All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 96: My Life for the Horde

Bee struggled desperately against the grasping hands holding her down. Kicking against her captor, she was finally able to free her foot. She felt some liquid trickle down her leg, and she hoped it wasn't blood. These ghouls were worse than zombies in so many ways.

With her foot freed, she was able to get it underneath her and use the leverage to pull on her captured arm. She expected to break the grasp of the ghoul, but instead the ground broke apart next to her. Suddenly the creature's teeth were only a few inches from her face as it flew up at her through a shower of dirt. Bee screamed.

In a panic, she flailed her arms around and was able to shake off the last ghoul that clung so tightly to her wrist. As soon as she was free, she dashed forward a dozen steps to get clear while scrambling at her back with her offhand, trying to get at her broom.

Luckily, ghouls were not the fastest creatures. She had done some research on common undead after the last encounter. They were ambush predators by nature and, in some situations, one of the more deadly types of undead. They were extremely durable and strong, though critically weak against water and acid attacks. She had a potion for dealing with them, but it was at the bottom of her pack. If she was going to continue preparing for all these situations, she needed to work on making her preparations more accessible.

Finally getting her broom in hand, she turned and saw Void finishing off another ghoul that remained in the ground. She moved to scan the one slowly dragging itself after her, but froze before she completed the action. From the treeline, she spotted a horde of zombies as it sprang into action. At least four times the amount that she had battled with on her way into the castle.

There was a squeal of metal. Whipping her head around, Bee saw Tony struggling to get the portcullis up again. From his vantage, he couldn’t see the zombies.

"No, leave it down!" she shouted to Tony, but he didn't listen and only seemed to work the winch faster. Bee cursed under her breath at his stubbornness. They could handle this, she was pretty sure. Having to worry about a giant hole in the wall they needed to guard was only going to make things harder.

She looked down at Void, now finishing off the ghoul who was still half underground. Well, it depended on how much Void would do for them and how effective its skill set was against the undead. Remembering how it had vaporized the zombies before, she relaxed a little. The ghoul chasing her arrived just in time to get stabbed in the face.

The point of her broom only sunk into its face a few inches and didn't do much to slow it down. Following her pathing skill, she twirled the other end of her weapon and swept the undead’s feet out from under it, sending it to the ground. Where the blade exited its face, it tore off a good chunk of putrid flesh.

Finishing twirled, she drove to point down with all her might, this time stilling the ghoul.

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LEVEL UP. LEVEL 33 REACHED

Nice! It was not enough to get a new skill, but Bee felt marginally faster and stronger. With all the ghouls finished, she darted in front of the gateway of the castle and turned. She readied herself for the zombie horde that was right on top of them.

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I finished the last of my opponents and proudly watched Beatrice kill the one she was fighting. It was a rough start, but she kept her composure and received it’s advance well. I wanted to attribute her success to my teachings. So I would, this time.

Once the immediate threat was taken care of, I turned my attention to the next one. Namely, the group of zombies running right at us. Compared to the ones that were buried in the ground, these were as fast as the cat chasing my sanitation lamp and were almost on top of us. Tony had just gotten the gate all the way open and slipped out to stand behind us.

It was a shame. If someone else had walked with us to the gate as well, they might have been able to close it again. As it was, it just stood open. If we were unable to stop them here, there would be nothing to protect the castle and its occupants from the obviously aggressive zombies. I couldn't let that happen.

Remembering how effective the lamp was against zombies, I leaned on that first, swiping it across the horde at head height. It sent several of the advancing army staggering, but I had moved too quickly to deal real damage. Changing up my tactics, I started firing short bursts into each one's head.

It took about a second to burn clean through, dropping a single zombie. That wasn't going to be enough to stop them all at once. Still, I continued thinning out the herd. By the time they reached us, I had dropped 12 of the 56. I retreated slightly and kept firing as we got closer and closer to the castle entrance. I wanted to make sure none slipped past me.

As for Beatrice and Tony, sadly, they were on their own. Past what I was already doing, I didn't see much I could do to protect them.

