Torchworld: Outsiders Collection Read Free

you out like a bad tasting fruit.  Bad fruit, what a funny way to put it. I did feel rather spit out, sometimes.
    The sky burned a deep orange as the sun set, so I started to pick my way down the cliff side to a spot underneath a rocky outcropping, in the shadows. Still a good view of today’s open patch if anything came out. Or flew out, loved it when they flew out. The noises people made were hilarious. Markin told me not to laugh at people’s pain, but I couldn’t help it. Watching a screeching human come flying out with their limbs flailing, sometimes aflame and smoldering like a burnt out firecracker. What wasn’t hilarious about that?
    The mental image of it set me to fits of giggles. I tried not to make too much noise as I descended, the cliffs echoed sound through the valley clear as a bell.  Creeping closer to the patch, I found a nice spot in the tall brush grass and settled down on my belly. The cliff loomed overhead, giving me a great deal of shade cover. Even without it, the sky was darkening quickly. I hadn’t realized how long it took to get back down the rocks, but no matter. I pulled out my scanner, the screen showed me where a patch of the wall was slowly weakening, a stone’s throw away from where I lay in the grass.
    “I feel like a giant snake,” I said into my communicator button. A high pitched giggle answered me on the other end of the line.
    I hissed into the button, and the giggling grew louder. I chuckled. “Shush. The walls have ears.”
    Some snorting and suppressed giggling, interrupted by the line going silent a few times.
    “Sorry Psycho. The image of you as a snake is just hilarious. I was thinkin’ of this giant purple snake with-”
    “Don’t call me that,” I said, cutting her off. “Just wait for my signal, ok? And shut up you fuckin’ candlestick!”
    The giggling stopped. “Um, sorry. The others called you that, I thought it was ok and-”
    “I’s not ok. And stop listening to gossip if you want to survive around here.”
    “Yes Psyc- ma’am Sorry ma’am.”
    The line went silent once more. Just as well, my scanner showed a nice big hot patch on the wall. An lo and behold, a human heat signature lurking about. We watched him pace back and forth, scanning the wall with one of the modules we designed. They would destruct upon passing through. No evidence, only dust. Just lasted long enough to find an open door.
    I heard the crackling before I smelled it. Acrid, bitter smoke. Burning techskin. Someone got a scorched ass on the way through. Fair enough, it wasn’t uncommon. Luckily enough, I timed my jump perfectly. I only burned my boot heels. Better than a toasty butt.
    Crack! The final burst of energy flashed like sheet lightning, and a large smouldering man, and I mean actually smoking, staggered away from the wall. He promptly stopped in his tracks, and keeled over like a felled tree. Thump!  I belly-crawled over to him through the grass. He seemed conscious and not particularly happy about it. Jabbing him in the arm with the butt of my knife made him jerk upward.
    “You ok buddy?”
    He lifted his head from the ground, stubble caked in dirt and pebbles. “Bit warm.”
    I smirked. “It burns like a bitch, I know. But you’re out so we can get you cleaned up soon.”
    “It feels like someone set my arse on fire,” he said with a grunt. I looked him over, and saw a bare buttock peeking out from the roasted techskin pants.
    “The wall set your glorious ass on fire, yes. It’s not happy with our methods. But we gotta move before the drones come investigate.”
    We could already hear the low rumble of them in the distance, being dispatched from a central tower in the city.
    With a yank on the arm I pulled him upright. “We got about 30 seconds before they’re in sight range. On your feet soldier!”
    Tapping my comm button I called in the signal. “Red Rock One, come in. I’ve got him, meet us at the usual spot. ETA 2 minutes.”
    “Received. We’re