Chapter 8
The mouth stopped moving, and a tail appeared behind it. It said in a feminine voice with a heavy Russian accent, “Release that child, and I might let you live. Slave, pet, I care not what she is to you. Release her, or I will be forced to relieve you of her. And if you swallow her, then I will cut her out of your stomach.”
Marcus placed his muzzle on the ground and opened his mouth. Liz fell out and yelped as she landed on her hand. He could see that she was covered in his saliva and she held an angry look on her face. Marcus said to the mouth and tail and now ears and eyes, “I will not release her on account that she is here on her own free will. I could care less if you tried to relieve me of her as I am three times your weight and I can’t die. But I suppose that I should thank you for showing such concern for my child, Mish.”
“Who are you,” said the slowly appearing tiger. Marcus responded, “Until we find Isaac, I’m your boss. I care not why you left the lab for four days, just get back to work.”
“You’re an ass, Marcus.”
The insulter was Liz, who was still angry at him. She said, “Eating me; that was how you planned to protect me? You ate me, Marcus!”
“But I… you were…”
“And you fell asleep.”
“I was never asleep, I merely closed my eyes.”
“Your reaction time says otherwise,” Mish remarked.
“Well at least I didn’t swallow.”
They argued and bickered for five more minutes until they decided to simply forget about it and focus on moving back to the caravan. Liz climbed onto Marcus’s back yet again and he stayed on the ground. They walked slowly, as Mish’s will to move was weaker than it was a few days before. As they started moving, Liz asked, “I thought your kind didn’t get tired. What happened?”
“We never get tired in our bodies, but our minds can deteriorate over a long period of time.”
“Or a short period of heavy fighting. I just need to recollect myself before we start running again.”
“If you start running, then I’m taking flight.”
“Good, I hate it when the higher-ups get into my business.”
They walked until the sun started to rise. Then Mish said, “I’m ready to run. Stay in the air and tell me if there’s anything I should be looking for.”
Marcus took off and flew a mile ahead of her. He would constantly make trips back to tell her of ambushes and enemies and other such things. Mish would react to the threats by turning invisible. She would sneak behind the enemies and silently decapitate them from behind. Only when behemoths were present did Marcus ever directly intervene. He indirectly intervened by throwing a fireball into a building opposite where Mish was working. By midday, they had reached the area where they first met Dragoon. At this rate, Marcus thought, we should get to London at the same time as the caravan. They stopped moving so Liz could enter a house and relieve herself. Marcus guarded the front entrance and Mish walked around the rear. Liz walked out and silently jumped onto Marcus’s back. He took flight and Mish followed.
An hour later, Marcus found a large horde of undead crowding around a truck. Atop the truck, a young man stood with a four handed blade. He was slightly overweight and wore a black skull t-shirt. His black hair was messier than Marcus’s old hair ever could have been. Upon his right hand, a single finger was missing. One of the undead tried to climb the truck, but he quickly put it out of its misery and revealed that his missing finger was missing so his hidden blade would not cut him. Three more undead tried to climb the truck, but he killed them all with a single swing of the massive four handed blade.
Marcus watched on as he cut up undead meat like paper, and he wondered if the boy was worth saving. He decided to take action and breathed a single flame through each nostril to incinerate everything around the vehicle. Marcus loved the control he had of the flame and regretted how he had so few enemies to kill. The surrounding area was covered in skeletons and smoking ashes. The man jumped off the car and said, “Hey asshole, you missed a spot.”
“I don’t miss. And I would show proper respect if I were you.”
“Well you’re not me, and I think God and all his children are assholes. It’s not that I don’t like you – even though I don’t – it’s just that I think everyone’s an asshole, asshole. I don’t mean any disrespect.”
“I don’t know,” Liz remarked, “I think you’re better off burning him now and asking questions later.”
“I was hoping you weren’t an asshole like your brother.”
“How did you know we were related?”
“I didn’t. If you’re going to kill me, please make it slow as you can; I want to get as many uses out of this bad boy as possible.”
“Save your blade for the undead. It wouldn’t pierce my flesh anyway.”
Mish appeared behind him and he spun around with the blade pointed at her head. She said, “My name is Mish. If you want to come with us, jump on.”
“My name is Zack. And I would be delighted to mount you.”
“No thank you, I’m married. But I will take you with me and not rip you in half if you learn to behave.”
Zack jumped onto the truck and climbed up Mish’s left flank. He yelled to Marcus, “Hey, can I become a god-thing like you assholes?”
“Um… sure. Why not?”
Mish turned and started to run again at a slightly slower pace. As Marcus took flight, Liz said, “Thank you for not asking him to ride you.”
“If he said that mounting joke to me, I would grant his wish.”
“Ouch. I thought you weren’t interested in men.”
“I’m not interested in either.”
“Aw! You’re in love with Demmy!”
