Chapter 95

We used the wall and trees to cover us. I can only see the vague outline of things moving in the fog. I was unsure of what was out there and did not want to go blindly into a dangerous situation. We are now in a patch of darkness that should cover us from being seen.

I could make out the shape of the building a little distance from us, which I suspected from the vague outline I could see was the church. The churchyard wasn’t too cluttered with graves which was both a blessing and a curse for us. If we were to go in and take on what was there, I would have liked more cover or used the gravestones as improvised barricades. The grass was long and sickly yellow looking about knee height on me. A possible hazard if we are not careful as it will be covered in moisture.

Hills and I were looking over the wall, trying to discern what was out there in the fog. Ford and Jackson were awaiting orders while Jones scanned the area for any threats coming from different angles.

“What do you think?” I asked Hills quietly.

“Not sure. Could be zombies, but I think the shape is wrong.”

“Agreed.”

From the glimpses we had gotten of the figures were humanoid, at least. They were moving around in a pattern that indicated something similar to a shambling walk. But their shape indicated that they were not zombies but something else.

“We are wasting time. Let’s get there and take them out.” Ford hissed from just behind us.

Hills and I both turned to look at him and I think our expressions and glare told him all that needed to be said about his idea. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with the pace I had set on this mission. His constant questioning was now beginning to annoy me and it was clear that Hills was already well along that path.

“Well, thankfully, you’re not in charge, so shut up!” She snapped at him.

We both turned our attention back to the graveyard and what was moving within. A few seconds later, before we said anything else, we actually got a good glimpse of what was wandering around. What we saw was definitely not a zombie.

The hostiles that we are expecting closer to the breach had, for a better word, evolved. We saw a humanoid figure, but it was a tree or plant of some sort. It was much shorter than the earlier ones engaged and seemed far more mobile. Its body was made up of twisted branches or vines. Maybe, it was hard to tell from the brief glimpse we got it.

“Well, that makes life a bit more difficult.” I said to no one in particular.

“What are we gonna do?” Hills enquired.

I turned to look at her and then back to the group and within a few seconds, I had made my decision. We will have to engage these things because they are here, as we cannot leave them to risk attacking us from behind or going after the sealing team.

“We engage. Ford, Jones and I take them on directly, as only seems to be two. Hills and Jackson cover us by keeping watch in case we miss something. Questions?”

Ford was about to say something but had only his mouth when Hills gave him a death glare that even I could recognise. He chose not to say what was on his mind and because closed his mouth instead. I got the definite feeling that there was some history here that I was unaware of. I would have to find out what it was sometime later because Hills had not told me about it beforehand.

“The wall is not too high for us to clear. However, we cannot risk making too much noise, so that we will use the gate over there.” I indicate a small gate that is only a few metres from us. “When we are through, Ford left, Jones right with me in the centre. Hills and Jackson run support and watch our backs.”

I reinforced the plan with them to ensure they knew what was happening. I turned and all of us moved the wall next to the road, crouched slightly to help block the view of us from within the graveyard. I knew the fog would cover us as much as them, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

Thankfully the gate was open as it looked to be rusted now due to exposure to the zone. The last thing I wanted was to have to open the gate and make any noise doing it. Unfortunately, we were still making quite a bit of noise. I don’t think we noticed just yet. We quickly got through the gate in a single file and took up our assigned positions. I looked to my left and right to ensure I knew they were ready and they looked it, so it was time to begin.

“Advance.” I spoke just loud enough for the others to hear me.

I hoped to take them by surprise, but that was not going to happen here. One had spotted us and alerted the other with a strange shaking of its body. They both turned and quickly moved towards us. When I say quickly, I mean for them, which was a lumbering gait at best. We actually closed most of the distance before contact was made.

Finally, getting a clear view of them, my initial thoughts were correct. They were twisted trees of some sort but much shorter than the ones we were expecting and a bit more mobile. Ford and Jones peeled off and engaged the ones in front of them while I took a few seconds to assess the situation.

They were slow but hit hard, it seemed. The other two had axes, like me and they were quickly laying into the bodies of their opponents. But they were getting hit back just as hard but were successfully blocking each strike. However, the force of the impact knocked each back slightly, so there was some serious weight behind each blow.

