98: Zombies

Hello, mum, remember we were in Wyndhund Haulage after dark and we were being charged by the walking, or rather running, dead. These dead figures looked a lot like the ones we had seen under the signal tower back in the Reik valley, but they moved much more quickly and didn’t feel as dead, although they looked just as dead. I think one of them was a lady that Vinny used to know, but I don’t think he will be paying two shillings to know her again.

Guido and Vinny were ahead of us, checking out the office building so we didn’t have a very clear view of them, but they must have looked frightening, because straight away Vinny ran towards the office and jumped up to the roof and pulled himself up. You might have expected Vinny to do that, but Guido followed him. So they were both sat on the roof and they might have thought they were safe except the zombie creatures all scrambled up after them, with three of them crawling over the other two to get onto the roof.

Blume fired her pistol at one of them. We had planned to be as quiet as possible, so that was the end of that. But I think it was the right thing to do, any way. She hit one but she didn’t kill it because it was already dead, and it carried on clambering after Vinny.

I think Vinny was quite shocked about the whole thing and started to panic. He found a small window that led to the office and smashed it, but there was too much jagged glass left in the frame for him to climb through.

Meanwhile Guido had climbed up to the top of the roof, and called on Sigmar for help, and afterwards he said Sigmar had answered as he had filled him and Vinny with more fight, but looking at what Vinny did, I think Sigmar had been mostly wasting his time.

Meanwhile Fred had lit his lantern and opened the cover slightly so we had a bit of light to see by without everyone being able to see us. And he walked towards the zombies drawing his sword.

I decided that Vinny and Guido were in urgent need of help so I just charged in as quickly as I could, which in hindsight was probably not the best thing to do. But even though they looked scary I wasn’t even frightened.

But the two zombies who were still on the ground charged into me and both hit me very hard. I think with their rotten flesh, and their strange movements, and their dead eyes, it was all very distracting and they were very difficult to fight. I like to think that I am much tougher than I was when I left the Mootland, mum, so I think if that had happened a few months ago they would have killed me stone dead there and then.

Back on the roof one of the creatures got its hands on Vinny’s head and tried to pull it off so Vinny just dived through the broken window into the office, and landed next to a desk.

Then we all heard a piercing scream. And Blume who was lagging back a bit, could tell it was coming from a barn-like building nearby. So she left us and went to the barn, while trying to reload her pistol. She swung the barn door open, and it was dark inside, so she closed it again.

Fred decided I needed some help, which I did, mum, and so he charged in to fight alongside me. He slashed at one of the creatures and cut right through its arm, but it didn’t seem to notice.

Seeing us come to help, Guido slid down the roof, past the pursuing zombies, and tried to slash at them as he slid past with his dagger. And that was when I noticed that Guido didn’t have Barrakul with him. You have to wonder why he didn’t bring it, mum. I hope he hasn’t donated it to the cult of Sigmar or something like that. I let one of the other rat catchers’ dogs share a sausage with Boy once, but that’s not quite the same. And in any case, all Guido achieved was encouraging the other three zombies to move closer to me and Fred.

I had another slash at the Zombies, but it was all too distracting and I missed hopelessly again. I think I might have to stick to firing my pistol at things like that, mum. I thought I had been getting good with a sword, but I am definitely not as good as I thought I was.

Then the zombies all piled in against us and I think it was simply good fortune that they didn’t rip us apart, and we stood firm. And Blume was still worried about the barn door, but she couldn’t work out a way to lock it so she came back towards us, while keeping one eye on that. Guido said another prayer but I didn’t really feel it as I still couldn’t get a blow to land on these zombies.

I think all the religious stuff had been rubbing off on Vinny because while he was sat in the office he said a prayer to Ranald. I’m not sure that Ranald would be that interested in this fight, anyway. I think he likes the more stealthy robberies, not the putting your foot through a window and then throwing yourself through it kind. And in any case Vinny’s prayer about stealing arts and ‘earts sounded like he was still thinking about shagging.

Then he had a peak out the office door and saw the rest of us hard pressed fighting the zombies, and he shut the door again. But then he had second thoughts and opened the door and charged out into the fight, so well done Vinny. And he managed to wound one of the creatures that I was fighting. And Fred swung his sword over my head and into the other zombie I was fighting. I think they both saw that I was in a bit of trouble and wanted to help me out.

Guido and I kept fighting but we couldn’t do much. Maybe if Guido had brought Barrakul with him he could have done better.

One of the zombies fought back against Vinny and for all the world I thought he had killed him. I thought he was scrabbling about eating hVinny’s innards or something, but it turned out he had just got his claws stuck in Vinny’s giant trousers.

And Blume had been right to keep an eye on the barn, because suddenly a giant spectral wolf breathing blue fire (that’s what she said, mum) jumped through the wall of the barn and bounded towards us. And she said she shot it twice but the bullets seemed to pass right through it.

We had been struggling with the zombies but suddenly they gave way and Vinny, and Fred, and Guido all killed one (I still wasn’t getting much luck, mum), and things were looking much better for us, until Fred noticed the wolf and told us to make a fighting retreat towards the gate. Guido walked besides Fred as they retreated but I decided that the fighting bit of fighting retreat was more important, and charged the zombies again, and I managed to get one, at last.

But then the wolf let out a deathly howl. The sound was so loud that it felt like it would shatter my ear drums, and I passed out. I don’t think I’ve ever been so affected by a sound before, mum, except probably aunt Brenda’s singing (don’t read that bit to her). Vinny was so frightened by the noise he legged it straight out of the compound.

Blume was going to run for it too, but she saw me collapsed on the ground and changed her mind, and went back into the compound and grabbed me. I think she had second thoughts because on the one hand if I had perished she would get her big bed back and not have her bath weed in, but on the other hand, we had been travelling together for ages, and she doesn’t like being alone.

Fred struck down the last zombie and tried to place himself between the wolf and the rest of us, and Guido joined him saying another prayer to Sigmar, although I’d be surprised if Sigmar could hear him after the bellowing of the wolf.

So the plan was to all retreat from the compound as best we could, with Blume carrying me. But then the wolf changed direction and headed out of the compound, and suddenly we decided it might be better to stay inside. Not that the walls would be able to keep it out.

But now we had some time, and so Guido saw to my wounds and got me back on my feet again, and Blume loaded her pistols and mine as well. Blume said she thought that the wolf creature was circling us and stalking us for prey.

So that’s that mum. We’re in Wyndhund Haulage which is where we wanted to be, but there’s a magic wolf on the loose and we have made a lot more noise than we planned, so it’s difficult to know whether we should leg it into the slums of the Wynd to try to lose the wolf, or stay here and see if we can find out anything important.