Deadman

Book 2 Chapter 18: A Thousand Cuts

I woke up early the next morning with the usual aches from the scars on my back, and a fuzzy memory of a dream full of blood and metal. I felt like the dream had given me some incredible insight into myself, but the harder I tried to grasp it, the more quickly it seemed to slip away. I gave up, and took out my canteen and some dried meat. I took a few bites, cleared my throat, and then felt a weight on my shoulder as a bloodmane pushed its head down on my shoulder toward my breakfast.

The Kaijin corpses werent enough? I asked.

As if to answer, the beast pushed a bit harder down, sniffing the meat and licking hits sharp teeth. I sighed, and broke off a piece of meat, holding it in the palm of my hand and keeping that hand up. He bent down, gently picked up the meat, and started chewing. No sooner had he gotten some from me then the other bloodmane came ambling up to me and bumping me with his snout as well. I took the remainder of that meat and let him finish it off. I had plenty more for the journey anyway, and the beasts had earned a treat.

I stood up and stretched, grabbed my kit, and did a quick check of the area around where wed camped. I saw no signs that anyone had passed nearby, and no indication that any radded creatures had stalked their way any closer to us. I wondered if the scent of the bloodmane kept them away or if wed just been lucky.

When I returned to the barn, I smelled tobacco, and found Deux sitting up, enjoying a cigarette for breakfast. He turned toward me with his usual smile, Mornin.

Ready to move? I asked.

He took a long inhale of his cigarette, flicking the butt away when he was done. Ready now.

We mounted our bloodmanes, and started back on the way to Potts. The first part of the ride went smoothly, and then we hit a deadzone. My Geiger counter trilled and I turned it off, as I felt the warm waves of radiation begin to crash over me, making my skin tingle. The Bloodmanes became restless as we entered, hissing more loudly and frequently and looking rapidly from side to side. We were in a patch of forest with exceptionally large trees that rested on rocky hills.

Shhhh, its okay, said Deux, leaning forward and lightly patting his bloodmane while looking side to side for any threats.

Have you been through this one before? I asked.

He shook his head. No. Too rocky to take full Undertaker wagons through, so we usually take a route a bit north. Nico mightve been through here, but Im not sure.

I nodded, and drew my pistol. We should probably keep moving.

Agreed, said Deux, placing his hand on the revolver on his hip as he drove his bloodmane forward.

We made it a few hundred feet, when I started to hear a strange sound. It wasnt like anything Id heard before, it was as if someone was shaking out a long piece of cloth, but that person was doing it with about one hundred other people, and they were all coming closer. I kept my head on a swivel, trying to locate the source of it. Eventually, I saw it. A multicolored cloud to the left of us had coalesced and was coming directly toward us. It was thick, and undulating, and as it got closer, I started to be able to make out the individual shapes that made up the cloud. They were hummingbirds, thousands of them, moving in concert directly toward us.

Fuck, said Deux, driving his heels into his bloodmanes side, making it break out into a sprint.

I did the same, and was moving at a rapid clip immediately. The bloodmanes had sensed the danger and wanted to run the moment wed entered the deadzone, but wed made them hesitate thinking our rational minds were more effective than their instincts.

The rainbow cloud exploded toward us as we gathered speed. I holstered my pistol and drew my shotgun. I fired off both rounds as the cloud was about to reach me, but the gaps that created were swiftly filled by more of them. As the first few actually reached me, they landed and slammed dagger-like beaks into my flesh. I felt their long tongues reach into the wounds as they greedily sipped on my blood. I crushed a few that had landed on me quickly in my hands, but wasnt able to crush them as quickly as they landed on me. Soon, myself and my bloodmane were absolutely covered in them, and we had to place all of our focus on moving forward rather than removing the creatures.

Deux was ahead of me and having similar problems, though without a healing ability like I had, I could tell he was having a harder go of it then I was. In spite of that he was actually able to kill the birds that landed on him and his bloodmane with enough alacrity to keep them from absolutely overtaking him.

I risked a brief look at the cloud, and realized it was inches from completely enveloping me. The bloodmane was slowing down, the damage to it getting too severe for it to be able to continue moving with the speed it had been. If more of them got onto Deux and his, he wouldnt survive, though I may be able to crawl out of the deadzone if my healing bought me enough time. I considered my options, and found only one that I thought might work. I looked and saw a branching path ahead. I veered off onto the separate path, taking the majority of the cloud with me as I did. I loaded two shells into my shotgun, and found an explosive in my pack that Mercy had traded me for an old romance novel.

The bloodmane was slowing down and I found myself in the midst of the cloud. I gave the beast one last firm pat on the flank before tying the explosive to its saddle, and winding up its timer. I leapt and started running, blasting enough of a hole through the creatures with my shotgun to allow me out of the cloud that was now swarming the bloodmane. I heard the creatures hissing and screams, but kept moving.

Mercifully, the explosive went off shortly after and the cloud that was still following and attacking me undulated and retreated in response, allowing me to create a good amount of distance from it as I sprinted through the forest, trying to find the edge of the deadzone. A few stragglers landed on me, attempting to feed, and I returned the favor, grabbing them and popping them into my mouth where I crushed their bones and swallowed them whole. Getting at least a small measure of revenge for my mount.

It took me only around a quarter hour to get to the exit of the woods and deadzone. I gritted my teeth with the knowledge that if Id held out a bit longer, I may have been able to keep the bloodmane alive. I shook my head. I wasnt even certain that the swarm of hummingbirds wouldve stopped at the edge of the deadzone, besides which it was just a horse, a tool, I reminded myself.

I walked a little further, circling the edge of the deadzone in the direction I thought I might find Deux. I was rewarded when I found him and his mount only a mile away, searching for me in the opposite direction. His mount was covered in small patches of mud I imagined Deux had used to close its wounds, and Deux was a bit shaky on his feet. In spite of that, his smile widened when he saw me, and dipped only slightly when he looked past me and saw nothing. I shook my head and he let out a small sigh. He nodded in the direction of Potts, and I fell in next to him. We walked the rest of the day in silence, but were fortunate enough to have no more issues on the road.

The next day we made it the rest of the way to Potts and were lucky enough to avoid any more killer animals, or raiders. I saw the relief in Deux face as the colorful domes of the city came into view, and even noticed his bloodmane picking up the pace and letting out a few low, happy hisses as we got closer. It would likely be a welcome break for them. A chance to visit friends, not worry about danger, and simply rest. For me, I was certain it would simply be a prelude to more danger, death, and risk. The surprising part was, I was finding myself excited about it.