1. Want to get our most recent announcements - and XP codes - in your email?

    Sign up for our mailing list!

MineZ So many Zombies...So Little Time Part V

Discussion in 'Roleplay' started by Ole_Byzantine, Oct 13, 2013.

MineZ - So many Zombies...So Little Time Part V
  1. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    Chapter 41: Back to Romero.
    Byzantine returned to the throne room to find it empty, besides Shadow, who was just sitting down on the throne near the entrance.
    "Oh, hey, Byzantine. I was just observing the map Matt handed us," Shadow said calmly, examing the papyrus piece in his grasp.
    "What're you looking for on it?" Byzantine asked, walking closer to the sitting figure.
    "Well, we are running low on food, we ran out of mushrooms from Pilius. Don't bother going back there, the rest are poisonous," Shadow informed. "I'm just looking for possible places that could have some extra rations...afarm for ourselves would be nice though I don't know how we would get around to do that..." he added, narrowing his eyes upon the map.
    "Well, we could go to Romero...Or Geuten, I don't care too much," Byzantine suggested.
    "I've thought about Romero, Nick told me that is where the remainder of the barbarians that we fought went," Shadow informed, looking up to Byzantine's tall form.
    "Some survived? I thought we put them all to the sword..." Byzantine said, staring downward and clenching his fist.
    "Yeah, well, apparently not..and Geuten, I'm not too sure it'd have any supplies..." Shadow was interrupted by Byzantine before he could finish his sentence.
    "Well, Shadow, tomorrow we're going to gather some men and go over and siege Romero," Byzantine announced proudly with a bloodlust.
    "Woah now, Byzantine. Just because it could have food doesn't mean -" Shadow was again cut off.
    "Shadow, those fuckers killed Wade! I'm of course going to seek vengeance against those knaves!" Byzantine exclaimed, pointing at the man in front of him
    "Byz! Killing them isn't going to bring him back," he snapped back quickly.
    "Shadow, I'm going to destroy them. It's your decision to attack with me or not.."
    "Alright...I'll er..I'll sit this one out then, and scavenge Geuten," Shadow reluctantly disagreed.
    "Alright then..." Byzantine said with disappointment.

