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

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Thank gods,” Becky said, giving her chest a gentle massage.

  “Thank you, Hero,” Desiree sighed in relief.

  “Going back up,” Kuro said, climbing into the gunner’s spot again.

  “There’s another small village thing ahead; Cascade,” Alvin told her. “If the fungals made it here, they likely ransacked it on the way.”

  “But there might still be something left,” Becky added.

  “I will be ready,” Kuro assured her.

  Alvin gripped the wheel tighter and let their speed creep up. The Turtle covered the mile to Cascade in only a couple of minutes, with only two vehicles on the road to go around. The condos on the left side of the road were in various stages of ruin. Kuro frowned when they slowed to make the hard u-turn just past the buildings.

  “No sight of movement,” she reported.

  “If the fungals had a leader at the last place, he might have been able to take every fungal in the area with him,” Desiree said. “That means that any people back there have little chance of surviving.”

  “Sucks to be them,” Alvin said, “but I’m no paladin looking to save everyone.”

  Desiree grimaced, “It goes against what I’ve been taught, but we’re also told that we can’t save everyone and should pick our battles wisely.”

  “If it was something other than fungals, what then?” Becky asked.

  “I might not feel as bad,” Desiree admitted, “but we don’t have much else that is a threat. If the fire-breathers came back to our world, we might welcome them instead of fearing them, as they could easily purge the fungals in mass.”

  “Dragons,” Becky said. “Here, they’re called dragons.”

  “Dragons,” Desiree said, testing the word. “Giant scaled beasts that can breathe fire from the sky.”

  “Yeah, that’s them,” Becky agreed.

  “Some of them don’t breathe fire... they are stockier, or thinner, with stinger tails.”

  “Drakes and wyverns,” Becky said. “They have a Gate to this world, so they might make it to yours, too.”

  “I’m torn whether I wish them to or not. It took us generations to deal with them last time,” Desiree said. “We might welcome the dragons, but only if they agreed to kill the fungals for us.”

  “Talk about frying pan, fire,” Alvin muttered. “Okay, we’re past the last set of buildings between us and the mountain. Next up— driving up the side of a forested mountain and hoping nothing tries to give us shit while we do it.”

  “Can we get the Humvee up it?” Becky asked.

  “Not certain, but I think we can get a good part of the way up, at least,” Alvin said.

  “Hero, ahead of us, in the sky!” Kuro called out.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Alvin spat. “This is why you should never wish for things. Dragon above the mountain we’re heading for.”

  “It’s breathing fire,” Becky added. “Maybe it’s clearing the way for us?”

  “Mousie, take this,” Alvin said, handing back his ring. “Just in case it comes for us.”

  Kuro took his ring of fire immunity and slipped it on. “I’ll do my best to keep it away from us.”

  “My armor can withstand lava,” Desiree added. “I can help if you would like, but I don’t have any weapons that can hurt it.”

  “We can fix that,” Becky said as she watched the dragon. “We haven’t taught you guns yet, but this might be the time for a quick lesson.”

  “Her fingers are too large when she’s suited,” Alvin said. “We’d need to make her a special gun.”

  “Maybe the hammer, then?” Becky grimaced.

  “It’d just grab her and fly off,” Alvin replied. “Pass on that plan.”

  “Well, fuck,” Becky sighed.

  “Maybe it’ll fly away,” Desiree said.

  “That’s not how my luck works,” Alvin said. “We’ll make a run for the Gate. It’ll be hard pressed to hurt the Humvee enough to stop us, and Mousie might be able to dissuade it.”

  “I’ll do everything I can, Hero.”

  “Well, today just became more complicated than I wanted. Fucking devs,” Alvin grumbled.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Alvin kept glancing up at Engineer Mountain as he sped them along the road that followed its east flank. Seeing the sign for the trailhead, Alvin slowed the Humvee enough to take the left.

  “Hold on, this is going to be a bitch,” Alvin told them. He took them off the road and started driving up the side of the mountain; the incline was steep, but manageable.

  “We’re going to have to go into the trees,” Becky said.

  “If the map was right, it won’t be far into them before it plateaus a bit. From there, we’ll be able to see the Gate, I hope, and what the dragon is actually attacking. Thankfully, it’s ignored us so far.”

  “Fungals coming this way,” Kuro announced, firing at them momentarily. “They don’t seem interested in fighting.”

  “Running from the dragon,” Alvin grunted. “After all, it breathes fire, and they hate that.”

  Alvin winced when a sapling slammed into the side of the Humvee, breaking and falling away from them. “Sorry, Turtle, I’ll get you fixed up after this is over.” Another smaller tree snapped in half when the bumper hit it while Alvin wove through the trees as fast as he could safely do so. He did not want to be in them if the dragon came this way.

