Chương 98: 3.23 Run Through the Jungle - Creedence Clearwater Revival (

VeneratedWitchHunter What the hell Zeke? Why you gotta do us like that? The transcript ended with an explosion, screaming, alarms, and someone yelling "contact at the gate." Now we're all stuck sitting here, staring at the thread, waiting for you to come back and explain what happened. It's some bosheet. Before everyone jumps me, complaining that I'm saying the story is shit. It's not. I wouldn't still be hanging around if the story was shit.

I'm rightfully bitching about the fact we're all stuck waiting for Zeke to climb out of the active danger situation he stumbled into so he can give us answers to what's happening. OldManKiyote This has always been the weakest aspect of the story. It goes: Zeke survives a situation we all pushed him into -> he comes back and posts his entire story on this forum for us to read -> we get context, explanations, and a bunch of details we can all pour through to our hearts content.

But the drawback is we're getting events as they happen. It sounds exciting and new until you realize it just leads to cliffhangers every fifteen minutes. MoronicMnemonic F5 F5 F5 F5 Hambones Totes agree OldMan. The format is shit. It only works when Zeke is doing a shopping trip or something. He pops back on and posts an entire chapter of his fic for us to devour and we get to complain about his decisions and what went wrong and what led him to stumbling into another catastrophe.

But these fragmented updates are such bosheet. We get a few sentences, spend thirty minutes arguing, and then Zeke pops back in with a couple more sentences. All these major events are happening faster than Zeke can write about them. MyOtherPants It worked okay when he was in the Janus Storm. He was live narrating everything and it worked okay. Hambones | It worked okay when he was in the Janus Storm. | He wasn't getting shot at during all that.

With the explosion ending his last update, we're meant to think the base he's in is under attack. He can't really give us detailed updates now. Craaazzzzy | He can't really give us detailed updates now. | We can still help. That explosion had to be from that patrol vehicle he dropped in the last update. The timing is too suspicious to be anything else. There was a soldier busting into the room and talking about the patrol coming back with a vehicle all busted up. Then alarms sounded and the gate exploded.

I'm thinking someone turned the vehicle into a bomb or packed it with an IUD or something and drove it at the gate. It's probably whoever's been attacking the Pale Regiment soldiers and patrols in the area. FolkingSchmidt It's okay everyone, we can all rest easy. Craaazzzzy solved the mystery. It was a faulty birth control device that took down the gates. Wolololololo I'm with you Folking. That had to be what happened. Zeke with his Rockstar class means his c harisma reached peak levels.

He probably strolled out of the warehouse with some aviators on, waved to a few people, gave them the ol' twinkly eyes and smile, and every soldier within three hundred feet immediately fell in love. The resulting sexual shockwave blew the gates off their hinges. GlassyEyedPigeon | or packed it with an IUD or something | Normally I'd laugh and move on, but I've read enough of Zeke's stuff over the past month that I'm not discounting anything.

I will say that the more likely outcome isn't broken birth control, it's probably a bizarre monster attack. The Operations Officer guy was right when he said nine times out of ten the danger in the Deadlands is a large predator. Zeke's going to come back in two days with 2000 words written about what happened. Half the forum will complain that it contradicts established lore. Foppery will jump in and be like "achktually."

Footballish It's either the patrol vehicle being turned into an "IUD" by Corva or whoever else is attacking the Pale Regiment, Eaters popping off and starting shit, or we've got an entirely new disaster being introduced. PaperSnakes | or we've got an entirely new disaster being introduced. | It's Zeke. An entirely new disaster is basically his default setting. 10161066 | The format is shit. | To be fair, this has always been how Zeke's written his story.

He's always leaned hard on the premise that he's a real person posting about real things happening to him. If you accept that premise, you also have to accept that sprinting through an active combat zone while trying not to get shot is making him skip out on all the constant updates to the forum. Remember what happened with Binary? Zeke was trapped in his own premise there too. Sure, it hurts the pacing. There are a ton of times here where the momentum of the story grinds to a halt.

But I think if Zeke was providing perfect real-time narratives during a life or death situation, it would completely undermine what made his story popular in the first place. 7Spirals There's an easy solution Zeke can take: upgrade the Tech Slate. Seriously. What he's using right now is basically ancient tech. He got it from Riley back when he first got to The MIZ and he didn't have a bunch of cash. It was in a box with a bunch of other faulty Tech Slates.

