Chapter 3: They came like the walking dead

The soldiers, still working on building a command center here in this quaint town was mobilized to intercept the incoming carriages. The incoming group raised the Knight banner, shaking in the faint wind. The person holding the flag was bleeding profusely, barely hanging onto his horse.

The forward scouts returned to confirm, this group belonged to the 23rd. The carriages were not carrying reinforcement nor resources, however, but the dead and the injured.

"What happened?" Captain Meredith questioned the person leading the group.

He was a mere foot soldier but even though he was covered in gore, the man got off rather unscathed. But his mind was now damaged by the horror that befell them. "The raiders, they came to us… There were only six of them…" His pupils dilated, the knight started to shake in terror.

Captain Meredith gripped on the man's shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "Stay with me, I need to know what happened!"

The man felt as if the Captain was giving him strength. "The walls did not stop them… The raiders, they phased in and out at will, hitting us everywhere. And their movements… they were so fast, I could not follow at all. My friend, they phased into him and he just… exploded, he was all over, all over, all over…"

"Get this man out of the armor." Captain Meredith ordered.

In this small town, including his man, there were only twenty knights including medics. The post that was hit had thirty, now only a fourth of that remained. The knights stationed there, so strong and proud, now reduced to a mess. They lived like empty shells, not different to the dead walking.

In this chaos, the enemies could easily snuck in. Captain Meredith ordered all non-medics to check in all the injured. Found those who could still talk to identify their friends.

"You go to the tents to tend to the injured." The Captain said to the young scout, she nodded and left immediately. He then turned to a local. "Sir, may I ask where's your mayor?" They would need permission to mobilize the townsfolk to hurry with a construction of a protective wall around this town.

The man simply pointed to someone, behind the Captain. Turning around, Meredith saw a woman standing tall and proud. Her clear blue eyes reminiscent of the kid he met earlier.

"It's her, the mayor, Ms. Reid."

"Captain, my people will be glad to lend their hands. However, we could only spare half as the fields still need to be worked on." Ms. Reid answered without being asked.

"You have my gratitude." Meredith answered.

With that front covered, he needed to focus on vetting the injured, among them there maybe snakes hidden in plain sight. In the impromptu medic ward, the two medics were being overwhelmed by the influx of patients. The townsfolk also helped out but without medical training, they were not of much help.

Carina help the knights to get out of their armors, now a steel prison collapsing onto their bodies. 'Is this what war would look like.' She thought to herself. All these knights, with their trainings and prowess in battles now laid groaning out in pain.

A man entered then entered, he was different to the rest of the townsfolks. "I'm the town doctor, William, here to help." Identifying himself, the man immediately went to work. A medic and a mage, here in this small and remote place? That was a surprise to see. But even with his help, the situation did not improve. Incantations required a great deal of concentration and multitasking could only be done by the best of the best.

"Where is Doc?" One of the townsfolk asked.

"He drank a lot last night, Kid is trying to wake him up right now." William answered.

"We need him!" Another person said.

His sentiment was agreed upon by the rest of the townsfolks. The young scout who could they be referring to. William here was the town Doctor was he not? Carina noticed, however, that the mage was only using basic healing magic. He mostly treated the patients the manual way with bandages and stitches.

By now, the smell of steel, blood, piss and excrement mixed together to create a new revolting blend. Knights, screaming out in pain, their suffering made audible. It was a sensory overload for the young scout staggered outside of the tent to catch a breath.

The sun once so burning now felt like a dear friend. Carina breathed in and out deeply. Suddenly, the sound of approaching wheels surprised her. Kid came pushing a wheelbarrow, on it a man lying, covering his eyes from the sunlight.

"We are here!" The girl said energetically.

"I notice." The man sat up, grabbing the hat from the Kid on put it on. He immediately stood out, wearing attires from a land far away.

The Kid wondered what was going on inside the tent, she could hear strange noises made of many voices. Before she could go there, however the man grabbed her by the head.

"Stay here, do not go in there." He said, still yawning. "Go with her, instead."

