Ambush Night at the Bass Theater

The Beautiful Bass Theater is no longer beautiful but due to it's location near the docks, does smell a lot like bass. It's a relic of an earlier time when movies were huge and they had to have one screen only to capture it all. Not it's just a run down derelict that Comfort bay never seems to clean up. The garbage let me know that the homeless and drug addicts still frequent the Bass Theater but I didn't see any tonight. Even the homeless have a sixth sense when it comes to big time super fights.

I got to the theater at 7:30 cause I like to have plenty of time to set up an ambush. BosunBot was stationed in the projector room so he can have survey the entire theater. CookBot was hidden behind a filthy curtain that covered the right wall. 1stMateBot was stationed in the rafters, ready to shoot or drop down as needed. I was hidden in the middle row, sitting on the floor waiting to spring up and shoot the General Surgeon. HelmsBot was outside, sitting in the 'Lustful Raider' ready to drive us safely away if need be. I debated having him in the theater where we could use the extra firepower but in the end I decided an escape vehicle would be best.

That decision saved my life.

So Harry comes in around 8:30. I was stunned. A thug who shows up early? General Surgeon must run a tight ship.

"Hey, anyone here?" he asked. His voice echoed in the lonely theater. He had a flashlight and he was swinging it around. I debated shooting him now and cleaning the body. That's when a voice anwsered.

"I'm here, Harry," Walker replied. I peeked through the seats to see a very tall man stand up in the front row. He had his own flashlight but it was hooked to his head like a miner's cap. No, he didn't wear a cap, he actually had a flashlight beaming out of his forehead. My telescopic bionic eye snapped multiple pictures for later analysis. My pictures weren't so great. He was wearing a black trenchcoat that went out of style two years right after the first matrix sequel.

"Did you bring the cure?" Harry asked.

"You can say that," Walker said. "General surgeon wants this problem handled tonight."

Walker then threw off his trenchcoat and Harry screamed. I was just cussing. Walker stood to his full height of eight feet tall and a second pair of arms came out. Each hand carried a knife or other sharp surgical tool. One hand snapped out and slit Harry in a rather disturbing way. Not that he cut him open, but how freaking fast it was.

"Your turn now, Scarlett Drake," Walker said.

I stood up to say something witty, but the multiple moans around me silenced me. In through the exits came columns of slow walking men in black leather. They were all groaining in pain but their sheer numbers was terrifying. My eye zoomed in on one and I saw that their hands had been heavily modified into sycthes and ax heads. Their lips had been stitched shut and their eyes replaced with something multifacted like a fly's eyes. They were slow moving but the column of freaks didn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

"General Surgeon wants you to know that when you die, he plans to add your head to his wall of trophies."

That should have been my line! That's okay, I had a better one planned. I was about to say it when someone came crashing through the roof. Walker and I watched as someone flipped through the air and landed on their feet. Walker's flashlight illuminated a muscular black woman clad in blue spandex with a big yellow fist emblazoned on her chest. The Choice?

"I heard you kill Harry, Scarlet Drake," the Choice said. Damn, when she spoke, you can tell she meant it. "Your terror ends here! Wait, who are these people?"

Honestly, this was too much to process anymore. "Bot Crew, kill them all!"

I opened fire with my pulse rifle at Walker. Choice dodged away from my laser fire even though I wasn't aiming for her. My laser hit Walker square in the chest but I couldn't fire a follow up shot because Choice was five feet away from me and launching herself in the air for one of her devastating martial arts kicks. I jumped over a row of seats to avoid her and felt her foot knock off my hat. Then I heard the loud CLANG of 1stMateBot dropping down on top of Choice. The two went down to the ground and I ran down an aisle to get as far away from that melee as possible.

BosunBot was laying down nasty cover fire from the projectionist's room. Lasers ripped right into the strange leather minions but of course they kept coming. I had a feeling that the zombie vibe I was getting from them was intentional. BosunBot came to a smiliar conclusion and aimed lower. Once his lasers shots began kneecapping them, they slowed down considierbly.

CookBot had launched himself at a group of leather freaks and was doing quite well. His Ginsu claws ripped, sliced and diced with the occasional laser shot to the head for good measure. I knew he needed support but curses, we all did.

Walker had apparently recovered as he was charging up the aisle at me. My first rifle shot tore through one of his four elbows while the second shot blew out the light coming out of his forehead. before I could fire a third shot, Walker was on me and bringing three arms carrying sharp objects down on me. He cut my right arm and sliced through the leather on my pant leg. I smacked him with my rifle but and heard the satisfying crunch of teeth. He spit his teeth at me and grinned. His mouth was about six inches wider than it should be. Walker was letting me know he had teeth to spare.

"you are a minor infection overdue for removal," he said.

