Chapter (45):the Elderitch bus part 3
Faces forest
Inside the Bus
There was a red bloody mass inside the bus, what was once a monkey had become Ilya and its face had turned into a bloody paste. A teardrop was falling from its dead head. Smiley looked without changing his expression and looked towards Emma.
"It's done!" Smiley spoke, pointing to the dead monkey's corpse.
"Finally, some peace!" Emma spoke, removing her mask.
"And now we just have to___"
Vrooom!
"Waaah!
"What the hell?!
"I pressed the brakes, so why won't it stop? It stopped when I pressed the brakes before!? What changed?" Emma screamed.
"What's wrong?" Smiley asked indifferently.
"It won't stop!" Emma screamed.
"Did you try the steering wheel?" Smiley asked.
"Yes, but nothing ever happened!"
I think we have to___
"Oh for fuck's sake, can't you give me a break for five minutes!" Emma screamed, a clear frown on her face and her eyes widening in shock.
"Waaah, wah, Emma what's wrong now? Why are you frowning like a Halloween pumpkin? All I did was state my opinion, you don't have to freak out like a Karen," asked Smiley.
Emma pointed her finger forward. Smiley followed her gaze, and when he stared through the bus's front window, he could see the factory, and they were approaching it rapidly.
"Ooooh, I get it now," Smiley spoke.
"We need to hurry and get out of here. Now, Smiley, open the cover near the steering wheel. There must be a port near the wheel."
"Okay."
Emma took out her bag, opened the computer, and turned it on. She had a connector cable. When she looked at Smiley, she saw he had pulled off the cover near the wheel, revealing an opening. Inside, she could see pipes and wires, mixed with flesh. Among all this, Emma could see a small computer device and managed to connect to it.
"Good! Now Smiley, slow it down for as long as possible!" Emma shouted, starting to work. "Do anything necessary to slow it down before it reaches the factory!"
"Roger!" Smiley spoke.
"Come on! Come on! I've done this before, you can do it."
Emma looked at the code information and tried to modify it.
"It has the same information, the exact same programming. This is easier than the first time."
"I have to do this quickly. I should train more next time, provided I live long enough."
Suddenly, Emma felt a violent shake.
"Smiley, what's happening? Wait, where is Smiley?" Emma asked, looking around and not seeing Smiley in the bus.
"Don't tell me he ran away___"
"Eeeeeeeeehhaaaaa!"
Wait, that's his voice, but where is he___
Emma stood up, and when she stared out the bus's front window, she saw something shocking. She saw Smiley.
The bus was writhing up and down like a raging bull, and Smiley was enjoying himself،and the Eldritch Bus, bobbing its head up and down and sticking its tongue out to try and eat the Smiley off its hood.
"Haha, what do you think of my special way of slowing it down, Emma?" Smiley asked, imitating a cowboy.
"I told you to slow it down, not make it go crazy like a wild bull! Or to be a cowboy in....you got the idea! Just get out of there and come back!" Emma screamed while focusing on her computer.
"Jeez! Relax girl, I just get some fun here."
"Smiley, we are in a serious situation. We are stuck in the middle of a life and death line, be serious even a little here!"
"Fine, fine, I'll stop."
"Kiiiiiiii!"
"???"
"???"
Smiley and Emma stopped talking and turned towards a direction. They saw that a group of Golem monkeys, the same type Smiley had killed earlier, had landed on the right and left sides of the bus. They held some grudge against whoever did this.
"Oh, monkeys!" Smiley spoke.
"Oh, for God's sake, seriously!?" Emma screamed.
"It seems his friends have come for a reunion," Smiley spoke sarcastically.
"Smiley, get rid of them quickly. Don't let them get inside the door. One monkey was enough for me, and I don't want to see more coming at me."
"As you wish my princess," Smiley replied.
"Don't call me..... never mind," Emma spoke, focusing on the computer.
.
.
.
On the roof of the bus, Smiley was standing. A group of four Golem monkeys had climbed onto the bus roof.
"So, so, which one of you will be the first to go see your friend in the afterlife?"
"Kiiiiiikkkk!"
"Oh, there you go, first one."
Smiley pulled a knife out of nowhere and smoothly cut off its head.
"And now, who will be the second___"
Before Smiley could finish his sentence, all the monkeys pounced on him and jumped towards him. They clung to his body and tried to attack Smiley with all their strength and ferocity.
"Oh hey, hey, this is unfair. How am I supposed to fight? I can't do anything," he spoke while the monkeys attacked him and bit him everywhere - on his legs, arms, even his head. Smiley's head was no longer visible, and his legs were writhing strangely. "This is unfair! This! This!"
"Just kidding, silly."
Smiley grabbed one monkey's head and crushed it mercilessly. It died instantly. He grabbed another, seized its arm and body with his other arm, and began tearing it in half.
