Chapter 107

“FUCK!” The red flare light at this range was blinding. The flare had hit Schmid in the face plate and bounced away. Upon contact with his face plate, it had fully ignited. Schmid and I were exposed to the flare’s light at close range. I staggered back with my eyes now shut and watering from the glare. I fumbled for my sword handle as I tried to blink away the after-effects. I had thrown the flare gun away now, as it was useless.

I managed to get my hand onto the handle of the blade and drew it quickly. I desperately wanted to wipe my eyes, but the faceplate was in the way I did not want to risk lifting it. All I could do was blink rapidly and hope for the best, as Schmid hopefully had it worse.

My eyes quickly cleared. Schmid had to stumble back and now was partly lost in the fog. I can still clearly make out his outline of the details was now obscured and he was wrenching off his helmet from the looks of things. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity and attacked.

I quickly closed the distance and as I approached, he finally got his helmet off. His new tentacle appendages soon attacked me, but I had gotten too close too fast and drove my blade into his stomach as I knocked aside his shield. He didn’t scream or yell as the blade slid into his armour. I was driving in with the full force of my weight behind the blade and he began staggering back with me staying with him.

The tentacles were now hammering on my helmet and body armour. The thorns along their edges were ripping into my suit’s outer layer and scratching my helmet and faceplate. I continue to press the attack.

I pulled the blade out and drove it forward again. We will both continue to move as he tried to get some distance between us, but I was on him like a flea on a dog. The terrain we were in, however, now worked against him as a wall of the fort emerged from the fog and I was able to pin into it.

During his retreat, I realised he had dropped his sword. As far as I can tell, his tentacles and shield were his weapons now. I leaned in again with my total weight behind the blade and pierced it into his armour. I twisted this time as I pulled out the strike again. The tentacles were now attacking much more frantically. This was the only indication I was injuring him, as I could afford to look down and assess the injuries as soon as my blade had reached enough resistance.

The shoulder tentacle smashed across my face plate in response and was able to rip it from most of its hinges on my helmet. The force of the impact was so brutal that it spanned me to my left and I staggered away, trying to keep my balance. The plate was cracked right down the middle and hanging from a helmet. I was able to turn the meet Schmid’s attack.

He had pulled out his secondary blade was seen to be a machete of some sort. From my brief glance, I think it could have been one of those popular zombie killers in the early 2020s. He didn’t give me much time after that, as he was soon hacking away and striking out with his tentacles. His attacks were becoming more undisciplined but were hitting a lot harder. I used my shield to block his wild swings and what tentacle strikes I could. I was now backing up, trying to get room to manoeuvre.

My right arm was becoming numb from the force of the impacts, clearly seeing damage to my shield as chips flew away and to my left arm’s outer layers of my suit. Schmid was now without his helmet and I knew there were two injuries to his gut area, but I didn’t know how much that would slow him down now. The only way I knew I was going to him permanently what to take out the head and the brain within it. I had no idea how I would do that at the moment.

The tentacle coming out of his side ripped across my leg armour. I felt the impact through the plates. Another caught the top of my shield while I could dodge away from the third. All the while, he continued just to hack away with his machete at my shield.

As he pulled back his arm to swing again with his blade, I stopped retreating and pushed forward. We collided shield to shield and were knocked back from each other with a loud thud. The impact sent shockwaves through my body, but I was able to keep it together and only staggered back a step or two before attacking again. Unfortunately, Schmid was the same. We collided again and again; we were knocked back from each other.

I blocked his blade with mine, knocking it aside as I tried to shoulder-barge him with my shield. As I made contact, he turned his body making me roll off him. This exposed my back and he was able to use the opportunity new to the tentacles to rip across my back armour. I felt the impact but knew my armour had held.

I quickly turned to face him again and we began circling. He was fighting with far more intelligence than the average opponent had to deal with, not relying on brute strength or sheer speed. He was not as coordinated as he could have been, but he was leagues ahead against what I have.

Over the next few minutes, he comes at me multiple times. Striking out with his blade or tentacles. I use my blade and shield with my footwork to stop any strikes from landing. Even though he is attacking, he’s been smart enough not to open himself to a counter. His injuries don’t seem to be slowing down back and I see what I think is blood running down his legs.