The thing's survived monsters, cults, kidnappings, prison breaks, and everything else. The best option for him at this point would be to head to the Null Protocol side of the world and pick up a cybernetic upgrade. It would boost his ability to talk with the forum, which is his greatest strength right now. DataDatum False. His greatest strength is Performance. It's right there in the character sheet. Rank 7. ShivSays ^7Spirals. Yes Zeke, DO IT! Do it!

Get yourself a neural interface and some kind of direct thought-to-text system so you can post your updates without stopping whatever you're doing. The forum would love you for it and, let's be honest here, we deserve better. ClickWhirr More than just better updates, a new Tech Slate would let him post and upload images. Imagine us getting actual photos of all the places he's visiting instead of just relying on descriptions. Although, now that I think about it, that's probably a big mark against it.

The entire "I got isekai'd" premise is a lot harder to maintain when people can pour over the video frame by frame. We'd be able to tell all his photos were AI generated. MushroomCleric Holy hell 7, that's the worst idea possible for Zeke. The last thing he needs is direct, uninterrupted access to this forum while he's trying to survive. Think about it. Right now there's a gap between all our bad ideas and his poor decision making.

You put a machine in his head and get him posting 24/7 and he's liable to be fighting for his life while having hundreds of notifications popping up in his vision. Half the thread would be yelling contradictory advice at him, and the other half would be trying to convince him to do something stupid "for the lulz." Byte-Sized How's that different from what he's got right now? MushroomCleric It's a huge difference.

Right now Zeke isn't trying to fend off bandits while Crush is shouting in his ear "yo Zeke, punch him in the nuts." He gets an internal Tech Slate and he would die within a week. He'd be too distracted by all the nonsense people would be shouting at him that he'd stumble over a rock in the middle of a fight and get his head cracked in. CrushDaddyXx Slander! Perfidious slander! I can't remember which movie I'd heard that from, but it fits. I think. I would never deliberately interrupt his fights.

And I definitely wouldn't tell him to go for the nuts. The most I'd do would sit back with my popcorn and enjoy the show while offering completely reasonable suggestions that happen to involve violence. There's a difference. Z3ke (Original Poster) I'm alive and this will be short. Explosion at the gate and the base is under attack. I don't know by who. There's gunfire and shots. I'm headed back to the jeep to find Elnor and Jackie. Hambones See!?!?!? This is exactly what I was talking about.

Dood vanished for ten minutes and only came back to let us know the situation got so much worse. Then he disappeared again without answering a single question. UnhelpfullyHelpful It's nice that Zeke's first priority in this mess is to find Elnor and Jackie. Don't let Jackie die, Zeke!!! Whenever you get a waifu candidate in the story, she never survives longer than a single arc. BREAK THE PATTERN ZEKE!! Castellan_Mike (Primary) Zeke, as you can tell from my new flair, I'm the acting Primary for this arc.

Most people didn't want to step into the role in the middle of an active crisis, but I wanted to because I think I can be useful. It's obvious that your comms window is limited now, so don't waste your time writing long explanations. The next time you get a chance to post, focus on providing practical information. How many buildings are in the base? How many gates? Are the walls temporary or are they reinforced? Are there any watchtowers around? How about comms equipment?

You said there was a vehicle depot and some fuel tanks, are they nearby or in a different part of the base? Is there anything that stands out? The more information you give me, the more I can narrow down where you currently are. The sooner I do that, the better I can make guesses about the layout, the base's vulnerabilities, and even the objective of whoever is attacking you. We're currently flying blind. The faster you help me build a picture of the battlefield, the faster I can get you out of this.

TwoGirlsOneCuphead Since Zeke up and vanished and we're stuck in suspense purgatory, I think it's time to open up the betting pools. Pool One is for who is attacking the base. Pool Two is for how Zeke hopes to survive. Pool Three is for which song(s) he ends up using when he inevitably pulls out the Rockstar class. As always, the wagers are imaginary because Grave throws a hissy fit whenever we try to monetize anything on this forum. I've got twenty fake credits on Corva somehow being involved.

