The last human

Chapter 8

Dempsey watched in mild satisfaction as lead from the barrel of his Thompson tore through the rotten skin of the undead. Their rotten intestines were completely exposed, half of their torso and ribcage was torn destroyed; and blood was dripping from their wounds, drenching their ragged uniforms in a colour of thick red. He turned when he heard a zombie trying to climb, without hesitation he stomped the zombie in the face knocking it off the platform before sending a barrage of bullets at its face, tearing it's head apart. He removed his pistol from its holster, turned and took aim at a zombie that was slowly limping up the steps. He pulled the trigger, sending a single bullet in between the zombies eyes. The zombie was killed instantly.

It fell backwards before rolling down the steps, loud sickening cracks being heard as the rotten corpse fell down the stars, before crashing into a large group of zombies that were slowly making their way up. They were knocked over, and were quickly falling down the stairs as well; much to Dempsey's amusement. Grabbing a grenade and pulling the pin, Dempsey tossed the round objected into the large pile of zombies that were beginning to get on their feet. The familar sounds of deathly snarls escape the mouths of the undead as the grenade exploded. Turning Dempsey holstered his pistol and brought his Thompson into his hands.

He aimed his weapon down at the ground as more zombies came into view, and fired his Thompson in bursts watching as the lead tore the undead limb from limb. Jumping off a ledge Dempsey ran to another section of the factory. Reloading his weapon Dempsey quickly looked over his shoulder to see how far behind the undead were. He frowned as the undead were indeed following him, and they were catching with to him in an alarming rate! He took a right turn, entering a small lightly packed corridor that led outside of the factory itself. To the mainframe. He took two turns (left and right) that led him towards the doors that led him to the Mainframe, or another section of the factory.

Taking a right turn, and passing an open metal door Dempsey entered a small corridor that was filled with brains connected to spineal cords, and were surrounded by green goo. He shuddered when he first saw these, they freaked the hell out of him, and for good reason. Whenever he got close to the dammed things, he swore there was a strange sound coming from them. He placed those thoughts aside as he walked to a switch, it had a green light on it; which was surprising for him; most of the factory equipment wasn't powered properly. But it seems there was enough power to activate the electric barriers that was installed in various places in Der Riese. At least they won't be able to get through here for a while.

When he walked towards the switch, he pulled the lever which created a wall of eletricity blocking the entrance.

"Drawing power to laboratory."

The barrier should keep the zombies out for a few minutes at least, giving Dempsey valuble time to restock on ammo and buy new weapons to use. He still had two magazines left for his Thompson and three for his colt. He sprinted up the pair of stairs until he came across the old bridge; while rusty it was still strong enough to hold a lot of weight. On the otherside of the bridge lay a ridiculous amount of Bouncing Betties and a new type of explosive that he found rather... interesting. Nikolai called these devices "claymores", and after a brief discription of how they worked, he had to admit. He was impressed. And he was rather surprised when he found out that they were American made!

Slinging his Thompson over his shoulder, Dempsey stepped back until he was near the end of the bridge. Taking a deep breath Dempsey sprinted across the bridge until he was close enough to the explosives. He gritted his teeth when he leapted over the explosives. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't make himself scared, after all, he didn't want the last thing he'll ever see is his limbs flying in different directions if he happened to land right in the middle of the explosives. He grunted when he hit the floor, and he opened his eyes to see how far he had landed. To his surprise, Dempsey was only two yards away from the explosives. He closed his eyes in relief before getting he got himself back on his feet.

He unslinged his SMG (Sub machinegun) and turned his head upon hearing the familar sounds of the deathly growls, moans and hissing of the undead. Dempsey thought about taking 'em on, but he remembered that he only had two magazines left for his Thompson. So taking them on with low ammunition was really a death sentance. He wasted no time in getting inside, there was one door that led to "teleporter 2" straight ahead' and on Dempsey's right, was a staircase that led to the Hanger. He took the staircase' and scanned the rather large room with unease. The room was filled with barrel's, a single furnace and a massive hole in a wall right in front of his eyes.

"Takeo! Nikolai! Richtofen! You guy's here?" Dempsey called as he walked to towards a wall that had an outline' similar to the Thompson.

"We are here American!" Nikolai's voice shouted out from behind.

