Save Scumming Chapter One Hundred and Eleven - Low Ammo

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven - Low Ammo

I set the last shell down, then leaned back onto my heels. "Damn," I said.

We had the three guns we'd brought with us laid down on the ground with every shell and bullet ejected next to them.

Starting from the left, we had that little shotgun with four entire shells of buckshot. Next to that, my revolver. I had seven rounds for it. And finally Fran's little nine-mil. Three rounds. She'd switched magazines before hitting empty at so point, so there had been a few unfired bullets.

"It's not very much," Fran said.

"Yeah," I replied.

This was... fuck-all. The shotgun shells were probably enough to take out one, maybe two dinos. So that was sothing. The revolver rounds could pack one hell of a punch as well. The three nine mil... eh. Maybe that could soften an enemy up?

We had already scouted ahead.

The next area followed along the shore of a powerful river for a little ways, then moved left and up a hill. It was a strange spot. There was a thick forest, but also a cliffside that climbed up on one side and gave a nice view from above.

A sort of fork? I wasn't sure, and we hadn't gone in deep enough to see.

What we did know was that there were raptors in that forest. At least three that we'd seen, but it was like the perfect environnt for an ambush. The kind of place I'd rather clear with a lot more ammo.

"This is on ," I said.

"Pardon?" Fran asked.

"The lack of ammo. I should have known better. I will, next ti. But... yeah, this isn't enough. I think I was so busy trying to get you looking cool that I didn't consider what to bring beyond that. Next ti, I'm bringing a backpack loaded with extra ammo. Maybe so grenades. Do you think Jane would have nades?"

"They're heavily controlled," Fran said. "Simple ammunition isn't that hard to procure. Anyone might have the need to defend themselves, but explosives are another matter entirely."

"Yeah, but... it's Jane?"

She frowned, but conceded the point.

"Anyway! We can either call it quits, or pick option B," I said.

"And that is?" Fran asked.

I glanced over to the riverside passage, then back to her. "lee," I said.

Fran hesitated. "That's incredibly dangerous. I'm more confident in my skills now than earlier, but that cos with the caveat that I wasn't injured or tired earlier. The velociraptors are fast. I'd give myself even odds in a fight with any one of them, especially if I have access to a sword myself, either magical or not, but it's still a risk."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That's why it's option B. I'm pretty sure we can kill a few of them, at least, but we'll be overwheld if more than two or three of them show up at once."

For all that I was growing confident in myself, I knew firsthand that a lot of the shit the dia said about D-rankers was propaganda. The movies liked to paint the average D-ranker as a massive step above the average man or woman. And in so cases that wasn't too far from the truth.

So of the D-rankers I knew could probably solo this without a gun. Terry, maybe, Dharti definately. I could see Eldur pulling it off, and that cute gangster punk Becky would zap her way through these monsters with ease.

The thing is, we all used guns still. The average D-ranked human wasn't going to be as physically strong as the average D-ranked monster. The raptors were faster and more nimble and a lot more dangerous.

Guns and gear were the great equalizer.

And now we were basically without.

Fran stood, the motion so sudden it had starting. She reached up, removed her hat, combs her fingers through her hair and fixed the bun she'd put most of her hair in, then she nodded. "Let's continue."

"Are you sure?"

"We need you to gather intel, don't we? Then let's move quickly. We can at least see how far it goes?"

I wouldn't mind that, yeah. I knelt down and reloaded everything I could. "We'll try to use as few rounds as possible. If we're lucky, we can make it to the boss and then go nuts."

With that, I handed over my shotgun to Fran. She could use it, and I'd stick to my revolver for now. I checked my sword real quick, looking along the blade for any nicks or signs of wear. There were a few... actually, I really ought to figure out sword maintenance at so point. A bit of oil or whatever, and so resharpening. It was keeping its edge for now, though, which is all that mattered.

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We started along the river's edge, and if it wasn't for the knowledge that we'd soon be walking into the perfect space for an ambush, I might have found it nice and relaxing.

The rivers in Fortress ENE were trash-clogged and toxic, and generally slled like piss. This one... well, I didn't remove my mask to sniff, but the water was clear and cold.

It made a little thirsty, actually. Another thing to note. The next ti I looped, I'd bring so water bottles along, maybe a snack or two? I was getting hungry.

Before we reached the jungle, I reapplied See Darkness and Soothe Minor Pain on both of us, just in case. The spells shouldn't have worn off so quickly, but they did tend to weaken over ti.

Then we were off.

The jungle forked. One path leading above, the other following along through the trees. Above just looked way safer, mostly because there wasn't nearly as much foliage.

"Up?" I asked.

"Seems sensible," Fran replied.

We climbed, moving up a fairly steep slope and not being stealthy about it. Oh, we tried, but the rocks were loose and it wasn't long that there was a cascade of gravel falling behind us with every huffing step.

Once at the top, we followed along the ridge, only to quickly discover that it was a trap. It led nowhere. "Well, damn," I said, hands on my hips and sweat running down my back. These ponchos were not designed for this kind of humid and muggy environnt, but they were all the protection I had against the sun and the rising swarm of mosquitos.

That was another thing on the list. Bug spray. Copious amounts of it, too.

"At least we can see where we're ant to go," Fran said. She pointed ahead. The path through the jungle pinched in, and led to a single wall with a narrow cave-like entrance on it. It was darker in there, but it looked like it opened up because there was so light deeper in.

It felt like a boss room entrance. I wasn't sure how I knew that, but it was what my gut was telling .

Thank fuck for that. I was just about done with this whole portal.

"Around and back?" I asked.

With Fran's nod, we started to go around. At least going downhill was easier, though I did have to pause at the bottom to empty the gravel out of my boots. I think there might have been a way over from the top, dropping down the cliff and using a few handholds and ledges to avoid the first half of the jungle, but neither of us wanted to take that risk.

We were barely three steps into the jungle when the first attack happened.

Fran hissed, summoning her blade with a swipe to catch sothing moving fast to the side. I ducked away, then pointed the tip of my sword towards the nearest bush.

Half a tongue flopped to the ground, the middle sliced apart by Fran's swipe.

The monster ca rushing out of the underbrush, only for a second to co out from our left. "Take him, I'll take the second," I said.

"Got it," Fran replied.

Fighting one of these wasn't simple. They didn't care about posturing much and didn't understand the danger posed by a sword, which ant that they were more than happy to leap right at .

At least the orcs understood the implicit threat of a naked blade.

I grit my teeth and grabbed my own sword past the ricasso as I let the raptor plunge itself onto the end. It dug into its chest, but I had to duck down as it tried to bite my face.

I tried to wrestle with it, but soon gave up as it raised a leg and tried to gore with its talon.

"Fucker," I muttered as I tugged my combat knife from its sheath and backed up.

My sword was still jamd in its chest, but it was sagging, the blade running brown with monster blood.

"Baster stole my sword," I complained. I turned to the side, glancing for Fran.

Fran was dead.

I stared, feeling my mouth go very dry. There was a third. It was chewing on her neck, and--

The monster ahead of fell atop , and I crashed to the ground. I saw its jaws rushing towards my face and--

I Reloaded.

I stood there, shocked. It felt like my blood was turning to ice inside my veins. It took a few long monts for to calm down.

It was okay.

I was okay. Fran was okay. It hadn't happened.

Stepping back, I found a place to sit, then rubbed at my face.

I... needed to get better at this. What the hell was I doing? I... I could have done better, been better, but I wasn't.

Dammit.

***