“That’s no Gritstorm,” the third man said.
The shaking became stronger as the seconds passed; the ruined buildings on either side of the road ahead were trembling visibly, too, and fragments broke away as Rhea watched, tumbling down to join the rubble below.
And then, on the far side of the street, a lone Hydra rounded the intersection and stampeded directly for the Texas barrier. It was a moderate specimen, almost as tall as some of the low-rise ruins next to the creature; its multiple maws snarled visibly, and one of the leonine heads roared when it sighted the four of them.
“Bioweapon!” Wart Nose screamed.
Rhea scooped up Wart Nose and Goggle Eyes and leaped down. She was going to grab the third man as well, but realized she didn’t have time, not if she wanted to save these two.
She dashed from the Texas barriers, racing through the streets of the settlement.
“Bioweapons!” Wart Nose yelled. “The mad cyborg woman was right! Run for your lives!”
No doubt the settlement residents could feel the ground shaking by now, because nearby doors began to open.
Behind Rhea, the Texas barriers collapsed beneath the lead Hydra. The abandoned man was trampled underfoot. Other bioweapons burst into the settlement after the creature and crushed the remnants of the barriers in the process. A random piece of concrete spiraled forward, crashing into an onlooker standing at his door and throwing him into his home, which promptly caved.
People screamed. Some darted into the streets after Rhea. Other residents simply shut their doors, perhaps hoping the bioweapons would leave them alone. Or maybe they simply planned to collect their remaining family members before attempting an escape.
Some doors never opened at all. Glancing back, Rhea saw a Hydra rip an entire lean-to right into the air, leaving behind a shirtless man strapped into a spherical VR harness. He seemed unaware that his house was gone and continued interacting obliviously with his full-body harness. A second head snatched him into the air a moment later, chewed twice, and swallowed.
Those in the street fared little better. Every few seconds another resident was promptly grabbed by one of the many heads and devoured. Either that, or they were trampled underfoot.
“I have to go back for my wife!” Goggle Eyes said.
“It’s too late,” Rhea said. “You can’t save her.”
The man squirmed in Rhea’s grasp, and punched her twice in the side, but Rhea only tightened her grip.
Goggle Eyes wept. “Please, let me go!”
“If you go back, you’ll die,” she explained gently.
“Maybe I want to die, if it means a life without the woman I love,” Goggle Eyes said.
Rhea considered that.
If he wants to die…
“Then go,” she said coldly.
She released him and scooped up another old man who was running just ahead.
“You let him go!” Wart Nose said.
“Yes,” Rhea agreed.
“You can’t listen to him!” Wart Nose said. “He’s distraught. His state of mind all messed up!”
“I gave him what he wanted,” Rhea said grimly. “I can’t save everyone. Especially those who don’t want to be saved.”
“Who are you?” the new old man asked.
“Your rescuer,” she replied.
“Can we go back for my wife?” the newcomer pressed.
Rhea clenched her jaw. “No.”
She returned her attention to the fore and narrowed her eyes, focusing on Aradne’s distant wall, her destination, ahead.
Rhea had planned to dart into a byway or alley, but with so many people out there providing fresh targets, she decided the main street was safe enough, at least for now. She continued to run directly for the walls of Aradne, located about ten blocks ahead. The two men she carried weighed her down, but she forced her servos to work overtime, hoping against hope that her body wouldn’t fail her now.
The main street widened as she reached a market square, and she tore past other panicking citizens. Glancing back, she watched the foremost Hydras spread out and begin feasting behind her. She felt a moment of guilt for not stopping to help them. Or even trying.
Can’t save them all, she reminded herself.
If only they had listened to her. If only they had run when she had told them to.
But of course, it wasn’t their fault. They had no reason to believe her warning. No one did.
She considered replacing the two old men with some of the younger men and women she saw fleeing out there, but she knew that with proper care, these two could live for at least another twenty years, or even longer if they could ever afford to transfer their minds into cyborgs.
She realized that there was something more she could do, if she couldn’t directly help those fleeing around her.
“There are weapons in my backpack!” she said. “Give them out!”
The men ignored her.
“Wart Nose!” she hissed.
The old man glanced at her, confused.
“My pack!” she said. “There are weapons! Give them out to the people! One at a time!”
Wart Nose blinked at her, then finally comprehension dawned in those terrified eyes; he twisted in her grasp to unlatch the backpack, and then removed a pistol.
“Hey, moron!” Wart Nose yelled at a young man Rhea was racing past.
When the man looked at him, Wart Nose tossed him the pistol.
Wart Nose continued to dole out insults alongside weapons as Rhea raced through the square.
She wasn’t sure it was the greatest idea to give the denizens of Rust Town these weapons, considering how useless energy attacks were, not to mention how inexperienced the average citizen was with firearms. But there was at least a tiny chance someone would find a weakness while engaging the Hydras. Without weapons, the chance dropped to zero. That was more than enough reason to distribute them, in her mind.
She emerged from the square and into the road beyond. She was on the final stretch to Aradne: only six blocks remained between her and that towering wall.
However, when two of the Hydras stampeded onto the main street directly behind her, trampling and swallowing everything in sight while continuing forward at breakneck speed, she