I drove my rifle but into his head again. Sure, I wish I had a snappy comeback but I was in the Captain Zone. It was fight time. Plenty of time for bragging when the looting is done.

I dropped my laser rifle and activated my Laser Cutlass. The mechanism is in my glove so there was no need to draw it. A red line of sizzling death sliced through Walker's top right arm and lopped it right off. Walker's eyes widened in shock and he actually took a step back.

That's when Choice hit me in the back of the head. Stars exploded in front of me as I dropped to my knees. I felt the black fade of concious and I fought it with every once of willpower. When that wasn't enough, I typed a quick command on my wrist communicator to my microscopic BarnacleBots that i still had in me. Adrenaline, now.

As i cam back to conciousness,I saw Choice battling it out with Walker. He was down to two arms but still putting up a heck of a fight. I didn't understand it. Walker was some sort of altered super-freak and Choice was just a black chick with shiny spandex and really heavy boots but she was kicking his butt. He was fast, but she was faster. He cut her a dozen times and she just ignored it and fought harder. What drives people like that?

A garbled moan behind me snapped me out of my speculation. The quasi-zombie freaks were right behind me and about dogpile me. I swung my laser cutlass out and bisected one. what fell out looked mostly human and still alive. I tried not to think about it as I chopped down the next five freaks who came up to take his place.

"Crew, report!" I snapped.

"1stmateBot Offline"

"BosunBot Reporting"

"HelmsBot reporting"

"CookBot Offline"

Not good at all.

"HelmsBot prepare for withdrawal, BosunBot, to me!"

I turned around and spared a glance at Choice and Walker. More of those zombie freaks had entered the fray and they were literally throwing themselves at the Choice. She fought them hard but their weight and numbers brought her down. Walker took a moment to lean against a seat and catch his breath. He only had one arm now.

BosunBot's laser fire cut into the group I was fighting. The freaks seemed a bit confused at being attacked from both angles. I made a hasty decision.

"BosunBot, engage these dogs in melee."

With three hundred pounds of metal crashing into them, the freaks couldn't spare any more attention on me. I snatached up my laser rifle and ran towards Walker. He barely had time to look up as I squeezed off a flurry of random wild shots. Most of them missed of course, but the three that hit his chest and the one that caught him right under the chin was enough to do the deed. His head popped off and I doubt even General Surgeon could fix that.

I kept running and passed the snarling pile of zombie freaks. Under there somewhere was Choice. She was either dead, or really making them pay for every cut.

I found what I was looking for; Walker's black coat. The pockets were loaded with a wallet, a cellphone, some sort of small computer notebook and for some reason, a bunch of knuckle bones. I took everything and looked for BosunBot.

The big lug was in a dozen pieces, but his enemies were in a whole lot more.

Curses. I still had HelmsBot outside but I didn't think he could fight his way in and get me. I knewI certainly couldn't fight my way through the freaks that were left. sometimes, a Captain has to make the really hard decisions. or in this case, a very hard choice.

"Off you stinky dogs, off!" I yelled as I chopped through the pile of zombies trying to kill Choice. Laser rifle shots through the head at point blank range worked wonders. They were so focused on the heroine underneath, they barely noticed me peeling them off from above.

The Choice emerged with a defiant yell and a punch right through a freak's chest. I guess she figured they didn't count as people. I shot a freak before offering my hand to her. She looked at me in distrust and lifted her own self up. Then she saw the numbers of freaks left.

"These belong to General Surgeon, a real bastard I've been trying to find and kill," I said.

She said nothing.

"if we work together, we might actually get out of here alive."

The Choicee nodded. "And then you're going to jail."

"How about I promise to never attack another hospital again?"

"Justice doesn't make deals," she said.

The zombie freaks got closer.

"Your choice, Choice."

Her eyes narrowed under that domino mask of hers. "If you ever attack a hospital again, I'll break both your legs before I arrest you."

I snorted. The zombies moaned. My laser rifle hummed.

"You got a deal."

We charged. It wasn't pretty but we did it. Choice kicked, punched and kept pushing. I shot, swung and kept moving. I don't know where General Surgeon gets so many of these freaks but we thinned their numbers. It was exhausting work, not to mention grisly. Choice and I covered each other's backs and made our way out of that theater of the damned.

Outside, the freaks seemed reluctant to follow us. Choice looked at me and looked at the 'Lustful Raider'. I was so tired, if she did decide to arrest me, I might let her and make my escape after a long sleep.

"I'll need to stay here and call the police. We'll have to make sure none of those monsters get out and into the neighborhood," she said.

I waved my hand. "You do that."

I fell into the van and HelmsBot drove off. Well, I lost three Bots but I had pockets full of clues to sort through. Not bad for an ambush that turned into an ambush that was interrupted by an ambush.