Chapter 10: Chapter 0-10

Crawling back to the storage room, I shot Cleo a question about my idea: “Can those things be gassed? My plan is to mix every cleaner I can find back where we came from. I can’t exactly remember what those things will make when they mix- but I think it was Chlorine gas, Chloramine, and a few other chlorine based war crimes.”

 

{It is still wave two- although we only have a little over ten minutes before wave three starts- so they should still have to conform to biology that could function here.}

 

That was all I needed to hear. Both because I got confirmation my plan might work, and because I now knew I needed to really get moving. Ideally, I would be able to barricade them in the room and drop a gas bomb on them, but that was just not realistic with the timescale I was given. If I pushed myself I might be able to get back to the storage room in three- although I’d be gambling that nothing cared about faint clanging from the ceiling. Well, I could probably give myself a few minutes after the wave started before any demons actually came around- like with the horse-sized centipedes, whatever new horrors were brought into this world would need to actually move to my location.

 

When I made it back to the room, I had the amazing foresight to jump the last few feet off the ladder- which resulted in me landing awkwardly. I had never been the best in gym class or sports; I was only just good enough to not be considered bad. After assessing that I hadn’t broken anything, I started to look at what was available. 

 

The first thing I noticed was an array of twenty-two gallon drums. Maybe not ‘array,’ but having three of them lined up in a small room made them appear much more impressive. Predictably, they were kinda hard to miss but I must have subconsciously ignored them when scouting for valuables previously. Each one had clear hazard squares displayed on them, with smaller labels of names below that reading: ‘Bleach,’ ‘Detergent,’ and ‘Hydrogen Peroxide.’ The taps affixed to each drum looked very non-standard, and gave an overall feeling of not being safety-code compliant.

 

Other notable chemicals on shelves were a couple single-gallon bottles of rubbing alcohol, similar quantities of drain cleaner, and vinegar. 

 

As I gathered what I’d found in one of those mop-carts on wheels, I slapped myself for having left the respirator I had found back at the barricade. In my defense, I didn’t have a chance to grab it after it had been dumped out of my backpack- but I might have been able to at least make an attempt at reclaiming it. The best thing here was a box of those nicer paper masks. I did my best to put on a few before using some duct tape to seal any gaps around the edges before I started my work.

 

After the cart had been emptied of the various bottles I had grabbed off the shelves, I dumped a little under two and a half gallons of rubbing alcohol into it. Even through the masks, I could smell it- and my eyes could certainly feel it and started tearing up. After I was satisfied it wouldn’t randomly blow up, I started removing the caps of the bottles I had brought. In their place, I put a layer of plastic wrap which was duct taped in place so it would hold when inverted. Yet more duct tape was used to secure each bottle- nozzle down- around the inside rim of the cart. For good measure I filled two separate, gallon-sized, resealable plastic bags with bleach and hydrogen peroxide respectively- securing them in much the same way as the bottles. Nothing was on fire or exploding by the end- which was a good sign. The only issue was that I didn’t want it to stay that way permanently.

 

My solution was found with the taser I had relieved a guard of. It was one of the older-style, single shot, attached lead, pistol models- but that was exactly what I wanted. Aiming off into the other side of the room, I pulled the trigger. As expected the two prongs launched as far as they could go- a good thirty feet- and emitted a quick clicking noise which stopped when I released the trigger. I carefully retrieved the prongs and taped them just above the level of the alcohol in the cart, a little distance apart from each other- but close enough to spark.

 

The idea with this shoddily-made IED was that when I pulled the trigger on the taser, it would ignite the alcohol. That in turn would melt the thin plastic holding back the rest of the chemicals which would all react and create… a lot of dangerous gasses? Like I said- I don’t really know what happens when you mix random chemicals, just that you shouldn’t.

 

Despite the dangerous chemicals, I was most scared of the delivery. I could be a maximum of thirty feet away, which was much closer than I ever wanted to be to those centipede demons. I would also need to navigate the rooms to even get to them without being attacked by anything- but that could be helped by Cleo.

