Chapter Forty-One - The Rescue Team

Chapter Forty-One - The Rescue Team "Another one of you come to spit at me?" Miss Ojou asked. She was standing at the far end of her cell, arms crossed, glare on. It was posturing, though, and I could tell. The only light I had to see her by was that of a glow stick I'd cracked, because See Darkness wasn't perfect night vision, and within the corridors of this place, I needed a second source of light to see by. "No," I said, underhanding the glow stick into the cell. "Hold this closer, I need the light. And try not to speak too loudly, your voice carries." Ojou blinked at me, then took a small step closer. "You're part of a rescue team?" she asked. "Nope, just me," I said. I don't think she liked that casualness. "Just you?" she asked. "Yeah, is that a problem?" I whispered back. I had the crowbar out and slid it into the loop of the padlock. Or I tried. It was a bit too thick for it. Dammit. I fumbled around, then gestured. "Can you hold this in place?" Miss Ojou didn't seem inclined to help. "Seriously? They'll be back at any moment, we need to move," I hissed. That got her to move, but only to talk shit in my face. "You didn't deal with them?" "No, I snuck past. Help me out here instead of whining." She did, but only reluctantly. Fortunately, the lock was old, rusty, and probably rather cheap to begin with. Once I had the crowbar in just right, it split apart and cracked onto the floor with the sound that echoed. "Dammit," I muttered before undoing the lock and tugging the door fully open. That made a loud grinding noise as well. "Come on." She slipped out, then I reached over and tugged on her coat. "The other way," I said. She turned, then looked at the door at the far end of the corridor. Or tried to, it was still-- The lights came on. "Okay, we need to move," I said. "They haven't cleared this portal yet," she said. "Well, we'll finish that for them, then," I replied. I didn't wait for her, and moved up to the door. Was it wise to bring her along? Maybe. Maybe not. Actually, probably not. But I needed to know how well she reacted to surprises and if it was even possible to try my Plan A with her. If she panicked, or was useless, then it would be best to sneak past, clear the portal up to the boss room, then return to pick her up. That way she wouldn't be a burden... or as much of one. Unless having her along was really bad, in which case it wouldn't be worth the effort at all, and I'd need to go back to the drawing board. The door into the next section was shut. No locks or anything. Did portal monsters not roam past the rooms they started in? Or maybe they didn't in this portal. "Come on," I muttered, then I hesitated and gave Ojou the crowbar. There was a non-zero chance she'd give me a second concussion with that, but it wouldn't hurt for her to have something to defend herself with, and she might feel a little more confident. I had a big gun, and a sharp knife, which was plenty for the moment. I opened the door while turning on a flashlight. It was one I'd grabbed from Jane, with a sliding clip on the back that easily hooked into the neck of my leotard and illuminated things ahead of me. I passed Ojou a second light, and she took it, only fumbling for a moment before flashing bright LEDs right into my face. "Why are you wearing a mask?" she asked. "Just follow," I grumbled. The next room was another corridor. This one was a little wider than the space with the cells. The ceiling was lower as well, and it immediately stank of mildew and rot. The left had a small step of sorts made out of stone that was serving as a long shelf, one covered in boxes and crates filled with... stuff. I saw old rope, some cases of glass bottles, a few clay jugs, most cracked. I took the lead, stepping in and ahead of Ojou, eyes peeled. I still remembered that floor trap in the kobold dungeon, and with the more... well, less primitive look of this one, I knew that any traps we ran into would be more complex. Still, nothing jumped out at us, none of the floor tiles clicked in, and the ceiling didn't crash onto my head. So far, so good. The corridor ended with a small set of stairs leading up. Three steps, then a sharp turn to the right and past a very narrow doorway. This content has been unlawfully taken from novelhall; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There was a bit of light coming through, faint, but there. It was green and flickered in the way that natural firelight tended to. I waved for Miss Ojou to stay back, then peeked around the corner. The room was large, maybe a bit larger than the courtyard with the entrance portal. It had four large pillars across it holding up a ceiling some fifteen feet up. That was interesting, but not as interesting as the creatures shambling through the room. Undead. "Shit," I muttered. There were four of them. I could tell they weren't alive by the way that two of the nearest shuffled around. And the smell. They stank of rotting, decaying flesh, like meat left in a trashcan that was unemptied for a week. No flies though, so that was nice. I squinted around the room some more before I'd dare to step in. There were two chairs across from each other, looking like the medieval equivalent of a dentist's chair, a few more crates along the walls, as well as some shelves, and a trip of torches in sconces. Only one was lit, next to the wide mouth of a corridor that likely led further in. The fire was green, unnatural. "Undead," I muttered as I pulled back. Ojou nodded, as if knowing as much. Maybe she did. "Skeletons?" "Zombies, I think," I said. "How do you kill a zombie?" She stared. "Do you not know this?" "I skipped out on necromancy 101," I snapped. "The body can be destroyed, but each part is animated by magic. There's no real way to kill them, you need to incapacitate them until they can no longer fight. Eventually the magic holding them together breaks down." I stared. "I didn't bring enough ammo for that." "You what?" she asked. "Fine. Then we cut them up real good. You know how to use a sword, right?" "This is a crowbar," she hissed. "This is a crowbar," I repeated, purposefully making myself sound stupid. "Want the knife instead?" She glared, and I had the impression that she didn't like me so much. Too bad, it was... okay, so not mutual. I was being a bit of a bitch, but I was kind of stressed. They'd notice she was gone soon enough, then they'd be after us. We had to hurry. I glanced in the room again, only to reel back as I came face to face with a zombie. It was hideous. A man, obviously, but missing one eye, the hole filled with rot and pus. It reached out to me with hands that had desiccated so much that its nails seemed too long. I reeled back, pulled out my revolver, then hesitated. Noise. Maybe they hadn't noticed she was missing, but they sure would look once I took a shot. "Dammit," I said as I shoved my gun back into my holster and pulled out my knife. The zombie walked towards me... and missed a step. It crashed down, stumbling over into a heap of boxes that fell down onto him with a clatter. I stared. Miss Ojou stared. The zombie stared. I walked past and into the room. The idiots following us could handle that one. The others were moving our way, and that's when I realized that two of the undead weren't zombies, they were animated skeletons. I decided to take this one at a time. First, the zombie ahead of me, then the skeletons. Only as soon as my knife sank into the first zombie with a quick swipe across its chest, I was hit by a stench so bad it made my eyes water, and I was wearing a gas mask. Dust filters on, but still, it was probably keeping some of the stink off. "Oh, god," Miss Ojou said. She wasn't wrong. The zombie, uncaring or unfeeling, walked towards me, swiping with slow, clumsy attacks. I ducked back, then struck out again. Yes, it would stink, but the only way to win was forward. I cut at the monster's neck, which did a lot of nothing, then grunted and kicked it hard in the chest, sending the undead sprawling back. Then it was the skeleton's turn. They were much faster. Both had weapons as well, which didn't make things any more fun. A sword for one, a hammer with a long shaft for the other. They clattered towards us, the one with the sword heading my way, the other towards Miss Ojou. This was going to suck. How was I supposed to kill something that didn't have vital organs? ***