Confirming the kill on an already incapacitated enemy.
It was a somewhat brutal measure, but it was undeniably effective.
Rather than charging in blinded by rage, it felt as if hatred itself were burning cold.
But that burning heat was something Marmotte and I could clearly make out—
Bang!
When she pulled the trigger, the firing pin struck the cartridge primer, and the instantaneous explosion sent flame and combusted gas swelling inside the barrel, driving the lead bullet forward.
It lodged itself in the Maru’s head faster than sound.
Thud
"Urk."
This time, she could not even scream.
Only smoke rising from the muzzle of Marmotte’s revolver remained.
Two definitely dead, one with an arrow stuck in her.
"There’s more than one!"
The encirclement around Green Shark spread wider.
Half their number had gone down in an instant, so it would have been reasonable for them to run. Instead, the raiders’ movements became even more meticulous and vicious.
As arrows flew from the unseen forest, Marmotte ducked behind cover.
"Uoooooh!"
Even when Green Shark let out a roar and charged, they merely nimbly opened up as much distance as she closed and counterattacked. The stalemate continued.
Fweee—
Like the skilled hunters they were, they seemed to favor bows over guns that could reveal their positions. Arrows flew in from every direction.
Though their numbers had fallen from before, there were clearly more than six arrows in each volley.
They kept Green Shark in check while relentlessly firing arrows at Marmotte and me.
"Tch...!"
Bang! Bang!
I leaned out and returned fire too, but I could not hit anything.
Was it nerves? My hands shook badly, and my vision was blurred.
The implant in my head was not specialized for combat, either. It only showed a ballistic trajectory for zeroing the sights; it had no function for tracking enemies.
"Damn it...!"
As time passed, the arrows began striking closer and closer.
The distance the arrows were coming from was clearly shorter than before.
It seemed some of them were luring Green Shark away while the others closed in on us, who were providing supporting fire.
Click
Perhaps because she was not used to it, Marmotte was slow as she loaded rounds into the cylinder.
And the limitations of my bolt-action made sustained fire far from easy.
Much less could we coordinate well in a battle neither of us had ever experienced before.
For one brief instant, both of us were reloading at the same time.
Thwip—!
"Aaaah!"
An arrow flew out of the brush and pierced Marmotte’s shoulder.
The revolver in her hand clattered to the ground, and she rolled across the floor with a scream.
"Urgh....!"
A red stain gradually spread across the white gown Marmotte wore, as white as her hair.
Like the warning light on the communications console, the bloodstain flashed red.
[Warning: Colonist Down]
"Good. One’s down."
A cold voice came from the brush.
I picked up the fallen Marmotte and carried her as far away from the voice as I could.
To someone as small as her, even a small crossbow bolt must have felt like a huge spear.
Crunch
"Aaargh!"
An unfamiliar scream rang out in the distance.
It seemed Green Shark had taken out another one in the meantime.
While I was distracted by that, an arrow flew from the brush and knocked the gun from my one-handed grip.
"There you are, pretty thing."
"Ugh...."
Blue gleaming eyes shone through the brush.
A mask that resembled a gas mask pushed through the grass, carrying an intimidating presence with it.
"I said I’d come get you. Have you been hiding well?"
"G-go away..."
"That thing. Is it a gun?"
The Maru gave a snort of laughter as she looked at the bolt-action rifle lying broken and pathetic on the ground.
In her own hand was something resembling a pistol—a hand crossbow, probably the one that had pierced Marmotte.
"You asked to be rescued, didn’t you? Come on, get over here."
She aimed at me and spoke coldly.
"The losses are too big... More than half are already dead."
"Please don’t shoot..."
Then she twisted her lips into a smile and said,
"But it’s fine. My share gets bigger."
"...."
Did these people have no sense of comradeship at all?
Marmotte’s complexion was bad. The bleeding was getting worse.
"What is this? You said you were being held captive. Or did you get attached to them over the past few days?"
"Th-that..."
"You don’t have time to think."
When I hesitated, she aimed at Marmotte lying beside me—
Thwip—
"Aaaah!"
As casually as if hunting an animal, she shot one into Marmotte’s leg.
It had been hidden by clothes before, but seeing an arrow lodge in bare flesh was a horrific sight.
That was why I could be certain. I could never go with them.
Thump, thump.
My heart pounded fiercely.
She could have shot me. Was she trying not to hurt me if possible, or was this revenge for what Green Shark had done earlier?
Blood poured freely from Marmotte’s tiny leg.
"N-no. The blood...."
"Come here!"
Not even allowing me to reach for Marmotte, the Maru grabbed me by the collar.
Then she pressed her fingers together and whistled.
Fweee!
Perhaps in a hurry, the Maru simply twisted my arm behind my back to restrain me and dragged me along.
Since she had not tied me up, I was able to struggle a little.
"Let... go!"
Smack
Apparently not expecting me to resist, the Maru let go of me for an instant.
Frowning, she tried to point the crossbow in her hand at me.
But this was where Marmotte and I had been hiding until just moments ago.
Click
"What are you—"
Bang! Bang!
Marmotte picked up the revolver she had dropped when she was hit by the arrow and fired like lightning.
Thankfully, it was point-blank range, where she did not even need to aim. Every round hit.
The raider, her torso riddled with holes, collapsed.
The ground turned red as if a paint-filled balloon had burst.
"Huff... huff....."
For the first time, I had shot someone. For the first time, I had killed someone.
Perhaps that species was not one I even recognized as human, but I had just committed murder.
As my blood ran cold, fear washed over me.
"There you are."
Having heard the Maru’s whistle, Green Shark approached.
As if she had been through a ferocious fight, her body too was covered in wounds large and small.
Fortunately, she had been stabbed and cut, but none of her injuries were as serious as Marmotte’s.
"Marmotte is badly hurt. We need to do something quickly...!"
"Calm down."
"I told her not to come. There’s so much blood..."
Maybe the shock had simply been too great.
Still sitting on the ground, I clutched Green Shark and babbled in a panic.
A jumble of words that could not be organized into anything spilled from my mouth.
"Damn it! I’ll have to skewer them and drag them out!"
Whoosh—
Along with a clear shout, an eerie sound came from the direction Green Shark had come from.
A thick hunting harpoon, the sort used to take down bears. It was coming toward me.
The sharp spearhead drew closer by the second, as if time had stopped.
Thud
What blocked its path was Green Shark’s thick torso.
With a dull impact, blood splattered across my face.
"Ghk...."
The harpoon embedded in Green Shark’s abdomen pierced completely through her thick body.
Even so, the spear tip jutting out right in front of my nose gleamed slickly red.
A grave injury that even a Neanderthal’s toughness could not ignore.
"Raaaaaaaaah!"
But Green Shark was far too tough to collapse in pain.
Neanderthals were hardy to begin with, but she was especially [Tough]—
Roaring like a beast, she charged toward where the harpoon had come from. Soon afterward, the sounds of bones breaking rang out, and the noise of battle ceased.
"Pola. Are you hurt?"
"Not me... Marmotte and you are."
Was it because the tension of battle suddenly drained away?
Or perhaps because the harpoon buried deep in her abdomen felt unreal.
"It’s a relief you’re not injured."
For some reason, those words felt very gentle.
-----
The average RimWorld experience today.
What happens when you turn a [Tough] Neanderthal into a ghoul and give her spikes....
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register