I’m breathing hard and my body is telling me it is not happy with me. Thankfully my armour has not been penetrated and what few injuries I know I have are from impacts. I know I can push past these and ignore them for the moment.

I need to end this and soon. It’s clear that he could wear me down over time and if I make a mistake, that will be my end. I also know in the back of my head that the support team will be here soon with the breach closer. My enhancements have allowed me to hold my own against him and the normal members of the support team will be no match.

We are both still circling each other looking at each other from the over-the-top of our shields. Using them to cover our torso as we have been trained to do. So, the question is, how do I beat someone who’s had equivalent training to me and is now mutated by the zone?

This was a typical shitty situation I found myself in. The only answer I could think of was to do something really stupid.

I quickly moved several steps, not disguising the fact that I was attacking. As I had hoped, my blatant attack forced him to raise its shield a little more and brace for the impact he was expecting. I, on the other hand, had other ideas. Schmids shield was not as large as mine, and I chose a tactic to take advantage of this. When I reached striking range, instead of lashing out with my sword, I dropped to one knee lift in my shield over my head to protect me as I struck up between his legs. It was clear he was not expecting this was taken by complete surprise as the blade tore into his groin area. However, the armoured section protecting his family jewels turned the blade aside. It went in between the groin and the bone of his left leg near the hip.

Again, I twisted the blade as it withdrew and, in return, received several strikes down the top of my shield. In my placed stance, I could hold easily but was not used to holding my shield in this position and could not fully absorb all of the hits. They knocked me off balance. I rolled on the ground, quickly coming to my feet again. Schmid was close in again attacking. I was just able to get my shield up; one of the tentacles scored a glancing hit causing an injury to open across my cheek.

I quickly felt a burning sensation from the wound and instinctively knew it was poisoned. My right shoulder was now aching persistently from the repeated blows I had blocked. My left arm and legs were okay, so I was in good fighting condition at the moment.

Schmid wasn’t letting up. He continued to attack, pressing me and forcing me back, keeping me on the defensive. I knew I had got three hits in at least, but they didn’t seem to be slowing him down.

I dug my feet and braced. I held off several more attacks and began pushing back. I use my shield aggressively, blocking and striking back, holding my sword ready for any opportunity that presents itself. This turned the momentum of the fight again in my favour.

The burning in my cheek was getting worse and spreading across my face. I knew what the effects would be and could let this fight drag on much longer. I continue to press, looking for an opportunity or an opening. Schmid was again backing up rapidly, trying to open the distance so he could want to get himself. I denied him this and just continued to press.

Suddenly he became unbalanced and was threatening to fall backwards. I realised my opportunity had come and hit him with my shield. This was enough to knock him flat onto his back and I quickly followed up shield was up facing me and I kneeled on it, trying to pin him under it. The tentacles continued to attack me, but my armour was holding.

I reversed my blade grip and drove down through my weight onto the pummel as I drove it into his head. The blades sank deeply into his skull, catching his right eye upwards. With my full weight behind it quickly went through his skull and into the ground. The tentacles continued to attack me for a few seconds, then rapidly went limp as he died. I continued to lean down on top of the blade, ensuring he couldn’t move. I stayed there a good 30 seconds after he had stopped moving just to make sure, as I was breathing hard myself and was exhausted by the fight.

“Harrington! What’s the hell is going on?” Exclaimed Grey. I looked up and around, realising that the support team had arrived. The forward guards and Sgt Grey looked at me with shocked expressions.

“Oh, you know, Sargent. The same old shit on a different day.” With that, I rolled off the body of Schmid and lay on my back, looking up at the fog-covered sky, breathing hard still.

“Medic!” I heard Grey call out. Several people were coming my way and the sound of footsteps suddenly stopped.

“Holy Shit!” It was the most common exclamation from the group but not the only one when they saw Schmid. Or, to be more precise, what he had become.

“What happened here, Harrington?” Grey asked. In my eye line, I could see her inspecting the body of the former operative. Another person I did recognise appeared on my other side and was a medic.

“No clue. Let’s get this breach sealed and get out of here. The brief teams will have a field day with me over this.” Grey didn’t say anything but just nodded, turned, and began yelling orders to a team to get the breach secured and the machine set up.