“Yaawn I’m so tired, how long was I out?” Bessie asked, pressing hard the gas with her rat skin boots.
“A couple hours dear. Hey these classes are a super fit,” huffed Jed, long becoming upset after looking out the window too long.
The outside environment was still spooky, but Jed had got them out of the dungeon. Hopefully daylight and green growth would someday return to the troubled region. For now the moons were fully maxed in the night. He returned to studying the gambling themed engraving on his duel wield revolvers.
Previously both of them had desired to settle down to a simple life. Now Jed checked the digital shockproof watch part of his [Grower class]. It came lined with four simple buttons he was unable to comprehend similarly to his high power chest piece that had lots of unlabeled labels. He didn’t dare accidentally use any more skills inside the moving vehicle.
Bessie's stomach roared with engine groaning, grumbling and gurgling for grub. The hunger had grown so fierce her insides almost sounded like a howling werewolf.
“Jed, I'm hungry enough to eat a horse. Grrr get me food,” she snarled like a feral dog.
“Yes ma'am," he said, reopening a bag of beef jerky from storage.
Instead of taking one piece she opened her mouth and gobbled down the entire bag. The automobile almost flipped, drifting round a corner. Jed kissed the lucky sponge again while flailing around as he had unbuckled to reach her snacks. Meanwhile Bessie looked crazed fighting the steering wheel like it was a demon.
“Careful driving tired is the same as driving drunk,” he scolded, having fallen towards the backseat.
She replied by [Swiping] a can of meat away from Jed to finish opening it with her teeth. He watched her wolf it down grimacing at the sharp edge.
“Yum I’m calling these amazingly quick gloves Mustang @ GTO.”
“That class fits you silly Sally,” he laughed.
“Burp” She turned to stare him down with a new found hunger that scared him. “WHERE ARE WE JED?” She yelled at him. “We should be there by now!”
“Sigh Unfortunately I had to take two detours: 1st to avoid a dangerous dungeon with a slain witch on her own revenge mission against me. Thankfully when you slapped me outside it killed all those enemies saving my ass,” laughed Jed, going for a high-five until he noticed her eyeing it like food.
The faint presence of voices of millions of souls babbled in the background. These magic suits of armor might as well make them knights. The crystals powered their cores rooting deep inside their brains and bones further disturbing them. Jed was the most experienced over his adventure. He could tell his free will was slipping with every use of the powers.
“Our powers are too strong yet limited by how much the crystals drain from our cores,” she realized out loud.
“Yeah and of course we can’t control them at all either. Damn it this is something you have to go to a magical schoolhouse for a long time to master just like being an electrician, “ added Jed, checking his wrist.
“Speak for yourself as I'm learning this shit individually. It’s a simple system and we aren’t children. learn by doing yourself and pay in personal energy,” she huffed.
“Yeah but how much?” Interjected Jed.
“I’m just saying it would be nice to have a manual for power armor or something. It could be possible to accidentally use too much energy at once and permanently exhaust yourself for good.”
“Life would’ve been great with a manual, but anyway man I’ll do what I have to do to get revenge on that punk ass copper,” she spit.
“There’s a thing called planning. I know the apocalypse has hit this region hard but we could train and try to knock on doors to spread news to your family's sect. We are going up against the man after all,” said Jed, eyeing his revolvers.
“Pa was a loyal member of the union between farmers and miners, not fighters. Anyway I have no room for larger organizations of any sort anymore after his demise,” she said.
“There’s nobody else in the family?”
“It split long ago and we were the odd ones cast out plus we don’t have time to find people,” she sighed, looking off in the swirling mists disturbed at seeing what looked like a glitch.
“You're missing the point, we have to go fast before they get away,” she said, pulling herself together.
“You should know you were out cold in the passenger seat for 7 hours and 22 minutes. The next detour was the road being covered with space debris from the destroyed moon. That area was also glitching out when I stopped to really smell the roses uhm joking. It was still part of the Witch's dungeon zone just not as bad as her circus,” he explained.
