Ari didn’t have the time to check if the man heard her words, nor could she see if the gun landed in his hands, so she could only wonder how he was dealing with the situation he found himself in. But the loud gunshot that rang out behind her back moments later, followed by an audible thud, told her that it certainly wasn’t peaceful. Well, at least she wasn’t the one getting shot this time. What a reassuring thought.
If that man survives, he’ll be owing her a drink, that’s for sure. There isn’t such a thing as too much free alcohol.
Ari’s sprint towards the water canister was interrupted yet again, this time by the impact of something enormous hitting the ground and causing it to shake violently, followed by a deafening metallic noise. She turned around to see the vile machine crumbled on the ground, motionless. She could only wonder if some poor soul was unlucky enough to end up right under that thing when it fell.
Well, it wasn’t her, so… not the worst outcome.
That thing was certainly not dead, but it now was on the ground. If there was a chance to hit it, it was now. And the water canister was close, so perhaps-
Ari watched in horror as the colossus started rising back up, as if nothing had just happened to it.
You unkillable son of a gun… If only I didn’t waste so much time…
She bolted towards the canister as fast as she could, taking one last quick look at her arm. The mechanism appeared to be in operable condition, but she wouldn’t know for sure until she tried it. She wouldn’t need to wait long to find out.
As that thought crossed her mind, a couple realisations suddenly hit her. She threw away the only thing that could shield her from the powerful stream of water that would follow the punch a while ago in an attempt to save the kid. And, even if the arm worked perfectly, the impact against the hard metal would likely crush all bones in her shoulder. What she was about to go through certainly could not be called a pleasant experience. On the other hand, neither could anything from the last three years of her life. And backing out at this point would be silly, wouldn’t it?