Marcus passed over Mish and Zack. The sky was clear and the road ahead was free of undead. The sun started to set, and they camped in a large farmhouse. The building was very large on the inside, but it seemed small and cramped with two titanicus sleeping in it. Marcus covered the front entrance with his wing after the door was closed. Liz sat at his side and Zack sat on the giant pillow that was Mish’s side. Marcus made a small fire in the middle of the floor; they didn’t need the warmth, the titanicus just needed to see where their companions were so there were no accidents.
Liz and Zack talked for an hour about their journeys in the undead filled wasteland. Zack refused to stop talking trash about the Canadians and their role in the incursion and Liz refused to stop remarking on Marcus’s actions over the pat week. Marcus finally said, “That’s enough talk for one night. Both of you get to sleep.”
Liz did as the night before and pulled herself close to Marcus’s belly and Mish pulled Zack into her fur coat. Marcus could barely see him in the white cloth. He could hear him mumble something about breathing, but Mish said, “Shut it, teddy bear!”
Marcus heard him say something in return, but it was blurred out by Mish’s thick covering. Marcus did not need to guard Liz as his left wing covered the only entrance to the barn and his right covered Liz. The outside was noisy with the crowd of undead; Marcus could feel Liz start to shake in fear. He started to breath, and his rhythm blocked out the noise. Liz was motionless, but Marcus kept on breathing for her sake. He soon fell into his own kind of sleep, and he used the time to sort out his thoughts again.
Marcus was awakened by the rising sun shining in through the large, high windows of the building. The light reflecting off his scales was like a disco ball; as he breathed the lights on the barn walls danced around the room. Marcus lifted his wing, and Liz was sound asleep. He took a closer look and found that she was still breathing. He looked out the window over his other wing, and ten thousand undead remained silent, as if trying to reassure them that there were no threats outside. Marcus looked at Mish, and the small black spot on her fur slowly grew until Zack fell out. He reached for his blade and said, “That was like sleeping on a cloud; lack of air and all.”
“My husband said that on our first night as well.”
Marcus nudged Liz with his muzzle, and she stirred. She lifted her head and Marcus asked, “How did you sleep, little one?”
“That was the best sleep I had since my last boyfriend and I-”
“So you slept well. I looked outside, and the undead are present, but they are silent.” Marcus looked out the other three windows and said, “We are surrounded. Zack, both you and Liz will be riding with me today. Mish, I will burn out a large enough a path for you to move. I’m sorry, but there is no food for you to eat here. I suggest you tighten your belts another notch and we get moving.”
Marcus placed his muzzle on the ground and opened his mouth. Liz fell out and yelped as she landed on her hand. He could see that she was covered in his saliva and she held an angry look on her face. Marcus said to the mouth and tail and now ears and eyes, “I will not release her on account that she is here on her own free will. I could care less if you tried to relieve me of her as I am three times your weight and I can’t die. But I suppose that I should thank you for showing such concern for my child, Mish.”
“Who are you,” said the slowly appearing tiger. Marcus responded, “Until we find Isaac, I’m your boss. I care not why you left the lab for four days, just get back to work.”
“You’re an ass, Marcus.”
The insulter was Liz, who was still angry at him. She said, “Eating me; that was how you planned to protect me? You ate me, Marcus!”
“But I… you were…”
“And you fell asleep.”
“I was never asleep, I merely closed my eyes.”
“Your reaction time says otherwise,” Mish remarked.
“Well at least I didn’t swallow.”
They argued and bickered for five more minutes until they decided to simply forget about it and focus on moving back to the caravan. Liz climbed onto Marcus’s back yet again and he stayed on the ground. They walked slowly, as Mish’s will to move was weaker than it was a few days before. As they started moving, Liz asked, “I thought your kind didn’t get tired. What happened?”
“We never get tired in our bodies, but our minds can deteriorate over a long period of time.”
“Or a short period of heavy fighting. I just need to recollect myself before we start running again.”
“If you start running, then I’m taking flight.”
“Good, I hate it when the higher-ups get into my business.”
They walked until the sun started to rise. Then Mish said, “I’m ready to run. Stay in the air and tell me if there’s anything I should be looking for.”
Marcus took off and flew a mile ahead of her. He would constantly make trips back to tell her of ambushes and enemies and other such things. Mish would react to the threats by turning invisible. She would sneak behind the enemies and silently decapitate them from behind. Only when behemoths were present did Marcus ever directly intervene. He indirectly intervened by throwing a fireball into a building opposite where Mish was working. By midday, they had reached the area where they first met Dragoon. At this rate, Marcus thought, we should get to London at the same time as the caravan. They stopped moving so Liz could enter a house and relieve herself. Marcus guarded the front entrance and Mish walked around the rear. Liz walked out and silently jumped onto Marcus’s back. He took flight and Mish followed.
