Sgt. Golem: Royal Mech Hussar - Stubs Soon!

The Rebel leader was a dozen yards across the square already and headed for the steps of the large building. The light of morning, filtered through the green shield, was beginning to fill the dead city. It was clear this had once been a municipal building of some sort. It had an impressive four-story brick and marble front.

The zombies' machine gun nest was a puddle of gore. I glanced at their machine gun as we passed. Should I? Nah. Holding a weapon that size in each hand was probably doable with my massive forearms and biceps. But it was a bit silly. How would I aim two guns like that? The gun was a Marsden like the one I held and used the same top loaded banana magazines. I grabbed a box of spare magazines. Still hefting the machine gun in my other hand, and with the sub gun slung over my back I was starting to look ridiculous. But when it comes to a zombie apocalypse, I was wearing high fashion.

I caught up with the group as we charged up the flight of stairs. The shotgun man was heaving open the heavy doors when a scream grabbed our attention. Behind us, in the middle of the square near the machine gun nest, one of the stragglers of our group was grabbing at his clothing and crying out "It burns! It burns!". He ripped open his tunic and pulled out the amulet in one fist. The blue glow was now tinged with swirls of green wrapping around his fist.

"No, don't!" someone yelled.

But it was too late. The man ripped the amulet from around his neck and threw it away. It flew across the square in a trail of blue fire before crashing into the pavement and breaking into a glowing cloud that dissipated quickly, but I only barely noticed that.

All eyes were on the screaming man. His flesh was beginning to burn in green fire. We stared in horror as his body melted away. As he tumbled to the ground, his body broke up on impact. The burning green chunks tumbled away from each other before dissipating into smoke.

After a long moment of shock and some muttered curses, the shotgun leader broke the silence. "Run!"

We turned as one and charged into the building. “This way! This way!” he shouted. We pounded across what had once been a fancy lobby past a reception desk down a short hall and into an atrium full of metal-cagged elevators. The leader ripped open a door in one corner. "This is it! Down here!"

Before he could even go through the door himself, the rest of our crowd pounded through and into a stairwell. I was about six men behind the leader as we flew down the stairs. Someone fell in a tumbling crash but the others just leapt over him, desperate to reach our objective. This panicked crowd would charge into the teeth of anything if it could save us from the fate we had just witnessed. Or so I thought.

Two flights down, our mad pace slowed. The stairwell ended in a locked door. I shoved my way through the crowd and reached it as they were still considering how best to shoot out the lock. My massive boot did the job for them in two hits.

The shotgun-wielding leader pushed through the crowd to reach me. "This is it! This is the tunnel! It has to be…" He trailed off, staring into the dark opening. "Who has flashlights?"

Four or five of the men produced flashlights. They were bulky and threw a pathetic light by my standards, but it was enough to see in the pitch blackness. "Let's go," the leader said, grabbing one and plunging onward. We passed piles of boxes and went through another locked door, my boot opening the way once more.

The bobbing beams of light revealed a large chamber that opened at one end into a tunnel beyond. With the way revealed, we all rushed through the opening.

“The objective is down there.” The leader's voice and enthusiasm drained away as the colossal bone monsters pulled themselves from the walls and headed towards us.

They towered over us, at least three meters tall had they been erect. They hunched over, their heads and shoulders scraping the ceiling as they lumbered towards us. One of the rebels gave a long, wailing scream that sounded inhuman. Most of them raised their weapons and began firing. The noise was absolutely deafening in the small space.

The leader danced back and forth and waved his arms, yelling to be heard over the gunfire. I could tell he was yelling for us to run. Forward, into the tunnel, I assumed.

The monsters were a mishmash of bones piled on top of each other that seemed to shift and swirl. There was a green light from somewhere inside.

The bone monster nearest the tunnel entrance was reaching for our leader. I aimed center of mass and gave it a long burst of machine gun fire, aiming for the green glow. The monster took two more steps, and then suddenly exploded, sending bone fragments in all directions. The rebel leader went tumbling away.

