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No one in the crew was happy to be woken up in the middle of the night when Algernon came screaming into the main hall. They were even more displeased to hear that Harper had been carried off by a terrible beast away from The Dragon. Most of them digested the news with the same solemn silence they had when Frieda blew sky high. Teddy was the exception.

“This is horrible!” he wailed. It was the first time Algernon had seen the raccoon show so much emotion. To him the outburst seemed disproportional to how Teddy normally reacted, especially considering the one he was showing concern for was Harper. When their captain had been blown to smithereens not even a day prior, Teddy didn’t so much as blink.

Sascha patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay my friend, we’re all sorry this happened to her.” The rat only sounded half-hearted in his sentiment.

“We need to go after her immediately!” Teddy continued to cry, ignoring Sascha.

Algernon twisted his tail in his paws, uncomfortable with the situation. Peach stood at the back of the room in her usual stoic slouch. Senta looked the least shaken up. “We’re not going after her body,” she said coldly.

Teddy pouted at her, his eyes glistening. “Harper can’t be dead! That’s not part of her personality!”

“If she was attacked by one of those ‘limb-beasts’ then I can’t imagine there’s much of her left anyways.”

“She’s probably still alive, for now,” Peach spoke up. Senta turned to her, the rat’s expression demanding an explanation. “Limb-beasts have venomous stingers which paralyze their prey. They bring them to their nests and wait until their catch... puffs up, and then they devour them.”

Sascha’s tail twitched. “Oh, so they marinate their meals in poison?”

The badger raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Limb-beasts are dangerous on your own. With a group, there is a chance of recovery. I’ve seen hybrids rescued from limb-beast nests more than a day after they were caught.”

Senta rubbed her brow. Sighing, she looked at the crew with hard eyes. “We don’t have time to stage a rescue. If we don’t put all of our resources towards fixing The Dragon, she won’t be the only one dying. Need I remind you that seven days have passed? As we speak, Seb’s goons are riding towards us to pay our debt in our blood.”

A hush fell over them. Algernon agreed with Senta’s pragmatism, but it still didn’t sit right with him. Part of him was frustrated that he even cared; as a scav, Harper deserved the same end that Frieda had met, right? That’s what the Clergy would say on the matter.

He frowned. If that’s what he believed, then why was his immediate response to inform the rest of the crew about what happened to her, in the hope that she could be saved? Even though from birth he’d been taught that scavs deserved to reap what they had sown, a deeper part of him he didn’t know existed felt a wrongness at abandoning the psychopathic skunk.

“But we can’t just leave her!” Teddy yelled out, still beside himself.

“Have you heard a single word I’ve said?” Senta scolded. ”We need to move on, or we’re all in jeopardy.”

“What about -” As Algernon spoke, the rest of the group turned to him in surprise, and he froze. He thought he had the words to express what he was feeling, but came to the terrifying realization that he in fact did not. He started quaking profusely as everyone stared at him expectantly.

“What about... how... you all are... a crew, you know? And... that means that... that... as a crew... I mean, if Harper’s still alive, then... As a crew, it’s... our responsibility... to... help each other! Otherwise... well... loyalty... There wouldn’t be any... loyalty! Which is important... to do... uh... yeah...”

Everyone continued to regard him with blank looks. Peach was giving him a particularly strange expression that he couldn’t decipher, one that seemed to pierce through him. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Senta’s gaze morphed into a glare. “Loyalty doesn’t exist out here, only self-interest, and I am interested in remaining alive. Tell me: was it loyalty that caused your old crew to kick you to the wayside?”

He started sweating even more. “Well, uh -”

“I agree with Al.”

Now it was Peach’s turn for everyone to stare at her in surprise and bewilderment. The badger countered their attention with her unwavering scowl.

“Not you too with this nonsense!” Senta said in exasperation, emotion threatening to break her stony countenance. “You of all people should understand the wisdom in cutting our losses. We’re likely to lose more crew trying to save the one. The captain would have recommended moving on.”

“In my experience, we helped comrades who needed it, regardless of risk,” she replied with measured words. “As for a captain, we currently don’t have one.”

The rat clenched her tiny fists, seemingly too angry to speak for several seconds. When she finally composed herself enough to say anything, it was with vitriol. “Fine. I can’t stop you on your little crusade, but you can’t tell me I didn’t warn you. Your deaths won’t weigh heavy on my conscience.”

