บท 30: Here there be Dragons
I don't own Fallout.
"Nobody… Move." Swat said, in a harsh whisper, everyone frozen. Jack was just behind him, holding his Winchester at the ready as his prosthetic spring leg noticeably creaked as he went still standing next to an almost statue-like Raid. They were all standing on the wooden path raised up from the tilled soil below like a massive ocean of dirt. Alongside them were the towering stalks of corn, as big as the fully-grown Oak trees of the old world… Casey and Galoria were just behind them, also standing perfectly still with the unconscious 'child' cult leader draped over Galoria's shoulder like a sack of potatoes…
…They had FOUND the path through the corn… it had been partially destroyed to hide it in the forest, but after making their way cautiously across the brief stretch of open soil, on Swat's insistence, they walked across the wooden pathway for little over 4 hours…
The Path was designed like an old pier that went on forever, posts after posts holding up the wooden path… every ten or so was a particularly taller one, not attached, but with a long strip of cord sliding down the poles into the ground, a small little bell attached to it hanging off the post…
And right now. It was tinkling… it SENSED the vibrations in the ground and gave out a soft warning to those who crossed the Path.
Rule #1: Don't. Make. A NOISE when Ringing… the bell told them that, but it was also on the sign beneath the bell, crudely written but effective.
The Path had been around for decades, long before Swat was born, but it had to constantly be repaired due to incompetence of the unappreciative or aggressively stupid travelers, or simple wear and tear of the harsh wasteland. Swat was fortunate, or unfortunate enough to have been hired to provide protection once for the Husker repairmen as they did so... Even with his presence, they still lost people, other mercenaries too stupid to follow the expert's advice. One idiot said the 'dragons' beneath the ground were all lies so the locals could charge for convenient passage through the forest of colossal corn…
Luckily he provided a fine example of facts when he leaped onto the ground to 'prove it' dancing around like a moron to the ringing of the bell and was promptly eaten whole and alive… but back to the matter at hand.
NOBODY moved…
Tingle, tingle, tingle… tink… nothing…
The bell stopped, and Swat sighed in relief. "Okay. We're good." He declared as the others sighed in relief as well and followed him for a few steps on the wooden path when Galoria grunted. Joeb had woken up and started thrashing on her shoulder
"Release me you heretics! You heathens! HE will consume you all and devour you!-"
"Shut up." Jack grumbled absently as the little shit continued to squirm on Galoria's powerful shoulder still shouting his religious cult nonsense.
"I am his most faithful! He will not allow your blaspheme! Your disrespect!-"
Tingle Tingle Tingle!… Swat froze, waving for the others to stop as well as Joab kept up his mad preacher nonsense. "Shut up…" he hissed as he quickly glanced over the path to view the soil, various stalks of corn were waving in the distance.
"I call and HE answers! I speak! You listen! I-"
"SHUT UP!" sneered Swat loudly and desperately as the bell began to shake rapidly, the rows of corn trembling around them as something charged beneath the earth towards them.
"I call to you! He who Crawls Beneath the CORN! I CALL TO-!"
"Everyone okay with giving the little shit an ironic demise?!" Swat hissed desperately to the rest of the group as the pathway began to rumble.
"Fine!" yelped Casey.
"Agreed!" Galoria mumbled, holding her oar tightly in her other hand.
"Hurry the fuck up!" Jack said nervously, aiming at the ground currently churning like waves of water.
*Bark Bark!* With with the group all in agreement-
"Galoria! THROW!" Swat said, pointing to the left of the path as Galoria handed Casey her oar. Casey wobbled slightly at the weight, before Galoria grabbed the ranting Joab in both hands, and spun him in a giant swing by his ankles before hurling him off the side.
"Non-believers! Heathens! Heretics! HE will consum-ooff!!" he hit the ground and rolled, the bell still tingling wildly as he pushed himself up. Completely delusional to his situation. "Ha! You will provide nourishment to HIM! HE will grow the ROWS! And they will spread across this cursed lan-AAAAhh!!??-HHHAAAAHHHHAAAHHHGGHGHHHH!!!!"
Swat watched placidly as the others stared wide-eyed at the towering, horrific beast that lunged straight up from the ground like a magic beanstalk from folktales, thick and grotesque, it was a filthy dirt-covered brown, easily as half as tall as the gigantic corn its. It's 'face' opened like a horrific seperated beak as the tips lashed just beneath Joab's head, entrapping his entire body as true unabashed terror opened his eyes, literally, to the truth of his situation.
"Help me! Help me you bastards!" he roared like a normal man, shrieking as he came to terms with his own mortality. "HELP MEEEEEE!!-" the maw briefly opened again, then clamped shut around the pretender's head. Silencing him forever as it loomed away from the path and dove into the ground as three other massive creatures followed after it, as if eager to share in its meal. Blind and unaware that the catch was already taken.
…As soon as the bell stopped tingling, everyone sighed... but- "Holy SHIT." Casey hissed before handing back Galoria her oar. "What the FUCK?!" she glared at Swat as he watched the retreating creatures shifting the corn and soil behind them.