Zeke spent so much time on him and the House of Seasons over the past couple updates that it's obvious he's going to be there. Dood is the NPC equivalent of mold; whenever you think you've cleaned him out he shows up in another section of the story. PaperSnakes My money is on a bunch of mercs attacking, hired by Corva, and they're doing it for reasons that nobody currently understands because no one understands the Eaters. Zeke is going to survive by doing something completely idiotic.

It's been the winning strategy for the past few arcs. JimothyTheBarber Eleventy creds on the attackers being connected to the people who kidnapped him from The MIZ. That's still a dangling plot thread that Zeke hasn't clipped off yet. Fifteen creds on him getting dragged in front of the Pale Regiment bosses and involving himself in a military talk despite repeatedly telling everyone he doesn't know what's going on.

Wolololololo The smartest bet is always the dumbest bet with Zeke because his life operates according to comedy rules. I'm guessing Corva comes in and saves him at the last moment. For reasons. StoryLeech Let me get in on the song pool. If he's defending a military base, there's no way he's going to pick a song that's subtle and quiet. He's not going to pull out an acoustic guitar and start jamming to some John Mayer. My bet is he chooses something from the Gojira catalogue.

Loud and aggressive and turning the Pale Regiment defenders into John Wick. UnhelpfullyHelpful | turning the Pale Regiment defenders into John Wick. | If you're embracing the Wick, might as well go all the way. Forget about Gojira. Le Castle Vania has a ton of songs for Zeke to be using. VantaVoid Jackie is going to be the hero of the battle. WAIFU POWER REMAINS UNDEFEATED!!! PixelBaron Oh Vanta, bless your heart. All your imaginary money is about to go up in smoke.

The tone of Zeke's story is getting progressively darker through the updates. We're at the point where you can't automatically assume everyone survives. I don't want Jackie or Elnor dying either, but I'd be lying if I said the possibility isn't there. We've already seen Corva kill off both Pell AND the Blooming Witch. Jackie would make it 3 for 3. Plus, Unhelpfully already pointed out that Zeke's got the bad habit of "losing" anyone who gets close enough to inspire romance fanfic writers.

CrushDaddyXx Where's the pool on whether Corva villain monologues or not? There's no way a man who spent years body-hopping and conducting horrific experiments misses the opportunity to explain himself. If Corva appears, we're def getting a speech. NullSigil Castellan, let me drop some advice from Zeke's favorite Primary. You're doing it wrong. You marched into the thread, pointed out your shiny new flair, and then started demanding update reports. That's so wrong. First, you've got to introduce yourself.

Get Zeke on your side by telling him who you are and explaining why you're here and what you bring to the table. Think back to the previous primaries. I showed up and immediately established a rapport with Zeke through my natural charm and unmatched personal magnetism. Crush jumped into the deep end by trying to get him to do something catastrophically stupid, which led Zeke to cussing him out and earning himself a temp ban. Binary tried to get him killed. ReCoil… probably said something.

I'm sure it was very smart sounding. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. My point is that all the Primaries start by creating an identity to set them apart from all the other people braying for Zeke's attention. But not you. You just showed up and immediately gave him homework. Staniel Mmmm. Null is annoyingly correct. Tell us about yourself, Castellan. Castellan_Mike (Primary) I'm Castellan. Most people know me from the strategy boards.

I volunteered for this because I think I can help you survive the upcoming fight. Happy now? NullSigil Ew. No. Do better. Castellan_Mike (Primary) What do you want? Zeke, your problems are familiar territory for me. Outside the Fracture-verse games, I've always preferred FPS stuff. My favorite games are Brothers in Arms and Hell Let Loose.

I know that doesn't normally fit with the average Fracture-verse fan, but it'll be helpful for you because I've spent most of my life playing tactical shooters and mil sims. I like the coordination aspects of the games. I'm always the one who is managing info, organizing movements, tracking the objectives, and helping get people to where they need to go. I like building a picture of the battlefield and figuring out where all the pieces fit.

StoryLeech Did you really just cite Brothers in Arms as a reason for why you're a good military commander? Incredible. Castellan_Mike (Primary) I'm not pretending I went to West Point. I'm saying that I can organize the information and help him make decisions under pressure. Those are all useful skills for Zeke right now. JimothyTheBarber Can't be worse than some of the people we've had here cough ReCoil and Binary cough Castellan_Mike (Primary) Zeke, the next time you have a chance to post, give us information.

