The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 119: The Old World (4)

Splash! Jason landed in the water, soaking himself. 'Damn! I forgot how much taller Sentinel is.' While the water only just reached above Sentinel's knees, it submerged Jason past his waist. He struggled to wade through the murky water to reach the shore. Sentinel stood there waiting for him with his hands on his hips as he scanned the surroundings with his cybernetic eye.

"Hm, no Fog Crawlers." Sentinel rubbed his chin as he frowned. "Shame, they're quite tasty."

Although Jason did not know what a Fog Crawler was, he still raised an eyebrow at Sentinel's questionable taste. The fog was thick and swirled around them. Goosebumps appeared on Jason's arms as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

'I have a bad feeling about this' Jason was restless as his eyes moved from one vague shadow to the next. The only thing that made him feel better was that Sentinel appeared calm.

"This way" Sentinel chose a direction and walked off.

Jason trembled slightly before following his mentor deeper into the fog. Sentinel kept a steady pace as he navigated the terrain. Cracked concrete threatened to catch Jason unawares with almost every step. Before long, Jason noticed strange vegetation growing over the rusty street furniture.

"Ow!" Jason frowned as he banged his hip against a fallen sign. "What kind of place is this?"

Jason paused as he heard an unnerving sound. His head snapped around to look behind him! But nothing was there. Just never-ending fog. As his racing heart settled, he caught a shadow moving from the corner of his eye. 'What was that?'

"Hey, Sentinel?" Jason paused as he kept his sight trained on the shadow. "Sentinel?"

Moments of silence passed as Jason's breathing became faster. He wanted to turn and run. But he could not take his eyes off of the vague shape.

Jason jumped as he felt something press down on his shoulder! A slight noise escaped from his mouth before he felt a hand forcefully cover it!

"Shh!" Sentinel's voice was low as he squinted at the same location as Jason. "That's a Fog Crawler. Back up. It's only a scout."

Sentinel pulled on Jason's shoulder to lead him away from the area. Moments ago, Jason had no worries when Sentinel first spoke of Fog Crawlers. The Pillar had spoken their name casually. As if they were nothing to fear. Yet here he was. Sneaking away when they came across one.

The fog swallowed the dark shape as they distanced themselves from it. Sentinel released his grip on Jason as he turned him around. "Keep quiet."

Sentinel beckoned for Jason to follow close behind him. The pair made slow progress after that. Sentinel appeared to be monitoring the fog with each step that they took. As they moved further along, Jason could make out high broken walls through the curtain of fog.

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A partially ruined sign hung over a pair of smashed glass doors in front of them. As Sentinel stepped through one of them, the shards of glass on the other side crunched beneath his feet. The sudden noise made Jason's body tense up as he paused for a moment.

'I thought something would have heard that' Jason heaved a sigh of relief. However, before he could take another step, Sentinel spun to face him with his pistol drawn. Jason was about to ask what he was doing when he felt something long and bulbous wrap around his waist!

Sentinel's pistol hummed as he squeezed the trigger. A red beam fired from its barrel and struck the object before it could pull Jason away. Croak! Jason's eyes went wide as he felt the restriction on his waist disappear. When he looked down, he shivered when he saw part of a long tongue that had venomous sacks lining its edges lying on the ground.

There were splashes of blue and purple liquid on Jason's clothes and the surrounding ground. The sight made him freeze up for a moment until Sentinel called out to him.

"Run!"

Jason snapped out of it as his legs carried him forward. He could see the look of concentration on Sentinel's face as he took aim once again. Two more crimson beams flew around Jason's figure to strike at the other tongues that attempted to snatch him.

"What the hell was that!" Jason's heart was racing as he threw himself through the shattered doors and cut his arms on the broken glass.

"Shut up and keep moving!" Sentinel's voice clarified that now was not the time for questions.

Jason clamoured onto his feet and noticed that the fog was absent from the building's interior. A sudden force pressed on his back and guided him forward. It was Sentinel's hand that he felt pushing him onwards. Meanwhile, Sentinel was firing away at the Fog Crawlers behind them.

More loud croaks echoed through the abandoned building as they rounded a corner. Jason tried to run further, but Sentinel caught him by the collar.

"They won't come in here. Take a moment to catch your breath." Sentinel's eyes scanned Jason for any injuries.

Seeing the cuts on his Jason's arms, Sentinel withdrew a small tub from one pocket on his trousers. "Rub this on them. If you don't want to catch an infection."

"Thanks" Jason took the tub with shaky hands and applied the ointment inside to his wounds. "You're sure they won't follow us?"

Sentinel nodded silently as his cybernetic eye continued to study Jason. The latter did not know what to think, as his mentor's expression gave nothing away.

"We should move." Sentinel brushed past Jason and headed down the corridor that they were standing in.

Jason could not help but look through every hole in the walls that they passed by. On the other side, he spotted large broken tanks that seemed designed to hold enormous creatures.

"What was this place used for?" Jason asked as his eyes shifted around.

"It was some kind of containment centre. All I've discovered is that we humans used to keep aquatic creatures prisoner in here." Sentinel's tone could not have been more flat if he had tried. "There were similar compounds for land based animals. Humans used to call them Zoos."

Jason had to stop himself from gasping in surprise. Was it possible that there was another NEST in the zoo near Highrise? If there was, how would he get past the Trion? He could not hope that the Trion would just let him be since it had seen him with Rust.

"Why did we keep animals as prisoners?" Jason's voice was no louder than a whisper, but Sentinel still heard it.

"Who knows? It seems to be related to money." Sentinel shrugged his shoulders as he led Jason through several more rooms.

Eventually, Sentinel led them to a heavy-looking metal door. The Guardian easily pried it open and led Jason down a set of suspended metal stairs. Jason felt as though they were descending into the depths of the earth. But that was far from the truth.

His mind had played tricks on him, as it only took them a few minutes to reach the lower level. Sentinel opened the only door in sight and waved Jason through. The latter's eyes went wide as he was now staring at entrances to the bottom of the glass tanks he had seen upstairs.

From his new vantage point, Jason could make out large and small skeletons spread around the floors of the various tanks. Sentinel chuckled as he saw the bewildered look on Jason's face.

"This was the area that the old humans used to enter the tanks to check up on the animals. But one of them holds another secret." Sentinel passed him by and headed directly for the third tank on the left.

There was no need to use the door that was built in, since most of the glass was now long gone. Sentinel stepped inside and casually trampled on a few of the bones. They crumbled easily beneath his weight, which shocked Jason to no end.

"They've been here for a long time. They're very brittle and of little use to us. There's no need to be polite. Come on, we're almost there." Sentinel sounded impatient as he waited for Jason to join him.

Jason felt strange, or perhaps some sadness had been stirred within him as he glanced at the skeletons. He wondered how these animals had looked when they were whole. What were their lives like? Could they have provided anything useful to the current human society?

These were questions they could no longer answer. A metallic screech drew Jason's attention towards Sentinel. He had opened a camouflaged hatch on the tank's floor and stared into its depths.

"In we go"

Jason hesitated for a moment as he glanced at Sentinel's serious expression. 'He's got to be joking right?' But Sentinel only frowned when he saw that Jason was unresponsive. 

"What are you waiting for? Get in!" Sentinel growled as he lost his patience...