Day 7
I took only the most necessary things, but also an empty bag to be able to take any loot with me. I went up the forest path to the castle. I saw an accidental police car on the forest path and immediately dodged into the forest. I watched the scenery through the telescope of my Meusser. A runner hid in the bushes. Through the telescope I clearly saw his tank.
I made a short trial with him.
When I could see the castle walls through the forest I took the pump gun. I had exchanged the slug ammunition for buckshot ammunition at the farm. Slowly I sneaked into the ruins of the castle. I saw some runners in the castle courtyard.
As a child, I had played here many times. I knew every angle here. I changed my choice of weapons and took the Meusser. I climbed into the walls of the ruins and saw a single runner.
I put on him and eliminated him. Then I immediately moved to a different angle. Two runners came to the castle yard, I also eliminated them. Then I ran back into another position. I saw three more runners rumbling in the excursion parking lot in front of the castle. Until they understood what was going on, they lay around as smoking piles of junk.
When I couldn’t see any of the runners, I slowly worked my way to the military post. I searched the building, but found only ammunition and no other weapons. On one piece of paper was a scribbled message that there was a bridgehead of the robots at the bottom of the beach and that the robots took possession of the island from there.
The latent smell of corpses hovered over the castle. I went the forest path to the beach. I knew a path that led through a tunnel and ended up in a cave below. This cave had an exit to the beach.
I wanted to go there when the penetrating hum of a Hunter sounded. The robot just came across the circular path of the castle. His lamps immediately changed to red and I ran into the embankment. The Hunter shot at me, but I had dived under the embankment. I heard heavy, quick steps.
The Hunter was standing on the edge of the embankment and obviously had trouble keeping the balance. I took the shotgun off my shoulder and aimed at the ammunition container next to his shoulder MG. The robot exploded and crashed down the slope. I struggled to get out of the way and was almost buried under the robot wreck. He slipped down the slope I stumbled and slipped behind. I was able to hold my weapons just like that.
We slipped endlessly for a long time and when the denser bushes stopped the wreck of the Hunter, I didn’t slip any further. I took the robot’s ammunition. I climbed up the slope again and reached the forest path again. Then I went to the junction that would lead to the beach. Slowly I walked down the road and turned on the flashlight. I picked up the pump gun and walked slowly into the tunnel As I got closer to the cave I saw again the ominous red glow. Certainly there were a few ticks lurking there again. I slowly advanced and when they got into the flashlight’s glow, I immediately destroyed them with a shotgun. There was also a camp in the cave. I found many emergency torches. Then I walked out of the cave carefully.
On the beach I saw red containers standing. Some runners were lunging around. One of them near me, who reacted immediately and shot, I could just jump behind a stone. The other two also ran and went into position. I shot at the robot that was closest to me. He exploded when he got a full load of shot. Then I put the other two under fire. I ran off and shot at the first. He immediately sent out a spark. Then I took the second one under fire. It exploded when I met him at close range. The pump gun was empty. I pulled the Klaucke and fired at the last robot. It also exploded.
Then it was quiet on the beach. A thin cloud of smoke pulled out of the barrel of my Klaucke. I reloaded both weapons, then I inspected the containers. I was baffined, in the containers stood sparkle new runners. I opened all the containers one by one. There were eight pieces in each container. There were four containers. So that was thirty-two of these metal dogs. In one of the containers there was a blueprint from the runners. I put it in. I would study them tonight. I examined the robots. They weren’t unmunitioned.
I found out that these robots were a Swedish product “Strijdsmaskin” stood on some. The containers were labelled with Arabic numerals on the outside.
Who was responsible? It was now clear that these things were not aliens or exposed by aliens. It was an earthly, Swedish product.
Damn, who was behind it and had all this to blame? Then I came up with the thought of destroying things. That’s 32 robots less I thought. I walked a few steps away and put the shotgun on the robots. I took the row in the middle of the container and shot. I saw the impact in the runner’s tank but nothing happened. Then I took one of the hand grenades, which were actually my last defense. I thought I could do without one. I pulled the grenade off my belt, took it in my hand, pressed the handle and pulled the pin. Then I threw the grenade into the container.
There was a huge explosion. The pressure wave swept across the beach and threw me off my legs. I probably had to keep more distance with the next containers.
I gradually destroyed the contents, kept enough distance, and completed my work of destruction. When I left the beach I had a feeling of satisfaction. I had kicked them in the ass and had taught them a serious loss.
I walked through the forest in a northerly direction, because I wanted to inspect the northern part of the island. When I came out of the forest, I saw a yellow flash near the old fisherman’s hut. I sneaked closer through the high grass. A high whine sounded, I saw a tall, square-shaped structure at the top of which there was a parabolic mirror. He swung back and forth and turned, so that the whole area was covered with what he sent.
This could only be something like a relay transmitter that sent the radio signals to the robots. I had to destroy it. And so I put the shotgun on him. Below the parabolic mirror were two orange, cylindrical objects. This had to be the energy supply as with the robots. I shot and the antenna exploded. Behind me, the marker-shattering cry of a Hunter rang out. Apparently the guardian of the antenna.
I had no choice but to walk further down to the beach, because the terrain was impassable and would pose a problem for the Hunter. I sat under the bridge to Salthamm and thought about how to proceed. I went on. I knew that was in front of me Mortsnäs. A fisherman’s house. Maybe I could sneak in there and back to Stenhaga from there. A short time later I reached Mortsnäs and found the house abandoned. I opened the door and walked in.
From the upper floor, I peered out the area with binoculars. The Hunter seemed to have lost my track and so I moved on to Stenhaga I continued along the beach to be protected from surprises. When I was near Stenhaga, I heard the Hunter’s scream again in the distance.
I immediately ran off and reached the manor house. A short time later, the Hunter also reached the manor house.
He ran around the house and stopped in front of the kitchen window. I went into the squat and extinguished the light all over the house. I sneaked into the hallway. I had loaded slugs back into the pump gun.
Carefully I looked around the corner. I saw the robot standing in front of the window. The reason he didn’t shoot was probably because his shoulder MG was too high and his arm MG hung too low and couldn’t grasp me. Or he couldn’t locate me because his beam couldn’t capture me. I turned on his right ventilation shaft and fired. There was an explosion of the robots shaking, but it was still standing. I loaded and fired a second time at the same spot. There was a big explosion and the Hunter tipped to the side. I had done it.
I looked carefully through the door but at dusk there was no Hunter to see. No runner could be seen either. I took the ammunition from the robot and went back to the house. I searched the pantry of the house for something edible and found it. Even a few cans of beer I found. After the meal I let them taste to me. When I lay on the couch of the manor house I was satisfied. I had taught them a delicate slap today. Slowly I liked it.