Project Terra Mortis: Leaving Rotterdam

[EDD Transmission from: Mitch: Project Terra Mortis]

Hey there people,
Looks like Doc managed to get his machine working again. I have to say I wouldn’t have been able to report a lot even if I had the chance. Last week has been an absolute fucking nightmare.

Remember when I told ya I smacked that Techiat in the face and knocked him out cold ? Well wouldn’t ya fucking know that Techiat would turn out to be the son of Joost Terbrecht, the mayor of a small clustertown called Terrebus. Needless to say that when the boy got home, daddy was less then pleased. Even more so since sonny dearest managed to get chewed on by a Rotface. Yeah, poor kid had to be “sanitized”. Cost him two legs and a hand.

And it wasn’t even my fault I tell ya. Really!
After my last report to you guys I started to feel kinda sorry for the kid. I mean, his life has to be a pile ‘o shit as is. What with him being kneedeep into that shit religion and all. So I decided to back track a bit and see if he was ok.

Spoiled little brat

I had left him in an alley underneath some old cardboard boxes I found. I may be a bastard but I ain’t a cruel bastard if ya know what I mean. We have it shitty enough with the Rotface and the plague. We shouldn’t be fighting amongst ourselves with so much to fight out there already.
Anyways. When I got to the alley the boy was just starting to come to his senses again.He had managed to sit up straight and was shaking of the nasty buzz I musta given him.

I was crouched behind a wrecked car about 200 yards away and had a clear view of the alley and the street connecting to it. The kid was still a bit dazed but I figured, fuck it, he would be ok. It was still light out and the streets we’re empty except for the random rat and pigeon scavenging for some food. I was just about to turn around and go back home when the kid, out of nowhere, started to have a real hissy fit.

Now I hate to brag but I have to say I am pretty damn good at the whole being covert thing. I haven’t managed to stay alive, living outside of clustertowns, for this long without being able to go around unnoticed, now have I ? A loud-ass bastard I ain’t, no sir.
I know when to lay low and stay outta sight and when to start kicking ass.
“It’s all about situation assessment” is what my daddy used to say. “If the situation is fucked you shouldn’t be assessing it for too damn long”.
That is, unless you want your ass to be the next happy meal on a Rotface’s menu.

The kid however did not have my keen sense of self preservation.

There he was crying like an angry baby, kicking and screaming and what not. Being a real spoiled shit about things, ya know ? Needless to say it attracted attention, the wrong kind of attention.

Time to nut up, or shut up.

First there was a trademark Rotface howl coming from one of the nearby abandoned apartment buildings. A Rotface howl can best be described as that of a man choking on a glass of acid while trying to imitate a wolf. Nasty, screechy and pretty fucking brutal.
Then there was the sound of Rotface chatter. Spastic grinding of the teeth and clicking of the jaws. Now that last sound is one I hope y’all will never have to hear. Cuz that one spells fucked in all capital letters and ends it with an excla-fucking-mation mark the size of an elephant.

You see, the Rotface only chatter when hunting in packs. A pack usually means one Pinkie and about three to six normal Rotfaces. In this case I counted five.

Since Techiats aren’t allowed to carry weapons, unless they we’re appointed by Kythra to be warriors of the faith, the only option for the kid was to run, pray and hope for a nice spot in heaven if he didn’t make it.
Now again, I may be a bastard but I ain’t a cruel bastard. So I had to help the runt.

It didn’t take long for those cannibal fucks to claw and crawl out of the buildings like rats trying to get off a sinking ship. Using doors ain’t their forte so ta speak.
A Pinkie crashed through an already cracked window and growled, letting the others know to gather where he was. Half crouched and in their twitchy way the others dragged their deformed asses to his position. Eyes fixed on the boy who was now standing but frozen in sheer terror.
The Pinkie motioned and growled again and the pack moved in for the kill.

Time to make my move.

I gave Pogo his attack command and he charged the group like a rabbit bear on crack. Barking, growling and basically doing what he does best, scaring the shit out of those Rotfaces. The pack stopped going for the boy and instead focused their attention on Pogo. That’s when I jumped from behind cover, pumped a shell into Monique and let her rip.

My target was the Pinkie. My best bet would be to take him out as soon as possible in the hopes of the others scattering.
The first slug hit the Pinkie in the right shoulder, making him stagger back a few feet and disorienting the fuck. He then turned his head towards me, drool dripping out of the corner of his scar-filled face. I had managed to piss him off good. He let go a fierce howl and the pack gathered their courage and turned from Pogo to face me. I pumped another round into the Monique, and hit the Pinkie in the chest. Another round, his left shoulder. I screamed for the boy to run like hell. Another round, this time capping the Pinkie in the knee making him drop to the floor screaming with rage. The others were now charging me as fast as they could. Time for the old burn and run.

I grabbed one of my trademark firebottles and threw it at the pack, shooting it mid-air and igniting the liquid inside forming a big-ass fire cloud right on top of those freaks. They flung their arms wildly, screaming and fighting the fire as if it was something solid. Now was my chance to move in for the kill.
With the other Rotfaces distracted, being on fire does that to them, I ran past and straight toward the Pinkie. He had managed to already grow back some tissue in his leg and was about to stand up straight. I was right on top of him when he caught a glance of me. He swung his oversized right arm at me with all his might but my Monique’s barrel was already about a feet away from his ugly fucking face. I squeezed, Monique screamed and his head popped like a ripe melon. Blood, brains and puss all over the place.
He twitched, contorted and then hit the ground like a big bag of flour.

No time for victory dances though, there was still the pack. I had managed to take one out with the firebottle, his still burning body laying face-down on the ground. But the other four weren’t scattering as I had hoped. Instead they came at me with even more intensity as before, hunger in their eyes.

That’s when Pogo came through. Coming from out of nowhere like a bat outta hell he jumped the Rotface nearest to me. Biting him straight in the face and tearing out his eye. The freak screamed and fell to the ground as he tried to push Pogo off. I pumped another round into Monique and steadied myself but I didn’t have to shoot again. The remaining three Rotface had had enough for the day and scattered like rodents. My ass was safe, for now.

But wait, there’s more.

That’s when I heard the scream, it was the kid. It sounded like it came from the building the pack had come from.
Fuck! Dumb fucking kid! He didn’t run, instead he went straight into the lion’s den in an attempt to hide.
Everyone and his momma knows not to go into buildings if any of those freaks are spotted going in or out. They are like cockroaches. For every one you see there are ten more you don’t see. He had fucked this one up good.

A door swung open and the kid came stumbling out like someone had thrown him. Blood all over his arms and legs. I told him to drop to the floor as I threw another firebottle into the doorway, again shooting it just before it landed. The flames engulfed the entryway and I could just make out a skinny Rotface scampering back and running off into the darkness.

The kid had now passed out and was laying motionless in the street. I picked him up and hurried to the gates of Terrebus, where I dropped him off and alerted the guards. I then made myself very scarce and laid low until the news of the boy being the mayor’s son reached me.

Needless to say I left Rotterdam in a hurry.

[EDD 2.09 transmission uplink termination:03:26:pm]