The farmhands ran across the farm like the hounds of hell were on their tails while the heavens pounded them with a relentless downpour.
"Done y'all see thay bodies in there? Holy shit how thay hell do two freaking folk kill ever'one in there?" Ricky asked his co-workers.
"It doesn't make any sense! They done had an army in there ayn' one ov the brothers! It's simple math! They should've done died!" Horace insisted, still in disbelief of what they'd seen in the processing house.
"Ay don't like this here. Ay don't like this here at all." Houston confessed to the other two. "But we've still done got the rest ov the farm baking us up right? They ken handle ayy couple ov city slikers right?"
Ricky didn't know what to say to them. They'd never been in this sort of situation before. The last family had put up a good fight but they didn't cause this nearly this much damage!
It was Horace who spoke up instead. "We'll be awful fine. We'll be awful fine. Thay awful old man will know what ta do. He'll lead us ta victawy ayn' we'll be feasting on them by tonaheet."
"Hey yeah! Yeah you right! We'll be awful fine!"
They continued running and running until they got to the butcher house and stopped cold at the night of the corpses laying outside of the entrance.
"Awwwww shit no. Naw. Naw not ya'all too!"
"Fuck." Ricky slowly approached the doors and pushed them open and they were greeted by the bullet ridden corpses of their fellow farmhands surrounded by the stink of death and its unpleasant releases. He slowly walked inside and he gradually removed his cow mask and he simply let it fall to the floor, revealing his scraggly beard, long, protruding lower jaw, crooked teeth, unibrow and a pronounced scar running down from his eye down to his jaw. A reminder from a fight that didn't go so well. He stumbled a few feet before he fell to his knees and then he sat back and looked back at the others.
"What the fuk do we do now? They're dead. They're all dead! There's just naw way! Naw way ayy human ken do this here! Ay don't even see charlie anywhere! We gotta get out ov here! We gotta run! We gotta go!"
"Ken't let ya do that there. That there's desershun ayn' they will hunt us down ayn' tear us apart if we do that there. We ken't abandon the others ayn' we done won't. Now pik up ya mask, put it bak on ayn' leds go take ayy look through thay a-buildin' ayn' see if we ken faand some survivaws."
Ricky sniffled and wiped his eyes and put his mask back on. "You raheet guys. Ay'm sawry."
"It's okay. We're just as sceered as ya riky. Come on. Let's get ta wawk." Houston helped him to his feet and they began walking through the butcher house hoping to find any survivors they could but that hope was rapidly sinking.
Time passed. They came back up to the first floor feeling even worse than when they went inside. They stopped in the middle of the hallway surrounded by corpses.
"They're all dead. They're seriously dead." Horace sniffled.
"Ay don't get it. That there asshowwl were half dead when they dragged him inside. So how in the hell could he have done killed ever'one like this here? He were just one guy ayn' we've done got an army in here!" Ricky exclaimed while looking at the corpses.
"He's ayy Powered. That there's how. Y'all know how damn tough they ken be." Houston noted.
"Yeah. Even thay ...err mawe nawmal ones are toughuurr than nawmal folks like us raheet?" Ricky asked him.
"Raheet."
They took a look around at the corpses surrounding them.
"But. But this here is still scary as hell. It's fuked up is what it is. What thay hell are we done supposed ta do now?" Horace asked his companions.
Ricky hugged himself. "Honestly ay'm with ya Hawace. Ay'm sceered as shit raheet now."
Houston paced around for a minute before throwing up his hands and turning around to face his companions. "We don't have ayy choice. We tell thay old man."
"Tell him what? That Charles could be dead? That ever'one's dead? That we didn't faand anything?"
"Ay know y'all feel but we didn't do any ov this here. That there asshowwl done this. We just done found them aftuurr thay ...err fact. We be honest. We tell thay old man thay truth ayn' we let him figure out how ta kill them."
"It's bettuurr than a-tryin' ta lie ta him aw running away." Horace agreed.
"Alraheet awful fine. Fuk it. We tell him the truth. It fuking suks but we have ta tell them what done happened." Ricky agreed.
"Ya guys ready?"
"We're ready."
