Torchworld: Outsiders Collection Read Free Page A

already in place.”
    Startled by the voice that replied, I paused. It wasn’t ‘Candlestick’ Rachel, but Markin. Didn’t know he was coming along, but as long as they were in the spot, no big deal.
    I pointed to a large group of rocks, shaped like daggers. The others would be behind guarding the tunnels.
    “The sharp rocks, they’re the Blades. Go there. Run as fast as you can. Follow me.”   Taking off in a full sprint toward them, I heard him grunt and pull himself up after me, feet pounding the ground. Crashing through the dry bracken I ignored the branches threatening to tear my skin.
    “Aaaah shite!”he growled behind me. The air smelled of blood, metal and smoke.
    “Come on! You can’t slow down!” I replied as I hastened my pace more. The drones were closer now, I could hear the deep rumble of their engines. We were nearly in sight range. We crashed through the vegetation, slashing through the branches with my knife.
    “Fuck!”
    I turned around just in time to see my new friend go flying over a low hanging branch I’d jumped over. Thud! He landed face first, hands outstretched but too late in breaking his fall.
    “Hey man, get up!”Grabbing his torn short, I yanked him up again. Aiming for standing but I only got him to a half crouching slump. Eyes were unfocused and dazed. A thousand yard stare of creeping shock.
    My armoured glove left a thin trail of blood across his face as I backhanded him. Still, he stared at the air. Time for more desperate measures. Slap! Slap! Slap! I had to get him going even if he was running to kill me. Either way, those drones would do it first unless we frickin’ moved!
    We were in a dense forest. The drones couldn’t see us but they knew we were here, I could see the spotlights filtering through. The buzzing, roaring noise, I hated it. That low thrum like an ancient predator salivating as they hovered over the tree tops, stalking us. They could most definitely sense life in here. Armour cancelled out most of my body heat, but my friend here, he was a great big hotspot to them.  I grabbed the front of his shirt and gave him a good shake.
    “Snap out of it sweetie, I would prefer not being drone jam!” I sighed with relief as he lifted his head to look me in the eye.
    “Kharl,” he said, spitting a glob of blood on the dirt. “Call me Kharl. Not sweetie.” He stood up properly. “Over there?” he said, pointing at the Blades. I nodded.
    “Thanks, um…what’s yer name hon?” he said. He swept his eyes up and down my body, looking for clues.
    I pointed to the side of my helmet, turning my head to show him the painted title.
    “Psycho? Ah, very er, ladylike.”
    Kharl peered up through the trees, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation.
    “Those things armed?”
    I laughed. “Oh yes, like a hovering tank. Now come on, break time’s over. I’m not stopping again.”
    Kharl dusted himself off and peered at his bloodied leg. “Alright. Right behind ya.”
    We set off sprinting through the trees again. I could hear the roar of the drones above us, they were following close. Nothing I could do about that, shooting them would just give them a target to back trace. It was pitch dark in here, the only light we had shone from my helmet’s visor light. Enough to barely see my dirty boots in front of me, but not enough to show on a heat sensor. They were getting close enough to start calling our neurochips. Mine was deactivated and a non-issue, Kharl’s would be damaged from the wall jump but I didn’t know if it worked still, or to what extent.
    “Argh. Get out of my fucking head!”
    I looked back to see him still behind me, whipping his head about like a dog shaking off water. His chip still blasted him with internal audio, but the callback code didn’t work. It couldn’t force him to run back like a lemming, lucky for us. Still wasn’t an enjoyable experience for anyone.
    Spying the Blades on my visor map only 45m away, I increased the pace. The