The End Result... (Chapter 11 - A Race Against Xenon)

[dragondream]

The End Result

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Chapter 11 – A Race Against Xenon

“Harold, you have to go after that thing,” Robert said desperately trying to come up with a solution. “The group won’t even know what’s behind them when that thing attacks. Run ahead, I’ll take care of Saria.”

“Bobby, you’ll freeze alone!” said Harold in furious disagreement. “I can’t let you alone out here on your own. You’ll die for sure.”

“Harry, we have no choice! Now go, or you personally risk the endangerment of the rest of the group.”
Harold looked at Robert confused, as if not knowing what to do. He knew he had to help his friends Robert and Saria, but at the same time more lives could be in danger if they were being hunted by a Xenon robot.

“Keep yourselves safe, Bobby. Don’t do anything crazy and please light your flare if you are in danger.”

“Yes, yes!” said Robert impatiently. “No go, before it is too late. Don’t worry about us.”

Harold put on a smile. “It is Saria I am worried about; you are harder to kill than a darned Xenon K.”

Robert grinned. “Good to hear. Now, for the love of the sweet home of Earth, go now!”

Harold picked up his Semi-Automatic Polarized Weapon and began the endless run through the impenetrable blizzard and the unbearably cold snow. He followed the tracks, straining his eyes to see through the mist of sharp ice and snow. He pulled his fur hood halfway over his eyes to offer some protection from the snow and hail, but still able to see and follow the tracks made by the hunter and the hunted. After half an hour, Harold began to notice other Xenon tracks in the snow that had grouped with the initial one. He started to grow increasingly concerned and horrified when he counted up to six separate tracks created by massive metal feet, sunk deep into the snow. He increases his pace until his body could barely take the strain.

He came to a massive rocky trench, stretching thousands of feet above the surface. Not being able to see past a few meters of the start of the cave from the immense darkness, Harold lit his torch and shone it into the dark void. Cautiously, but determined, he walked straight into the trench, weapon drawn and ready to shoot at anything nonhuman that moved. As he travelled along, the open ceiling of the trench began to grow narrower and narrower until it was sealed over, shutting the outside world completely off from the nightmarish surroundings. Stalagmites and stalactites stuck out here and there to add to the eerie feel of the whole place. The snow that covered the rocky surface now had vanished from the ground, making Harold’s every footstep audible in the overpowering silence. Carefully, pressed up against the wall, clutching his weapon firmly with both hands, Harold steadily journeyed through the trench while searching the darkness for signs of the Xenon. A set of bright red lights in the distance caught Harold’s attention. He could not make out what they were, straining his eyes to try and focus more closely on them. His chest froze over with fear when he realized the lights were the eyes of three Xenon robots, staring directly at him...

* * * * * * * * * *

Robert felt his breath slowly getting heavier and slower and his strength beginning to leave his body. With all his might he was battling the storm, shielding himself from the pelting hail and still carrying Saria along on his shoulder. He felt Saria’s wrist again and noticed that her pulse had grown even weaker than before. He knew he had to get her out of the storm and the cold soon, but for the life of him could not see how he could do that. Not a single rock, cave or cliff was in sight where Robert could find some shelter. Robert froze when he saw other Xenon tracks in the snow apparently joining the first one. The pace of his heart sped up at the thought of so many Xenon that had now joined the hunt. He freed his Polarized weapon from his holster when he heard the sound of machinery getting louder and louder. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. Red eyes all of a sudden shining hard and cold through the storm. Xenon closed in from all side and he was trapped alone with an unconscious woman.

* * * * * * * * * *

Still staring coldly into the set of eyes coming towards him, Harold jumped in fright as something grabbed him from behind. He spun round and began hitting and kicking in defence, but quickly stopped when he recognized the face of a person.

“Will you cut it out?!” the newly appeared man said. “What’s with the hitting and kicking, man?”

“Sorry Terry, didn’t know it was you,” Harold said embarrassed.

“Now lie low and shut up. Those Xenon might find us.”

“Too late, they spotted me already. We gotta make a run for it, quick.”

“What? They’re coming? You gave us all away!”

Harold’s eyes soon began to make out the rest of the group that was hiding terrified in the darkness.

“Well, if you are all here, why didn’t you just take out those three Xenon already?” Harold said in confusion.

“Three? You must be dreaming, Harry. There are hundreds of them, all over the place. There’s no way we can fight our way out. We only got two clips per gun.”

