Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Fuckers!” one of the remaining men screamed and charged at Becky, who stepped behind the smoldering wreckage that had been a car a moment ago.

  “Ben, don’t!” Eric snapped, but Ben was not listening and continued his mad rush at Becky.

  Alvin kept pushing forward while the three remaining attackers ahead of him had to switch guns to reload. The Type 56 continued to fire; Alvin was reloading it rapidly every time it ran empty, glad his rifle was not limited like theirs. Taking cover against the front of a Toyota, Alvin laughed when he heard Ben start to scream behind him.

  “That’s four of you, dumb shits,” Alvin shouted at the three hunkered behind the trunk of the car. “You should have listened to Bill, Josh. If you had, you’d be alive after today.”

  “Fuck you,” Joshua shouted back. “We’re going to kill you and loot your shit.”

  “We need to run, man. They aren’t even bleeding yet,” the third man with Joshua and Eric said. “We’ve never had anyone not bleed by now.”

  “Ambushing people?” Alvin asked. “Ha, you picked the wrong targets.”

  “He’s alone! We need to rush him while his slut deals with Ben,” Eric said.

  “Go,” Joshua yelled.

  Alvin shook his head; he had already thrown a second bomb under the car. Sprinting back toward Becky, he felt rounds hitting him in the back as he dove around the truck. Becky was kneeling next to Ben, her K-bar coated in his blood as she pulled it from his neck. She turned to go after him before realizing who he was.

  “Hero—”

  Her words were cut off by the next explosion.

  “Got to go,” Alvin said as he went back out and saw Eric, Joshua, and the nameless third man on the ground, thrown by the explosion of the second bomb.

  He had only just started to shoot the third guy, who was bleeding profusely, when Becky joined him. Eric and Joshua got to their feet and returned fire, but not before their partner was dead. Alvin let the Type 56 vanish as he closed the distance to Joshua. He had a manic smile when the warhammer Istel made for him appeared in his hand.

  Joshua’s eyes widened; he had been switching to a pistol and looked up just in time to see the weapon coming at him. “The fuck!?”

  Eric turned and ran for it, leaving Joshua to Alvin. Becky did not chase him, instead summoning her own hammer to help Alvin. Joshua’s broken body was lying in a pool of his own blood by the time they stopped swinging at him.

  “Fuck, I was so focused. Eric got—”

  “He didn’t, Hero,” Kuro reassured him, walking toward them with a broad smile on her lips. “I stopped him before he got to their truck.”

  “Well, that was certainly entertaining,” Becky said, looking at the road around them. “Think the fans enjoyed it?”

  “Probably,” Alvin said. “Took a bit of damage everywhere. My vest took most of it… well, that and my hat.”

  “My belt is almost broken. It’s treated as leg armor and isn’t that durable,” Kuro said.

  “We’ll get everything fixed,” Alvin said.

  “Let’s loot them and get the Turtle back upright,” Becky said. “What do you want to do about their truck?”

  “Hmm, good question. If we leave it here, Bill will figure it out eventually,” Alvin said. “I doubt he’d hold it against us, but best to not let that be a problem. We can drive it with us and leave it on one of the back trails.”

  “I already looted Eric,” Kuro said. “I got an XP token along with his shirt, boots, and his rifle.”

  “Nice haul,” Alvin said. “Go ahead and loot the other two you killed. Becky and I will get these, then we’ll meet you back at the Turtle.”

  “As you wish, Hero.”

  “I’m so glad blood slides off our armor,” Becky said. “Otherwise, we’d be drenched in their blood right now and need to shower.”

  “Point,” Alvin chuckled as he looted Joshua. The blood that had pooled around the broken remains of the body vanished along with the body. “Huh, I don’t remember that happening before.”

  “Same here,” Becky said as she looted the nameless man they had shot to death. “Must be a new patch.”

  “You want to loot the one you stabbed, and I’ll get the other?”

  “Works for me, Hero.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  They met back at the Turtle and compared what they had taken from the bodies. Besides the one rare rifle that Kuro had looted and another of David’s new explosives, there was nothing of real note. The key to the truck was not among the items they found, and when they went back to check if Alvin could hotwire it, the truck was gone.

  “What the fuck?” Alvin sighed. “I guess if the key doesn’t drop, the vehicle disappears. This solves the problem of trying to hide their truck, I guess.”

  “How are we going to get the Turtle back on its tires?” Becky asked. “Even all three of us don’t have the strength to push it back upright.”

  “That is a problem,” Alvin agreed.

  “Can we summon the vehicle entrance and walk through it?” Kuro asked.

  “We haven’t tried it before,” Alvin said, “no reason not to.”

  Heading back to the Humvee, Becky and Kuro switched rifles. “Nice of them to have applied some of their better runes to it,” Becky laughed. “Better reload, better suppression, more armor buster. Thanks, idiots.”

  “We could do that, too. I just haven’t been sure if we want to use them yet on the guns we have.”