An hour later, Marcus found a large horde of undead crowding around a truck. Atop the truck, a young man stood with a four handed blade. He was slightly overweight and wore a black skull t-shirt. His black hair was messier than Marcus’s old hair ever could have been. Upon his right hand, a single finger was missing. One of the undead tried to climb the truck, but he quickly put it out of its misery and revealed that his missing finger was missing so his hidden blade would not cut him. Three more undead tried to climb the truck, but he killed them all with a single swing of the massive four handed blade.
Marcus watched on as he cut up undead meat like paper, and he wondered if the boy was worth saving. He decided to take action and breathed a single flame through each nostril to incinerate everything around the vehicle. Marcus loved the control he had of the flame and regretted how he had so few enemies to kill. The surrounding area was covered in skeletons and smoking ashes. The man jumped off the car and said, “Hey asshole, you missed a spot.”
“I don’t miss. And I would show proper respect if I were you.”
“Well you’re not me, and I think God and all his children are assholes. It’s not that I don’t like you – even though I don’t – it’s just that I think everyone’s an asshole, asshole. I don’t mean any disrespect.”
“I don’t know,” Liz remarked, “I think you’re better off burning him now and asking questions later.”
“I was hoping you weren’t an asshole like your brother.”
“How did you know we were related?”
“I didn’t. If you’re going to kill me, please make it slow as you can; I want to get as many uses out of this bad boy as possible.”
“Save your blade for the undead. It wouldn’t pierce my flesh anyway.”
Mish appeared behind him and he spun around with the blade pointed at her head. She said, “My name is Mish. If you want to come with us, jump on.”
“My name is Zack. And I would be delighted to mount you.”
“No thank you, I’m married. But I will take you with me and not rip you in half if you learn to behave.”
Zack jumped onto the truck and climbed up Mish’s left flank. He yelled to Marcus, “Hey, can I become a god-thing like you assholes?”
“Um… sure. Why not?”
Mish turned and started to run again at a slightly slower pace. As Marcus took flight, Liz said, “Thank you for not asking him to ride you.”
“If he said that mounting joke to me, I would grant his wish.”
“Ouch. I thought you weren’t interested in men.”
“I’m not interested in either.”
“Aw! You’re in love with Demmy!”
Marcus passed over Mish and Zack. The sky was clear and the road ahead was free of undead. The sun started to set, and they camped in a large farmhouse. The building was very large on the inside, but it seemed small and cramped with two titanicus sleeping in it. Marcus covered the front entrance with his wing after the door was closed. Liz sat at his side and Zack sat on the giant pillow that was Mish’s side. Marcus made a small fire in the middle of the floor; they didn’t need the warmth, the titanicus just needed to see where their companions were so there were no accidents.
Liz and Zack talked for an hour about their journeys in the undead filled wasteland. Zack refused to stop talking trash about the Canadians and their role in the incursion and Liz refused to stop remarking on Marcus’s actions over the pat week. Marcus finally said, “That’s enough talk for one night. Both of you get to sleep.”
Liz did as the night before and pulled herself close to Marcus’s belly and Mish pulled Zack into her fur coat. Marcus could barely see him in the white cloth. He could hear him mumble something about breathing, but Mish said, “Shut it, teddy bear!”
Marcus heard him say something in return, but it was blurred out by Mish’s thick covering. Marcus did not need to guard Liz as his left wing covered the only entrance to the barn and his right covered Liz. The outside was noisy with the crowd of undead; Marcus could feel Liz start to shake in fear. He started to breath, and his rhythm blocked out the noise. Liz was motionless, but Marcus kept on breathing for her sake. He soon fell into his own kind of sleep, and he used the time to sort out his thoughts again.
Marcus was awakened by the rising sun shining in through the large, high windows of the building. The light reflecting off his scales was like a disco ball; as he breathed the lights on the barn walls danced around the room. Marcus lifted his wing, and Liz was sound asleep. He took a closer look and found that she was still breathing. He looked out the window over his other wing, and ten thousand undead remained silent, as if trying to reassure them that there were no threats outside. Marcus looked at Mish, and the small black spot on her fur slowly grew until Zack fell out. He reached for his blade and said, “That was like sleeping on a cloud; lack of air and all.”
“My husband said that on our first night as well.”
Marcus nudged Liz with his muzzle, and she stirred. She lifted her head and Marcus asked, “How did you sleep, little one?”
“That was the best sleep I had since my last boyfriend and I-”
“So you slept well. I looked outside, and the undead are present, but they are silent.” Marcus looked out the other three windows and said, “We are surrounded. Zack, both you and Liz will be riding with me today. Mish, I will burn out a large enough a path for you to move. I’m sorry, but there is no food for you to eat here. I suggest you tighten your belts another notch and we get moving.”