A ghoul fell away as Amanda shoved a knife through its spinal column, letting the blade go as she pushed her way outside, squinting at the daylight that was already rising in the sky. The zombie groaned and gurgled, spurring the young woman to stomp on his head a few times just for good measure. Listening to that oh-so-wonderful crack of a splitting skull, which led to blessed silence! If she never had to listen to their drawling, drooling, mindless drivel again, well, she’d presumably be happy. It would, of course, mean she’d never get to blow another of their brains out with a well-placed bullet—but maybe something between asking a brainiac to create an invasive variant of the ghouls that would cause a sort of growth to seal their mouths shut? Perhaps a little dangerous, given nobody would hear them coming, but… likely worth it…

“Oh god, does that feel good!” She laughed, stretching with languid bliss as her limbs popped and cracked, the girl leaning this way and that way, just luxuriating in the crisp air and warm sunlight that bathed her pale complexion on the few places it was actually exposed.... Yes, sometimes, it really was the simple things in life that made it all worth bothering with. If not for them, then who knew? Maybe Amanda might just have kept punching her own ticket until she finally reached the end of her theoretical existence and, went wherever the afterlife took her!

Suicide hadn't ever been a real threat beyond the occasional musing while fidgeting with a gun or grenade, usually whilst lacking anything interesting to do… yet she did oftentimes wonder if she could even get it done. Not the killing herself, no, that was actually somewhat easy once you realized all you needed to do was wiggle a single finger and bam! That was that! Rather, the difficulty when it came to such things, at least for herself, was what she’d learned of multi-dimensionalism. And more specifically, how wildly it didn't make an iota of sense!

She’d once stood in the parking garage of a forty-story building that she’d collapsed on herself with a truly abhorrent quantity of C-four she’d found, then replicated, in some random warehouse… the box had been marked toilet paper, which, at the time, she’d been looking for.

Anyways, she’d levelled the whole structure! Collapsed it right on top of herself whilst in a fugue of frustration, trying to figure out if death really was possible for her. Of course, she hadn't been exactly in the best state of mind, filled with as much crack, coke, booze and heroine as she could find while stumbling her way through a drug-fueled wonderland of madness! And, whilst in this state of states, she’d convinced herself that if she only trapped the lot of the shadowy fuckers with her, then her causality would come to an end, and she’d finally achieve lasting rest!

What had followed was a truly appalling sequence of miserable deaths that had indeed burned through all her possibilities—until she reached far enough down the multi-dimensional highway to find a version of herself who’d decided she wasn't going to try and do something so recklessly stupid. Mandy just popping up out of nowhere, standing across the street, staring at the pile of rubble and possible hundreds of now vanished iterations of herself who had been, quite literally, squished to death—or suffocated…

Yeah, that one hadn't really been pleasant… On the plus side? Infinite Mandy’s meant infinite versions of herself who’d never gotten addicted to drugs! Which meant she could experience that fucking other-worldly high the first time, shooting up, over and over and over again!

“Oh!” She chirped, voice almost singsong as she rolled her shoulders and started walking in a truly meaningless direction, “Memories…”

Part of the problem with being immortal was that few things truly got her heart racing like they used to. When danger was no longer dangerous, adrenaline was something you began to associate with a needle and injector rather than a near-death experience. Thus, Mandy strolled along in broad daylight, uncaring for who or what saw her, simply enjoying the weather as she took a pleasant walk, looking for the first thing that even remotely caught her interest. By the time she was halfway down the block, she already had a near two dozen ghouls all shambling after her, the young woman walking backwards with both hands behind her head, just moving at her leisurely pace to let the monsters keep up with her so she could taunt them with her lovely fleshy flesh.

Occasionally, she reached down and plucked a stone from the road, tossing it at a slumbering pod of ghouls yet to wake, just so she could add more to her growing congo-line of undead plants, earnestly pondering a cool way to kill them all… Something she did find immense satisfaction in was creating situations that others might find themselves truly speechless about. Mandy getting something of a bizarre flutter in her belly whilst imagining a group of people stumbling upon some of the absurd situations she’d left in her wake, hoping to one day meet a group of travellers who spoke of one of her silly goofs like it were some cryptid story like Nessie or bigfoot! So far, she hadn't heard about her little side-project, however, she also hadn't been at it very long. She knew eventually, it would turn up in conversation. But, until then, she’d just keep at it for the shits and giggles.

