by Cathy Gaitan
I feel every muscle in my body tense. ‘Trust No One’ isn’t just my motto. It’s my way of life. I hardly know Oz and don’t really like what I do know. He looks perfect and acts arrogant. But Titus is as close to a best friend as I have besides Mercy.
“What makes you think we can make contact,” I ask suspiciously. What if that dragon mark meant he was in cahoots with the Witch. Oz spent time with Mercy before the Dragon Lady invaded her body. He also spent time with Julia before the same thing happened to her.
Oz doesn’t wait for me to cooperate. He reaches over and grabs my hand locking it in place. My eyes roll back in my head. When I open them again I see trees all around me. My face is throbbing. I try to reach up but my hands are secured above my head.
“You’re a beastly looking thing,” I hear the Dragon Lady say distastefully from somewhere above me. “With all that hair and muscle. I can’t imagine what those women saw in you.”
I laugh but it sounds rusty and it makes my head ache something fierce. “Then I guess it’s true. You are a walking corpse. ‘Cuz I’m eye candy. Anyone could see that.” This is obviously from Titus’ perspective. I’m thinking the broken face made his head larger. His ego obviously did not suffer.
“Oh? Well, I’m just going to have to do something about that,” she answers gleefully just as a bat swings down and pain crashes through his ribs. His breath wheezes out. “How does that feel,” she asks.
“Never better,” he grunts.
“No, no. This won’t do,” she frowns. “It’s uneven now. Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.” She raises that damn bat again and bashes it into the other side. The crunch of bone is loud in the quiet of the woods. The sound of Titus’ scream is even louder. Yeah, that hurt like a bitch.
“I have to say, the great thing about Zombies is your pain threshold. It makes this so much more fun than with Humans,” she praises. “Those legs do look incredibly strong. Should we test that theory?”
I can feel him wanting to say ‘no’ but pride forces him to bite out, “Do your worst you sadistic, old hag.”
She smiles sweetly before she lowers that bat again. This time crushing his left knee cap. Then the right. Titus is gagging now from the pain. It’s relentless and so is she. She’s swinging like she’s in a batting cage. Raining down blows until all I can hear is the pop of the bat, the crunch of bone and the squish of blood. He no longer has the strength to even yell. He’s groaning and sobbing softly to himself.
My eyes open and I’m back outside the woods with Oz. The others are here now. Mercy comes over and wraps her arms around my waste wiping a finger under my eyes. It’s only then I realize I’m crying. “It’s bad, Mercy. Really bad,” I whisper to her.
She nods, tears falling from her own eyes. “We’ll get him back,” she promises me. But what will be left once the Dragon Lady gets done with him?
Julia isn’t crying. She looks furious. Like she is one step away from walking into those woods alone and going Rambo on the Dragon Lady’s ass.
“How many are with her,” Julia asks.
I shake my head because I was so wrapped up in Titus I couldn’t see beyond what the Dragon Lady was doing to him.
Apparently Oz saw everything. “There were sixteen human soldiers and a dozen Warlocks,” he informs us. “She’s not taking any chances this time.”
He looks over at Bibidee Bea. “There were also three from among our own ranks.” Then he looks at Julia. “I hate to say it but one of them was Abel Woodley.”
Caine shakes his head. “That’s not possible.” He looks at Mary Mary. “He wouldn’t do that to us.”
“I would be willing to bet the Dragon Lady used her magic to influence him,” Oz responds. “He likely doesn’t even know what he’s doing.”
“Well, he better figure it out soon,” growls Julia. “Because right now my objective is to get to Titus, send the Dragon Lady back to hell and kill anyone else who gets in my way.” She looks at Caine. “And that includes your cowboy brother. You better hope you get to him before I do.”
Yeah, Abel doesn’t stand a chance once Julia sees Titus. When I open my mouth to tell her what was done to him Oz shakes his head. I’m sure he’s concerned she will lose focus if she’s worried about his injuries but I don’t that letting her find out in the middle of a battle is the best course of action.
“I think we need to work in teams,” Bibidee Bea suggests. “That way we can split their focus.”