"They're stupid. But dangerous." He said, gesturing them all on. "Just follow the rules and we'll be fine."
"Yet another reason most of the Corn is still here." Jack mumbled, watching the earth shifting with the retreating worms.
"Oh yeah! That's great…" grumbled Casey as Jack put his Winchester in his holster before pulling out a stick of dynamite. "What the hell is that for?"
"We are not killing those things with bullets." Jack declared rather practically, his prosthetic leg creaking gently as they moved on. "I now deeply regret not oiling this thing…" he grumbled at it. The remainder of the day was mostly uneventful… but then came a bit of a problem once they reached the first 'campground'. Specific locations on The Path that allowed rest if necessary…
After this campground though… there was no Path for about a hundred feet. It had collapsed or was broken from disrepair, the open ground like a vast ocean of dirt between them... with a few pockets of still driftwood floating on the soil.
"…SHIT." Jack mumbled staring at the 30 yards of loosened soil, the remainder of the Path had fallen away, and planks of rotted wood and iron littered the open ground, leading to a continuation of the Path in the form of a semi-collapsed ramp, that looked to be one large traveler away from collapsing itself... "So… what's the plan for this?"
Swat stared at the wreckage scattered across the ground, and frowned thoughtly for a moment. And… "…I have no fucking idea."
"The bell's still there," Casey said, pointing to the tall tower in the middle of the ground, the only solid thing remaining of the Path for the next 100 feet.
"…No…" Jack declared firmly as Swat got that look in his eyes that Jack didn't like.
"…Okay… Here's what I'm going to do." He then took out a couple of grenades. "They come to noise, but they run from a big enough one… I think: if we draw them into the middle ground there." He said, pointing to the ground, "Then chuck explosives, We'll drive them off long enough for the rest of us to run the rest of the way to the ramp."
"Okay. But how are we going to lure them?" Casey asked as Swat's face flinched slightly.
"…Well…" he said hesitantly
"…I like this idea less and less the more you speak it!" Jack declared furiously as Swat sighed.
"Well do you have an idea?" Swat asked as Jack grumbled. Swat nodded, "…Alright then…" he glanced around, finding a lower part of the Path to drop down onto. "…I think it would be better if we were all on the ground first." moving as quietly as possible.
Jack sneered quietly, "…This is a dumb idea, Brat." He declared, but together… they carefully and slowly stepped onto the ground level. All of them, apart from Raid, immediately felt a chill go down their spines. Swat took a breath as they all went still, he pointed to some of the wreckage, the large chunks of wood. "Get on those. It might muffle you a little." He said, taking step forward, but hearing a creak beside him as Jack did the same. "Jack, what the fuck?"
"Keep walking." Jack said, "…I can't run as fast as you I have to get closer." While true, he certainly wasn't following Swat because he was worried about him or anything. Step by step they walked, the closer to the bell they got the more and more nervous they felt… but Jack, about halfway, grabbed Swat's arm firmly. "This is a bad idea." He repeated desperately.
"This is the only way. No going back now."
"Fuck this way. Let's go back and go around the corn!"
"I have to go this way Jack." Swat declared firmly as Jack shook his arm, trying the shake some sense into him.
"Brat. There are other ways."
"This is the only way I know to get back to mom." Swat declared furiously as Jack stiffened at the news, gazing at Swat somewhat surprised. "I don't' KNOW other ways. I remember THIS one. This is the path I took before with her, so THIS is the path we're taking." He said, breathing heavily… his nerves and emotions overwhelming him as Jack slowly scowled. "Four years Jack… I'm not letting her wait any longer."
Jack stared his surrogate son in the eyes. Then let go of his arm, pulling out a lighter, and a dynamite stick. "…Go on. Go be stupid. I'll bail you out again…" he said worriedly
With a grenade in his own hand, Swat walked along, his feet barely making a sound in the soft soil... but he imagined his steps were heard from miles around… he reached the bell tower and stared up at the tiny bell. Still silent… a brief moment of terror overtook him, there was the possibility that the bell tower was broken. But he took a breath. Calmed his nerves. Yanked the pin from the grenade and threw it to his left. Slipping behind the pole as the grenade exploded. The bell rattled from the shockwave and went still… before it began to tingle again as Swat went still…
One… two… three… four…
Rows of soil shifted one after the other, looming towards the bell tower Swat stepped carefully up onto the base as it rocked slightly.
"Fuck fuck fuck…" hissed Jack, holding the dynamite and flicking the lighter to light it. "…Fuck!…" he hissed as it refused to do so, only creating a worthless spark and the fuse continued going unlit.
Swat watching as the ground shifted before him, the thick leathery hide of the creatures broke the surface, before swirling and moving away. he pulled out his sequoia, holding it at the ready… then thought better of it, putting it back and pulling out another grenade.
"For fucks sake Jack! throw it!" hissed Casey loudly as Jack sneered frustratingly back at her.
"I. Am… TRYING!" he hissed desperately continuing to try to light it.
"Just get ready to run!" Swat declared loudly, this was a mistake. The bell rattled equally loudly as the creatures heard him, the tower shifting slightly as they rammed beneath it. "Shit." He pulled the pin. Tossing it around the tower, hopefully far enough away to not damage him.
