Chapter 20
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Iseul quickly made a dash back towards where the others were. She first made her way to Hae-won and Choon-hee who were the closest to her.
"Unnie Choon-hee!!! Unnie Hae-won!!" Iseul shouted their names over the chaos as she looked around frantically for them.
Rumble! Rumble! The floor under her feet shook as she tried to steady herself.
"Woah!"
Sticking her arms out, trying to balance herself, Iseul gained her solid footing before she could take off into a full-blown sprint.
The pile of junk to her right creaked and moved like a beating heart as it seemed something, or multiple things, were trying to breach through.
She clenched her teeth as she rolled to the side, feeling the rumble and tremors coming from her right.
Clatter!! Bang!!
Moles and rats of all sizes came out from the junk.
"Creator, watch out! Hostiles are closing in!"
The shout came from behind her, snapping her out of her stupor.
Loadon's voice.
Iseul quickly pushed herself up and took off toward her intent destination.
She held her pulse gun in hand and told herself she would not freeze up—she must steel her resolve.
Her hands shook as she held the pulse gun up, pointing at the moles and rats heading towards her direction.
She steadied her breath and forced herself to keep her eyes open as she fired five shots, only hitting one—injuring it, but not stopping it in its tracks.
Squeak!!!
The rat stopped in its path, pausing for a moment before its eyes changed to a glaring red color.
Gasp.
Iseul's eyes widened as she was surprised to see the mutated creature going straight into berserk mode.
The creature, though injured, picked up its pace as it squealed in anger, lunging at her at an untraceable speed to her eyes.
Squeak!!!!!!
Iseul readied her stance, remembering her weapons handling class instructor's words:
Position your feet shoulder length, square your shoulders, back straight, eyes and arms straight, eyes on your target, deep breath, and shoot.
But even with that drilled into her, the rat dodged her shot midair.
She didn't even know they could do that!!
She could only watch helplessly as it closed in on her.
'No! Why was she so weak?' she thought, disappointed in herself for being cowardly in the end.
"Ahhh!" She raised her arm fast, flinching a step back to block the potential attack.
Though this time she did not drop her weapon or fall to the floor.
But to Iseul this was no different—she still chickened out and flinched up!
She really needed more hands-on experience with hand-to-hand combat, not just getting pummeled by a group of students as she curled up to defend herself.
She needed someone to teach her.
She had to take some classes professionally.
This moment was a harsh, cold reminder of her neglect toward herself and her growth—something she couldn't really afford to regret, nor did she, as she would probably have done it the same way again.
She was the only one providing and doing everything. That came with sacrifice, and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass with unforeseen consequences.
Tsk.
She clenched her fist and her tongue flicked her cheek in annoyance.
She didn't have time for a pity party.
She looked up, hearing the painful screeches of the rat nearby—no impact from its attack.
Squeak!!!!!
Loadon held the rat in his hand, gripping its neck with crushing force.
Gasp.
Iseul jumped, seeing this.
Loadon's eyes were no longer blue but red, and he held a pulse weapon similar to hers in his free hand.
'Where the hell did he get the weapon? She didn't create that for him?!' Iseul mentally shouted in slight panic Eyeing the weapon cautiously.
But that wasn't what startled her—it was the dangerous aura leaking off of him.
It was almost choking, and he grew larger in size, his body now covered in what looked like armor.
'Just what did I create? What is Loadon exactly?! Is he really just a different kind of loader mech with conscious sentience, or was he something completely different altogether?' she thought, a bit scared at her gift and the creation before her.
Though he had done nothing but help and protect her, she had more things to think on—about him, and the extent of what she could create.
Maybe she needed to stop thinking about her creations, or her power of creating, as something just so simple or just complex.
It was clearly something much more that she didn't quite understand yet.
She dropped her thoughts as it was the wrong time to dwell on such things in the middle of a crisis.
Quickly, with Loadon, she began shooting and clearing a path to her friends.
"Loadon, cover my back!" she called to him, wiping her sweat as she ran forward, shooting at anything nonhuman that moved.
Bang! Bang!
Once they finally got a clear path, Iseul and Loadon ran a few minutes, firing as shouts and screams of other scrappers echoed around them, their desperate fighting a backdrop of chaos.
She finally reached Hae-won's area first.
Sweat glistened on her forehead as panic set in her heart, seeing the crowd of rats, moles, and snake-rats alike in a massive pile, crawling and clawing at each other to get to what was in the middle.