    * * *

    Before the moon was at it's peak, Byzantine got Harkness, Caleb, Sean, Terrowin, and Balthazaar. They had all rallied on the road near Cole Castle, then began setting out towards the Bridge. Everyone besides Balthazaar and Sean held a torch that rested on scone within the walls of the mighty castle.
    About an hour passed before they reached the bridge, an hour of almost complete darkness aside from the faint light the torches let off into the night. Nick and one of his comrades were still awake sitting around the outpost.
    "Hey, Byz. What are you guys doing here?" Nick asked, turning away from his conversation.
    "Going to take Romero back," Byzantine retorted quickly, his nails dug into his palm.
    "Ah...Oh, and I found this," Nick said as he held up a letter with a small puncture in it. "It's a note from someone, said something about meeting him near some cabin outside of Romero, to the North." Nick finished before handing Byzantine the note. Byzantine did a quick read of the note before pocketing it.
    "Thanks for giving this to me," Byzantine simply replied, folding the note and holstering it in between his belt and tunic . "Alright, let's move out."
    "Slaughter awaits them," Terrowin started lowly, cracking a devilish smile beneath his steel sallet helmet. About halfway across the bridge they noticed a regular citizen gathering all of his supplies together, which was just a short sword, an odd looking stew and a bottle of water.
    "Please! Just, let me by! I don't have anything of use!" the Citizen begged.
    "I'm not like one of those savages across the river," Byzantine said gesturing towards Romero. "Head back across the bridge, and talk to one of them. Tell him Byzantine told you to seek refuge there for now."
    "Oh, God bless thee, sir!" the citizen said as he ran off to Nick's outpost. Not long after that Byzantine and the rest of the group were before the walls of Romero.
    "What do you suppose we do, just walk in there and kill them all?" Sean asked, turning towards Byzantine, the moonlight reflecting off his helmet.
    "Aye, I suppose," Byzantine began, unsheathing the beautiful arming sword. Wesley drew his sword from it's scabbard soon after. "Okay, let's move in...
    "Heheh," Terrowin laughed lowly. "These savages flock together in consent..." he added scanning the area. "Like so many wild geese..." with this, they entered the town quietly, and most were still caught in their sleep, though one clad in leather armor with fur decorating his back and shoulders, came face to face with them.
    "Out of my way, bastard!" Terrowin shouted, quickly stabbing into his chest before he had the chance to draw his blade.
    "They'll pay for what they did..." Sean said lowly as he walked towards a house and kicked the door open and charged in.
    "Ergh, looks like someone wants to have some fun," a foreign voice chuckled, emerging from around a corner with a makeshift spear.
    "Haha! Savage scum!" Harkness yelled, slashing at the new face, not realizing the man rushing towards him with a double-headed axe who raised it above himself.
    "Watch out, Harkness!" Byzantine yelled aloud, though the axe had already taken his arm.
    "Ahh....er..." Harkness grunted lowly as he slumped to the ground clutching what used to be his arm. Terrowin ran by and quickly avenged Harkness by taking his enemies head as a prize, then quickly got into a standoff with the spear-wielding foe. Byzantine barged into one the houses, and scanned the area for anyone. One turned the corner sharply and kicked Byzantine away and slashed at his torso, Byzantine lowered his sword, quickly parrying the slash, though he recoiled against the door,, when he charged towards Byzantine he simply ducked under the slash and went around his flank and stabbed him in the back of the throat and escaped the building.
    "Ha! I hardly broke a sweat!" Terrowin yelled as he tore his blade out of a man's neck.
    "I don't think too many are left, I suggest we do a quick sweep of the area," Balthazaar said, raising his axe out of one's head. With this, a man charged around the corner with an axe and smashed it against Terrowin's shoulder, with the blade cutting in slightly through the armor.
    "Hahahah!" Terrowin laughed. "I don't think you understand how tempered steel works," he laughed again, grasping his sword with two hands and quickly slashing into his stomach. The man recoiled, tearing his axe out of the bulky platemail covering the shoulder of Wesley and looked down to his left hand, which he held a torch in.
    "Back away, or I'll... burn you!" the Man spat quickly, backing away from the menacing Terrowin.
    "Heheh," he laughed once more, a terrible laugh. "What a comedy is your defiance," with this he quickly stabbed into his torch bearing hand, which rolled onto his opponents leather boots which erupted into flames. "Hahahah! Fire, fire!" Wesley shouted once more. "Die like a dog!" The man shrieked, running into a nearby building while wrapped in a blanket of flames, causing the wooden housing to catch fire.
    "Let's get out of here..." Byzantine started, backing away from the towering flames, which began to extend outward.
    "I agree," Balthazaar said, putting away his axe on a leather strap around his back. Terrowin still chuckling, his evil, maniac laugh.
    "Alright, you guys do that. Have you seen Sean?" Byzantine asked, trying to ignore the burning town and Terrowin alike. Balthazaar gestured his head to his right where Sean was approaching them, emerging from the smoke.
    "Sean, let's go check out the cabin while they clear this place out," Byzantine ordered, looking towards him.
    "Are you sure it's safe? Do you know who the letter came from?" Sean asked with disbelief all while coughing, then turning his head to look at his bloodied bardiche.
    "I have a pretty good idea," is all Byzantine said before he turned away and began heading into the dense woodlands. They were soon encountered by a corpse, whose flesh was peeling off of his face and hands and feet were drenched in mud. Sean quickly thrust his bardiche forward, which easily pierced the decaying carcass.
    "Alright, let's keep moving." Sean said, unsheathing his bardiche from the monsters skull in disgust. Few minutes, or maybe more went by, Byzantine lost thought of time, all he could think of was the letter. He quickly emerged from his thoughts and was abruptly introduced to light in the ring of darkness.
    "About time you got around here," a familiar voice said in the distance. Suddenly a figured emerged from the cabin, he wielded a crossbow and had a short sword at his side.
    "Joe, I figured you sent that letter," Byzantine said calmly, cracking a smile at the sight of his old friend.
    "Well, I wanted to check up on how everything was going. So, how do you fare?"Joe asked, setting the crossbow down by his side, leaning it against the door frame.
    "We're doing fine, Joe. Cole Castle, Forthwind, and soon Rockwood will be banded together, along with Aeternalis and the bridge," Byzantine informed, feeling quite proud of his not-so-unified bunch.
    "I figured you hadn't gotten past your tyrannical ways..." Joe snapped back quickly, sheathing his short sword.
    "Joe, I don't' see what you're so upset about, I mean -" Byzantine was interrupted.
    "You crucified those bandits who did not deserve that! You should have just put them out of their misery! And with you building an army of puppets who will do anything at your command would surely lead to more of these barbaric actions! Look, I can see the flames from here, just on suspicion that you have an enemy in Romero you torch the damn place!" Joe summed up angrily.
    "I see you're point, but that's not a suspicion, Joe. The bastards over there killed Wade and other good men...Sadly I did not get their names." Byzantine said quickly, feeling an invisible veil of despair drape over him.
    "Wade died?" asked Joe sadly, grieve stricken by the sudden unfortunate news. "Well...because of your greed you led Wade to his death, I'm not too surprised. Sadly he had to die and not you," he said quickly, glaring back at Byzantine.
    "Wade died honorably!" Byzantine exclaimed. "He was a front line defender when they attempted to cross the bridge and kill everyone across it! If anything we were the heroes, Joe," he finished, throwing his hand furiously has if to get his point across to the bowman before him.
    "Pfft. I still don't care. Though, I did call you here for a reason other than to discuss your crimes, Byzantine." Joe said. "Do you remember our Captain, from Yawpton?"
    "Slightly," Byzantine replied, vague memories of the familiar yet distant town flooded his mind.
    "Figured, odd not thinking yourself of the leader, eh? Anyway, I've found out where he is. Some tower north of Crymoore, he had suspicion that the cause of the zombies would be near there, so -"
    "Wait," Byzantine interrupted. "How did you find out where he is?" he asked perplexed.
    "Because," said Joe quietly, reaching for a small radio holstered onto his belt. "I have one too," he added, flailing the device in front of his and their faces. "Anyway, him and some survivors from Yawpton are going to clear it out, though half of the survivors were killed along the way. It's just him, Lieutenant Francis and some recruit named Luis."
    "Why are you bringing this to my attention?" Byzantine wondered, furrowing his brow.
    "Because, you have men who will fight for you, and he asked me round some men up to assist him...So, as much as it pains me to do so, I'm asking for your help." said Joe, who looked down and swallowed his pride.
    "Hmm, well, I'll see what I can do. Where do you want me to bring the men I rally?" Byzantine agreed as Joe raised his head.
    "Back here, tomorrow. We mustn't waste time." Joe informed, leaning against the other door frame opposite to his bow.
    "Alright, I'll see what I can do. Where is he at?" The physician questioned once more.
    "Crymoore, they're holding up there."
    "I've a question?" said Sean finally after remaining silent. "Why not just head with us back to the castle and we rally together? Seems like it'd be a lot easier," Sean said, his helmet bobbing as he tilted his head left and right as if to survey the area.
    "Well... I guess that'd be the most practical. Alright, I'll meet you guys there in about an hour, someone be ready to let me in." Joe said reluctantly, slowly backing into his cabin, grabbing his crossbow and closing the door.



