All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 98: The Last Word

This place was weird. Even without Beatrice and Tony confirming it, I knew there were obviously supposed to be humans here. Even messy humans like the kind I'd seen would repair something like a door. But that wasn't it. I noticed a slight discrepancy in the pattern of the trees. Well, not the trees exactly, but the undergrowth of the trees. While Tony and Beatrice were looking for pieces of the skeleton around the farm, I was having my models process all the data that they could. Something was wrong here.

The way the skeleton was tied up didn't make any sense, and neither did the state the place was left in. There should have been more damage if there had been a fight enough to take the skeleton apart. Those things were no joke to humans.

Finally, my model returned something that was interesting. There was a hidden trail on the opposite side of the fields from the road. I tried to get Beatrice's and Tony's attention to point it out.

When they were following my lead, I took them to the edge of the clearing. It wasn't until I pulled aside a few cut branches that had browner leaves than usual that they understood what I was trying to show them.

"They must have had this trail prepared long before the undead came here. They wouldn't have time to escape if they hadn't." Tony remarked. As he stepped into the treeline, Beatrice crouched down and held out her hands. Grateful for her thoughtfulness, I rolled over to her so she could scoop me up. I beeped my thanks to her, glad to be out of the dirt.

My domain was making it slightly bearable to be on the dirt ground, but only if I moved very slowly. Slightly slower than how I had moved before coming here. Still, I focused my Air Manipulation to brush the little dirt that had managed to cling to me into my dustbin. I wasn't going to have my chassis getting Beatrice dirty. In fact, I'd clean off her boots and pants, too, for good measure.

All situated, we followed Tony down the path. Beatrice jogged for a few steps to catch up and then asked, "Do you know anything about what this is?"

Tony shook his head. "It looks to me like a hideaway but I can't fathom why they would have needed to build one. That was something that we did as kids when we were free from chores. The adults here wouldn't have done it."

"So you think the kids built this path, and they all just used it to escape?"

"Maybe; I don't see what else it could be. There wasn't any blood or signs of a struggle, so I imagine they all had to come this way. That we only found one skeleton doesn't make sense either." Tony said.

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I had to agree with Tony. There should have been more skeletons. The only way that I could figure was that the skeletons must have been destroyed somehow. But they wouldn't have just left after that. They would have followed the humans, especially since they would have seen them escaping. But skeletons probably wouldn't have replaced the branches to disguise the trail. So that didn't make complete sense, either.

***

After a long while of walking, the trees started to thin out as the forest started to encroach on the mountains that formed the valley. We started walking uphill. Tony had voiced the idea of turning back but didn't sound very excited about the idea. We still had a trail to follow. It clearly led somewhere, and until we either couldn't see it anymore or found the end, none of us really wanted to stop.

It seemed that the trail was leading to a cave into the mountain. It was well hidden, blending in quite well with the surrounding rock. The only reason we noticed it was that I had noticed a thin tendril of steam coming out of a hole a little way up the hill.

So with that clue, my models spun up and quickly found the opening as we walked around looking. Again some bushes were cut to block the entrance, except these were greener. The placement was pretty well done and looked very natural. The only reason I noticed the opening wasn't the bush itself but the erosion of the stone by the entrance. That kind of damage to stone floors was only done when people walked over them endlessly for years.

Something just didn't add up here. If this was used for years…

"I have a bad feeling about this." Tony whispered. "We found them. They seem to be alright. We should leave before there's any trouble." After not getting a response, he spoke with a bit more urgency. "Bee."

"I don't know, they might need help. They can't have too much food in there." Beatrice said back, but she was also keeping her voice low. "Void what do you think?"

What did I think? These people could use our help for sure. Not the least of which with making a proper home. But I digress. The real question was, were they going to let us help them? I had started noting some odd chemicals in the air. A decent amount of ethanol wasn't something that I expected. Honestly, this was something I would leave to the humans. I just didn't know enough about the situation or the human behaviors involved to make a decision.

"Okay, I think we should head back. I think we found what we came here for." Beatrice said.

"But what if we need your help, little girl." A gruff voice came from the forest.

---

Bee whirled around to face the speaker. There at the edge of the treeline was a tall bear-like man with a pot belly and shaggy neck beard. The white sleeveless tunic he wore stood out so much from the trees that she was amazed that they hadn't noticed him sooner. He must have had some stealth skill to keep them from noticing his approach.

She gripped her broom tighter in surprise. The voice was mocking but not inherently threatening. Still, it sent shivers down her spine. Tony didn't seem to like it much either, stepping half in front of Bee. She was grateful for the gesture, even if it wasn't really necessary.

