Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
As Drex stood there, the drops of his own blood were the only sound that echoed in the hallway. His hand went inside his cloth as he lifted it up. The armor was only a chest plate, and it didn't cover his lower stomach.
Earlier, when he opened the armor for Tony, he covered the part where he was wounded with his inner cloth.
Lifting it up now, he could see the burnt wound. One of the lasers had hit him. It was a scary and open wound.
He didn't need to be told—he knew he wasn't going to survive this. The injury was also the reason he let Tony go in his place.
Right now the only use he had was bringing down as many enforcers as he could before he died.
"Hey, Lexi," he whispered softly as he turned around. A holographic image of a faceless woman appeared and walked beside him.
Lexi—an artificial intelligence that ran the whole place. They didn't know who created her or how she was created. She had been with them for the past two years, and although they were skeptical of her at first, eventually they came to realize she was different.
"How many seconds do I have before the enforcers reach here?" His voice had no pain anymore, he had already accepted what was to come.
"29 seconds."
"Hmmm, that's enough. Activate the self-destruction protocol, reduce the time to two minutes."
"Self-destruction activated. Timeframe: 2:00."
Drex nodded his head, then turned to Lexi one last time. "Delete yourself and transfer to the mothership."
Lexi complied without hesitating, her glowing face flickered for the last time, her voice went to his ears softly and silently before fading. "Transfer complete."
And then... She was gone.
Deleted.
Now only Drex was left.
The countdown ticked in his mind. Two minutes. Two minutes that decided everything, of the enforcers killed him before then, that would be the end. And if he someone survived all of them until the turner ran out, he still dies anyway.
There was no version of this where he lived.
Drex pressed one hand on the wound in his stomach, he could feel the sticky warmth of his blood as it leaked though his fingers and dropped to the floor. His knees were very weak and it felt as if they would give in any moment now but he forced himself forward. He had to, forward was the only way here. Step by Step, he had to make it.
"Just a little longer," he whispered to himself with his breaking voice. "Just… a little longer."
Back in the main command chamber of the underground base, the elevator doors hissed open.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The enforcers dropped down one after another, their heavy weight shaking the floor. They spread out across the room like hunters, their weapons pointed in every direction. Their red eyes glowed brightly as they scanned everything coldly.
Then it hit them.
A quantum-bot light hidden deep in the systems of the base suddenly activated. The entire core chamber lit up in a blinding white flash.
The resistance had also taken precautions in case they were attacked in the future, so they would have more time to escape. Now it was working in Drex's favor. It would give him just the window he needs to strike.
The enforcers froze, their sensors scrambled under the overload. Their glowing eyes turned aimlessly as their targeting vision distorted, it was unable to process through the piercing brightness.
Somewhere behind a broken steel table, Drex pulled the safety goggles down over his eyes. His chest rose and fell heavily as he grabbed the gun in his hand tighter. It was one of their own gun. The quantum light won't last last, it will last maybe for a handful of seconds.
It is now or never.
"Let's dance," he growled through his bloody teeth.
He stood up and fired instantly.
Pzzzzzeeeooow!
The first enforcer's head erupted in sparks as the shot went through its sensor core. It body shook before collapsing to the floor.
Drex shifted and fired again.
Pzzzzzeeeooow!
The second enforcer was thrown back, its chest plate splitting open as the shot went through clean.
Another one rushed blindly in his direction, trying to lock onto him with his scrambled vision. But its sensors failed to identify the target everytime.
Drex gritted his teeth as he pulled the trigger twice.
Pzzzzzeeeooow! Pzzzzzeeeooow!
The third fell in a heap.
Four.
He rolled out from behind the table, the wound in his stomach hurts more but he ignored it for now. Raising the gun he aimed at the next two that stumbled into each other.
Pzzzzzeeeooow! Pzzzzzeeeooow!
Five and six dropped almost simultaneously, crashing into the ground.
The seventh one charged also, moving faster than the other ones. It swung its massive arm in his direction. Drex quickly dodged as he ducked. He groaned as he twisted. He quickly shoved the barrel of the gun up and fired into its throat.
BOOOOM!
The enforcer's head blew apart as the heavy machine collapsed backwards, smoke poured out of its broken frame.
Seven.
By the time the quantum light faded and the chamber returned back to its normal glow, seven enforcer were already lying motionless on the floor.
But it still wasn't over.
The elevator groaned again.
THUD THUD! THUD!
Ten enforcers more poured out of the elevator and stepped into the chambers. They scanned the floor at the bodies of the ones before them. Then they looked at Drex almost in surprise, this small deal had dealt with the lot of them. But unfortunately this is the end for him.
The advantage the quantum light gave Drex was gone now, all of the enforcers could see him clearly.
T he two at the front stepped forward, their red eyes locked on him as they raised their weapon in a sync.
Pzzzzzeeeeeow! Pzzzzzeeeeeow!
"Shit, shit, shit!" Drex cursed as he jumped sideways, he rolled just in time. The metallic table he had been using for cover exploded in half, shredded apart by the lasers.
The blasts tore through the air like lightning.
He rollled towards another thicker table, his chest rising as his body shook from fear. Even though he thought he wouldn't be scared when he gets killed, facing death was another thing. He wasn't afraid of death itself, he was just afraid of what comes after it.
The air smelled like burned metal and burnt blood and flesh entered his nose.
while he made it, he hadn't escaped clean.
The first shot grazed across his stomach tearing into the same wound he had been hiding. The second burned through his thigh dropping him to one knee as blood poured freely from both injuries.
"Aghhh fuck" Drex groaned as he slumped against the table, pressing his hand hard to stop the bleeding. His vision blurred as pain surged through him, waves of fire spreading across his body.
The clock inside his head ticked on.
23 seconds.
That was all that remained.
23 seconds before the entire underground base went up in fire and steel, taking him and hopefully every last enforcer with it.