Apocalypse Hunter - Chapter 15
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Chapter 15

Those bastards were riding something fast when they come in. Ill have to kill them if they try to ride away.

Leona lifted the bow and arrow on the ground at her feet.

Im glad I brought this.

She had grabbed a bow when she was running away, just in case. If it werent for that decision, she wouldnt have been able to pull off the exploding-chipbox maneuver.

It was easy. She fastened the chipbox to an arrow and then input an incorrect password to put the box in detonation sequence. Then she just fired it towards the slaughters.

The problem for Leona was that the tension on the bow was too strong for her to use it properly. Just firing the bow once was enough to take almost all of her energy.

Shed managed to fire the chipbox-laden arrow with pure grit, but she wasnt sure she could kill someone if it really came down to it.

The only things she had to protect herself now were a knife and the bow.

I guess theres nothing left to do but die.

She had been able to get one good blow in, but killing the last four slaughters would be a pain in the ass. She could always just run away - Leona didnt want to do that, and she wasnt even sure shed be safe, anyway.

Im going to kill these bastards, then leave. She wanted to kill them out of anger and frustration for turning her new home into ruin, but that wasnt the only reason.

They were good people.

She had only been there for two days, but everyone accepted her kindly. Even for Leona - who had seen lots of shit in her day - watching the slaughters play with heads like they were soccer balls, or stuff their faces like animals, made her feel disgusted and horrified.

She wouldnt be able to forgive herself if she let these savages live.

Knowing that they were alive and breathing the same air as her made her sick.

Thats how she was feeling - not quite an ethos, but an instinct. Leona hitched an arrow in the bow and waited, watching the open area intently.

The four guards she was waiting for never showed up. They were all dead - wind whistling through the holes in their heads. Leona didnt know that.

What the hell!

Instead of the guards, what emerged from the building were a few slaughters who had managed to escape the brunt of the explosion, thanks to sleeping inside. There were three of them. Leona held her breath and lowered her eyes to observe them.

Baldie, One-Eye, Long-Hair.

Leona continued her watch on the three, giving each a nickname.

They all look dead.

Did lightning strike or something? Did some idiot explode a grenade?

Boss must be dead then.

All the spoils from the city had disappeared together with the chipbox. The surviving slaughters had absolutely no idea what was going on.

They were trying to decide if there was an enemy attack, or if it had merely been a mistake. The timing would have been perfect for an attack. Slaughters are strange and eccentric beings out in the wild. They dont mourn their fallen brethren. Of course they had a sense of fraternity with one another, but that fraternity didnt extend to the dead.

Baldie addressed the other two survivors:

So whos the Boss now?

Boss?

Even in a group of three, to a man the look in their eyes shifted when the question of the newest leader was raised.

Why me, of course ventured Long-Hair.

To which Baldie shouted in reply:

Thats bullshit! Im the oldest! The Boss is always the oldest!

My ass, the Boss is always the strongest replied Long-Hair.

You guys are nothing compared to me! What the fuck are you talking about? added One-Eye.

The atmosphere around the three survivors turned tense as the subject of rightful leader was raised.

What the hell...pathetic losers.

Leona watched the open space, wondering if these slaughters actually belonged to the same species as her. Ard Point fell to people this careless and pathetic. She was pissed off and dumbfounded.

Im the new boss!

I am!

The order for boss is the order we came out of the building, you assholes!

They were now shouting at each other, appearing like they were close to throwing punches. Leona began to wonder if shed be okay running away - if she didnt have to take care of those morons herself. She was contemplating that decision when

One-Eye suddenly threw a glance in Leonas direction, mumbling with a bleak chuckle:

I found it.

!

Leona ducked her head as fast as possible. But it was too late. One-Eye had already seen her.

Where? asked Long-Hair, seemingly forgetful of their recent violent row.

4th floor of that building. Fifth window from the left.

Figures. Mustve been a rat hiding out.

Its a little kid.

HaHaHaHa.

Baldie laughed. Leona could hear the slaughters laughing. She had goosebumps on her back.

Crazy bastards...those crazy bastards.

The three seemed to have run out of the building randomly. In reality, they were holding their positions in a triangle shape. They were merely pretending to argue, while they each looked behind the others backs. With that formation, they could easily get a 360 degree view of the situation.

Slaughters are crazy.

Just like hunters.

Slaughters stay alive in the wild for a reason. Insanity doesnt guarantee survival. Even if slaughters are known for being an insane group, insanity certainly wasnt their only strong suit.

They had managed to make their enemy drop their guard by pretending to argue. They took advantage of that moment to uncover Leonas hiding place.

Slaughters were vicious and smart enough to use their enemies preconception that they were crazy against them.

Theres no back door in that building. The kid can only leave through the front door. Lets harass em a bit.

They were only going to stay for a night then leave. And yet, they had an in-depth understanding of Ard Points layout.

Looks like all the guards are dead too.

There was no sign of the guards who had been on the walls. They had a pretty good idea what mustve happened to them.

She might try to escape through a back window. Get to the back of the building! Ill take the flank. You watch the front!

Okay!

They began to move in a well-ordered fashion.

I cant just stay here now that theyve found me.

Leona wasnt the kind of person to wait in fear for death. She moved to the next room and settled by the window. She notched the bow.

UGGHHH!!!

Unable to pull back the bow all the way, she nevertheless boldly thrust herself into plain view through the window. The slaughters saw her plainly. She didnt have enough time to aim or settle her breathing properly.

Please let it hit them!

-PING!

The arrow flew from the bow.

THUMP!

What the-?

The arrow didnt even reach Baldies feet. It stuck in the ground ten strides from him.

