Once Upon A Time in the Weird West

[doghead]

Jianna, human female.

"Thanks."

Jianna manages to restrain herself from necking the whole waterskin. Just. She alternates between taking swigs of water, and chewing on the jerky. She talks between mouthfuls.

"Good ... question. Who ... exactly is ... coming? And I ... assume that ... that is not ... a good thing?"

 

[Krug]

Priest:

Spoiler

None of them reveals anything.

The woman mutters, "P-Pickaxe. Pickaxe Jack."

There is a sudden realisation about the source of the large cavernous chest wound that the zombies have. Jianna recalls some stories her father told her about this character, supposedly a myth. A bunch of miners had been entrapped in a cave-in while digging for gold, and a vagabond, hearing their cries had tried to dig them out. However, when he unearthed the remaining miners, greatly weakened, he saw that they did find a few lumps of gold. Grabbing the nearest weapon, a pickaxe, he bashed their heads in or rammed the sharp end of the implement into their chests. Before dying, one of the miners had cursed the vagabond. Now he roams the land with his pickaxe, killing whatever he comes across. It sounded like just another variation of the Bogeyman stories that frequented the mysterious, old west, but it appeared there was more truth to him that she thought. You never heard of undead being created by it's pickaxe though, but the West was a strange place with talks of manitou and wendigo and cannibals.

The hound stares at the jerky greedily. The zombies hover outside the door, but these cursed souls are unable to step on sacred ground.

 

[silentspace]

"Pickaxe Jack," the Priest says, his brow furrowing. Seeing the dog eyeing the jerky, the Priest digs through his saddlebags and pulls out some more for the dog, and whoever else needs to eat.

Peering at the boy, he asks "You must've seen him before, eh? Have you shot him?"

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female.

Pickaxe Jack

"Great," Jianna mutters to herself as she chews the jerky.

"You got a name or something?" she asks the dog as it slobbers all over the jerky the Priest gave it. "Cos if you don't, and you're planning to stay with us, you'll be 'the dog', just as this here is 'the horse' and as that one over there is 'the priest'." She pats the horse beside her while trying to surpress the giggles.

 

[silentspace]

The Priest watches the girl talk to the dog. He gets a faraway look in his eyes for a moment. Then coming back to the present, he gathers the group together for introductions.

"People call me the Priest. Not because I have a congregation or give absolution to everyday sinners, but because I exorcise shadows. I wasn't sure until now why I was drawn here, but now I know. I intend to stay and deliver vengeance on Pickaxe Jack for his sins. I met this girl here, just outside, and we haven't had proper introductions yet."

The Priest looks at the girl, the boy, the pregnant woman, and the dog expectantly.

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female

Jianna does a small double take.

If we haven't introduced ourselves, then how do I know your ... oh. She remembers that she had a little 'moment' during their first meeting. Perhaps that had interupted the introductions. She frowns, trying to recall. But she cannot seem to get events into any clear order. She sighs. She is so tired, and it doesn't look like they are going to get much sleep tonight. On the hand, they might get to rid the world of one more Hellspawned. The thought cheers her somewhat.

"I am Jianna. From some way east of here."

She turns to the other two and smiles her greeting. After they are done, she adds a question.

"I don't suppose either of you know the dog?"

 

[Krug]

The boy replies "No, I didn't shoot him. I didn't dare." The way he handles the gun, you think he might be in danger of injuring himself more.

They look at the dog and shake their heads. "We don't know it."

Everyone has been hungry for a long time. "If I eat another holy wafer, I'm going to PUKE!" announces the woman. "I am Lena," she says, "and the boy is Ronald. And your names?" She heaves as she speaks. She's probably going to give birth soon.

The horses amble about,knocking into the benches. The dog rests beneath a large wooden carving of Jesus, chewing on some dried meat that Priest gave it.

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female.

"If I eat another holy wafer, I'm going to PUKE!" announces the woman. "I am Lena," she says, "and the boy is Ronald. And your names?"

Jianna say hello to Lena and Ronald, gives her name again to the pregnant woman.

"I think we need to decide if we are staying here, or getting out of town."

Considering Lena's condition, Jianna concludes that moving is not really an option.

"Personally, I think we should stay here for the moment. I also think we are going to need some supplies."

Jianna glances at the door with a odd smile on her face.

"How many are there in this town?"

 

[silentspace]

The Priest introduces himself again.

"I have some travelling food. Jerky, franks and beans, and some coffee. I have enough for all of us for another day or so. But we'll have to find more after that."

Catching the smile on Jianna's face, he wonders what she's thinking.

"I bet there's food in the general store. Tomorrow morning I'll go get some. If you got some rope, Hammer could drag several crates of food back. Maybe some sacks too."

Seeing that Lena and Ronald have calmed down a bit, he asks "Lena, Ronald, how did you come to be here?"

 

[Krug]

"There's about 30 maybe? I duno how many of them are... are THOSE things," says Ronald. "I saw you... heard the shots. Saw it wasn't Jack, so I rung the bells, else no one is gonna help us."

"My dad... he bought us here. We wanted to settle here until my Ma gave birth, but three days after we moved in, pickaxe Jack came... and, and ... my dad took his gun and went out...and...I don't know what happened to him!" he breaks into sobs. "Jack and his cronies... three of them. Outlaws... They want.. they want... Ma ... Jack he says they're waiting for her 'little un'," the boy starts sobbing uncontrollably.

Outside, the shadowy forms of the shambling dead can be seen.

Hammer nudges into Jianna's horse, who appears to be eyeing a holy bible as potential feeding material.