  “At least they haven’t changed our old guns,” Becky said. “This rifle is going to end up in repair when we get back to base. It’s gone through a third of its durability. They didn’t seem to care about their gear as much as we do.”

  “Didn’t carry melee weapons, either,” Kuro commented. “Foolish. Did they think they would never have an enemy on top of them?”

  “Most people here probably haven’t adjusted to the idea that a knife can do more damage than a pistol,” Alvin said as they got back to the Turtle. “Okay. I’m going to get into the driver's seat and try to pull the portal up.”

  “We’ll be waiting,” Becky said.

  Getting into the driver’s seat was tricky, but with his increased stats, he managed it after some trial and error. The portal appeared in front of the Humvee, and Becky walked through it. A moment later, Alvin was inside the garage, sitting up normally again as soon as the Humvee had been ported to its resting position.

  “Well, that works,” Alvin said as he got out.

  “Welcome home,” Jarvis said from the doorway.

  “Thanks, Jarvis, but we’re not staying,” Becky said, walking past him. “We just had to get the Turtle back upright and drop stuff off. Mousie, let’s get your belt in for repair.”

  “Coming, Gothy.”

  Alvin got out of the Humvee with a chuckle. “Looks like we’re taking a small break. Don’t bother with drinks or food, though.”

  “I could make you a thermos of coffee for the trip, sir.”

  “Ow, ow! Stop twisting my arm,” Alvin chuckled. “Okay, you win, Jarvis. Something to go would be great. I want to check on some things really quick, anyway.”

  Becky and Kuro found Alvin in the kiosk room, standing by one of the cabinets that had been installed recently. “We’re ready, Hero.”

  “I’ve been looking over our collected loot, and I think we should upgrade some of our gear.”

  “Breaking out the good, excellent, and master runes we’ve picked up?”

  “Yeah... the question is, which pieces do we put them on?”

  “The Turtle’s gun, Gothy’s Thompson, and your Type 56 should be the first choices,” Kuro said. “Those are the weapons that are used the most.”

  “Okay, let’s hand these out, then. We can upgrade the gear we each want, and I’ll go apply these to the M240B,” Alvin said, handing out the runes they had collected that were better than common. “That should give us all some upgrades.”

  Alvin upgraded the Humvee first, decreasing th
e reload time of the gun from ten seconds to seven, increasing the durability and armor buster by one hundred percent, and then adding an additional fifty percent durability to the open spot on the vehicle itself.

  Next, he put a forty percent Silence rune on the UMP, which would bring the noise level down enough for it to be mistaken for a much smaller gun. He upgraded the Reload rune so that it would also reload in seven seconds.

  Becky had not wasted any time when Alvin handed her runes, upgrading the MP5-N first with the same runes Alvin had used on his UMP. Putting that gun away, she used the five second Reload rune on the Tommy gun, replaced the twenty-five percent Durability rune with fifty percent, and replaced the Recoil rune to give it a forty percent reduction. She grinned; her Thompson now reloaded as quickly as the rifle she had looted from Eric.

  Remington 700 (Rare)

  Damage: 8

  Durability: 2,067/3,000

  Ammo type: .308 Winchester (10-round magazine)

  Modifications: Suppressor, 10x40 scope, Bipod, Sling, 10-round removable magazine

  Runes: 6/6

  Reload: 5 seconds, Durability: 25% x2, Silence: 20% x2, Armor Buster: 66%

  Kuro added all of her new runes to her Dancer’s Souls. On Night, she added a Bloody rune at sixty-six percent and two twenty percent Wounding runes. Day received the same two Wounding runes, and also attached a one-hundred percent Armor Buster rune that took the place of one of the three thirty-three percent runes she already had on it.

  “Ladies, all done?” Alvin asked when he came back into the kiosk room.

  “Yes, Hero,” Kuro smiled. “Day now does seventeen damage to armor per strike. All of the elemental runes on it will do four extra damage per element on top of that.”

  “Fucking shit,” Alvin laughed. “That’s what the damned .50 does to armor.”

  “Our toy is dangerous,” Becky grinned. “Thank you for giving me the fastest Reload rune, Hero.”

  “You’re shooting more often than I am,” Alvin replied. “Besides, I know you’ll make it up to me later.”

  “Damned right I will,” Becky winked.

  “Here is a selection of travel food and drinks, sir.”

  “Thanks, buddy. Hold the fort down while we’re gone.”

  “I shall endeavor to not let the base fly away, sir.”

  Alvin rolled his eyes and led the way back into the garage. “Very droll, Jarvis.”

  “Thank you, sir. Do keep him safe, miss.”

  “As always,” Becky laughed.

  “And I will keep her safe,” Kuro added.

  “I was about to say, but you beat me to it.”