Thaddeus sat in a chair silently steeling himself for the coming battle while the alarm blared. He noticed Miss Morganstern's own silent annoyance at the continued blaring of the siren and while he said nothing, he'd be lying if it didn't bring him a small amount of amusement.
Around the house his men continued to arm themselves with as much guns and ammunition as they could carry. As more of the farmhands and his family continued to pour in they were updated on the situation and armed.
This continued until Ricky, Horace and Houston ran inside dripping wet from the rain. "B-Boss! Boss we need-ta talk ta ya!"
"Excuse me."
Miss Morganstern gave a curt nod and began counting down.
"Yes gentlemen? What is the word in the house? Did you find Charles? Did you find my son? What about the livestock?"
"Whel ya see that there's just it boss. We didn't faand thay shootuurr aw Charles but ever'body else in thay house is dead. The butchers ayn' guards ayn' ever'one."
"They're all dead suurr. It's just like in thay processin' house. We're sawry."
Thaddeus's lips trembled. As their message echoed over and over in his mind. His blood pounded in his ears. His heart thudded in his chest. His hands shook. His feet tingled and his vision disfigured as if he was looking through a fish-eye lens. "What, but, no, h-he can't, that's... not... right..." He stammered out. Had he truly lost another son to these men? But why? HOW?! They couldn't die! He couldn't understand it! They were his flesh and blood! They had his power! His family's power! They simply could not die! Nothing could kill them! Nothing could take his sons from him! Nothing! NOTHING! Then he bends over double, hands on his knees, struggling to regulate his breathing but it came to him in gasps and he felt like he was going to black out. His heart was hammering inside of his chest now like it belonged to a rabbit running for its skin. The room span around him and he struggled to stay standing, trying to make everything slow to something that his brain and mind could cope with. He felt sick for the first time in his life. He wanted to call his wife. Call an ambulance but the phone was too far away. It was too far away, too far away, too far away. He didn't know who to call or what their numbers were or who to call too far away, his sons were dead. They were dead and gone and taken away from him! Breathe, gone, too far away...."
"FATHER!"
He looked up to see his sons holding him now. They stood around him together. United. In their fear and as a family. His sons. He could not let them down now. Not now. His sons. Yes. He still had them. He could not fail them. He could not let them down here. He straightened up and held his head in his hands for a minute and then he slowly slid them up and over his hair and he looked at his sons.
"Yes. Forgive me a moment of weakness. This day has taken much from us. Prepare for war. Grab any and all remaining guns and break out the body parts we have refrigerated. I must speak with Ambrosia but I will rejoin you shortly. Thank you my sons." He hugged his sons together for a minute and then he walked up the stairs to speak with the secretary while his sons followed behind him to carry out his orders.
Miss Morganstern quietly sipped her drink.
The Family gathered together in a back room around Gloria Stoneshire as she slept with a wet rag on her forehead. Michelle gently pulled up her shirt to expose their improvised stitches.
"We did the best we could to help her. We got the bullet out and stitched her wound closed but she still lost a lot of blood. She needs a hospital." Josephina explained to them somberly and pulled her shirt back down.
"We all do." Leo noted sadly.
"Dad is Aunt Gloria gonna be okay?" Tina asked Alessandro.
"Don't worry about her son. She's as tough as your Aunt Josephina and your mom. She'll pull through once we get her to a hospital. We just have to hold out for right now."
"I'm sorry Aunt Gloria." Derrick told her quietly while holding her hand. "But we're gonna get these guys for you. You just watch."
"At any rate, we can't allow those bastards to make it to this back room. Any of them."
"Alessandro filled us in on The Bricks. We should factor them into our strategy."
"Come on guys. We need to get you changed into something fresh while we plan." Michelle told them.
The family began to file out out of the room but Derrick took a look back into it and he saw something across the room that caught his eye. He ran back into the room and grabbed it.
"What'cha got there Derrick?"
He came back out carrying a bottle of alcohol.
Michelle held up her hand in a stop motion. "Derrick, I understand the sentiment but this is hardly the time."
"Nonono. Aunt Michelle, look." He held up the bottle to her while pointing at something on the label.
"Let me see here....80 proof?"
"Exactly." Derrick grinned. "We learned about this in our history and science classes.
