Sure enough, there were three Rubberfaces, each with the same uniform and weapons set as the two we’d just killed.
Suddenly, all three of them stopped in their tracks.
“Blastka?” the one on the far right gasped.
“Blastka,” the middle Rubberface confirmed.
Then I watched as the scout on the right slid his own rifle onto his back and headed straight toward Natalie’s rifle.
The blonde woman gave a “move out” signal, and then the two of us stepped away from our cover.
My arms were shaking, and my legs felt like rubber as we snuck up on the two scouts.
There were literally a million things that could go wrong here, and each and every one would lead straight to our deaths.
What if I stepped on a twig? What if I accidentally coughed? What if the guard going for the gun saw the trip wire?
If any of the above scenarios ended up happening, Natalie and I would be turned into bloody swiss cheese before we could even get to cover.
This was about as risky of a maneuver as you could get, but we couldn’t risk them sounding the alarm.
We were now only two steps away from the bastards, and they still seemed to be oblivious.
Then the scout up front found our trip wire.
Thankfully, he found it with his foot.
He let out a grunt of surprise as he fell forward, and then there was a quick rustle of leaves followed by a loud, wet shlock.
It was now or never.
So, I jumped forward, threw my E-Tool in front of the Rubberface’s neck, and then slashed the serrated edge across in a flash.
The mutant tensed up like he wanted to scream, but all that came out was a sickly gurgling sound as he fumbled at his wound and began to choke on his own blood. He fell down to his knees as what looked like a gallon of the crimson liquid sprayed out onto the ground. Then the Rubberface let out a final gurgle as he fell face-first into the foliage and began to twitch.
I looked over at Natalie and saw the Scavenger had been just as successful.
The blonde beauty had a doubled-up piece of the nylon cord in her hand, and she was using it as a makeshift garrote.
The Rubberface was kicking and gasping for air, but Natalie wasn’t letting him go. His face was now completely purple, and his eyes bulged out of their sockets as he tried in vain to escape her grip.
Soon, his eyes rolled back in his disgusting head, and his body went limp.
“Whew,” Natalie sighed as she tossed him off to the side. “That was too close. I probably should have just gone for the throat slit like you did. That was a way better choice.”
Thank you, Karla.
“I mean, you could have done a heart rip, too,” I teasingly suggested as Natalie walked over to where she’d laid her AK-47.
“Too messy,” she noted, “and loud. Ugh, this one’s still twitching.”
In one swift motion, Natalie reached down, threw out her arms, and twisted them to the right. A loud, wet crack immediately followed, and then she stood up as she brushed off her hands.
“Is that all of them?” I questioned. “Or is there likely to be more somewhere out here in the forest.”
“If they’re anything like the rest of the Rubberfaces I’ve encountered,” Natalie explained, “then they wouldn’t have any need to send out more than one scout unit at a time. Especially if they didn’t think there were any threats in the area.”
“It’s a good thing we were one with the night, then,” I joked. “The poor Rubberfaces didn’t have any idea what hit them until it was too late.”
“As much as I’d like to continue flirting, we need to keep moving,” Natalie huffed.
“Flirting?” I raised an eyebrow and wondered if she got off talking about killing Rubberfaces.
“The power plant should only be a few miles north of here,” she continued without answering me. “The sooner we get to it, the sooner we can head back and warn everybody about the Rubberface camp.”
“If we don’t encounter it along the way.” I shuddered.
Natalie frowned at the thought, but she quickly shook it off. Then the blonde woman readied her AK-47 and headed off deeper into the Forest of Fallout.
The two of us continued north for another two hours. We walked cautiously, but we found ourselves in a lucky position.
With the Rubberface scouts out of the way, there was nothing between us and the power plant but a bunch of warm, glowing trees.
Finally, we made it to the edge of the Forest of Fallout.
“Amazing.” Natalie grinned as we stepped through the tree line. “Do you have any idea how big of a deal this is, Hunter? This is officially the furthest north that any Scavenger has ever been on this side of the lake. Fuck… I wonder if I’m going to run into your people up here?”
“I really need to teach you geography when we get back to Dimension One,” I chuckled. “Minnesota is on the other side, Natalie.”
“If we make it back.” The blonde woman stuck out her tongue playfully. “And if I decide I want to come to your dimension. Who knows? Maybe Marcus will let me off with a slap on the wrist if we actually pull this off.”
I doubted that. But then again, who was I to try and predict the future?
I’d just as soon leave that all up to Dr. Nash.
“I’m going to keep my fingers crossed,” I joked. “But you’re right about one thing. We need to make sure we come out the other side in one piece, first.”
Natalie and I went to take a step forward, but then I suddenly saw something out of the corner of my eye.
A light.
I threw my hand across Natalie’s chest and held her back.
“Wha—What’s wrong?” she gasped, but I quickly shushed her and pointed over toward the light.
“You see that?” I hissed.
“I do!” the Scavenger whispered.
“The light is on,” I explained, “which means—”
“There’s somebody already in the plant,” she finished for me. “Somebody’s already been trying to reactivate it.”
“But who?” I questioned. “Are there even any other humans around here who might know about this place?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Natalie shrugged. “But there’s obviously somebody inside.”
Just then, the nearest door of the plant swung open, and a rather large figure sauntered out into the night.
I grabbed Natalie, yanked her back into the tree line, and then peered out over the scene before us.
Even from all the way back here, I could tell what the figure was.
“Ahhhh, crap,” I sighed as I turned to Natalie. “It’s a goddamn Rubberface.”
“But that means… ” the Scavenger trailed off, but her eyes widened in horror. “They’re more sentient than any we’ve ever seen before, and they are trying to get the plant working.”
Chapter 14
“Shit. What do you mean ‘more sentient?’” I asked as we watched from the tree line. “I thought you said they were already hierarchical and formed tribes and all that?”
“They do,” she explained with a sigh, “but they’ve set up camp right around a de-powered nuclear reactor, and now they’re patrolling it from the inside and out? That means they know what this thing is used for, and they know it could give them a hit of energy if they turn it back on.”
“They consciously came out to this place so they could have a midnight snack?”
“I guess that would be an appropriate analogy,” the blonde woman said. “But I couldn’t care less whether or not they get their fix of nuclear energy. It’s the implication that disturbs me… The implication they have further developed their cognitive thinking skills to the point where they can plan massive coordinated actions. We’re doomed as a species if this is the case all around the world.”