The lead transport truck plowed through the carpet of living rust. Its heavy tires crunched over the carapaces of a thousand Rotters.
Crunch-squelch-snap.
Orange ichor sprayed against the wheel wells. The truck bucked and slid on the slick remains, but the driver kept his foot heavy on the gas.
From the back of the truck, the Galvanizers fired downward into the swarm.
"We are running low!"
"My mag is empty!"
Kingham ejected a spent casing and slammed a fresh magazine home.
"Use your sidearms! Use the stocks of your rifles if you must! But keep firing! If they clog the wheels, we stop. If we stop, we die."
His voice cut through the panic, but his eyes were not on the roaches. He looked back.
Through the gloom of the canyon, the Komodo Corroder dashed along the vertical walls. Its claws sparked against the stone. It defied gravity with terrifying speed and closed the distance on its prey.
Behind the refugee truck, Leik piloted the captured enemy vehicle. She saw the monster gaining on them.
She turned to Gustov.
"Take the wheel. Keep it steady."
Gustov grabbed the steering wheel from the passenger side.
"Where are you going?"
"To the roof."
Leik opened the hatch and climbed out onto the roof. The wind whipped at her clothes. She hauled herself up and slipped into the gunner's seat.
She racked the charging handle of the laser turret.
"Eat light, you ugly bastard."
She swung the turret around. She did not aim for the enemy truck sandwiched between her and the monster. She aimed past it, directly at the Komodo. She knew the Ruster did not discriminate. Once it finished with the Cloud 9 soldiers, it would target her and her children.
Zzzzt-Zzzzt-Zzzzt.
Violet beams of energy sliced through the dark canyon. They scorched the stone walls and burned black lines across the Komodo's flank.
The beast shrieked. It faltered in its wall-run and slipped toward the canyon floor.
The enemy gunner on the truck saw the assist. He swiveled his own turret to join the barrage and shouted.
"Thanks for the cover! I promise I'll kill you quickly after we escape this canyon!"
Leik grit her teeth. She didn't respond. She just held the trigger down.
The Komodo screamed in anger. It abandoned the wall and launched itself into the air.
"Look out!"
The enemy gunner fired wildly, but the beast was too fast.
CRUNCH.
The Komodo landed on the bed of the enemy truck. Its jaws snapped shut around the gunner's torso. There was a wet tear, and the man was gone.
The weight of the monster caused the enemy vehicle to fishtail. It slowed down instantly.
Leik looked up at the crumbling canyon walls. A desperate idea formed.
"Gustov! Floor it!"
She swung the turret upward. She targeted a fracture line in the rock face directly above the struggling enemy truck.
Zzzzt-BOOM.
The laser superheated the stone. The water inside the rock expanded and cracked the face.
"Hey! Stop!"
The enemy driver screamed.
Leik ignored him. She carved a line across the cliff.
A massive section of the canyon wall sheared off.
RUMBLE.
Boulders the size of houses crashed down. They slammed into the canyon floor behind Leik's truck. Dust billowed out in a choking cloud. The debris buried the enemy vehicle and the feasting Komodo in a tomb of stone.
Leik slumped over the gun sights.
"That should hold them."
She slapped the roof.
"Signal Kingham! We are clear!"
Gustov flashed the high beams.
Ahead, Kingham saw the signal. He yelled back from the rear of the lead truck.
"We are almost out! I see the exit!"
Divento and the other passengers in the open truck let out a collective breath.
"We made it."
"Those roach almost got us."
Sophie and Aidro clung to each other tightly. The outside world was loud and scary.
Sophie flinched.
"Ow."
She felt something cold hit her shoulder. It ran down her arm like ice.
Plip. Plop.
More droplets fell. They hissed faintly when they touched the hot metal of the truck.
"Grandpa?" Sophie called out. "What is this?"
Kingham felt the moisture on his cheek. He wiped it away and stared at his hand. It left a faint, gray smear. He looked up at the dark sky in horror.
"No..."
