The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  The excavators had at least told them the truth about one thing: there really were sweepers here!

  In this day and age, human mutants could be seen everywhere. However, mutations were generally uncontrollable, which meant that every single mutant looked different from one another. These sweepers, however, didn’t just look the same. They also maintained a modicum of intelligence. They were definitely an incredibly rare breed of mutant.

  One of the scavengers, gripped by despair, desperately counter-attacked. Slash! Alas, the scavenger’s knife couldn’t even cut through his opponent’s skin, coming to a halt on those gnarly, root-like lumps of flesh. The sweeper, however, struck out with the heavy stone hammer in his hands, delivering a vicious blow to the scavenger’s chest. The furious power of the blow pulverized the scavenger’s flesh and bones, instantly reducing him to a flattened chunk of meat clad in tattered human clothes.

  No way. Fighting head-on meant death. These creatures were far stronger than any human! Even worse, the sweepers were increasing in number. Their stone war hammers were terrifying weapons of mass destruction, each blow reducing one of the scavengers into a bag of pulverized meat!

  The scavengers completely broke down. No matter where they ran, they died. Faced with certain death, they all began to flee wildly, even knowing that in the end, they would end up as flattened hunks of flesh. The endless horror of it all, coupled with unrelenting despair, nibbled away at their minds and sanity. The little bit of strength and sanity they had left was only enough to let them cry and howl in misery.

  Something like this… if you never experienced them yourself, you would never be able to truly imagine what those howls sounded like.

  Anguished howls intermixed with the sounds of bones being crunched and shattered. It formed a strange, almost musical cadence that echoed throughout the tunnels, a song composed by the devil himself, a song that no one who heard it would ever be able to forget.

  One warm body after another was broken down and destroyed. One life after another was callously snuffed out!

  Prior to this experience, Cloudhawk never truly understood the concept of “Hell”. In this instant, all of his courage and heroic aspirations vanished before the sound of these hideous screams. The only thing he had left was a gamblers desire to roll the dice one final time as he followed the few surviving scavengers as they charged towards a passageway with fairly few sweepers.

  Crunch! The sound of yet another body being physically blown apart could be heard!

  One of the comrades who had been by his side just moments ago was suddenly felled by the hammer of a pursuing sweeper. Multiple sweepers immediately swarmed forward, surrounding the fallen figure and smashing down with their heavy stone war hammers. The corpse was reduced to a state where it was in even worse shape than the refuse on the ground!

  The sight of blood spraying everywhere provided Cloudhawk with an incredible shot of adrenaline. He felt as though all of his energy was focused into his legs and only a single thought was in his mind: Get the hell out of here!

  “AHH!” Right at this moment, one of the scavengers running in front of him let out a miserable scream as he fell to the ground, the pincers of some strange beast having clamped around his feet. This beast’s pincers appeared to contain a tremendous amount of force, with its clamping attack crushing almost every bone in the scavenger’s feet so badly that shattered bits of bone could be seen poking out of his skin!

  “Help me!”

  “I’m begging you, save me!”

  Cloudhawk fled past him without even thinking about stopping, but the scavenger actually managed to grab him by the feet. Thrown off-balance, Cloudhawk fell to the ground as well.

  The scavenger’s face was covered with tears and snot. “Help me!”

  Cloudhawk howled back, “I can’t save you! Let me go!”

  “Then give me a clean death!” The scavenger’s face was filled with despair. “If those devils get their hands on me… I’d rather die now!”

  Cloudhawk hesitated. He’d never killed anyone before! But right at this moment, he could see a dark figure moving straight towards them.

  “Give me a clean death!” The scavenger laid on the ground, howling with all his might, “I’M BEGGING YOU!”

  Cloudhawk let out a guttural, bestial roar before raising his short sword up high and plunging it into the man’s neck. Blood immediately spurted out, the stench of which assaulted his nostrils. Cloudhawk wiped his face, not bothering to pull out his blood-stained short sword. He kicked his right leg free from the man’s grip, clambered to his feet, and continued to furiously run down the depths of the tunnels!