“Maybe I can do a crop circle of bodies! Like they did in Game of Thrones!” She mused, thinking back to the show she’d watched in youth and knowing she could one-up them. She wouldn't be constrained by budget and time! But—it would be hard to see… “Unless someone were standing on a roof!” She perked up, now feeling like she was onto something. “I could—make a kind of treat trail leading to a highrise! Leave guns and bullets and the like every few feet or so, and at the end, leave a massive pile of loot in the corner all the way up as high as you can go! Then, clear out an area and just start laying out all kinds of body parts and dead ghouls! Make like a—Celtic design or something… only, like an entire kilometre long! Yeah… that would confuse anyone who saw it! Oh, and I could leave another cache of weapons at the center of the bodies! Something big… something—real big…”

Hmm… she should probably get the bag of goodies first… and for that, she’d probably need to hit up something military level, or—maybe a police precinct in a shittier part of town. She was reasonably sure they’d have something cool locked away somewhere… Maybe even an RPG! Yeah, gangbangers would defiantly have something like that, which meant, at some point, cops would presumably confiscate it… o-or… should she go and commission something from a brainiac for it? Frowning, Amanda watched as the nearest ghoul stumbled whilst reaching too far for her, causing a cascading tumble of the bumbling creatures, which did make her snicker a little. Though terrible to say, it was kind of like watching fat people fall over and keep falling over as their mass got the complete better of their too-small legs. Mandy managing a transitioning giggle of amusement as she reached out and punched another of the zombies, causing yet another pileup. Eh… it wasn't as cool as it had been the first time… and now, she was bored again…

Idly, she fingered one of the grenades she kept on her belt… seriously considering tossing it at a pile-up of cars she was coming up on once all the ghouls were trying to walk through the mess, wondering if she’d get a GTA-style series of explosions! It was probably worth the attempt… after all, what was the point of carrying the things around if she wasn't going to use them? That thought eventually led Mandy to wonder if she could create suicide bomber ghouls as a weaponized tool for war! Rig up a few dead-man switches… find some more C-four… pick a fight with a town of assholes who were doing the whole indentured servitude thing and just—see how things all played out…

“Holy christ! What the hell are you doing lady?” A voice suddenly called out; Mandy turning around just as she was working to tie a piece of string around a ghoul's hand and an already armed grenade, her hand pulling away just before the zombie got a good bite into it. But not sliding the pin back in the boom ball…

Standing on top of an RV that was conspicuously out of place amidst the gridlock of vehicles around it, was a tall and well-hatted fellow who was staring at the nearly fifty zombies she was parading around with wide and terrified eyes. He was already speaking rapidly into a walkie-talkie, voice shaky as much as it was disbelieving!

“Ay! Kim, Richie, Burt, all of y'all need to get the fuck back here asap! We got a woman leading a fucking army of undead right to our damned trailer!”

“We've got a—what?” Amanda heard a voice crackle over the speaker, her body swaying to the side to narrowly avoid a lunging ghoul who pitifully tripped and was trampled by its brethren. No, there was zero honour among the dead, nor mercy for those who fell behind…

“We’ve got some fucking lunatic trying to kill us!” The cow-boy proclaimed, a gun finding its way into his palm, which levelled on Amanda’s person. “H-hey now, not another step further or I’ll shoot, dammit!”

Amanda saw how the man’s hand was as shaky as a gunslinger high on peyote. The woman earnestly wondering if he’d have a higher chance of hitting her if she tried to dodge! Yet, now her interest was piqued. She glanced at the cowboy standing before his fold-out chair, glanced at the ghouls still following her, then figured there wouldn't be any real harm if the guy stayed up there. It wasn't like the stupid things knew how to use ladders… So, she kept walking, a slight smile forming on her face as she jerked as if about to dart to the side, causing the man to flinch, yank back on the trigger and miss by an entire quarter mile…

She just stared off to the distance, following along with the trajectory of his muzzle when he’d fired and squinting as if imagining she could see the tiny hole in a window fifteen stories or so up and further down the street…

“You shouldn't fire that thing anymore…” She called out, trying to offer him a semblance of advice. “Honestly, that revolver has what? Five shots left at best? I think the British had better accuracy when they were still filling boats with soldiers in lockstep! Best to wait until I'm three or so feet away!”

The man visibly flushed, swallowing as he once more did his best to level the gun at her as he wiped a fresh sleeve of sweat across his brow, voice filled with false bravado. “T-that there was just a warning shot! The next one wont miss, believe me!”

“And what if bullets don't even work on me?” She called back, lyrical voice filled with joviality, Mandy whipping out then popping the head of a nearby ghoul like a thick and pulpy pimple, all without even bothering to look. The effect, she knew, would be devastating to his confidence. The young woman practically catching the very moment the guy realized exactly how much danger he was in.

