Today, their human was completely out of commission. This was a new situation for Sandrine's pets. Until now she had been the one to lead them and take care of their needs, but today… Impossible. Honestly, if they had to follow the law of the jungle, they would throw her away and continue forward without this burden.
But they wouldn't do that. She was a bit weird, yes, but she also took great care of them.
Anyway, the human was on Paquerette's back and was looking at empty space, as if her brain had disconnected. They would have to take charge today.
Gribouille was way too shy, unable to even communicate properly what he thought, so the mare was the one to make a decision. Continuing on the road was nice, easy, but also wouldn't let them find much to eat. Paquerette was a very clever horse, she had long noticed that some objects Sandrine could make disappear, and in exchange make better things appear. For example, when they found those big bottles full of black liquid with a very bad smell that made her gag, Sandrine would make them disappear and instead hay would fill her feeder !
How great was it ?
Anyway, if they stayed on the road, they wouldn't find much. This meant less objects to exchange for good things. Paquerette had noticed that ever since they had started exploring outside of the road, their food and general comfort had seen some improvement. It was better to go there.
But also, it was very dangerous ! It was by going outside the road that their human had become useless.
They needed to be careful.
Still, the perspective of even better food and new things filling their camp was way too enticing, so Paquerette didn't have to think much.
Gribouille ? The puppy didn't have any opinion, he was just nervously sticking to Sandrine, who showed no reaction.
Paquerette took her first step towards the side, her hoof hitting a different asphalt from the one of the infinite road. It was more damaged, older, more used, cracked in some places, and with plants growing out of it. Surrounding this path were a flurry of buildings made out of concrete and metal, very big structures, workshops, factories, and warehouses.
The mare didn't know anything about those things, the only thing she was sure of was that she could feel danger coming from everywhere, every single corner.
As she was walking towards the first building, her instincts suddenly screamed. She jumped backwards as fast as she could, just in time to avoid the arrow that lodged itself in the wall at the same place she had been at a few seconds ago. The strength was such that the warehouse's metal wall bent. If it had been Paquerette, she would have been pierced in the flank all the way through.
The mare stayed frozen for a few seconds. Her most basic instincts were screaming at her to go back, such sensor based traps were too dangerous, but she really wanted to go on. Paquerette was a very brave horse, she wouldn't give up so easily.
On her back, Gribouille was shaking all over. The puppy was terrified. However, he couldn't let his auntie do all the work, it didn't seem fair. Also, the trap seemed to be set off by sensors, and its height was quite high, enough to reach the flank of a horse or the heart of a human. But it was too high to touch him, a small puppy.
He should be fine.
So he slid off Paquerette's back and yelped quietly, positioning himself in front of the mare.
She looked at him curiously, but let him do his thing.
Both started to advance cautiously. Gribouille could avoid the traps easily, but he made sure to still set off every single one of them, just to be safe when going back. When Paquerette and him would feel that something was wrong, Gribouille would jump. This would set off the trap, but by the time the arrow was flying, the dog would already have touched the ground, and the danger would safely go over his head.
In this manner, they entered the first building. However, as soon as Paquerette put a hoof inside the warehouse, she neighed at Gribouille and took the puppy by the scruff of his neck with her teeth, galloping as fast as she could. The warehouse was teeming with enemies, and the annoying kind. Thousands of rats.
The mare was fleeing, and at first there was nothing behind her. Then the warehouse shook, and a rat came out. Then another. And another. Soon, it was like a black wave, a torrent of rats moving like one being, a disgusting mass of bodies pouring out the warehouse and flowing towards Paquerette and Gribouille.
The mare ran as fast as she could, and thankfully her previous level ups had raised her agility, making her quite fast. She could prob ably lose the rat mass if she tried hard enough.
However, she soon discovered a new danger.
In this section of the industrial park, there were still a lot of traps activated by sensors. However, those were different. Underneath each sensor there was a trap on the ground. Sometimes a bear trap, a hole filled with pointy spears, or sometimes scattered rusty nails. At one point, there was even a landmine !
