Chapter Text
'This is bad, this is bad, this is bad—'
I muttered repeatedly before bullets hit the wall in front of me as I turned the corner. My spine crawled each time a round nearly grazed my head.
"She went this way!"
"Did you guys seriously fall for that?!"
"You fell for it too, idiot!"
Delinquents clad in biking helmets were on my tail, only to stop for a quick moment to spew lead before moving on.
Their faces were hidden behind their visors, but anyone could tell they were absolutely consumed by anger. That anger, of course, was all directed towards me.
How did I get myself into this mess?
Oh right, I remember now.
I was coming back from the black market after selling some scrap as per usual, but today I decided to splurge a bit more. Really, what I got besides the usual rations of stale protein bars was a large bottle of water that was nice and cool—quite literally heaven in this blazing hot sand—and a whole loaf of bread.
A whole loaf of bread.
Plain white bread.
Basically a full three course meal since forever, well at least to me.
I was so excited to chow down on it that I stumbled into members of some random helmet gang wearing yellow helmets with numbers one to three branded on each of them.
And like any thug on the street, they tried to shake me down for some change.
Besides the stuff I just bought that was in my duffel bag, I didn't really have much to offer. I had basically nothing, but they were very keen on not leaving empty-handed.
Having nothing else to do, my very bright mind of mine sparked a very bright idea—and what it came to was...
"Look, a bird."
"Huh?"
As their heads turned, I frantically bolted in the other direction as fast as I could.
But my stubby short legs didn't take me that far, and it was only a few moments they caught up with me, guns blazing and clearly enraged by my vain efforts.
That's all I remember.
Slipping into an alleyway, I stopped before the perilous obstacle yet: A fence. I already heard footsteps closing in, so with no other choice, I scrambled to climb it.
That being said, quickly getting over a fence with a bag this large wasn't easy. Neither did it help that my cloak also got snagged at the top.
Of course it did. It always gets caught on something. I still don't understand how people don't get their clothes covered with sand without one.
After panicking and then wrangling it out from the fence, I dropped to the other side with a loud, miserable thud.
Still safe, but not far enough. As soon as I saw them turn the corner, two of them saw the fence and decided to find another way, leaving the shotgunner with a red two on her helmet following my trail.
I wasn't going to let her waltz right up to me so I made a mad dash out of the alley right into an abandoned street.
"Hey, there she is!"
Behind me at the intersection, I spotted the other two helmet gangers turn the corner who joined with the shotgunner. I was then greeted with a hail of bullets upon eye contact.
(Ratatatat! Ratatatat!)
(Twaang! Thun! Tang!)
(Rip!)
"Gah!"
A wave of pain dug into my ankle, which made me trip behind a cement barrier. Clenching my teeth while holding my leg, I figured a stray bullet hit my leg and left a nasty red sore.
It felt like I was running for hours already and that fatigue was starting to hit hard. I was gasping for air and it was evident I wouldn't last any longer in this cat and mouse chase, especially with all this weight on me.
I definitely had to cut it short now.
Still under cover, I unzipped my bag for my gun, an old-timey looking revolver. Fiddling around with it, I probably had 4 rounds to use. I really didn't want to use it, but it'll do.
Once I heard the gunfire stop, I took a breath and stood up.
I pointed the barrel at them, the silver metal and the neon blue paint gleaming in the blazing sun. Hot sand blew lightly in their direction.
"She's got a gun!"
Of course I have a gun, you dolt. Everyone has a gun in Kivotos.
I took aim at the shotgunner in the front and pulled the trigger.
(Click!)
Huh?
(Click! Click! Click!)
I tried to pull it a few more times but the trigger wouldn't budge. The helmet gangers looked at themselves like I was an idiot.
And then they continued firing.
I ducked and fumbled around with the thing to figure out what was wrong.
And then I realized.
It was a single action revolver. God, am I stupid.
In my defense, I can't remember ever using a firearm. But once I pulled the hammer hearing four clicks, I got out of cover to shoot.
(Bang!)
(Tink!)
Being a total newbie with guns, I flinched wildly at the sound and fell on my bottom like a dumbass. That sound meant I hit absolutely nothing, but it did pause the ongoing gunfire for a moment, giving me a chance to take my bag and flee.
They still caught up however.
(Ratatatat!)
(Thun! Thunk!)