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Bee sagged in relief as she saw Void take serious action. The zombies fell in droves as her master obliterated them. It still was obvious that it was leaving the majority for her and Tony though, as it moved to block the gateway. The message was clear. "I will help and make sure none get in the castle, but you need to deal with the threat."

Gripping her broom tightly, Bee steeled her resolve. She was fine with that. Looking over at Tony, though, she wasn't so sure about him. At first, she was worried that he had stupidly just charged in unarmed. Luckily, that was not the case. Tony held what looked like a club, but on further inspection was actually the gate winch rod that he removed from its housing.

That was lucky, as at least it was metal and heavy. It was better than a lot of other weapons here. She had learned her lesson about fighting zombies with a blunt weapon without enough heft to it during her first encounter.

Setting her feet, Bee received the first two combatants. The first fell instantly to a thrust to the face, but Bee wouldn’t be able to get the broom out in time to stab again. Instead, she heaved the impaled zombie over to collide with its partner. Their heads crashed together, followed shortly by their bodies.

The angular momentum was enough to send both zombies flying, at least one very much dead. There was just enough time for her backswing to catch the next one stepping up to her.

The zombies didn't slow down at all, not worried about trampling their kin. The only way to stand up to their charge was to cut a path through as fast as they came. Otherwise they would crush her with just the weight of their bodies. There was no time to make sure the ones she engaged with were finished, since she had to constantly switch her attention to the next threat. Each one she cut continued its momentum past her or to the side. Similarly, there was no way to make sure that she got a second shot at any survivors.

As quickly as the wave reached her, she cut through it. Spinning to check her back, she saw that the wave had smashed ineffectively into the wall to either side of her and was now turning to face the get opening she stood in front of. Tony had seen that he couldn’t face them down as she did, so he had stood mostly behind her.

Currently, he was bashing in the head of one of the not-quite-dead ones that had run past her. Bee was really glad that Tony was still alive. Not only did he not die, but he was also being incredibly useful. Without his help, she might have been taken from behind with no warning. Of course, she would have had the far more reliable Void watching her back if Tony hadn't opened a huge hole in the castle's defenses.

Bee turned to her left to take on the remains of the horde. The wall had flattened them out, so no longer was it a huge wave coming at her but now two columns from each side. The other nice thing about the wall was that it slowed them down. These zombies had a high top speed, but that didn't mean they could accelerate without a bit of runway.

Running to engage them as soon as possible, Bee hoped that Tony would do the same. The more space between them in this situation, the more room they would have to retreat when they needed it. Having only one or two zombies come at her at a time was much simpler than having a whole horde rush her at top speed.

She now had the time to fight each one properly and make sure that they were put down. There was time for tactics and combos. Flipping them on the ground was effective and lessened the zombies’ offensive options, making them easier for her to handle, but it also slowed the others down. As much as their rudimentary intelligence let them form an ambush, they weren't smart enough to just go around an obstacle.

Now that she thought about it… Could they really form an ambush? The ghouls could for sure, that was how they hunted, but would zombies be able to figure out the tactics of waiting in the trees? Judging by how they had clustered around the gate last time they attacked, she would say no. That meant there was likely a higher level of undead somewhere in the trees.

Bee would need to go investigate. Now was not the time though, she couldn’t afford to break away and let them in. Plus, after the threat was dealt with, anything out here would have plenty of chances to slip away once it was clear that the ambush had failed. Maybe her master would have a chance to see what was really going on. So she just kept swinging. Every few swings of her broom, she needed to take a step back to prevent the natural swell of the mass from trying to get her, allowing them to come at her sides.

With her next step back, she turned to see how much more room she had. Not nearly as much as she would have liked. Tony's back wasn't more than three feet from hers. Checking the zombies, there were still six in front of her and double that in front of Tony.

Looking around, it was just the dozen and a half assaulting her and Tony remaining. All the others were crumpled on the ground with small, perfect holes bored through the centers of their foreheads. Void had been busy.

Right when she was about to peel away from the wall and drag Tony with her, Bee saw the zombie at the back of Tony’s pack fall with a familiar flash of light. One more kill for her master. Redoubling her efforts, Bee threw herself into the crowd, not wanting to have to rely on its help.