Life in the wasteland was an utter crapshoot. Especially for those that others considered weak. If you weren't with people who were strong, you were prey. And if you were strong, well, the rule of thumb if you wanted to survive was that there was always someone better than you were. That naturally didn't help those of humanity who were—near enough to a baseline human. Those who had to find out the hard way that the best way to survive when encountering someone truly terrifying was to grovel and beg if they were mean, while kissing ass where appropriate or, hoping they were beatific and genuinely nice, which was about as rare to come across as a unicorns foreskin. That was to say, they didn't really exist.

Power corrupted one's morals like few things truly could. And the shitheads of the world pretty much managed to murder whatever good intentions might be remaining. Universally, Mandy had found that most warlords were, in point of fact, self-titled good people. And, possibly, they even had been once. However, reality was often times subjective to the individual who most immediately observed it. And while a super who killed a supposed bandit might be heralded as a champion of his people, that bandit's family would undoubtedly think him a monster. No, it was best to try and just do your own thing. Good and evil didn't really exist as white and black and was much more a spectrum of choosing the lesser evils life presented. All there was—was people trying to do their best to stay alive. And, for the nameless cowboy, well, his face took a decided plummet towards horror…

“Don't worry! I don't take getting shot at personally!” She assured him, and, she wasn't even lying about it. To her, catching a bullet was kind of like having someone you really didn't want to have a conversation with shout out you're name. More—awkward than anything else, really… If he’d managed to kill her and she’d lost some of her shit then—maybe she’d of given him a new orifice or two, but as things stood, there wasn't much of a point. “Seriously! I'm just passing through, don't mind my ghouls, most of them will probably follow me!”

“The hell they will, you fucking lunatic! They're all gonna completely forget about you and try and tip me over!”

Mandy eyed the camper the guy was standing on, eyed the ghouls still trailing her, and mentally calculated the odds of that actually happening. Probably only a forty or so percent chance… and that was assuming none of them actually followed her. Still, the guy did seem to be a bit of a squirrely sort, so maybe he’d manage to attract them all… ghouls did like it when their prey squirmed… sort of like fish did worms.

“You aren't a pyrokinetic, are you? Or a flyer?”

“No, I ain't no bleeding pyro or a sky-chicken! I'm a god's honest brawler!”

“How strong?” Mandy asked, rather conversationally, as she continued to lead her plucky hoard towards the RV without a care in the world.

“Can lift a dang car all my own! So, you get near enough; I ain't gonna need this here colt to put you in the dirt!”

Well, that meant—fuck all to Mandy… Lifting a car really wasn't that great of an initial opener so far as boasting went because that usually meant it was supposed to scare her. Which also meant that it was the best he really had. The thing was, while durability and strength usually did walk hand in hand, she’d seen brawlers who could throw a car across the street! Just lifting one, at least in her experience, meant that a forty-five to the skull in and around a thirty or so foot proximity would end him the same as it would anyone weaker than he was. And admitting that he was a brawler meant that he didn't have anything special up his sleeve.

Against ghouls? Well, he’d probably actually do quite well for himself in close-quarters combat—until he was eventually overwhelmed, slipping on intestines and blood as the zombies began biting through the softer parts of his skin. His hands? Probably not much of a chance. Under the arm or the neck? Well—he’d probably want to avoid finding out if their teeth would actually get through… Brawlers were tough; there was no question about it. But like everyone, save for the very cream of the crop, conventional firearms could and would still be deadly. After all, humans had been making projectiles that could penetrate tanks for decades before mutants started showing up! And maybe she was even wrong with her estimate! Maybe she’d need to use one of her grenades and shove it down his throat while in frozen time to truly put him down. Either way, she really wasn't scared…

“Would it be mean to ask if the car you were referring to was one of those tiny smart cars or, something actually cool? Because if it wasn't like, you know, a van or something…”

“It was a damned pickup truck!”

“Oh, for real?”

“Yeah for real!” The cowboy huffed, smug self-satisfaction and confidence beginning to radiate from his voice.

Amanda just grinned at that, shrugging off her pack before freezing time right as the guy was about to say something else. Cracking her neck, she pulled out her poney gun, placing it softly on the bag before drawing her less important firearms. Breathing in through her nose as she began unloading on the frozen monsters! Her guns clicked dry within heartbeats, new ones finding their way to her hands as fast as she could sheath the old and draw the new, bullet casing flying then pausing in the air as they left her influence! Smoke filling the world around her as Zombies died in droves! Then, she popped into a different iteration of herself, drawing again and repeating the process, unleashing a hailstorm of devastation upon the brains of the mindless ghouls before her, double tapping, triple tapping, aiming for eyeballs and foreheads, circling the monster's three times over while ensuring no rounds would make their way towards the brawler still on his RV.