Proof is the government documentation of a distilled beverage’s alcohol content. In the U.S., if you cut the number in half, you get the actual amount of alcohol in the bottle. Eighty proof means 40 percent of the liquid in the bottle is alcohol.
Proof began here during our 18th-century whiskey trade. Whiskey took off when farmers realized they could make 10 times the money on their corn if they distilled it. As the market soared, so did watering down the booze for even more money.
Suspicious buyers came up with a “gunpowder proofing” testing method. They mixed the whiskey with gunpowder and lit it. If the gunpowder exploded, the liquor had no water in it and it was “proofed.” And so was anyone standing nearby. This became the official term for pure whiskey.
Alcohol itself is flammable, so any alcoholic beverage will burn provided the alcohol content is high enough. The basic rule of thumb is anything 80 proof or above will light, and the higher the proof, the easier the alcohol will be to ignite." He explained quickly and fished the lighter out of his pocket. "And lookie what I've got."
"Heeeeyyy waaait a minute now." Leo looked at his son's hands and the drapes and beamed. "I've got an idea."
Josephina quickly caught on. "It'll be easy enough to bottleneck them at the entrance. What we need is a way to damage their big guns enough to wear down their regeneration. Their regenerative abilities are certainly potent, but even their cells can only regenerate so many times, after which the cells (and tissues, and organs) will start to fail, limiting how much they could regenerate and shorten their lifespan. They can only handle so much damage before their regenerative abilities are burnt out. Fire can help with that. At the very least the flames will even the odds and give us a head start."
"It's settled. We burn them then." Michelle nodded her head.
"Should be enough booze up here. I'll see if we can make some molotovs." Alessandro decided.
"Wait!" Tina held up her hands. "If we do this won't it risk burning all of us with them?"
"It's fine Tina. If it gets too bad I'll snuff it out like last time." Leo assured her.
"Okay then." Josephina clapped her hands and they walked out to the civilians who had been conversing among themselves. "Everyone. Your attention please. We have a plan on how to do deal with these cannibal creeps but we're going to need your help to do it. So listen closely. Because you're gonna fucking love this."
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ambrosia meanwhile had been busy reading stories to Macey while she ate her flesh cookies made from human body parts mixed with cookie dough. It was a simple enough recipe. Half a cup blood, half an ounce of pineal gland extract, one crushed eyeball and half a cup of finely chopped skin with some sprinklings of M&Ms and chocolate chips. Once the cookie dough was mixed, the children shaped the dough into little balls and placed them on a cookie sheet in the oven, bake well and let them sit before placing them in the refrigerator to chill until it was time to eat.
Macey merrily ate her cookies and drank her milk while listening to Ambrosia's latest story.
There are some places in Texas I advise you to go to: San Antonio. Austin. Poteet. Dallas. La Vernia. Just to name a few if you want to experience real Texas in a breathtaking way.
And then there’s Kosciusko, Texas, a place that I would never bring up in normal conversation. It’s a place you don’t go to. It’s a place you drive far away from when nighttime falls. It’s a place where your car stops and stalls and you feel sweat beading down your neck as you try to jiggle the keys in fear.
You don’t go to Kosciusko. Ever.
Pull up Google maps and try to find the town–here’s a hint. You won’t. You’ll go immediately to a marker labeled “Kosciusko Meat Market” but no indicator that there’s a town anywhere. There’s no street name called Kosciusko Street or Avenue. Just “Kosciusko Meat Market”.
It’s really more or less an abandoned town. Only about ten people reside there and country separates them all in between. There’s a meat market, like I said, and an old dance hall that people used to go to back in the 1970s. There used to be a school who resided there but they merged with Poth ISD way back in the 1970s.
Even the history of Kosciusko is lackluster: a simple Polish town that was established as a rural trading point for settlers as they headed to San Antonio. No battles were fought there. No historical significance.
Except, technically, one.
The story of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a fabricated story based on Ed Gein, who murdered and sewed skin of women together. Urban legend steadfast hold onto the belief that the real incident of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre happened in Poth, Texas.
