The alley was dead silent. The kind of silence that warned of motion — the wrong kind of motion.
Adam's revolver was already out, his eyes locked on the blinking red light pulsing between a mound of collapsed metal crates. "It's a crawler," he muttered. "Low-grade TechRot. No eyes. Feels vibrations."
Robert immediately crouched. "So we whisper?"
"No," said Michael, stepping forward slowly. "We don't move."
"I already hate this plan," whispered Sage from the shadows. "Can't I just shank it while it's vibing?"
"It doesn't 'vibe,' Sage," Marianna replied dryly, rifle raised and scanning. "It hunts. It just does it slow."
A wet scraping noise dragged along the concrete — metal limbs dragging themselves over stone. Then it emerged from behind the crates.
The crawler looked like it had once been a generator. Now it moved on six twisted spider-like legs, its center a hissing mass of infected gears and what looked like melted plastic tubing. Its "face" was a steel plate, cracked down the middle, leaking oil like blood.
Its head snapped toward a falling can.
Clink.
The can hadn't come from any of them.
"Jadrien," Marie hissed.
"Okay, that one was on me," Jadrien whispered from above, crouched on a fire escape. "But hear me out — I have a plan."
"No plans. Just shut up," Marie said, pulling a small injector from her satchel and loading it. "Adam?"
"I'm working on it," Adam muttered, pulling a disc-shaped device from his toolbelt. "Shock lure. If I toss this right, it'll pulse and draw it away."
"You sure?" asked Robert.
"Nope."
The crawler creaked. Its legs flexed.
Then it charged.
"NOW!" Michael shouted, launching forward, shield raised.
The crawler slammed into him, hard enough to send a metallic clang echoing through the alley. Michael dug his heels in, shield scraping the ground as he held the bot in place.
"MOVE!" he barked.
Marianna fired. The shot punched a hole straight through one of its legs, severing it clean. Sparks flew.
"Cover me!" Adam dashed to the side, ducking behind a dumpster. He flicked a switch and tossed the shock lure — it rolled and activated with a high-pitched whine.
The crawler froze. Its limbs twitched erratically, sensors flickering toward the lure.
"That's right, ugly," Robert muttered. He sprinted forward, leapt, and drove his dagger into one of the still-functioning legs.
Azariah clapped wildly. "We're actually doing it!"
"You're not doing anything!" Sage shouted, slinking around behind the crawler. With swift, silent motion, she jammed a jagged pipe into its spine. It arced violently — electricity snapped through the air.
The crawler shrieked. Not a scream, exactly — more like static vomiting through broken speakers.
Then it collapsed.
The silence returned, heavier now. Only their breathing filled the space.
"Everyone alive?" Marie asked, already checking for injuries.
"I'm emotionally wounded," Jadrien called down. "You yelled at me. I need a cookie."
"Shut up," the group said in unison.
Adam crouched beside the bot's corpse, examining it. "This one's tech was barely functioning. If this had been a newer strain..."
"It wasn't," Michael said firmly. "Don't overthink it."
Marianna lowered her rifle. "One thing's clear — they're closer than we thought."
Robert sheathed his dagger and looked down the alley. "Which means we need to move."
Adam pocketed the lure and looked up at the rest of them. "Yeah. Fast."