Then, she went back to where she’d started, planted her feet just so, remembered the bag, ditched the new one, then went back to prepare a pose as she released her hold on time and an eruption of gunfire deadened the world to silence!

Amanda couldn't hear so much as a thing as, all around her, smoke and blood and casings flew in virtually all directions! The modest hoard of ghouls she’d been tagging along suddenly erupting in a spray of violence and overwhelming prejudice as the young woman's ears rang with undeniable inner ear damage! One hand cocked on her hip with almost suggestive intensity, the other holding up her sig as though she’d managed the whole feat with nothing but it alone. The best part about actually taking the time to load her guns? All, if not most of her theoretical selves all were just as locked and loaded as she was.

She could go months on the same clip of ammo and really only run out if she was being lazy about it. Which she admittedly was prone to. Still, watching the smirking certainty of the brawler's growing confidence freeze as though she’d stopped time again whilst all the ghouls exploded in a maelstrom of lead and rupturing heads within the same instant, no less, that was satisfying. Yet she was far from done! Once she was positive the guy had taken it all in, his body moving an involuntary step back from the terrifying and presumed speedster before himself, Mandy really got to work!

She froze time again, clearing out all the bodies, some of which hadn't yet hit the floor, dragging them, much as it was difficult to do so, and hiding them in a nearby alleyway. It was work, especially for herself, but it would be worth it in the end! There wasn't much she could do about the blood, but that didn't really matter so much. These things didn't need to be perfect…

After, Amanda dug through the pack she’d stashed, pulling out a bottle of beer she’d been hanging onto and climbing up the side of the RV. She smiled, cracking it and placing the thing on the roof, swapping a near dozen times to add more and more, emptied of course, to really sell the whole thing! Then, she unfroze time, ending right beside the cowboy's face as, from one moment to the next, the street suddenly vanished of everything but casings, smoke, red mist and asphalt…

“They'll never believe you!” She sang in her softest, most child-like voice, immediately causing the brawler to leap from his feet! Sending all the empty bottles of beer toppling around him, the man spinning in terror but freezing again in glacial time as Mandy hopped back down off the roof and sat herself on a far enough away car that she was pretty sure the cowboy couldn't hit, even if he tried.

Again, time resumed. And what she got was something that would keep her cackling like a witch for years to come! The man almost tripped and fell off the camper’s roof as the clinking clack of bottles filled the air, the brawler's voice shrill and calling out with pubescent crackles of fear!

“Holy Christ, how did you—” He paused, eyes filled with horror and surprise, head swivelling whilst doubtlessly trying to keep track of the stranger before swearing, looking back to the zombies but—hesitating as though he’d forgotten they were all dead, only now they were also gone!

For a time, he just—gaped, posture utterly crumbling to the point his hat dipped on his head… thin, trout-like shoulders folding in on themselves before he finally spotted her. His gun rose, eyes the size of saucers, arm trembling like a meth-addict two days without a fix! He tried to say something—babbled unintelligibly for a few moments, then jerked as a semi-familiar voice crackled over the speaker!

“Jon! Just hold on, buddy! We're gonna be there in only a minute! Stay calm and stay down! Livi’s already flying up to a rooftop for overwatch! Don't start a fight!”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The poor man tried to reach back for his radio, he really did, yet his fingers just kept fumbling over the transmitter as his eyes unblinkingly watched Amanda like she were some nightmare that would approach each and every time he closed his eyes.

“Hey guys! We ugh… I think we might have a bit of a—hmhmhm… situation with Jon…”

There was a silence as Amanda merrily kicked her feet, too short to touch the ground while seated on the hood, but, that just made her so much more unassuming. Sometimes, being a short stack did have its advantages.

“He’s not—dead, is he?”

“Pfft! No! More like shitfaced!” a feminine and chuckling woman replied. “He’s just standing on the RV, tweaking out while pointing his gun at some random person sitting on a car! There’s, ugh, a lot of empty beer bottles all scattered about and such…”

“You fucking kidding me?”

“Hah… nope!”

“Jon, you fucking dickhead! Did you seriously find a whole case of beer and not wait to share any with you're fucking teammates?”

“I—I-I…”

“Shit… sounds like the big guy got himself into some seven-percenters… He cant even speak right no more!”

“Carlos!” A snapping and authoritative voice called out, “Are you close enough to see what’s going on?”

“What? Don't trust my eyes, oh fearless leader?”