The boom of the grenade was followed by a horrific shriek as the creatures immediately ran for it, the ground shifting away in the opposite direction of the blast as the girls and Raid ran for it. Jack, while not exactly hobbling, couldn't really run full tilt. So Galoria, quickly sweeped him up, lifting him under her arm and carrying him quickly along…
Raid reached the ramp first, deftly darting up it as Galoria was next. Stomping up with Jack followed by Casey and Swat who, while close at first, needed to make sure everyone made it. Casey skipped quickly up the ramp as Swat did the same only for the boards to snap under his foot, he tumbled backward, flipped and landed on his stomach rolling onto the dirt. He was about to push up when. "DON'T MOVE!" Jack shouted as the creatures rapidly returned. almost simultaneously the bell tower cracked and fell over with a crash. One of the creatures broke the surface, just like with Joab, its maw clamped around the wood and crushed it furiously. The bell spun to clunk softly in the soil. Before the monster slipped disappointedly back beneath the dirt.
"…FUCK." Grumbled Swat, face first on the dirt… unable to move. Less than a foot away from 'safety' as they others stood on the edge of the ramp. Raid whimpering down at Swat, who glanced up at them with his eyes, the rest of him unmoving. "…Uh… Jack, want to-fuck." He cursed as with his ear to the ground he heard the creatures tunneling in the soil back towards him. He dare not move, he dare not speak.
Jack took off his hat and ran a hand furiously through his stringy hair. "My fucking lighter doesn't work." He said irately, glancing at the girls. "Either of you got a match?" Casey patted herself, hands clapping on her jean pockets on her ass as Galoria, clearly never one for pockets, shrugged helplessly as Casey cursed.
"Nothing."
"NNngh!!" Jack hissed furiously. Jamming his hat back on. "Brat. Don't move." He said as Swat rolled his eyes, shaking in terror as he felt the rumble shift constantly closer and away… the Path's rubble behind him shaking slightly on the soil… something loudly cracked off, hitting the dirt, and it was swarmed like a feeding frenzy, the monstrous creatures smashing a chunk of the broken Path before everything went quiet again.
Swat had an iron will… but he was literally helpless. He couldn't get his guns, he couldn't get a grenade… he couldn't move an inch or he was worm bait.
"Think of something father-in-law!" Galoria declared as Jack paced, Raid fidgeting on the Path, his tail hanging low as he stared at Swat lying helpless on the ground.
"I don't think! I shoot!" Jack grumbled, desperately, hands on his head as he tried to think of a plan.
"Shoot." Casey said with a breathless whisper, then pulled out her assault rifle and shoved it into Galoria's confused hands before she yanked the twin revolvers from Jack's holsters. "Shoot the ground! Away from Swat."
Jack stared at her before he pulled his Winchester. "Shoot the bell." He said, gesturing to the broken tower as they aimed around that area. "Brat get ready to move!"
Galoria, particularly helpless when it comes to firearms, aimed the assault rifle in the general area before firing and stumbling slightly at the kickback. Casey and Jack however achieved their goal, the bell ringing rapidly before bullets peppered the soil, drawing the worms towards the area, roaring as stray firearms pierced into their bodies as they briefly broke the surface.
Swat kicked off the ground with a shot, his feet stomping in the dirt before he ran up the ramp. However, almost half a second after he moved a horrific worm broke the surface… in its maw was a fresh, child-sized human hand, half dissolved. Clearly Joab's.
"What are the fucking odds?!" Swat hissed, at the sheer astronomical coincidence that it was the SAME monster that ate Joab was about to eat him... He felt its putrid 'breath' on his coat as he reached into it and drew a grenade, leaping forward as the others leaped back, the creature landing just on the edge of the creaking ramp as Swat tossed the live grenade into its mouth. It closed, and just as the grenade exploded the ramp collapsed under its weight …
But its sudden collapse did not prevent the chucks of raw organ and flesh flying everywhere as the creature died instantly, collapsing onto the ground dead as the other beasts decided to try their luck in consuming its corpse, the horrific tearing and shrieking overwhelming the other's as a chunk covered Jack grabbed Swat under the arm and they quickly moved on.
"…Well…" Casey declared, gently removing a chunk of the worm from Swat's shoulder as Jack shook goo off his own hat. "Let's not do that again."
Swat, thoroughly chunked and the worse off of all of them being the closest to the explosion closed his eyes and nodded. "…If we find any water… Even if it's radiated… I'm taking a bath."
Jack slapped a pack of Radaway against Swat's chest as he shoved it into his coat. "I agree."
"How much farther until we're out of this forest?" Galoria asked as Swat sighed, and turned around.
"…There are four campgrounds… and that was the first one." Swat said pointing towards the area and frowning again. "…It's going to be a LONG smell…" he declared resignedly as the others groaned, Raid, however, looked hopeful… he had tasted the worm goo after licking his jowls…
It tasted like chicken… When Swat wasn't looking he was going to lick him again... and again.
End of chapter
...Tremors is the best B movie franchise ever, if you've never seen it. Fix that. Particularly the first 2.
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