The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 5: Mutation (5)

The trio grinned at each other like kids that had arrived at a playground for the first time. It was a real struggle for them to suppress their glee. Only the constant reminder in the back of their minds of the deadly Banka lurking around managed to keep their thoughts sober.

They took slow steps along the walkway, trying their best not to make any sudden loud noises in the process. Metal suspended stairs were connected to the walkway in front of them. Surprisingly they had held up remarkably well. The stairs did not even let out a creak as they slowly made their way down to the factory floor.

Harry gave the signal at that point to split up but maintain eye contact with each other. This was just another method to keep track of each other so that they did not fall victim to a stealthy ambush.

Jason quickly split off from the other two. His eyes darted to and fro as he tried to decide what he should take apart first. He had never seen anything like this before. Everything was almost in a virtually complete state. The only missing parts were ones that had wasted away to nothing long ago.

His excitement was palpable as he set his eyes on an expensive-looking piece of equipment. Just like his grandfather and Raymond, he drew his tools from his belt and quickly got to work. His hands moved quickly as he tried to get to the heart of the machine. Every nut, bolt and screw that he removed was pocketed rapidly.

Although these were small items, they had plenty of uses. The junk stores could never get enough of them! Eventually, the panel that he had been working on came loose. His excitement spiked as he carefully removed it and leaned it against the side of this mysterious contraption.

The interior looked similar to some other things that he had dismantled before. This doused a bucket of cold water over his enthusiasm as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. 'This green board thing with these wires looks like a larger version of what I would find inside that thing in the office.'

Jason's eyebrows knitted together into a frown as he began to tap his chin with his finger. He was, of course, staring at the intricate electronic components of the machine. He had no idea what worth they could possibly possess, but he did know of a store back in town that bought things like this. That was good enough for Jason.

He pulled a sharp knife from his felt as he began to cut away at the wires surrounding the component to free it up. He worked quickly while maintaining a cautious approach to the job at hand. The part would lose a lot of value if it looked damaged in any way. Cutting the wires was no problem since they could easily be replaced.

Jason eventually freed the component from the machine and began working on another piece. As time passed, more and more electronic components found their way into his backpack. When he was satisfied with his raid, he quickly moved onto the next machine he took a fancy to. This one provided his pack with many mechanical components such as gears, half dismantled pistons and other goodies.

Jason wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked around to see how the others were doing. His grandfather had unsurprisingly used his natural abilities to leverage himself into a position to dismantle a high up part of the machine he had chosen. Jason smiled as he watched his Gramps handing there, using his tail to wield a spanner.

He shifted his sight to Raymond. The large man was wielding a different tool in each of his four hands. Making short work of his own chosen project. Raymond's pack that lay at his feet bulged with the amount of junk he had stuffed in there. Jason sighed at that particular sight.

'Must be nice to gather all of that so quickly.' Jason silently shook his head in frustration. He thought he had been making decent progress, but he could not match up to the two veterans at all. Jason blindly swung his foot behind him in frustration. Panic suddenly lurched through his body as he felt his foot connect with a metal panel that he had placed on the floor.

His heart practically stopped as he waited for the inevitable to happen. His kick had knocked the panel off balance. An eternity seemed to pass as it fell towards the floor.

BANG!

Jason flinched as the heavy piece of metal finally connected with the floor. The noise it created echoed loudly all throughout the factory! There was no doubt in his mind that it had been clearly heard by everything in the area surrounding the factory as well.

Harry quickly landed beside Jason after swinging his way over to him. He grabbed him by his jacket and began to violently shake him. "What the hell have you done!"

"Guys! Run!" Raymond shouted. Fear was etched in his voice.

In the short amount of time since the noise had revealed their location, their worst fear had come true! The Banka that they knew was in the area poked its head out from the office door that they had used to enter into the factory. Jason's eyes went wide as he stared at it in fear.