  This execution was his first time killing another human being!

  He couldn’t forget the look of utter despair on the dying scavenger’s face. It seemed to have indelibly impressed itself into his heart, into his very soul.

  Cloudhawk’s eyes were bloodshot with shock and horror. He felt as though a volcano was rumbling deep within his soul, making him want to scream with rage and in anguish. However, this wasn’t the right time. The underground tunnels stretched out like a spider’s web and he had no idea how many dangerous creatures lived here.

  The dark figure behind him dropped its stone hammer, smeared with red blood and white brain matter, and reached to pull a javelin from its back. It threw the spear directly towards Cloudhawk!

  The javelin howled through the air. Sensing the impending danger, Cloudhawk instinctively leaned sideways, letting the sharp tip of the spear scrape right past his face. It was so close that it actually severed a few strands of his hair!

  The sweeper was rather surprised. It never would’ve expected a young human would possess such an acute sense for danger!

  Cloudhawk knew that the specter of death had just brushed past him. He continued to furiously run at full speed. Upon noticing a turn in the tunnel right up ahead, he immediately dashed in without hesitation. There was a split in the tunnels, with three different openings leading in three different directions. Cloudhawk chose one at random, charged in, and hid himself at the back.

  There was a limit to how much strength he had and he was already on the verge of collapsing. If he continued to flee, he would definitely be caught by the sweeper. His only chance was to entrust everything to luck and hope that the sweeper wouldn’t choose the tunnel he had entered.

  The dark figure came to a halt in front of the three tunnels. It hesitated there for a few seconds, not making a decision immediately. This sweeper was an experienced hunter. The sweeper could sense that the footsteps had come to a halt, meaning that the human hadn’t gotten far. He had to be still hiding nearby so the sweeper didn’t blindly run down one of the tunnels. Instead, the sweeper intended to rely on his acute hearing to locate the human.

  Currently, Cloudhawk was hidden less than ten meters away from the sweeper. His heart was hammering so hard that he felt as though it was about to burst out from his chest.

  This time, he was completely finished. The sweeper wasn’t going to leave. He was waiting, waiting for Cloudhawk to show himself. If Cloudhawk made the slightest sound, he would probably be immediately discovered and caught.

  What was he supposed to do? Cloudhawk clenched his fists, his palms sweaty. But right at this moment, he felt another powerful premonition of danger. Cloudhawk could feel something coming and immediately turned to stare towards his left. What he saw caused him to narrow his eyes.

  The walls of the tunnels here were lit by the fluorescent moss… and all of a sudden, soundlessly, an incredibly large black silhouette suddenly appeared on them. This creature had eight slender legs, with joints all covered with needle-like strands of bristles that were as sharp as knives. It had twelve blood-red eyes, each of which gleamed with a brutal, savage light.

  This was a mutabeast! An enormous mutabeast spider, one at least two meters long!

  The dangerous creature clung to the ceiling. Clearly, it already discovered Cloudhawk and was slowly crawling closer and c
loser towards him.

  Right at this moment, the sweeper heard something. It pulled out yet another javelin from its back and began striding in Cloudhawk’s direction.

  Cloudhawk’s forehead was matted with sweat and he found it impossible to tamp down his fear.

  Time to try something crazy! He shut his eyes and then howled as he jumped out of his hiding spot!

  Seeing its prey about to flee, the enormous spider flexed its eight legs and shot out right as Cloudhawk jumped out. The spider was a powerful predator that moved far faster than Cloudhawk did; it was certain that it would be able to catch its prey mid-leap.

  Just as Cloudhawk leapt out from behind his hiding spot, the sweeper’s arm flexed as it hurled its incredibly sharp javelin with enough power to penetrate clean through a man’s body.

  Time seemed to slow down. The dangerous mutabeast in flight inched ever closer, as did that lethal javelin. Cloudhawk frantically twisted his body midair and the javelin sliced a deep wound through his chest as it flew past him. He had almost miraculously dodged that strike!