This isn’t true because in reality, it was Kosciusko where the legend began. Poth got attached to it because Kosciusko lived and died with a very difficult sounding name. When the movie came out, the locals murmured and whispered among themselves that Kosciusko’s secret and dark past had been taken by Hollywood and transformed into a slasher film, complete with a cannibal family and bloody corpses that lined the grounds.
It’s a coincidence. The film had nothing to do with the town. But have you ever seen something that was so eerily coincidental and similar that you couldn’t help but feel a connection? Even the lonely, isolated feeling of the landscape felt like the harsh, hard ground of the ghost town.
Kosciusko is home to a violent clan of inbred cannibals that live in the countryside, kidnapping and raping victims before eating them alive. If the victims didn’t already will themselves to die by that time, anyway. Nobody exactly knows where they came from but rumor is that they were simply “left” behind when people started to move away. It’s agreed that they’re Polish descent and otherwise unintelligent humans, but that’s all anyone can say.
Right before Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out, a young, naked, and bloody man drove his car into a streetpost in Poth, Texas, and got out, screaming wildly in the dark of the night. The police and ambulance came, bringing him to a hospital center in Floresville.
After sedating him enough to clean him, the nurses and doctors found irregularities. He was bruised and bloodied and his flesh had been stripped on his thighs and buttocks, like a knife had been skinning him. He had no tongue and was unable to speak. His wrists were hanging off the joint, as if it had been bound so tightly that it was essentially severing them clean off. His ankles were shattered and broken and it seemed like it was pure will and luck that he even made it that far to Poth, in a car nonetheless.
The police detectives gave him a pen and paper and asked him what happened. The only thing he wrote was Kosciusko and died a day later from injuries and infections.
His body was studied by the medical examiner of San Antonio, who took interest in the case, and the medical examiner promptly remarked that this would be his last autopsy, as this was the worst he’d seen. Shortly after he signed the papers, the medical examiner resigned and moved out of Texas.
The medical examiner reported that the young man had been held captive for a week or so, bound by something tight, like rope or chains. His circulation was cut off in many parts of the body, requiring amputation of the fingers and toes. There was several infections raging in his body that would have eventually, by miracle had not, killed him. He was also tested positive for tetanus and fragments of rusty metal were found in his bloodstream. He was dehydrated, starved, and raped repeatedly in the rectum, mouth, and a hole in the base of his spine was found to be filled with semen. Shockingly, this did not result in paralysis and the doctor still can’t explain it.
His tongue was missing and the doctor presumed that it was cut using the same rusty blade as the fragments found in the bloodstream, as well as the skinning of his thighs and buttocks. He was also tested positive for HIV, which wound up quarantining the hospital. Blood, traces of seminal fluid, and rotted meat were found in his stomach as well as a wristwatch.
The guess is as good as anyone else’s on how this poor man escaped his captors. The doctor theorized that maybe, he freed himself by dislocating his wrists and slipping out of his bonds. How he was able to run was pure will to escape and survive and the car he might have stolen on a highway or from his captors. A informal police report differs, suggesting the man was meant to be tossed in the river nearby and overpowered his captors while in the car and operated it into a frenzy.
The weirder mystery was the word Kosciusko. It wasn’t any difficulty to see that he meant Kosciusko, Texas, so the police began to search out there, starting with the Kosciusko Meat Market. There, all they found was an elderly couple running the store as usual and selling pork rinds in plastic bags. A detective bought one to eat on the search and eventually, that was all the search actually accomplished. Nothing was found and nothing was gained. Nobody in the small town had seen or heard of the man and nobody reported a car missing or stolen.
The detectives returned several times back over a course of months, attempting to secure more information. However, they were largely unsuccessful and considered the case had run cold.
The last time they were there, they went back into the Meat Market. A young girl of maybe six or seven was sitting behind the counter, eating a type of Polish candy.
One of the detectives decide to go ahead and try to talk to her. He first bought a bag of pork rinds to try and start conversation, which she returned with energetic favor. She seemed pleasant enough, as any six year old would be.
Then he offered her one of his pork rinds to curry favor. She declined.
“Momma says I only eat those if they made of piggys.” She said. The detective laughed a bit and told her that they were made of pig, hence “Pork” rinds. She shook her head.