Leik reached for the handle of the hatch to climb back inside. She paused as a cold, heavy droplet struck her shoulder. It soaked through her tunic instantly. She flinched as another drop hit her cheek. It slid down her skin like oil.
She looked up at the pitch-black sky. The clouds swirled with a bruised, purple hue that blocked out the stars.
"Of all the days for it to rain, why now? And at night, no less?"
A shiver ran down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. The situation had taken the worst possible turn. They needed to reach the Class B Biome immediately, or the desert would become a grave.
Leik dropped through the hatch and landed inside. She slammed the metal cover shut above her.
"Gustov. Step on it. The sky is opening up."
Gustov gripped the steering wheel tight. He looked through the windshield as the first streaks of moisture smeared the dust on the glass.
"Rain? Right now?"
"It is falling now. And it's heavy."
Leik looked through the windshield at the truck ahead of them. The lead vehicle, carrying the bulk of the refugees and Kingham, had an open bed. The canvas cover had been torn away during the ambush.
"Gustov, the lead truck is exposed. All those people in the back... they are sitting ducks."
Gustov grimaced.
"If they stay out there under a downpour, they will be contaminated within minutes. The Rust will settle in their lungs."
"We have to take them. We have to transfer them to this truck. We have a roof. We have armor."
Gustov glanced back at the cargo hold of their stolen vehicle.
"Do we have the space? That truck has over thirty people. We are loaded with ammo crates and dead bodies."
"Then we throw out the bodies. We stack the people like cordwood if we have to. But we are not leaving them to the rain. Squeeze them in."
Outside, the drizzle turned into a deluge.
This was not ordinary precipitation. In the Century of Oxidation, the weather systems had turned against humanity. This was Steel Rain. The clouds gathered atmospheric pollutants, heavy metals, and active Rust particles from the jet streams. When it fell, it acted as a potent accelerant for the disease.
Mere contact with the skin caused rashes and lesions that could calcify into metal patches. Prolonged exposure was a death sentence. It turned soft flesh into brittle iron statues.
But the chemical threat was secondary to the biological one. The Steel Rain carried microscopic parasites. These organisms thrived in the moisture. If they landed on organic matter, they hatched instantly. They burrowed into flesh or soil and matured into Class 1 Rotters within hours. Given enough metal to consume, these Rotters would eventually develop a Rust Core and evolve into the pack-hunting Decayers. The rain was not just water; it was the primary source that sustained the entire Ruster ecosystem.
The two trucks burst out of the canyon mouth and skidded onto the open flatland.
Leik grabbed the radio handset.
"Kingham! Stop the truck! We are transferring the passengers! You are taking on water!"
The lead truck fishtailed in the mud and ground to a halt. Leik's truck pulled up alongside it.
The situation was intense. The rain drummed against the metal roofs with a deafening rhythm.
Leik and Gustov kicked their doors open. They rushed out into the storm. The acidic sting of the rain hit them immediately.
They sprinted to the back of the open truck. The refugees huddled together, screaming as the rain burned their skin.
"Get out! Everyone get off!"
Leik waved her arms frantically.
"Transfer to the armored truck! The trunk is open! Move!"
"It's Steel Rain! Move it! Move it!"
Gustov helped her. They dropped the tailgate of the passenger truck.
"Everyone! Run to the armored truck! Quickly!"
Panic took hold. The passengers scrambled over the sides.
"Don't leave me!"
"My leg!"
Galvanizers pulled people down and shoved them toward the rear of Leik's truck. They dragged out the dead bodies of the Cloud 9 soldiers and tossed them into the mud to make room.
"Women and children first! Load them in!"
The old woman with her cat scrambled inside.
The rain picked up intensity. It drummed against the metal roofs like a thousand tiny hammers.
People outside started to scream.
"There's no room! We're going to be left behind!"
Leik was pulling Sophie and Aidro down when she heard the commotion and glanced over.
Gustov grabbed Divento. He hoisted the engineer over his shoulder and ran through the downpour.
