Adventure of Lavarsky Barnacle 1

The service door gives way into the castle armory. Lavarsky enters with the payment, quartermasters’ records, utility knife, and empty tommy gun, while the mysterious client remains in the provisions corridor behind him.

Weapon racks crowd the cramped chamber, and ammunition crates block part of the rear exit. Emergency bars glint beneath dust as impacts thunder through the passage.

Zrg stands between Lavarsky and the exit. Ash-gray flesh lies taut over exposed joints, and pale, clouded eyes remain fixed on his old nemesis.

Zrg shifts his weight and steps away from the rear bars, giving the racks no room for an easy passage. A crate trembles as something strikes the service door.

Zrg raises his hands and advances across the narrow armory, forcing the confrontation into motion while the barred exit waits behind him.

Lavarsky advances straight across the armory, slipping between weapon racks and scattered crates until he stands within striking distance of Zrg. His shoulder clips a rack, sending ammunition boxes clattering across the stone.

Zrg lunges into the space between them. Lavarsky meets him at close range, forcing the confrontation away from the barred exit and into the cramped center of the armory.

Zrg's hand catches Lavarsky's upper arm and tears through his coat, leaving a shallow cut and a hot line of pain. Lavarsky remains planted directly before his old nemesis, knife ready and the unfinished business finally begun.

Lavarsky tears a mace from the armory wall while Zrg presses close. The rusted bracket snaps loose with a sharp crack, and the weapon lands solidly in his grip, but the falling metal scrapes his palm.

The mace head swings clear of the racks as Lavarsky brings it between them. Loose ammunition boxes skitter underfoot, and the service door shudders again behind Zrg.

Zrg shifts sideways, keeping his damaged shoulder angled away and his pale eyes fixed on Lavarsky. The cramped room leaves little space for either fighter to retreat.

Lavarsky swings the mace in a broad, threatening arc. Zrg twists aside, committing to the dodge as the weapon crashes into a rack and sends ammunition boxes clattering.

With Zrg's attention pulled wide, Lavarsky draws the concealed utility knife and cuts across the zombie's exposed shoulder. Dark fluid stains the torn fabric as Zrg recoils.

The slash lands, but the mace's impact bends the weapon rack and drops a loaded crate onto Lavarsky's boot. Pain jolts up his leg, costing him balance without breaking his stance.

Zrg steadies himself against the rack, one shoulder damaged and his route narrowed. The armory door buckles behind him as another heavy strike shakes dust from the ceiling.

Lavarsky reaches for a machine gun mounted above the bent rack. His fingers close around its grip, but the damaged mount holds fast as the rack twists beneath him.

The loaded crate shifts against his boot. Lavarsky wrenches backward, and the machine gun tears sideways from his grasp, dropping behind the collapsing rack where he cannot reach it.

The rack slams between them, scattering ammunition and narrowing the armory's center. Lavarsky keeps the mace in hand, but the machine gun is trapped beyond the fallen metal.

Zrg steps around the fallen rack, his damaged shoulder turned away. The failed grab has given him the open lane, and he advances before Lavarsky can reach the blocked weapon.

The bent rack collapses fully between Lavarsky and the machine gun. Ammunition scatters across the stone, and the fallen metal seals that weapon behind a jagged barrier.

Zrg steps around the wreckage, favoring his damaged shoulder. The mace remains in Lavarsky's grip, while the utility knife sits ready and the barred exit waits behind the zombie.

Zrg drives forward through the narrow lane, forcing Lavarsky back toward the scattered ammunition. His hands reach to bind the mace arm before another swing can clear space.

Lavarsky breaks from Zrg's grasping hands and reaches for a wall-mounted machine gun fixed beside the armory's emergency bars. Its bracket looks loose enough to take.

His fingers close around the weapon, but a locking cable catches beneath the mount. The gun jerks sideways, wrenching the bracket free without coming loose.

The torn bracket swings down between them, forcing Zrg to halt and step around the dangling weapon. The cable remains taut, pinning the machine gun beyond Lavarsky's reach.

Dust drops from the wall as the displaced mount reveals a narrow maintenance gap beside the emergency bars, just wide enough for one person to slip through.

The torn bracket finally gives way. The maintenance cable snaps loose from its housing, and the wall-mounted machine gun drops into Lavarsky's waiting hands.

The weapon's weight settles against his grip, its ammunition belt still secured beneath the mount. The narrow gap beside the bars remains open, but Zrg is already moving.

Zrg lunges across the scattered ammunition, reaching for the weapon before Lavarsky can bring it fully to bear. His damaged shoulder leads, favoring the uninjured side.

The machine gun comes free of the dangling bracket. Its muzzle clears the wreckage, giving Lavarsky a direct line across the cramped armory as Zrg closes the remaining distance.

Lavarsky tears the machine gun free and secures it against his shoulder. The ammunition belt remains attached, and the loosened mount exposes a second narrow route beside the emergency bars.

Zrg lunges across the scattered ammunition, driving toward the gun. His damaged shoulder stays turned away, but his reach is fast and direct.

The machine gun clears the wreckage completely. Lavarsky has a clean firing lane across the armory, while the open gap gives him a route around Zrg.

Lavarsky braces the machine gun against his shoulder and opens fire. The weapon bucks hard, its report filling the armory as rounds strike Zrg and drive him backward across the scattered ammunition.

Zrg collapses against the emergency bars, his damaged shoulder giving way beneath the impacts. The burst ends with the ammunition belt hanging slack and the barrel smoking.

The gunfire tears through the cramped room's remaining quiet. Dust pours from the ceiling, and the service door behind the mysterious client shudders under answering blows.

Zrg remains pinned against the bars, motionless beneath the torn uniform. Lavarsky has the machine gun, but the noise has spent his concealment and brought the armory's danger rushing closer.

Lavarsky reaches past the smoking machine gun toward the nearest intact rack. His hand closes around a loaded service pistol secured beneath the bent shelf.

He pulls the pistol free, then strips a spare magazine from the rack beside it. The weapon settles into his grip alongside the machine gun.

Another rack offers a compact shotgun and two shells in a leather loop. Lavarsky reaches through the scattered ammunition and claims both.

Zrg remains slumped against the emergency bars, motionless for the moment. Lavarsky now carries the machine gun, pistol, spare magazine, and shotgun.

The service door buckles inward with a deep metallic crack. Dust spills across the armory floor as heavy footsteps gather beyond it.

Lavarsky turns from the buckling service door and drives through the maintenance gap beside the emergency bars, carrying the machine gun, pistol, spare magazine, and shotgun.

The gap opens behind the bars into a narrow stone passage. Lavarsky emerges on the far side with every weapon secured, while impacts hammer the armory door behind him.

Zrg remains inside the armory, blocked by the emergency bars and fallen racks. Dust clouds the passage as the client reaches the gap behind Lavarsky.