NOVEL FROG Chapter 42: Clear The Way
The attack began as soon as Snake gave Indie the pass on the upcoming raid. With her confirming the move, everyone ran into action, except Candy and Scott, who were left behind to watch on the hill. Frost gripped his razor blades, Panda drew his machine gun, Indie cocked her rifle, and Tricky switched her glasses for goggles, allowing her to see clearer in the dark Kiwy, who naturally possessed enhanced vision. And with Nitro pulling up the bandana he wore around his neck, which now served as a mask with a creepy grin painted on it, reflecting the one beneath it as he loaded his grenade launcher, everyone was ready for the attack. They assumed positions without the need for any orders from either Frost or Indie and then approached the base at a fast pace, flanking the entrance to get as close as possible to the gate without being spotted by the guards on the tower.
The ones leading the charge were Frost and Panda, who split up right after reaching the base of the hill. As the team approached the junk barrier surrounding the entrance, Frost and Kiwy flanked through the left to get behind the towers, having to distance themselves quite a bit to avoid the spotlights. While Nitro, Indie, and Tricky followed Panda as he headed straight to the entrance, they had to stop and hide behind one of the carriages outside to not get spotted. They remained quiet, becoming anxious as the few horses next to them noticed their presence, and while they were unnoticed by the unaware scavengers ahead, Tricky had to peek out to confirm if they were the only enemies present.
The entrance was littered with crates and scrap, making it hard for Tricky to get a clear view of their target. But after a spotlight shone down on the guards who were playing cards at the table, she focused her attention on them, observing them for a moment before giving the rest of the squad the signal. They had to wait for the spotlight to go away, and while they waited for the opportunity to attack, Frost and Kiwy had already reached the backside of the gate. They walked up the hill, heading towards the burnt-down houses, but with the chimneys in their way, they stayed close to the top of the gate, next to the base of the towers.
They looked down at the guards at the entrance, and as Frost searched for his teammates, he spotted them making the move already. Panda and Indie had moved forward, now taking cover a few feet away from the enemy. They were on the edge, about to attack, but then Indie noticed Frost standing on top of the gate, and after waiting for his signal, she responded with a thumbs up and informed Panda. Frost turned his attention to Kiwy, and with a simple nod, she began climbing the right tower. With a bit of delay, he began doing the same on the left tower, competing with her to reach the top first.
They hastily climbed the towers while the rest of the squad spread out to take out the guard in the center of the entrance. And while Frost was fast, Kiwy’s speed was unmatched; she reached the top in no time and had to wait for him to catch up. But once they were both grabbing onto the ledges right below the guards with the spotlights, they coordinated a surprise attack to take them down simultaneously. After Kiwy glanced at Frost and confirmed the move, they both quietly climbed up to the platform with the guards, sneaking up behind them, and as they kept their eyes on each other, they synced up their movements to approach and kill them silently. With Frost using one of his blades and Kiwy using both claws, they sliced the guards’ necks open from behind, spilling some blood out of the tower, though it luckily didn’t reach the enemy below.
–Lights out…– Frost whispered to the now deceased guard as he dropped quietly to the floor with his assistance. Kiwy couldn’t hold the weight of her target, so it dropped with a loud thud, but as they both got the kill at the same time, they were able to deactivate the spotlights before the other guards could even notice.
The guards at the table panicked as they were suddenly surrounded by darkness. One of them flipped the table with all of the cards as he lost the balance of his chair and stumbled onto the floor. But as he quickly got up and grabbed his gun, alongside his teammates, they all began to frantically search for the light. They didn’t have anywhere to aim, and with the only light coming from the cave, they turned around to seek safety, but it was already late for them as they could hear their attackers surrounding them from all sides.
Once the guards realized they were about to be attacked, another light appeared right behind them, but this time, it was one of Nitro’s grenades flying towards them. The small flame inside the grenade glowed through the tiny orifices at the side of its shell, serving as a warning for the guards to take cover. But as they ran away, the flame expanded exponentially and reached its target in the span of a second. A large fireball lit up the area once the grenade blew up right on top of the table, with the blast sending the guards flying in all directions.
Rattled by the explosion, the cloud of smoke, and the cloud of piercing sound that left their ears ringing, the guards didn’t get to stand up before they were overwhelmed by the rest of the squad. Panda and Indie jumped out of the crates on the sides of the table in the center and began firing right away. A barrage of bullets penetrated the thick smoke from Nitro’s grenade, clouding the imagery of the guards getting decimated before they even got a chance to react. Candy and Scott didn’t get to see the scene very clearly, but they definitely heard the explosion, the bullets, and the dying screams of the enemy when they were shot down. But as they paid close attention, they also heard more sounds coming from the smoke in front of the gate and the sides of the entrance.