  Ssssssss!

  The enormous black spider struck out with its limbs. Just as it was about to latch onto Cloudhawk with them, the oncoming javelin hit it almost perfectly on its head, causing it to let out an agonized screech!

  The sweeper stared, somewhat stunned. It certainly hadn’t expected something like this to happen!

  In that brief instant when the sweeper stood there dumbfounded, Cloudhawk fell to the ground and rolled to his feet, clutching his hands over the gaping wound across his chest as he furiously fled into another one of the tunnels. Just as the sweeper was about to chase after him, the injured and enraged mutabeast spider clambered to its feet and leapt straight towards the sweeper.

  “GRAH!” The sweeper was knocked down but immediately drew a short knife and plunged it into the spider’s soft abdomen. As for the giant spider, it used its sharp, venomous fangs to bite at the sweeper’s neck and shoulders. The two deadly creatures began to furiously attack each other, and as for Cloudhawk?

  He had long since disappeared into the tunnels.

  5 The Mysterious Jewel

  Cloudhawk had just barely been able to escape, but he managed to find a quiet corner to hide and rest in. His chest blazed with pain. When he pressed a hand against it, his hand came away smeared in sticky fluids. Although he couldn’t tell how badly he had been injured, the wound was definitely a serious one. Wounds like this were extremely dangerous; even if he didn’t die from blood loss, the wound would probably become infected, causing an agonizing death later.

  Perhaps due to his physical weakness, or perhaps due to his severe loss of blood, Cloudhawk’s mind grew increasingly hazy. His eyelids began to droop. He really wanted to close his eyes and rest for a while, but he knew that he absolutely could not do such a thing.

  This place was dangerous, filled with countless dangerous creatures, and the stench of his blood would definitely attract those bloodthirsty beasts. For him to fall asleep right now meant that he would never wake up again.

  He was tired. He was in pain. He was beaten up. His willpower was almost used up. Death would be a form of escape, right?

  Cloudhawk willed that thought away. He hadn’t even left the ruins, much less the wilderness. He hadn’t fulfilled any of the promises he had made to himself. How could he accept death in a place like this? The old-timer would have laughed at him. He had to survive. He had to live!

  His desire to stay alive rekindled his spirit, like a stubborn flicker of flame that began to burn once more. His spirits roused, Cloudhawk removed his bloodstained clothes and tore several strips of cloth to tightly bandage his wounds. He had to find the exit as soon as possible. He had to leave this damnable place!

  The light from the fluorescent lichen provided him with a vague idea of where to go. However, the underground tunnels were laid out in such a complicated way that Cloudhawk had long since lost his sense of direction. He had no idea which way to go.

  But right then, that strange, subtle sensation appeared once again. It was as though something was calling out towards his subconscious.

  Cloudhawk wasn’t certain whether this feeling was real or illusory, but by now, he had run out of options. He decided to entrust his destiny to this sixth sense and follow the complicated underground tunnels downwards.

  His physical condition was rapidly deteriorating and this place was as complicated as a maze. Cloudhawk walked for several dozen minutes without being able to leave the tunnels, but that subconscious sensation grew stronger and stronger. As he continued to move towards the sensation, he finally saw an exit that glimmered with some faint light.

  He had made it! He had escaped! This had to be the exit. He had finally found it!

  Fuck those diggers. The only thing that matters is that I’m getting out of this alive!

  Overjoyed, Cloudhawk quickened his pace. Just as he was about to walk out from the “exit”, he came to a sudden halt as a stunned look appeared on his face. No. NO! SHIT!

  He’d arrived at a five-way intersection. The so-called “light”? It was just torch light emanating from torches that hung in this place. The walls here were filled with neatly arrayed bone spears and various tools, as well as a large amount of wind-dried smoked meat hanging from giant hooks. What really terrified Cloudhawk… was the fact that there had to be at least thirty or forty sweepers here!

