Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Greatest Enemy

Henry groaned, rubbing his head. Neon lights traveled through the ceiling, funneling toward something, somewhere. He lifted himself, colorful balls spilling off of him like water.

A lone Faceless remained. It was reassembling the bodies. It had combined half a dozen already in a horrific fashion. Like a centipede with six heads. The unfinished monstrosity writhed back and forth as if its new form brought it immense pain.

Something whined. Henry turned. Princess came walking out of a plastic tunnel of the children's play fortress. Her neck extended unnaturally as she turned to look at the Faceless, then back at him. Henry hesitated.

"You don't want to be with me," Henry said.

She wagged her tail, walking over to sit and look up at him. Henry felt ashamed. "Don't expect me to save you if things get hairy," he said.

Princess barked once. Henry looked back. The forklift was in decent condition, still damaged. It must have had several hours to repair itself. And what was that?

He swung his leg over the side of the ball pit and walked over to a large black key. When he killed the last Faceless, it must have dropped. Henry picked it up.

Loot Key (Rare)

Opens a Rare loot box. Vanishes if unused.

It was black metal. Heavy. He slid it into his deep left pocket. Then he took a closer look at the forklift. The forks were a bit longer and sharper. The wheels were slightly bigger. Henry touched its touch screen display. It now had 7 upgrades available. Three of them being the same ones as before he gained the prestige.

He sighed.

Riley.

Henry pushed away the painful thought. He fell into the seat, the engine vibrating through the seat softly. Princess made two preparatory leaps, her paws hitting the side. On the final leap, she landed up on his lap. She seemed a bit lethargic. She still hadn't had any water. Neither had he.

Keeping a close eye on the Faceless, Henry drove over to the abanded pizza shop. Its bright red sign buzzed above him. He left his seat to make his way back into the shop. There, he lifted a box from the floor. The cheese had stuck to cardboard, but it was still edible. He bit into it.

He could not have described how delicious it was. The comfort it presented. His stomach growled for more.

He sat a piece on the ground for Princess to eat. The little dog's jaw expanded to three times its normal size, and the dog swallowed the slice whole.

Henry froze. "Are you going to bite me with that mouth?"

She sat up on her back legs, little paws hanging cutely.

"You're so sweet when you want food." He dropped her two more slices. By the time he finished the whole box, he felt satiated for the moment. He walked over to the drink dispenser. Grabbing a cup, he pushed it forward beneath the water. Ice fell into his cup next. He raised it to his mouth and drank. It was such a relief.

How thirsty would Riley become without this?

A swell of painful thoughts hit him all at once. He tried to ignore them as he provided water for Princess to slurp up. If he went back to them, it would only bring more pain. The moment things got hairy, he would sacrifice them to save his life.

No. If you were going to be selfish, you might as well stay alone. It was better for everyone that way. Even if hurt.

Henry walked back to the forklift. After reclining in his seat, he took a moment to read into his new upgrade options.

Of the seven upgrades, only three of them were visible.

Monster Wheels

Requires four wheels

Demon Fuel

Requires the blood of a Shadow Crawler

Rigid Body

Requires ground-up Eldritch Nails

Henry blinked. That was about as helpful as he expected. The rest of the upgrades were hidden. When he selected one he received a text prompt.

Access denied!

To unlock a hidden upgrade, you must first find one of its parts. Thanks to your second prestige, upgrade components will now possess a soft white glow.

Simple enough.

His notifications were flashing. He expanded the icon.

Machine Operator is now 2nd prestige!

Your owned machines increase in general ability. Any other machines will experience a similar increase when acquired.

Forklift function added!

Phase Shift

Henry sighed. He was left with more questions than answers, but at least he knew the forklift was stronger. He'd proved that much last... morning. It was getting difficult to stay orientated without sunlight. Even with a watch.

He put the forklift in drive. Henry's gaze followed the pulsating path of light that traveled through arcade displays and pizza shop signs. It flowed in the same direction as all of those wires. Curious, Henry performed a U-turn to follow them.

The restaurants were all empty. Henry slowed by one of them to take a quick look inside. Without the presence of Faceless, there were no food supplies and the drink dispenser was empty. Riley was right. To gain food or water, you would have to fight those mannequins first.