Every seems to be in agreement with that idea. Julia sets to work assigning people and I walk over to have a one on one with Oz.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to have her find out about Titus’ injuries on the fly,” I ask him quietly making sure to keep Julia in my sight.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to freak her out before sending her in to face off with evil Witch,” he retorts.
“Okay so there’s no good way to do this but wouldn’t you want to know if it was Bibidee Bea?” His eyes go feral at even the mention of Bea being injured. “Exactly. I would want to know if something had happened to Mercy.”
“Fine, but don’t go into detail. Just basic facts,” he advises me. I nod my head before heading off to speak with Julia.
As I pass Mercy I grab her hand and drag her with me. “I need to tell Julia that Titus is injured and I want you with me in case she loses it.” The truth is I just want her with me. Being this close to the Witch has my nerves on edge. I’ve seen what she’s capable of and the absolute joy she takes in what she does.
“Oh, okay,” Mercy whispers. Her hand grips mine tightly as though to offer support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it right now. I don’t think I could do this on my own.
I wait until Julia’s done giving orders before calling her over. “Julia, while we were waiting for you to arrive Oz and I were able to connect with Titus.”
She takes a deep breath and eyes me warily. “And how was he? Were you able to speak with him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t even know if he knew I was there.”
“What happened? Was he okay,” I can tell from her expression she knows. She wants me to say something else but she knows.
“He’s injured.” The understatement of a lifetime.
“How bad, Pink? Just say it.” Her voice is starting to shake and I’m beginning to wonder if Oz was right.
“It’s not good. She messed him up pretty bad,” I warn her.
She nods her head but doesn’t say anything for a moment. Mercy squeezes my hand then releases it so she can embrace Julia. “It’s going to be okay, Julia. We’re going to get him back.” The same thing she told me. And I still believe her.
“I know we are, Mercy,” Julia’s voice isn’t shaking now. It’s rock steady. “And the Dragon Lady is going to regret laying a single finger on him.” It was a bat but I’m not about to tell her that.
When she pulls away from Mercy, Julia’s rainbow colored eyes are completely black. “If she wants a fight to the death she’s come to the right place. Because today, I am death!” her voice doesn’t even sound like her. It sounds like hell unleashed.
Chapter Eighteen
As far as I’m concerned,
It’s pretty simple.
If you have no expectations
you experience no disappointments.
My advice to the world is this:
Keep it simple.
-from the mouth of Pinkerton Floyd
Mercy Mayhem
Stand and Deliver
It feels a little like we’re heading into a gunfight at the Okay Corral. Since Pink dropped the news about Titus’ injuries everyone has become so serious. Julia is in a world of her own right now. Honestly it seems like she’s gone MIA. The woman shouting orders and cracking the whip sounds like Julia times a hundred. The eerie dark eyes and the hollow voice is creeping me out. I hope to hell we find Titus. I really don’t want to have to become used to jacked up Julia.
“Carmony, hold your line!
” I shoot Carmony a worried glance, hoping she doesn’t lose her temper and torch Julia. She’s been a might temperamental lately. Extra emphasis on mental. She’s discovered who she is. Kudos for that. I just never realized she had so much ornery in her.
Carmony doesn’t take issue with Julia’s words. She gives her a nod to let her know she heard and takes measures to correct her group’s formation. I think Boom Hildie may be good for her. They balance each other out.
Hildie calls us to a halt. She pulls out a bag of some glittery powder, opens it and blows it into the wind. I watch as it scatters all around us. Beyond the trees I can see pale streams of blue lights intertwined with the limbs and leaves.
Oz pulls out a small spritz bottle and squirts the ground around our feet. There’s movement there. Tiny black specks squirming under and around our feet. I look at Pinkerton. What do we do?
“They have sensors. The Dragon Lady doesn’t take any chances,” Oz informs us. He actually sounds impressed. “She designed them to alert her to any intruders.”
“And those,” Boom Hildie gestures to the blue lights just ahead of us. “Are the welcome committee. They’ll deliver a zap so hard it will fry your brain. And I do mean that literally,” she warns us.
