To Run Away...

Chapter 8

   They were now approaching the shoreline.

  "Ok, activate your invisibility." Ivan ordered. "Expect a huge number of troops waiting for us on shore."

  "Mmm hmm."

   And so they did. By the time they stood up, they were completely invisible to the personnel carriers that were just now arriving on the beach. The two began to sprint past the vehicles as they began to open their doors to deploy the troops.

   It didn't take long before they reached the first building across the street. It was a small abandoned office building. And the evidence for that was on an "OUT OF BUSINESS" poster that was planted on the front door.

  "Let's get in" Ivan ordered as they uncloaked themselves.

   Haystack nodded in agreement as Ivan kicked the door open. Once the two were inside, they found an empty waiting room beholding them.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep...

  "You hear that?" Ivan asked, looking around to find the source while Haystack did the same.

   Quickly, they noticed that the beeping noise was coming from one of Haystack's pockets.

  "Uh, 'ah think it's the key." Haystack took his oxygen mask off of his muzzle before reaching into the pocket.

  "Oh, huh, I forgot." Ivan then took his own mask off and put it away. "Anyways, key?"

   By then, Haystack had a golden cut key in between his teeth. "Hrr."

   Ivan grabbed the key and slid it out his mouth before looking at it. The key had a ring connected to it with a miniature flashing red ball attached. It also had the letters BB branded on both sides.

  "Hmm, looks like this is some sort of homing beacon. And it looks like we're close by."

   They rummaged through every empty room in the building before the ring began to beep more frequently as they reached a room on the third and final floor.

  "Looks like we're close."

   They entered the room, that's when the beeping rate increased even more. Ivan placed the key in front of him until the beeping turned into buzzing once the key was in range of a keyhole.

  "There it is." he said before walking up to it.

   The key cut to silence once he inserted it inside. After twisting it to the right, it unlocked, revealing the edges of a small safe door.

  "Hmm."  He opened the door. Inside, was a bag of money, and they could tell because the bag had a currency symbol on it. "Ugh, well at least it's better than nothing."

   He then faced Haystack. "Where did you get the key anyways?"

  "Found it at the pet store while Davey was giving us weapons and water."

  "Oh, that explains the BB print. And speaking of water..." Ivan got out a water bottle and began to drink it all. While doing so, he felt a cold sensation in both his hands and throat; as if he was holding and drinking snow. And it lasted until every drop was swallowed. "Brrr, chilly."

  "And whah'd ya do that?"

  "Recharging my dice, of course."

   He then grabbed the satchel and put it on the floor before unzipping and opening it. The bag in the safe would be next before it was untied from the rope that held it closed. After that, he pretty much dumped the golden coins in with the package.

  "Hey, have you noticed that the package didn't get damaged? Ivan then put the money bag down.

  "Whaddaya mean?"

  "Remember? We were underwater."

  "So the satchel is waterproof." Haystack sighed. "We Equestrians dream of that technology."

  "Yeah, hope it doesn't turn to jealousy."

   Haystack nodded, because it was true.

   Ivan zipped it closed before he placing the strap on his shoulder. While doing so, he noticed something. "Huh, they're not even heavy in the satchel."

SNAP!

   Haystack felt something break underneath his right hoof as he stepped forward. After lifting it, he noticed that one of the coins were broken into pieces.

  "That's because the coins aren't actually made of gold."

  "Yeah." Ivan picked one of the pieces up and observed it with his fingers and eyes.

"Bottle caps, to say the least."

  "No wonder they denied rights for that gold mine." Ivan noted as he watched Haystack. "They had another way to make money."

  "Ugh." Haystack shook his head at the realization. "This place is gettin' weirder and weirder."

  "I guess it is."

   They then exited out an opening in the wall of a room on the first floor. Once outside, they found themselves in another alleyway where on one of the buildings, was a vending machine.

  "Ah'van, what's that?" asked Haystack, pointing at the machine.

   Ivan then looked at it.

  "Hmm, a vending machine." And so they walked over there.

   Upon reaching it, Ivan realized that it looked more like a slot machine. Haystack on the other hand, just wondered how it worked.

   On the screen, was the seal of Danville. That's when a voice coming from the speakers on the upper right part of the machine announced in a chirpy male tone. "Hello there sir, or madame! Welcome to the mini-store of Power! The place where you can upgrade your combat and medical abilities to better levels!"

  "Huh, not what I wanted, but at least their money isn't useless to us."

   Haystack nodded.

  "Please make your purchase by selecting your wanted item!"

   The seal disappeared to reveal a rectangular shaped grey button with the words "Cloak recharge" over it in white. At the far right of the button, it stated that it costs two hundred and fifty to purchase.