You cant even shoot! Hey kid! You wouldnt even be able to shoot a still pig like that! jabbed Baldie. Leona gritted her teeth. It was true that she couldnt shoot - she couldnt aim because it was too hard to pull the bow back. Baldie continued to bait Leona:

Hey! Try and hit me! I wont move! HAHAHAHAHAHA.

That fucking bastard...

Leona grit her teeth and reloaded the bow.

UUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!

Pulling the string back for the second time was enough to make Leonas muscles scream in agony. The bow wasnt light enough for a child could wield it. She tried as best she could to pull the string. Her efforts were in vain however, for they only made her more tired.

Instantly Baldie laughed bitterly at Leona.

HAHAHAHAHA!! Hey! Where did the archer go? Whacha gonna do noooowwwwww??

That only served to piss Leona off even more.

Crazy assholes. If only I had another weapon...they wouldnt be acting like that thenNo, no, hold on...

Leona was suddenly struck with a bad feeling.

She hadnt live up that that point without mistakes. Of course shed made a few. But there were reasons why shed managed to stay alive.

She never made the same mistake twice. Leona had just make a mistake. Shed been discovered for observing too keenly the seemingly pathetic slaughters.

What Baldie was doing may also be some kind of trap.

What about the other two assholes?!?

She couldnt see the other two slaughters. They could be inside the building coming for her right now.

Or

-C-CHINK!

!

Its possible they were pretending to be going around the back of the building. They could have brought heavy weapons capable of taking out a 4-story building.

Leona saw One-Eye in the distance, holding what looked like a pile of metal. He was aiming it at her. Leona became even more uneasy.

Leona had no idea that what he was holding was an RPG-7. All she knew at that moment was her uneasiness - which told her to run inside the building.

The rocket let out a roar and a ball of flames. Leona flung herself into the room across the way.

-KABOOOM!

Leona was thrown like a pinball onto the floor with the explosion.

You idiot! Cant you even shoot properly?

Its nighttime now you dick!

The missile thankfully had missed its mark. The room was a mess, but Leona was able to lift herself to her feet, shaking.

Cr crazy...what the hell was that.

-CCHINK

The sound of metal from outside let Leona know that something bad was happening again. She couldnt know for sure because her hearing had been messed up in the first explosion, but Leona knew at the very least that her situation was dire.

I gotta run away.

Those assholes are using god-knows-what kind of huge weapons. I, on the other hand, have a bow I cant even use. There is no chance of winning. Ive gotta run away.

One of the slaughters had a rocket launcher. Leona couldnt see the other. Just then she realized, in this desperately dangerous situation, that she had lost track of the third slaughter. Just as she staggered up and looked towards the door

Hahahaha.

Long-Hair was standing there, staring at Leona, a dark smile creeping across his lips. There were only three of them left, but the slaughters were exhaustive in their movements.

One slaughter attacked the 4th floor with the rocket launcher; another was lying in wait in the building in case the rocket failed.

Deciding who would cover what side of the building...that was all a trick.

Letting everyone within shouting distance your plan is something only idiots do. These bastards are crazy - but theyre not idiots. Its impossible to know whats a bluff and whats real with them. They were able to move this systematically without even a proper discussion.

These slaughters were able to take down the 100 or so men of Ard Point with only 30 of their own. That wasnt only because they had superior weapons.

Only then was Leona keenly aware of their real capabilities.

Leona bit her lips, retreating slowly.

Im not sure what you did, but theres nowhere else to run now.

Long-Hair was slowly walking towards Leona. He was weaponless, but he could easily strangle a little kid with his bare hands.

Haha. Good. Good. The Boss didnt like us playing with live ones. Now that hes gone I can finally enjoy myself a bit.

As he approached Leona, Long-Hair seemed to be extracting maximum pleasure from the fact that she was trapped and had nowhere to go. Leonas eyes were wet with fear as she shook in the window. Leona was shaking her head and had her arms crossed as if to say dont come any closer.

Just jump, huh?. If I get you, something really, realllllllly bad is gonna happen.

She would die if she jumped. Long-Hair was chuckling, curious to see if Leona would choose to kill herself to escape his terror.

Should I show you what I mean by something bad? Yea? Itll be scary. Itll hurt. Itll be terrible. I want to rip your eyes out and pour sand in there.

Leona was just shaking, her teeth clenched. She was staring at the grim reaper-esque Long-Hair. She had nowhere to run in the sealed room. The man approached her. Just four steps away, he screamed:

Ill choose for you if you cant, kid!

-SWOOOSH!

The man rushed towards Leona, who undid her clasped hands. Instead of running away, she leapt into the mans torso.

Leona had her knife hidden under her arm. It was now in her right hand.

She thrust that very hand towards the mans neck.

-THUMP!

AHHH!

The man grabbed his neck and stumbled back. Leona stood up nimbly and removed her knife.

-THUMP!

Leona stabbed the mans chest.

-THUMP!

Now she went for his stomach.

-THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

She was stabbing him repeatedly, holding the knife with two hands.

AHH! ARRRRGH!

The man was shaking, unable to fight back after being stabbed at least seven times. Blood was bubbling in his mouth. Leona was staring at the man, calmly. Her demeanour suggested she had been faking her terror just moments before.

AHHHH.Ahhh.

Leona removed the knife and stood up, staggering, once the man stopped convulsing.

Im screwed cause Im a little kid, but there are also some good things about being a kid.

-SPIT!

Leona licked the blood off her lips and spit. Her clothes and her face were all covered in blood.

Kids are weak. Her opponent had thought so, and he had looked down on her and underestimated her accordingly.

Just like slaughters use their insanity to deceive their enemies, Leona had used her age to do the same.