Chapter 22: Bringing Down the House

We ran out of the room as fast as we could, up the stairs and down the hall just as a resounding BOOM exploded behind us, but no sooner had we turned the corner then a band of triggermen appeared at the end of the hallway. Bullets whipped through the air, narrowly missing our heads as we fired back in kind, when at last, we managed to squeeze off a few lucky shots and blast a pair right off their feet, but it was no use, more were coming still, and with death ahead and death behind, we had no choice but to throw ourselves through the nearest door and shut it tight.

As we looked around, however, we quickly realized we had walked right out onto a balcony… in full view of the entire theatre.

We ducked down just in time as more bullets went flying, striking the wall where we had only just been. We huddled behind what little cover there was to be had, as rocks and bottles and hellfire rained down on top of us, the mob calling out for blood below. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, we were trapped once again, with no way out and no chance of fighting them all off…

"Shit!" I yelled over the rising madness, "What are we going to do? There's too many of them down there, we'll never make it out alive!"

"Oh, yes we will…" Hancock replied as he reached into his pocket and whipped out a small remote. Quickly, he began typing in some kind of code before carefully removing the cover off the back, revealing a large red button underneath.

"What the hell is that?" I snapped, but deep down I already knew the answer, "Oh no… No, no, no, no, no… Seriously Hancock, what is that? What on earth do you think you're doing?!

"Saving our lives," he replied with a mad smile, "Again."

"NO!" I yelled as I reached out to stop him, but it was already too late.

A thunderous roar split the night, shaking the theatre as it echoed throughout the room. Everything stopped. Like the calm before the storm, the raiders slowly turned their heads, a look of sheer horror on their faces as they watched the creature lumber forward, clutching at the collar around his neck as a thousand volts shot through his body like razor sharp knives. The beast screamed again, thrashing through the ramshackle shanties as he tore at his own flesh, until at last, he managed to rip the device from his throat and with that, let out another terrifying roar.

The raiders screamed, crying out in fear as they all stampeded for the door, but they never stood a chance. Within moments, the beast was plowing through them like a train off the tracks, crushing their bones and ripping their flesh as if they were made of nothing more than wet newspaper.

Bodies seemed to fly everywhere as he tore through the scrambling crowd, painting the whole room red in only a matter of minutes. The surviving triggermen blasted into the room, surrounding the creature before lighting it up in a fusillade of gunfire. Unfortunately for them, it only seemed to piss him off even more, the bullets merely glancing off of his thick and leathery hide. The beast let out another hideous roar, and before they knew it, the creature was ripping up a large support beam and swinging it around like a giant club, taking out whole squadrons in a single blow.

This was our chance.

We made our move, jumping over the balcony and onto the ramp below, we raced through the wreckage as quickly as we could, weaving and bobbing frantically through the theatre aisles as we snuck our way towards the door, but it wasn't long before we were spotted.

"THERE THEY ARE! A thousand caps to the man that kills them!" A guard called out, and with that, we made a run for it, jumping over debris and dead bodies alike as we fired wildly into the crowd. My heart pounded in my chest as we raced up the aisle, the exit so close I could practically smell the freedom on the air. Bullets whizzed passed my head just as another roar thundered throughout the room, when suddenly, something massive came hurdling above our heads, landing with a deafening crash into the balcony above the entrance. We watched in horror as the entire structure began to buckle and crack under its own weight, until finally, it collapsed.

"MOVE!" I cried, and we all dove for the floor just as a metric ton of stone, wood, and plaster came crashing down on top of us.

A cloud of dust and debris filled the room, stinging my lungs with every desperate gasp for air as I struggled to my feet. My ears were ringing as I fumbled through the fog, feeling my way around the massive stone heap where the exit had just been. Worse yet, I couldn't see the others anywhere, in fact, I couldn't see anything at all! The cloud was so thick that I could barely see my hands in front of my face, let alone make out the rest of the theatre, but as I tried to get my bearings, I quickly realized it was myself I should have been worried about all along.

A low growl suddenly caught my attention from behind, and I turned to see a massive silhouette rushing towards me through the fog.

"HU-MAN!" The mutant roared as I threw myself out of the way just in time, the beast plowing right passed me and into the pile of rubble like the two-ton wrecking ball that he was, but it wasn't long before he was back on his feet. He turned towards me, his face contorted in rage as he let out another vicious roar. I scrambled to my feet, racing down the aisle as the beast charged again, this time catching me off guard with a hard swipe from the back of his hand. I went flying across the room until I crashed into the bar, sending dozens of bottles smashing to the floor and leaving me dazed in a pool of booze and blood.

My head was swimming, my ears were ringing, and I was pretty sure I had more than a few broken bones, but hey, at least I was still alive… I managed to sit myself up before spitting out a mouthful of blood as I frantically searched for a stimpak, when suddenly, I found myself cast in darkness, shrouded in the shadow of the beast. A deep guttural laugh echoed throughout the room, sending a dark chill down my spine. As I looked up at the twisted smile glowering over me, I was petrified in place, a primal terror taking over as I watched the mutant grab a large piece of rebar and hold it high above his head, ready to deliver the final blow…

BANG!

A shot suddenly rang out from somewhere on high, the bullet just grazing the meaty flesh of the mutant's shoulder. The beast stopped and stared for several seconds at the wound, his ugly face contorted in confusion as the blood began to run down his arm, when another shot suddenly blasted through the night, this time finding its target and striking true. The creature howled in pain as he turned around, his beady little eyes scouring the balconies for the culprit that I had already spotted with ease. It was Fahrenheit, up in the rafters and saving my life. How she had gotten there, I would never know, but I thanked my lucky stars as she began to light up the monster like a Roman candle on the 4th of July, her armor-piercing ammo doing more damage than any of us ever could.

The beast snarled when he finally caught sight of the woman, grabbing the nearest rock and hurling it at the rafters even as she landed another clean shot to his chest.

"Yo, Burnsie!" I heard someone call out from behind, "That's your cue! Exit, stage left!"

It was Hancock, yelling out from center stage as he and Magnolia fought off the raiders from inside the Combat Cage. Ilya looked terrified as she fumbled with the platform controls, looking over her shoulder every couple of seconds and afraid of leaving me behind.

I certainly didn't need to be told twice… I grabbed a stimpak and stabbed the needle into my thigh, feeling a brief rush of adrenaline before racing across the room and onto the stage. I whipped out my machete and slashed a few raiders before reaching the door, but no sooner had I slammed it shut behind me, then the mutant realized he'd been had.

The beast let out a roar of frustration, this time heaving a hunk of concrete so large that it obliterated the balcony Fahrenheit had been standing on, but she was already gone, disappeared as mysteriously as she had arrived. The mutant was rounding on us once again, getting ready to charge as his coal-black eyes bored into mine.

We huddled together, standing on the stage as we hit the beast with everything we had. Hancock and I emptied our clips as Ilya continued to struggle with the platform controls, the mutant so close now I could practically smell the blood on his breath, when at last, we began to move. A horrible crash echoed throughout the theatre as the monster hit the cage, instantly becoming entangled with the sharp twisted metal. The last thing we heard was a howl of anguish before our heads disappeared beneath the floor and finally out of his reach.

We wasted no time, jumping off the platform and running out of the room as the mutant thrashed furiously above, his hate-fueled tantrum threatening to bring the whole place down. At last, Magnolia led us to a utility closet where, just as she promised, we found a large hole in the wall hidden behind an old metal cabinet. We ducked through just as we felt the ground begin to shake, followed by a resounding crash echoing above our heads, the whole theatre finally collapsing as the mutant's last muffled cries buried beneath a metric ton of brick and mortar.