How many desperate situations would an apocalypse survivor endure before simply thinking of administering lead to the head?
The answer might be terrifying to explore, one Megan was unwilling to entertain, but in the situation she found herself in, she couldn't help but think of the one who had saved her just a few hours ago.
Memories flashed through her mind: her friends, family, and loved ones. Tommy should be safe in the shelter with Professor Hendrick, but her father is... or perhaps was, a military man. There had been no news about him since D-Day; it was assumed that, alongside most of the military that day, he had perished fighting the endless hordes.
But to her utter shock, the one whom she had expected to never survive a couple of minutes in this world of monsters was her boyfriend... or rather, ex-boyfriend. They may have dated for five years, but how they ended things was rather heartbreaking.
She blamed herself for it; the rejection she gave him was almost too harsh, but it terrified her out of her wits. They always told each other they would spend a lifetime side by side, even if her father were to mobilize a black-ops task force to set them apart. But when things got too real…
BANG! BANG!
"OPEN UP, YOU BITCH! I SWEAR I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOU!"
Shots fired as the angry men outside shouted. She cowered on the ground as the bullets penetrated the wall behind her, sending paint particles exploding all over, but she still found the courage to stand up, aim her pistol through the window, and return the courtesy.
BANG! BANG!
"Bitch still got bullets! Dammit!"
"Don't kill her, fool. We need her alive."
Two men squabbled outside, but they were just two of a larger band of raiders. The rest were laughing and making nasty remarks about her:
"Come on, girly. You can still walk out of this alive."
"Lonely boys here didn't get to have a woman in ages. Might as well have some fun, eh?"
"HEY! GET OUT, YOU SKANK!"
"Stop wasting bullets, man. Keep her locked inside; she won't be going anywhere."
"I'll fucking kill her."
"You gay or something? That's a girl who walked in here on her own two feet. That's more feet than the one we had a whole month ago."
The situation was looking rather grim from where Megan stood. Even if she was one of the few System users, even if she had a "True Aim" rune, and even if she was an excellent shooter, there was little she could do with what she had.
Her stamina was stretched too thin after that encounter with the Gobzkin Gigant. A Star Paladin somehow materialized out of his fictional universe and saved her. She then managed to shelter her group in a nearby building. While the Gobzkins and the Hosts fought over the Gigant's corpse, they were surrounded once again. Adam somehow saved her, and she escaped with her friends, but she couldn't make it far before running into a critical situation.
Qasim and Toby may be the least injured of her group, but Sarah and Justin were still out cold. Even worse, they had developed a fever, and Sarah was now coughing blood.
Sarah's symptoms indicated an early, active Dark Host infection, which her immune system was still able to combat. Professor Hendrick's research suggested the infection likely originated in the bloodstream, implying her wounds were the entry point. Since antibiotics and antiparasitics proved ineffective in treating previous victims with similar injuries, the infection was determined to be neither microbial nor parasitic. Lacking proper lab tools to investigate its nature further, the pathogen was concluded to be extraterrestrial, yet thankfully, easily managed by the immune system.
The best medical option was to boost the victims' immune system with rest, warmth, and immunostimulants, such as multivitamins containing essential vitamins and minerals.
This was what led Megan to this situation. During their escape, their short-range radio picked up a nearby communication, the source of which was a Raider hideout. Assuming the hideout was probably stacked with medicine, Megan's first instinct was to hide the car along with her injured friends and conduct a one-woman infiltration operation into the Raider camp, much to the ineffective protests of Qasim and Toby.
She had to do it no matter what, since she had already lost half of her group to Gobzkins, and by the look of things, the injuries on Justin, Toby, and Qasim might well get infected within the next 12 hours.
Since her class was a "Thief," Megan never even questioned her ability and acted based on her high "Trick" score. Looking at how things went, she infiltrated the raiders' camp without so much as turning up a single speck of dust. However, just as she was about to loot the medical box located somewhere in the area the raiders used as a kitchen, something caught her eye, and she involuntarily reached out for it.
It was a blue and pink pamphlet from a medical center she had visited half a year back, with cartoonish baby patterns all over it. It was the very same day Adam and she broke up, and for some weird reason, this pamphlet was part of the nearby trash.
It seemed that those raiders had raided that medical center, and just the memory of that day made her mind go absent only for a second; that second was enough to turn the best thief into a cornered rat.
The raider's chef saw her peek her head; he was a rather large man, but his steps were strangely quiet, and when he tried to jump her from behind, she reacted faster than him, and...
BANG!
Brain matter spilled all over. Megan realized the gravity of her situation, finding herself almost at the deepest point of the raiders' hideout. She stood up, grabbed all the medicine she could fit in her duffel bag, but before she could come out, she was already swarmed and had to run into an even deeper part of the hideout under constant gunfire.
This hideout was a large mechanic's garage, extending further and containing many facilities; thus, it was convenient for the raiders to use, as they needed to keep their vehicles in order. But the last room was simply a secluded office, only accessible by metal stairs leading to a door, with a single window to oversee the entire garage.
Megan used all her might to seal off the door with heavy metal drawers. She took cover behind the window, shooting through it at whoever attempted to get close, but her bullets were running out, and her options were as well.
"Listen, girly. We've looted a police station a while back, and we've got some pretty fun toys: smoke grenades, flashbangs, you name it. I'd really rather not waste these toys on you, so you'd better be nice and not force our hands."
The voice that spoke last belonged to someone serious enough for the others to stop their constant murmuring—probably the leader of this group.
"Just..." Megan desperately tried to stop the man, weighing all her options, but frustration and desperation made her anger spiral out of control as she shouted, "FUCK!"
"Look, if you don't get out now, we'll..."
The boss tried to intimidate Megan, but it only made her lash out:
"Listen, asshole. I've got two bullets left in the chamber, so the first motherfucker who walks through this door will have it right in his head, and the second will be in mine!"
"..."
No response came after that for a while, but the raiders kept discussing things, and Megan could hear them. Some insisted on risking it with some riot shields, but they were also trying to get to Megan. The boss decided to wait Megan out, as there was no possible way for her to escape.
Hope was running out, and it seemed the raiders had left some of their members to watch the office while the rest went out to guard the hideout, expecting the thief girl to have backup.
This bought Megan some time, and as she was thinking of how to get her bearings together, she started searching the office for an exit—maybe a vent through which she could crawl. But as she went back and forth while maintaining her cover, she discovered many interesting things in the office.
She opened a closet that was built into a wall, and to her surprise, there was a large electronic device that she had become familiar with during her camping trips with her father: an Amateur Radio Transceiver, better known as a Ham Radio.
Just like that, an idea sparked—one of mischief and cunning that could only be brewed by someone desperate enough. Megan was familiar with the digital interface of the radio, and it seemed connected to a nearby antenna. It had everything she needed to call down disaster upon those unsuspecting raiders.
As for what came next, she could only pray.
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