“This fog is nuts!” she raged.
"Shh we are so very close to our final destination,” Jed said, pointing to the road on the map.
“Oh shit we might have already gone past the dirt road,” she said, cautiously slowing an automobile for the first time in her life.
The winter air was frigid through the hole she had previously smashed him out when the killer bees attacked through the stereo/HVAC. They drive around a bend revealing rolling hills. At first it looked like hay bales covered by snow but on 2nd inspection actually full of cooled space debris. A huge shadowy structure in the distance while close impacts still smolder a week later.
They crawled forward and fought to push through the snow. Out of nowhere a howl that rumbled the street under the full moons. It was light enough to get a good picture where the high beams pointed, however many dark shadows remained around the vehicle.
“Okay that’s the Dapper Clan's grain silo, their property wraps ours on 3 sides,” she explained, pointing to the shadowy structure.
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In the meantime Jed had attached a scope bigger than the revolver to one and was considering doubling down.
“It’s too bad we don’t have any silver bullets.” he grunted.
“Let alone magic guns,” she added.
“Hmmm I'm old fashioned,” said Jed,hiding from Bessie that he was cutting a small piece out of her lucky green sponge lined with magic crystal particles for his own use.
Next he took an empty shell casing and stuffed it in the magic sponge piece. He almost sprinkled in the magma powder before she looked over catching him red handed.
“What are you doing?”
“That’s a werewolf. We might need to combat it so I'm swinging for the fences on magic bullets,” he admitted, throwing the sponge on her lap.
“Alright just remember to add water to activate, and next time just ask,” she sighed, her partner had some real annoying habits.
She wanted to drop him, but also not all. It was a complicated situation and everyone had their flaws. She had to admit she couldn’t do this mission solo. Anyway the cold blooded revenge was much easier to let take the reins for now. After the hospital she did feel strangely less human in her core. And with every use of the crystal powered power armor grew colder, and colder.
Jed spit into the casing. It quickly grew so hot he had to throw it out the makeshift sunroof he had previously created. She slammed the breaks.
“That's a valuable sponge back there,” she said, climbing outside. “Watch the car.”
“Aright,” said Jed, watching the rear.
She started searching while he opened the trunk to organize equipment. The mist was heavy all around them like they were on a boat. Jed turned his attention to the front where the crystal light headlights shone penetrating just enough to see the sign.
“That’s the dirt road to your farm right Bessie psst,” whispered Jed, opening the passenger door.
“Shit shut off the engine Jed,” she whispered back.
They both illuminated the sponge that had split the bullet casing in half. It foamed before grass sprung from magic seeds overriding the white with bright green. With a growing circle of dirt road sprouting wisps as if time had jumped forward a month. They held their breath as it continued to spread. Anyone close was going to be alerted.
“We need to hide the car off the road,” said Jed, removing his signature hat.
The frigid air attacked his shaved head. He strapped on his special helmet fully embracing his class identity. She grinned on eyeing her partner’s new monocle.
The car was parked underneath trees. The wild grass grew past their feet, but eventually stopped expanding out. It grew so fast upwards they were soon hidden deep inside thick blades. They finished unloading their gear and locked the car.
“Beep,beep,beep,” said the box of tricks being primed a little ways away.
we got 15 minutes before the distraction springs so let’s get going. The road to the farm is just under a mile,” she whispered.
Jed grunted following her lead as he struggled to strap on a belt of tactical gear. He had his two cowboy revolvers fully loaded, but the scope attachment he had just installed to one was detrimental in the mist. Bessie cradled her trusted heirloom rifle.
They both breathed heavily working overtime to avoid snapping twigs through what little remained of the forest pounded by rocks. Jed gently let his breath out steaming the air whilst she breathed in. Together they stood overlooking the family farmhouse. The lights were off on the property but an engine was loudly running somewhere.
“Whoever thinks they can take my property.