“No, Im giving Jon the benefit of the damned doubt! Else, I'm liable to break his fucking eye socket when I get back there!”

“Ugh—yeah, so—Livi’s telling the truth, yeah? Ain't no army of ghouls out here! But, Jon is definitely losing his shit man…”

“Well, don't go near him! You're a speedster, not a brawler like he is! Fucking hell… Alright, I'm almost down!”

Amanda watched as a man of Hispanic roots blurred into sight not a few meters away. His speed—fast but not so quick as to be invisible to the naked eye. She waved at the guy, still effecting an air of innocence as she watched the speedster hesitantly wave back… then, he turned to his comrade still standing on the RV and shouted, “Jon, the fuck man! Put that thing down! You're pointing it at a little girl!”

“Adult girl, actually!” Amanda corrected—albeit without annoyance. Honestly, it was an easy miss… Given her five-foot-two height and svelte size, and that the curves that she most certainly did possess were all—of course, relative and hidden… well… yeah... She was also wearing a rather ambiguous outfit, with only her thighs really exposed so far as shape went, and she’d met plenty of dudes with luscious legs so, moot point… If anything, the giveaway vis a vis her gender was her voice. And, sure, while her hair had grown out a bit in this iteration of herself, she still liked to keep it shorter than the jaw. Really, the only thing people could immediately tell about her was that she was small, of caucasian descent, and had wheat-gold hair. Other than that, she was fairly anonymous.

For his part, Carlos just spared her a passing glance over his shoulder, eyeing her for a moment, then shrugging. “Well, sorry, but that still doesn't make it any better, you know? Jon man, cmon! Fucking put the gun down!”

“S-she’s a monster!” The cowboy accused, jerking his revolver towarrds her with an outstanding lack of hand-eye coordination. “She killed them all, Carlos! All hundred of them! Then, got rid of the bodies in a blink of the eye!”

“Okay, buddy, I get it!” Carlos agreed, holding out both hands as though trying to calm down a growling dog, “But, just level with me here, put the gun down, and I’ll come up there, and we can talk this through!”

“N-no! She’s… I can't look away! That’s when she does it! It's when you look away!”

“Fuuuuck… Ay, Jon’s pretty worked up over here… I don't know if he got into some old molly or what, but… he’s really out of sorts…”

“I thought Jon hated drugs…”

“Me too but, right now, writings on the walls… something’s got him spooked, and I ain't see nothing down here but a girl really unconcerned about getting shot…”

“He already tried! Missed by a mile!”

There was a snort that crackled through the airwaves as Amanda’s quip was obviously heard by someone near enough to earshot. The speedster, who was still standing a respectable distance away, glancing in her direction for a moment before shaking his head… She, of course, knew what he was thinking. That ever so humble ember of uncertainty flaring as he pondered if she were somehow responsible for his friend's state of being—which she absolutely and unrepentantly was! However, that was why the beer bottles! They were what really sold the whole ruse. On its own, who could be certain? Maybe she really was a terrifying monster of eldrich origins toying with those far weaker than herself. Who was to really say? Yet, with all the empties scattered about? Well, it was hard for the human mind to outright ignore evidence like that. Not unless you were a zealot. But those people hadn't really been around as of late…

“Ah… maybe you should try and get the random to safety? I mean, I know she looks totally calm right now but…”

“No! Don't go near her!” Jon screamed, taking a step and tripping backwards over a sideways bottle as his arms windmilled for purchase! His revolver barked with an angry retort, his fingers instinctually clamping down on whatever they could, but moments before she saw Carlos blur into motion!

He was up the ladder and knocking his comrade off the trailer as fast as her eye could track him, his form leaving a continual afterimage as he flew back down to the ground, right as she heard a discernable oof of wind being knocked from the cowboy's lungs! They were only gone for half a moment, but quick as a speedster, the young man darted back around the RV, stopping to unload the remaining bullets in his newly acquired python before shoving it in a belt.

“Nice…” Livi crackled, voice more amused than anything else. “Hey, I'm coming down. There’s nothing around us far as I can see, so, no point to me hiding up here!”

“Yeah yeah… Jon? No hard feelings, brother! But I’d of wanted you to do the same to me if the shoe fit, you know?”

Nothing came as a reply, at least not from the downed brawler; however, Amanda was reasonably sure the fall hadn't really hurt him. Super strength didn't really mean super muscles. At least, not in the conventional comic book style where people were walking walls of damned meat; for his build and weight, the guy's durability would probably ensure he walked away from the tumble with little more than a sore ass. Amanda was only slightly disappointed that her fun seemed to be coming to an end… If the cowboy wasn't willing to play along, then—things would just peter out and fall off. Still, it had been pretty fun while it lasted!