Behind me, the two in the back had rifles on them giving supporting fire for the shotgunner, who was slowly closing in while firing at the same time.
(Step. Thun! Step. Thun!)
She alternated between advancing and firing her gun. With the other two, the combined gunfire meant I was totally pinned down. The sound was completely deafening.
I was behind a wall for cover holding my revolver ready, sometimes peeking when the gunfire stopped only to hide when bullets hit the corner again. Really, how much ammo are they burning through?
Once the gunfire paused again, I would have peeked out to finally shoot... only just to panic and pull the trigger as soon as I saw that plastered red two on a helmet.
(Bang!)
(Clack! Thud!)
Her shotgun fell to the ground as she collapsed just moments after I almost tripped myself in surprise.
"Crap, she got Number Two!"
"You'll pay, you little twerp!"
I apparently domed her with a headshot—which honestly, really amazed I hit anything that time with my shoddy aim. I was literally aiming anywhere in her direction.
Footsteps became louder as soon as the gunfire stopped. Each step meant ever growing fury and revenge for their friend.
Yeah, definitely time to run.
My legs were already jelly from all this action, and the bruise made it a lot worse. Walking to the black market and back would be considered enough exercise for its long distance at least for me, but apparently it wasn't enough for a gunfight.
Lucky for them, I wasn't out of the alley when they entered. I could pretty much hear them scheming to corner me and pairs of footsteps going in opposite directions.
Definitely couldn't go further. I went up and sat behind a trash can to try and catch my breath, but at this point, I'm willing to give up. My legs were basically the equivalent of melted butter and the sweat just added to it.
The one marked with a one on her helmet clearly saw my attempt at respite and her footsteps slowed down considerably.
And then she started monologuing like some generic movie villain.
"Finally caught you. After what you did to Number Two, I'll take my proper revenge."
Is she serious?
"After I take your money, I'll probably go with the gang to buy some Momo Friends merch. Or maybe buy a new phone or something—-"
I am not listening to this.
"I don't have money, you know."
"W-What?"
I peeked out to witness her standing still as a statue.
"I literally have water and a loaf of bread."
"But what about your gun—"
"I only have two rounds left in this thing and nothing else."
"..."
Complete silence. I mean I would be too if I chased someone all for nothing.
"You three chased me all for a loaf of bread. A. Loaf. Of. Bread."
"..."
"Where do you even think you are?"
"A-Abydos?"
"Right, and basically no one lives here."
"Then why are you still here?"
"..."
That sentence made me unreasonably angry for some reason. I don't know why exactly but I just was.
"I'm kicking this thing and shooting you."
"Huh?"
(Punt! Clang!)
"Oof!"
She tumbled gracefully moments after the trash can slammed into her, her rifle dropped with a clack as it fell out of her hands.
"Agh..."
(Click, click, click, click!)
"Wait, wait, wait!"
(Bang!)
(Slump!)
Shooting her point blank in the forehead knocked her out instantly. I did say I was going to do all that after all.
And I may have—lightly, to put it kindly—kicked her a few times after that. Not because I'm mad about what she said, yeah.
Now I just had to deal with one more, but I had like one single round left.
And that's when I spotted a slightly open door leading to the inside of some building.
'Hmm.'
* * *
Definitely heard a gunshot in the alleyway, Number One's fighting alright.
Honestly, I should've ran along with. Probably would have got this done faster and poor Number Two wouldn't have been hurt.
That said, I didn't see the two anywhere in the alley when I came from the other end. I think going around was a waste of time.
Walking deeper, I saw a door completely wide open. They're probably inside on the upper floors I think.
Peeking in, the interior was some kind of abandoned supermarket with everything dark and all with empty—well mostly empty—shelves.
I might see if there's some Momo Friends merch in there. She'll be probably done with that shortie in a second. That girl only has a revolver after all—
* * *
(Kwooong!)
(Clack! Thud!)
As soon as the last one came in, I swung the head end of a broom towards right where her head should be.
She fell unconscious almost on top of the idiot I dragged in beforehand.
Completely exhausted, I fell on my knees sighing. Thank god this is done.
Today must be both a really lucky and unlucky day. There were way too many close calls in this stupid chase.
Well whatever, it's time to go home. I'm hot, sweaty and tired—not to mention that this place gives me the creeps.
...On second thought, maybe I'll check for Momo Friends merch before I go.