Chapter 10 Mad Science, Meet Big Guns

After ensuring the lab was clear of threats, the group began cautiously exploring. The space was filled with overturned furniture, shattered glass, and an unsettling number of empty preservation cylinders, their contents long since vanished or decayed. Flickering lights and the faint hum of ancient machinery provided an eerie backdrop.

Reed wandered toward the back of the lab; his attention caught by a cluster of faintly glowing glass cylinders standing upright in a cracked containment rack. He wiped a sleeve across one of the dusty cylinders to get a better look. Inside, a thick, greenish liquid swirled sluggishly, holding a handful of syringes suspended like grotesque jellyfish. His eyes caught the faded label etched onto the glass.

“Super Soldier Mixture,” Reed read aloud, his voice dripping with awe. His eyes lit up, and a grin stretched across his face. 

“Guys, check this out!”

Dune looking up from where she was examining a rusted terminal. 

“What did you find, Reed? Another skull to chat with?”

“Better! This stuff! Super Soldier Mixture. Can you believe it? I mean, what if this is the real deal?”

Sable approached cautiously; his curiosity piqued despite his apprehension. He peered at the cylinder, adjusting his glasses. 

“Don’t touch it until I’ve had a chance to—”

Reed cut him off, already spinning a web of fantastical ideas.

 “What if I inject myself with this and—bam! Super strength, super speed, a genius brain. I’d be unstoppable. Maybe even grow a pair of wings or laser eyes or something. I’d be a freaking legend!”

Dune smirked, folding her arms.

 “Sounds like a great plan, Reed. Give it a try!”

Mia shook her head, shouting, “Reed, don't listen to her! What if it makes you even dumber?!”

Reed ignored them, holding his wrench in a dramatic pose.

 “They’ll write songs about me. Reed, the heroic wrench-wielding super soldier. Defending the wasteland with—”

“Stop!” Sable snapped.

Reed froze mid-pose, blinking. 

“What?”

Sable pointed at the cylinder. 

“Do you have any idea what that actually is? Because if you don’t, let me spell it out for you: if you inject that, you’re not going to turn into some comic-book hero. You’ll end up like that monstrosity we just killed. No! Worse!”

Reed glanced nervously at the preservation cylinder, his grin fading.

 “Wait… what do you mean?”

 “That serum isn’t magic. It’s part of the process that binds flesh to machine. It doesn’t make you ‘super.’ It makes you compatible with cybernetic enhancements by breaking down your biological limits—and your sanity along with it. It rewires your nervous system, your brain, everything. This is the thing gearheads inject themselves only its hundred times potent!”

He gestured toward the hallway where the remains of the Abominator lay.

 “That thing out there? It probably started with a serum like this. Then came the surgeries, the bionics, the… degradation. This stuff is meant to turn you into a tool, Reed. Not a hero.”

Reed’s face fell, and he took a cautious step back from the glowing cylinders.

 “Okay… yeah. That’s a hard pass for me.”

Sable tapped the cylinder with a gloved finger.

 “Leave this alone. It’s dangerous, unstable, and not worth the risk.”

“Alright, fun as this little science lesson was, we’re burning daylight—or whatever the bunker equivalent is. Sable, bring up the map again.”

Dune studied it, tracing her finger along the blueprints until she reached a point adjacent to the collapsed hallway.

“Here’s the deal. This wall right here? It’s thinner than the others. Reinforced, sure, but not nearly as tough as the main corridors. If we’re lucky, it’ll lead us into another lab or hallway past the cave-in.”

Sable frowned. 

“You’re suggesting we what? Blast a hole through the wall? You realize the structural integrity of this place is already questionable at best, right?”

 “It’s either that or we sit here twiddling our thumbs until someone dies of boredom—or something worse shows up.”

Reed brightened.

 “Wait! Are we finally getting to use the big gun?! Oh boy! Oh boy! Awesome! This will be so cool!”

Dune grinned, patting the Abominator’s heavy machine gun now slung over her back. 

“That’s the plan, Rust King. Big problems require big solutions. And this beauty has over a thousand rounds just itching to tear something apart.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Sable said, rubbing his temples.

“Dead serious,” Dune replied.

 “But don’t worry, professor. I’ll make sure to aim away from anything vital.”

“This is insane.”

“Welcome to the wasteland,” Dune said with a wink.

She turned to the group, her grin wide.

“Alright, stand back. It’s showtime!”

Reed scrambled a few steps away, practically bouncing with excitement.

 “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is gonna be epic!”

“Or catastrophic,” Sable muttered, retreating as far back as the room allowed.

 “Just… try not to collapse the whole bunker on us, will you?”

Mia crouched behind Reed, hugging him for cover.

 “If this brings the roof down, I’m blaming you, Dune.”

 “If this place falls, I’ll take the blame! And if it works, you’ll owe me a drink!”

She planted her feet firmly, the hydraulic joints in her suit locking into place. Lining up the gun’s sights with the faint grid pattern on the wall, she toggled the weapon’s HUD. The display came to life, showing an estimated penetration depth and heat buildup.

“Perfect,” she muttered to herself.

The gun roared to life with a sound that could only be described as apocalyptic. The rapid, staccato thunder of its firing filled the lab, shaking the walls and vibrating through the floor. Muzzle flashes lit up the room like a lightning storm, casting shadows that danced and twisted with every shot.

The rounds slammed into the wall in a torrent of destruction, concrete and metal reinforcing beams splintering and exploding into clouds of dust and debris. Chunks of the wall flew in all directions, ricocheting off the floor and ceiling.

Dune laughed as she adjusted her aim, the recoil ponded her body that even her enhanced suit could not absorb it.

 “This is what I’m talking about! Who needs finesse when you’ve got raw firepower?!”

Reed, standing just a little too close, ducked as a large piece of wall flew past his head.

 “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Leave some for me too!”

Sable, crouched and shielding his head with his arms, yelled over the noise, “Cool?! This is madness! She will kill us all with the ricochet! And if that do not finish us, the noise she is making will attract anything that is still alive in this damn bunker!”

Dune ignored them, pouring round after round into the weakening structure. The wall glowed red-hot in places, the reinforced metal melting under the relentless assault. Finally, with a deafening crack and a massive plume of dust, the center of the wall caved inward.

“BOOM, baby! Almost there! Get some more! You dump wall! HHAHAHA!” 

Reed clapped his hands like an excited kid. 

“You’re officially my hero!”