Jumping in surprise Dempsey shot around with his Thompson at the ready. He calmed down when Nikolai was in front of him, drinking a bottle of rootbeer. "Jesus! Nikolai never do that!"

Nikolai sniggered as he drank the rest of the orange liquid inside the glass bottle, before tossing it aside. The sound of glass smashing filled their ears as Nikolai beckoned Dempsey to follow.

"I know how much you like to 'blow things up' American. So, I went through that annoying disappearing box, multiple times to get you something, that I think you'll like very much!" Nikolai said chuckling as Dempsey gave Nikolai a curious look.

As he followed Nikolai, Dempsey soon saw Takeo and Richtofen standing in front of a box with a question mark on it. Near them was an advanced silver engraved weapon that Dempsey never seen before. Dempsey stared at the weapon curiously as the Soviet went to pick it up, and to his surprise, Nikolai handed the weapon to him.

Dempsey was clearly confused as he slinged his Thompson over his shoulder; and took the strange advanced looking weapon from the soviet. "What is this Nikolai?" Dempsey asked as he examaned every detail of the weapon.

"That, American, would be the M16 Assault Rifle. The American's made it in the year... 1961? I think... I can't remember. Far too much information for me to think about." Nikolai replied as he rubbed his chin, thinking of anything else that he might have missed.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Nikolai exclaimed with excitement. "That weapon has a grenade launcher attached to it. So, you'll have to figure out how to use it yourself."

Dempsey stared at Nikolai before looking at the launcher. The trigger was close to the magazine, and after a few awkward moments of trying to find the right way to hold it, Dempsey gripped the magazine with his left hand, slipping his finger over the trigger of the grenade launcher. At the same time he slipped his trigger finger over the first trigger that was behind the magazine. Grunting he lifted the Assault rifle so he could look through the sights.

"I like this weapon, awkward when you're trying to slip two fingers over the triggers at once. But look past that and well, you get a kickass looking weapon! I like it!" Dempsey said as he lowered the weapon. "I'll rename this weapon as... 'Skullcrusher'! Yeah, that sound's 'bout right."

Happy with his new weapon of choice Dempsey set the M16 to the ground beside him and leant against the wall. "We've been here for five days now guys. You must have had SOME sort of progress on those teleporters. Doc, can you give us an insight on the progress?" Dempsey said as he gazed to Richtofen.

There was a moment of silence, the distant screams of the undead echoed into the Hanger. It was quiet for two minutes before Richtofen finally spoke, "Ve have some problems with ze power Dempsey." The nazi began, there was frustration in his voice. "At zis rate we vould be lucky enough to even teleport to ze mainframe!"

Looking over his shoulder Richtofen scowled at everyone. He kicked the mystery box before fully turning himself to them. "Zis entire facility needs a large amount of power to keep it activated. And from what you have said to us Dempsey, zis place barely has enough power to even use ze Pack-A-Punch machine. Thank's to Nikolai here, ve might have to vait for another day or two' to gather sufficient power to use ze teleporters..."

Dempsey and the others quickly agreed to Richtofen's statement; but they weren't happy that they had to wait for a day or two for the generator to gather more power. After hearing an explosion, everyone grabbed their weapons and rushed to the bridge. Dempsey was the first one up, followed by Nikolai then Takeo and lastly Richtofen. Dempsey turned aiming his Assault rifle towards the bridge, and immediately opened fire. The others quickly followed his example when they were by his side.

Combined red and white flashed from the muzzled of their weapons lighting the dark room the four were in. The four opened their mouths to yell defiantly as the relentless hordes of the undead swarmed into the building like bugs, slowly forcing the group of humans towards the teleporter in the room behind them.

ooOOoo

The outskirts of Der Riese. Two days later...

The events at Warfang have been... interesting for Spyro and Cynder. Not long after Dempsey and the other humans vanished' whispers of an attack within the temple broke out. The first four day's after Dempsey's disappearance were filled with questions and suspicion from the resident's of Warfang. And each question about the attack, and rumours of Spyro being fatally injured during the incident was declared false by the Dragon Guardian's themselves. Spyro had to make an appearence before the gathered crowd that formed around the Temple to ease their worry for him. But on the fifth day, everything changed. They found out who was spreading the rumours of the "attack" on the temple. It turned out to be Sparx; who was exaggerating a few things from the incident.