"Make a hole!"
Leik helped Kingham down from the lead truck. His joints creaked, and the rain stung his skin.
They gathered by the armored vessel.
"The back is full!" A Galvanizer shouted. "We have thirty people trying to fit in a space for ten!"
Kingham wiped the gray sludge from his eyes. He analyzed the chaos.
"We split them. Civilians load into the back of the armored truck until no space is left. As for the remainders; the Galvanizers and able-bodied men, they will join us in the cab of our truck. It has a roof. It will have to do."
Kingham's plan was sound, though it required a grim Tetris of human bodies.
While the refugees squeezed into the back of Leik's armored truck, she prioritized her family. She opened the driver's side door and lifted Sophie and Aidro inside.
"Scoot over. Make room."
She placed them on the edge of the driver's seat, close to the center console.
"Stay down. Don't touch the pedals."
"Yes, mommy."
"Get in, old man."
Gustov rounded the front of the vehicle. He carried Divento like a sack of grain. He yanked the passenger door open and deposited the engineer onto the seat. Then, Gustov climbed in after him. He wedged his massive frame against the door and forced it shut with a metallic screech.
Divento grunted as he was pressed against the dashboard.
"This is intimate."
Leik climbed into the driver's seat. She pulled the door closed and locked it. The cab was suffocatingly tight, but they fit.
She glanced back at the cargo hold. It was packed. Terrified faces pressed against the rear windows, and bodies were mashed together in the darkness.
Outside, a Galvanizer slammed the heavy rear doors shut.
Clang.
He slapped the metal flank twice to signal they were secure, then he sprinted through the mud to the other truck.
Kingham and the remaining Galvanizers scrambled into the cab of that vehicle. They piled in on top of one another.
The Steel Rain poured heavier. It drummed against the roof of the armored truck like a ceaseless barrage of stones.
"We need to move. Before the Oxidizers wake up."
Leik shifted the truck into gear. The two vehicles peeled out of the mud and drove with haste toward the coordinates of the Banana Bridge.
The headlights cut through the deluge. They illuminated a nightmare landscape.
As they drove, vague silhouettes burst out of the sands around them.
Squelch. Pop.
The Rusters surfaced for this divine shower. Twisted shapes of iron rose from the dunes, drawn by the moisture and the vibration of the engines.
Leik gripped the radio handset with one hand while she steered with the other.
"Kingham. Come in."
Static crackled, then Kingham's voice broke through.
"I'm here. Keep your eyes on the road."
"I am. But look around. Are we the only survivors? I haven't seen a single headlight from the other trucks."
Kingham paused. The silence on the line was heavy.
"I haven't seen them either. The comms are dead silent."
Leik felt a cold knot in her stomach.
"Could the enemy troops have killed them all? Twelve trucks... hundreds of people."
"Or they scattered into the deep desert to avoid the ambush. We don't know, Leik. We have to hope some people survived and that they might run into us at the bridge. If we stop to search, we die."
Leik hung up the receiver. She stared into the rain-streaked dark.
"Hope. That's all we have."
…
Sometime later, they crested a high dune.
Lightning flashed across the dark sky.
In the distance, the Banana Bridge revealed itself. It was a massive skeleton of rusted steel that curved in a steep arc over a dry canyon. It had a deep sink in the middle where the supports had sagged over decades, giving it the appearance of a slack rope. The bridge was barely holding together. Girders hung loose, and gaps marred the roadway, but it looked crossable.
Gustov squinted through the windshield.
"That thing looks like it will snap if we sneeze on it. Can it handle the weight of two trucks?"
Divento wiped condensation from the glass.
"It was built for pre-war tanks. Unless the rust has eaten the core supports, it should hold. But we don't have a choice."
As they deliberated, a howl rose from behind them.
Aooooooo!
Leik checked the rearview mirror. Her blood ran cold.
"Decayers! A swarm!"