While Indie was precise with her shooting, Panda’s fusillade of bullets reached the junk and crates on the right side of the yard. Behind him, Tricky had stepped out of cover to assess the situation, but she quickly spotted more guards coming from behind Indie, who had to retreat once they began shooting in Panda’s general direction. Tricky stayed right behind Panda as he was forced to deploy his shield to protect them from the gunfire. The makeshift weapons of the scavengers appeared weak, but since they had a fast fire rate, they were able to overwhelm Panda, preventing him from firing back.
Indie took cover and began providing cover fire to let Tricky retreat, but enemies were now coming out of the gate in a bigger group, also targeting her and Panda as they were the closest targets. With two different directions to cover, Indie backed off to reload, leading Nitro to attack in the meantime. Without a clear target, not even a good measure of how far the enemy was, Nitro shot grenade after grenade at the gate, getting out of cover to run side to side as he bombarded the gate, though he only seemed to distract the scavengers. But as the enemy was stunned for a moment, engulfed in a large cloud of smoke, Indie took the opportunity to move position and fire directly at the guards inside, confirming some kills with the sound of her bullets ripping through their bodies. However, she had to run back to cover almost immediately, hiding next to Nitro behind a tall pile of scrap as the enemies from their left flank approached quickly.
Blocking all the incoming fire, Panda tried to face the enemies targeting him from the side, but with all the smoke from Nitro’s grenade, only Tricky was able to see ahead with her goggles. Despite Panda keeping her safe and insisting on her staying behind, she peeked out the shield right as more enemies popped out. They came out of what looked like an alternative entrance to the cave in the form of a tight tunnel, and as it was hidden by all the scrap around, they caught the squad off guard when they came out shooting wildly. Indie sensed the arrival of more enemies, and as they were coming close to her and Nitro, he ordered him to shoot in their direction, but he only got two grenades out before they began getting shot. They stayed low and remained behind cover to avoid the bullets flying over their heads, but as the enemy began approaching the entrance of the gate, they had to act fast before they got to them.
From the hill, Candy and Scott watched in horror as the squad was about to be surrounded. The scavengers had spread out to flank the center of the yard, closing in on Indie and Nitro’s positions while keeping Panda in sight at all times. Since he had a shield, he was forced to always face the enemy in order to block the bullets, but with them now taking more ground, it became clear that they needed some distraction to get a chance to fight back. Scott saw that as a call to help, but before he could run into battle, Candy stopped him when she noticed that Kiwy and Frost had come to rescue their team.
After watching how the squad was forced to take cover, Frost hurried up to climb down the tower, with Kiwy just jumping off from the top and landing on the land, breaking her fall as she landed on all fours, staying silent to not alert the enemy group advancing on Panda’s position. She had landed right behind them, and as she waited for them to continue approaching the squad, she silently followed them until she noticed Frost right above the gate once again, giving her the signal. Indie managed to peek out and catch a glimpse of Frost, only to immediately take cover and wait with Nitro for the enemy to get near. They had already spotted them, and while they were getting dangerously close, Kiwy and Frost had prowled into position, waiting for their opportunity to strike from behind.
And that opportunity came when Panda noticed Frost on the edge of the top of the gate, right above the scavengers trying to flank him. He kept backing off, being cautious to protect Tricky but also luring in the guards as they tried to form a circle around them. The ones closer to Indie and Nitro seemed to forget about them as they saw an opening to kill Tricky. But as they began firing at her, Panda crouched to be able to protect himself from all the bullets coming at him. Tricky panicked as she had to stick close to him to stay safe, and as he was starting to get overwhelmed by the number of shots he was blocking, their teammates took their chance to come out and defend them.
With the larger group of enemies walking right past Indie and Nitro, she took the initiative to draw their attention once again by shooting blindly at them. In response, they turned around to fire back, only to be met with a grenade coming straight at them. The unfortunate scavenger that ended up taking the hit was quite close to the two, and as the grenade came in contact with his face, with his head blowing up in tiny pieces, not only did he back his teammates, but he also both Indie and Nitro as their cover was destroyed. They stayed on the ground while Frost and Kiwy followed up the attack by pouncing on the enemies closest to the gate.
While only six were flanking Panda through that side, Kiwy was able to distract all of them as she leaped on the back of one of the antipunks. Instead of stabbing him with her claws, she shoved him into the others, grouping them up a little to allow Frost to take them out all at once. Descending upon them with force, Frost landed on top of one of the guards’ heads, stomping it to the ground before taking on his teammates. With various slashes in quick succession, he sliced through the six guards’ backs, immobilizing them before they could comprehend who was attacking them, let alone turn around to see the actual perpetrator. And with Kiwy promptly joining him, they chopped the guards up until all of their extremities were detached from their bodies, ripping them apart until they were barely dead.
