Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 8 Rebecca and Pila
The scorching sun poured down on the boundless desert like molten lead, scorching and distorting the air.

A Goodwood SUV, modified multiple times and now billowing black smoke with its rear bumper drooping miserably, is like a dying drunkard, frantically bouncing and struggling among the sand dunes.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Rebecca Kuch slammed her fist on the steering wheel, the horn blaring a hoarse, broken wail, creating a bizarre contrast with the violent rage emanating from her petite frame.

His light green hair was soaked with sweat and clung to his forehead. His beautiful face was now covered with dust, oil, and an almost palpable rage.

"This piece of junk is about to break down again! Pila! Did you even fix it or not?!"

"I'm working on it, little sister! I'm working on it!" In the passenger seat, the tall and thin Pilar—Pila—wearing exaggerated goggles, had almost half his body leaning into the engine compartment, futilely trying to tighten a connector that was constantly emitting acrid blue smoke with a pair of multi-functional pliers in his hand.

"But those bastards from the Chaotic Blade Society have eyes for bullets! The radiator is practically riddled with holes! It's a miracle they even made it this far!"

“A miracle? To hell with miracles! I want us to get out of this hellhole alive!” Rebecca roared, slamming the accelerator into hell again. The engine emitted a tooth-grinding metallic screeching sound, the revs soared, but the car’s speed remained unchanged.

"If you hadn't failed to investigate when you took that lousy job, and found out that the 'goods' were the leader of the Chaotic Blade Gang's secret stash of 'sweethearts,' would we have been chased like two wild dogs that had been shot?!"

“Hey! Let’s be reasonable! The reward was blindingly high! Who would have thought that bastard would have such a good memory, and one of his underlings even recognized my car!” Pila shouted back, feeling aggrieved, but her hands didn’t stop moving. “It seems… things are a little more stable for now? But the coolant is leaking like a burst dam! We can’t hold on for more than a few minutes!”

Behind their car, on the distant horizon, several menacing columns of dust and smoke not only failed to dissipate, but instead approached at an alarming speed, like hyenas that had smelled blood.

Those were three armed pickup trucks fitted with crude armor plates and heavy machine guns—pursuers from the Chaotic Blade Society.

"Damn it! It won't leave you alone!" Rebecca saw the ever-growing shadow of death through the cracked rearview mirror and was so angry that she almost ground her teeth to powder.

She jerked the steering wheel, and the SUV hurtled wildly down a steep sand dune. The violent jolts nearly threw the wrecked vehicle off the ground, as she tried to use the complex terrain to shake off her pursuers.

Pila was slammed against the car window by the immense force, her goggles askance: "Ouch! Be gentle! Little sister! My natural bones aren't as durable as your prosthetics!"

"Shut up! Check the ammunition!" Rebecca yelled, while anxiously rummaging in the pocket of her combat suit.

Her pistol magazine was almost empty, and her most trusted "Okama" shotgun had also fired its last slug in the previous desperate firefight.

Pila quickly rummaged through an open weapons case in the back seat, her face instantly falling: "Not much left, little sister. At most, enough for one more round of short bursts, provided they don't get too close... And don't forget, the heavy machine gun has been jammed and stopped working for a while now."

He patted the silent heavy machine gun on the roof of the vehicle.

A chilling despair, like a venomous snake, quietly coiled around their hearts.

Vehicles on the verge of collapse, ammunition depleted, and relentlessly pursuing and determined enemies—everything points to the same dark end.

"Damn it!" Rebecca spat out the word through gritted teeth, her eyes slightly red, but more so than fear, it was the fury and resentment of being driven to the brink of despair. "Am I really going to die in this godforsaken place? Get riddled with holes by a bunch of mad dogs?"

Pila paused for a few seconds, a rare occurrence. He adjusted his goggles, his voice lower but carrying an unusual firmness: "No, little sister. I will never let this happen."

His gaze swept eagerly ahead, then suddenly pointed to a distant outline swirling and twisting in the heat. "Look! Over there! It looks like an abandoned town!" Rebecca squinted, her eyes stinging with sweat, and looked.

Sure enough, on the scorching horizon, a cluster of low, dilapidated buildings appeared faintly like a mirage.

"Drive over there!" Pila practically yelled, suggesting. "Maybe we can hide there! Or find something useful, even just a place to fix the car!"

This is the only straw to grasp in despair.

Rebecca no longer hesitated, squeezing out the last bit of life from the off-road vehicle, and steered it into a final charge towards the ruins.

The engine let out a mournful groan of extreme frustration and then stalled completely.

The vehicle, propelled by inertia, slid miserably down the last sand dune, its front end crashing violently into the ruins of a half-collapsed house on the edge of town. It finally came to a stop with a screeching metallic scraping sound, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Quick! Get out of the car!" Rebecca kicked open the deformed car door, grabbed the almost empty gun, and jumped out.

Pila hurriedly grabbed his tool bag and the light ammunition box, and followed closely behind.

Behind them, the roar of the engines of the Chaotic Blade Society's pursuers could be heard atop the sand dune, like the mocking approach of death.

"Get into town! Find a place to hide!" Rebecca shouted, her petite figure bursting with astonishing speed as she rushed toward the nearest deserted street.

Pila followed closely behind, panting heavily, glancing back nervously every now and then.

They rushed into the desolate ruins of the town, relentlessly eroded by wind and sand, their hearts pounding so hard they felt like they were going to burst out of their chests, their lungs burning as if they were inhaling flames.

The sound of the pursuing vehicles abruptly stopped outside the town, followed by chaotic and malicious footsteps and shouts—the members of the Chaotic Blade Society had gotten out of their vehicles and chased into the town.

"Over here!" Pila, with her sharp eyes, suddenly grabbed Rebecca and pointed to a relatively intact building ahead.

It was a garage, and the entrance appeared to have been crudely reinforced with heavy metal plates. "That door! It looks sturdy enough!"

The two rushed toward the garage door blocked by a metal panel. Rebecca slammed her shoulder into the door, which made a dull thud but didn't budge.

"Damn it! It's locked! Or blocked from the inside!" She slammed her fist on the cold metal in despair.

Pila anxiously looked around and soon discovered a hole in the side wall near the ground, formed by corrosion or impact, just big enough for one person to squeeze through.

"Here! Little sister! Quick!"

Behind them, the shouts and footsteps of the Chaotic Blade Society members grew clearer and clearer, and they could even hear the "click" of gun safety being released.

(End of this chapter)