    Chapter 42: Journey to Crymoore
    The both of them headed back to Romero while Joe stayed at his shack gathering his supplies. A couple zombies rushed Sean from out of the woods, though he killed the three of them with one swipe, his polearm easily cutting through the weak flesh.
    "Alright," Byzantine began. "Think we'll run across anything on the way to this tower Joe speaks of?" he finished, looking at Sean while still moving forward.
    "I'm not sure," Sean replied. "I'm not even sure if we should trust Joe, he did go rogue, maybe he wants to stab you in the back," he looked back up, away from his feet. "He does kind of uh... hate you now."
    "Joe is an excellent Marksman, he could've easily shot me as I was approaching if he wanted. Though he did abandon us I still trust him," Byzantine informed confidently, diverting his attention forward.
    "Sir, in these times you seem a bit....Soft," Sean uttered quickly, as if he spoke of an omen.
    "Tis' fine, I know I can trust Joe," Byzantine responded, continuing to drag his legs through the dark, wet turf.
    "Aye, of course, sir," Sean agreed, looking away.
    They continued on their way to Romero, which was easy to spot because of the height of the flames. As they approached the gate to check on how the others were doing, a body of an assumed foe slumped over right on the outskirts of the burning top of Romero's gates, laughter behind it.
    "HA HA HA! These savages probably haven't held a blade in their life!" Wesley yelled enthusiastically.
    "I'm guessing it was an easy fight..." Byzantine muttered, looking at the dead body before them; Byzantine felt suddenly overwhelmed with guilt seeing the young face killed.
    "'Tis an easy fight, we only lost Harkness, only because that mongrel came out of no where and took 'is arm off," Wesley explained, sheathing his great sword on his belt.
    "Oh... nicely done..." Sean told him somewhat nervously.
    "So, what is the plan of actions, my Lord?" Wesley asked.
    "Well, we'll begin heading back to Cole Castle and rallying some men for the journey to Crymoore... for a mission. Though we'll have to head to Huntsgrove and then head north through Ridgevale, then tread north through the snow until we reach maybe...Knoxmoor Inn, then we'll continue towards Crymoore," Byzantine informed.
    "Aye, sounds like a plan..." Wesley said with confusion, wrapping his head around the sudden plan. "We'll have to pack some winter clothes though if we plan to make it through..."
    "Aye, of course...C'mon, let's begin heading back to the Castle, Byzantine ordered, looking back at the rest of them.

    * * *

    An hour before the sun was up, they stumbled in almost complete darkness besides for a barley lit torch until they reached the mighty Castle. Sean and Shadow waited for Joe to arrive at the gates so he could rest there for the night. Byzantine sat back on the throne thinking of where'd they get the clothing to survive the harsh climates in the snowy regions.
    "Some of you guys might want to carry some firewood on you," Cami suggested to Byzantine. "Of course, they wouldn't be able to fight anything that attacked, but that wood would be very useful in those areas..."
    "Yeah, you have a point. We'll get some people to drag those around..." Byzantine said, still thinking of other ways they'd survive the weather. Several minutes went by until Shadow walked in.
    "Joe is back already?" Byzantine asked, unfolding his hands to look forward at him as he entered.
    "Yeah, just got here," Shadow informed. "So, any ideas on what we should do?" Shadow asked as he sat on the small throne to the left of Byzantine.
    "Well, we could go through the desert to avoid the weather and just go straight through Knoxmoor, though..."
    "Desert is a bit dangerous," Shadow interrupted. "Might be better off if we don't take those chances...We could always delay the mission a couple days to build a small boat, of course, if time is of the essence..."
    "I'd prefer we make it as soon as possibly, though if we hurry, maybe we can make it through the snow before anyone falls to it..." Byzantine said silently, suddenly feeling a swelling in his head. Why was he even bothering going after someone he hardly knew from Yawpton? Now all of his efforts to defend the East were completely set aside to go on some noble quest to rescue someone who is just going to take them on another dangerous journey back to Yawpton, which might get them killed. Shadow remained quiet.


