First Battle Pt. 3

Obtaining visual information on anyone that’s ambushing us is key. If we can understand where they’re coming from, we could turn the tables on this confrontation. Every chance I got, my eyes peeled glances in every direction all around but there was still nobody to be found. What’s going on?! The lands were just as barren and flat as before. Did they somehow make a break for it? No, we would have seen that. Are they hiding underground? That’s possible but that would be an extremely difficult and risky maneuver to pull off, especially seeing the likes of myself. They’re all wearing surface-resistant uniforms but I’d still bet that all it takes is one forceful rip from my hands and their flesh begins to burn.

The fumes of the extinguisher grow and soon we’re enveloped in a cloud of it all. I held my breath and started reaching out for Rocco. This was definitely not a good idea as I could accidentally light him up but my instincts took over.

“Kid, where are you?!”

“Shit, I’m still alive, sir!”

Luckily hearing his voice knocked some sense into my brain. My hands retracted back to my sides and my mind began to focus on where the enemy was. I’m sure this is it. The enemy has to be here.

I continued to hold my breath as I spoke, “Sir, I’m going to need you to get down! Lay flat on the floor, now!”

There was no way to tell if Rocco was going to listen to me. After all, what the hell would a seventeen-year-old recruit know about battle? It’s true that I was never the smartest person in class but in the heat of the moment, unlike everyone around me, my mind always remained calm. Assessing every possibility. What’s likely and what isn’t, even if none of it could be said with absolute certainty, I need to begin to trust these instincts of mine. Not the fake resolve to become a Scavenger Lord, but this fire that burns my soul, my entire body, and every moving ember is a reminder that I must build the greatest theme park this world has ever seen!

In a swift motion, my body leans back. This might hurt a lot but there’s no other way. Just before my back hits the ground. I’ll raise my leg. No, not the one with a useless foot on it, the one with the UV-70 attached to it. Up until now, walking on a gun tied to my leg has felt excruciatingly painful, but if this pays off, then it’ll have been more than worth it, because if I were the enemy and I saw two people approaching and one of them was on fire, sure, my first instinct would be to extinguish them, but if I knew there was a chance of them being hostile, I’d have to achieve the upper-hand in battle. Staying on the ground with them isn’t an option because that leaves everything up to chance. Going underground would be smart but all it takes is one lucky guess and I’d be burned all the same. The only option left, the only place I could be where I could guarantee the flames would never reach me is…!

My leg pointed out as far as it possibly could and with both my hands cupping the handle and trigger, I began to shoot sporadically into the sky. The sounds of the UV-70 reminded me of Milona’s crystal floors. For a weapon of violence, it sounded quite elegant

My back hit the ground and the pain was immense but there it was again, this feeling that I was alive and everything else melting away. My hands gripped even harder and my other leg kicked off the ground to propel myself in all directions as I shot above.

“I’m hit!”

“I’m also hit!”

The hag’s voice shouts again, “Hold your fire! Everyone stop!” Something in my brain was telling me to not stop shooting but my instincts told me otherwise. After the extinguisher fumes cleared out, all became visible.

Rocco was laid out flat on the ground. I was almost worried, but quickly realized he was only following my instructions. Thank God.

The people in front of us could only be described as menacing. They wore the same surface-resistant uniforms but there seemed to be even more bells and whistles on theirs. Ours… or Rocco’s looked relatively cheap in comparison. On theirs, there seemed to be additional tubes that stemmed from the back and led into the mouth. Maybe it had something to do with how they live in Ylvona.

Their UV-70s had unique attachments that I’d never seen in training before. So those are what turned them into snipers… There was a scope and a unique muzzle break. Our guns looked pretty tame against theirs…

It’s also worth mentioning that despite all these extinguisher fumes, my body is still raging on fire. Not that it hurts now or anything.

“Ma’am, I apologize for my recruit, we have been through the absolute worst circumstances during this expedition. I take full responsibility for everything that has happened!”