We don't know what outpost you're in. We don't know the size of the garrison, the layout of the defenses, or whether the attackers are conducting a raid, a siege, or a full-on attack. I need numbers. I need positions. I need anything that helps establish what kind of engagement this is. Lorem_Ipsum I think I've got something. [LINK] Some years back there was a thread in the Frontiers section talking about Pale Regiment logistics.

Most of the thread was focused on the supply routes in the area, trying to figure out how far their influence reached. But if you got to page 63 on the thread, you can find BlackCircleTree and he talks about the actual layouts of the base. According to BlackCircle, most outposts follow a standardized design. They're not all identical, but they've got enough shared features that people categorized them as "medium-sized logistics fort" and "large regional command outpost."

What would most help is if Zeke gave us a description that would match the forts that were built on old pre-Fracture architecture. Yo Zeke, take a look at that thread and see if you spot anything noticeable. MangoChutney You want him pulling up random threads while getting shot at? BaryBybax Look at all of us doing something useful. I don't know why Castellan is so thirsty about info on the base Zeke is stuck at… but I'll pitch in. NullSigil This is how cults start.

One day you're discussing fan theories with your friends, the next you know, you're reconstructing military installations and arguing about defensive architecture in order to plan attacks against THE MAN. InkWell According to the thread, fuel storage is kept away from the barracks and command facilities. So the question about where the fuel tanks are is kind of a moot point. SOP of the Pale Regiment is to put it off to the side. Castellan_Mike (Primary) That's useful Lorem.

Now we just need Zeke to tell us what he sees and we can plan out a defense. Z3ke (Original Poster) I'm with Jackie and Elnor. We're hold up in a storage shed. There's gunfire and people shouting for medics. The Pale Regiment is pushing back whoever is attacking the base. I think. I can try to answer questions while I'm here. Castellan_Mike (Primary) Don't worry about the attackers. You don't need to fight them yet. Just give us the layout of the base. Is there a tower? Is there communications equipment?

Is it a temporary base or something the PR built? Z3ke (Original Poster) Uh… it looks temporary-ish. It's more permanent than a camp but I don't think they really built onto that much. It kinda seems like it was an old base and they just added onto it. The walls look solid. There's a satellite dish thingy on the warehouse and I'm guessing that's the comms equipment you're asking about. There's only one big building and that's the warehouse.

There are a couple other sheds scattered around the place and that's where we are. The gate has a tower and there's some fuel tanks in the back right-hand corner of the building. Castellan_Mike (Primary) That narrows it down. The tower placement eliminates some of the smaller outposts and the comms dish eliminates others. We have a manageable list right now. You say that the base looks like it's built on top of another base? GnomelandSecurity (Proctor) Oh hey, look at that. I'm still the proctor. That's cool.

[LINK] Castellan, this is an. img file of the most likely spot Zeke is stuck in. It's the old Devro base. I don't know what you're planning to do with that, but it should help. SpicyShoyu Does that. img file look good to you Zeke? And if so, where are you hiding? North side? South side? Where are the attackers pouring in from? Z3ke (Original Poster) No idea. I'm hiding in a shed. MinMaxMike Oh, you fucked up Castellan.

You were hoping to create a professional intelligence operation to help the Pale Regiment fend off an assault, but you forgot that your field operative is Zeke. Z3ke (Original Poster) I poked my head out. There's a bunch of soldiers moving around. It sounds like the attacks aren't just coming from the front. They get one area locked down and then someone starts shouting and people race around and I've got no clue what's going on. Castellan_Mike (Primary) They aren't attacking from a single direction?

That's interesting. StoryLeech Be less cryptic Castellan. Castellan_Mike (Primary) I'm just saying it doesn't sound like a straightforward assault. If I was attacking the old Devro base, I'd concentrate my strength and focus on the front. With what Zeke is describing, it sounds like they're striking multiple locations. That means it could either be a raid OR the precursor to a big attack.

If the attackers aren't smashing into a single point and committing everything they've got to the assault, it means they're either probing the defenses or they already know where the important targets are and are just trying to cause chaos while they prep for the big assault later. MushroomCleric Castellan, I'm assuming you're trying to steer Zeke into somehow managing the battle? If so, that's a bad idea. The Pale Regiment already has commanders and trained defenders who know how to work together.