"Kiiii, kiiikk"
Seeing this, the two remaining monkeys quickly retreated, realizing the futility of their actions.
"Oh, it looks like your two friends turned into tomato sauce, ahahaha!"
"Kkkki....."
"What's the matter? Are you upset? Upset knowing your enemy is stronger than you in every way? Or is it..." Smiley put his hand on his chin, his eyes slanting slyly.
"Maybe it's because of your dead friend inside the bus, the one I killed, like he was a bug? Hehehe, haaaaaa"
Contrary to what Smiley expected would happen, the two remaining monkeys stayed calm and began to adopt a strange stance.
"Oh, what's this? A new combo move? Or the ultimate attack? Let me see."
The two monkeys dashed, and the next moment they disappeared. The next moment, they were behind him, using their spear-like tails towards Smiley's neck.
Slash!
The strike landed successfully on Smiley's neck without any errors. However, the attack had no effect on Smiley whatsoever. The two spears shattered, and he turned to them with a sadistic smile even wider than before.
"Unfortunately, that was useless," Smiley spoke.
And Smiley's sadistic smile was the second last thing they saw before he threw their half-dead bodies from the train, and they saw it... they saw the little boy crying.
It was just for a moment, but they understood his pain without either of them uttering a single word. After all this torture and hell, they ended up soulless, metal scraps, trash to be recycled. One thought came to them about the mistake they had made in their lives before they fell and died.
"Well, I'm done here! Now__"
Ring
"Hey, that sound."
.
.
.
Inside the bus,Emma sighed upon hearing the ring.
"Finally, I managed to do it, but... we've gotten close to the factory again," Emma thought.
"Emma!" Smiley shouted.
"Smiley!" Emma screamed.
Ring!
"Oh, I made it start self-destructing! It worked! I never doubted your abilities... well, maybe a little, but not about making fireworks! Come on, let's go!" Smiley spoke.
Smiley looked at Emma and saw her staring towards the factory, which had gotten close to them. She looked down and started thinking about something.
"Emma, why are you standing like that? Come on, let's go. Our work here is done," Smiley spoke.
"Darn it! I'm going to regret this!" Emma spoke, focusing on her computer.
"Emma, what are you doing? Are you thinking of hacking it? Didn't you already make it self-destruct?" Smiley asked.
Ring
"Yes, but as soon as we leave here, the Golems will chase us! We have to use it as a means to escape quickly! I have to succeed in controlling it this time!"
"But isn't it dangerous? You'll turn into shish kebab if you fail, you know?"
"You can leave, Smiley! I might not succeed in this. Don't worry about me; I can get out of here if I fail."
"Okay," Smiley replied.
"The only reason it's possible to hack is because it was old programming from the nineties. If it's that easy, then the destruct command must be just as easy!" Emma thought, pouring all her concentration into it.
"Come on..... If I were a programmer from the nineties with limited knowledge, what code would be the opposite of the detonation code?"
Ring
"I'll put it somewhere in the margins. I need to focus well," Emma thought.
"I still don't understand any of this. How are you doing this, girl?"
"What the heck, Smiley!? Didn't you leave?" Emma shouted.
"Why would I leave?" Smiley asked.
"Because the bus is about to explode! I'm not sure if..."
"And this is calming you down?"
"I'm sorry, but I was busy in the middle of all this. I'm sorry if..."
"What are you apologizing for?" Smiley spoke, cutting Emma off. "This has been the best time of my life, and I won't let you leave like this. If you fall, I'll fall with you!"
"What makes you so confident?" Emma asked.
"Because I believe in you!" Smiley spoke confidently, looking at her and smiling. "...Even though I don't know what you're doing."
".....Thank you," Emma replied with relief.
Ring!
[Detonation in ten seconds]
"What?!"
"Wow, it's happening just like in the movies," Smiley replied.
9
"Darn it, I need to hurry!"
8
"Urgh, not this... wrong."
7
"I need to hurry!"
6
"No, no.... this isn't it!"
"Man, I can't believe it's happening now like in the movies. It really makes the situation exciting."
5
"I can't succeed."
4
"Why am I doing this!? Why am I going this far! This isn't me! I know myself; I'm cowardly, weak, stupid, selfish, and I run when I see danger. I'm not brave or crazy. Why does my body always move on its own? Why do I go this far..."
3
"Darn it, I'm doing this because he believes in me!"
"Hey, I found it!" Emma spoke as she pressed it.
Error
2
"No!" Emma screamed.
Boom!
Suddenly, a strange explosion occurred beneath the bus, shaking it entirely. Bullets flew out, creating holes in the bus. This completely shocked both Emma and Smiley.
"Waaah! Wtf?!" Emma shouted in shock, holding on tightly to avoid being thrown around in the bus.
1
"Oh, shit!" Emma cursed.
Ring
0
Ring!