Taking advantage of the distraction, she used Scan.

Name: Billy Bur, Class: Outlaw, Level: 34, Age: 63, Primary Stat: DEX

That was worrying. He was at a higher level than her, and his class likely had some serious combat options that she did not.

"Hello!" Tony said, putting on a bright face. "We were checking some of the nearby farms and we saw an interesting scarecrow."

"Did ya now?" The man said in a neutral tone. "Then what brings you all the way out here then?"

"Well, we had news of the undead plague and we came out seeing if we could find survivors, maybe offer them a place of shelter." Tony explained. Bee thought he was doing a good job of hiding it, but clearly, he was tense. She wasn't getting a good vibe from this guy either, but she wasn't sure why Tony was so on edge.

"Hmmm. hHelp and shelter. Ain't that mighty kind o' ya." The fat man said while scratching his gut. "Now I don't think we're gonna need any o' that, but thanks for the offer. Much obliged."

One word in there set Bee on edge. So far, it seemed that he was alone, but that was unlikely. The charitable interpretation of the situation was that he was protecting the people in the cave. But then, he wouldn't have stopped them from leaving when it was clear they were about to go.

"Well we won't force our help on you if you don't want it." Tony said, still keeping his facade up. "I guess we'll be going then."

"No ya won't, will ya." The man laughed. "Well I appreciate not being forced ta' cept help, but I'm afraid we can't letcha go so easy now. See, we got a good thing goin' here. Wouldn't want anyone ta mess it up on accident, y'see."

Tony's posture changed. Bee watched as he reached for the metal gate winch that he had kept from the zombie fight earlier. Tense as she was, she jumped a bit as Void beeped indignantly.

Sometimes her master did seem to have a little trouble interpreting human behavior. That was to be expected by a being of such power since petty human concerns were so far beneath it. As an example, right now, Void seemed to take offense at the large man's insinuation that they would make a mess.

Bee felt that she now had a responsibility to speak up. What else was a Priest other than a mouthpiece for a god? "You might not want to make such remarks. Otherwise, Void might think you're not joking."

As she spoke, she set her master down and backed up a few steps. The man looked past Tony and at her for the first time. "Ah, ya can speak. I knew I remembered hearing ya say something. I'm glad ya found yer voice lil lady."

"But now who's this "Void" and what's he gonna do about yer needin' ta stay here?" The man grinned at Tony and asked in a mocking voice. "Do ya call yerself Void? Make you feel strong, don'it?"

Tony showed the first real sign of mirth since this whole debacle started. "No, no, no. I'm Tony. That," he gestured towards the ground, "That is Void."

The man looked at where Tony was pointing in disbelief. Tony wasn't done, though. "This is Void. He also goes by Spot. But the more I get to know him the more Void seems accurate. I would warn you, but I think that it might be a waste of my words."

The man doubled over in laughter. When he came up for air, he wiped the corners of his eyes with a grubby finger. Strangely, Bee noticed that his eyes had never truly left their group.

"Indeed, we wouldn't want'cha ta waste words. Ya filthy weasel." He choked out between peals of laughter.

Void just sat there silently, and Tony and Bee watched it tensely. The man wasn't done. "C'mon out boys! We got a fancy plate ready to kill us all. Whassit gonna do, spill slop all over us? We better work together ta defend ourselves!"

A few other dirty-looking men suddenly stood from hiding places all around them. They all were armed, holding their bows and daggers with casual hostility. One of them even had a club leaning on his shoulder. Bee saw at least nine men.

"See, now that'cha found our little distillery operation, we can't letcha spread the word. We're gonna need you to keep quiet forever. Just like the others who came out here, y'see." The man slowly began to advance, his whole demeanor changing. "Sincerest' pologies, lil miss. Sometimes, ya gotta get yer hands a bit dirty, spill a bit o' blood, you understand."

Void rolled forward and started beeping angrily. Very angrily. Bee had never seen Void show any emotions like this before. She and Tony started backing up, not away from the men threatening them but from the very angry black disk.

The group of men moved to surround the group. One of them let an arrow loose, presumably to shatter the "dinner plate" before them. In an instant, her master swiveled towards the projectile. A concentrated beam of light blue shot out and intercepted the arrow mid-flight. Before anyone had time to even register what had happened, the light was gone, leaving nothing in its wake. The men took a collective step back as they tensely adjusted their grips on their weapons.

The man who shot the arrow licked his lips nervously. "Uh, boss, I dun think thassa plate…."

"Who cares! Charge it!"

The men roared forward together, some more enthusiastically than others. Bee and Tony scrambled completely out of the way as they waited for their patron to let loose.