Bibidee Bea pulls a mirror out of her pocket and tilts it to capture the lights. “Damn, Corpse-zilla doesn’t skimp with the light show,” she tells Oz and the Witches. “She’s wired the tree from root to leaves. It will take hours to de-activate.”
“Titus doesn’t have that kind of time,” Julia reminds them. There are gray clouds forming in the blackness of her eyes. Shifting and changing, making them look like they’re drifting across the surface of her eyes. It looks strange but also beautiful at the same time.
“I know you’re worried about Titus but we have to consider everybody’s safety,” Oz speaks softly. It’s obvious to everyone that Julia is losing her grip. She lost touch with reality a couple of miles back. Now I think even wonderland is slipping by her.
She ignores him, walks right up to the edge of that tree line shaking off the hand that Oz tries to restrain her with. She lifts her hands and blackness encompasses those trees. It looks like night dropped its curtain. I look at Pink and he walks over to her. Before he can say anything she reaches and grabs his hand. Julia raises her free hand and the trees directly in front of them are suddenly just gone. No fire, smoke or debris. Just obliterated.
“Well, I guess that’s another way to handle it,” Boom Hildie laughs. She lifts the bag of magic and blows the particles back into the air. Another row of trip-wired trees is revealed. Julia doesn’t hesitate. She and Pink blow through those as quickly as they did the others.
Oz takes a page out of Julia’s book and walks up to Carmony. He holds out his hand. When she accepts he waves his free hand over the ground in front of him. In the next second those squirming specs are ash. Forward we all march. It’s slow going but not as slow as it would have been had we deactivated trees individually.
We’ve been at it for more than an hour when a bird flies out of the trees and lands on Mary Mary’s shoulder. “Get ready. The Dragon Lady is coming,” warns Mary ditto. Pink turns back to me and grabs my hand. He’s still gripping Julia’s hand. The trees we had not yet made it through begin to tremble.
From the distance we can see trees falling to the left and right. Julia decides to help it along. She raises her free hand and four rows of trees disappear. Wow, I guess I should have joined this party earlier. Another two rows of trees fall and there is the Dragon Lady surrounded by her Warlock guard and behind them the human soldiers ready and willing to serve her. Julia tries to blast her but even amped up she is no match for this ancient evil.
The Dragon Lady waves her off as though she’s a gnat. The force sends the three of us to the ground. Before she can do any more damage Oz sends a spear of gold light at her but before it can reach its target the Warlock beside her shoots it down with a spear of his own.
“War games. Cute, Oz but I think we need to get serious,” quips Witchy Bea which is ironic considering she rarely is. Serious I mean. She pulls something from her pocket and tosses it to Oz. “With love. Your welcome.”
He looks at it then grins. “You’re the best.”
“I know, right?” She ducks when the Dragon Lady loses patience and tosses an axe at her head. “Heads up,” Bea yells then winces when Caine shouts in pain. “My bad, Caine. I guess I should have said heads down.”
Boom Hildie looks over at Carmony. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”
Oz, meanwhile, is back battling the Warlocks. He downs whatever was in the vial. When he looks up his eyes are like mirrors. When the Warlocks on the hag’s right send grenades of magic at him he lifts his hand and they rebound back to the Warlocks detonating on impact. They look like they have hundreds of tiny lightning bolts coursing through their bodies. The pain must be excruciating because they are shrieking from it. Unfortunately, the Dragon Lady didn’t catch so much as a spark from the blast.
Carmony grabs Hildie’s hand then sends a blanket of fire raining on the hag and her army. That rotten Witch must be Teflon tough because she doesn’t so much as wince when the flames lick over her skin. She just shakes it off like water. The flames drop off and pool at her feet. I have got to learn that trick. It could come in handy.
“Flame retardant. Awesome,” mutters Carmony.
“Hey, don’t take it so hard,” Boom Hildie tells her. “She’s battle hardened. We just need to find her weakness.”
“Yeah, and I doubt it’s as simple as chocolate or carbs,” I reply just a tad bitterly. Don’t judge me! Some people have few weaknesses and others have many. Do not try to guess which category I fall into!