Zeke is just some dood who showed up on their doorstep before a full-blown war was set off. None of the creepy porcelain masks are going to listen to anything he has to say. Even if they were interested, and even if you did have experience steering squads through a battlefield, do you really think you can do that while playing telephone with Zeke attached to his tech slate? Castellan_Mike (Primary) Then what do you suggest? It's not like there's a lot of ideas being batted around right now.

I can guide Zeke through the battle, even with the gap in communications. MushroomCleric Doubt. Instead of guiding him, you should ask him what he wants. I think the big thing for him right now is to keep his group alive. Jackie and Elnor are counting on him, and no one in the Pale Regiment is going to give two shits to protect a bunch of randos. You should focus on making sure that Zeke and his team survive this attack. Then, and only if there's time, should you try and make a plan for winning the battle.

MyPrec0ius Instead of glazing Zeke, Mushroom is actually pointing out flaws in the plan. I'm with him in that things are moving way too fast for Zeke to be able to coordinate anything. Castellan, you should just focus on keeping Zeke and his peeps alive. RedRumRedRum Oh shit! I just realized that Zeke is without the strongest card in his class. All the fights he's won is because of setup time. He's basically a shittier version of Batman. He needs prep time before he's at all effective.

This attack dropped him into an active combat zone and he's been neutered. If he tries to use his Rockstar abilities, he'll be a sitting duck. He's going to be stationary, and that's NOT what you want in the middle of a firefight. ShivSays Chapel Pit -> standing there and Mikey had to save him. Back of the jeep -> standing there and Elnor had to save him. Janus Storm pod -> standing there and Jackie had to save him.

Castellan_Mike (Primary) Zeke, if this is the old Devro outpost, then there should be an underground tunnel system linking the base to the outer perimeter. It's unknown if the Pale Regiment knows about it or not. There is a decent chance that they built their base on top of the old one, and they didn't fully explore every section of the old outpost. If you can find the tunnel system and move your team through it, that should be a route that lets you avoid most of the fighting and escape.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Where's the tunnel? How do I get there? Castellan_Mike (Primary) If you're in the base we're thinking about, there should be an access point behind the large warehouse. You'll have to go searching for it. The entrance could be sealed, blocked, rusted shut, or buried behind years of neglect. Z3ke (Original Poster) Can a jeep fit inside the tunnel? Castellan_Mike (Primary) What?? Where is this coming from? Z3ke (Original Poster) I'm with Jackie and Elnor and I told them about the tunnel.

I explained that the base was built before the Fracture and blueprints showed an old tunnel leading outside, and Jackie nodded at that. Then I told them that, since we weren't with the Pale Regiment and hadn't promised to fight in their wars, it would be a good idea for us to just leave. Jackie was all for that, but I could tell she wasn't completely sold on the idea of a random ass tunnel. When I pressed her on it and asked her what she objected to, she asked if the jeep could fit into the tunnel.

So that's why I'm bringing it up. I told her "I've got no idea," and she just shook her head and sighed.

"We need the jeep, Zeke. Without it we won't get very far. The jeep's got our fuel, our supplies, and whatever else we managed to scavenge. If we abandon it here, we'll be on foot in the middle of the Deadlands, trying to escape whoever is attacking and walking our asses back to The MIZ." StoryLeech Dayum Jackie. She brings up a good point. Can you imagine Elnor and Zeke trying to survive alone? Elnor would be passed out somewhere and Zeke wouldn't know what to do.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Elnor said we shouldn't be arguing about the tunnel from inside our storage shed. And he's suggesting we at least check the place out and worry about the details afterwards. Uh… I know that this is a stupid question, but you wouldn't have any tips or tricks on making a way across an active battlefield while trying not to get shot, would you? Craaazzzzy SERPENTINE!! Castellan_Mike (Primary) As ridiculous as that sounds, it's not bad advice. Stay low.

Figure out where the attackers are shooting from and try to keep solid objects between you and them whenever possible. Keep your head down, move fast, and don't go looking for fights. Z3ke (Original Poster) Okay. We made it to the warehouse. The base is falling apart around us… kinda. I think the Pale Regiment are pushing back whoever the attackers are. A lot of the fighting is around the gate, but there's some attacks elsewhere too.