The Banka was a creature that resembled an overgrown cat. Standing at five foot tall when all four of its paws were on the ground. It had a pair of mouths, one situated where a regular mouth would be on a feline while the other one was a little below it on its neck. The mouth on its neck was far broader than its facial counterpart and housed much larger teeth to compliment it.

The Banka swished its three poison barbed tails through the air playfully as it caught sight of them. A low growl escaped from its throat, warning the group that it was ready to hunt. Panic ensued as they grabbed their packs and began to run deeper into the factory. The only path they knew that would allow them to escape the building had already been cut off.

Jason ducked and vaulted over various obstacles in his haste to escape the creature. At one point, he tripped over a box that got in his way. Before he could fall flat on his face, he felt his grandfather's tail take hold of him and stabilise his balance. Raymond was passing them by on the other side of a large machine.

He had ripped four metal bars from somewhere and held them at the ready to use as makeshift melee weapons. Jason stared at him from between the gaps in the machine as he continued to run. From the way Raymond kept looking over his shoulder, Jason could guess that the Banka had chosen to target him first.

"Over there!" Harry roared as he pointed to a sturdy-looking metal door up ahead.

Jason felt a surge of energy driving him forward. His eyes were fixated on the small glimmer of hope that his Gramps had pointed out. A horrifying scream of pain came from the other side of the machine that they were racing beside. Jason gritted his teeth as he thought about what that noise probably meant.

Jason did not dare to look down the other side of the contraption as they cleared it. Instead, he furiously pumped his legs faster in a bid to make it to the safety of the room up ahead. Suddenly, Jason felt a heavy pressure land on his back. Harry had pushed him with all of his strength which was quite considerable.

Jason felt his feet leave the floor as he sailed through the air and beyond the open metal door. A cry of pain that carried his grandfather's voice sounded from behind him.

"GRAMPS!" Jason yelled in a panic as Harry's figure rushed into the room behind him.

Harry slammed his shoulder against the door, which creaked as it slid shut. He fumbled around as he pushed on the lever that operated the door's deadbolt.

"Come on!" Harry shouted furiously. The bolt slid into place with a click.

At that moment, a loud bang sounded on the door as the Banka rammed against it. Harry fell on his arse as exhaustion overtook his body. His eyes had a wild look in them as they turned to stare at Jason.

Jason swallowed a lump of saliva as his grandfather studied him. An angry howl came from the Banka on the other side of the door as it realised its prey had escaped its grasp.

"Gramps I'm sor"

"Good! You're ok!" Harry wheezed as he cut off Jason's apology prematurely. "Make sure you get out of here alive. Promise me!"

Jason stared at his grandfather with a bewildered expression. In the next moment, his grandfather collapsed.

"Gramps!" Jason cried out as tears began to well up in his eyes. He unsteadily got to his feet and rushed to the old man's side.

It was only now that Jason could see a deep gash turning a purplish colour on Harry's chest. Blood seeped into the white fabric of his vest that had been torn when the Banka had lashed out at him with its vicious tails.

Jason suppressed his rising panic as he tossed his backpack to the side. Hurriedly he removed his jacket before stripping his vest from his body. He balled it up and pressed it against his grandfather's wound, even as he silently sobbed. Jason lost track of how long he had been sat in that position. His grandfather's breathing was gradually getting slower as less blood was absorbed by Jason's vest.

The light in the room from the sole window gradually gave way to darkness. Eventually, a sliver of moonlight shone into the room as the moon reached the point in the sky that declared the arrival of Jason's sixteenth birthday.

Jason suddenly felt a head-splitting pain rush through his mind, threatening to render him unconscious. Jason panicked as he threw his hands to his head. "No! Not now!"

Jason wept as he realised that he was not going to be able to hold on. Losing consciousness now would mean that he would not be there for his Gramps in his last moments! What if the old geezer suddenly woke up to say some final words!

Jason groaned as his vision turned blurry. The pain in his head had become too much for him to bear anymore! 'Gramps' Jason lost control of his body as he collapsed into a heap beside his grandfather. Jason's half-open eyelids revealed a glowing blue light as sparks danced behind the whites of his eyes