The cold frosty winds blew away the mist letting the moons fill in the spooky picture.
“What the fuck,” she whisper, zooming in on her scope.
Jed’s mouth dropped as he followed. The fields were full of workers and the trees full of vultures. People gathered around the boulders with pickaxes going to town. In Fact it looked like the whole town was out there working in what could have been a hundred small groups of a dozen or so, others toiled the soil tirelessly. The last batch of workers cut off heads before loading dead bodies into a wood chipper that was spread into paste to grow for zombie crops. Finally the cut off heads were replanted in the soil.
An undead horse trotted into view. Its bones clicked echoing across the valley. On its back two rode. The first in uniform whilst a skeleton rode on back wearing very similar plotting armor to them.
“I wish it was quicker to find that needle in a haystack.Well babe it’s a good thing I have spies working overtime to find you at any cost,” said Nancy the necromancy.
“No luck seeing anything inside Nancy they got the place boarded up and I want brains grr,” growled a pawn.
“My zombie mice were keeping watch until they vanished almost as if a cat was in the house with them. Whatever, we will starve them out. Remember boys I’m not running a dungeon here. We need to cultivate rapid growth not value for royals. as much meat as possible before our army of the dead can portal hop in search of my one to love Edward,” she sighed.
With the mourning complete Nancy began blindly cracking her whip. The weapon lashed a fence post, before it tied a slip knot around a corn ear. Her dead horsemen accelerated through the fields filled with workers. She finally managed to score a lucky hit, bonking one over the head with cornballs. Her remaining zombie slaves began working faster and faster on harvesting crystals and repurposing flesh. Some bones broke in two but they kept digging.
“Says she’s 540 but she’s really 666,” whispered Jed, unable to help himself.
“Shut the fuck up and listen our targets still alive.. When our distraction goes off we run inside and shoot,” she replied.
“What was that?” questioned a smokey undead voice.
Nancy’s skull suddenly turned 180 degrees to look right up at them. Luckily the eyes had been long ago hollowed leaving voids, but the horseman was turning.
“Caw caw caw,” said the crows nestled on the nearby scarecrow.
There are a few remaining corn stocks in the burnt field background. The only place with ripe fruit was the pumpkins marked the edges of a pentagram marked with blood. In the center the scarecrow planted on a post without souls. The murder of crows eyes were red matching the field workers. The squirming human sacrifice’s lay terrified neatly in a row ready to demonically harvest.
“Activity at the farmhouse,” yelled a henchman., as Nancy snapped to another location. Her little birds had already sounded the alarm at the jailbreak.
Suddenly next to the farmhouse a hay wagon seemingly picked up speed by itself. It rolled down the hill smashing into the small garage beside the burnt remains of the barn. The zombie horde became fixed on the garage and so did the adventures.
In the meantime three shadowy figures had popped out of a hole in the ground next to the big green tractor that had previously fallen out of commision. Sheriff Nate Spit climbed out first with the jack. He and his men worked like a well drilled machine fixing the beast. He jumped on the seat and fired up the engine. The dead turned their heads again as wheels started turning.
“BOOM!”
What remained of the garage burst into flames. Many zombie’s waltzed on fire in the fields while Nancy had fallen off the saddle. The ground fissures and the sky glitched as the frame rate went to absolute zero. The sound was fried and time slowed to slop as they walked around like being seasick in the stormy offshore. Suddenly things snapped full force back into reality.
“I’ve never been a horse girl, even dead the fucking things they listen,” grumbled the Necromancer, crawling for clues to her remaining enemies.
In the meantime she was having her crows ripped the flesh from the bound sacrifices feeding souls to the scarecrow.
“Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!”
Bessie had noticed sheriff Nate on her fathers tractor and started blasting at him. It was a long way off and a moving target, but one bullet looked like it hit the engine. Jed focused on making one good shot while holstering the non-scoped revolver. He began squeezing the trigger. He became distracted as the ground rumbled and a faint circus theme song entering play in the zone far behind them.