After a deal is made, the group is left for a little to gather themselves before disembarking to Pitt. You mostly just help Ludovicas in his depressed state. No one really bothers you, no one really helps, no one seems to care. Castro is focused on aiding Carlos, Wendy seems uninterested in initiating help, but may be open to it if asked, and Aaron stands to lead the group with a sense of pride, into a war zone, knowing many will die but he’ll get his medal. His attitude reminds you of countless fart-sniffing officers you met at the shipyard. He fills you with disgust, acting holier than thou and parading his lackey around to do his bidding. What a sick joke of a past friend. You hate your “friends.” You understand that people change but everyone got worse, and maybe it’s nostalgia for some of them, and they were always like this (sans Carlos), but they’re just… bad.

The group gets up and begins walking after shit is gathered, while Carlos uses Castro as a third leg. You walk at the back, right behind Ludovicas, then Wendy, then the brothers, then Jung Hee, then Aaron, then Cailynn. You take a third route this time, going straight towards the river. You walk for around two hours, dodging two watch towers on the way. Once at the river side, you find a small barge, or something like that. It has some tall and thick metal walls around a wooden circle that has a jury rigged bmx bike with a paddle wheel on it towards the middle. There are also two other bikes at the back that have the same paddles at the back, with all three looking like SpongeBob bikes. You ask what this was and Cailynn says it’s a remnant from the last invasion and housed a mortar in the center that was removed and now just works for light armored transportation. There’s two others with her, those being a crow and what seems to be some sort of rabbit or hare, but it’s hard to tell due to extensive facial bandages. The crow wears an old Union uniform that’s very worn out and blood stained. He has an old rusty shotgun on his back. The rabbit guy wears a similarly old Union uniform, but has shoes unlike the crow. The rabbit has a rusty revolver as his weapon, hung in a nylon rope holster.

The group enters the barge and the two guys get on the bicycles on the back while Cailynn does up her- his? Dress into some tutu thing with some twine tied around their torso, before getting on the bike in the center. At this point you see their feet and they’re like weird cloven hoof things with a sorta foot part to it. You guess that makes sense but wonder why the pictures of the other deers looked like they had shoes. You don’t ask about it cause that seems weird to ask about. The boat has no chairs or anything so you just sit against the walls. The walls slope inward so it’s incredibly uncomfortable. Others mostly stand, while Carlos lies down and Ludovicas does too, for different reasons. Cailynn starts peddling and asks one of you to poke your head out to navigate, as it’s difficult to see well through the slits in the walls. You volunteer at first but Aaron tells you he will do it and that you’re needed elsewhere. The prick.

You try getting comfortable but 30 minutes in and you’re incredibly uncomfortable. You can’t really sit in the shade due to the slant, standing sucks due to the terrain of the river and constant jerking back and forth from the bikes and commands from the back and relays from Aaron. You’re left with nothing much more to do than to lie down. The others had the same idea with everyone but Castro laying uncomfortably. You deduce this is a good time to maybe sleep and roll up under one of the walls. The conditions of the barge are not ideal for sleep, but at this point you’re not picky. The sleep overcomes you quickly despite the jerkiness of paddle-biking upstream and you drift off to sleep.

Your dreams are brief, consisting primarily of you getting thrown around, by like Highschool bullies, faces you haven’t seen or thought of in years. You weren’t popular in Highschool and got picked on a bit, as some thought you were gay based on your appearance, but that only lasted a little once you started working part time on a farm for some extra cash, which had some more masculine features developing. The dream bullies seem too cartoony for you, with how much they’re attacking you, but you’re not too bothered by it. “It’s life” is what you’re thinking, but it’s still sad. Time goes on and you eventually end up in another dream. You’re in a boat, a barge, with many faces you have seen at work, many more you’ve forgotten. Everyone is in uniform, old ones, floppy helmets that aren’t strapped on. Faces are scared, nervous, excited. One is talking to you, a young apprentice, short black hair, a face you haven’t seen in a while. He has no helmet, or does he, he’s the only one. A whistle blows and the doors drop, with bullets flying directly into your boat, you hop over the side as many men are ripped to pieces and you get in the water. You swim up to the metal hedgehogs, watching many get hit back on the boats, many get hit charging the beach. Many men dying horrifically. You see the man from earlier, charging out of the water, you look back up at the beach head, machine guns blaring. An explosion rings out to your side and you see nothing but dust and carnage. The apprentice is dead, a pile of mush- but where’s his helmet, would it have done anything? Will his family get help. You try to help, walking over, but someone grabs you and pulls you back. You look back and see an older man with a distinct mustache, one that’s very thick and straight across the lip, a different uniform, one that’s khaki and looks to be one piece. He has a very familiar face, very familiar beret. He speaks to you and you can’t make out his words, then he puts a finger to his mouth and then points to the bunkers with the guns.