I'm hearing a bunch of gunfire popping up all over the place and I'm seeing Pale Regiment members racing around the facility. We got to the tunnel entrance. When you said a tunnel I was thinking it was behind some small maintenance hatch. It's not that at all. It's a straight up massive concrete opening disappearing into the earth beneath the base. The ceiling looks like it's high enough for vehicles and the walls are reinforced. Jackie took one look at the entrance and nodded her head and said "the jeep'll fit."

There is absolutely no way the Pale Regiment doesn't know this thing exists. I mean… the entrance is freaking massive. My guess is they've got the far end blocked or maybe they closed it off or something. GnomelandSecurity (Proctor) That's not good. Even if the far side is blocked, the entrance itself should be monitored during an attack. An underground route leading beneath a military installation is exactly the sort of thing somebody should be worried about.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Jackie is going back for the jeep now that she knows it'll fit. Elnor and I are gonna check out the tunnel. If it looks usable, we'll meet back up at the entrance and figure out what we're gonna do. Hambones What did I say? We gotta fix this part of your story Zeke. Z3ke (Original Poster) Well… good news and bad news. Good news is that I got a bit more info for you Castellan, about why the Pale Regiment wasn't guarding the tunnel.

Bad news is that you're gonna need to come up with a better plan to get Jackie, Elnor and I out. Apparently the Pale Regiment thought they'd dealt with the problem of the tunnel back when they built the base. It lets out about two miles away, and when they first started building their outpost they found the far entrance and collapsed it and buried it under a shit ton of rubble. I'm guessing they thought that nobody would find that entrance and, even if they did, they'd have to spend ages digging the place out.

Jackie went back to grab the jeep while Elnor and I decided to check out the tunnel. We weren't gonna go too far in, just make sure that we could drive through it and come out the other side. The tunnel was absolutely massive with concrete walls stretching away into darkness and the ceiling disappearing high overhead. I pulled out my flashlight and started sweeping the beam around and that was incredibly stupid of me because we were about a hundred feet from the entrance when gunshots exploded out of the darkness.

I say it was stupid because there I was with a massive light in my hand waving around and telling everyone where I was. I've been shot at before, back when we were racing away from the Chapel Pit with the Black Teeth on their motorcycles and jeeps and trucks trying to kill us. But now that I think about it, I don't think any of the bullets really got close to me.

They hit the jeep and that was terrifying as hell, but for some reason the Black Teeth were pretty shit at hitting a stationary target standing at the back and blaring music at them. The reason that I know they were shit at hitting me was because, this time, I could feel the bullets that almost took my head off. There was a crack like someone had snapped a giant ass whip right by my ear.

Then I heard a whistle and air slashed to the right of my head while I was stupidly standing there and wondering what the hell was happening. I didn't get to wonder for long because one moment I was standing there, staring into the darkness like an idiot, and the next Elnor had slammed into me. We crashed into the floor and slid behind a massive concrete support pillar while gunfire tore through the space I'd just been standing in.

Bullets cracked all around us and fragments of concrete were kicked up in the air but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the massive noise echoing through the tunnel. Tiny shards of concrete stung my face and arms while gray powder filled the air and my eardrums were blown out by the cacophony of noise. I wanted nothing more than to press my hands to my ears to shut it all out. Elnor shoved me further behind cover before leaning around the pillar and raising up his shotgun.

I can't really explain to you the horrible noise a shotgun makes when it's fired inside a giant enclosed tunnel. It was loud. That's all I can say. The blast rolled down the passage and then it echoed back at us and slammed into my ears and I went momentarily deaf. Elnor worked the (sliding thingy?) and fired again. Yea, I know that I don't know how to describe shotguns and what the sliding thingy is and fuck you for complaining because it was terrifying and I'm pretty sure I shat myself a little bit.

You try sitting in the middle of an echoey tunnel while guns are going off all around you. Elnor was doing something useful and I was just sitting there, wondering what I could do to help. Should I pull out my guitar and start playing? What song would work? Would playing right now just paint a target on my back? And if I couldn't even hear myself think, what would my music be able to do?