Peach snorted. “You’re welcome to tell yourself that.”

“Let’s get out of here, Sascha,” she motioned to the other rat. Senta stalked off into a crevice in the wall and disappeared.

Sascha couldn’t meet any of their gazes. “I... need to tend to Siegbert.” The calico rat quickly scampered down into the bathhouse.

Across the room, Teddy seemed to have been holding his breath through the tense exchange, but exhaled in relief when the rats left. His demeanor quickly shifted back to one of simple delight. He crossed the room and wrapped Algernon in his arms. “Good! Oh good! Let’s go get Harper right away!”

Peach grabbed the ladder to the second floor. “I’ll go get my gun.”

“W-wait, let’s not be hasty!” He tried to raise his arms, but Teddy’s hug had them pinned at his sides. The raccoon looked confused, but Peach stopped and waited for him to continue. “It will be some time before the limb-beasts will... eat Harper, r-right? Then we should think through our approach and prepare for it.”

Teddy’s beady eyes sparkled in understanding. “Oooh, are you talking about a plan?” By his tone, that was probably a foreign concept.

“Y-yes.” Algernon turned to the badger. “Peach, how many limb-beasts do you think are at their nest?”

“With the amount of webbing around the cave entrance, at least several. Their nest is probably inside.”

He frowned. If the beasts were holed up in a cave, then they needed to contend with the darkness as well. Even with the amount of prowess Peach had demonstrated he doubted that she would be able to wield her gun effectively without any light. That kind of weapon only had six chambers, which might not be enough anyways. A melee weapon would probably not be effective against a monster of this size either. Algernon put a claw to his lip, trying to think of a better way to defend against the limb-beasts. He felt Teddy’s fingers start to rub the top of his head. Knowing Teddy, the raccoon was likely doing it to help him think better. Somehow.

“Is... there anything that these limb-beasts are weak to?” Algernon asked.

“They are hunters of the shadows,” Peach explained. “In the Western Roughs, being near a lantern or a campfire was enough to ward them off.”

“So we attack them with light!” Teddy exclaimed. After a moment Algernon felt the ministrations on his head freeze. “Wait! Explosions are just lights that hurt!”

Algernon cringed, the explosions that crippled The Dragon and the crew still at the forefront of his thoughts. “L-let’s not use dynamite if we can help it. I don’t think there is any left after yesterday, anyways.”

Teddy reached into his overalls and pulled out a stick. The possum looked at it in shock. With how it was deteriorating, he guessed that Teddy had secreted it away from the stash he found from the crew that had ambushed them.

“Ah. Well, it’s g-good to know we have that as a resource.” It was also a reminder to keep the raccoon as far away from the engine room as possible. “I think that a less lethal option would be better. I-I mean, something with less potential to backfire.”

“Fire,” Peach said.

“Yes, we don’t want something that will backfire as easily.”

“No. Fire can be used as a weapon against the limb-beasts.”

His ears perked. “I see!” They slowly drifted back down again. There wasn’t a good way to wield something like a torch that wouldn’t be tricky.

“Oh! We could use Belching Dragons to breathe fire on them!” Teddy offered.

Algernon figured he was referring to the tonic that was served at Seb’s. What Teddy suggested obviously wasn’t going to work, but it set his mind in motion. Maybe they could toss volatile liquids on to the beasts and ignite them? Senta mentioned the other day that they didn’t have alcohol, so an alternative would be needed if that were to work.

He recalled the items that Teddy and Harper scavenged yesterday, and his eyes lit up. “I think I have an idea.”

---

When the sun rose and touched the valley, Teddy and Peach went out on the mission Algernon had given them. He’d shown them the flammable symbol on the side of the bug spray and told them to find more containers that were labeled with that. As long as the limb-beasts were not active, they would be stockpiling what they found at the entrance of the cave. That would be what assured their escape if things went south.

All the while Algernon worked on the contraption that was to be the center of their operation. To test that it was even feasible, he set the lighter on a hunk of metal a ways away and, having ignited it, pressed down on the top of the spray. He flinched back when a plume of fire shot out where the liquid passed through the spark. The flames would normally have been a sign to stop, but in their current situation it meant progress, so he continued.