You look up and see a white beast guiding the Germans as they fire upon you and your men. It has tendrils grabbing the barrels of the machine guns, yanking them around and pointing them at the beach. Then it sees you. Its piercing yellow eye meets yours, then, in one swift motion, it directs every gun to you and they fire. You are shaken but not hurt by the barrage of bullets, and the man looks down at you as you’re kept pinned and blasted. He speaks words you cannot understand and you cry out for help, before the bullets stop and the man walks over to you. He stands above you, rifle in hand, and yells “wake up” in a feminine voice, then smacks you with his gun’s butt. You wake up to Wendy standing over you, with a soreness to your left cheek.

“How the fuck you fell asleep during that is beyond me, but do you always sleep like you’re in a coma?” She yells
“Fuuuck, what time is it?” You ask, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.
“About noon.” Ludovicas says, who’s standing next to you with your stuff. “You sleep well?” He asks as you stand up
“Apparently. Dreams on the other hand…” You joke
“What did you dream about?” Wendy asks
“Fucking D day.”
“Oh? Which side were you on?”
“Allies. Of course… still a little foggy on it all.”
“Fair enough, but everyone’s a little groggy right now, so, we’re here but we’re all probably gonna sleep.”
“How long was I out?”
“Six-seven hours. Can’t tell. Was doing my best not to puke when I wasn’t on the bike.”
“And where is here?” You ask, looking outside the barge to see only a large amount of tree trunks and tents.

“Old Union Camp.” Ludovicas says, leading you out to the door on the barge. You exit and find a wooden wall of various tree trunks surrounded by tents and emaciated people who look at you weirdly. There’s a lot of animal people here, varied species but all seem sick, hungry, injured and/or terrified. There’s a lot of kids running in and out of the fort. Ludovicas and Wendy lead you in to find like three structures that are badly worn and full of holes while most of the inside land is covered in tents and various structures of wood and hay. This place feels like it’s a medical area of a war zone, and from what you’ve heard of this land, it probably is.

“This is a very different place than the other forts.” You remark
“Well it’s a Union fort in confederate lands. What would you expect?” Wendy jokes
“The people here would have loved one of the forts in the south, even the confederate fort would be better. But I guess you can’t be picky when this is the only place that’s safe from Pitt.” Ludovicas replies
“How’s it safe?” You ask
“Walls. Better walls than the farm houses, held together by twigs and mud.”
“I guess. So, I’m well rested, guess I’ll just chat with some people here while-“
“Yeah, see ya.” Wendy says before walking towards the large building that’s opposite the entrance.
“Yeah, that’s about how I thought it would go.” You mumble to yourself “so anyways dude, see you soon I guess.” You say to Ludovicas, to which he just looks at you “what?” You ask

“I’ve killed hundreds of people, but I can’t get over this one. I can’t sleep, no matter how much I try, I just… I just lay down and think. I think too much for sleep.” Ludovicas whimpers
“Heh man, uhhh, if you don’t- or can’t sleep, we can just chill or something, have a conversation or something like that?” You reply
“Yeah… sounds good. I know a pretty cool place near here, where you can see Pitt.”
“What is he, a landmark? How large is this guy?”
“I… no? The city. Not the guy.”
“Ah, the city named Pitt, destroyed by the guy named Pitt-“
“Built up by Pitt in a pit.” He replies with a giggle
“Rain must be hell for you guys.”
“Well, it was when I was there. But we worked with it. Dams and levies and shit.” Ludovicas says, grabbing your hand and guiding you out the door
“Take me out to dinner first.” You joke
“Dinner? It’s noon.”
“Never mind.”
“Weirdo.” He remarks as he leads you north-west towards a hill. You follow him up it to a very large sycamore. After about 10 minutes of walking you’re close enough to see details and see there’s some railroad spikes up it. You get to the trunk and Ludovicas begins climbing up them and you follow him. You climb a while until your arms start getting tired, getting nearly 100 feet up and then entering the canopy. Once inside the coverage of the tree you find an inner layer of ropes making a mesh across the larger branches. Within it is a lantern hung from a branch above, makeshift shelving with books in the side of the tree, a matress on the ropes, a George Foreman grill and canned food, a rifle, and much else, all perfectly hidden by the leaves.

