The Badlands: Kinship

"Okay, we don't have long to admire this place." I say. 

The metal walls are massive. Beams that are long enough to build trains tie together to hold the massive walls up. It seems a whole settlement could live in here. I can see some have even gotten electric lights, which I didn't think we could have. So many mysteries of the old world to uncover.

Mia starts dragging a huge military grade chest in front of the door to barricade it shut. Maybe, just maybe she knows more about here than meets our eyes. I can only hope her knowledge is just as reliable as always.

"There should be weapons somewhere inside-" She says, when she faces me she freezes.

"What?" I ask.

"I don't think there are any survivors here." She says bleakly.

"What do you-" I turn and stop when I see what caught her.

Mutilated flesh and blood is everywhere. No bones found anywhere. Just pure gore. Mia is trying to keep her stomach, the gagging is near impossible for me to resist.

"Damn." She says.

"Think it was those things?" I ask.

We are careful as we walk through, as not to slip on pieces of muscles or various bits of organ. I shudder at the scent of death filling the air inside. No windows or doors really make a lot of room for movement of this terribly stagnant air. It is almost as if these people have been dead for days.

"Probably." Mia says.

"So what now?" I ask. 

"We prepare for an attack-" She replies as pounding on the door begins. 

Metal screeching at the door like nails on a chalk board, as if they were claws when each hand would back away from the door. I feel my hairs stand on end and immediately Mia is barricading the door with chairs and desks. I quickly join her.

"What's the point in this?" I ask.

"Buying me time to get a plan together." She huffs angrily. "These fuckers are stubborn." She adds.

"What about the hologram cards we bought?" I ask.

"What about them?" She asks.

"What if they feel fear like we do?" I ask.

"We could scare them off..." Mia drifts for a moment.

The thoughts that fill her head have me questioning so much. She seems to be scanning the desk, door and its little window. She starts to chuckle.

"Got an idea?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, Punch the window of the door out." She demands. "I'll hold the barricade, just do it." She adds.

"Right." I say.

I scramble to the desk and stand on it, smacking the metal rod that holds the electric whip against it so it shatters. I look to Mia. She gives me a thumbs up.

"Now trade places with me." She says as I hop off of the desk. 

I go ahead and push against the barricade. She walks up behind me and slips her hand into my pocket to get the deck of cards. I can't help but fight my urge to move away, as this was not expected. She smiles as she kisses me on the cheek.

"Thanks, I know what card to use I think." She says flowing through the deck.

"Right." I cant think of what else to contribute at the moment. 

Her confidence never stops amazing me. She is so bold and comfortable in nearly every situation. In a way, I envy her confidence. I wish I was as suave with myself.

She flips through the deck and tosses a red card out the broken window. The slamming on the door slows down. It's then, I realize, that card must be more scary than these bone spiders. 

ROAR!

The structure we are in quivers. I can only ponder what she let out of the card. I stay firm against our barricade. We may be safe, but I am afraid to let the door no longer be forcefully shut. I don't trust the outside of the door enough, yet.

"I threw out a 'Red Dragon' card." She scoffs.

"A what?" I ask.

"These cards seem to be part of some kind of game from the old world." She suggests.

"Why would they want to scare one another?" I ask.

"Beats me, the old world is full of mysteries. Even since the war this world has been full of it too." She sighs.

I loosen up as the banging stops entirely. I can relax. No more horrid eerie sounding scratching metal.

"So, what now, Mia?" I ask.

"I wasn't expecting to find this place in such a disaster." She admits.

"Does this change the plan?" I ask.

"No, we still need to get project purity." She affirms.

"Well, how do we handle our unwanted quests?" I ask.

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." She sighs.

"Let's hear it." I reply as fat as I can manage.

"I use your whip to turn this place into a live wire." She explains.

"But we are in here, they are out there." I say.

"For now. If we open the door, I can blast a hole in the roof, we jump and i throw the activated whip to the predlym." She explains a bit better to me.

"So, then my weapon would be left behind?" I ask.

"Yes, sadly. I can get you another somewhere, I'm pretty sure." She assures me.

I can't believe we are entertaining this insanity. But, we must survive. What other choices have we got? I can only try asking, but it may be at no avail. I feel like this may just be our best shot to living in this grand battle of us and the bone spiders. I sigh deeply, inside I am hoping we will make it through this crazy idea.

"We can do it for sure?" I ask.

She only nods for her response. She seems a little uneasy about the idea herself. If she is right, she may be the one to save us with ideas this time. Old Boston was my call to plan, I suppose its time we try one of her crazy ideas. After all, we tried one of mine and we lived. 

"You feeling okay?" She asks.

"Just a bit worried." I admit.

"We can jump far enough from the roof to not get shocked." She says.

"What about the fall?" I ask.

"Well, we can use the emergency inflation raft that I been saving for water travel." She replies.

"Will it be enough to break the fall?" I ask her.

"Probably." She sighs.

"Probably?!" I exclaim. "Shouldn't we be a little more safe than just probably?" I add.

Before I get a chance to hear her reply the horrid combination of banging on metal along with the sheer agonizing shrill of the grinding metal from their claws. I shudder as we both push against the barricade. I huff.

"Unless you got something else, we need to get moving quick, we wont hold them forever." She grunts, fighting to keep the barricade against the door.

"Shit!" I exclaim.

"On three!" She shouts. 

"One..." I say.

"Two..." She replies.

"Three!" I shout with her as we both let go of the barricade.

We sprint for a set of steel stairs as we hear the clamber of sliding furniture from the doors path. I can feel the sense of dread fill inside of my chest. I watch where I step as i run, being sure not to slip in the gore that was left by the people before us. I try not to gag as we slide on the next floor up. We slide a desk to throw down the stairs at these multiple limbed white coated beings. The gore of the floor not making them look any more friendly. 

We turn around and continue our sprint. I can feel the panic setting in my mind. We have to be fast. I grab the rail as Mia darts up another flight of stairs in this seemingly endless climb for our very lives. I slide and pull myself to the stairs. Blood on these steel floors make it hard for me to keep steady. 

From in between the steps on the way up, I can see the white monstrosities coming up after me and Mia. I reach for my cards. I forgot, Mia has them. I sprint up the stairs to reach after her when i feel a hook over my shin, slamming my rushing body to the steel steps. My body writhes and twitches from the impact of the steps. 

This is it. She can't save me this time. I can't save me either. I roll onto my back as the anthropod shaped human comes to stare at me with its twelve green glowing eyes. I feel it hit me. I am going to die, just like the others. 

"NO!" I shout and swing my leg for its face.

The banging of the body on the stairs to the floor. Mia turns around and i feel her grab me by under my arms, dragging me up the stairs. My body feels as if it shatters with each movement she makes. 

"Ow, ow, ow!" I exclaim as she continues to rush away from our unwanted company. 

"What the hell happened?" She asks.

"One tripped me, I think I broke some things." I say, the pain slipping into my voice.

"Can you walk?" She asks.