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No. 4703
Second installment.
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When they arrived in the aqua-filter beneath the point of Harvest, it was already morning. Being underground the Spook and Aussie had to take the Texans' word, when he said that he could feel the sun had risen. It had been a long swim back to this place. One they almost hadn't all made.
Though the Sniper could hold his breath for quite a long time, he did need to breath eventually. The first time they had gone through, there had been openings every so often, that the werecroc could stick his snout up to, to refill his lungs. The water must have risen since there last trip through, and there had been some panic in the pipes when the bushman couldn't find air.
Luckily they had found an air pocket further along the pipes... though Engineer and Spy were mostly dragging him at that point. They were still closer to Tuefort by then, that had the Aussie drowned, he would have respawned back there. It had been a close call, that no one wished repeating. After that, the Spy had swam ahead, scouting out breathing holes for his comrade.
Now in Harvest, Engineer had assured them that if they died, it would be this respawn that would pick them up... not that his words held much comfort. They all still believed it was the respawn that had originally made them this way, and no one wanted to see what would change about them next, if they were to die again. What they might become.
"I guess we could hole up here till the sun goes down." The Engineer sighed, tilting his head back as he studied the ladder and opening high above them.
"Perhaps... or perhaps mon scaley ami and I could 'ead up now, and get our bearings?" Spy supplied, slithering closer, and wrapping a single tentacle around the ladders' rung. "To see what 'as become of our... beloved Harvest and team, oui?"
"I'd think it smarter if we all stuck together, Spah. No tell'n what's happened up there since we left. Whole place could be a smoldering ruin crawl'n with zombies and dead folk." Engie said, plucking his goggles from his pocket to cover his red eyes. "It's risky, that's all I'm say'n."
The two stared at each other for a moment, the only sounds in the large cavern were the sickly echoing of bones reshaping and grinding into place, as the Sniper finished his transformation. Raising to his feet, he wobbled under the mass of his still mostly salty transformed head. The teeth snapping in the others direction, before the face crumpled back and reformed into the square jaw and long face of the marksmen.
"Engies' roight, Spook. We best wait this one out till night fall. If it comes down to a foight, I'd much rather have the one of us with super strength there." he muttered as he stumbled forward, tripping over his pants, as the tail receded.
The tentacled spook smirked at the others' disarray for a moment, before reaching into his breast pocket to withdraw a water tight case of cigarettes. "Fine. I would rather get zhis over with quickly 'owever. We came 'ere with a plan, and with ze base of Tuefort likely contacting HQ about us... I don't zhink we 'ave time to waste."
"Relax... we got time yet. It's been months since all this started, and HQ didn't give a rats arse then. I think we can spare a few more hours mate."
"Well... 'mate'," Spy scoffed, inhaling the first smoke he's had in hours, since leaving the fort. "Zhis all hinges on zhere being a discrepancy in the machine upstairs. If it looks like ze one Engi'neer took apart in Tuefort, we are at square one again, and no closer to figuring zhis out."
"I thought you liked being a slimy git... oh sorry, I meant more than normal." The marksmen said with a toothy smile.
"At least I can function! It took you months in ze fort to even learn how to control your changes. Even now, you still look ridiculous! You can't even keep a pair of pants!" Spy seethed, gesturing at the ill clothed man.
"Cut it out you two... I'm trying to git some sleep before we do this." Engineer all but hissed at them. They hadn't noticed the shorter man had been falling asleep, where he had stood. "The machine will be different... some defect... something I can fix... I'm sure of it." he whispered.
---
Engineer was the first to wake; exclaiming as he did, that the sun had fallen. It didn't take them long to climb out of the well, and when they had, they were both relived and disturbed to find that the bases of Harvest looked relatively unchanged. The bases were silent, and a thick fog hugged the ground. Both bases were dark.
They shared glances, an unspoken agreement that they should hold their tongues until they established what was going on here. The air was cold around them and their feet disappeared as they walked on, heading towards their own base. They all stopped, as the marksmen in front suddenly stopped, and swung his arm back to halt the other two. The Spy posed a question on his lips, but it died as he heard what the Sniper had.
