Thread: âOverexposureâ - Survivor00 & darkangel76

The dry snow that layered the escalator's rigid steps crunched like broken glass under Arthur's boots as he ascended into the howling void. The cold surface air bit at his exposed skin like hungry rats, and the ominous clicking of the Geiger Counter hanging from his belt was an ever-present reminder to the poisons he was likely exposing himself to. His heart thumped against his ribs as if though it were trying to break free and run back to the safety of Mriya Station. His head-mounted flashlight cast a pale cone of light across the rust-coated 'fortifications' that had long since been abandoned by their defenders, swinging back and forth wherever he looked and sending dark shadows leaping up the walls in front of him. He bristled at each one, and he had to force himself not to instinctively shoot at them. Back when the surviving humans had first emerged from their bunkers to discover the twisted horrors that now roamed the tunnels and the surface world, they had tried desperately to defend every square inch of their last refuge. They erected countless barricades and fortifications throughout the tunnels, send entire squads of hunting parties ?? sometimes with only a single gun amongst them ?? to kill every mutant they came across. It was a disaster. Hundreds of men simply never returned, or went mad from the radiation, the trauma they had seen, or both. Eventually, the Council rescinded the action and declared it would be safer to guard the core areas ?? the Stations, the outposts, the farms. While this left the tunnels open to whatever twisted beasts lurked in the fumes, it kept the population bases safe, and offered those that were wounded in their defense a better chance at survival. Arthur passed by one of the old barricades, scrap metal, reinforced with chunks of steel and rebar, and wrapped with barbed wire. There was a rusty brown stain splashed on the metal and the floor ?? old blood. His breath fogged up the faceplate of his gas mask, and he licked his lips, for they felt suddenly dry. He paused, holding up his left hand out behind him, indicating for the group to stop. He looped the Bastard onto his jacket and swung his shotgun into his hands. Having the extra kick made him feel slightly more at ease. But only slightly. Motioning for the group to move again, he hustled up the last few steps, his gear shifting back and forth. Finally, he reached the surface, looking out into the abysmal wastelands through a battered chain-link fence. The wind shrieked through the broken skeletons of the city like a Wraith, swooping down to blast the powdery snow from the ground into blinding whiteouts. In many places, the ground had caved in, collapsing into the sewers and Metro tunnels below, creating a miniature landscape. The streets were crammed with the empty hulks of abandoned cars, burnt out by the fires of Armageddon. Arthur shivered, both from the cold, and from the haunting emptiness that filled his vision. He heard a snarl just a second too late to react in time. A dark, squatting form lunged under the cone of his vision, and he was suddenly knocked back by a powerful impact to his stomach. His vision went blurry, the air rushed from his lungs as he landed painfully on his ass. He looked up and saw a Snoutface gnashing and snarling against the chain-link fence just a few inches from his face. The thin wire twanged and crashed as the beast tried to get to him. Gobs of spit smacked against the mask's faceplate as he stared into a gnashing maw of teeth. Some people tried to identify what the mutants had been before the radiation had twisted their minds and bodies. There were even a number of theories as to why only certain numbers of these creatures had mutated. Most people though, just shot them on sight and paid no other thought to them. Arthur was one of the latter group. Fueled by adrenaline and terror, he swung his shotgun up towards the beast before his vision could even clear. He was so close he didn't even need to aim anyway. He pulled the trigger, and the drum-fed weapon belched noise and buckshot, pumping round after round into the creature. The snoutface was torn open, flesh and bone ripping and cracking under the barrage of pellets. Hot blood splashed his hands and jacket, and the barrel of his shotgun. The beast let out a gurgling screech, curled up to protect a face and brain that was no longer there, and died with the loose sound of air escaping dead lungs. The crimson puddle that began to spread from below its body contrasted sharply with the gray snow. Arthur panted, fogging up his mask so badly he couldn't even see, sitting there and aiming the shotgun out into the void, in case more came. Or, that's what he told himself. Not that he was practically paralyzed with fear at the moment, and that there was a warm, wet feeling running down the leg of his pants. He was protecting the group. Yeah, that was it. Protecting them. He stood uneasily to his feet, leaning against the wall to drag some air into his lungs and to give his heart a chance to calm down, before he just dropped dead of a heart attack. His vision was still blurry, and it eventually dawned on him that it wasn't his eyes, but his mask. He reached up to try and wipe the dead beast's phlegm and saliva away from the polycarbonate faceplate, only to smear gobs of curdled blood over it from his hands, making it worse. He coughed again, and reached up and lifted his mask up for the quickest instant to spit, before placing it back on again. Trembling fingers reached into his rucksack and pulled out a few shotgun shells. He dropped the first one, cursed, and managed to load the rest. He reached down and scooped up the fallen shell, and it was only then that he realized that the others were there with him, making sure he was okay. He hadn't even heard them speaking to him, hadn't even noticed them, like they were ghosts. He looked up at them, his eyes wide, pupils dilated sharply. Danny was closest to him ?? she was the medic, he was covered in blood. ??It's...it's not mine. Not my blood.? He said, his own voice feeling oddly detached. ??I'm alright.?