It was very perverse. Players would enter the industrial zone, face the first sensor trap, maybe get hurt, and then learn from their mistake, crouching or crawling to avoid the sensors. Then they would meet the swarm or rats, running for their lives but unable to lose them with their human agility. Then encountering more sensor traps during their escape, they would crawl again, only to step on the ground traps.
Awful. Terrifying. Nobody would survive such a thing.
The death game really lived up to its name.
Anyway, this wasn't a problem for Paquerette, she was way too quick. The sensors would set off, she would already be gone. As for the ground traps ? She could just jump over them.
Behind her, the rats were still rolling like a wave, trying desperately to catch up. But they were getting fewer and fewer.
They were too small to set off the sensors, yes, but the mass fell for every ground trap. Too focused on catching the intruders, whelps and squeaks filled the industrial park as the rats fell into the holes and were pierced by spears, clamped into bear traps, impaled themselves on rusted nails, or exploded on landmines.
It was really a cacophony of death, and Gribouille was still shaking, his little paws dangling in the air while Paquerette galloped, fast like the wind.
At some point, the mare made a sharp turn and the mass of rats disappeared behind them. They could still vaguely hear squeaks and explosions, but it came from a distance.
Paquerette stopped behind a warehouse and put the puppy to the ground, trying to catch her breath. It was at this moment that their human started moving again.
"Looks like you're having fun with your little adventure."
The mare rolled her eyes but ignored her, focused on smelling the air and trying to determine the rats' position. Gribouille, still terrified, glared at Sandrine, as if to ask her to shut up. He didn't want to undergo another chase while dangling through the air, it was both humiliating and scary !
The human seemed to understand and didn't worry about it much more. After checking that they weren't hurt, she stood motionlessly again.
At this point, Paquerette had determined the position of their enemies. According to her instincts, the swarm of rats was the only opponent in the outer parts of the industrial zone. If they avoided and dodged the traps, they could harvest all the wooden chests from the surrounding buildings. However, the more dangerous place was the heart of the area, a gigantic factory. Paquerette could feel that something way more dangerous was inside. However, it also gave her the same feeling as that strange shiny chest she had found yesterday. Sandrine seemed very happy to find it, it must be good stuff.
Paquerette was a brave horse. She had determined that the swarm of rats wasn't an issue because she was very fast, and the traps were very easy to dodge. Even if the big enemy in the center was hard to beat, it would only be so for a human. She was sure that she could deal with it somehow.
She turned towards the puppy. He was a coward, but knew how to pull his weight. Volunteering to disarm the traps earlier had required quite a bit of courage, not bad for a kid ! Paquerette approved of him. With a somewhat useful cub, she could pull out anything without any worry.
She snorted towards Gribouille, trying to convey her thoughts. The puppy seemed a bit confused, but he understood that Paquerette seemed determined and full of energy. This wasn't the attitude of someone who was about to back down or hide ! The mare probably had a plan and wanted to benefit from this place.
Gribouille yelped quietly, showing his support and determination. His auntie was very strong, even stronger than their reckless human ! If Paquerette thought that they could be victorious, then they were sure to be !
Fired up, they started their excursion, avoiding the swarm of rats and dodging the traps, entering warehouses and factories, waking up Sandrine to take the chests.
It was tense, this wasn't a relaxed outing, but it wasn't so hard, to the point where Paquerette and Gibouille managed to grab 5 wooden chests and, feeling confident, started to walk towards the center.
In the middle of the industrial zone, there was a big concrete building, probably an old factory, surrounded by metal warehouses covered in rust. However, the factory itself had minimal damages, a few cracks and holes, but nowhere near as terrible as other buildings. It seemed the walls were thick, which slowed down the erosion.
This factory might have been important.
Paquerette smelled the air around them and Gribouille imitated her. The swarm of rats wasn't here for now, but their instincts told them that there was something dangerous inside. A domineering being, something that wanted to kill them. It felt like the night monsters, a creature affected by the black fog.
Along the way, the road was also covered in landmines. It wasn't as easy to know exactly where, because they weren't underneath a sensor trap, but scattered around. Thankfully, Gribouille had a good nose ! He could find the smell of metal and rust hidden underneath the broken asphalt, the dirt and gravel. It wasn't a big deal.