"Meeedic... Meeeeeeedic... MEEDic... meeed..."
It was Heavy.
They shared panicked glances, before edging towards the sound. With the thick fog, they had almost missed him, until they stood but a few yards in front of him, in the pumpkin patch. He was massive! Even in the low visibility, they could see that medic had... added some parts in their absence.
The Russian man in front of them was now ten feet tall sitting, and a mound of a man. His legs looked small and unused, but the rest of him was a bloated corpse of ill stitched together skin. As he sat there, calling over and over again for his Medic, he pulled pumpkin after pumpkin from the muddy soil and piled them into his mouth. The added girth of his constant eating was very obviously putting a strain on his patch work body, as a dark pus and liquid spilled out between every seam.
Stood in shock, it wasn't until they looked up that they could see how he could fit something as large as a whole pumpkin into his mouth. His Jaw had been elaborated on... or rather, the Medic must have cut and introduced more than a dozen other working sets of jaws to the Heavy's face. It was split wide into a lip less gape of separately mashing teeth. It was horrible, and it was right in front of them.
"You... wherrrrre is Meeeedic?!" It wheezed, dropping the pumpkin in it's hand in favor of rolling forward, towards them. "WHERE?!" It lashed out with a surprising speed, slamming the ground where they had been seconds prior with it's meaty hand; dirt and pus flew in every direction from the force. "Whereee... is heee? I am HUNGRY! Feeeed me!" The once Russian man bellowed at them, digging it's hands into the dirt, and pulling its' massive form forwards.
'Whoa, mate! Settle down, it's us! We're here to help!" Sniper tried to reason, as he tripped over his pants, and fell onto the wet soil. That one slip up was enough, and Sniper found his leg trapped in the grip of the rotting flesh of the other mans' grasp. "Whoa, mate, no! NO!" he screamed as the bloated bag of a man lifted him high in the arm over those mashing and grinding teeth.
"Drop him!" Engie roared as he leaped up, slashing at the thick digits that held his friend. Spy had also joined the fray, but had opted instead to wrap his many appendages around the thick wet throat of the bloated pile in an attempt to choke him, and slice at anything vital he could with his sharp hooked claws. Though Heavy bellowed in anger and lashed out with his remaining arm, it was not enough to distract him, and the flailing Sniper was dropped into his gullet.
Engineer and Spy looked on with terror, and renewed their efforts to save their friend, but a sickly series of crunches from Heavys' mouth, had them retreating to a safe distance, and in Engies' case, retching the empty contents of his stomach all over the nearest orange fleshed fruit. "Oh god... oh dear god..."
It didn't end there. It seemed eating a werecroc was a double edged blade for the mountain of a man. The night air filled with a grotesque gurgling sound, followed by a sharp ripping, and suddenly, the thing Heavy had become was torn wide open like an over packed wet paper bag, his hot steaming contents spilling over the ground in a wave.
The Texan and Frenchman looked on wide eyed, and it was a long time before either of them moved. The Spy edged forward first, swallowing thickly as he neared the remains of his once team mates. "Is... is stretch okay... is he...?"
"Mercifully he is dead... zhough, we should zhank him for taking the 'eavy out with him..." Spy said quietly, as he lit another cigarette with trembling fingers.
"Won't they... respawn together?" The Texan vampire asked carefully. Both men looked at each other; the consequences of that statement suddenly becoming clear. "We got to git back to base and help him!" Engineer said in a panic, before they started running for the base.
---
Sniper coughed into existence, his form already doubled over and fighting sickness over what had claimed him. Standing tall he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, before taking a long shaky breath and looking around the white washed walls of the respawn room. His sharp eyes immediately fell on the Heavy. His first thought was 'Oh good, I did get that bastard'... but his second thought was one of confusion.
Turning to face him, the man who had eaten him just moments prior, was holding his mouth like he'd be sick; holding his normal looking mouth... The Heavy looked normal...
"I am sorry I ate you Sniper... I lose myself a little... but I feel better now." the man said, looking embarrassed and disgusted with himself all at once. He was human again, there was no doubt in Snipers mind.
"Crikey."
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