  "Well I'll be." Ivan said, impressed at the upgrade before pressing it with his thumb.

  "Ah'van?" asked Haystack once something crossed his mind. "Shouldn't we hurry up? Ah mean, troops maght know we're here."

  "Ugh, Haystack..." Ivan shook his head in disbelief. "Do you hear that?"

   The pony perked his ears up to hear what's outside their position. All he could hear was the sound of military vehicles rolling around town and troops marching and giving out orders.

  "Yes 'ah do."

  "Good, so don't expect troops to be coming over here."

  "Yes sir."

   Ivan then returned to face the screen, only to find that it had a message underneath his selection, which read,

                                                 You know: You can add an extra pill to your purchase

                                               if you are buying one for your friend and one for yourself.

                                                                             (Ten credit fee)

                                                  DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED WITH THE OFFER?

                                                                                -YES-/-NO-

  "So not only can I add another pill to my purchase, but it seems that Roger uses the term, 'credits' as their currency name.

  "Ugh, just press yes." Haystack moaned, growing impatient.

  "Alright." Ivan replied, annoyed at his remark.

   He pressed the 'Yes' button, causing the message to disappear. The voice would then return due to this,

  "Please use the eye scan to confirm that you both have the DNA necessary to make your purchase."

   They heard a mechanical buzz before as the eye scanner flipped over to face them.

  "Alright.' Ivan repeated, only calmer. He leaned forward and placed his right eye in front of the scanner. In a split second, a vertical line of green light would fly over it, scanning his eye. After that, he heard a beeping sound which signaled the machine's approval. "Ok, your turn Haystack."

  "So you just put y'er 'ah in front of that?"

  "Yep." He nodded.

  "Looks simple enough."

   Due to his size, he was able to reach the scanner without lifting himself up. The green light would pass over before there was a loud buzz as if someone got the wrong answer on a game show. It would then be followed by the voice saying, "I'm sorry, your DNA doesn't meet our requirements."

  "Looks l'ahke Equestrians aren't on their list."

  "Ya think?"

  "This means we will downgrade your purchase. Sorry about that." Then, a metal bin slid out of the bottom area. "Please dump the money needed for your purchase here!"

   And so, without question, he grabbed the satchel and opened it. Upon doing so, he took the package out and told Haystack to hold onto it. He agreed and slipped onto it with his teeth. Ivan then proceeded to do as he was told. The screen began to display the money count, the number ascending with each coin hitting the bottom. Then, when it reached two fifty, the bin snapped back inside with a clap, making them jolt back.

  "Hrrh, crrpy ersh mrchine." Haystack muttered as some of the coins dropped onto the ground.

   They suddenly heard sawing noises coming from inside the machine. Then, there was a thunk before the bin snapped back open with a small yellow case and the coins gone.

  "Have a nice day, sir!"

  "Sweet." Ivan said as he grabbed the case and opened it. Inside, was a yellow and red pill. And so, he went on to swallow it with water of course. And while he was at it, he decided to drink it all in order to recharge his dice.

   Then, upon emptying the bottle, he felt dizzy, and his vision would flash bright yellow as he heard a loud crack in his ears.

  "Damn." He muttered as he recovered from the episode.

  "Er, Ervrn, yr frrgrt thsh." Haystack said as he held onto another Vita with his teeth, the package and scattered coins back in the satchel.

  "Oh, thanks."

   Ivan then took the Vita from his mouth and pressed the on button. After doing so, the grey screen returned and so did the silhouetted man. The words, "CLOAK RECHARGE" appeared underneath as French accordion music played.

  "Cloaking has been enabled to recharge." The woman announced. "Which means that while visible, your cloaking ability will go back up to three minutes."

  "Ugh! Well no shoot Sherlock!"

   The slide then cut to a warning sign. "Warning: If you choose to cloak before charging back to three minutes, then your power will dwindle from there. Second Warning: does not work when the cloaking pill is completely drained... Have fun comrade!"

   The end tagline appeared before the music and visuals turned off completely, causing Ivan to throw the Vita against the wall behind them.

  "Egh, what a waste of Vitas. C'mon, let's go." Ivan said before zipping the satchel closed and placing the straps over his shoulder again.

   After walking away from the machine, they went through an alleyway to their right. At the end of it, they found themselves just two blocks away from the artillery cannon that nearly took them out, along with hordes of troops guarding it.

  "So how do you expect us to pass that?"

  "We're not fighting any of these bastards that's for sure."

   He began to look around to find a way. That's when he found a large ladder that stretched from their position up to the top floor of the building it was on.