The puppy took the front and cautiously guided Paquerette, avoiding the landmines. Soon enough, they reached the door of the factory without a hitch.
Inside, they discovered a mostly empty space, except for a few machines covered in dust and rust, that had been pushed against the walls. The pets had no idea what those could be used for, only that they were very big, smelled bad, and were in the same state as the rest : Unusable.
The whole place smelled like danger. But even with the ray of light that passed through the cracks and holes in the wall, Paquerette could not see the powerful being she had smelled. Even Gribouille was looking around, confused.
However, what they both could see was the golden chest. It was placed on a platform leading to the second floor, accessible with a metal staircase. It didn't look very safe, and Paquerette was definitely too heavy to go and get it, but she couldn't possibly ask the small Gibouille to climb up alone. The platform didn't look safe either, it would crumble easily, and if the puppy was caught up in the rumble…
Paquerette was a clever horse. She wasn't as resourceful as her crazy human, but she had learned a thing or two. If the obvious way doesn't work, you don't have to give up. First, try to find another less obvious way.
As it turned out, there were big machines against the walls, including one that was quite close to the platform. If Paquerette climbed on top of it, she would be very close to the chest. Then, Gribouille could jump up the platform, move the chest towards her, and Paquerette could grab the handle with her teeth and take it down from there.
A good plan for a horse !
Paquette immediately started to walk towards the machine and looked at it. There were a lot of different parts, and few looked stable. However, if she used the big lever box as footing and then climbed on the smooth metal top… Still, she was a heavy horse, would it support her ?
It was better to try than to do nothing. Paquerette grabbed the puppy by the scruff again and walked back a bit, then suddenly galloped forward and jumped. The lever box bent under her weight and was about to crumble, but just before it could break into pieces, Paquerette jumped again and reached the top part. She lost footing a bit, her hooves slipping on the smooth metallic surface, but with a bit of effort, she succeeded in stabilizing herself. However, she wasn't exactly at ease here, the machine was making strange sounds, and the mare understood that she was way too heavy to stay on it for long.
She raised her head and gently put Gribouille on the platform. The puppy understood her intention and walked cautiously towards the chest. Looking around and seeing nothing dangerous, he caught the side handle between his teeth and pulled on it to bring it to Paquerette.
He was just a small pup and the task required strength, but he was already at level 3 ! He was a very strong puppy, at least strong enough to slowly drag a chest towards the edge of the platform. Once he was here and judged that Paquerette could grab it, he jumped on the mare's head and traveled along her neck to go back to Sandrine's arms on the mare's back, while Paquerette grabbed the side handle between her teeth and pulled on it.
She didn't wait, once she had the chest, she jumped down the machine. It made a very loud sound when she got off, as if a big metal sheet had been bent. Well, she was a horse after all, not the most lightweight of creatures.
It was time to put the chest in the inventory.
The pets shook Sandrine, who got back to her senses. The human looked around, then her gaze fell on the golden chest. She seemed very confused, as if she couldn't believe that her pets could pull it off.
"Woah, you're really amazing !"
She looked a bit curious but didn't ask. She slid down Paquerette's back, touched the chest with her crossed arms to put it in her inventory, and pulled out an empty one to climb on and go back on the mare's back.
However, just as she was sitting astride, there was a huge explosion.
The walls shook and dust filled the air, pieces of concrete fell, dirt from outside flew into the factory, and the sound was so powerful that Sandrine's ears were filled with tinnitus, incapable of hearing anything else. She had no idea what was happening.
However, her pets who had run all morning knew perfectly what the situation was. Beyond the smell of fire and gunpowder, they could both smell something that had become quite familiar. The rat swarm. It had found them and rushed to this factory, only to be blown up by the landmines outside. But despite all the noise and chaos, this wasn't the most important thing.
Turning around, their gazes met countless eyes, mounted on a black blob of flesh covered in fur. It was just above them, standing on the platform.
The big monster had been woken up by the explosion.