  Breaking out of the tree line, they arrived at the slightly sloped plateau. The Gate rose from the north side of the peak of the mountain, and all around it, a fungal horde was running in panic. Alvin blinked when he caught sight of flames coming from inside the edges of the Gate. The dragon came looping back, laying down a long plume of fire that killed fungals, but it was aimed mostly at the opening of the Gate.

  “Do I try to kill fungals or do I go for the dragon, Hero?” Kuro asked.

  “The gun won’t do much to the fungals,” Alvin said. “Focus on the dragon’s wings— try to ground it or make it fly off. Gothy, Desiree, use the remaining bottles to encourage the fungals to leave us alone.”

  Becky was already pulling out the molotovs she had left, having seen the big swarm of fungals heading toward them. “Not sure we have enough to really stop them... there are over a thousand, Hero.”

  “Fuck,” Alvin grimaced, knowing she was right. “Fine, I didn’t want to do this, but fuck it. Hold fire, Mousie,” Alvin said as he summoned the base portal.

  “What are we doing back?” Becky asked, getting out of the Humvee when Alvin did.

  “I had a plan for if the portal was mobbed by fungals,” Alvin said.

  “What’s the plan?” Becky asked.

  “They took away flamethrowers, but they didn’t take away sprayers. I’m going to get one big enough to sit in the back of the Turtle, fill it with gas, and then whoever is in the back can spray down the fungals. The person on the gun tries to drive the dragon away, and shotgun gets to throw molotovs out the window to light the gas.”

  “That’s your plan?” Becky asked.

  “My original plan was different, but with Dwarves potentially at the Gate, I don’t want to drive a sprayer truck into them, and the cost of expanding the garage is more than I want to deal with right now.”

  “Wait, my people hold the portal?” Desiree asked.

  “There was fire coming from that direction, and the dragon was focused more on it than the fungals, even though it is doing a number on them.”

  “I need to get to them,” Desiree said.

  “Yeah, I figured,” Alvin said, “which is why we’re getting stuff from here to make it easier to do that. Gothy, my XP is still lower than yours and Mousie’s. Can you two buy a sprayer big enough for the Humvee and get it filled with gas?”

  “Of course,” Becky said, heading for the kiosk.

  “Did you want your ring back, Hero?” Kuro asked.

  “Yeah,” Alvin said.

  “Are you sure this will work?” Desiree asked him.

>   “No, but it’s a damned good shot,” Alvin replied. “You’re going to be key when we get to the Gate.”

  “I’ll need to let them know that you are allies,” Desiree nodded. “It’s possible that it’s my brother holding the portal.”

  “Well, bringing his sister home should win us some kudos, hopefully,” Alvin said.

  Desiree grimaced, “He’ll be glad I survived.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “I lost my entire squad,” Desiree replied. “I will be held accountable for that.”

  “We’ll see,” Alvin said. “With what we can offer, you might end up a hero by the time this is done.”

  Desiree’s lips twitched up for a moment. “That would be nice. Maybe it’d let me do something I’ve been thinking of doing.”

  “Hero, how are we supposed to get this into the Turtle?” Becky asked from the kiosk room.

  “Be right there,” Alvin said.

  Finding a fifty-gallon tank filled with fuel sitting in the room, Alvin nodded. “I just need to buy a hand truck,” Alvin said, buying one for a few hundred XP. “I’m going to get this tank into the garage. Ladies, go ahead and take a few minutes to use the bathroom. It’ll take me at least that long to get this installed.”

  Becky grabbed Desiree’s hand and pulled her along. “We’ll be back, Hero.”

  Alvin got the tank onto the hand truck and wheeled it into the garage next to the Humvee’s trunk. Pulling up the interface, he had the tank placed into the compartment with the hose running up to the rear passenger seat, making sure the switch for the electric pump was easy to reach for whoever would be running the sprayer.

  Stepping into the living room, Alvin gave Jarvis a nod, “How’s the base today, buddy?”

  “Same as usual, sir. You seem to once again have stepped into the deep end, as it were.”

  “Pretty much,” Alvin agreed. “We’ll make this easy, though. The only major problem is the dragon, but I hope to be able to make it fuck off while we go through the Gate.”

  “With the rules set as they are, sir, driving a dragon off will not be the easiest job you’ve undertaken.”

  “They give his whole body the same ridiculous armor?”

  “Not as such.”

  “Then I just have to get his wings more than anything else. Start to fuck those up and the flying lizard should decide that this isn’t worth the hassle.”

  “That is one way to look at it, sir. Do you not worry that the dragon will engulf the Humvee in flames?”

  “I’ll be the one on the gun,” Alvin said. “I’m immune to fire, thanks to my ring. Since the world is game-like, it shouldn’t cook off the ammo, hopefully, meaning I should be able to keep up the pressure on it. The Turtle is going to get beat up, but we can take a day or two to let it repair once we meet with the Dwarves. The potential alliance with them and the possibility of getting access to their armor is just too good to pass up. The XP we can get by connecting them to my network is even better.”

  Jarvis nodded, “That is a solid point, sir. If the dragon doesn’t run, then what will you do?”