  "Looks like we're doing more parkouring. C'mon."

   And so, he began to climb with Haystack right behind him.

Static!

  "Ah'van, are ya there?" Troy asked, causing Ivan to take the walkie talkie out.

  "Yeah. Anyways, where is this shelter you offered us?"

  "Uh huh, about that?"

  "I'm listening."

  "There's a reason you need to fight your way through it."

  "And that is."

  "Blow up the artillery shells and one of my resistance buddies will come out and light a flare amidst the smoke."

  "Uh, won't that hurt any civilians? I mean the blast will be big."

  "Yeah, there's a reason you need to fight your way through it."

  "So, what is it?"

  "They were evacuated in case that happened. Oh, and the only way to  the shelter is underground by the way."

   By then, the two were already on the rooftop. They could even feel the cool breeze run past them.

   He sighed, "Good to hear. Anyways, we'll blow it up in no time."

  "Good. Troy out."

Static!

  "Ok then. Let's blow that up. Here you go Haystack."

   He tossed him the sniper rifle.

  "What? But whah me?" Haystack complained.

  "Since you couldn't take the cloak recharge pill, I think you'll find it useful."

  "Yeah but, can't ya just use yer grenade launcher?"

   Ivan facepalmed. "Haystack, grenades make an arch when they're fired. So the possibility that one of the grenades will hit the shells is one in six. Also, the more grenades are fire, the more likely I'll get shot."

   Haystack knew he couldn't let that happen. "F'ahne."

   He lifted the rifle and looked through the scope, aiming for one of the shells that lied next to the cannon.

F-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f....

  "Crap!" Ivan muttered as he heard the sounds of an attack chopper in the distance, "Hold your-"

BLAM!

BOOM!

   That explosion was followed by more explosions, smoke that stretched for at least two and a half blocks, and cries for help.

   Rat-at-at-at-at-at...

   Bullets began to hit the rooftop, missing them by inches.

  "Damn it! Let's get the hell out of here!" Ivan ordered, causing Haystack to follow him as the chopper flew over them.

   They then slid down the ladder, and landed on the gravel. Ivan then got out his pistol while Haystack got out his M16 once they went out into the street.

  "Ah *Ahem* Ahvan, ah *Ahem* can't see!" Haystack coughed as they ran through the smoke, their eyes releasing tears due to the smoke's sting.

  "*Ahem* Me neither, but-"

   Suddenly, they felt someone bump into them, and due to that, they fell onto their bums. In front of them were two pairs of red lighted goggles, ascending before their eyes. Then, without freaking out, they shot them where the bullets will kill them before quickly grabbing the goggles and putting them on. Upon doing so, they were able to see clearly even though everything was red now. The first thing they saw was one of the sandbag levees. So without hesitation, they ran towards it and used it as cover while putting on their oxygen masks.

  "So, do you think they know where we are?"

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at...

Tw-tw-tw-tw-tw-tw-twang...

  "Obviously!" Haystack replied as bullets pounded onto their cover.

   Suddenly, they heard a loud pop and a whining noise in the distance. They looked up to find a flare in the air.

Static!

  "Ivan, get moving! My forces will cover you!"

Static!

  "Alright, you heard 'em! Let's go!"

   They then got up and vaulted over the levee. While doing so, Ivan fired a blast of liquid nitrogen onto one of the soldiers, creating another glacier for them to use as cover. Once their feet touched the ground, they ran towards it, taking out three soldiers each without getting hit.

BOOM!

   The ground began to shake again as the smoke cleared, causing them to fall down. Looking behind them, they found the same robotic soldier from before looking at them with those glaring eyes.

"I have you know!" The machine yelled.

  "Crap!" Ivan yelled before he switched to the M79, "Cover me Haystack!"

Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwop! BOOM!

   They ran past the small glacier as the grenades exploded on the robot's body armor.

   On the other side, the rebels (Wearing mostly beige) started to fire smoke bombs before dealing with the other enemy forces. On the other hand, the one's armed with the RPG's helped Ivan with the robot.

  "Fall back!" One of the rebels yelled in a raspy tone once the two reached the white smoke.

  "This way, another rebel ordered them to go by pointing at a manhole to the sewer.

   Meanwhile, the robot had enough.

"No More!" It yelled as it was being pounded by explosives. And so, the robot got out its rocket launcher and fired at the group, destroying everything within the blast radius. Ivan and Haystack on the other hand, were flown into the air, screaming. It was only out of luck that that made them fall into the manhole and into the sewer below.

  "Ow!" Ivan muttered after hitting his head on the fall.