“Let me do you a favor,” the evil hearted Witch announces before trying to nail me with a flame tipped lightning bolt. Pink waves his hand and the bolt explodes mid-air, sparks shooting in all directions. The rabid Witch lets out a shriek of outrage when Bibidee uses the distraction to lash her with a whip of pure flame splitting her cheek and leaving raised welts on either side of the injury.
“Score!” Bea barely has time to celebrate before the Dragon Lady sends a slew of razor tipped grenades her way. I summon up a giant fan and send them flying back to her. She’s dancing and dodging, basically doing her best Matrix impression. I gotta admit, it’s impressive. She manages to avoid all the grenades but her army isn’t so lucky. She lost at least seven. Boo-yah! Behold the power of the Ninja!!
I wasn’t able to injure her but I guess one of the grenades detonated close enough to scorch the left side of her hair. The smell is strong in the air. She doesn’t look bad though. It just looks like she shaved one side of her head. I hate to admit it but her hair looks better than my own. Damn that Witch!!
A loud explosion sounds and two more Wizards fall under Oz’s magic blasts. He is definitely holding it down with the Wizards today. I know Bibidee Bea is proud because she’s hollering and blowing kisses at him like a rabid football fan. “That’s my man,” she proudly shouts. Oz is grinning and blasting shots from his palm like it’s a machine gun.
Across the field Caine is attacking the Human soldiers like a mad marauder. He’s pulled the axe the Dragon Lady beaned him in the head with and is cutting through them like butter despite the bullets raining down on him. Birds are swooping down and attacking the soldiers from the sky under Mary Mary’s instruction.
Julia sends another blast at the Dragon Lady but has managed to construct a shield. The blast hits and sends sparks ricocheting back to Julia. She absorbs the hit without so much as a whimper. On the contrary, she seems to gain strength from it.
When the hag tries to send her own lightning bolt back to her Julia reaches up and grabs it with both fists. Then she opens her mouth and swallows the damn thing. What the hell? She’s lit up like a like a Christmas tree now. There are lights shining behind the floating gray clouds in her eyes. When she smiles light gleams from between her teeth. Okay, now she’s really fre
aking me out. I think the Dragon Lady may be thinking the same thing because her eyes widen in shock.
Julia blows in the demon Witches direction and a hail of flame tipped bullets pepper her shield causing it to crack in the center. Pieces of it crumble to the ground. Julia laughs in triumph and sends another barrage of shots at her.
“Her shield is weak,” shouts Boom Hildie. “Now, Carmony! Light that mother up!”
Carmony sends a tidal wave of fire toward that crumbling shield. It catches like it was dipped in kerosene then blows, raining shards of crystal into the air. Hildie follows it up with a mystical grenade. The Witch dodges but it catches her in the side. She reacts by lobbing a stick of liquid dynamite in Hildie’s direction. Oz shoots it down and Bea follows up by zapping the Dragon Lady in the shoulder.
The old bag doesn’t let the injury slow her down. She conjures a freaking dragon and sends it flying at Oz’s head. Julia sends a missile straight at the beast but manages to evade the blast. The weapon flies right by it and into the remaining Warlock. The Human soldiers have already been dispensed of. It looks like the Witch stands alone. Well, her and that damn dragon of hers.
The dragon whips its tail and manages to catch Oz on the side of the head. He’s bleeding and staggers a little from the blow but he doesn’t go down. Oz grabs the tip of its tail and yanks causing it to drop to the ground. It lets loose a stream of fire in Carmony’s direction but she just absorbs it into herself then sends her own blue flame back at it.
Oz uses that moment to drop a bomb on it. He runs as Carmony’s fire sends the dragon blowing sky high. The Dragon Lady shouts in fury and stirs up a cyclone to lift up the fallen trees and send them flying at us like cabers but they evaporate under the force of Julia’s power.
“What have you done with Titus,” Julia demands to know.
“You’re better off without him,” huffs the Witch. “He’s terrible at hand sports. It turns out he dissolves under pressure,” she laughs.
We all link hands and when Julia sends a charge of power at the demon Witch the blast is so wide she has no hope of avoiding it. Her mouth opens wide but no sound escapes as she explodes from the inside out. Fragments of her skin and bone speckle the air but incinerate under the heat.