 

“I think I’m finally done setting up,” I said to my companion as I stood up. “Now all we need to do is deliver it- which means sneaking through all the rooms leading up to where those demons have gathered. Are you able to scout them for me? I don’t want demons to attack you, but you probably stand a better chance at avoiding them than I do.”

 

In their typical calm tone, Cleo replied, {Like with humans, they cannot see me. Under normal conditions, some might be able to perceive my presence- but the ULE in the basement should make them blind to even that. Additionally, I must say: I am impressed that you were able to make this.}

 

“Why, because I didn’t blow up yet or because you didn’t think of doing something so stupid?”

 

{Please understand, most MGs- especially the older ones- tend to try to solve everything with magic. I suppose it makes sense as it is very new to you as a species, but my point still stands. Since our talk upstairs, you haven’t even asked what possible perks you could buy with your experience. And, while 28 isn’t a lot, it is enough to afford a few things.}

 

“Right, I can do that… But let's go over that after we’re done with this,” I said- gesturing to the bomb-in-waiting. “Unless there's something that would help right now.”

 

{All perks would require a few minutes to be applied and by then, the third wave would have been spawned. It is better to start moving now.}

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As Cleo whispered that into my mind, they motioned to the door with their tail. I took the hint and opened it, letting them out to scout ahead. A few seconds later, I got confirmation it was safe to start moving. Like with the trip to get here, I was constantly on edge- but again nothing jumped out at me. Now that I was thinking about it, everything from the second wave must already be in this world and doing whatever they were supposed to be doing. Or at least believing so gave me enough confidence to not break down. There was a close scare when Cleo suddenly told me to freeze just before some familiar skittering seeped through the wall I was crouched against- but besides that everything was fine until I was two rooms away from the mass of demons.  There wasn’t a plan from here. My best idea was just to sprint the rest of the distance, shove the cart at them, and hope it worked. I knew we didn’t have long before the start of the third wave, but I took a few seconds to breathe. 

 

Pushing out doubt, letting go of reservations. If I died here- it wasn’t my problem anymore. No more fears of inadequacy, no more living on the edge just to feel alive, no more stress. Everyone might be sad for a while- well, only just my parents. Best of all, my auto-wipe setups on my devices should work properly. 

 

But, that was only for if I died- and that wasn’t part of any plan I had ever made.

 

“Hey, Cleo? Make sure to prep the Aug-perk-thing for after I’m done. Regardless of what happens, I won’t be out of here before wave three- and I’d rather not be this defenseless.”

 

{Affirmative. The computer thinks that it will take five minutes to fix you- so five tokens, or if you prefer to think of it this way: five lives saved. With the amount of people in the garage, you should have leftovers.}

 

I nodded and swallowed, rounding the corner. Through two broken down doorways, I could see the demons. Leaving no time to hesitate, I rushed forwards.

 

One, two, five steps- nothing. I was still unnoticed in their self-created chaos.

 

Six, seven, eight. Halfway to where I had decided I’d give the cart one last push.

 

Nine. Ten. The writhing wall of chitin on the edge of the mass nearest me started to shift my direction.

 

Twelve Steps. Thirteen. So close. All I could see was a small cone in front of me- focused on one spot on the floor. All I could feel was the grip of the taser in my right hand.

 

Fourteen Steps. The mass gave way to a few heads of the demons.

 

Fifteen. I laid down closer to the handle of the cart- arms drawn back and tense.

 

Sixteen.

 

Letting out the breath I was holding I shoved with all the force I could muster- staggering forwards a step and a half as I tried to stop the remaining momentum. At the last minute, I focused and imparted my payload with two commands: fly true and burn bright. That act pulled a lot more energy from me than any of the other ones- leaving me lightheaded but still standing.

 

From there all I could do was watch and wait. Despite how unstable it looked, the cart never wavered. When one of the demons finally untangled itself and launched at me, its passing didn’t even rock the cart. As I pulled the trigger- once again hearing the faint clicking- it continued, getting brighter each fraction of a second. 

As if the impact with the mass triggered something, the light grew exponentially brighter in an instant as a low whoosh knocked out all other sound.

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