"Search for a sign... what kind of sign are you talking about?" Johann asked as he adjusted his chair forward ready to listen to Franz
"An actual billboard it's called Kleid-"
Screech!
In a moment, the creature lunged behind Johann, all Franz could do was to warn his comrade about the impending danger...
"Watch out!"
Slash....
In the blink of an eye, a scrap of metal cut off the creature's head and Johann didn't even flinch knowing the impending danger.
Johann seeing Franz confused about the entire situation clarifies to him,
"Oh, needn't worry I got my machines to defend us while we're discussing current matters now let's relapse..."
"So you're saying I just have to find a hardware store called Kleid's Hardware... Well, it should be a piece of cake for me, give me a second."
Johann stands up from the chair pulls out a box from the supply crates and pulls out a machine shaped like a spherical form, Johann turns the machine on by pressing the hole beneath it.
Beep...
"Scanning... Area... Beep!"
The robot floats in the air and a blue glowing line flows through us as it scans the both of us in a few seconds.
"Good... Afternoon... Master Johann... and... guest, how... may... be... I... of... assistance..."
Franz looked at the "thing" in concern, he asked Johann.
"Are you sure this thing can find what we're looking for? It can't even speak properly without pausing with every word..."
Triggered, he calmly asked, "Are you calling my inventions unreliable? Because if you are, I can completely guarantee that this... "thing" can get the job done flawlessly."
"Yeah sure genius whatever you say, just bring back the thing Felizch was talking about." he sarcastically said.
"Okay then, I'll leave now also make sure to get along with the guard bot here I'm sure if I come back here he'll be in one piece right?"
"That scrap is called, guard bot... Ugh, never mind what I was about to say, just scram and find the damn sign." he crossed his arms.
"Jeez, temper temper... "
Johann walks away and heads to find the sign leaving Franz behind with the scrap metal staring at him.
"What, you want to fuck me or something?"
Franz sarcastically said.
————
Meanwhile Johann...
Johann as he was walking carelessly around the beach with the floating scrap metal had a goal in mind to search for the sign.
"Sphere thing... Go and scan the area for any potential signs."
The Sphere Thing flies up in the air and scans the surroundings for potential signs
Buzz.... Beep!
Johann raised his hand as it flew down to his palm revealing as he pats it for its hard work.
"Master Johann.... there... are... 4... potential.... signs.... which.... specifies... your.... needs..."
"Good work, another question where is the nearest sign located?"
"Nearest.... sign... 321 centimeters.... away... north... go... forward... go... forward..."
"Forward huh... alright then! You did a good job sphere thing, as a reward I'll finally name you! Hmmm... I'll name you Kleid, let's go, Kleid!"
Kleid and Johann continued their journey walking forward as they seemed to be approaching a desolate from the distance, the scent of ash grew stronger as they continued walking.
annoyed by the ash coming in his face, Johan pulled up his mask took out his goggles from his pocket, and wore it as they continued to approach the ghost town in front of them.
Whoosh...
A dusty wind blows as they stand in front of the entrance of the ghost town with the welcome sign with the other half busted that wrote, "Welcome to K-"
"I'd be damned if this town isn't called Kleid St. Now, tell me where is the sign located."
Beep beep!
"The... sign... is... located... 179 centimeters... from... current... position... walk... forward... and... turn... right...."
Whoosh....
The ashy sky blows through Johann's goggles as he wipes them clean using his cloak, he lets out a deep sigh for a moment and walks in the given direction.
"I really need to change your voice module when I have the time..."
He turns right and he notices a large machine covered in cloth, skeptical of the machinery he pats Kleid's in his side.
"Hey, can you scan for any anomalies or hostiles on that thing..."
Buzz...
Klied with his round metal physique floats to the machinery covered in cloth, Beep... Beep! After scanning the sphere thing gently flew back into Johann's shoulder.
"Machine... Identified...! It.... is.... a... MG40... a.... machine.... gun.... that.... excels.... in.... artillery-"
"Yeah yeah, I know what an MG40 is question is how do we drag that thing?"
"We... could... pull-"
"No, no pulling I want to learn what the fastest way is."
"Calculating... the... fastest... way... is... to... get... a... carriage..."
"Okay... locate the nearest carriage."
Beep Beep...
Klied floats in the air to scan the entire town for a moment...
Beep!
Klied flew down at Johann and said,
"Located... nearest... carriage... turn... left... to... Kleid's... Hardware..."
He turned his head to the left to see a half-destroyed sign with the letters "Kleid's Hardware" written in it.