His punishment: Spending four hours in Spyro's mouth, much to the dragonflies dismay.

But the damage was already done. Sparx had accidentally told a few residents that the attackers were the mythical humans, and by the fifth day' the rumours of real live humans spread through Warfang like fire. It was then the Guardian's (with Spyro's permission) told the resident's of Warfang of their discovery nearly two weeks ago, the human facility of Der Riese' finding a human soldier that was from the Second Great War. What they learnt from him, and eventually the "attack" on the temple was told next.

Within two days a small group of dragons' led by the Guardian's themselves were heading to Der Riese to confront the humans for the final time. But they themselves, weren't expecting complete and utter chaos. The Der Riese facility, was a battleground. They could hear the moans of the dead as they flew closer to the factory, and there was the unmistakeable sound of gun fire among the moans of the undead. The dragons hovered as they watched the events unfold below them. They were... at a loss for words; they couldn't begin to discribe what they were feeling. Fear, seemed to fit what they felt, but there was something else, something more. Terrified, they were terrified, but who could blame them?

"This is where we found the first human, Tank Dempsey." Terrador began. He stared at the dragons who focused their attention to him. He could see the terrified looks in their eyes; something that made him want to sigh in disappointment. But he withheld it. "And its likely he'll be found in this place."

"Among those things!" A green scaled dragon with dark brown underbelly called out in surprise. "Is this human insane!"

The others were quick to agree and were voicing their own opinions on the matter. Cyril interrupted them before things got out of hand. "Would you all please, allow Terrador to finish! I'm sure that we all agree that this human isn't in sane." He paused for dramatic effect. "But with the equipment the human has at his disposal, he'll be a rather formitable opponent."

Everyone looked down their jaws dropped in shock when they saw white sparks of eletricity suddenly emerge out of nowhere. A small ball of light emerged from the ground for a few seconds, then it vanished just as quick it appeared. Their eyes widened when they saw four familar faces get into position two facing the stairs while the others took the gaps to their left and right.

"Are those... actual humans?" A red scaled dragoness asked in astonishment. She looked at the Earth Guardian with wide eyes, waiting for him to answer her question. Terrador nodded which earned some shocked gasps and murmer's from the group of dragons. "When you said that there were actual humans within Warfang, I thought you Guardian's lost your minds. But seeing them here. With my own eyes..."

"American!" Everyone tensed when one of the human's looked up at them. "We have company from above!" The rest of the four aimed their weapons at the sky in relatiation. Snarling Terrador folded his wings together and fell to the earth. Seconds later Terrador encased himself inside a large boulder as he fell to the ground. Realising what he was doing, the other earth dragons followed his example by encaseing themselves in boulders, and allowed gravity to do the rest.

One of the humans shouted out in horror as the giant boulders fell from the sky, and they seperated in order to get a safe distance.

"CHYORT!"

ooOOoo

Nikolai shouted as he leapt off the mainframe; followed by Dempsey then Takeo and lastly Richtofen. The boulder's crashed into the ground again and again and again. Causing the ground to shake as smoke, rock and mud flew into the sky. Everyone coughed and moaned as they pushed themselves onto their feet; and gathered around each other.

"Everyone ok?" Dempsey asked his comrades with concern.

"Shaken, but fit for duty Dempsey." Takeo answered as he sweeped the dirt off his uniform in disgust. "What in the emperors name was that?" He said aloud eyes wideneing as the sounds of wings flapping against the wind was heard above them.

"Holy...Shit..." Dempsey and the others was staring in fear at the dragons who surrounded them on the rooftops around them. Quickly looking at the others Dempsey quickly gave the three an order. "Guy's, hold your fire. We don't need another enemy to fight."

Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen all stared at the marine with a look that said "Are you serious!" Dempsey then turned his attection when one particular Earth dragon flew into the sky, and gracefully landed on the ground. Two more dragons landed beside the earth dragon, and they were growling menicingly.

Nikolai nudged Richtofen in the shoulder in order to get his attention. "Doc, what are the chances of us getting out of this mess alive?" Nikolai whispered' as he kept his gaze on the dragons.

"On ze scale of one to ten? Three." Richtofen bluntly replied.

"That was rather blunt doc."