About a dozen steps away, a lanky woman wearing a thick trenchcoat, baggy cargo pants and sporting a frizzy red ponytail waved at her as her feet touched the ground. The smile on her face as genuine as Mandy's own, unseen or otherwise, as she waved right back.

“Sorry about Jon over there, he’s usually rock solid but… well, everyone has their nerves get the better of them sometimes, you know?”

“Eh, I get it… Ghouls are freaking scary, am I right?”

“It sucks, but, yeah… I mean, for me, I can always just fly away but scavenging indoors and with low ceilings? My anxiety goes crazy.”

“Totally… you guys part of a settlement nearby?”

Pausing for only a momentary missed beat. The flyer peered to the side. “Can't answer that until you tell us what you're power is and show us.” The girl happily replied, still smiling but, offering an apologetic shrug that really didn't reach her eyes. “Thems the rules. Can't have dangerous crazy’s we know nothing about finding all the old folk and kids, yeah?”

“I'm really good with guns.” Amanda offered pointing at one of the many pistols on her person without drawing any of them.

“Is… that it?”

“Like really good.” She reiterated, leaning back on both hands without offering a demonstration.

“So you're an atypical?”

“Pretty much, sort of like a speedster but with firearms! I also don't really run out of bullets.”

The other woman merely nodded… still smiling but now also maintaining a respectably uncertain cast about her expression, Mandy not at all missing the fact that the girl was still holding the transmitter on her radio. Clever. But it wasn't like Mandy ever tried to hide her powers from people, merely omit great swaths of the truth! She was very fast with her guns! Even without freezing time! And she didn't really run out of bullets either! The perfect fib! One that was completely true!

“So… you ever—use that particular talent to take things from unsuspecting folk?”

“Yuuup! All the time! But usually, it only happens after they start shooting at me first.”

“Right…” Livi replied, no doubt, wondering just how much danger she was in given that their side had, by her word of mouth, started shooting first…

So far as her survival instincts went, they were about as prevalent as Amanda’s own—which wasn't saying much… The fact she’d flown down to a stand before a masked and unknown stranger who one of their own team members was calling a monster showed—guts. Or, a possible lack of encountering people who were among those she’d call the armpit of the human race… The problem was, people usually only got the opportunity make that mistake once. So, either the girl really was as young and naive as she looked, or she had more than basic flight to back herself up. Honestly, dealing with strangers was an utter shitshow. You just never knew who was packing what, who was lying, who was more dangerous than they let on… etcetera, etcetera…

“I'm not planning on shooting at you by the way,” She earnestly offered a moment later. Still bobbing her feet. “I'm not some maniac that gets off on murdering people!”

“That’s—really good to hear…” Livi replied tersely, nodding her head as she did so. “Never can be too careful as I'm sure a loner like you can understand… so, if you don't mind sitting here and waiting until Burt comes by to figure out what's going on, that would be mighty useful…”

“You're settlement have any brainiac tech to trade?”

“Why, you've got comparable goods to barter with?”

“I do!” Mandy nodded, smiling beneath her mask. “I’ve got a sat-phone that works off a still valid network of satellites. An induction cooktop that charges for a full day in under an hour of sunlight… Glasses that let you see through walls…”

“Wait, really?”

“Eh—they're kind of novelty?” Amanda explained, rolling her head from side to side. “They work great for anything up to a foot of concrete, but after that, they kind of fall off… Really useful when trying to figure out if there’s a horde of ghouls on the other side of a door—”

“Yeah! No fucking kidding!” the girl exclaimed, just staring at Mandy… “And, you want to trade all that?”

“I like collecting cool guns. If you've got a brainiac that can do some upgrades or have any of the old classics, I’d be totally willing to trade! I’ve got other stuff, too, but that can come later.”

“Right… that’s fair… So, are you some—wandering trader then?”

“Yeah—I mean, I also do a good bit of scavenging, obviously but, I’ve come all the way up from Florida!”

“On foot?”

“It's been a hike!” Amanda agreed, her head shifting as her gaze fell upon a large and brick-like individual who stomped his way down the road, tight leather pants doing all they could reasonably be expected to do given how snugly they wrapped around his legs. As for the rest of him? Arms the size of damned tree trunks… and not the small kind… This was a fairly good example of the rule of objectivity when pertaining to mutations. Some, like Jon, didn't turn into comic-book reflections of their true selves. Remaining as their genes intended from a visual standpoint while others… well, they turned into square-jawed, barrel-chested and chiselled-chin super-stars that could hold a six-pack regardless of eating an entire pizza every night… The thing was, Amanda had been around the block enough times to know how such things liked to play out. While you couldn't judge a brawn-based mutant by their unassuming looks, you absolutely could judge one that looked like a giant weightlifter on steroids… Whoever this Burt man was, he immediately jumped to the very top of Amanda’s to be concerned about list in a single instant!

