Awoken 3: An Endless Nightmare

Chapter 14: The Coming Storm

Damn, it's been forever. I keep get distracting while writing these days. Ah well, enjoy the chapter.

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"Oh, geez..." I took a deep breath and  lay my bloodstained head against the back of the counter. "Uhh, well this is sudden."

"This is what you get for goofing around on a mission."

"Shut up." I peered out from behind the counter, watching the group of Prototypes shuffle their way around the shop. "Er... Okay um..." I glanced around the visible portion of the store, only seeing bottles of various household supplies in view. My gaze shifted back to the ponies, noting that 3 of them were Pegasi. Flying isn't an option, they'll be able to follow us. Any of them would be able to outrun us. Our guns aren't very useful against Prototypes, since they block the bullets with their wings. If only I could find a machete like before... But the chances of them selling machetes in a department store are pretty damn slim.

"Do you think there's a back exit?" I whispered, nodding over to the only escape route in view, which led further into the back of the shop.

He squinted, trying to get a better view. "I'm not sure. We'd have to check."

"But if we were to make a run for it, the Prototypes would be able to see us. We'd be screwed if it turned out to be a dead end," I muttered.

Glaze paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Okay... I've noticed that they seem to pick up targets by movement and noise. They don't seem to have a sense of smell, or very good eyesight. They may have heat sensors... But at the same time, if they did, they probably would have found us by now." He frowned. "They seem to freeze for a average of 3 seconds after I use the command..."

The stallion turned and peered over the top of the counter, hiding his head behind the cash register as he squinted at the Factory across the road through the front window. "I'm pretty sure there's someone controlling them from that building. They're re-activating them after we tell them to freeze. If we can lead these things far enough away from the Factory so that the controller's view is cut off, I'll bet we can freeze them for good."

I nodded slowly. "I guess it's worth a try... But that doesn't help the fact that we're trapped here."

My eyes fell on the wheeled shelf full of medicine bottles that sat to the right of the isle leading into the back. "Hm... Glaze, you said that they react to movement and sound, right?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure if that's correct or not, there could be other-"

"Ah well. Too bad, it's my only idea." I breathed, gesturing to the shelf. "Yell the command."

"Huh?"

"Just do it."

Glaze narrowed his eyes, giving me a questioning look. "Command: Freeze!"

I didn't even look to see if it had worked before bounding out into the isle and bucking the shelf. It rolled across the lobby of the store and crashed straight into another display, with a huge bang. Bottles went flying. All five Prototype heads unfroze and turned towards the noise.

I quickly motioned for Glaze to come, and made a run for the back of the shop. The other pegasus gritted his teeth and ran after me, hopping over a downed magazine display.

"You're crazy," he hissed as he caught up with me.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" I growled back, motioning to the emergency exit that had just come into view.

"Well thank Celestia-"

WHAM!

There was a sickening crack as Glaze was knocked out of midair and slammed into the ground.