Chapter 71: A False Hope
"Yulia, open fire! Drive those thugs back, don't let them in!"
Outside a three-story villa that had been converted into a temporary fortress, Price shouted towards the front of the building.
As his words fell, the long barrel of a rifle poked out from an observation slit. A continuous stream of steel nails, propelled by electromagnetic force, shot out and buried themselves in the bodies of the mob, halting their frenzied charge.
Price then quickly broke free from the crowd's grasp, his old body as nimble as an ape's as he scaled the five-meter-high wall. A dozen or so gaunt, sallow-faced scavengers tried to climb after him, but were sent tumbling back onto their comrades in a spray of blood and metal fragments, rolling down under the force of gravity.
The mob that had surrounded the villa, after watching the old man's figure disappear, made no further aggressive moves. They swarmed forward like locusts, dragging away the bodies of those who had been trampled or hit in a vital spot by the nail gun. Then, the street fell silent.
They had no intention of forcibly breaking into the villa. Or rather, the difficulty of getting food by breaking in was far greater than that of gnawing on the corpses on the ground.
CLATTER—
Bypassing the traps he had set himself, Price heaved his backpack up onto the landing. The weight of the impact crushed an empty can, which rolled noisily across the floor.
"Haaaah~"
Price let out a weary sigh. He was about to slump onto the sofa when a sharp pain shot through his back. A knife was embedded in his shoulder blade. He reached back to feel for it, but the angle of the blade was too awkward. He couldn't pull it out without causing further damage to his body.
Sigh~
The old man sighed again. To think he would be injured in such a small skirmish. He was getting old.
"Dad, are you hurt?" Yulia noticed the old man's predicament. She quickly turned off the generator, which was low on power, and ran over.
She first checked the angle of the knife, then pulled it out along the same path it had entered. Holding it up to the light, she confirmed there were no blasphemous runes or strange colors on it before picking up an alcohol tray with a scalpel and a tube of coagulant gel. Thanks to her father's former holy profession, the small villa was not lacking in military-grade medical supplies.
"Dad, maybe we should go to the community," Yulia couldn't help but say as she treated her father's wound. The lords who monopolized the food and weapons were scum, but at least they could provide her father with a stable job. "And I can fight too. I know how to shoot."
"No," Price said, taking a gulp of clean water and refusing flatly.
He looked ahead. A woman had come down from the middle floor of the building.
"Uncle Price—" the woman, who was holding a three-year-old girl, began to speak. She moved her lips, but Price cut her off.
"Cornwall joined the Planetary Defense Force on my advice. Now that he's gone, it is my duty to protect you," Price said, shaking his head gently.
The atmosphere in the house fell silent once more.
"...I'm sorry, Sister Sophia. I wasn't talking about you. I just wish Dad didn't have so much pressure on him," Yulia quickly explained after she had finished bandaging the wound.
"It's alright," Sophia said, hugging the child in her arms tighter. She knew the uncle and his family were good people. She just hated herself for being useless. Those communities wouldn't choose to protect two burdens.
And besides...
The old man's gaze fell upon his daughter and Sophia, and he sighed softly. Even if those lords were willing to take them in, he wouldn't agree. They were too beautiful.
"What about that God-Emperor cult?" Yulia pleaded, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "You can get food just by listening to their teachings, and you get an escort from the cultists, so you don't have to deal with the mobs."
"Carian from next door, that spoiled brat, even he joined," Yulia said, using her own example. "And he's become much more polite since he joined... He doesn't even bother me anymore."
"No! We can't go!" Compared to the people in the communities, Price was much more wary of these cultists.
"Sigh." Yulia sighed. She didn't know how many times she had had this conversation with her father. But Price always refused, bluntly. She didn't understand. Even if they didn't join a community, what was so bad about going to the God-Emperor cult? The people they had dealt with were all very nice. At most, they had a mystical streak and liked to wrap themselves in robes.
She just didn't want her father to be so tired every day, running off to work for the community lords and then risking his life to come back.
"Little Erica," Price said, not wanting to argue with his daughter anymore. He turned to the little girl in Sophia's arms. "Is Uncle Carian still the same in your eyes?" Carian only came home at this time of day. For the girls' safety, Price would always try to get back before him. Today, he had been unexpectedly delayed.
"Yes. That uncle... he's completely different from when I first met him," the little girl said, lifting her head to reveal a pair of silver eyes. "He's not like the changes in Grandpa Price and Mama at all."
"I see." Price nodded, his wariness of the so-called cult growing. He knew a little about psykers. The little girl was stable, just like the old man who had hidden in their regiment and saved them dozens of times. Sometimes, you had to believe what these psykers saw.
"Aaaargh—"
Just as Price was about to end the heavy topic, a terrifying scream came from outside. It was Carian. Price had a very bad impression of his late comrade's son. He was a thug who used his parents' legacy to do whatever he wanted.
"Take the child to her room and stay there," Price said, gesturing for the women to go. He picked up his hand-made bolter and ran to the observation platform on the second floor.
Creak—
The moment he lifted the layered steel plates, Price saw a swift figure dart from the neighboring house into their courtyard. The robed figure immediately noticed Price and charged at him with a mad frenzy.
BOOM!
Price fired without hesitation. The recoil of the boltgun shot sent a tremor through his entire body. The bolt tore a gaping hole in the attacker's chest.
SPLAT~
Carian collapsed to the ground like a sack of wet meat.
Price did not approach. Instead, he picked up a long, folded pole, extended it into the courtyard, and lifted the tattered black cultist robe.
'Just as I thought.'
Seeing what was underneath, Price was thankful he had not relented, and that his daughter had been obedient.
Beneath the gray robes was a xenos with purple skin. Its skull was an unnatural curve, and its arms had become sharp claws. On the xenos's wrist, the dog-tag that had once belonged to his comrade now identified this creature.
Price frowned. He picked up the nail gun, shot out the glass of Carian's house, and then looked through his binoculars. In the dining area, there was a considerable number of bones. The shape was very familiar to Price. Now he knew where the old and weak who had joined the cult had gone.
Having dealt with the threat and not wanting any more trouble, Price turned to leave. A stabbing pain shot through his shoulder blade. Looks like he would have to re-bandage it.
"Dad," Yulia's nervous voice came from behind him. "That was Carian, wasn't it?"
"..." Price remained silent.
Yulia covered her mouth and squatted down. Tears welled up in the eyes of the girl who had always been so strong. Once again, her father had been right. But why did this outcome feel so... hopeless?
Price walked over and gently stroked his daughter's hair.
"Dad, are we going to survive?" she asked, her voice muffled.
"Of course," Price nodded, his reply firm and serious. "Don't give up hope."
"Okay."
"Let's go eat now."
"Okay."
Yulia sniffled a few times, then wiped away her tears and walked down from the platform.
Price leaned against the observation window, holding his gun, and watched the girls go downstairs. He then turned his gaze to the outside. He had been investigating the route to the Imperial Cult's shrine recently. His daughter and "niece's" genes were stable. As long as they covered little Erica's eyes, seeking sanctuary wouldn't be a problem. The important thing was how to cross the dangerous city blocks.
Another sharp pain shot through his shoulder blade. Price rubbed his shoulder.
He would not die before the children were safe.
(End of Chapter)