Chap 34: So sweat

The smell is hard to describe.

Like some kind of sweet stench that grabs your throat like soot.

At the smell the boy turns up his nose, and almost chokes on his own saliva in surprise. Then he coughs. S-Red remains silent, motionless before suddenly pulling Dust by the arm to stand in a more overgrown area. Then he asks far calmer than a normal person should be.

-Are we going back to see the spiders?

Dust doesn't think too much about it before answering him categorically:

-No.

Of course afterwards he worries:

if he disagrees will he leave him ?

Dust think that he probably should speak more to convince his companion.

But in the end the other man does not insist. After reflection they both decide to continue on this path but avoid places where there nowhere to hide.

They come across a village.

Behind some bushes they warily observe the place.

Unlike the houses on pillories, this village is occupied.

Surrounded by trees 6 huts are aligned. A ditch separates them from the rest of the forest, some stakes sticking out of it like badly arranged wooden teeths.

Some people walk and chat there.

Womens are dressed in woolen dresses, grayed out by time, holes reveal their grayish blue skin.

One of them has a hole in her hair that reveals the white of her skull. Yet she keeps herself alive and full of energy.

She talks with a little girl crowned with a braid matched with yellow flowers.

The little one has a dark expression like an adult, part of her face has melted, like wax.

She has only one eye.

Above her left cheekbone there is only a black hole. Her blue hands hold a knife that appears to be made of bone. Her feet are bare and black with filth.

In the background, Dust sees a man. This one has a hat, a nice hat like a musketeer a beautiful white feather adorns it but the rest of his clothes are only rags.

The boy pauses in his observations and takes a deep breath.

Did he see well?

Over this man's shoulder hangs a long-barreled rifle with a bayonet.

Ah.

Can they shoot us in addition to chasing us with knife and ax?

The boy turns to his companion. Somehow in a short time he has already acquired the habit to turn to Red when he isn't feeling good about something.

Red meets his gaze with a serious face and between the two it's like a silent conversation.

Squatting, they step back little by little in silence. However, they do not turn around, like thieves they bypass the village, taking care not to make the slightest noise. However, before they get too far away, Dust through the tree branches can see another man, also carrying a long-barreled weapon, biting into a piece of meat so cooked that it is black. The boy is not sure...

but it seems to him that the piece of meat has the shape of an arm with a hand at the end...

He does not check and share the news with the man who accompanies him. There is no point in adding more to the horror of the situation.

Together, both with their backs bent, they try to make the slightest noise and get away as quickly as possible. They're pretty inconspicuous, covered in mud as they are. Dust holds back from coughing as Red leads the way.

Barely 5 minutes after passing the village they hear a shrill cry.

Dust feels his muscles tense as he freezes. Red turns his head to look in the direction of the sound.

But they don't have time to react when already a human form comes out of the bushes and tackles the smallest of the two. The shadow of the child who knocked him down covers Dust's pale face. The kid has black lips, his mouth is open in a grimacing expression. Drool flows from his mouth and falls on the young man's cheek.

The child has between his blue fingers a dagger which he hastens to raise.

Dust blocks the attack with his forearms by reflex.

the rusty blade digs into his skin and strikes his bone.

Under the pain he let out a moan.

Red doesn't care that the attacker is so young. Unceremoniously he grabs him by the neck, lifts him up with astonishing ease and throws him to the ground. The kid gets up quickly and steps back into the shadows.

Dust grits his teeth to pull the blade out of his flesh. He growls: Thanks.

His companion cannot answer him because other cries are heard and two other madmen appear. This time it looks like teenagers. Both hold axes which they don't hesitate to use against the red-haired man. Red dodges their attack by taking a step back but the now forgotten child behind his back takes advantage. he rushes out from under his leather belt another small blade.

The whole debacle only took a few seconds and it is enough time for Dust to get up. his injured forearm is shaking but he manages to stop the child by kicking him, throwing him against a tree.

-Let's get out of here!

Dust shouts not knowing if Red heard him or if he even intends to follow him, he starts to run. He could fight yes. Logically 2 adults against 2 teenagers and 1 child they should manage to beat them up.

But Dust has an injured arm, their 3 assailants are no more normal than their predecessors, blue as corpses with disconcerting strength and they do not seem to feel pain to top it off they are so close to the village that so many noises could alert more to come.

So he prefers to leave.

However Dust discovers than running away is an impossible solution at the moment.

A sturdier figure suddenly blocks his path, Dust skids in the mud trying to avoid it and falls to the ground again. The newcomer grabs him by the ankle before he can react, drags him a little closer to him so he can cut his neck.

Dust raises his head and between his wet locks and the rain he can see Red struggling with the other three.

This one can't help him.

To avoid distracting the other man Dust doesn't shout.

Other people arrives, Dust grits his teeth, he guesses that any moment a knife or an ax will stick in his neck to decapitate him. If he hesitates, if he becomes paralyzed with fear, he will die the next second.

He turns his head to aim better and his free leg kicks violently at the knee of his aggressor. The stocky man topples over and loses balance. The boy does not wait and rolls on the ground to avoid being caught by one or the other.

Then he gets up quickly and finally looks at the one who dragged him on the ground like some kind of corpse.

Three other adults joined this deadly dance. Of course all armed and with the face of a half dead person.

2 womens and the muscular man who pulled his ankle.

Between two gasping breaths, the boy can't help but mutter an angry "Hell".

Death does not seem to want to leave him for one step.

The adrenaline floods his veins in a torrent so powerful it nearly paralyzes his nerves and muscles. Hand shaking, Dust pulls out his knife.

The rain is like a rippling curtain between them.

His heart beats so strongly that his eardrums vibrate.

The three beings surround him.