  ~*~*~

  The Humvee rolled down US-191 while the occupants enjoyed the food and drink Jarvis had provided. “Well, now that the known is behind us, we should be on our toes,” Alvin said. The vehicle was currently driving itself so he could hold a thermos and sandwich at the same time.

  “Probably should have been when we left Green River, but it wouldn’t have helped us avoid the trap,” Becky said. “I can’t believe they got ahold of some of David’s new explosives. I’ll give him a piece of my mind later.”

  “Only if he can handle knowing we killed the dumb fucks,” Alvin told her. “Otherwise, what happened to them will just be a mystery.”

  “Well, there is that new crater in the road,” Becky countered.

  “That doesn’t prove anything,” Kuro added, “only that something happened there. That’s all. All the blood and evidence is gone.”

  “Fine, I’ll wait until we see him in person again,” Becky grumbled. “He almost got us hurt.”

  Alvin snickered, “Injured, but not killed. Mousie, did you recognize either of the two men you killed on the other side of the road?”

  “No, Hero.”

  “Probably their whole team, plus a couple they thought they could trust. At least it only cost us a single explosive in the end.”

  “Still going to give him an earful,” Becky grumbled.

  The miles passed by, and after some time, Becky spotted something. “Hero, is that an airport?”

  “Canyonland Field Airport,” Alvin nodded, driving around one of the infrequent wrecks on the road. “Thought you might want to stop there.”

  “Oh, yes, please,” Becky nodded. “They probably don’t have a working airplane, but we should check.”

  “I’m curious to see one in person,” Kuro admitted.

  “I noticed it when I was planning our route, and thought we could take a quick look around. If we find something that flies, we can think about expanding the garage and picking it up. I still think it’s probably not the best idea to fly when dragons and other winged reptiles are in the air.”

  “I’ll buy it— I don’t even have to fly it often,” Becky said quickly.

  “Okay, I’ll swing in, but be prepared for disappointment,” Alvin told her.

  “Thank you, Hero.”

  The few buildings were still standing, but the area looked like it had seen some fighting. Kuro stood up in the gunner’s hatch, manning the gun in case they found any trouble. Becky opened her side window with her Thompson in hand as Alvin slowed the Humvee.

  “This doesn’t look great, but maybe it won’t be a complete loss,” Alvin said. “We’ll take a look at what they have in the hangars and on the tarmac. If nothing looks old enough to fly, we’ll be leaving without stopping.”

  “Understood,” Becky agreed.

  Driving around the main building, Alvin caught sight of a wrecked plane at the end of the runway. “Damn, looks like they were just coming in when that happened.”

  “I see a lot of single props, but nothing old enough to be what we want,” Becky said as she looked toward the half a dozen planes parked in the open.

  “No movement so far,” Kuro added.

  “Only a few hangars,” Alvin said as he took them in that direction. “All the doors are closed, so maybe you’ll get lucky.”

  “I don’t think so, but I can hope,” Becky said. Alvin slowed the Humvee next to the first hangar. “Mousie, cover me from there.”

  “As you wish, Gothy.”

  Alvin opened his window, his Type 56 appearing in his hand as Becky walked around the front of the Humvee and went to the doors. “Just slide it open and step aside, Gothy.”

  “Okay, Hero.”

  Doing as she was told, she waited, and when no one fired after a long moment, she poked her head around the door. Disappointed, she walked toward the next one, “An empty fucking hangar... why close the damn doors?”

  “We’ll never know,” Alvin said as he rolled the Humvee along beside her.

  It took them less than ten minutes to check the rest of the hangars. Becky slammed the door as she got back in. “Stupid fucking useless airport.”

  “Maybe the next one will be the right one,” Alvin said, directing them toward the road he wanted.

  “We should have gone back to Tonopah,” Becky grumbled. “Could have killed the owner and took the damn plane.”

  “If we go back that way, we’ll see about it,” Alvin told her. “I take it you didn’t want any of these because they don’t have weapons? Some of them could probably fly now if we get them into the garage and upgraded.”

  “Like you said, there are armored flying lizards in the sky. If I go up, I want to be able to make them think twice about trying to eat me.”

  “That’s what I thought. We should probably be looking at helicopters and not planes, then, Gothy.”

  “It’s not the same... but an attack chopper would probably be the best bet,” Becky conceded.

  “A helicopter would be more maneuverable in the sky than the dragons, wouldn’t they?” Kuro asked, saying the unfamiliar word carefully.

  “Probably,” Alvin admitted. “Don’t know if we could outrun one, but a fully equipped attack copter would definitely make them consider finding another snack.”

  “If there are any that aren’t wrecked or being guarded,” Becky added.


  “Point,” Alvin agreed.

  “Why are we on this road instead of US-191?” Becky asked.

  “This will connect to the road I wanted us to be on, so no reason to not take it now,” Alvin replied.

  Squinting at him, Becky’s lips pursed. “You knew I’d want to stop at the airport. This is where you were going all along.”

  “Can’t get anything past you,” Alvin chuckled.