The Gypsy Esma is covered in dust and plaster, totally white and in shock. Dorotea has awakened and is shaking, screaming, “Mother, can you hear me? Its Orinthia! I was in a strange world of Ghosts and then I woke up.” Esma is confused, seeing Dorotea and Orinthia inhabit the same face. Its uncanny, there are two souls there totally visible and plain to see.
Xavier and Carmen were blasted through the wall, and are somewhere in the darkness. Rosita is walking over the rubble, eyes wide but unseeing. She is covered in bite marks on her neck and body, her once cinnamon skin is now pale as the moon. Her hair has gone white, her teeth long, protruding from her mouth and emoting a blood thirst as she comes to them and slowly focuses on the possessed Dorotea and Esma.
In the night Carolota is laying amongst rubble. She tries to get off the ground but her head is bleeding into her eyes. She hears whistles and war cries. She sees the flag of the Huerta Government faction opposed to Villa.
She tries to find a weapon, all she can manage are large splinters of exploded crates about a foot long. She remembers hearing something about a story, involving vampires being killed with wooden stakes. A fortunate thing to need in a field of shattered wood and bloodthirsty Ghouls and Vampires.
Maritza and the remaining Soldaderas dug in and made barriers to hide behind. Laying low and holding their fire. In the tumult of chaos, the smoke, the fires, cries of the dying, there is opportunity to stand back to watch for an opportune moment to strike.
The Circus freaks and Clowns do not see Huerta as a savior so they begin firing wildly, hurling bottles of accelerants into the Huerta line. The Huerta force are not eager to massacre the disoriented Carnies. There is a tolerance depleting for rogue bullets and burning horses stamping their own riders. With in a minute there will be a bloodbath.
Esma and Dorotea, now personified by her dead daughter Orinthia’s spirit scramble out of the blown up train. As they crawl into the dark, they see Rosita has not moved. Following them with her dead eyes. As she takes a step over the debris carefully to not violate her bare feet with any thing sharp, Xavier and Carmen tackle her.
Instantly she turns into a wild animal, clawing, gnashing teeth and trying to overpower them. She is weak, being unfed she is merely a risen corpse with some extra hunger and night vision but no superhuman strength. Something in her goes dormant. She stops fighting as they tie her hands and feet securely.
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Carolota watches a group of glowing eyes come out of the dark swirling smoke. Ghouls and Barstowe’s inner circle of undead, appear from the darkness and ravage the Huerta line from the sides.
Against the combat whole human forms are reduced to pulsating meat by bullets and fangs. The Soldaderas leap up with a mighty war cry smashing into the middle of the violence with a barbarity even Hungry Ghosts and Risen Corpses feeding on blood cannot match, it is a chaos of spurting scarlet arterial spray and dull thuds of rusty farm tools hacking necks of long dead Ghouls.
Over the horizon to the south, a fierce war cry as hundreds of horsemen come crashing into the battle. Running over everything standing from the flank. General Emiliano Zapata and Ambrose Bierce lead a cavalry running at full speed, bashing and breaking the Barstowe ghouls down, crippling the clowns and running the bystanders into the ground.
Esma and Dorotea join with Xavier and Carmen. Now that Rosita is safe, Xavier tells the girls to start the train, and he will go to find Carolota. Xavier makes a torch and staying low heads towards the battle to find Carolota. When he does she is having no trouble dispatching ghouls with stakes made from broken crates.
Xavier feels so much love her her at his moment. Of all the possible outcomes she is the apex predator in a killing frenzy. Gathering all the Stakes they can carry, they dash back to the Steam Engine which is now moving in time to see Barstowe has found them. Unfazed by his broken skull he is wearing his top hat and seizing in to strike Dorotea, Esma and Carmen to retrieve Rosa.
Carolota covered in blood and gore runs from the front, Barstowe turns and grasps her by the neck with out looking, just as Xavier coming from behind it about to strike he hears the Soldaderas cheering.
Rushing fast from the fields beyond is Pancho Villa, riding an actual Chariot pulled by 6 hungry Lions that smashes into the battle with the Undead Circus Vampires, Clowns and Freaks who are not undead, but enthralled alive to the evil Sorcerers cause.
Barstowe in awe doesn’t turn to stop Xavier from impaling his chest with a foot and a half long stake. Carolota’s throat released, she doesn’t skip a beat and repeatedly stabs Barstowe in the eyes and neck with her stake.
Ozma in Dorotea’s body watches as her mother Esma joins into picking up several Stakes and jabbing them into Barstowe’s back as he turned to confront Xavier. Barstowe is impaled by 7 or 8 stakes in his head, neck and chest. He does not fall. With a horrific snarl he dashes into the night.
In the battle between the living and the undead, the Soldaderas have backed off after their long and drawn out fight they catch their breath in the weeds. Villas force is making short work of the battered Carnies, Vampires, Freaks, Hungry Ghosts.
The Steam Engine now catching speed moves West into the sunrise. Everyone aboard has a chance to catch their breath and appraise their situation. Barstowe has been seemingly mortally wounded, but there are also his Three Sages likely to find some close by haven to crawl beneath the earth.
Looking back the tunnels beneath the Bigtop are roaring with fire from bellow. Just then Carolota and Carmen look at each other and say in unison, “Pepito!” The girls don’t bother with explanation and dive from the moving Train, running back to the battle.
Xavier says to Esma, “Slow the train down safely and wait for us to return.” He takes a breath to steady his nerves and then leaps onto the grass as it goes rushing by, tumbling like a doll in the morning light.