“This your hideout or something?” You jokingly ask
“Childhood hideout that graduated to a base of operations in the region.” Ludovicas replies, laying down on the old mattress.
“It’s very cozy but what happens when Fall comes?”
“Doesn’t affect this tree for some reason. Don’t know why but this sycamore doesn’t change, just stays. But anyways, take the rifle and aim it… that way.” He says pointing to a naturally formed ledge by the branches on the far side of the tree. You put the rifle there and push the end of the scope out of the leaves while the back end and you are left inside. You look down and see this big divot in the ground with the tops of buildings. Covered in straw and leaves, with chimneys that have not breathed smoke in years. The rest of the city you can’t see but it’s big, bigger than Bilaatburgh, like a proper small town. You pull the scope back in and look at Ludovicas who’s staring at the top of the canopy. You return the rifle to its shelf and begin looking at his books.

His books fucking suck. They’re all hunting manuals or shit by some pseudo intellectuals. You’re seeing all sorts of garbage like Siege, Ayn Rand’ crap, and odd shit like Emerson of all people. There’s just a bunch of random shit that doesn’t make sense for a forest person but makes sense for some treasure hunter or poacher looking for mystical creatures

“Do you read all this shit?” You ask
“I’m illiterate.” He replies without batting an eye
“Right, sorry… why do you have books if you don’t read?”
“My brother did, he had some sorta collection and I just brought stuff here in hopes that one day I’d learn and I’d see what he saw.”
“Makes sense. Did he have a favorite or something?”
“The one with the big A on it.” He says and you look around for a second, then find it. You’re in shock for a second. It’s the only book that looks worn down, is covered in blood, and has crazy amounts of pieces of paper sticking out of it.
“This it?” You say, holding up the book
“Yeah.”
“How often did he read this?”
“He got it years before he died and then didn’t really touch it until after Pitt went crazy.”
“Uhuh.”
“Yeah, you could barely take his eyes away from it. He had it with him all the time and Cassius says he told him to give it to me when I woke, so here I am, with some shit I can’t use.”
“Do you… do you know what this book is?” You ask
“No.” Ludovicas replies “probably some dorky story.”
“Ludovicas, what I’m holding is the Anarchist’s fucking Cookbook.”
“So he gave me some recipes for pie-“
“This book contains recipes for bombs, poisons, improvised weapons, the tools to overthrow a fucking government. This shit is genuinely a playbook for war, and he seems to have used a heavy amount of it based on the notes.”
“Oh… yeah that does make a lot of sense… so, he was just looking at a book about how he should kill people.”
“Pretty much.”
“I can see why he wanted me to have that, then. Also explains a few of his ‘magic’ projects.”
“Right. Yeah, probably a good thing you have it and others don’t.”
“Why? I’m an assassin, you know, so I could get a lotta use out of it.”
“Yeah, but this is a lot of dangerous information, and thank God you can’t read enough to use any of it.” You joke and Ludovicas laughs.

“Anyways, would me reading to you help you sleep, or something?”
“Maybe.” Ludovicas replies
“Anything you desire in particular?”
“Umm… the one with the dragons on it.” He says and you go looking for it. You pull it out and it’s a wings of fire book.
“This it?” You ask and he nods “ok… anywhere for me to sit?” You ask and he pats the mattress. “Oh? You sure?”
“Yeah. The rope is steady and won’t rip or anything. Cmon, lay on something softer than a wood floor covered in dirt. He jokes and you take a seat next to him. You then begin to read and he listens very intently. First he watches you read each line, tries to read himself, and stops you constantly, but then it graduates to him just staring at the book as you read. You get like 3 chapters in before he starts to stop listening. He closes his eyes and every attempt you make to stop talking he tells you to continue. By the third, he wraps his arms around you, in a sorta hug, sorta grapple, telling you not to stop or to leave. So you don’t. You get about 2 chapters more before he’s completely unresponsive, just limp on the bed next to you. You don’t leave though, it’s nice to lay on a mattress and besides, where else would you go? So you lie down, looking at the canopy, and before you can process it, you to drift off to sleep.

