Berserk

Dashing through a narrow path, I stumbled through a back part of the park. Equipment and tools arranged neatly on sides keeping the route clear. Though I didn’t expect to slip into a pocket like this. I just pushed through to get closer to what was happening.

When I broke through the hedge wall back into the open grounds, I saw far more people fleeing. Thankfully, B’s path kept me away from most of the crowd. People tried for a direct exit rather than side routes. So I could keep approaching without getting knocked over again.

However, the path he gave me went far around a wall of bushes when I could hear the sounds of fighting or assault just on the other side. “No time…” I snapped my hand down as my whip dropped into my hand from the sleeve. A quick flick unsealed the device. I flung the elastic whip out to grab onto the top of the bush as I leapt up with aid.

Guided over, I tumbled down and rolled across the ground shortly to break. I flipped my head up to see what was happening. Unlike the man at the Basilica, the one here barreled through people wildly flailing at anyone in sight.

I saw signs of blood and lubricants sprayed over stone and greenery. In a blur of glowing green light and red someone leapt through the air out of my sight. “Damn…this is bad…” Around me, I saw planters smashed into powder and soil thrown everywhere. It was hard to know if it happened before or during their attack on people.

“B, has security been called?”

“Yes, but they are still a minute out.”

“Then we’ll have to keep them busy until they arrive.” I retracted the whip back and sprinted over into the main path of the park. Thankfully, the chaos cleared it out. But I saw two people still trying to escape. “B! Above!”

I snapped back on the whip extending it out behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small chunk of broken stone from a planter. I held for a few seconds as a machine sweeper bolted through the path. It momentarily cut off the attacker from their victims.

They paused in confusion to the interruption. I flung the whip forward to release the debris at them. It smashed into their head and cracked into pieces. “Hey, asshole!” That got their attention.

And I finally got a clear view of who I was dealing with. A tallish woman that looked to be young though that could mean anything up to the forties or even fifties, so that didn’t mean a whole lot. Judging from their clothes, they looked like to be an employee working the park grounds. Which explained the mess I saw earlier.

A green glow came from their eyes as well as lines along their shoulders and arms. Their purple uniform had a few tears in it, but they otherwise looked to be in good shape. Which made sense as I didn’t think anyone had the idea to defend themselves. Even with most people’s strength being equal and real injury difficult for them, they still fled on instinct. All the augments couldn’t erase human emotions.

But that didn’t matter now as I had the woman’s interest now. I just had to hold out until security arrived. That shouldn’t be impossible. It still made me sweat a little, but I butted into trouble. So time to face it.

She burst forth with unnatural speed. Even for augments, I didn’t think people that weren’t specialized runners could hit speeds that easily. Did they break the limits bound to their augments? Either way, I wasn’t prepared for a burst. I could only raise up my arms to protect myself as she crashed into me.

The force threw me into a hedge wall and through it. My body tore through branches and shrubbery leaving a chunky hole behind. Crashing out on the stone, I barely managed to avoid cracking my head and rolled over.

Checking on my condition, the jacket survived without a missed thread. Just a heavy slam to my chest that winded me, but otherwise it protected me well. It was doing its job, but I still worried about it when going up against augments.

In an almost feral leap through the same hedge, the woman landed on all fours staring up at me. The entire time she never utter anything more than groans or grunts. Was there any reason functioning in her brain? Did something completely overwhelm her consciousness?

Regardless, knowing better now, I immediately jumped out of the way for distance. She tracked me keenly waiting for the moment that I landed to pounce. Snapping my whip, I lashed it around the hedge nearby and with aid from my jacket, ripped it free.

A wash of greenery splashed in front of our vision as the hunk of bush smacked the woman. It wasn’t enough to stop her, but it did give me the needed pause to leap over her. Cleared of the charge, she slid over stone with fingers crushing the tiles under pressure.

“Damn, she’s using the full strength of her augments. Where the hell are you, security?!” This wouldn’t be like the squeeze I got from the guy when I arrived yesterday. She’d be able to tear through my jacket with ease. It didn’t have the strength to take the full power of an augment.

I couldn’t keep just being defensive with her. I was going to make a mistake or just be too slow. Snapping the whip back, I slowly stepped back trying to judge when she jumped again. She was going to have faster reaction times than me. So I only watch for any hint.

Fighting wasn’t exactly my strength, but I had a fair bit of self defense to handle a scrap. This wasn’t what I trained for. People didn’t just go berserk. At least, that I knew.

But that didn’t matter anymore as she shifted slightly before lunging forward at me. I flicked my wrist guiding the whip for a moment before releasing it. The extra tension snapped it out striking the woman across the cheek. It struck hard enough to scratch up the hardened skin, but didn’t crack anything.

The force and surprise though was enough to throw her off balance and crash into the ground. Just stay down, please. But she already started to move. “I hoped that might have stirred her, but no…”

I walked away to keep a safe distance. Behind me, I heard the sound of jets. Finally security arrived. I only need to keep her busy for a few more seconds and they could subdue her.

However, that was still more seconds that I had. She bolted up with her arms turning against her joints unnaturally. It nearly looked like a monster in a horror movie I saw once. Her hand sprung forward at me.

I could only use the whip to try to hold her back, but the strength slammed straight through. Her hand rammed the cable straight into my throat as I crashed into the bushes. If it had been a wall I think she would have killed me on the spot.

I coughed harshly as she stood up righting her limbs and body, but keeping a hold on me. Her fingers tightened further around my neck as I couldn’t get air. Gasping out I flailed trying to look for B, but even he wouldn’t be able to stop the raging woman.

Please. Someone!