Or would you? They hadn't seemed aggressive untill he had attacked.

Far ahead, the area became brighter. He began to hear strange music too. It sounded like a patriotic American anthem, only it was distorted and sorrowful.

Henry pressed the brake.

He could now make out the lyrics.

"Goodbye, America! We will not forget, you! We gave everything we had. And now those dreams will sleep."

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Henry accelerated over to see what the source of all the light was. Behind a stretch of glass pane windows, there was the electronic section of a superstore. There were dozens of flat-screen TVs all playing the same footage. It was poorly colorized tapes from the fifties. The army was digging these endless trenches, the statue of liberty shattered in the background. In the next scene, those same trenches were filled.

Henry stepped out of the forklift to get a better look.

He noticed something odd. The uniforms didn't look like any he'd seen in history. The American flag looked off too.

The scene changed. A man stood before the oval office. A president?

"People of this great nation. I bring grave news at this hour. The American forces have suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the..."

The screens all flickered, something dark looming in the middle for a second.

"We were a nation that defeated multiple enemies. But we failed to defeat ourselves..."

Static noise.

"We have one final freedom. Do not wait too long." The man raised a revolver to his head.

The video looped back to the beginning with the digging of the graves. Henry walked along the stretch of windows until he found a door. He went to open it but paused.

Hundreds of wires all converged at a single point. Random electronics, TVs, ETC. all combined to form a column. Something like black tar was working its way up the sides of the pillar.

Fear formed a pit in his gut. If he opened this door, he felt something terrible might happen. His hand fell to his side.

At that moment, real gunshots sounded in the distance. He froze in place. They sounded again, clearly in the direction he'd been heading.

Henry ran back to the forklift, and strapped himself in. He started toward the source of the noise. Up ahead, a twenty foot opening marked the end of the dark space, an entrance into a Shopmart beyond.

More exploding pops. They sounded distinct. It was Riley's gun.

Henry sped up to the gateway, then slowed to a rolling stop.

The first thing he saw was a floating black cube, it was about a hundred yards away. Upon witnessing it, a text prompt appeared in his sight.

Ultra Rare Loot Box!

Time remaining: 30 seconds

Loot Key (Rare) activated!

Will disappear after 27 seconds

"Ah!"

Henry turned. Riley and Julio had climbed halfway up a pallet rack. A Hunger One slammed its massive body against the shelves as two dozen Faceless climbed up the sides. One of them was climbing right up behind her.

Henry lowered his foot above the gas.

Choose the Loot Box, or try to save them. He didn't have time for both.

The Hungered One would easily overpower him. He would probably die.

Henry tightened his grip on the wheel. He would rather die than become the coward he was slowly turning into. No. That he had already become.

He would try save them even if it wasn't safe. Even if he was certain to die. Henry slammed the gas, turning toward his friends.

The Hungered One slammed into the racks with a thump. Henry's forklift pierced it in the back simultaneously. The force of both was enough to push the towering racks backward. Henry blinked. "Hold on!"

The wall of boxes groaned as it leaned further, picking up speed. The Hungered One roared, trying to squirm off of the forks that pierced deep into its back.

Riley squeaked. She listened to Henry, holding onto the edge. The wall slammed into the one behind it, knocking it forward like a domino. One by one they slammed into each other, Faceless knocked off like ants.

When the last box or monster hit the ground, it all came to a standstill.

"Riley!" Henry yelled.

It was silent for a moment. Mannequin legs trembled where they stuck out from under boxes or the weight of the racks. Henry feared the worst for Riley.

"Gancho!"

"Julio?" Henry ran along the side, looking for a way to climb up. "Riley!"

He ran up to the point where he was now even with the top of the first wall to fall. Riley huffed her pink hair from her face.

She looked down at him. "You came back."

Henry nodded at her. "I won't leave you again. I won't leave anyone."

Julio climbed up to the edge. "What's the plan, gancho?"

Henry steeled himself. "We build a refuge. A place to weather this storm. Will you join me?"

Julio nodded first.

Henry looked at Riley. He extended an open hand.

She took it.

END OF ACT 1

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