"It's time to leave," Smiley spoke, grabbing Emma's hand, but...
Ding!
"Huh?" both Smiley and Emma responded, seeing that the countdown had stopped and nothing had exploded. This left both of them bewildered. The bus came to a complete stop when that sound was emitted.
"I actually.....did it?" Emma asked in shock.
"You did it?" Smiley asked in shock.
"I did it?" Emma replied, shocked and unable to believe it herself.
"Well, that was unexpected. I thought we were going to explode."
"Hey, the explosion is what caused it to malfunction and made me succeed."
"And speaking of the explosion, where did it come from exactly?" Emma asked.
They both looked out the bus window downwards and saw that a tree had been uprooted backwards, and there was a large crater with smoke. Amidst the smoke, there were a few scattered fireworks and ammunition.
"Oh, here they are, Emma! The weapons I told you about!" Smiley spoke.
"They were here?!" Emma asked.
"Yes, I told you I buried the weapons somewhere! Who knew they would help us at a time like this!" Smiley spoke joyfully.
"Really, these things ended up helping us in the end."
"I know, totally weird."
"So, we can finally rest___"
Ching!
Suddenly, pellets shot towards the right wall of the bus out of nowhere.
"Waaah, what now this time!" Emma screamed.
Emma and Smiley looked, and there were other Golems attacking the bus. They started climbing onto its sides, and the factory was a short distance away from them.
"Oh, for God's sake, can't you leave us alone for even a little while?!"
"I guess we're getting off the bus. It's a pity we won't get to use it properly; I was thinking of making it a Halloween decoration for my house," Smiley spoke.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Emma spoke.
"What are you going to do with it?" Smiley asked.
"Teach them a lesson."
/Entering commands/
/Elim.....
/Eliminate golems/
/Command executed/
"Whoooosh"
The Eldritch bus moved, swayed, and all the Golems fell. It stabbed them with its four limbs, lifted one of them, opened its mouth towards the Golem, and ate it.
"So, that's what it was trying to do to me?" Smiley asked.
"Thank God it didn't end up like that for me."
"You're exaggerating about that."
"I'm not joking," Emma spoke seriously, looking at the dying Golems. "It seems we will finally__"
Suddenly, about 20 of them emerged from the factory at once. When Emma saw this, she changed her mind 180 degrees.
"Nope, no thank you! I'm out of here!" Emma spoke.
Emma entered the commands, and the bus sped away from the factory. Smiley stuck his head out the window and started speaking loudly, "Goodbye, Talos! I hope we see you someday!"
"That's the last thing I would wish for."
Without realizing it, in the midst of all this, there was someone among the trees watching everything that happened with calm and curious eyes about these two.
.
.
.
Somewhere in the town, Marcus and Niles were standing in front of some people. These were the same unit Gustav had spoken about, and they were discussing something.
"What do you mean I can't enter the forest!" Marcus shouted.
"It's orders from Gustav. No police officer is allowed to search the forest. We are responsible for search and retrieval operations," the mysterious officer spoke.
"Why can't we enter?" Niles asked. "I understand they're orders from the superior, but we work here too. Is he creating tiers of discrimination among employees or what?" Niles asked.
"They're orders. It has nothing to do with what you're talking about," the mysterious officer replied.
"Really? Because it seems that way," Niles answered.
"We work in the investigations office, and it's our job to look into suspicious things," Marcus spoke, stepping forward. "I don't care; I'm going into the forest to see for myself."
Marcus was pushed and stopped by the mysterious officer, who placed his hand on Marcus's chest to push him back.
"What's your problem?" Marcus asked.
"They're orders. Only authorized personnel are permitted to intervene in the forest, according to the nature of the situation," the mysterious officer spoke in a cold tone.
"Oh, really? What if I give you a reason, a face, to let me in?" Marcus asked, staring at him angrily.
They were both staring at each other with intense threat before the mysterious officer decided to speak.
"Actually, you can pass if you want. I have no problem if you ignore what I said."
"Really?" Marcus asked.
"But do you want to enter the forest?" the mysterious officer asked, lowering his arms.
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked.
"Don't you simply want to go on patrol or go home?"
"What.... I... no," Marcus spoke, starting to feel a strange dizziness.
"Marcus? Are you okay?" Niles asked.
"Niles, let's go home," Marcus spoke.
"Yes?" Niles asked skeptically.
"Let's return.... to what we were.... doing.... let's go back," Marcus spoke in a strange tone as he returned to the car.
"Hey, Marcus, what are you doing? Weren't you just....."
Both Marcus and Niles went away towards the car.
"It works every time," the mysterious officer spoke before turning around, getting into his car, and sitting inside.
And there was someone in one of the streets, in a dark alley, leaning against the wall, narrowing his eyes, and leaving.
The situation was brewing... without anyone noticing.