    * * *

    Next morning Byzantine awoken, realizing he had fallen asleep on the throne. He walked out to see Sean roaming the halls with his bardiche still in hand.
    "Ah, hey, Byzantine." Sean greeted, tossing him a nonchalant wave in his direction.
    "Hey, Sean. Everything alright?" Byzantine questioned, wondering why he was roaming around.
    "For the most part, yeah," Sean nodded, they're downstairs, I believe."
    "Alright, I'll go down there and ready this expedition," Byzantine stated as he began walking downstairs.
    "I remember once, I was on patrol..." Byzantine could hear Wesley saying at the dining hall. "These scoundrels came out of no where and demanded we handed over our gold! I don't recall any of them even equipping themselves with chainmaille before the battle, one swing of my sword and half of their troops were dead! Glad they attacked us though..." Wesley said as he took another swig of his ale. "They made good slaves..."
    "Nice troops you have here Byzantine, eh?" said Joe, somehow ending up behind him.
    "Yeah, yeah, listen, you ready to head there or not?" Byzantine asked.
    "I've been waiting," Joe replied, glaring at him. "Your men seem quite civilized, don't they?"
    Byzantine walked into the dining room, ignoring Joe's remark. He quickly grabbed all of their attention.
    "Alright, listen, Terrowin, Shadow, Sean, Caleb...You men come with me! Actually, Caleb you stay here with the rest and guard the Castle. I'll go get the rest of my men from Forthwind," Byzantine announced, facing all of them at the table.
    "Alright, let's move onward then," Shadow said somewhat nervously, setting down his tankard with the trembling hand. Byzantine gathered the ones he rallied with him and they traveled to the walls of the castle, then climbing down, then headed off to Forthwind.
    "The path to Forthwind is relatively clear of zombies and bandits," Byzantine informed, facing Joe. "Odin and Balthazaar have been keeping the area safe... clear, I suppose."
    "By killing everyone on sight?" Joe retorted, tilting his head away from Byzantine with disgust.
    "Of course, Joe," Byzantine responded sarcastically, shaking his head somewhat angrily. Shortly afterwards they arrived at Forthwind to see two random peasants clashing swords with one another while the rest of them, including Odin, watched the fight.
    "Hey, what is going on?" Byzantine asked, quickly rushing up to him.
    "Just doing some practice battles," Odin answered lowly, still watching over the spectacle\. "Gotta make sure they're used to combat. Oh, and don't worry, those are some dulled swords we had, don't want soldiers dying within our own fort."
    "Ah, I see. Well, I'll -"
    "No, no, not like that!" Odin erupted, cutting off Byzantine. "Look, Balthazaar come over here and show them how to parry correctly! Now, go on."
    "Well, we need some extra soldiers to head north to Crymoore for an expedition," Byzantine informed, rubbing the back of his head. "Anyone you're willing to spare?"
    "Yes...You two!" Odin yelled, pointing into a crowd of soldiers. "Come forward."
    "Aye,?" The first one that approached said, standing shorter than both Byzantine and Odin.
    "What are your names?" Odin asked him as the second one he called forth approached.
    "Nepos, sir," The first soldier responded, he wore a standard cuirass with a primarily red color with a black trim around it, the leather wrinkled and aged.
    "Tiberius, sire..." the second soldier uttered, he wore iron armor banded with a chainmaille chestplate, steel gauntlets, greaves, and cloth draped over the torso that was a light blue.
    "Alright, you two, go with the High King on his journey over to Crymoore, and don't fail him," Odin
    "But of course," Nepos agreed, looking to Byzantine.
    "Alright, thanks for the help, sire," Byzantine thanked Odin, who stood tall before him. "Now, let's get going you two."


    Chapter 43: Onward, to Bazel!

