No Refuge [Story]

[kclace]

No Refuge
Based on actual gameplay
"They're out there right now, four of them," Tonybin said in a worried voice to the three other colonists of the small desert outpost. "They've made camp about a mile south of here. If I had a guess, I'd say the pirates will attack at dawn. Anna felt her gut tighten. 

This had happened before to different group s she had run with. It always ended the same way. Everyone died and she'd be on the run.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault," Anna said, stepping forward. "If you hadn't offered me shelter when those guys were chasing me, they wouldn't know your location."

"Don't say that, Dawn replied and put an arm on Anna's shoulder.  They knew about us long before you showed up. We've always fended off their attacks; this won't be any different." Dawn and Anna had become good friends in a short period of time. They'd both lost love ones on this world, and it was something they had bonded over. Anna didn't want to lose another friend.

"Right, so the plan is ... the plan is," Tonybin stuttered, not sure of what to say next.  Then Jay piped in to fill the gap. "The plan is you, me and Dawn go out there and kill them before they can attack us. Since Anna is a doctor, she should stay behind at base camp and be ready to help with the wounded." Jay seemed sure of himself. Like Anna, he was a relative newcomer to the small group, but he already had a sense of confidence about him. He was definitely shaping up to be a leader, and maybe, just maybe he could lead them to victory. But Tonybin, Anna, and Jay were all had civilian backgrounds. None of them were trained for combat.

Tonybin nodded, "Ok, agreed. Anna you're staying behind, is that ok?"

Anna nodded. "I...I'm not sure. But if you think it's for the best, I'll stay. Just promise you'll all come back to me."

"Relax Anna. We've done this before without anything bad happening. This won't be any different."
A few moments later, Dawn, Tonybin, and Jay had gathered their gear and set out for the rocky outcrop near the pirate's encampment. At the break of day, the battle would begin. A sense of dread filled Anna.

A few hours later.

Anna was safely barricaded inside the outpost's main building,  nervously reading a book when the fight began. It started with a single gun shot, the sound of Tonybin's bolt action rifle and was followed by about three shots from Dawn's revolver. She heard some shouting and then a few moments later she heard nothing. She tried to breathe but couldn't. She knew someone would be returning to the outpost shortly, either the colonists or the pirates. If it was the latter, then she would surely be doomed.

She heard the footsteps and peaked through the peephole in the door. Three strange men in the courtyard of the outpost. Anna's body clammed up. She couldn't breathe or move. Her worst fears had come to pass.

Much to her surprise, the men turned north toward the other main building in the compound. Paralyzed with fear, she watched silently as they made short work of the door and entered the building. Then something strange happened. There was a loud thud, and then the men started screaming. The screaming caused Anna to snap out of her daze. Something had changed outside.

She saw one of the pirates stumble out of the broken door, frantically throwing his arms in the air as a swarm of beetle like insect creatures proceeded to rip him apart with their claws. It took the bugs about five seconds to finish the job, and then the man was down on the ground, a dead man. The insects continued to feast on the fresh corpse.

Anna remained frozen in terror, unable to process what she had heard, but then she heard something that made her snap out of it. Nearby, the ham radio crackled, then she heard Jay's voice. "Anna, Anna. Help me."

Anna snapped out of her daze and ran to the nearby ham radio set. "Jay, what's going the pirates were in the compound. And then they got eaten by giant bugs! They must have opened up the old tomb by accident."

"Just get out here and help me," Jay replied. "I'm by the ridge...can't move."


"But...there are bugs everywhere. I can't get to you," Anna said.
"You're gonna have to," Jay replied.

Anna took a deep breathe. Her hands and legs were shaking. "Ok...I'll go to where you are," she said.
It took all of her courage to open the door and leave the building. She ran as fast as she could past the swarms of insects that were crawling all over the compound's north building. She deliberately avoided looking at the lone pirate corpse in view, and hoped that she didn't run into any others.
She ran, and kept running until she got to a rocky outcrop near a ridge. There she was greeted by the mangled corpse of her friend Dawn, and a seriously wounded Jay. Tonybin was nowhere to be found, but a trail of blood that led further into the desert meant that he  likely wounded himself, or captured.
Anna bent down and immediately started treating the wounded Jay, but she could tell that he was fading fast. "Jay, Jay. I don't know what to. I'm sorry.," Anna said between sobs.
In the distance, the eerie chirping sounds of the beetle swarms was growing louder. She looked out and saw the black swarm in the distance, closing fast.

"Jay, those bugs are coming for us. What do we do? she said
"The supply shed is close to here. Just take whatever you can and go," Jake said. He reached over and grabbed a revolver, then opened up its cylinder to make sure that there were still bullets in it.
Anna shook her head, "I can't just leave you here. I gotta, I gotta."

"JUST GO ANNA," Jay shouted.
Anna started stumbling toward the shed. As soon as Jay was no longer visible she heard the sound of single gunshot. She didn't dare look back.

After fleeing the colony, Anna stopped to think about what had just happened. She was on her own again. At least this time the pirate's aren't following me, she thought. It was a small comfort on a harsh world.

[colotroco]

lovely writen!

[Kuai237426]

Great story!

[kclace]

The craziest thing is that it actually happened. After the bugs killed off the pirates my sole survivor gathered up supplies and fled, leaving one wounded colonist behind for good. Amazing that the bugs didn't get her!