The Industrialist

Steelpoint District became a warzone. Smoke filled the air, looming over half of Steelpoint district. In panic, people were running in random directions as long as they went farther to where the gunfire sparked. The wails of the people, bathed with trauma and utter fear, had filled the atmosphere.

Lance had never seen such many hovercrafts flying overhead since the Wolf's attack. The exhausted fumes from those flying machines drenched the atmosphere with a metallic smell. The familiar scenery gave him the goosebumps. The gunfire and the screams became louder as Lance sprinted towards the heart of the ruckus. Occasional people moved passed him in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going, boy?" His old neighbor called on him. He did not remember his name but he knew him since he lived in the cabins.

He disregarded the old man.

His breath had betrayed him, and his heart pounded as hard as it could, weakening his steps and stamina as he pressed further. The air was like needles now as smoke emitted by the laser heaving the atmosphere. The lasers smelled like burned rubber, filling his lungs and piercing his nostrils.

Then a cry cracked behind a building. Lance responded to it and found a woman, her back leaning against the wall, wounded on her shin and blood pooled around her caused by a bite mark that almost tore her whole leg apart.

"Please help me," the woman cried.

Lance helped the woman walk as she dragged her foot against the concrete ground.

"You need immediate help, miss," Lance said.

He took her to the nearest establishment and luckily, a few other citizens cowering behind a nearby salon accommodate the wounded woman.

"She needs help!" Lance said. He saw their faces of the trauma that defined of the stories of how the surviving cities fell from the hands of the monsters.

The woman thanked him as the people received her. Lance immediately went back outside the salon and into inconspicuous corners, avoiding possible police detection.

He slowed his pace as the growls of the Abominated grew stronger, overpowering the sounds of laser beams. He could hear the Abominants' steps against the ground as they defiled the city.

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Police barricades, from Zone 5 to the residential zones, to the scrap yard Tier 1, encircled the attacked site. He could not go past the police barricades without being caught. Fortunately, he had lived in Steelpoint for years and knew the ins and outs of every block. He was able to avoid the barricades undetected and press further deep to where the battle transpired.

Lance passed through dark narrow streets in between structures, to sinuous passages, until he reached three blocks from where the tunnels would be. He could hear his heart thumping fast even without witnessing one Abominant yet. The feeling brought him back to the attack of the Salt Caravan. The feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty.

He felt the weight on his bag with twenty poison bombs grow heavier each second. He had been itching to use them. He thought about Damian if he used the bombs effectively with the maximum kill.

The lasers brighten the gloomy and dark sector, like fireworks. The police had been stationed on the roads pressing hard against the attacking groundlings. At the back of those barricades, Lance took a peek from behind a building and witnessed the gory scenery of dead Abominants. Black miasmic blood bathed the ground. Human police and robots gathered at full might.

A few dead police officers were on the ground and attended with robotic medics. One robot dragged a wounded police officer to safety behind the barricades.

Another thunderous explosion emerged shaking the ground below Lance's feet. It was a three-story building this time. He could hear debri falling from that height, rubble crashing to concrete.

'The Abominants had infiltrated the nearby structures,' he thought.

He had never seen such a number of police forces populating in one sector. Hovercrafts swarmed above them like mosquitos, casting strobe lights to the ground.

Occasional shrieks from dead Abominants could be heard.

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Lance hoped that the police force might be sufficient for the attacking horde. Lance heard gunshots at the far end, a few blocks away from where he prowled.

'They are everywhere.' Lance thought.

Cold sweat had drenched his shirt. He was praying that no Abominant could smell him.

The fortunate ones were riding the hovercrafts, groundlings could not reach them. They used this advantage so effectively, hovering over the misdirected swarm of Abominants that ran along the streets.

He wished he could ride one hovercraft and throw his poison bombs from above. But he could not ride one without being caught.

As he pressed further deep, he found himself behind another barricade, barbed wire, spiky ramming blockades filled the expanse of the street. They mounted a machine gun behind the barricade. This was two blocks from where the Abominants had infiltrated. The number of dead police officers increased as he overheard police officers communicated via their opticoms.

The length of the street was painted with black blood and dead groundlings piled on the ground. The walls had been scarred with the lasers and stun grenades.

"Ready, men! They come in waves," One officer said to his comrades while re-energizing their weapons with their batteries and lining up to the barricade.

"They are coming your way," A voice cracked from one of their opticoms.

"Ready!" The officer once again commanded his comrades.

The growls emerged once again and a tidal wave of groundlings came without the fear of death filled the street. Their stomps were like thunder, and salivating rabid creatures attacked in full might. Moreover, what was more fearsome were the level 2 Abominants the crawled on the structures that came with the attack wave.

"Fire!" The officer shouted. The available weapons of that barricade had fired simultaneously, aiming at random directions. The lasers painted the dark sector with bluish light. Stun grenades were thrown and exploded at the incoming groundlings. Seemingly, the incoming monsters were not discourages with the weapons that faced them.

"Keep firing, men!" The officer screamed. Dead creatures comically filled the street.

But from the looks of it, it was hopeless. In a few seconds, the barricade would be run down by the attacking monsters, killing ten police officers in the process. It was the opportune moment that Lance had been waiting for.

The use of his poison bombs.

Lance went out from where he hid and sprinted behind the barricades. He took two bombs held by both hands. He threw them over the lined police men and the metallic ball bounced to the ground and into the feet of the nearing groundlings. Then, they exploded. The blue cloud filled the block and the growls were silenced so immediately after a few seconds.

Then, Lance threw again two poison bombs much farther this time as he tried to target at the back. It was his first time that he wanted to save the lives of the police officers.

"What is that?!" The officers shouted and looked for the source behind them. Other continued firing aimlessly through the blue translucent mist. The stomping discontinued and there was silence after a few seconds.

All attacking groundlings were found dead as the blue mist subsided, burning blackened flesh and black miasmic blood filled the air.

As the hungry growls were replaced by dying shrieks, the police officers knew they were saved.

The policemen were saved and their eyes had captured their savior.