Harold tapped his Polarized weapon. “Energy weapons, people. It’s the new era. Now stay close and shoot down any Xenon that come to close. Aim for the eyes.”

With that, he launched himself from his position and began firing rapidly at the three Xenon that were closing in. Terry jumped into the air, firing his gun at the same time, with deadly accuracy at the eyes. The Xenon bumped into each other in the confusion. Terry yelled in satisfaction as he watched the Xenon joyously bump into the rocks and each other, but then several more appeared coming from behind a curve in the trench.

“We got more, coming from behind...” Terry shouted.

The rest of the group and reappeared from their hiding place and had taken up position on the ground and against the rock face to fire at the oncoming Xenon. For ten minutes the group successfully held back the Xenon. Harold began to get a bad feeling that something was not good. A small stone fell from the rock face right by his foot. He looked up and saw Xenon robots making their way down the cliff and onto the group.

“Run! Everybody run! They come in hundreds,” Harold yelled. “Everybody run!”

With that the group began shooting upwards and marching rapidly forward towards he entrance. However, they soon froze in their position when they saw the entrance was sealed off with Xenon.

“We must go deeper into the trench,” said Harold.

“Deeper? Are you mad?” Terry said in disbelief.

“The deeper we go, the safer we’ll be. Everyone, turn back and don’t stop running.”

The group hesitated for a while, but then decided to follow instructions as the Xenon above began hailing down fire. Rocks came tumbling down and onto the group as Xenon tried to climb down the sides of the trench. Harold charged at the oncoming Xenon in front and opened fire with his weapon.

“We’re out of bullets!” Terry yelled. “We can’t go in.”

“We’ll make it,” replied Harold. “When I say now, light the flares and aim at the Xenon to blind them and we’ll make a dash into that cave over there.”

Terry told everyone to get their flares out and light it at the right time. Harold lunged himself at the nearest Xenon firing directly into its eyes.

“Now!” Harold shouted.

Simultaneously, everyone fired off their flares in different directions in an attempt to dazzle and blind all the robots. The Xenon shot and jumped in confusion as the fireworks display lighted the whole cavern. When the flash had died down, the whole group had vanished from sight. Meanwhile, Harold and the others had jumped into the smaller cave and were now deep in the cave, out of sight of the Xenon. Harold suddenly began to grow worried when he remembered that Robert was still in the snow and would still be following the tracks.

“If Robert is still following the tracks, it will lead him straight to the trench,” Harold said to Terry in concern. “We’ve got to help him and signal him not to come.”

“How? We are trapped in this cave and cannot get to him.”

“Look for an exit so we can escape and warn him as soon as possible. Oh no, what on earth have I done? I left him struggling in the cold, carrying Saria with Xenon hunting him down. He’s going to die because of me...”

“Ridiculous,” Terry said. “There is no man more survivable than him. He will handle the cold and those Xenon with no problem.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Robert ducked out of the way just in time as one of the Xenon fired several shots at him. He dropped Saria into the snow and took up a defensive position against the Xenon and triggered off his Polarized weapon. The Xenon seemed hardly bothered by the rain of fire let off by him and carried on their pursuit. Robert looked around and realized he was trapped as Xenon closed in from all angles. The more he fired, the more Xenon robots seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were now only meters away from him and he could feel his body feeling tense all over. A hail of fire, directed at Robert, was being shot by the Xenon. Robert knew he could not survive under heavy fire like that and hopelessly shielded Saria from any fire. He shut his eyes tight, having lost all hope of living another day.

The sound of fire abruptly ceased and Robert tilted his head up to see what had happened. All he could see was piles of scrapped metal lying in heap in the snow. Robert could not believe his eyes when he realized the Xenon were blown to bits. Not a single robot was still functioning. Confused, he stumbled forward in the snow to see what had caused it. A silhouetted man could be seen standing in the distance holding a weapon in his each hand. Robert cautiously drew nearer to him. The man spoke to him in an alien language that he could not understand. He took out his translator, but it had been broken in the fire fight.

“Hello there,” he said in the hopes the man would understand. “Thanks for saving us.”

The man stood quietly in the same position, obviously not understanding him. Then putting his weapons away, he walked towards Robert and became visible. Robert soon realized that it was not a man but an alien. His face resembled the face of a human, but was much darker and rougher looking. He had four arms instead of one and thus two holsters with guns on each side. He was slightly taller than an average human and had a strange resemblance about him. The alien spotted Saria lying unconscious in the ground and went to her to pick her up out of the snow. Carrying her on his shoulder, he signalled to Robert to come with him.