What the hell? Why is Rocco talking like she’s his superior? This is the Ylvonian crew. They have nothing to do with us. They’re lucky that I decided to stop shooting…

Just as I predicted, the three of them were hovering far into the sky. Their uniforms helped them blend into the whiteness of it all. The hoverpacks are a high-class technology engineered by the Ylvonians only ten years ago. They’re extremely expensive and often only available to those who can afford them, but they’re also supplied to every Scavenger Lord regardless of their wealth or location. Rocco didn’t seem like the guy to use it because… Ylvonian technology, go figure…

They began to hover down to the surface. This hag had short blonde hair and seemed to be the size of a child. Make no mistake, she was not a child. Those wrinkles and lack of vitamin D are very apparent, even with her uniform on. She also had a necklace with a shark as the centerpiece. The symbol of Ylvona. So she’s a Scavenger Lord as well, huh? That said, she and Rocco should be on equal footing at best then. It still didn’t make sense to me why he was referring to her this way.

“Why is he alive?” She asked angrily.

Something about her tone made me feel offended even though it’s a fair question.

Rocco was going to respond but something came over me. “I don’t know, but we don’t mean any harm. We’re just as clueless as the rest of you, and we need your help.”

Without taking her eyes off Rocco, she asked me, “And why exactly should we help you? For all we know, you’re a surface-dweller in the form of a human.”

“Don’t be stupid. Even you know that doesn’t make a lick of sense. We’re from Milona. I’m a recruit who was supposed to go on his first expedition today like my Lord said. We ran into a series of complications and my leg ended up being cut off. As for my current condition, it’s like I said before, we’re just as clueless as you are. The flames seem to go away when I have some barrier between the Sun and myself but other than that, we know nothing else. My lord here has the symbol of Milona on his necklace. Even you should recognize it. You know we’re not trying anything funny.”

She still refused to look at me and kept her gaze purely on Rocco. “Say we do decide to help you, what's in it for us? You’re going to need medical treatment for your leg once we make it back to our elevator and we won’t be able to send you back to Milona. They’ll care for you in the most luxurious place in the entire world.”

I couldn’t help but smile and even let out a giggle, “What’s in it for you? You must be stupid…” I couldn’t help but laugh again before continuing. There has never been a single case in human history of anyone resistant to fire, let alone in a world like this. This could change everything for not only our world but for you as well. ‘The Scavenger Lord to discover humanity’s saving grace.’”

Rocco looks terrified. I misread him the first time I tried appealing to his better nature but this hag shouldn’t be an issue. It only took a couple of seconds to understand what kind of person she was.

Still, without looking at me, she said, “Alright, we have a deal. You two can come back with us.”

No idea why Rocco looks like a scared mouse but for now it’s okay. I managed to sway her over on my own.

“I’m sorry for shooting at you guys even though you sort of started it. Let’s just let dwellers be dwellers. We’ll be in your care for a while so let’s at least exchange names, right?”

Aside from the hag, there was a beefy guy with a uniform that seemed three times larger than the standard person. I couldn’t tell if he was my age or Rocco’s. He held the extinguisher firmly. Kind of makes me wish I handled my words better with Ms. Hag over there. Seems like he was ready to spray me again at a moment's notice.

There was one other guy that looked a lot scrawnier than the musclehead, and somehow the hag as well. Six snipers, my ass. If it were only this dude, I’d have probably been able to fight him hand-to-hand without moving the gun from my leg. He looked scared as well.

At the very least getting to know who’s taking care of us would prove beneficial.

She finally turned to face me. “You look hideous. Just the sight of fire is disgusting enough for anyone to want you dead. You are lucky we don’t put you down, right here, right now… This is Fence. He’s been one of Ylvona’s strongest soldiers for the past five years. We usually don’t take him out on recruitment expeditions, but we were told to expect some unusual circumstances… This little guy is Masir. He’s our recruit in training and honestly, he’s not worth a damn. Somebody like him is better suited in a supplement farm or the greenhouses. Blasted schools making it sound like anybody can become a scavenger…”

What a mouthful for a very simple question. A bit overdramatic, right?

“As for me, you’ll refer to me as Lord… But, out of some level of respect and disgust for whatever you are, my real name is Clarine. Let’s get moving. If you want any chance to reattach your leg, we have to make it back to the elevator quickly. Just a fair warning, our doctor onboard can be a little… eccentric.”

What an interesting bunch. Masir and Fence seem okay, Fence is not someone I’m gonna scurry up to any time soon but making friends with Masir may be possible. Not sure what she means by their doctor being eccentric though. As long as he puts my leg back, I won’t complain. Also, Clarine… Where have I heard that name before?