“No. They’re not. I seen Grandpa make ’em. He gets a shipment of skin every month and while they’re screaming and crying and hollering, he takes the skin right off and tosses it in the fryer.”
Immediately, the detectives become unsettled and leave, opting to hand over their pork rinds to lab. They then dispatch and attempt to find the old couple. Every time they go to the Meat Market, it’s closed. And every time they try to find them, everyone in the town doesn’t remember them.
After some digging through the history books and birth certificates to locate the identity of the couple, the detectives learn a terrifying fact: everyone in Kosciusko is related. There’s no deviancy in the family trees. Any settlers who immigrated there was blemished out mysteriously.
The results come back. Now, this was back in the day where forensics did not exist so DNA testing was a science-fiction fantasy. The inspectors determined the pork rinds were of “untraceable origin…but were definitely not made of pork or any hog products”.
This resulted in a search and seizure of the town. The town of Poth dispatched and requested help of several towns to seize all people of Kosciusko. People were arrested and kids were transferred to Poth where they could not be in their families’ possession. Violence and fights broke out. Homes were destroyed and torn apart in ravage police searches.
In one home, they found equipment with noticeable blood. In another, fragments and bone were found. In yet another, teeth were buried under the soft ground.
Nobody was talking. And nobody was saying anything.
This was before DNA so the police couldn’t determine what the blood was. The household claimed they butchered their own livestock. The teeth came from burying it for the Tooth Fairy. Bones and fragments were from slaying pigs with hammers.
The rabbit hole went too deep and the police didn’t know what to do. So they shut down Kosciusko and ferried the kids to the Poth ISD schools. When they could no longer hold the townspeople in custody, the townspeople moved out of the homes and went deeper into the country so they couldn’t be found.
Then the movie came out. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And everyone was utterly convinced someone in Kosciusko sold the story.
Of course, it was just coincidence. The two are unrelated and the case of Kosciusko never went solved. By that time, everyone knew to stay away from Kosciusko and the kids who were shipped to the Poth schools were bullied so hard that eventually, they too left for the isolated countryside.
The thing is, now Kosciusko is trying to open up the doors again. The dance hall is open and the meat market is under new management. Kosciusko is trying to sell itself as a “historic” town and bring business back to the ghost town.
People have gone there for the dances and insist that there’s a homely, cowboy like charm to the place. And the pork rinds can’t be beat.
And the nice old couple who runs the meat market are just the best people, I hear.
"The End." Ambrosia said merrily while closing the book.
Macey laughed and clapped while she chewed up the last cookie. "I love the happy stories Amby!"
"Happy stories really are the best aren't they?" She took a tissue and dabbed at her mouth. "There now, you got it all over your face again."
"Awww shucks! I'm sorry!"
"It's alright now." She finished cleaning her face.
"Aunty Amby? Is daddy okay?"
"I'm sure he is. Listen to me, nobody can beat your father. At anything. He's the best. Everything is going to be okay."
"But....but I heard him crying earlier!"
"It's alright Macey. Nobody is going to mess with you guys." Ambrosia assured her and gave the little girl a hug.
She smiled and hugged her right back. "Thanks Amby."
"You're welcome. Just remember that I'm here for you alright?"
"Always?"
"Always. Now how about you go ahead and lay down for a nap alright? I'll sing you a lullaby."
She giggled and put her mask back on and got under the covers. "That's a good girl. Now I promise you. By the time you wake up, this will all be over and all of the bad people will be dead."
Ambrosia held her hand and she began to softly sing to her.
"♪♫♬Bayu Bayushki Bayu
Do not lie down near the edge of the bed
The grey wolfie will come
And grab you by your tiny side
He'll grab you by your tiny side
And drag you to the forest...
Drag you to the forest...
Down under a willow shrub.
Don't come round, wolfie, don't wake up our Masha.
Bayu Bayushki Bayu
Do not lie down near the edge of the bed
The grey wolfie will come
He'll grab you by your tiny side
And drag you to the forest...
Drag you to the forest...
Down under a raspberry bush.
And then one raspberry will fall down
Right into Katenka's mouth.
Bayu Baushki Bayu
Do not lie down near the edge of the bed
The grey wolfie will come
He'll grab you by your tiny side
And drag you to the forest...