I dashed over and scooped him up. A bullet whipped past my head as the others continued their panicked fire. They had been unable to destroy any of the monsters yet and were getting decimated. I pulled the leader to his feet; his right arm hung limp, broken, but he still clutched the shotgun in his left.

His eyes were wide and fast twisted in pain.

“Run!” I yelled, then took off towards the tunnel. I could have stayed and tried to fight the other bone monsters, but they were tearing through the rebels now. If I shot one, its shards would probably kill most of the men. We had no time to lose. The leader was the only one who seemed to know where the objective could be found, so he was the one I needed to have with me, alive. A few of the others made it past the bone guards and into the tunnel with us, their flashlight beams darting about, revealing then hiding the tunnel.

I stopped just inside the darkened tunnel entrance. It was pitch black down there, and I hadn't managed to get one of their flashlights. The leader stopped next to me, breathing heavily. He tilted his shotgun, which had a flashlight taped to its barrel. The light was pathetic, but it was enough. Two more communist rebels ran past, screaming, down the tunnel. They both had flashlights, but one had lost his rifle entirely. I trotted after them.

The tunnel was made of well-fitted masonry, with a curved roof and walls like you see in old subway stations. There were no tracks, so it wasn't a subway tunnel. It ran perfectly straight. Here and there, along the walls, there were openings, but I didn't stop to investigate.

"Keep going," the leader gasped through pained breaths. I think some of his ribs were cracked, and he bled from several lacerations. He was able to stand and limp, favoring his left leg. I had no time for that, so I put an arm around his shoulders and half-carried him as I hurried along. The gunfire and screams behind us faded. I picked up the pace to put more distance between me and those monsters. I had no idea how fast I could get down this tunnel. It would be a tight fit for them, at least.

I heard a gunshot from down the tunnel in front of us, just one, and nothing further. From somewhere behind me, I thought I heard scraping, so I didn't slow down. That was the only sound other than our labored breathing and the rattle of the submachine gun slung over my back. I heard a gunshot from down the tunnel in front of us, just one, and nothing further.

"Saint Michael protect me," the man I was helping muttered. He was looking down at the amulet on his chest, its light growing dim and guttering. He lifted his broken right arm and clumsily crossed himself. He wasn’t going to make it, and I didn’t want to be touching him when he melted, so I stopped and propped him up against the wall of the tunnel.

“Where is it? You have to tell me where it is.”

“No, no, no,” the man cried. I grabbed him by the shoulders and made him look at me.

“Where is it? I’ll go ahead and take it down. It’s your only chance, man."

For a moment, his gaze focused on me through the pain and fear. His eyes widened.

"Down the hall, to the left, I think. There will be a big chamber just before the end of the tunnel. Hurry," he gasped.

Then he slumped back down against the wall and slid to a seated position. The glow of his amulet was barely visible.

"Sorry, but I need this," I muttered, snatching up his shotgun with its attached flashlight and took off down the tunnel at a run. There was a light ahead, on the floor of the tunnel. I barely slowed as I reached it. It was a flashlight. Next to it was the melted, charred outline of a man.

I grabbed the light, switched it off, and shoved it in my pocket, and then picked up the shotgun again. Then I was back to running down the tunnel.

The end of the tunnel came suddenly, a solid wall with a metal door in the middle, which stood open. I flashed the light through and saw a basement. If the basement's made of marble, you know it's a nice building.

Wrong place. I turned and backtracked down the tunnel, looking for an opening. There had been many along the way, so I had gotten used to ignoring them. Twenty meters back from the end of the tunnel, there was an opening on the side, where the man had said it would be.

As I stepped into the room, the first thing I saw was the rifle pointed at my chest. It was held by the other rebel who had run past us. He wore two glowing amulets around his neck. I realized distantly that he must have stolen the other from his companion to prolong his own life. But the green glow of those gems was not the most important thing I noticed.

Bolts of glowing lightning covered his skin, swirling in patterns. The sneer on his face was twisted and monstrous.

"You," a voice rasped out. Whatever magic was flowing through this man, it was not his mind controlling the mouth. That much was obvious. "How dare you come here to this place?"

"Well," I started to say, then I shot him. I wasn’t feeling chatty.