It’s not as bad as it could have been. A decent number of contenders ran away once I pulled their confidence, but looking at the bodies lying before me, we killed at least twenty.
“Burn or bury? Burning would be faster,” Zeke points out.
“True, but then their families can’t take their bodies if they want,” Moni says, floating next to me.
In one swift move with her hands, the ground below the bodies shifts out from underneath them. The bodies lower into the ground, and the loose dirt transfers back over the top of them, efficiently burying them within a few minutes.
“Now that’s my woman!” Chester whoops, grabbing her and pulling her into his embrace. “Your powers are growing every moment, babe,” he whispers into her hair before kissing her forehead, turning her bark a bright pink.
“Thanks,” she squeaks.
“There’s something kicking up dust coming this way,” Zeke calls out, grabbing our attention.
Sure enough, there’s dust flying up into the sky coming from the direction of the buildings I saw earlier.
“Can you make out anything?” Knots asks, already reaching for his sword.
“No.” Zeke rubs the back of his neck as his voice drops. “The dust obscures everything. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Knots reassures him before turning to the rest of us. “Guys, we don’t have much of a defense, but let’s use the trees that we do have. Moni, get high and ready to use your boom. The rest of you, use your talents where you can.”
Talents?What kind of pep talk is that? The only talents I have are my damn weapons and pulling confidence away from whatever is coming right now, so there’s no point in hiding. Instead, I walk to the front of the line. Zeke gives me a toothy grin and holds out a fist.
Fist bumping, we turn and wait for the dust to advance closer.
Two hundred yards.
“Do you hear that?” Zeke asks.
“The wind?”
“No, words…almost like a beat,” he admits.
A red paper magically appears in front of JP as he steps up next to me.
“Oh, I got a note,” he calls out.
Gaining our hospitality and trust is rare,
But nothing is impossible for Hell’s new heirs.
The unwanted and unwashed are vivacious to the core,
So sit back, relax, and enjoy all the gore.
-L.A.M.B.
“What the fuck does that mean?” JP asks, looking at me, but all I can do is snort. Sit back and relax? Pfft. It seems like someone missed that message.
A hundred yards.
A loud banging sound roars in the distance. Is that what Zeke was talking about?
Twenty yards, and a monstrous black motorized vehicle screeches to a halt, its back tires spinning around, kicking up dust, rocks, and sending sand flying at our faces before we can take cover.
“Fuck!” I turn, trying to protect my head as I’m pelted by sharp stones. A door opens, and music turns off before someone clicks their tongue as I cough the dust from my lungs.
“Don’t tell me a few rocks can take you out now. Our weapons trainer would be so disappointed in you,” a familiar sultry voice rings out.