They couldn’t even groan or breathe any more, but they were alive enough to keep watching the massacre as the other scavengers came to defend them. But as the others were stunned by Nitro’s grenade, they tried to attack the nearest target, which meant Kiwy and Frost. Shooting at the gate in hopes of getting someone, instead of hitting a single shot, the scavengers at the center suffered the same demise as their teammates. Frost and Kiwy got the drop on them, but they had to take cover behind the gate doors as Panda and Indie took care of the remaining guards. They attempted to put up a fight, but with all the smoke and dismembered bodies lying around, they were too disoriented to even see the shooters. So, after gathering at the center, Panda and Indie opened fire once again, putting an end to the massacre in a few seconds.
Once the bullets, grenades, and screams of agony stopped, silence, darkness, and an odd sense of peace returned. Frost and Kiwy were pleased to see that not a single enemy was left breathing, with most of them being hard to recognize anymore. But as they stepped out of the gate to regroup with Panda, Nitro, Tricky, and Indie, they got to admire the bloodshed they had left for a few seconds before Candy and Scott joined them. They came running at the scene from the hill, but by the time they reached the entrance, the smoke had cleared, and due to the lack of light in the area, they were unable to fully view all the mangled and severed bodies left lying around. In fact, they couldn’t see any trace of the fight, except for some blood and burnt scrap, now that the squad was trying to hide the corpses left behind as well as they could.
–So, were those all of them?– Candy asked in confusion and a bit of disgust as she watched Panda and Indie hide the last few bodies, though they weren’t able to hide the bloody bits of the people Nitro blew up. While Candy seemed to be deliberately ignoring the slaughter, Scott couldn’t help but fixate on one single arm that was left behind, staring at it in dismay before he was forced to shift his attention somewhere else. Frost wiped off the blood on his blades before holstering them, and while his teammates remained wary and vigilant of their surroundings, he looked lively like before, even ecstatic as he approached Candy.
–Yep, that must be their first line of defense, but I doubt that’s all. They must have a lot more force inside… Hopefully, they don’t call for backup…– Frost replied nonchalantly, turning his attention to the gate after a brief look around the yard. They had cleared the entrance, but after seeing that no one was inside, he stepped in to get a closer look. Candy immediately followed him and stuck close to him, and with the squad doing the same shortly after, they curiously watched as Frost walked deeper into the gate.
Scott froze for a moment, trying to get a better look at the carnage that took place. He seemed both unnerved and intrigued by what the squad had accomplished in a little over a minute. And while they entered the cave, he stopped for a second to grab one of the guards’ junk rifles. The weapon was in bad shape, with one of Nitro’s grenades bending the stock of the rifle as well as blowing off the trigger guard. It looked almost useless, but despite its bad shape, Scott became eager to use a firearm for the first time, and after carefully holding it in both hands, he followed the team as they stepped into the mine.
Walking through the gate and onto the first floor, Crisis came across a large, steel platform with what looked like a small control cabin. There wasn’t much found as it immediately connected to what seemed like a never-ending ramp that led to the next sublevel. The platform was overhanging above this steep rap, and while it looked like it had rails to traverse it, there were currently no carts for them to take. Frost approached the ledge, leaning forward to get a glimpse of what was down there, but as it was too deep and dark to see and the low ceiling blocked most of the view, the squad was left to speculate on what they would encounter if they went down.
–You are saying there is more waiting down there?– Panda asked skeptically, becoming slightly dizzy by the depth of the ramp ahead. Frost nodded affirmatively, but he continued staring into the depths of the ramp before turning to his teammates with confidence, noticing that Scott was only now catching up with a rifle in his hands, although he just scoffed at him and paid more attention to his teammates.
–Yea, definitely…– Frost replied with certainty, much to the squad’s excitement, even Indie, who seemed much more resolved after taking out some scavengers. Scott didn’t seem as thrilled; he was more worried about the danger he could encounter, but since he was still curious, he stepped closer to the edge of the ramp as the team began considering descending it.
–Are you sure? We don’t know what could be there, we should secure the area and call for backup…– Tricky suggested doubtfully, sharing her concerns with Candy, although the latter looked calm as she stayed close to Frost. And instead of him replying, Indie answered her doubt as she gently pushed her to the side to step forward and retake the lead.
–We are going down there, that’s an order…– Indie responded firmly and assertively, but she was just as eager as Frost, who smiled devilishly after seeing her commitment. With her permission, the rest of the team looked at each other in hesitation for a second, but as Nitro and Panda cheered for a brief moment, they convinced the entire squad to join her. They grabbed a hold of their weapons and gear as they followed Indie and Frost without saying a word, and while Scott admired their determination to go down the ramp, he took a long time to consider his choice. He almost turned back to the gate to run away, but as nothing but an empty, dark, and dangerous field awaited him outside, he gathered some courage to change direction and stay close to the squad.
–What am I doing?– Scott asked himself after a begrudging sigh. He began following the team with an unenthusiastic pace, but since they were seemingly in a hurry, he was forced to run and catch up to them as they dove straight into the uncertainty together.