Using the scrap that was collected yesterday he started constructing a frame. Welding holders for the lighter and spray was simple enough, but he quickly realized that the finished weapon was going to be bulky. The can on its own would have been a lot for someone like him to handle, but in addition to the payload on one end, a counterweight was needed to make the device more balanced. When the main chassis was done, Algernon could barely lift the weapon. It brought uncomfortable wrinkles to his plan, but he decided not to dwell on what that would mean.

The moving mechanisms were a more involved effort, but a few hours later when Teddy and Peach returned it was as finished as it was going to get. The raccoon looked at the piecemeal contraption with awe. “This looks very dangerous!” he said appreciatively.

Peach looked at the weapon skeptically. “What does it do?”

He pointed at the two handholds and the trigger inside of the top one. “The bottom is for stabilization, squeeze the top to fire,” he explained.

The badger hefted it into her arms. It took both of her massive paws to hold it, but despite its weight Peach seemed to manage it. She pointed it away from them and pulled the trigger. The mechanism spun the igniter and pushed down on the spray simultaneously, and a gout of flame erupted from the end. Teddy clapped excitedly, and even Peach had a sparkle in her eyes.

“You made a flamethrower,” she said, sounding impressed.

“You’ve... used something like this before?”

Her eyes became unfocused for a moment. “A couple of times.”

“Do it again! Do it again!” Teddy chanted.

“Th-the fuel is very limited, so please only use it if you have to!” With the excitement over, Algernon remembered why he sent them out in the first place. “Did you find what we needed for the cave entrance?”

“Oh yes! It will be the best boom ever when it goes off!” the raccoon said.

He was worried what Teddy meant given his track record for finding things, but Peach gave him a slight smirk. “It will be enough,” she assured him. “We are ready to proceed with the mission.”

The realization of what they were about to do finally hit him, and a wave of anxiety rushed over him. “R-right, I suppose it is.”

Peach marched off towards the precursor facility. Teddy scrambled after her to keep up with her big strides. Algernon scooped up one of the working souvenir flashlights and followed after them, his nervousness only increasing with every step.

He didn’t realize how vast the valley was until he needed to travel across it. With dread coursing through his veins, it felt like they were walking for hours. While they traversed the field of concrete, Algernon swivelled his head to check behind each decaying vehicle they passed, but no monsters emerged like they had during the night. His paranoia hadn’t ceased when they walked next to the building, and he found himself searching every window and shadow that clung to it.

He was so focused on their surroundings that he almost ran into Peach when she stopped. The cave yawned before them, ready to devour any who walked in. Webbing clung to the cliff face around it and disappeared into the dark within. Inside could only be the limb-beasts that had captured Harper.

“It’s ready to go boom!” Teddy said, indicating the collection of barrels at the mouth of the cave.

Even from where they stood Algernon could tell that the main haul Teddy and Peach put together mostly consisted of propane canisters. “That’s, uh... Yeah, that will do it.”

“It took a while to roll all of them here, but it should be potent enough,” Peach commented.

He was indeed pleased by what they’d been able to find, if a bit worried that it was too much for their purposes. What was gathered would cause an explosion bigger than the ones set off on The Dragon.

For a while they all stared into the void ahead. The webs trailing in the breeze waved as if to invite them in, but no one was quick to step foot inside. After several minutes, Peach set the weapon down and held out a paw to Algernon. “Give me the flashlight. You two, stay out here. One of you, be ready to set off the explosives if the exit is hot.”

“Wh - How will you hold both that and the flamethrower?” he fretted.

Peach wore bemusement on her muzzle. “I’ll carry the light in my mouth.”

“And how will you c-carry Harper?”

That caused her to hesitate. She glanced between himself and Teddy. If he were to guess, she was figuring who would best be left on standby. Images of lighting the dynamite and accidentally dropping it at his feet flashed through Algernon’s mind, and even if that wasn’t the exact images going through hers, Peach’s displeased frown told him that she’d arrived at the same conclusion that he did.

Sighing through her nostrils, she drew a short knife she had strapped to her back. “Can you hold the flashlight and this at once?”

