Escape!

ESCAPE!

Follow along with Ian as he travels the changed world of Appalachia after the bombs fall. What will he find out there in the great unknown? Tune in once a month to find out! 

Story by Darkwingdave

“There’s no escape for you, Human!” 

Damn greenskin might be right. 

Ian gritted his teeth, which at the moment were the only things not hurting, especially the throbbing in his left leg where the mutant hound had latched on to him before he could put it down. The chance he had contracted something from the bite was better than getting out of this in one piece. Wrestling the gauss rifle over, the blinking display confirmed more bad news. He had enough juice for three shots, which would likely only get their attention…or an exceptional shot to put one of them down if he hit it. At least the diluted stimpack had kept him alive - if one could call it that.

What level of stupidity was it thinking he could take a relay station by himself? He thought he’d hit the jackpot when he found one with only a single functioning turret. Everything was supposed to go according to plan until the two super mutants lumbered out at the sound of their hound’s baying alarm.

Figuring it was now or never, Ian put the last of the healing salve on the laser burn from the glancing hit he took. He aimed carefully, more accurate with his return shot, dropping one of them but then, he’d been pinned down by the second one. Maybe it would be more interested in revenge and just kill him, not harvesting him for a later snack. Did they even have such higher reasoning?

A humming sound caught his attention. Trying not to move and make more noise, Ian turned his head slightly, looking as far over as he could to see the spherical shape of an eyebot coming over the brush and toward the relay station. 

Closing his eyes to slits, Ian held his breath and remained still. If the thing had any working sensors, it would quickly determine he was alive. The only hope was…none at all. 

Typical of his luck. The side had an Arktos logo on it. Not the Responder logo meaning there could be some degree of help. As it moved closer, he also saw the damage, which looked like .45 round hits, as well as a slight grinding sound. It had clearly been in a fight, maybe even the reason it was all the way over here.

The eyebot hovered past him...and kept going; a good sign. 

Suddenly, a bellow came from the woods; the super mutant was getting closer. The eyebot, in response to the sound, turned as the built in energy weapon came alive with glowing energy. It started moving toward the super mutant as it moved through the woods, roaring while brandishing a super sledge in the huge left hand. 

Ian tracked the action with his eyes, not daring to move - or even breathe - at the possible change in fortune he was witnessing. The air buzzed with the sound of the eyebot’s shot at the super mutant, hitting it in the right shoulder. The mutant snarled, swinging at the eyebot, which nimbly edged away. They went back and forth; the super mutant scored a hit on the eyebot which drew sparks and then the eyebot’s laser would blasted off part of the super mutant’s armor. 

Ian slowly crawled away from the battle when the eyebot, trying to dodge another blow from the super sledge, hindered by the super mutant’s blow, became tangled in some vines, slowing it down enough for the super mutant to rear back, delivering a killing blow, nearly flattening it with the strength of the sledge. 

The triumphant mutant turned, in obvious pain, to see Ian crawling away. Recognition glimmered in its dark, beady eyes, recognizing a former enemy and hefted the weapon to finish the wounded human. 

The super mutant laughed cruelly as Ian covered his face and turned away. “We ARE the superior race, Human! Now you die!”

The self-destruct mode of the eyebot activated at the same time, a following explosion launching the unsuspecting super mutant up, over Ian’s head and into a tree. The head, damaged as it was by the impact, lolled toward Ian, still wearing a look filled with unbridled hatred.

Stiffly sitting up, Ian brushed dirt off his clothes and slowly, painfully, got to his feet using the Gauss rifle as support. 

“Time to see if all of this was worth it,” he thought, limping toward the relay station past all the fallen enemies.