stood beside him, keeping her rifle ready as her flashlight beam swept slowly across the wreckage.

“This is insane… how will we get past this… what if other passages are collapsed too? What if the lab we are looking for is in ruins? No... no, this can't be...”

 “Calm down, doc. You hired us for a reason. We’ll get through this. Panicking isn’t going to clear the rubble.”

Sable nodded weakly, though his hands were still trembling.

From down the dark hallway came a faint sound—soft at first, like something dragging along the floor. Mia froze, her rifle rising instinctively. The beam of her flashlight hovered in the black void beyond their immediate area.

“Dune?” she called softly, “Reed?”

No answer.

The dragging sound grew louder. A faint clunk… clunk… scrape echoed through the darkness.

Mia’s fingers wrapped around her rifle.

 “We’ve got company.”