    “Alright, let’s get moving. We’ll be moving in through the deserts, probably stopping through Bazel and continuing onto Crymoore,” Byzantine informed the two new soldiers, Tiberius and Nepos, gesturing his hands wildly. After leaving Forthwind, about ten minutes later Tiberius spoke out. “Why exactly are we headed to Crymoore, if I may ask?” he muttered more letters, trying to formulate words nervously.
    “Well, my old captain is apparently there, and is in need of assistance. We’re going over to relieve them, I guess,” Byzantine said calmly, keeping his eyes on the dense forest they were traveling through.
    “Well, Byz, think we’ll meet any resistance in Bazel?” Sean asked, looking to his side.
    “We might. If anything it would be the living. Not too many zombies around those parts…” Byzantine answered, surveying the area. “Wesley, I also have a question for you, if the water supply was poisoned, why did you agree to stay with us in the Castle?”
    “We were already out of the castle before it happened, we were hoping they’d think we were low on security, go in to attack us and kill our citizens, and we’d spring in behind them. Of course the damn Knights of Saward had spies everywhere and our men got ambushed, all while Theodora was dumping dead corpses in the water supply….They had some disease I forget the name of and turned in to walking dead later when we went to clear them out…” Terrowin explained, playing with a small branch he broke off a tree as they were passing by. “Well, most of our men were weak and exhausted from the battle, and we decided we'd wait it out at Agni Ignis, the fortress, and then head back when we were ready. I was captured along the way so I'm not sure if they ever made it...."
    "I guess we could check that out after we get to Crymoore," Byzantine replied sympathetically, figuring he'd want to see if his comrades survived.
    "To be honest..." Terrowin said quietly, a tone Byzantine had never heard before. "I don't want to know, it makes it easier to pretend that they're alive..." Byzantine remained quiet, and slowly looked back to the journey ahead.
    They continued marching towards the bridge, having a quick meet with Nick and the others there and kept moving onward, still able to see the smoke coming off of Romero. Terrowin muttered something as they neared Romero that Byzantine couldn't quite make out.
    "We've got some dead up ahead," Sean said calmly, gripping his bardiche with his other hand and holding it out in front of him.
    "Alright, let's take 'em out," Tiberius muttered, sluggishly drawing a dulled iron longsword. Sean raised the bardiche over his head and slammed it down upon a zombie, as this happened a cannibal limped over, reaching his nasty fingers towards Sean's side, though an arrow swiftly and cleanly pierced his skull.
    "Got 'em," Joe said calmly, knocking another arrow. Terrowin slashed with his sword horizontally taking the heads of two corpses at once, he cried his horrible laugh once more. Tiberius weakly thrust his sword into one of the decaying bodies, weakly drawing the sword out of his flesh.
    "That should be the last of 'em," said Terrowin, who was moving around in circles to check around for more. "Now let’s keep moving," Joe said with haste, wrapping the bow around his shoulder. They began following the coastline for a little, which was oddly free of the dead. Suddenly there was a continuous gust of wind as dark clouds loomed in the sky.
    "I think going through the snow is out of the picture now," Shadow said quietly, looking up with fear. "I don't want to if it is going to rain..."
    "Aye, I wouldn't either," Byzantine responded nonchalantly, raising his head as well.
    "There is a fountain 'round here, right?" Sean asked, looking to the others for answers. "I could use a drink."
    "I think there is, we'll go there real quick," Byzantine ordered. They took a sharp turn and began heading through the foliage. Treading lightly through the woods, Byzantine began to hear some noise near the Fountain.
    "Wait..." Byzantine whispered, holding his hand behind them to halt the others. "Quiet, I think I hear something up ahead," he said as he looked over, peering his head behind a tree with thick limbs and leaves, covering his face, seeing four people talking near the fountain. One of them was a man wearing banded-iron armor with steel greaves and leather gloves, the other two were dressed in standard civilian clothing, and the other was a women outfitted in leather armor, greaves, and gloves.
    "Come on, we got to get over to the Stonehenge, we can't wait here much longer," The armored man said quickly and hushed.
    "Not yet," The women shouted. "We need to kill those fools who burned down Romero!"
    "You idiot! We can't take on them by ourselves, we couldn't even make it out with our gear!" one of the "civilians" erupted, pointing at his light attire.
    "I don't care if I die fighting them, we have to seek vengeance!" The women exclaimed. Without Byzantine noticing, Terrowin slowly started sneaking through the shrubs and emerged in to the open.
    "Well that is good..." Terrowin said lowly. "Because after I'm done with you peasants, your heads shall be on a spike!"
    "Shit..." the second civilian said three seconds before he began to run away.
    "Dammit, come on, we can't fight them here, retreat!" The armored man said running towards the north with the civilian.
    "AFTER THEM!" Terrowin yelled, drawing out his great sword, running towards the cowards.
    "You think I'm scared of you?" The women said, pulling out her flanged mace.
    "Hahahaha!" Terrowin laughed excitedly. "Time to die, wench!" he yelled as he raised his sword over his head and hit downward, barely missing the women as she dodged out of the way. She bashed her mace against his leg, bashing in through the armor; Terrowin somehow held back a wince of pain.
    "Ha! I'm almost trying!" Terrowin yelled again he went to stab forward, though it met her parry, and she thrust her mace once more towards him, though he dodged this.
    "Let's go in there and finish her off, this'll take forever," Byzantine said in a hushed voice as he drew out his arming sword.
    "I've got your back!" Sean yelled as he charged out with the bardiche.
    "I'll uh...wait here...” Joe said quietly, leaning back a bit. Terrowin kicked her back, stunning her for a second, and then she quickly recovered and ducked under his attack."
    "You can't do this forever, bitch!" Terrowin shouted, raising his sword and went to slam it down upon her head. She was out of breath and wasn't able to parry the attack.
    "Hahahaha! Pathetic wench!" Terrowin barked looking at her dead body. "Now, let's get some water then check out this Stonehenge and kill the rest of them..."
    "Sounds like a plan..." Byzantine said, sheathing his arming sword, stunned at how quickly Wesley had done this then wanted to casually get a drink.
    "Think this is funny, Byz?" Joe asked, looking at him with disgust, shaking his head. Byzantine tried to ignore him as he filled two empty ale bottles with water.
    "I've got two bottles of mead on me," Byzantine said calmly, noticing two on the ground, presumably belonging to the ones that fled. "If anyone wants one."
    "We'll celebrate after we kill those savages..." said Terrowin looking towards the North.
    Fifteen minutes passed of them sitting there, just drinking water. This water was surprisingly cool and didn't taste like the gross waste they were used to. The winds began to pick up speed and thundering could be heard in the distance. Before the storm arrived they started moving towards the Stonehenge. After just five minutes of traveling it started pouring down rain, and the solid ground now was as loose as mud, making it difficult for them to move onward.