Algernon looked warily at the blade. “I-I mean, if I have to -”

She turned the knife and held the grip out to him. Timidly he took it into his arms, but with both the weapon and the flashlight he couldn’t move either around. He set them both down and snaked his tail around the flashlight, then handled the knife in his paws. Peach didn’t seem satisfied with how he pointed it straight out from his chest, and readjusted it so he held it more upright.

“Just... keep it between yourself and any foes.”

“Uh-huh!” Algernon uttered with as much courage as he could muster. He felt his body trembling.

Although uncertainty was still written plainly on her face, Peach grabbed the flamethrower and turned to resolutely face the cave beyond. “Teddy, set off the dynamite only when we tell you to. Al, stay close to me. Don’t touch any webs.”

She started walking into the depths. Algernon wanted to be anywhere else, but followed close behind with shaky steps. Even just passing the lip of the entrance he expected to be immediately jumped by one of the monsters, but things remained eerily still and silent except for the subtle billowing of the web strands. He couldn’t help but jump at their shadows, pointing the knife at anything that moved.

Peach pushed forwards with a slow but determined gait. She showed no signs of fear even as the sunlight started to dwindle the farther in they got. The beam of the flashlight soon became their main source of illumination, and the darkness bore the full weight of the earth surrounding them. It was trying to swallow them and make this place their tomb. Algernon’s limbs became stiff as if in rigor mortis due to fright. He needed to keep reminding himself to breathe; passing out would spell death.

The limited use of his limbs, including his tail, meant that he kept the cone of light set forward. Ahead, the webbing grew thicker, stretching down to the cave floor. In the artificial light they appeared like ghosts out of the gloom. Peach became more careful with her footing to avoid them, with Algernon mimicking her movements as best as he could with his smaller frame.

Stepping around one of the webs, his toes caught one of the strands. Walking he almost fell forward onto the knife, since his foot was stuck fast. He pulled his leg, but it wouldn’t budge.

Peach turned when she noticed he wasn’t following anymore. Her eyes grew at his predicament. “Cut yourself loose!” she whispered urgently.

The sound of scraping above made him snap his head upward. For just a moment his light flashed on the form of a hideous monster with too many legs and too many eyes, then it jumped down on him.

Algernon fell backwards and squealed in terror as the massive creature bared down on him. Its body flattened him to the ground, and he thrashed around wildly to try and escape from underneath the beast.

Suddenly it rolled off of him. Algernon scrambled away on all fours as far as his tether would allow him, his eyes finally focusing on the scene caught in his flashlight’s beam. Peach continued to push the body on to its side, which was otherwise unmoving. The knife he’d been carrying was staked through the bottom of the limb-beast’s head.

“Good aim,” she stated.

He could only mutely nod as he watched her plant a foot on the corpse and yank the weapon free.

They barely had a moment of rest before Algernon heard skittering footsteps rapidly approaching. With lightning reaction Peach brandished the knife towards the darkness. In the penumbra of the light, legs and mandibles reared back from the sharp point and screeched. As more pattering came from deeper in, Algernon moved towards Peach for protection against the monsters.

More and more limbs crowded around their island of light, and Peach needed to keep moving the knife between different targets. One of the limb-beasts grew bold and lunged at the badger. She thrust the knife forward and the monster reeled back with a hiss of pain. Another overstretched itself and Peach walloped it in the face with her fist. With the monster pushed back into the rest of the crowd, she quickly picked up the flamethrower and gripped the trigger.

Illumination bloomed in the cave, threatening to burn their retinas. Shrieks erupted from the beasts as webbing and mutants alike caught fire. In the light of the flames he saw a dozen of the fearsome beasts retreat quickly into the cave, some that were ablaze lighting up more webs as they went. Others were curled up and burning in a heap, twitching in their death throes.

Algernon felt his leg come free, and he looked up to see Peach with the knife back in her hand and an intense glint in her eyes. She held the weapon out to him, which was now covered in guts. With trembling hands he reluctantly took it.

“We need to be quick, they know we’re here now,” she said.

He nodded again, and they continued into the earth. The path ahead was still lit by fiery carcasses and webbing, assuring them there weren’t more beasts ready to ambush them from the shadows. “D-do you think you scared them off?” he asked hopefully.

“For now. They won’t give up their lair without a fight.”