Drag you to the forest...
Down under an aspen tree.
Don't come round, wolfie, don't wake up our Masha.
Bayu Bayushki Bayu
Do not lie down near the edge of the bed
The grey wolfie will come
He'll grab you by your tiny side
And drag you to the forest.
And drag you to the forest where Nana lives and bakes buns,
And sells them to the little ones, and Vanusha gets them free of charge.♪♫♬"
Macey yawned and closed her eyes beneath her mask to go to sleep. "Sleep tight little one." Ambrosia turned the light off and quietly stepped out of the room. She had just finished closing it when she came face to face with Thaddeus. "S-sir! Oh, forgive me. Sorry, y-you startled me."
"I am sorry Ambrosia. This day has been long....how is she?"
"She stuffed herself and now she's sleeping it off."
"You're a good woman Ambrosia. Thank you." He motioned for her to follow him and they stepped down the hallway and then he looked back at the room before continuing. "Now listen to me very closely Ambrosia. I need you take the black books and the girls and leave. Run as far away as possible. Keep your head down and stay out of sight. If this all blows over I will call you back here."
Ambrosia's words caught in her throat. Running? He actually wanted her to run away? Why? From what? How dangerous was this family that they could possibly scare him this much?
"Sir, forgive me for questioning your decisions but are you sure that's wise?"
Thaddues took a moment to collect himself before he continued. "I have two of my sons today Ambrosia. I do not want my little girls anywhere near this battlefield until this is over." He took his necklace off and held it up. "Now. Come along. We must get the books. Do you have the girls emergency bags packed?"
"Ah, yes sir. I have them packed with fresh clothes and supplies every day just in case."
"Excellent work. This place would fall apart without you."
"I'm just doing my job sir."
They walked into a spare bedroom at the end of a winding hallway and then they walked over to a closet and Thaddeus opened it up and spread out the clothes. They placed their thumbs on two hidden buttons designed to blend right in with the wall in the back of the closet. A section of the wall slid down to reveal a hidden compartment with two keyholes on either side of it. They slid the keys inside and turned them simultaneously. The compartment opened up and Ambrosia took the books out. Ambrosia took a second to look up at the ceiling of the closet with all of the little holes inside of it. If anybody tried breaking into the compartment to try and force the books out the spikes would shoot down out of the ceiling and impale the intruder. This rarely came up of course because only she and Thaddeus knew where the books were and they were the only ones who had the keys to it. But there was one time they found an intruder dead from the death trap. He was subsequently chopped up for meat. No need to waste it. Afterwords they had to get a new carpet.
She took the black books and held them to her chest. "Mr.Brannon...." She took a moment to close the door before lowering her voice. "Sir...regarding Miss Morganstern....what should we do? I'm sorry to say but we've already lost most of our manpower and even if everyone attacked her at once we'd still lose."
"We just need to retrieve the boy. Do not fret so much. I will handle her. Just take the girls and do as you are told."
She set the books down and put an arm around him. "Be careful sir. You're handling a live grenade. No...more like a lit stack of dynamite in the dark surrounded by gasoline."
Thaddeus couldn't help but smile. "You have a way with words. Take care of yourself Ambrosia."
"Be careful sir. And hey, if we make it through this, lets all get drunk as hell."
"Nothing would make me happier after today."
They parted and shook hands. Ambrosia gathered up the books and walked out of the room to retrieve the children.
Thaddeus took a minute to collect himself before adjusting his suit and stepping out of the room to speak with his sons.
That was when he heard the music playing from downstairs.
Smile · Jimmy Durante
Smile,
Though your heart is achin'
Smile,
Even though it's breakin'
When there are are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile,
And maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shinin' through,
For you...He quickly walked downstairs to find Miss Morganstern playing a record while she waited on him.
"Hello again Thaddeus. I hope you don't mind. I just felt like entertaining myself while I waited." She turned her head and looked into his eyes with that smile on her face. It wasn't vicious, not insane, stoic or deranged. It was the smile she had on her face when they first met. Her smile was calm, gentle, serene...almost enlightened as she looked into his eyes. Just like that time he understood the truth of what he was looking at. She was the eye of the storm, the apex predator and a calm center of destruction and her politeness, calmness and serenity was so inhuman that it was more terrifying than any fury. "I hope nothing's wrong."