He walked to the entrance of the abandoned store he slightly pushed the worn-out gate, and it suddenly fell to the ground shattering into pieces.
This place could use a makeover...
Johann casually walked inside the entrance to stumble upon the counter with countless tools required to fix or disassemble certain things, Johann pulled out his small leather bag attached to his waist and grabbed all the tools he needed for some time in his life.
Lucky find... these will be of use later, I better check the back to see if the carriage is there.
Johann after collecting the tools walked to the back to see a headless black figure sitting down in the middle of the room.
"Creepy... "
Johann pulls out his pistol and shoots the figure in the chest once.
Bang! Bang!
He puts back his weapon in his holster and sighs...
Better safe than sorry...
Screech!
He quickly turned above him to see a creature lunging at him at full speed tackling him to the ground.
Growl!
He struggles to get out of the creature's grip because of his weak physique, he tries to aim his pistol at the creature's eye located at its neck, fumbling his grip while aiming the gun slips in his hand letting go of the pistol.
"Shit!"
In a last-ditch effort, he tries to kick the creature away multiple times, but it doesn't budge as it tries to crush and stab Johann using the spider-like wings in its back.
"Oh dear heavens, if I survive here I swear on my life that I would quit my fucking job!"
Pew!.... Thud...
Johann with a timid look, stares at Kleid after he puts a hole in the creature's neck.
"Kleid... did you do that?"
"Answer.... yes... I... did"
"Good work buddy..." he said as he stood up unscathed gasping for air.
What the fuck just happened...
Well, it doesn't matter I'm not quitting my job!
Badump....
After what he just thought, Johann felt a heavy shock in his chest...
Huh....
On second thought, maybe I'll quit my job...
Johann looked around to see the back door located on the right side of the room, he walked to the door and continued searching for the carriage as he looked around the dusty yard.
After looking around for a while he sees a suspicious machinery with wheels and armor wrapped in it.
"Kleid, can... you scan this thing?"
Beep...
Kleid floats in Johann's direction and starts scanning the weird machinery in front of them...
Beep!
"I... am... unable... to... identify... this... machine... but... I... can... confirm... it's... safe.. to."
"Hmm... alright, how does this thing work..." he asked himself with his arms crossed looking at the machine curiously
Johann jumped into the weird machine, he sat on one of the chairs in the large machine, and after a minute of confusion, he scratched the back of his head staring at the complicated controls.
How the hell does this thing work...
He looked at the controls of the machine to see it had a circular thing in front of him, a long handle, and a keyhole.
A keyhole... aren't you supposed to put keyholes on doors?
Whoever made this machine was either an idiot or someone who studied at the special education center...
He looked around the machine in search of a key, and while searching he accidentally pulled down something located in the middle of the controls.
"Wha- Oh! There's the key, so that thing was a storage box... genius." He inserts the key in the keyhole, he pauses for a moment staring at the key...
Please don't explode....
Vroom!
Woah!
For a moment he gasped for air due to the shaking as the machine revved.
Holy shit, I thought I was gonna die...
Why the hell would you need a keyhole to start a damn engine, you could've just pressed this wheel with a button!
In anger and confusion, he slams the button on the wheel...
Beep!
Shooked he instinctively jumped back on the chair hitting his head from the hood of the machine...
For fuck sake, if I get any more jumpscares from this fucking machine!
He stepped to the floor grunting in anger as the machine started to accelerate forward ramming the concrete wall of the workshop, simultaneously ramming the walls and crushing the corpses below him.
Splat!
"This machine... Kleid! We can use this machine to pull the MG40! Or maybe, even better… attach the MG40 to it!"
"Good... idea... Master Johann... but... it... seems... we... have... no... idea... on... how... this... thing... operates..."
"Hmm… yeah we don't know how it works, but fuck it!"
In excitement he stepped on the floor again, the machine began to accelerate further destroying the entire workshop while
stopping near the MG40.
"Woo! Yeah, baby!"
He gets out of the machine to carry the MG40 to the machine, jumps into the machine, and sits on the same seat he sat in earlier, he looks at the controls of the machine and tries to analyze how everything works.
"I've got it! This is for turning the machine, this is for starting the machine, this handle is useless, and this tall mand etal is for accelerating!" He shouted enthusiastically
He started at the two other controls beside the tall metal and looked at them with confusion and curiosity.
"Hmm.... curiosity kills the cat, I'll try them some time but what's important is to ride this thing to the battlefield!"