Pagebreak


Dreams don’t come as harsh in this sleep. They’re not horrific like your last ones. You first dream of work, early jobs before you were a welder. You worked as a cashier and this dream had you get berated by a certain regular bitch at your school’s bookstore. She came from money but would rather spend others’ and would stab you to death for five cents off. That dream goes on for an eternity, but then there’s another. You lay in bed with a beautiful woman, caressing her hair. Her skin is so soft, almost like stroking a cat. You wish not to release her, but something stops you. Like a sleep paralysis demon, some man stands at the foot of your bed. Straight bushy mustache, jet black hair, facial wrinkles, olive green military pantsuit, some sash. Beret with a golden eagle.

He stares at you with a kind smile. But even through the jolly laugh lines and imperfect teeth, you feel uneasy. He watches you like a panther ready to pounce on prey, still smiling, still standing still. You call out to him but he doesn’t reply, but he keeps his eyes on you. Watching.
“Hello?” You ask again, losing the feeling of the woman in your arms, as he responds with something you can’t decipher, but can sound out “act tall oy she tonal” he says in a voice that makes you shiver.
He
Is
Not
Friendly
His voice brings back memories of pain, of sorrow, of fear, but you just remember the emotions, not the face. But you know him. You don’t know from where, but he is someone you’ve seen before. Something malevolent. Something born of hate. Of anger. Death surrounds him. You can feel the presence of the innocents he felled. But then… there is nothing.

You are shaken, yelled at, but see nothing. You don’t know if you’re asleep or awake. If you’re alive or dead. But then you feel your answer: pain. A harsh pull on your arm sends you down to the ropes. The frayed-twisted nylon stabs you and you confirm you’re awake, you’re able to see, as you brush off leaves, fallen to the ground, brown, creating holes in the ‘impregnable canopy’. You look around and see Aaron standing above you, ax in hand. Ludovicas stands at the sniper’s spot, shaking in fear
“He comes Felix!” Aaron yells
“Who?” You yell back
“Death approaches!” Aaron says with a long, inhuman, smile.
“Death?”
“The creature that terrorizes this land. He comes this way.”
“How the fuck did you see him?” Ludovicas yells “he’s just now visible over the fucking horizon.”
“It was revealed to me in a dream.”
“Fuck!” Ludovicas yells, then takes a shot. “It…” Ludovicas says in a harrowing voice
“It what? What’s going on?” You yell in confusion and concern.

“Pitt, he’s… I shot him- he’s just…” Ludovicas says, trailing off
“Bullets not working on him? It’s almost like a demonic entity made a cursed creature to guard her source of warfare.” Aaron sarcastically remarks
“Aaron, not the time to be a sarcastic dickhead! If you can’t shoot it, what do we do?” You yell at him
“Tsk tsk tsk. First off, don’t use a .22, like our foxxy friend, or should I say, your foxxy boyfriend?” Aaron says with a smirk.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“I don’t know, just assumed cause you’re-“
“DID YOU WARN THE CAMP?” Ludovicas yells
“I’ll get to you in a moment. Just assumed, that cause you’re sleeping together, that-“
“Aaron!” You scream
“Fucking shit! Yes, I fucking warned them, and I made sure to tell their princess, sooooo if they’re not getting the fuck out of there, then that’s their own damn fault.”
“We’ve been dealing with this creature for years now! How the fuck is that our fault?” Ludovicas yells in a rage

“I would have simply moved or done something differently.” Aaron replies
“Done something differently? DONE SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY? Fuck you! And all of your self righteous bullshit!” You scream at Aaron “these people are refugees in their own fucking land, and your response is ‘I’m different!’ Go fuck yourself! I’m sick of your fucking bullshit!”
“Oh boo hoo, Felix. We’re gonna end this cycle of violence today- and yeah, I am fucking different, cause, ya know, shape shifting and magic. Like, I’m sorry but that is how it goes. We have outside perspective and tactics, not to mention weapons, like this is some shit they’ve never had before, so really-“
“Then shut the fuck up and do something!” Ludovicas interjects
“Oh, don’t worry your stupid canid brain, I have a plan.”
“What is it?” You continue
“I’m gonna explain it to everyone when we get back. So, let’s get back-“
“We can stop him here and now, before there’s-“ Ludovicas begins, causing Aaron to chuckle
“How? You have zero, nigh, less than zero, zilch, nada, ideas on how to do anything to this motherfucker-“
“And you do?” You interject
“Eh, sorta. It’s a matter of where it happens, and sort of a who.”
“Where the fuck is that, and who?”
“Old Union Camp and Jesus Christ. Now get up and move, the time for it approaches.” Aaron says, beginning to descend down the makeshift-ladder. You and Ludovicas look at each other and then follow. You make it down the ladder and turn back to the hill, towards Pitt, seeing a figure approaching rapidly in the distance.