The man suddenly pointed at Carina. The young scout was surprised but she soon understood why. "Yes, I was going to ask if there's anyone to show me around, I need to make a map of the area." Carina could tell the man did not want the Kid to see the horror inside.

"I guess." The Kid glanced at the tent then back to Carina. "Let's go then!"

"Oh, before you go." The man said to the young scout. "Tell your boss to prepare for a potential attack. They left so many alive but injured to keep you guys busy."

"I will." Carina replied, wondering how he could tell that many were in the tent.

Nevertheless, she should pass on this strange man's words to the Captain. Kneeling next to the Kid, the young scout asked her to lead them to the command tent. The girl nodded with a smile then took her hand.

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Before they left, however, the Kid jumped up and grabbed the man's hat. She then ran away, giggling. The man could not even muster effort to wave his fist around, decided to let her go. He would not need a hat in the tent anyway.

Carina caught up with the Kid and they went to the barricades to find the Captain.

"Claudia, can I ask you something?" The young scout decided to chat along the way.

"Of course." The girl agreed enthusiastically. "And call me Kid."

"Kid it is then. I wonder, who was that man? I have never seen anyone dressed like him before." Carina asked.

"Oh, it's Doc Holliday, you can just call him Doc." The Kid bended her neck back to answer. "I think he is from somewhere in the West."

That information was… some information. He must be from a land far away since Carina herself was from the West. And what was that steel item on his hip, one that the Kid also had held inside a leather holster. "So what does Doc do around here?"

Before the Kid could answer, a knight ran at the two, breathing heavily. It was as if he was chased by something that was not there. Seeing the two, the knight called out but a red smoke soon gathered behind him. Then came a giant hulking raider, his misshaped bulging muscles held by numerous straps.

The knight tried to run but a spear pierced through his throat, right between the plate armor and helmet. Gurgling, the dying man tried to struggle but the raider violent twisted the weapon. The force shattered the knight spine and he died instantly.

"What the…" Carina could not believe her eyes.

Blood spurting from the knight's throat stained her face and the young scout stood still, frozen with fear. The raider dissipated into a red cloud only to reform right in front of her, spear raised high. She recognized that weapon, it belonged to the knight's armory.

"Yo…u, pre…tty." The raider said in broken tongue. "Me… lok you… inside."

A distorted grin appeared on the thing's face. It slashed down at her and in that moment, Carina could see her life flashing before her eyes.

But it was not her time to die. The Kid tackled the young scout out of harm's way. The spear collided onto the ground, breaking off. The raider raised the weapon, his voice barely incoherent. "Twig… brok…" He then looked around but with his grotesque neck muscle, could not find the scout, lying on the ground nearby. "Pretty… where?"

'He is like a child.' Carina thought in horror. She did not know if that fact made her even more disgusted than before.

The from behind, an arrow was let loose, hitting the raider straight in the back. "Ahhhhh." Screaming out in pain, he turned around to find two knights shooting at him. Carina could recognize them, it was the Captain and one of his elite guard.

They shot arrows after arrows, but none of them could pierce the raider's engorged muscles. These bows were designed to shoot fast and against leather armored opponents.

The raider once again turned into smoke.

Captain Meredith looked around and saw it forming near him. "Look out." He called out to his guard, who jumped away but it was too late. The raider reformed right on him, the knight's back was ripped open along with half of his head. Wherever these raiders appeared, they would displace everything at their destination, from stone to human.

The Captain dropped his bow to draw his blade but the hulking being was faster. The raider pounced on him with inhuman speed and ripped his helmet away.

"Oh… me… look… in."

Carina could see the Captain's face, seemingly still as water. But in his eyes were a fire scorching, hotter than the blaze of hell. The young scout could only watch as the raider turned into smoke once again to reform on the proud knight.

With an elegant moment, the Captain sidestepped just in time. The raider appeared, only catching a piece of cloth.

"Whe…re?" It wondered.