I wasn't carrying a gun and I wasn't a soldier and bullets were slamming into the ground all around us and all I could do was curse the fact that I wasn't as good at hiding behind cover as I'd hoped. I reached into my dimensional storage and pulled out my guitar and just sat with it while Elnor kept firing down the tunnel. My brain was stuttering and I couldn't think of what to do as my mind raced through a dozen different possibilities. Maybe there was a song I could play that would help Elnor focus.

Maybe there was something that would make him faster or tougher. But my mind was drawing a blank while the firefight continued all around us. Every idea sounded reasonable for about a second before I found a reason it could go horribly wrong. As much as I'd learned about my class over the past few weeks(?) I still didn't really have a handle on it. I hadn't had time to practice any of the songs and I didn't know what they would do.

My brain immediately drew up a piece of advice I'd heard in a movie or tv show or read in a book.

'A weapon you don't practice with and don't understand is worse than doing nothing.' I was saved from doing anything when Elnor glanced back at me and immediately saw me with the guitar. His face made it look like he was questioning all his life decisions that had brought him to this point.

"Zeke, run." I tried to explain what I was thinking but he cut me off.

"Run!" he screamed.

"Run right now!" I got up and started running. Elnor was at my back, still firing away at whoever else was in the tunnel with us, trying to cover our retreat. He stepped behind a concrete support pillar, fired a shot, moved to the next, and then fired again. Every blast forced the attackers to hesitate for a second, and their hesitation bought us a little more distance. Unfortunately, this wasn't an action movie sequence where Elnor could keep firing forever.

There's such a thing as limited ammunition, and after only a few more shots the shotgun ran dry. Elnor let it hang from his sling and he drew his pistol and kept firing as we raced back to the front of the tunnel. The tunnel seemed so much longer on the way back than it had on the way in. Every stretch of concrete looked identical to the last and I was wondering if the world was messing with my sense of distance and time.

Bullets chased us as we raced through the tunnel and I started thinking about the advice you all gave me. I began serpentining all over the place and I could hear Elnor call out behind me.

"What the fuck are you doing? Just run like a normal person!" I wanted to argue with him, but sprinting in a straight line for my life and trying to put as much distance between me and the attackers sounded like a much better idea. A few seconds later and I saw light ahead of us. At first I thought I was hallucinating, or maybe a bullet had caught me and I was bleeding out on the ground and this was the light at the end of the tunnel that everyone talks about.

Then the light moved and I realized it was headlights that were bouncing across the tunnel walls and lighting up the concrete passage. An engine roared and a moment later the jeep was right there in front of me with Jackie behind the wheel. I was so happy to see her, but then remembered that we were getting shot at by a bunch of people and Jackie had just driven into the middle of an active battle.

"GO BACK!" I yelled. She, thankfully, ignored me and just accelerated straight at Elnor and I as bullets kept cracking through the tunnel. The jeep stopped just long enough for both of us to grab on and try to throw ourselves inside, and then Jackie threw it into reverse and peeled out of there. Bullets pinged off the hood of the jeep and cracked the windshield and Jackie was leaning on the horn with the sound blasting through the tunnel and echoing everywhere.

It was loud and obnoxious and impossible to ignore and I wanted to scream at her to stop it because it wasn't helping. Then daylight broke and we were out of the tunnel and Jackie was still laying on the horn. Pale Regiment soldiers were all around us, having been brought there by the sound of gunfire and the jeep horn. The soldiers took one look at the tunnel and immediately understood what was happening. Muzzle flashes were visible deeper inside the passage and the Pale Regiment stepped up and started firing.

More soldiers arrived within moments and the entrance became a defensive line with rifle fire poured into the tunnel and officers shouting orders. The attackers tried to keep moving forward, but now, instead of chasing two randos down the tunnel they were running headfirst into prepared defenders. Engineers were called forward and the soldiers were still firing and Jackie and us were ordered back while demolition charges were brought in. A few moments later the charges were detonated.

The explosion sent up a cloud of dust and shattered concrete into the air. A deep rumble rolled through the tunnel as the ceiling collapsed inward and tons of debris came crashing down into the passage. When the dust finally settled, the entrance was gone and the attackers had lost their route into the base. And Castellan's escape plan had disappeared under a mountain of rubble.