“Is that-” you begin, but Ludovicas grabs your arm and begins to run
“That’s Pitt. We have to go!” He yells as he pulls you after. You seem to have lost Aaron, he’s no where to be seen, so maybe he’s already at the fort? Regardless, the two of you keep bounding back to the fortress and see Wendy at the gate, beckoning you forward. She has her carbine at the ready
“Get the fuck over here!” She yells as the two of you run through the main gate and close it behind you. You follow ludo as he runs up the stairs onto the catwalk things on the walls. You follow suit and stand looking back towards the tree. These walls are logs, strong ones that have stood the test of time with many smaller pikes stationed in the ground to defend them from attackers and scaling. They’re ok defensively, but not large enough to defend everyone. You look around at the area and see the camps abandoned, with the only people remaining, being armed forest folk in union uniforms. You also spot Cailynn, armed with what looks to be an old lever action repeater. Carlos sits, propped up against the wall, with his sniper, with Castro standing beside him, sword still holstered. Wendy has her weapon drawn aiming out there too, Ludovicas brought the sniper and aims it in anticipation, Jung Hee has a musket (you don’t know where he got it) and Aaron stands with his ax at the ready. Everyone is just watching the horizon in anticipation, waiting for this feral beast, and soon he’s spotted.

Pitt is charging down the hill towards the camp. He’s now close enough to get some clear view on him. He bears no visible face, as it’s covered in a burlap sack with no eye holes, with one antler poking out of the top. His legs are asymmetrical, with the right cloven and deer like, and the other being thick, human like, and hairy. Like he’s half Sasquatch, half elk. His arms are similar, bearing a hairy human right arm, absolutely swollen with muscle, and the other hanging limply, a useless deer leg, hoof and all. His chest is furred and toned, incredibly muscular, while his Nethers cannot be determined based on the raggedy pleated pants covering them. He runs in a hopping motion, with a wobble and a limp with each step, b-lining it straight for you. He carries nothing in his left, but has what looks to be some God Of War type shit in his right hand. It’s a large metal blade, looking like an antique anchor, sharpened and modified, and attached to a chain, nailed straight into his right arm at the end. He runs fast, unnaturally fast for his size and handicap. He gets within two hundred feet before people begin firing. Each hit seems to bounce off his skin, or disappear into the fur, like they’re firing at a galloping tank.

That is until you hear a single loud blast from your right and watch as Pitt has his left arm and much of his chest blown off in a single shot. He spins and slams to the ground, bouncing a couple of times as he rolls forward. He reaches the bottom of the hill, lying motionless in a pool of blood.
“Three bucks.” Carlos says as the rest of the defense force remain silent “that was three dollars worth of ammunition from me.” He jokes, ejecting the casing from his 50 cal “so was that it? Another caliber issue like the armored guys in Lushat?”
“No.” Cailynn says, not removing her eyes from the battlefield
“Then what was the problem?” Carlos asks
“He’s been hit directly with cannons, artillery, fire, bombs. He’s been ripped apart, but that’s never finished him before.”
“Ripped apart? He looked- is that why he looks like that? Does he graft shit onto himself?”
“No.” She says, pointing back at Pitt. You look back, seeing him stand up, with something odd happening. You can see bone emerging from his left hole, and soon the flesh ripped from his side begins to reform covering the bone until, in under a minute, a new arm has begun to form. You watch as the keratin forms the hoof at the end of the arm-leg, to then be quickly layered in muscle and tendon, then fur creeps over the arm, and a second after his useless appendage has regrown, he begins to run again.

“The issue with Pitt is…” Cailynn begins as Carlos begins rapid firing at Pitt, hitting near him, ripping off limbs, blasting holes in him, taking his head clean off, but each shot does less and less, and everything regrows, clothing too, and so does the weapon, forming out of the open wounds in molten iron that hardens into chain links. He gets back up after being knocked down and continues. Carlos continues to shoot until the click of the empty magazine is heard
“nothing you throw at him, nothing you can do to him, ever stays. He just keeps coming back, until he tires and walks off back into his ruins of sin.” Cailynn continues
“And how long does that take?” Wendy asks frantically
“Could be days. Minutes, seconds. It varies. But the only consistency is our inability to stop him.”
“Fuck…” Wendy says, as the creature is but twenty feet from the gate. He reaches it and picks up the weapon bound to him, then begins to smash it against the door. Chipping away at the wood. You need to think of something fast, or it’s all over