    "Listen, we can't keep going like this. We need to find some shelter before we investigate the stonehenge," Byzantine stated, his over his face as if to protect his eyes.
    "Aye, 'tis true enough. I think there are some old forts around here, let's see if there are any..." Terrowin informed and started moving west. Soon a fort was in sight, it seemed to abandoned with no life around, just dead. The relative silence was broken as a corpse rushed out and threw itself upon Sean.
    "Fuck, get this thing off of me!" Sean yelled aloud, shoving the zombie back. Byzantine ran over yanked the zombie off of him, then stabbing it with his now drawn arming sword. More cannibals limped from their surroundings. Terrowin was the worst off in this situation, heavy armor, not enough room, and lots of mud to immobilize him.
    "What are you doing?! Defend me!" Terrowin exclaimed as four decaying sacks of skin that seemed to peel with each step neared the heavily armored Knight with mud up to his greaves. Shadow ran over and killed two of the zombies with quick stabs, and Joe shot the other one while Terrowin stabbed the last one awkwardly without much room to pull his arms back for the initial thrust.
    "Now, let's get on solid ground!" Terrowin ordered trying to march through the mud, sluggishly tearing his boots out of the wet ground.
    "I can hardly grip my sword in this rain," said Shadow quietly, taking his blade out of the zombie's weak skull that severed with the initial strike. After fifteen minutes of fending off from small bands of the undead and crawling through the terrain, they finally got into the ruined fort and the zombies seemed to be gone.
    "Thank god," Byzantine breathed, relieved at the weight off of their shoulders. "They just kept on coming."
    “It’s…its fucking freezing now,” Shadow said shivering violently. “Can’t even make a fire in this fucking rain…”
    “Atleast we’ve got some shelter now, sitting in that rain would be worse…” Sean pointed out joyfully, rubbing his wet hands together.
    “Aye, once this rain has passed on, we can strike the Stonehenge and kill them all…" Terrowin started, breaking the somewhat joyful and relieved mood with yet another task of aimlessly killing another band of people.
    Byzantine sat there, not knowing what to do for the next couple of hours they’d have to wait for the rain to pass by. He looked down and noticed the two mead bottles attached to his belt.
    “Anyone up for some mead now?” Byzantine asked, with his head still down and his arms resting on his tired legs.
    “We could all go for some…” Shadow shivered. “But I’ll pass.”
    “I’m fine,” Joe replied calmly, looking down at his crossbow.
    “Wait, Joe, when did you get a crossbow?” Byzantine questioned, just taking notice of the piece of equipment.
    “It was in the shack I rested in; I decided I’d use it. Still have my longbow on hand though,” Joe answered, not taking his eyes off the well designed bow.
    Fifteen minutes of silence from the group passed, as the thunder and rain kept roaring outside. Byzantine started pacing around the fort, looking for any leftover supplies. After finding three useless crates, he stumbled upon a chest on the upper floor. Hoping to find something good, Byzantine opened it, and found just a simple hammer. Byzantine just looked at it for a bit then picked it up and began walking downstairs.
    “Anything useful?” Joe asked, turning his head to the side.
    “Not really,” Byzantine responded looking at the hammer. “Actually….hey, Terrowin...”
    “Aye?” Terrowin looked up.
    “Got something for yah,” Byzantine said handing him the hammer. “In case you ever need to bash in some brains up close," he joked.
    “Haha, I’ll be sure to use it well!” Terrowin assured, taking the hammer from his hands. Byzantine sat back down and realized he didn’t bring any food along with him, just the two bottles of mead and his drinking tankard.
    “Alright, what rations do we have?” Byzantine asked, looking at the rest of the group.
    “I’ve got two apples and a sweet roll,” Sean answered without hesitation.
    “I’ve got some bread,” Joe responded after looking through his equipment.
    “I’ve got some cheese,” Shadow said raising it for everyone to see.
    “Piece of bread and an apple,” Terrowin responded, looking at his boots, while he held the foodstuff in his hand.
    “Alright, good, I’m uh…A bit short on rations…” Byzantine said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
    “Here,” Sean said tossing him an apple casually. “I don’t need it.”
    “Thanks…” Byzantine called back, catching the slippery fruit, beginning to dine into it. Two more hours passed without much action going on, the sun was also beginning to set, along with this the rain began to die down, though the wind wasn’t giving up.
    “So uh... are we still going to uhm... kill those people?" Byzantine asked, somewhat nervously waiting for Wesley response
    "Yep... we're going to kill them all with ease," Terrowin replied lowly. Thirty minutes passed and they decided to leave the ruined fort, figuring the rain had settled enough for them to traverse the wet soil.
    Soon enough they were on the outskirts of the structure, Byzantine only seeing two men, both geared in full banded-iron armor.
    “Alright, I’ll move in and take out the one on the right,” Terrowin whispered, slowly beginning to move out of the way.
    “Okay, I’ll move in on the other,” Sean muttered and began to move in. Sean snuck up behind him with ease and stabbed through the back of his neck where his armor was exposed, while Terrowin hit the other in the head with the hilt of his sword, the beheaded him while he was stunned. Joe, Shadow, and Byzantine moved and got a quick look inside of the small housing in the middle, even though it was just a carved out stone. There were five people, three of them were at the Fountain previously, and the other two were both men geared in steel armor, greaves, and gauntlets. Byzantine couldn’t understand what they were talking about. Terrowin and Shadow went along to the other side, while Byzantine, Sean and Joe stayed at this side. Joe wasn’t going to go in to kill anyone unless necessary, so he sat outside and waited.
    “Time to die, whelps!” Terrowin yelled charging in and stabbing one quickly in the throat. At this moment, Shadow, Sean, and Byzantine moved in quickly catching them all by surprise and ended them all with ease.
    “I was expecting a challenge,” Terrowin said sounding disappointed. “No matter, we must progress onward to Bazel now that these dogs are done for.” Not far from the stream separating the desert and the woodland areas, the group kept moving knowing they’d be there soon. By the time they reached the stream it was pitch black, and it was difficult to see more than three meters ahead of you, this didn’t stop anyone from getting a drink from the waters though.
    “Dammit, anyone got a torch? We can find some way to light it, or something…” Joe asked, rubbing his hands together.
    “I had one,” Shadow started. “Ruined from all the rain though, we’ll just have to keep moving, and hope that nothing attacks us…”
    “Not like the zombies can see much better than us,” Byzantine pointed out. “If anything they’ll have a harder time getting to us, now, let’s just stay quiet, don’t go far from each other, and keep moving forward.” They did just this, just kept moving onward, ignoring the exhaustion and fatigue. After two hours of marching through the desert sands, they arrived just on the outskirts of Bazel, the torches outside of the town were still emitting light, either a blessing, blind luck, or the fact that someone was in the town.

