Deadman

Book 2 Chapter 53: Timber

I made my way through the woods. There was no time for rest, I needed to make my way to the other side of Eden quickly, while the destruction Id wrought at the gate was keeping them busy. I left the explosives where they were, Id need precision for this next part, rather than just mass firepower. Besides, I had to save them for my third target.

It took a full day of walking. I didnt sleep, I couldnt have even if Id wanted to. I stayed off the main paths. I saw and smelled a number of groups moving toward the gate, armed and ready for action, along with a few dozen humans who were carrying tools, or dragging large amounts of wood or metal to repair the gate. Once Id reached the halfway point, those run-ins became less frequent.

I started traveling along all of the paths Joseph and Sampson had taken me around during our journey and found that the factory Id found was not the only one. A few times all I found were inconsequential little villages, but alongside those I also found a huge swath of forest being cut down by humans, and a few deadmen slaves, another factory melting down chunks of metal, and a long warehouse building, with a river of blood flowing from it. That one I wasnt able to see inside of, but I didnt have to, my mouth watering told me all that I needed to know. I marked each location on my map along with the number of slaves, guards, and whatever other information I thought could be pertinent.

After looking through each of the slave camps I came to the conclusion that the largest of these offsites that Eden had, was still the first one. Id seen more than a hundred slaves there, being monitored by roughly a dozen or so guards. Many of those were the brute Deadmen, but I was confident I could handle them.

I made it to the outskirts of the factory by around mid-day. I pulled the last piece of bird meat from my bag and tore into it as I surveyed things. The guards were in their same positions, and seemed no more on alert than they had the first time Id seen them. Either they hadnt heard yet what had happened at the gate, or they simply thought they were too far away for it to matter.

I did a head count of those on the outside, there were roughly seven guards, four in the towers at each corner, and the other three simply patrolling around. They were all armed, automatic weapons, from what I could tell. Considering this was where they manufactured their weapons and ammo, it made sense that they would use some of it themselves.

There was no point in waiting for nightfall, as the deadmen guards would have the same night vision that I did. I crept to the fence, marking any guards I could see as under arrest, then tore the hole Id made on my previous visit back open. Once inside I made my way to the first tower. There was a ladder leading to the top, and I scaled it quickly.

When I reached the top, I peeked inside and saw a deadman wearing a black outfit gently sipping what I could smell was tea as he surveyed the camp. I climbed the rest of the way inside and he turned to me, just raising a nonexistent eyebrow at first, then his eyes widened.

I froze him, took the tea cup gently from his hand, and drove my knife through his eye, killing him instantly. I took a sip of the tea, it was excellent, warm with a simple spice to it. I drank the rest of the cup as I checked the other towers and patrols, none had noticed me.

I grabbed the rifle hed dropped and moved on to the next tower, finding a deadman asleep I slit his throat. Before I could leave he started to sit up, a gurgling noise coming from his throat as he tried to scream and his throat was knitting itself back together. I drew my sword and removed his head the rest of the way, then took his rifle as well.

The second to last one was tricky. I climbed up, and when I reached the top he saw me, and didnt hesitate like the first one Id encountered, he reached to sling his rifle into his hand but I jumped onto him, tackling him to the ground before he could get a good grip on it. I managed to tear the gun away from him and toss it aside, and in the moment he struck me hard in the jaw. I was dazed, but only for a moment, and my vision blurred as I rained down blows on him until he stopped moving. I looked down to find his face pulverized and his heart no longer beating. I calmed myself, grabbed his rifle, and moved on to the last one.

I found her looking through the scope of her rifle in the opposite direction. I looked past her and saw that she was looking at a small bird. I drove my knife into the base of her skull. She let out an exhalation, then went limp. I took her rifle, and along with the others, I laid them out one next to the other. They were fully loaded, and next to them at the end I laid out my semi automatic.