A sea of jagged shapes rushed toward them from the darkness. And they weren't alone. Leading the charge, its metal hide smoking from the rain and previous laser burns, was the Komodo. It galloped on four massive clawed limbs.
"They found us!" Sophie screamed.
They had no time to guess if the bridge was sturdy or not. They had to find out firsthand.
Leik slammed her foot on the accelerator.
"Hold on!"
The two trucks accelerated toward the bridge ramp.
The chase began.
The Galvanizers manipulated their vehicles with expert handling. Kingham's truck took the lead, swerving violently to avoid old scrap piles and shipping containers that littered the approach.
Leik followed his line. She yanked the steering wheel left.
Screech.
The armored truck drifted in the mud, narrowly missing a concrete bollard.
Ahead, a few Rusters blocked the path. They stood like statues in the rain.
"Brace!"
Leik didn't brake. She plowed through them.
Crunch-thud.
Metal bodies shattered against the grill. The truck shuddered but kept moving.
But they could not shake off the Komodo and the legions of mutts. The Rusters were energized by the rain. They moved with supernatural speed.
The passengers in the back of Leik's truck saw the monsters catching up through the rear viewport. They hollered in panic.
"Faster! Go faster!"
Leik floored the accelerator. The engine whined in protest.
Both trucks hit the bridge deck.
Clank-rattle-boom.
The surface was a minefield. Debris, old metal chunks, rusted car chassis, and large steel bars jutted out from the grating. It was a hassle to maneuver.
Leik constantly swung the steering wheel left and right. She evaded a pile of girders, then jerked back to miss a rusted sedan.
Behind them, the Rusters chased with zero deterrent. The Komodo smashed through the obstacles. It plowed the car chassis aside like cardboard boxes.
Kingham's voice shouted over the comms.
"We are getting closer to the bend! The area where the bridge dips low! Watch your speed on the slope!"
They moved down the steep incline toward the sag in the center of the bridge.
"Hole! Left!" Divento shouted.
Leik saw it at the last second. A massive section of the grating had fallen away. It revealed the black abyss of the canyon below.
She slammed on the brakes and swerved right.
Screech.
The tires locked on the wet steel. The truck skidded past the hole with inches to spare.
But the braking slowed them down.
Leik's truck was heavy. It was laden with the weight of over twenty people and the dense armor. It was slower than Kingham's truck ahead.
The Komodo seized the opportunity. It launched itself ahead.
It flew through the air, jaws wide, aimed directly at the rear of Leik's truck to swallow them whole.
"It's going to hit us!"
Gustov yelled.
There was no avoiding this. The jaws of death were closing. The people in the back screamed. Leik ran out of options.
Just then, the center of the bridge burst upward.
BOOM.
It was not an explosion of fire. It was a kinetic eruption, as if a nuclear bomb had set off beneath the steel. A geyser of blue light and force slammed into the bottom of the bridge.
The physics of the world broke.
The trucks were airborne. The Rusters were airborne.
Due to the velocity and inertia, the trucks were flung forward like stones from a sling. They sailed over the remaining gap and toward the opposite end of the bridge.
The Rusters were not so lucky. The force caught them mid-leap. Sharp, jagged metal from the exploding bridge bore through the Komodo and the mutts in mid-air. They were skewered and scattered into the void.
"Hold on!"
Everyone screamed as the vehicles plummeted to doom.
Leik released the wheel and grabbed Sophie and Aidro. She pulled them into her chest and curled her body around them.
CRASH.
Kingham's truck hit the far bank first. The impact was sickening. The back portion was ripped off completely by a jagged girder, and the front dented inward like a crushed can.
Leik's vessel hit the ground a second later.
SLAM.
It hit hard. The suspension shattered. The truck flipped.
Roll. Crunch. Roll.
It tumbled over the rocky ground, metal screaming as it tore against the earth.
The concussion was deadly.
Inside the cab, the world spun in a violent blur. Then, a final, bone-jarring impact brought them to a halt.
The lights knocked out.
Silence and darkness swallowed them.