Meredith, gripping his sword, unless a spinning slash of immeasurable rage. It cut through the raider's bulging muscles, parting his head from the body. He had slain the beast but there were still more out there, slaughtering his knights. The Captain looked at the dead soul next him, his heart ached in pain. But this was no time to mourn but for extermination.

As the raider's head fell to the ground, it could see Carina once again. "Ah… pre…tty." It was the final broken words ever to be muttered by that naïve monster.

This was no time to dawdle, Carina picked up a sword from the fallen knight. This would be her first combat after joining the Order and she would die for it. But that was what the Knights were for, to spill their own blood so the innocent would not have to bleed.

At the barricades, the front line had long been routed.

The knights were pushed back, slaughter by the spectral raiders. They disappeared as blade approached their malformed bodies only to appear somewhere else with a shower of gore. This was the end of the 23rd, they all thought. The knights cursed their superior's ego. This was not the Blind's job, not theirs. But here they were anyway like lambs to be slaughter.

But as the knights cowered in fear a thunderous voice called out to them.

"DO NOT FALTER, MEN!" Captain Meredith appeared like a messenger from Atlas himself. He raised the head of the dead raider. "THESE THINGS CAN BE KILLED BY OUR STEEL! Show them what we are made of."

For some, it was the confirmation that the raiders could be slain, for others it was the simple sighting of their commander. But whatever the reasons, the knights were reinvigorated. They would fight to protect the people, to avenge their fallen.

Blood spilled, affirming their knightly vows. Another raider was killed, pierce by three spears. While the rest were being routed, the elite knights stood strong. They had deciphered the raiders' simple patterns and had devised a strategy to counter it. Using one another as bait, as soon as the target reappeared it was filled with steel.

The Kid stood and watched as the battle raged on. Even with their newfound resolve, the knights were still being pushed back. Having grown up in this depressing but peaceful town, this was the first time she had seen such violence.

She wanted to help but every time she tried to get close, the stench of gore would repel her.

Right, this was not her responsibility but the knights'. But her eyes could not look away from the dead bodies lying around. These soldiers, covered in plate but inside, they were flesh and blood like her. One knight laid dead, his helmet had fallen off. The sight of his face, devoid of life seared into the Kid's mind.

Then, a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Go hide somewhere, we will handle this."

It was the scout she was with, Carina her name. The Kid looked at the hand, shaking with fear. This person next to her would join the fight… and die. This person whom face she had seen, whom voice she had heard, whom age not that much older. This young scout would also die, lifeless like all the others.

"No." That was the Kid's answered. "I will not hide."

She would stand and fight. Not because she was a knight or out of any obligation. The Kid would fight because she could do so.

Captain Meredith and his men were being pushed back further and further. A raider phasing through the line coming straight for him. The Captain tried to repel, steel clashing sending sparks flying. But alas, his strength was not enough and the raider's blade came down to his head. Behind, the knights hurried to save their Captain but they were not fast enough.

Then, in this darkest of moment the sound of thunder rang true.

The raider's head was blown opened violently as the Kid drew her rusty revolver, fast as lighting. Slamming on the hammer, she fired two shots into another raider, blowing his eye and ripping his jaw opened.

"What the." Carina stood next to the Kid in awe.

This girl, in an instant, had taken out two of the raiders. And on her face was an expression of pure determination. She would not back down and she would prevail.

A raider tried to phase into her but the Kid jumped back, firing at his shin. Lead met with bones, shattering the latter. Fanning the hammer, she shot once again but this bullet only went through the malformed cheek. Third time was the charm as the final round pierced through his throat. The raider staggered back, falling down, dead.

The rest, realizing their reckoning was coming. And so, they fled, turning into red clouds that soon dissipated into thin air.

Captain Meredith, Carina the young scout and the rest of the knights watched the small figure standing tall. Stained with blood, the Kid held up her revolver, its barrel smoking. She had killed for the first time and even if the lives ended belonged to raiders barely human, it was still murder in her eyes. The Kid knew there would be more to come.

Her legend was yet to come.