I climbed back down and began hunting the three deadmen who were patrolling inside the camp. One had made his way into the factory, the other two died with a slit throat and a severed head respectively, and I stuffed each of their bodies in a nearby tent.

Once that was done I moved into the open space between housing for the guards. I dragged two chairs out of one of the houses and broke them by slamming them on the ground. I piled the wood all together, and lit it on fire, then moved back to the tower, and waited.

The fire built, and started to spread onto the guards homes. There was a shout, and a guard appeared, ran to the fire, and began yelling for help. Several more guards began to make their way out, and they looked to the towers, one of them, a brute, looked at me where I had the rifle pointed down at him and the others.

He cupped his mouth. Raise an alarm! What the hell are you-

I activated my new Postman ability, steadying my arms, and pulled the trigger. The gun erupted at the end, and before the guard had finished his thought, his skull was shredded and he dropped to his knees, dead. Id never been a great shot, at least not compared to Nico or Deux. My hands had a slight tremble to them. It wasnt because I was afraid, or the weapons were heavy. I just wanted to be closer. Wanted to bring a knife to a gunfight. I fought that instinct, but the tremble never went away. My new Postman ability finally gave me a way to compensate for that.

The other guards started yelling and pointing, and I fired, continuing to do so until the rifle was completely empty, then I threw it down, and grabbed the next one. More guards came out, and they slowly began to adjust to the surprise, and turn their attention to me.

They took shots at me, but I just kept laying down fire until the second rifle was empty, then picked up the third one and continued to shoot. Id dropped five more of them, but the rest had taken cover and started to slowly make their way toward my tower. Alternating who was moving, and who was covering.

I managed to drop one more, when one of the brutes made it to the tower itself, covered by automatic fire that forced me to take cover. I expected him to climb up the ladder, but instead he took his massive ax and drove it into one of the posts at the towers base. I felt it shudder, but couldnt get a good angle to fire on him as he struck again, and again.

The tower creaked, and suddenly, I was falling down with it. I grabbed my rifle before It had fallen completely down, and activated the jump pack to land softly on my feet, the tower crashing into the nearest house and kicking up dust and rubble. I stayed calm while the remaining four guards closed in on me. There was smoke and dust obscuring everything, but I still had them highlighted thanks to my ability.

I took a knee, aimed, steadied my arms, and fired on the closest one, dropping him. Then I dove, slicing my arm on a shattered wall, but avoiding a hail of bullets where Id just been standing. The last three were all Brutes, and were eager to close in on me.

I drew my shotgun, and crouched on a corner as one of them passed me, then put the barrel to the back of his head and pulled the trigger. The brutes were strong, and could take more punishment than almost anything Id ever seen before, but blowing their brains out was still a surefire way to end them.

Another of them bashed through the wall I was crouched behind, throwing me out into the open. After that both of them charged me with axes raised high.

I froze one, but it only slowed him down. I fired the remaining round from my shotgun into the chest of the other one. That only slowed him down as well.

I drew my sword and willed my heart to be faster, letting the red at the edges of my vision take over. The brute Id shot arrived first and swung downward at me. I dodged him, moving him between myself and the other one before slashing my sword at his head.

He dodged, but I managed to cut him on his forehead, and blood began to pour into his eyes, obscuring his vision. As he staggered back the other one slashed at me, and I threw myself beneath the strike, driving my sword deep into his gut. He coughed blood onto me, but then grabbed me by the collar and tossed me aside.

Rather than let them approach me I charged the one whose head I cut. He swung wide as I approached and I grabbed the ax handle using his momentum against him to tear it from his grip before I slammed it into his skull, killing him.

The last one roared and charged me with my sword still sticking from his stomach. I froze him, but he fought through it in a wild charge. I dodged to the side as he brought his ax down, grabbed the handle of my sword and dragged it around, feeling it grate against his spine, then I pulled it out and he too dropped down dead.

I took a breath and let it out, driving the red from the sides of my vision. The smell of blood, smoke, and gunpowder were everywhere. Two targets down, one to go.