The weather took a turn for the worst early the next morning. They left just after day break through a back door on the first floor of the hotel that Miles knew would be better to leave by. They located and purchased two horses for their journey. Miles, knowing what was ahead, was sure to keep plenty of rations on hand for the journey. They were slowly making their way out of town and heading back towards the west when the sky turned dark and foreboding. Storm clouds seemed to gather out of nowhere and lightning began almost instantly. Looking around for a place to get out of the nasty weather, Miles pulled them in to what looked to be an abandoned warehouse.
"The storms have gotten worse of the past few years. Used to be we got warning of the weather turning by at least a day or two but over the past couple of years, those warnings have practically disappeared." He was almost shouting to be heard over the torrent of the rain. He managed to pull the horses through a door that was only opening about halfway. Once inside, he pulled the door down and turned to find Genifer standing with her hands up and backing up towards him. There was enough light coming from under the warehouse door for him to tell that there were three others moving towards her. "What do we do?" She asked, a touch of nervousness entering her voice. Glancing around to get an idea of his surroundings, Miles took note of what he could see and took a slow deep breath. "C'mon fellas. You don't wanna do this. It's not worth your life or your pain to try anything." He slowly pulled his hands from his side, shrugging just enough that his coat slid off his shoulders and fell open slightly. He had no obvious weaponry down there but he did have a stun baton strapped to each thigh. Fibers designed to blend in with the color of whatever his pants he happen to be wearing. One of the reason he had a rule of never wearing shorts. With some of his training focused in close quarters combat, he was pretty sure he could handle all three when the time came. "We just need a place to wait out the storm. That's all there is to it. We'll leave as soon as it's lightened up enough for us to go safely." "Thisss isss our placcccce. You... TRESPASSERS!" One of them shouted and they began to fan out. One of them seemed to slide drunkenly to one side and then the other. The other two moved more slowly and in jerky motions. "Weeee ownnn thisss." The voice was very raspy and was obviously unnerving Genifer. "Screechers," he told her in a low voice as he approached her side. "You won't be able to get any kind of a read on them. They are... genetic freaks that occurred after The Breaking. Theory is it's because of the radiation leaks that began to sporadically appear after the quakes. I think they are part snake, honestly. Just keep back as best you can." He slowly lowered his arms once he realized they weren't going to group up. He began to observe his adversaries. Their distance meant they weren't comfortable working together and they hoped they could keep him and Genifer off balance. The screechers slowly began to form a large triangle around them and he leaned down to get close to Genifer's ear. He could tell by her reactions that she had never ran in to these creatures before. They could be very unpleasant. "Some screechers can spit this acidic substance at people and it hurts... alot. When I say down, you get down. Believe me, you don't wanna get his by this stuff." With that he moved, quickly, away from her and headed towards the fastest of the three. As he turned to head that direction, he heard a hiss, "DOWN!" he yelled as he dove forward and pulled one of his batons. He snapped his wrist and the baton extended and gave off a faint buzz. He rolled forward and came to his feet in a wide stance, directly in front of the one he was coming to take down. Behind him, he heard a quiet thump and faint hiss of acid corroding metal. He struck up and out with the baton. He connected and pushed the stun button on the handle. In a matter of seconds, his target was writhing on the ground and he turned to face the other two. He dropped the baton at the sight of what was before him. Genifer was standing with hands in the air and the other two screechers were floating in the air in front of her. She was no longer afraid but they were full of fear. "Pleasssse. Do not hurrrrt. We only do as Vossss sayssss. Vosss... URK...." He heard the crunch of their necks as they snapped. |