The fires petered out when the tunnel opened up into a larger cavern. Once again they were subject to the range of the flashlight, which barely penetrated the space before them. What it did expose was reflections not too far ahead of them. Algernon balked at the dark waters, instinctively backing up.

“Peach -”

“Shh!” She held up a paw and craned her head.

Straining his ears, he thought he heard something over the crackling of the embers. It sounded like... giggling?

“She’s close.” Peach moved forward, skirting closer to the water than he was comfortable with. Algernon followed after her, but at a much safer distance from the pool. The webs here had not caught fire, and instead of a haphazard mesh of strands they were arrayed in tapestries that crossed between walls and stalagmites, creating a silken labyrinth.

They wound their way through it, not encountering any more of the limb-beasts. Looking up he couldn’t even see the roof of the cavern, so they wouldn’t know if any were hiding on the ceiling anyways. Still, none made themselves known and what they heard before was becoming louder. As they drew closer to the source of the noise it became clearer that it was Harper’s snickering. He couldn’t fathom why she was doing that, but many things about the skunk made no sense.

Finally her form appeared out of the gloom. She was tangled up and suspended in one of the webs. From where her body was exposed it was clear that she was puffing up from the poison, and she wore a goofy smile that didn’t match being strung up for dinner. “Hey you two, glad you could join me!” she said gleefully.

Algernon looked at her with concern. “Is she... okay?”

“No. But limb-beast venom tends to make victims loopy.” Peach said.

“Not as loopy as you!” Harper squirmed in her wrappings. “I can’t seem to move my arms!” She laughed more at the absurdity of the situation.

Algernon put the knife to the strings holding her up and started cutting. It went through the webbing surprisingly easily.

“Watch where you swing that, buckaroo! My tail is my best feature!”

As he continued sawing around the skunk, skittering echoed around the cave. Peach glanced around with concern. “Hurry,” she entreated.

With most of the cords cut, Harper’s weight pulled the rest of the supports free and she tumbled to the floor. “You couldn’t have caught me?” she said, her bite momentarily coming back.

“Grab her and run,” Peach commanded.

Not knowing what to do with the knife, he dropped it and picked up her half-cocooned body. No sooner had he held her by her back and legs did fire once again erupt into the dark. Innumerable eyes and legs appeared around them, separated only by the burning walls of silk. With no other encouragement needed, Algernon began sprinting back the way they had come.

“It’s so beautiful!” Harper said dreamily at the flaming destruction around them.

Peach was hot on his tail as he ran, shooting occasional bursts of fire around them to ward off the limb-beasts that descended down the webs. So far the monsters were either burning alive or wary of the formidable weapon, but Algernon didn’t let that stop him from moving as fast as his legs could carry him.

They emerged from the maze of webs and passed the pools of water. Peach aimed back again and squeezed the trigger, but no more fire sprayed out. “We’re out of juice,” she called.

That gave him another burst of energy as fear started to fill him once more with adrenaline. With the inferno at their backs and the distant light at the end of the tunnel, all they could do was run and hope that they were fast enough. Slowly the entrance grew larger and larger, but it still seemed to be miles away.

Harper looked up at Algernon with uncharacteristic admiration. “You’re my hero, possum boy!” she said with a lopsided grin.

Coming from her, he couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned by that. But at the moment he had greater worries; the sound of pattering feet could be heard behind them.

With her longer strides Peach got ahead of Algernon and breached into the daylight first. The expression on her face when she looked back told him that danger was right at his tail. With the sunlight only feet ahead he yelled out, “Teddy, light it!”

As he broke out into the open the stick of dynamite sailed through the air into the cluster of propane tanks. The raccoon stood close by, jumping with joy and watching the explosives with rapt anticipation. Peach threw the flamethrower aside and grabbed Teddy by the scruff of his neck, shuttling him away from the imminent explosion.

Algernon peeked behind him briefly to see legs climb out of the cave, then turned his head in time for the blast to hit.

He fell forward with Harper in tow as the ground shook from the power of the blast. The ringing report of it drowned out all other senses. For a minute he could only lay as a pile of fur and bones against the ground.

Slowly he became aware of himself again. He propped himself up and regarded the cave entrance, only to find it was no longer there. A pile of boulders now stood in its place, surrounded by scorched earth and chunks of limb-beast.

“We totally need to do that again,” Harper implored, before breaking into another fit of giggles.