Ford seemed to have his opponent well in hand, so I turned and helped Jones, who seemed to be struggling a bit more. John had landed several both on his opponent’s body, aiming for the head and actually had some damage to it. The problem was that the damage did not seem to be slowing it down. Attacking from the side, I was able to land a solid hit with my axe into the head as the blade bit deep. The thing did not even stagger or notice the hit. It seemed at first. I was almost caught off guard as its span ripping clear of my axe from its form and punched at me. I got my shield up in time, but the force of the blow sent a kinetic shock through my shield into my arm.

The It moaned out.

Jones took advantage of its attention on me and attacked again. He went to the head but missed digging deep into its shoulder. The outer bark where we penetrated was now showing the inner white parts of the tree/hostile. It turned again and attacked him in retaliation. It was clear that they were slow on the advance but fast with spinning around.

The injuries were clear on its body and I looked to Ford, who also had done some damage, but neither of our opponents was slowing down. Both were showing signs of injuries on the arms, shoulders and heads. The dark bark of their outer skin revealed the inner white flesh, which was also now leaking a thick green sap-like substance. Each had strikes to their “heads” but still did not show any signs of them having an effect.

“Jones, keep its focus! Ford, keep yours distracted!”

They do not say anything but step up for another attack. I use this to move fully behind the one engaged with Jones. I took several sharp intakes of breath and then attacked.

When I went all in and this was no focused event. I struck as fast as hell, constantly hitting, hitting and hitting. I was vaguely aware of the damage I was causing as I unloaded more than half a dozen strikes onto this thing’s head in rapid succession. The head had collapsed, no. It had been hacked part by the frenzy of my attack.

I stood back to survey the damage and catch my breath as my chest was heaving from the exertion of what I had just done. To my horror, however, I realised that this thing was still moving and still attacking. Tried to turn to face me, but Jones kept on attacking as well, aiming for its arms to distract it.

Whatever this thing was, our usual tactics of taking out the head were a waste of time as it seemed that it didn’t have a brain as far as I could see. There was no sign of any form of brain matter in the injuries I had inflicted upon its head, just more of the green sap.

“Hills, we are missing something. What do you see?”

“I don’t know. Taking out head normally works!”

“We need to retreat!” Ford interjected. He was clearly starting to get worried and was close to panicking. The other two didn’t look too happy for confidence at the moment either. None of us was injured and had inflicted extensive damage on these hostiles. They were not slowing.

I took several steps back to really look again at our opponents. They were humanoid. Two arms, two legs, a torso and a “head”. Their bodies were made up of six lines or in tree trunks wrapped around each other, giving them their shape. However, their torsos were larger than they should be and were slightly rounded in many ways.

Could that be the answer?

“Jones, backup.” He was clearly confused but, after a few seconds, did as instructed.

I decided to change tactics and dropped my axe. I pulled my gladius from its sheath and went on the attack again. This time, however, I charged the creature. I leapt at it, using my shield as a battering ram. My whole body shook with the force of the impact, but my plan worked and it was knocked over with me on top of it. I use this opportunity to use my sword to get in between the twisty sections of its body. It was twisting and turning under me, trying to get me off it. After several attempts, I managed to find a way to slip in and as soon as I did, I pressed my body down onto the handle of the blade. My weight forced the blade into its body and the green sap-like substance oozed from the body.

“OOOOOOPHHHHHHH!”

The strange sound and came again, but this time had a deeper tone to it and the body suddenly stopped moving. I jerked back into a kneeling position with my blade protruding from the body. After a few seconds of waiting to confirm, it seemed dead. I was about to start giving more instructions to my team when I heard Hills say something.

“Right. I got this one. Ford, keep it distracted.”

Still straddling my opponent, I turned my attention to her and watched her mimic what I have just done. Using Ford as a distraction, she too used her body weight to knock the thing to the floor and her own sword to slide in between its body sections. It took several attempts like me but in the end she too drove the blade in and was soon covered in the green sap to. The second feature also created the same strange sound as it died.

With that the fight was over. We spent close to a minute just looking at each other and the dead bodies making sure that they were not going to get up again. As I had noticed Hills was covered in green sap and looking down so was I. The other three operatives were all in different states. Ford and Jones were breathing hard from the exertion of the battle but were quickly getting themselves back into fighting form. Jackson however was staring at me and hills wide-eyed clearly shocked by what we had done.

“Well, it’s going to be one of those days.” I told the group.