Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Three - Clean the Walking Dead

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Three - Clean the Walking Dead

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Three - Clean the Walking Dead

We were making really good time.

The Newbining dungeon was, without a doubt, the biggest Id ever been in. Each floor had basically a small towns worth of stuff in it. With little buildings and shops and homes. Sure, they were dilapidated and rotting away, but they were still there to explore.

If it wasnt for all the undead walking and floating around it might have been a blast just to wander around and discover things.

As it was though, we were not really there to see the sights.

The third floor ended at a wall with a smaller gate in it, one that easily accepted the key Id given to Peter.

When little buns come here, do they complete the whole dungeon? I asked.

Oh no, Carrot said. We usually send them in small groups, and let them play around on each floor while someone older supervises. Most of the really little ones never make it to the third floor at all. Thats more for those that are almost teens.

So like, when theyre Tessies age? I asked.

Carrot nodded. You know Tesla?

She introduced herself, I said. Shes nice.

Yeah, good kid. Hard-headed. Shell grow up to be a good bun. Shes about the right age to be tackling the third floor, I think.

Was little Tessie at the same level as me? I really had to start inspecting people more, but I still hadnt gotten into the habit. It wasnt one I had on Earth, and it felt a little weird to use. Still, I had to make more of an effort. That feels very young to be training so hard, I said.

You cant be more than four or five years older, tops, Carrot said.

Thats a lot of years.

She laughed and shook her head. Making me feel old now, she said. Im not even thirty yet, I shouldnt feel old. Momma, is this what its like for you all the time?

Momma looked very unimpressed.

Youre not that old, I told Carrot. And Momma has aged very gracefully. Shes still here fighting with us, right. And she mentioned having grand-buns!

Momma nodded. Thank you, Broccoli. Carrot, perhaps you could learn from our new friends about addressing your elders?

Meh, youve got enough silver-eared foxes complimenting you wherever you go, Carrot said.

Was silver-eared fox an analogy for an older bun man? That sounded about right. I couldnt help but smile a little at the exchange. The buns seemed to get along really well, even when bantering a little.

Maybe I should reconsider baby-sitting your little ones so much since Im so busy with those silver-eared foxes, Momma said.

Wait, you have children? Amaryllis asked Carrot.

Carrot grinned and brought her hands up in a v-for-victory pose. Two little brats! she said quite proudly. Theyre still tiny fluff balls.

Can we see them? I asked.

Oh course! Carrot cheered. She seemed very proud of her little buns. I bet that she was a great mom.

Doors open, Buster said as he ducked under the passage into the next floor. He had to be careful not to wedge his shield in the doorway. Peter slid past him and soon the rest of us were following.

I felt my heart pitter-pattering away with mounting excitement as we reached the intersection, then turned left and started down a street lined by homes with little gardens before them and hip-high stone fences. The flowers that might once have been there were long replaced by spiky weeds and those same choking roots that were crawling around everything.

There were more of those noises, the strange almost-howls.

The cause of those revealed themselves as the fog cleared a bit. Some two dozen people, in simple garb that looked fit for any proper villager, but shabbier, and covered in mud and gore and more.

Their eyes were absent of any kind of intelligence, and their mouths all hung open to reveal teeth that had long passed the point of being rotten.

Still, for all that they looked like they were in poor health, they didnt fail to notice us. First one, then the next, started to growl and grumble. Arms raised up to reach out before them, and soon the entire band of zombies was moving towards us.

Carrot smacked her fists together, then launched herself forwards to the first of the dungeon monsters. Its head exploded in a gorey mess, and when the stench hit me, I almost lost my tea.

Behind, Amaryllis said.

I turned around and faced the street wed just come from. Momma and Peter joined the melee, leaving me and my friends, as well as Buster, all alone to stare down a street empty of zombies.

Buster grunted. Theyre coming, he said. He unhooked his hammer from his belt and set it against his shoulder before taking a wide stance, his shield out before him and legs bent just a little.

I evened out my spade like a spear, and saw my friends readying themselves too.

We didnt have long to wait.

The zombies coming at us werent quite running, but it was a near thing. They hobbled and bounced and grumbled with every step. Some of them had bits missing, and I caught a whiff of pus and other yucky stuff before I pushed my Cleaning aura out and washed the stink away.

Something told me that Cleaning wouldnt work quite as well on these. But that was a hunch, so I tested it by flinging a ball of Cleaning magic into the first zombie in the bunch.

The magic smacked it in the chest, washing away the grime in its shirt and making it stumble back into its friends. It seemed weaker, a little less coordinated, but still very much unalive.

Darn, I said.

Buster raised his hammer high, then brought it down with a thump that made the cobbles shift underfoot. Cracks ran out ahead of him, and with a violent rip, stone spikes as tall as I was--ears and all--tore out of the earth and formed a barrier like crooked teeth.

There, he said.

The first zombies impaled themselves on the barrier, but those behind were able to squeeze around or climb over it. Not a wall then, but an obstacle to slow them down to a trickle.

Awens crossbow thumped and a zombie gained a bristly bolt in the head before going down. Amaryllis, who didnt seem keen on using her rather loud magic, lashed out with a loop of wire and caught one zombie by the wrist. Another loop around its opposite arm and, with her wires glowing a little, she was able to stop the zombie from going forwards.

The next two loops were tossed on the ground and wrapped around its ankles, but only with some difficulty, and she had to try again a few times. Still, once she succeeded, the air hummed and sparks of electricity raced through the lines and into the zombie. It spun, and under Amaryllis command, attacked the next one to squeeze past the wall.

So cool! I said.

Pay attention, idiot! Amaryllis said.

Oh, right, I said. Bastion and Buster were making short work of those jumping off the wall, with Awens occasional shot nailing one to the barrier. She even seemed to be using a tiny bit of glass magic to keep them away.

I couldnt just stand back and gawk! I had to do my part.

Running over to the wall, I raised my spade and smacked the first monster to poke its head out.

I was really, really thankful for Cleaning magic when things started to get splattery.

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