“Jon!” The man roared while shoving a car out of his way that very literally went skidding towards the sidewalk. “The fuck you doing out here, you bonehead? Picking fights with travellers willing to trade with brainiac tech? The hell’s the matter with you!”

“I—I ain't lying, Burt! I'm honest here! She’s—”

“A monster? Where? Are you dead? Is Olivia dead? Had anybody even seen her so much as reach for her guns?”

“The ghouls!”

“What fucking ghouls?” The huge super demanded, one of his thick, concrete block-sized hands gesturing out to the empty street that, admittedly, still had a whole bunch of casings lying around it and errant bits of dubious wet meat…

Mandy did like a bit of risk here and there. What was the fun if there was no chance she could get caught? She almost squirmed with delight while giving the shiny brass a bit of side-eye. Really doing her best not to giggle with abject joy.

“They were there man! I'm telling you!”

“And the dozen bottles of beer? You gonna tell me they were all empty when you found em?”

“I ain't drunk! You can smell my breath!”

That seemed to make the large brute pause. Though, admittedly, she couldn't see him now that he’d gone behind the RV, Mandy could quite easily imagine the huge leader bending over and taking a good whiff of the other man. When Burt still didn't say anything, Mandy thought she might just have to shoot her way out! Not everyone, which was to say, mostly no one, enjoyed being the butt of her little tricks. But, when Big Burt, the man's new nickname in her head, rounded the corner of the RV, his face was not filled with rage, but instead, pensive uncertainty.

“Wow…” She whispered, probably within the confines of her head, “Strong, smart and sexy… the triple threat!” Though Mandy preferred her sexual partners to be a deal—less huge, she’d totally rub her pussy across his rock-hard abs until she squirted all over his face. Not that she was feeling particularly horney at that moment—but, as the saying went, love could always find a way!

“Are you—did you really just say that out loud? A-and, in the third person?” Olivia asked, glancing at Amanda, who shrugged. Who was to say? She’d long ago lost most of her filters in that regard… Either way, who cared if she was overheard? She’d meant what she said. All of it. Though as to which parts of which thoughts and words amidst all the jumbled nonsense had managed to be vocalized—well, she knew she wasn't perfect, so why try?

The face that Burt made, however, was less than flattered. In fact, his expression immediately shrouded behind a curtain of neutrality that told her he either thought she was a loon, lying, wasn't interested in girls, or already had a woman who he loved very dearly in his life. None of which meant she was likely to get laid. Not unless his lady friend was interested in sharing, which Mandy was down for. Or, unless he was into the unquestionably insane type, at which point, Mandy would teach him the folly of thinking anybody could fix her! She got right filthy in the pig pen and was willing to drag anyone and everyone near enough in as well! And no matter what anyone wanted to tell themselves, craziness was absolutely contagious!

“She’s just a bit of a strange one, boss…” Olivia stated as the large behemoth of a human approached, dwarfing the tall redhead and making Mandy look like a damned child! She hardly even reached his waist! “Seems a little—touched in the old noggin?”

“How the heck do you even fit inside buildings?” Mandy blurted, earnestly needing to crane her neck just to look at the dude's face…

“Carefully. And the same way I deal with those who clearly don't have their shit together…”

“Eh, careful ruins all the fun in life! And you can probably lay off your boy over there… There were, like, fifty zombies out here! Not his fault they all disappeared on him!”

Olivia seemed to jerk at that, flinching away slightly as though Mandy were an unknown bug with too many legs and colours… Burt by contrast, merely nodding his head…

“And what happened to all those ghouls…”

“Bang!” Mandy chirped, mimicking a gun to the side of her head and pulling the trigger!

“And the bodies?”

“Trade secret.”

“Trade secret…” The man parroted… pulling in a deep breath through his teeth. “So, does that mean you're also a gun for hire? Assuming you're primary trade isn't trading.”

“It can be if you want to pay me a lot-lot-lot of cool guns! Or, useful brainiac tech—or something else equally interesting… rare food, beverages… fresh fruit… oh! Information also works too! The good stuff, obviously! And I am looking for the keys to a Kawasaki Ninja! Freaking impossible to bloody find…” She lamented, frowning that her dream bike had thus far eluded even her seemingly limitless potential for acquiring cool things…

“That’s quite the wish list…”

“Yeah, of a crazy person!” Olivia murmured so softly that Amanda had to read her lips to actually make it out.

