Chapter Thirty-Two – Meat Thinking

Chapter Thirty-Two – Meat Thinking

“They’re like rats. Don’t corner them.

Both.”

–Mayor Laplace, 2028

***

“Reloading,” Grasshopper said.

“Got it.” I stepped up around her and shouldered my Bullcat. My railguns were smoking already, but they didn’t let up the fire, picking off stray antithesis on the edges. My own fire was more of a covering spray of lead that had some of the more skittish of the aliens backing off.

B.E.E.S. buzzed around in large swarms, falling onto any antithesis that didn’t look quite dead enough or piling onto the faces of the higher-ranked models to take them out of the fight for a moment.

All that racket played over the incessant drone of the resonators I’d left behind. The mobile base behind us occasionally joined in with a burst of machinegun fire or a shot from its big gun that kicked up dirt and threw a few of the smaller antithesis around.

“I’m set,” Grasshopper said.

I stepped to the side and stopped walking long enough for Grasshopper to take my place at the front and in the centre of attention. She was a better shot, and a better fighter than I was. She twirled around and nailed every bastard in sight.

“Area’s clear,” she said. “We have a few seconds.”

“Got it,” I said.

So far our tactic, if we could call it that, was to have Grasshopper move up, kill everything, then keep moving. I’d replace her at the head when she needed to reload or breathe a bit. Judging by the number of corpses we were leaving behind, the tactic was working.

“I’m going to set up another bee container,” I said. “Can you watch my back?”

“I will, no worries,” Grasshopper said.

I nodded, then sprinted out ahead and past the latest pile of dead xenos who were all merrily melting away.

Dropping to one knee, I picked up a B.E.E.S. container just as it dropped and set it off in a quick, practised motion. A fresh swarm rose up and joined the remnants of the last.

“Cat, model fours,” Grasshopper warned.

I spun, taking in a trio of those creepy tentacle fucks crawling out of the woods with their long apendages reaching out towards me. “God damnit,” I swore as I fired into the nearest. How hadn’t I heard it?

The swarm above fell on them, and I saw holes punched through them in time with Grasshopper’s shooting. The three fell.

“Probably an ambush,” she said. “They were waiting for us to reach them, but you ran out ahead. We’re going to have another wave coming… yup, right there.”

A dozen or so model threes shot out of the other side of the woods, shoving bushes aside and slipping through the tall grass before they sailed out towards us.

The mobile base opened fire while Grasshopper did the same, and the ground melted as it was caught between two deadly streams.

“Nice work,” I said as I stood in the middle of the road and waited for the convoy to reach me.

“Thank you,” Grasshopper said.

“This is weird, they’re just streaming in, but we’ve pretty much proven that they can’t reach us.”

Grasshopper ‘tsked’ and shook her head. “You’re thinking like an animal, Cat.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re thinking like a person who can think, like a mammal. When you see someone like you fail at something, you learn from their mistake and try something different. If someone tells you not to do something, you’ll consider it if they mention a sufficiently grand risk. We are animals.”

“Alright,” I said. I scanned the woods for more aliens, but couldn’t see anything. Then again, I usually only saw them when they were already charging.

Grasshopper gestured ahead towards the woods and the antithesis in general. “They are plants. They have plant thoughts. If something doesn’t work, just push harder. Roots can crack stone if they push enough. Sometimes they’ll find a route around a problem, but only by pushing at the problem from every angle.”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying. They’re still pretty stupid.”

“Let’s hope they remain that way. Stupid as they are, they’re still winning, aren’t they?”

That was sobering.