Ashes to Burn (Work In Progress)

Ashes to Burn - Chapter Twenty-Seven

***This story is intended for mature audiences, as it contains graphic violence, gore, coarse language and some sexual content. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. 

December 23nd, 2015 

22:00 hours

IRANR Outpost Station #45, Russia

I ran forward, lunging at the stitch punk. I sent it reeling to the ground, releasing Mouse. She let out a yelp as she hit the floor with a thud. 

“Metal!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as the stitch punk recalculated its moves. I got up quickly, grabbing Mouse. 

“Run!” I hissed, sprinting faster. The lights flickered slowly, and I knocked on the nearest dorm door frantically.

The door opened as just as the lights went out. I could hear the sirens start and the amber lights in the hallway started to flash. I tumbled into the door, breathing hard and scared for my life. This stitch punk was different, it was modified. It looked like one of the cyborgs off of Terminator, but it was bigger and stronger. Even ten humans could not take it down without a weapon. It was nuclear.

It was ours.

“It turned…” I heard Mouse whisper beside me. I looked around the room, my eyes adjusting to the light slowly. I heard creaking of metal on concrete outside the door, so Mouse and I slowly backed away from it. We both knew better than to be near the fucking thing when it opened the damned door. I stumbled into someone in the dark. I whipped my head around to see a face breathing against mine.

“W-what’s out there?” It was a young girl, stammering as fear pulsed through her. I was about to answer when we were interrupted.

The door was smashed in, causing all three of us to jump at the same time. We crawled commando-style towards the metal bunk bed, taking cover behind the surface. The machine stood in the dark hallway, assessing the room. All that could be seen was its red eyes glinting in the darkness. I fumbled silently under the bed for a weapon, luckily finding a pistol. I grabbed it slowly and pulled it towards me as quietly as I could. 

I heard the footsteps clunk towards where we were hiding, hitting the wooden floor one by one, clashing loudly. I felt sweat drip down my forehead to the floor as it grew near. I knew that if we moved even the slightest bit, it would kill us in an instant. I swallowed hard, my sweaty hands gripping the pistol closer to me. I knew that I had to check if there were any rounds, but it would be too risky, and the machine would pick up on it. I just sent a silent prayer that the gun had some bullets left in it.

I jumped as the bed was ripped from above us and smashed against the wall. I could hear frantic yelling from the hallway, but it seemed distant. I crawled back on my back, aiming for its head with the pistol. I closed my eyes and fired.

I heard the shot, and sent out a small yelp of relief as the bullet struck its left eye. It stumbled back, before leaning forward and grabbing me. It hooked me off the ground and a couple of feet of the ground. I stared into its bestial eyes as it scanned me. I felt the arm of the machine claw up my collar to my neck, enslaving its metal hands around it. 

Just as it was about to squeeze I heard something clash against its right leg. I looked down to see the young girl and Mouse throwing whatever they could to distract it from me. I joined in, kicking its chest and scratching at its metal shell. 

There were gunshots as people rushed through the door, their faces dimly lit by the flashing amber light in the hallway. I saw Ali come through with a remote programmer, frantically jamming buttons in a desperate attempt to shut the fucking thing down. He finally succeeded in overriding the system, and the machine dropped me and stood still. I fell to the ground, moving away from it as fast as I could.