The Annex

Chapter 8: Stitches of Pessimism

Walmart

    This is fucking great, Gwen thought as she was getting pulled out of the Walmart by her long blonde hair.

     Her experiment met failure, and they were caught within moments of their entrance into their blankets. The special droids found the three gunslingers and they were ripped out of their sleeping bags. They were found immediately and dragged out of their safeties and towards the exit of the building.

     Even though she was scared and was in pain, it was funny to see Ringo also get pulled by his hair, but Lance was being dragged by the cloth of his shirt. Lance was bald, so that was the reason why he wasn't being pulled by the hair on his head.

     When they were found, they tried to fight back, but it was as if the droids knew their fighting styles. Surprisingly, a droid was quick enough to prevent Ringo from drawing his gun, which to Gwen, seemed impossible. With one swipe to the head, Ringo was on the ground, and his revolver clattered on the ground. After seeing this, Lance and Gwen didn't dare try to fight back. Once they put their arms in the air, the silver robots snagged the weapons from them.

     Gwen felt naked without her gun and her shotgun. She felt exposed and weak, and she hated the feeling so much. There was no way she and her friends could stand up to their captors, and it was only a matter of time before they were terminated. That, or be captured, and Gwen had no idea what the aliens were capable of.

     One of the droids knocked over a shopping cart, and the loud rattling made her realize that she was being dragged outside. Sunlight flooded her eyes, and she squeezed them shut, allowing her eyes to get used to the brightness. After a few seconds, the droid let go of her hair, and Gwen though about making a run for it. But, when she opened her eyes, she saw her friends standing up and encircled. In any way she would take off, she would be shot dead, and dying was not on her agenda today.

     Gwen stood up and join her friends in the huddle. Fear filled their eyes as they gazed at the silver droids that surrounded them. What seemed to be the leader, which was dragging Gwen, reached up to where the human ear would be, tapped the side, and began speaking. Well, it wasn't really speaking. It was more like a deep grumble, and she could not decipher any of it. Gwen even wondered if it was contacting for reinforcements.

     She wasn't going to let that happen.

     Without thinking, Gwen tackled one of the droids that was holding Ringo's revolver, Judge. When the droid was on the ground, she snagged the silver gun and safety rolled to a tall cement pillar and took cover behind it. Peeking around, she saw that Ringo and Lance had done the same, and that they too were scrambling for cover. It too less then a second for the other bots to start targeting the jostling survivors. Gwen's pole took some fire, as she heard the green bolts hit the opposite side.

     She noticed that the droid was only hitting the left side of her pillar, so she got ready to move. In an instant, she pivoted around the pillar and let out a two round burst from Judge, ending the droid's fire by hitting the head. The metal robot crumpled to the ground, giving Gwen some extra breathing room.

     Her friend's weren't so lucky, because they did not manage to get their weapons back, so they were pinned down behind cover. With four bullets left, Gwen got ready to fire again, but as she peeked around, one of the droids that were shooting her friends swiveled to her and began blasting.

     "Shit!" she shouted and turned back to the safety of her pillar while it was being blasted.

     This droid was painting all over, being sure to effectively shoot every inch of the pillar. Gwen was trapped, and going left or right was not an option. Low, was though. She saw that the droid hadn't been shooting below her waist, or so she thought, so she conceited a plan.