Whether he heard her or not, Big Burt didn't so much as twitch an eyelash, still keeping his gaze on her while clearly trying to discern what to make of it all. “What happens if I say we ain't interested in having dealings? That I’d like nothing more than for you to go you're way and for us to go our way. No trading, no visiting the settlement… no violence…”

“Then I just keep going the way I was!”

“And which way was that?”

“I sort of just let the ghouls chase me until I find something neat.” She replied, being entirely truthful. It was honestly the best way to travel! When one didn't have a destination in mind, it was always prudent to find ways to let fate take the wheel!

“Yup, she’s insane!” Olivia stated, this time, not bothering to be quiet about it.

“I accept that fact!”

“Don't you mean reject? Normal people would reject that.”

“Who says I'm normal?”

“Oh fuck… that poor thing ain't even living in reality no more, is she?” A feminine and motherly voice asked, crackling through the speakers.

“I don't know…” Carlos offered, approaching from the side, though at a measured pace and taking great pains to avoid looking like he was trying to flank her. “She says she killed fifty ghouls in the blink of an eye… even without the bodies… you can see the casings littering the street… the wet blood and bits of gore… Jon said it happened in an instant… and, was might terrified of her to boot…”

“And you think that makes it a good idea to tell her where we are from?”

“No. But I think it makes it a good idea to see if she’s interested in a list of our guns. If that’s what she wants in exchange for clearing out a few places we haven't wanted to take on, why not bring her on for a job or two? Better her than us, no?”

“Well, not when you say it out loud in front of her it isn't!” Olivia laughed, though it was a humourless thing at best…

“Eh, that just sounds like good business to me,” Mandy shrugged with casual indifference. “If you've got anything interesting and hard to find, why wouldn't I go clear out a few hundred ghouls somewhere? Sounds like a fair trade!”

“Which means it's not a fair trade for us.” The large man stated, never yet looking away from her. “If you're talking about wiping out a hoard like that on you're own, it sounds as though we’d be on the losing side of that bargain given the effort involved, no?”

“That’s all relative!” If I didn't clear out wherever it was we were hypothetically talking about, then it would still be full of ghouls! The amount of effort I put in doesent matter, only how hard it is for you to do versus what you're willing to spend to have me do it! That's why lawyers made so much money!”

Burt didn't immediately reply. The gears in the man's mind seeming to churn with intense consideration while, beside him, Carlos reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of likely stale cigarettes. Still, when there wasn't an alternative, she guessed they’d still hit that nicotine itch… A moment later and he was sparking a small flame from one of his fingers, which marked him as a pyro as well as a speedster! And, either, he had talent at controlling his powers to ensure only a small flame emerged from his finger. That, or his pyrokinetic capabilities, were insanely lame. Yet, she’d learned to err on the side of caution, so she assumed he could do much, much more.

“Ew, Carlos, you really need to smoke that so close to me?”

“Ay, fuck! Sorry Livi! Shit… let me—I’ll just go over here…”

Olivia grimaced at the scent of tobacco in the air while Carlos just started wandering to the middle of the street, staring at the multitude of brass that littered the area and kicking a few of them while huffing on his terrible addiction…

“What exactly is it you're looking for?” The large mutant asked, one hand rubbing at his anvil of a chin while the woman beside him sighed with audible dismay. Much as she’d seemed friendly, it was entirely possible she wasn't quite so helpless as she’d first seemed.

That, Mandy mused, was a sign that she was dealing with something of a crack team, or, however, so far as such a phrase could apply to a group such as their own. In old-world terms? It didn't really stick. But, post-downfall of modern society and elite special forces? Well, they were likely what constituted as their settlement's best of the best. Maybe there’d be one or two equally potent individuals holding down the fort, as it were, along with a whole bucket load of more normal people. Their leaders, if the man before her wasn't exactly that, were likely putting together their best talent that had the least chance of dying while operating on their own. And, if that was true, then more than likely, Jon had been the weakest of their bunch. The guy who watched the cars. It was a fairly common practice so far as they went, which was to say they weren't anything special. Not to sound mean or anything, but sending the right people for the right job was merely common sense! Not the great tactical genius of Ghengus Khan or Patton…

Yet, for her part, Mandy could only smile beneath her mask. Sure, wholesale slaughter in a life-or-death fight against supers who knew what they were doing was fun! But getting sent to a place where so-called super-humans were afraid to go themselves? Yeah… That, as it happened, sounded right up Amanda’s alley!