"Thank you for stating ze completely obvious Dempsey!"

"ENOUGH!" Terrador roared impatently, making Dempsey and the others to aim their weapons in defiance at the green dragon. "Everyone knows about you and you're people Dempsey. They know you exist now. There is no place for you too hide." Taking a step towards the humans Terrador looked down on them in disappointment. "Surrender, and we'll escort you safely to Warfang."

"What so you'll imprison us?" Dempsey shot back causing the dragons above to gasp in surprise. "Sorry Terrador, but we'll refuse you're offer!" Looking over his shoulder Dempsey smirked at his comrades as he tightened his grip on the Skullcrusher. They smirked when they realised what he was about to do. "There is one place we can go: The Past!"

"Ooh-fuckin'-rah!" He gripped the magazine of his Skullcrusher, and slid his finger over the trigger for the grenade launcher. He fired the launcher by the hip and watched as the small yet deadly explosive shot out of the weapon. Dempsey and the others ran when the grenade exploded in front of the guardians, and quickly made their way to the thrid teleporter as if their lives depended on it.

The dragons launched themselves into the sky roaring in rage, Dempsey turned and aimed at the dragons who were flying towards them at an alarming rate. Gritting his teeth Dempsey held his breath as he took aim at the dragons and dragonesses that flying towards him and his team. Firing in bursts Dempsey slowly moved backwards until he was near the Speed Cola machine, where he fully turned and sprinted through a small hallway.

Richtofen was now inside the building that contained the third and final teleporter, he looked over his shoudler to see if Dempsey and the other two were inside as well. He only counted two of them, the Soviet and the Imperial; Dempsey must still be out there!

"Takeo! Go and give Dempsey cover. Nikolai! Make sure no zombies interfere vith my work!" The Nazi barked, without arguing the two immeditally ran off; with Takeo taking position beside a window under the Catwalk. While Nikolai ran to the tunnel that led underground.

"Those scaled beasts will feel my wrath!" Takeo murmered, closing one eye as he took aim at the dragons. He saw Dempsey sprinting towards the building, with at least five or six dragons on his trail. Takeo scowled as he fired his AK74u in bursts, and growled in frustration as the dragons parted the bullet's completely missing them.

"Get that damed Teleporter working or we're dead!" Dempsey screamed before leaping into the building. He got on his knee as he looked over his shoulder. Yelling as the earth dragons encased in boulders were coming towards the wall of the building. "Get inside the Teleporter!" Dempsey urged.

"Dempsey it is not ready!" Richtofen complained glaring at Dempsey as he forcefully dragged both Takeo and Nikolai inside the teleporter.

"Don't give a shit Doc! Either we use that thing, or we'll be their food within the next three seconds!" Dempsey shot back.

Richtofen widened his eyes and quickly placed his right hand over a large red botton. "Here ve go!"

At the exact same moment Richtofen pushed the button the earth dragons shattered the walls and roof. Making the whole entire building collaspe. Smoke and rubble filled the room as everything came down on them, the dragons were save in their boulder's and were able to roll out of the rubble with little difficulty. The teleporter groaned as it began to collaspe under the pressure as a dragon got a lucky hit on the teleporter with it's boulder. Creating a large dent right above the swastika symbol on the teleporter.

The dragons gathered together as the watched the building collaspe in front of their eyes. They looked nervously at one another as they eagerly scanned the smoke for the earth dragons that caused the building to collaspe. There was silence for a short while until they saw the dragons emerge from the smoke. Terrador was looking at the ground with a saddened expression on his face.

"Terrador?" Cyril called out with concern. "What happened to the humans?"

The Guardian didn't look up. When he answered Volteer and Cyril sook their heads in disappointment. "A shame." Volteer began. "We could have learnt so much from those species!"

"What now Terrador?" Cyril asked as Terrador walked past.

"We go back to Warfang. And tell them that the humans were killed."

Without questioning him, the dragons took flight and flew back to Warfang. Cyril and Volteer on the other hand, weren't fully convinced. The one thing that Dempsey said, the one thing that echoed in their minds had them thinking.

"There is one place we can go: The Past!"

Volteer and Cyril looked back at Der Riese and wondered, did the humans manage to escape? Were they in another place entirely? It would seem, that until they were discovered again, they would never know...

To Be Continued...