  “Retreat if we have to. We should still be able to hurt it. If the Dwarves have enough people stationed on the other side of the Gate, maybe we can even take it down.”

  “The only weapon you’ve seen them use to this point is flame, sir. I will bet the dragon doesn’t even feel it.”

  “Fair point... if nothing else, they’ll be a nuisance that we can use, hopefully.”

  “Best of luck, sir. I shall have a quick and easy dinner ready in case you do retreat. If you are successful, I have a feeling you might be attending a feast.”

  “Well, Gothy likes to call me a hero. Maybe this time, it’ll be true.”

  “We’re ready, Hero,” Becky said, leading the others from the bedroom.

  “Good. You’re the driver,” Alvin told her. “Desiree, you’re riding shotgun. Mousie, you’re the one who’ll be operating the sprayer. I’m going to be handling the M2 and shooting the dragon.”

  “Because you have the ring,” Becky grimaced. “You better hope that when it goes from a wide breath to the narrow beam like the one used in Hawthorne, it counts as fire and not plasma.”

  “Dragon breath is fire, no matter if it’s wide or na—” Jarvis said before he froze.

  “Sorry about that, buddy,” Alvin sighed. “You heard him. It’s fire, meaning I’ll be fine. I’ll meet you three in the garage in a minute.”

  When Alvin joined them, Becky grabbed him and pushed him into the Humvee, kissing him hard. Alvin returned the kiss before Becky pushed away from him. “Remember to use the glyph if it comes down for a physical attack.”

  “I will, Gothy, I will. We got this,” Alvin said firmly. “Once we break this blockade, we’ll be heading into the Gate and spending a couple of days working on expanding the network.”

  “Hero, if you need another barrier, I’ll have mine ready,” Kuro added.

  “We gave Desiree one, too,” Becky said. “She’ll be the third to summon hers, if we need them.”

  “I’ve been told how to make the barrier appear, so I’ll be waiting for your order,” Desiree said, stepping closer to him. “Thank you for helping me... for helping my entire world, Hero.”

  “Not helping,” Alvin said, meeting her gaze. “We’re doing this for us. The fact your people will benefit from it is just a bonus to me.”

  Desiree nodded, “I understand, but I still thank you. What you are going to make available to us will aid us in our long fight with the fungals. King Mithrilblood will make sure you are rewarded for this.”

  “Let’s worry about that after we get the dragon away from the Gate,” Alvin replied.

  “Of course,” Desiree said before she launched herself at him. Legs going around his waist, she kissed him just as hard as Becky just had.

  Spinning around, he slammed her into the Humvee, taking control of the moment. The kiss went on for a long while before Alvin stepped back and Desiree dropped to the ground.

  “Do I get a kiss before we go, as well?” Kuro asked.

  “Of course,” Alvin replied, grabbing her hand, pulling her into his arms, and kissing her.

  “Sharing is caring, after all,” Becky purred from behind Alvin.

  When the kiss ended, Becky was already starting the Humvee, Desiree beside her in the front seat. Alvin got into the gunner’s spot. Kuro followed him in, shut the door, and started up the sprayer.

  “Hero, ready?” Becky asked.

  “Ready, Gothy. Take us on out. Let’s fuck the dragon and a bunch of fungals up.”

  “Here we go,” Becky said.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Driving out of the base, Becky was focused on her sole task— keeping them moving. The fungals were still mobbing the Gate, only momentarily fleeing whenever the dragon came in for a strafing run. Becky put the pedal down, closing toward the fungals to get Alvin closer to the dragon.

  Alvin took aim when the dragon flew back around for another run. The fungals broke away from the Gate, with a few hundred of them charging the Humvee. Alvin began to fire, holding down the trigger to keep the rounds flying as fast as they could.

  The dragon banked away, screaming as he went, not used to being hit and not at such range. “You dare attack me, mortal?!”

  Alvin kept the gun firing, using the tracer rounds to help stay on target. He did not bother looking at the fungals as Becky angled them away from the portal; his only target was the flying lizard.

  “Mousie, in three,” Becky said, getting ready to turn them broadside to the fungals rushing at them. “Give her ten seconds, then throw the first bottle, Desiree.”

  “Understood, Gothy.”

  “Roger,” Desiree said.

  “I’ve got his attention, and he looks pissed,” Alvin told them. “Becky, be ready for some fire.”

  “As long as he doesn’t come straight down, we should be fine,” Becky replied.

  Flapping his wings,
the dragon gained distance and altitude, turning around to focus on the Humvee as the last hundred rounds came at him. “Such impudence... to attack one as majestic as myself?! I could use a snack.” With a scream, the dragon flew at them in a rush.

  “Reload, come on,” Alvin said as he waited the five seconds for the gun to reload. “Need you before he gets here... come on, come on!” The chunk of the charging handle slapping forward made Alvin smile as he depressed the trigger again. “Eat this, fucker!”