He steps on the pedal and proceeds to accelerate the machine to the trenches.
Vroom!
——————
Meanwhile in the trenches...
Bullets continued showering everywhere while the injured Franz was sitting under the trench with his leg placed over the other and staring at the scrap metal out of boredom...
Ugh... This is annoying...
"Hey, guard thing... can't you do anything productive instead of just standing there!"
The scrap metal continued to stand there at ease ignoring Franz, annoyed, he stood up on his chair and weakly kicked the robot's chest while it continued to stand still.
How dare he mock me!
The robot eerily turns his head at Franz as the cold metal stares deeply at his soul...
"The fuck you think this is!" Franz punched the robot's head, snapping it in half, and followed up with a kick on its steel stomach.
Thud...
Franz raised his fist while gasping for air because of this "victorious" moment.
"Sir... are you sure commander won't be pissed when he sees this?" asked the soldier with a concerned look
"Hah! Like that bitch could do anyt-"
Vroom!
A mysterious machine jumped over the trench, and at this moment everyone's eyes the chiming claps of barrels stopped as the soldiers were fixated on the mysterious machinery...
Thud...! Vroom Vroom!
"What the hell was that..." The other soldier asked, mesmerized by the machine...
"I don't know..." The other soldier replied in shock...
"What the hell are you guys doing, defend the fucking front chit-chat later!" Franz shouted...
Vroom...
A rev was heard from a short distance slowly accelerating towards their trench as the revving grew louder...
Vroom...!
The machine drifts in the trench in an attempt to stop, but it accidentally rams the sandbags stopping the machine.
Crash!
cough cough...
Johann gets out of the mysterious machine filled up with ash and dust, he clears the dust in his goggles and removes his mask, he turns to look at the flabbergasted exiles staring at him.
"Hey guys, uhm.... I swear I don't know what the hell that thing is." Johann nervously said.
"I knew it was the commander... " the soldier whispered next to his comrade as he looked at him discontented.
"Hey... what's with the atmosphere... " Johan lets out a deep sigh removing the weight from his chest as he pulls out the heavy MG40 from the machine.
"You all should at least thank me for bringing this!" he carried the MG40 grunting as he struggled to carry the gun as he slowly approached the soldiers due to the weight passing the heavy machine gun to them.
Grunt!
"Give that to the guard bot and we'll surely reclaim the port!"
Thump...
Franz felt a sudden shock in his spine as Johann stared at him with a smile on his face.
"Franz! Have you seen Guard bot?"
"G-guard bot? No, he kinda wand,ered-"
"I saw the Drill Sergeant snap the bot in half." said the soldier next to him.
Franz looked at the soldier and stared at him while smiling.
"Poor kid didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to his parents..." said the other soldier.
Thud...
In just one punch, Franz knocked out the snitch and stared at the other soldiers.
"The kid was lying sir..." said the other soldier with a mundane tone and a terrified expression.
"Is that so? Well then, where's guard bot?" Johann asked the soldiers with a pissed tone while smiling holding a wrench.
"The kid did it sir..." said the soldiers.
"I don't believe you, Franz come here..."
Sweating rapidly, Franz slowly approaches Johann trembling while in fear while maintaining an awkward expression.
"Give him the MG40..."
"What-"
"It's an order!" He shouted.
"How dare you destroy one of my priceless inventions Franz... as punishment you'll have to carry this MG40 till we kill every single one of them today, do you understand...?"
"Y-ye-"
"Am I talking to a fucking rock, do you understand!" He shouted as he leaned his face in Franz's face
"Yes sir!" He shouted as he quickly grabbed the heavy machine gun positioning himself at ease.
"Now walk to the end of that port and shoot every single caine you see!"
"Yes sir, wait what?!"
"I'm injured!" Franz shouted
"I don't give a shit, its eye for an eye, Kleid, if he stops walking or stops killing caines feel free to blast his dick!"
"Wait, he can do that?!"
"I just found out too- wait, that doesn't matter keep walking!" he shouted
"Yes sir!" Franz shouted as he continued walking despite being injured as he fires the MG40 at the caines approaching his direction.
"I feel bad for the Sergeant..." said the soldier.
"Do you want to join him?" Asked Johann.
"No sir." he replied standing there as sweats heavily.
—————
Meanwhile Felizch...
As he watches the entire battle unfold, he was happy that Johann found the machine he was talking about... yet he was annoyed at two things, one is the never ending fire of the MG40 Franz was holding and two...
"Have they just left me here to rot? please come and rescue me..."