  This place was no exit. This was the sweeper base! Instead of finding the exit, Cloudhawk had stumbled upon the heart of the maze?!

  There were also four or five tied up scavengers who had been captured alive and brought here by the sweepers. Like animals trussed up for slaughter, they were completely unable to move or flee. Their faces were deathly pale with despair and horror, but their mouths were completely gagged, preventing them from saying anything at all.

  Given the sweepers’ brutal disposition, it was guaranteed that the scavengers had horrendous fates in store for them.

  There were actually both adult sweepers as well as young sweepers here. However, all of them looked fairly similar, with bodies so tightly knotted with those strange growths of flesh that they looked like tree-men. These sweepers were able to reproduce, despite their strange mutation, and could even pass down their mutations to the next generation. This state of affairs was truly quite rare in the wastelands.

  The sweepers were gathered and kneeling in front of an upraised dais as they mumbled some arcane, unintelligible words. It was almost as if they were pious believers praying to a higher power.

  At the very top of the dais was a pitch-black jewel that actually defied the laws of gravity and simply hovered in the air. It was most likely this supernatural phenomenon instilled in the foolish sweepers a sense of veneration and dread towards the jewel, causing them to prostrate themselves before it as if it were a divine relic.

  Cloudhawk was stunned as well. What on earth was this?! He had an inexplicable feeling that the strange, subtle sensations seemed to be coming from this mysterious jewel. It was the jewel that emanated the strange song that drew Cloudhawk to this place. When he finally saw it, he was actually spellbound for a few moments.

  He was nothing more than a humble, low-born scavenger, after all. When had he ever seen such a marvelous item?

  The sweepers completed their rituals of obeisance. Two of them pulled out a guillotine-like instrument as the others dragged the hog-tied captives over. They lifted the guillotine’s blade and pressed the hands of a scavenger beneath it.

  “No. NO!” The scavenger let out a scream… and the heavy guillotine blade descended with a sickening crunch.

  The scavenger let out muffled, despairing howls as his two hands were completely severed. The other four scavengers were so terrified that their bodies went limp and they completely lost control of their bowels. The sweepers filled a vessel with the spurting blood and poured it over one of the young children.

  These mutants seemed to have skin with an absorptive property. Afte
r the blood was poured over the child, it was quickly absorbed into his body. The dozens of sweepers began to celebrate wildly, using the guillotine to chop the scavenger’s arms into multiple sections, as if they were chopping vegetables. They then linked the meat up to metal poles, preparing to smoke it.

  Brutal. Berserk! These twisted creatures delighted in torturing other living beings!

  The crazed cries of the scavengers brought Cloudhawk back to reality. He frantically shook his head, quickly coming back to his senses. By now, he was so frightened that his body was once more covered with cold sweat.

  Cloudhawk really wanted to slap himself! How could he fall into a daze at a time like this? Was he tired of living? This place was filled with deadly sweepers. If he was captured by them, he would end up like those poor scavengers. They’d first chop his hands and legs into multiple pieces before tormenting him endlessly until they let him die.

  Better to run right away!

  Cloudhawk carefully rose to his feet and edged backwards. But right at this moment, the scavenger at the very end was released from his bonds. Just as they were about to force him forward and severe his hands, he seemed to gain a burst of terror-born supernatural strength and speed. He somehow tore loose of the sweepers’ grips, dodged the nearby sweepers, and fled from them… straight towards Cloudhawk’s tunnel.

  His struggles were useless. One of the sweepers sunk a flying hook into his leg, toppling him to the ground. Just as he was being dragged back, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Cloudhawk tiptoeing back into the tunnels.

  Cloudhawk’s heart clenched. He had a bad feeling about this. He frantically dove back to his original hiding position… but it was too late.

  “Save me!”

  “Save me!”

  “SAVE ME!!!!”

  As the scavenger was being dragged back, he clawed at the ground with his fingernails, leaving deep furrows in the earth. He was screaming so hysterically that he didn’t even notice his fingernails splintering apart.