    Chapter 44: Bazel

    “Well uh…we’re finally here…” Tiberius whispered after a couple seconds of silence, staring off into the town ahead.
    “And looks like some other people are also here,” Terrowin replied coldly, gazing forward just like the rest were. Byzantine looked around but could not see anything besides the faint glimmer of the torches.
    “So, should we just… walk in the through the front gate?” Shadow asked puzzled, trying to look at the silhouettes of the others in the almost complete darkness.
    “Could work,” said Sean quietly. “We just might have to do some gutting...” he finished, his grip on his pole-arm tightening.
    “No,” Byzantine replied quickly. “I mean, just, try to keep the bloodshed down. We’re never going to beat this apocalypse if we’re all just killing each other," he finished hastily, trying to keep his voice down.
    “Well, personally, I’d prefer killing than to be killed,” Terrowin whispered in his cold tone. “But hey, suit yourself…” With that said Terrowin stood tall and looked towards the town of Bazel. “Well, what’re you waiting for? Let’s move in now…”
    “Sounds a bit risky if you ask me,” Joe replied instantly. "Also sounds like a good way to get us all killed," he hesitated. "But hey... suit yourself," the Lieutenant mocked. Byzantine couldn't see, but he could tell Terrowin was grimacing behind his helmet.
    “He’s got a point,” Nepos agreed nervously, as if scared of the tall Knight.. “I mean, there are clearly people there. And I don’t think they’ll just greet us with open arms…”
    “Well, what do you propose we do then?” Terrowin retorted harshly, snapping his head towards the peasant raising arms for their side.
    “I could scout around,” Joe offered. “I’ll be back soon.” He said quickly, not waiting for an answer assuming it'd be a 'yes' then started making his away around the walls of the town.
    “I’ll scout it out with him,” Shadow muttered, quickly catching up to Joe. Byzantine glanced over several seconds later to see that they were already engulfed in darkness.
    “Man, what a night,” said Sean, the moon flashing against his helmet as he stared upwards. “So dark, and out of all the nights we want to rescue someone…” They waited around for five minutes, looking at what they could trying to get the time passed, though the invisible veil of shadows around them gave Byzantine an uneasy feel.
    “Okay, they’re still not back. Think we should check up on them,” Sean asked, trembling beneath his breath. “Or, something... at least..."
    “Well,” Terrowin said looking down. “I’m up for it.” Sean nodded his head.
    “If you two are going…” sighed Byzantine heavily. “I’ll go," he added, unsheathing the beautiful sword. Terrowin took the lead, with Sean to his left and the rest slightly behind. They approached the edge of the gate before they heard a faint voice.
    “Get down,” Byzantine whispered, quickly dropping to his knee. “You guys hear that?”
    “Aye…” Sean muttered nodding. Byzantine could hear slightly what they were saying.
    “Yeah, he was just out causing trouble and I found 'em” The first, male voice said with an arrogant tone.
    “What do you suppose we do with them?” The second voice spoke, which also belonged to a man. “We can’t just keep them both around as prisoners…”
    “I know, brethren,” Agreed the first voice, sounding uncertain. “But… I don’t know…”
    “I tell you what,” The second voice said. “I’ll deal with them, take them far from here, but I won’t kill them, sound good?”
    “I think that’d be best…. well," the first one stopped. "I'm sure we could have some fun beating one of them to death," he finished chuckling coldly.
    “Well, what are we waiting for?” Terrowin interrupted, his voice low and quiet. “They clearly have them, and I don’t like the way he is saying that…" he ironically added. "Let's just go in..."
    “We can’t just assume. You’re right about getting them back, but just try not to kill them-“Byzantine said before hearing something sling behind him.
    “You guys really should be quieter,” a male voice said behind Byzantine. “Now drop the sword, and you guys will be just fine…"
    “Like hell, I’ll surrender!” Sean yelled grabbing his bardiche and thrusting it towards the crossbow man that was right behind all of them. The second his bardiche stabbed into him, he released the arrow inaccurately, causing it to hit Terrowin in the upper arm.
    “Ah, bastard!“Terrowin yelled, dropping his longsword to clutch his arm. Two swordsmen both geared with cheaply banded iron-armor came up behind Sean and Terrowin and forced them down.
    “Hands in the air…” Another crossbowman said coming around the corner with the guards. Byzantine, Nepos, and Tiberius dropped their weapons while Sean and Terrowin were being dealt by the ‘guards’.
    “You know, we should kill your friend here for doing what he did…” the swordsman said, diverting his gaze to look at the dead crossbowman that Sean had defeated with one swift thrust. “But, I’ve got a better idea for him…” He said before whispering into the other guard’s ear.
    “Anyone of you a doctor?” another swordsman asked pointing his sword at all of them. Byzantine slowly raised one of his hands a little higher than the other. “Good, what kind of doctor?”
    “… Combat medic… physician...” Byzantine said reluctantly, his voice trembling.
    “Alright, alright, we’re getting somewhere,” the swordsman said, mocking Byzantine. “Now, you get to live, maybe you can try to save our friend over there,” He finishes motioning towards the dead body, obviously trying to play with the doctor's mind.
    “He is… he is beyond dead –“
    “I said,” the swordsman interrupted quickly. “Try to save him…” he finished has a smirk formed on his face.
    “I swear,” Terrowin yelled, thrashing his non-injured arm against two guards trying to hold him back. “I will kill every last one of you, and decorate my chambers with your intestines!” He yelled loudly before breaking one hand free, grabbing his hammer, and proceeding to destroy one of the guard’s skulls. In the heat of this, Nepos broke free and stabbed the crossbowman with a random blade he . Byzantine looked around for his weapon while slowly backing up, then tripped over the dead body, looking at the crossbow.
    “Hahahahaha! His skull is no longer fit to be my piss pot!” Terrowin yelled with excitement. Tiberius grabbed a nearby sword and stabbed the guard still holding down Sean.
    “Thanks, man,” Sean thanked while grabbing his bardiche. “Byz, what now, man, I think they’re getting everyone on us…”
    “Uhm… well,” Byzantine mumbled, thinking of a plan as he looked up and saw more people turning the corners with the intent of killing them. “I suggest we-“ Byzantine said before he heard a thud and his vision abruptly disappeared.