Iseul's heart stopped completely.
"Unnie Hae-won!!" She screamed, rushing forward.
Iseul quickly dashed forward, sliding into the ditch-like patch created by Hae-won.
She landed tumbling, rolling over jagged scrap, junk, and twisted metal. Her suit tore, blood streaking from scratches and punctures, but none of it mattered.
She only wanted to get to her dear friend.
Desperation, panic, anger, and a hint of insanity welled inside her. She lifted her pulse gun, firing at the surrounding mutated creatures, but her shots didn't do much.
"Oppa?! Is that you!? I'm over here—hurry, I don't think I nor my shield can hold much longer! I'm already on my third shield!"
Iseul sighed in relief, shoulders sagging slightly at the sound of Hae-won's voice.
"Unnie Hae-won! It's me, Iseul! I'm coming—keep holding on, yeah?! I'll figure something out and get you out of there, okay?! Just trust me!"
"Agh! Iseul-ya! Don't come over—just get help!"
"Noo!! I won't leave you like this to die! Are you crazy?! I can definitely figure something out!" she shouted back, her voice cracking as she stomped her foot in frustration.
"My shield is cracked. It won't hold much longer, sweetie," was all Hae-won said before falling into silence that was louder than all the noise.
"No no no!! Just keep fighting—I will get through and save you, unnie."
Iseul's voice was full of despair and desperation.
Hae-won's voice was soft and mirthless as she spoke again, carrying no emotion.
"You're still young. I would rather you stay in one piece, as you have brothers to support. It's just me and my brother, and we're both so grown now. If I don't make it, just let my oppa know that I tried very hard, I fought to the very end, and that I love him—and I've always been proud and thankful for everything he's done for me."
Tears blurred Iseul's eyes.
"No! I won't give up on you!" She cried wiping her tear roughly.
She then remembered Loadon's weapon. Quickly, she turned to him.
"Loadon! I need your help! Can you come down and help clear out these mutated pests, please? I need you to be extra careful not to hurt Hae-won!" she called to him at the top of the junk pile where he stood guard.
"I will follow the Creator's wishes."
Loadon's eyes blinked green a few times before turning back to red, his agreement given.
He began making his way down, alternating his aim between clearing a path and covering Hae-won, who was still firing desperately.
With Loadon's help and precision aim, Iseul saw the numbers visibly dwindle.
She refused to watch her friend die in front of her. She wished she had more power, full control of her gift, so she could destroy these filthy creatures outright.
"Hae-won! We're almost through the circle. Just hang tight—I'm almost there!"
She dug through the corpses of mutated carcasses, tossing bodies of all sizes aside, uncaring of the bloody mess.
"Hae-won!!"
Iseul called again after a while, not hearing her response.
"Hae-won! Register a little bit away—you're still with us, right?!"
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Hey! Don't joke around now's not the time to joke, unnie!"
Still nothing. No reply.
'No! Impossible! She won't believe it! Maybe she just passed out, buried under so many bodies, losing air.'
Iseul convinced herself, almost hypnotically, working faster, like a lunatic, throwing and tossing bodies with all her strength.
"Hae-won, please answer me!?"
Iseul continued until she finally made it through the circle of now-dead rats, moles, and snake-rats.
The sight that greeted her snapped something inside of her.
"Ahhhh!!!!! Get off of her!!!!"
Iseul's scream pierced the whole scrapper area, echoing as everything began to tremble, matching the fury and grief inside her.
Her gift flared violently, sucking every ounce of radiation out of the surrounding creatures within a one-maht radius.
Every creature within that distance experienced extreme internal pain. Bodies twisted, insides wrenched, most passing out, bleeding from their noses, mouths, and ears.
The mutated creatures were not so lucky. Their radiation was drained, their insides twisted into knots, killing them in slow, agonizing deaths.
"Nooooo!!! Urghelck—"
When Iseul reached Hae-won, she barely could breathe.
Iseul couldn't help but throw up at the sight.
Hae-won lay there, eyes open, her body mutilated.
Bite marks covered her.
Both legs and one arm were eaten away, the rest half-finished.
She sat in a pool of her own blood, dead rats and moles still latched to her even in death.
Something dark began to take over Iseul.
Dangerous, self-blaming thoughts consumed her completely.
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Word count: 1,656