    * * *

    Byzantine awoke, outside the walls of Bazel, looking outwards towards the desert, looking at some corpses that didn’t seem to wander closer. As his vision began clearing up, he looked to his left side, and saw Sean, and Terrowin bound to the walls of Bazel by rope and to his right was Nepos and Tiberius.
    “What the hell is going on here…?” Byzantine said looking down… then begining to look up.
    “Well,” the voice of one of the swordsman said. “We’re going to do what we did to your friends.” He finished beginning to smirk. In front of them there were five guards, all holding back zombies with leashes they used with the same rope they were bound with.
    “Let them go,” one of them said still holding onto his zombie still.
    “Sick fucks…” Sean muttered, looking down, shutting his eyes.
    “Unless…” he began. “You can tell us where this little hideout of yours is? Way too many of you to just be constantly moving around, plus you guys didn’t have much food on you…” He continued. “Now, for every minute you don’t tell us, we let one of these go, got it?”
    “Fuck off,” Terrowin said casually, his unguarded face glaring back at them.
    “Heheh…” He muttered looking at all of them bound to the wall. “Him,” he said pointing towards Terrowin and Sean. “Bring him over here,”
    “Got it,” the swordsman said, handing him the rope for ‘his’ zombie. He walked over, released Sean by cutting the rope tied all the way around to the other side of the wall and back through the exposed breaches, and dragged him back over to the rest of the guards. While this was all going on, Byzantine felt something very odd going on with his bindings…
    “Go, now…this is your shot,” Byzantine heard a faint whisper, which he could barely make out, traveling through the walls.
    “What?” Byzantine whispering back, “Who is that..?”
    “It’s me, Byz, just go; I’ll buy some time…” Joe said, finished as the binds were suddenly loosened, the pressure on his wrist suddenly relieved.
    “Thanks…” Byzantine muttered releasing his hands very quickly.
    “Hey!” One of the swordsmen yelled, unsheathing his sword, yet forgetting about the zombie while doing so.
    “The fuck, man!” Another swordsman said stabbing at the zombie he let go. While this was going on Sean kicked one of the guard’s legs in, allowing the zombie to quickly turn on him and begin devouring at his neck.
    “Let’s go!” Sean yelled, running towards the fence with his hands still bound.
    “Yeah, that’ll be easy,” Terrowin said sarcastically, still tied up. Joe went over and cut the rope around Tiberius, Terrowin, and Nepos as Byzantine ran behind the walls to where Joe was.
    “Alright, I think we can get out of here,” Joe said turning around looking at the other gate. “Come on, this is our shot” He finished picking up a bag that clanked loudly.
    “Wait, where is Shadow…?” Byzantine asked looking around. Joe looked towards the ground.
    “We can talk about that later…” Joe muttered, gently cutting the rope holding Sean's hands together. Then they all headed off towards the gate opposite to theirs to escape Bazel through the gate they entered.
    “They’re still a threat…” Terrowin stated calmly, looking back into the town, “give me a second, I’ll be right there…” He finished looking towards the town and walking in very quickly.
    “What is in the bag, Joe?” Sean asked, taking notice of the 'loot bag' as it could be called thrown across Joe's shoulder. “And uh, thanks, again…”
    “It’s no problem, and here,” Joe said dropping the bag revealing a bunch of swords lacking sheathes, which the guards had not confiscated. “They took all of your weapons down to one room; after I broke out I managed to take them all," he informed them proudly.
    “Nice,” muttered Byzantine, kneeling down to grab his beautiful arming sword. As soon as he grabbed the handle he heard a crackling sound, that seemed to become slightly louder every second.
    “Alright, told you I’d be back…” Terrowin said nonchalantly, walking past them as a building in the town went up in flames. “Now, we should get going before the rest of the town goes, and finally get to Crymoore, or whatever God forsaken place we’re headed to…”



  2. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    I feel like I messed up in this chapter grammatically. If anyone spots out something I miss, I'd appreciate it if you pointed it out to me.
  3. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    Sorry I haven't uploaded in a week. I'll see about updating tomorrow.
  4. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    Sorry, I've uh...Lost track of time. I'll try and upload some time this week.
  5. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    New chapter uploaded.
  6. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    New chapter uploaded, bit longer than the rest.
  7. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    New chapter uploaded, and I did not proof read it. #Bestwriter2012
  8. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    Working on the next chapter now, I'd expect it up by tomorrow.
  9. Dodger546 Regular Member

    XP:
    12,656xp
    You still do it the old fashioned way, after all these years.
  10. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    Yeah man, I'm all about that life. And due to unforeseen reasons, I should get the chapter up tomorrow.
  11. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp
    New chapter up, a little short but ey.... I've got some plans for the next chapter.
  12. Ole_Byzantine Platinum

    XP:
    44,626xp

Share This Page