"No. Nothing's wrong. Please enjoy your accommodations. Excuse me."
She relaxed and waved him off.
Thaddeus walked back up the stairs to rejoin his sons to prepare for the coming battle.
___________________________________________________________________________________
It didn't take them long to prepare their dinner. They had a lot of practice with it after all and the tables were covered with chopped up and well prepared human remains. Stews of meat, vegetables, eyeballs and fingers in bowls. Another stew in a large pot with a severed head inside. Plates of meat, vegetables and ears and fingers. Bowls of beans and brain matter. Prepared brains. Chopped up arms and legs separated on plates.
Trays of severed hands, feet, intestines, heads, hearts and other assorted body parts. Various guns covered with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Knives covered in butter and sheets of metal prepared like salads.
This was what known as The War Meal. They ate meals like this prior to going into a big battle to stock up on fresh body parts to ensure their regenerative abilities were at their peak while also absorbing the guns and blades into their system to be used against their enemies. It wasn't quite as big it would usually be since the enemy was on their front doorstep. Normally they'd have a much larger meal more intricately prepared before going into a big battle but time was of the essence.
They had gravely underestimated the Blackburn Family and took them lightly. It had cost them dearly. They had lost over a hundred farmhands and two of their family members to the Blackburn Family. It was a loss that weighed heavily on all of them. The empty chairs on either side of the table only served as a grim reminder of what they'd taken from them.
They would pay. That was the unanimous unspoken agreement of the Brannon Family. They would all pay. They would all die.
Thaddeus stood up and held his hands out to either side of him. His sons on the right and left him grabbed his hands and each others hands and bowed their heads.
"Thank you, God for this food. For rest and home. And all things good. For wind and rain and sun above. But most of all those we love. Amen."
They all said at once before Thaddeus sat down to eat with his sons and Diablos and Dread removed their masks. Diablos had very sharp teeth that had been filed down like he was an alligator or a shark along with two prominent tusk like teeth on the far sides of his mouth and his tongue had 13 piercings in it. Diablos meanwhile looked much more mutated. Besides the metal spikes he had implanted in a row moving up his skull to the back like hair and the resulting protrusions that went through his skin, he had a tan skull like face that looked similar to his mask, complete with fang like teeth that looked similar to his brother's filed teeth.
"To Charles and Viktor." Thaddeus said and raised his glass.
"To our fallen brothers!" They said and clinked their glasses.
They drank their wine and then they began devouring all of the food in front of them. Human, weapons and metal. They devoured all of it.
Miss Morganstern turned off the record player and looked up at the ceiling. "Now, now, gentlemen. I know you've been through a lot today but take care to mind your table manners. More importantly. You should know that Big G's love is not unconditional. Thanking him for the chance to devour the meat of human beings you've butchered? That is going to bite you in the ass on the other side." She refocused her eyes on the hourglass on the table.
(die Geduld. die Geduld. die Geduld. It's almost time for the climax. I just need to have a little more patience. I've waited years to see my darling in action again. What's a few more minutes?)
__________________________________________________________________________________
Heads propped aloft by the crutch of dogmatic belief, savoring each other, feasting upon flesh--knife and fork, delicate spoon. Each course far from complete, they gorge through eroded faces, evidence of features strewn to rot in the panic of the fading sun. Hugging like chums until folded into one writhing mass, they remain dexterous enough to balance an apple: proof of perilous symmetry. In the distance, the white mission weeps under the weight of the impending torrent. Even the mercy of the mountains can't protect from the ruin of man.
Bitter washes over.
Irresistible sweet meat.
Taste buds flicker out.
The family ended their feast of human flesh, body parts and weapons. They washed their hands and the plates.
The Brannons and their forces assembled together on the first floor and looked at Thaddeus at the top of the stairs.
"This day has been long and much has been taken from us. We have lost friends and loved ones to these intruders who think themselves above the natural order of the world. We will correct this misunderstanding. These intruders are no longer simple livestock. They are our enemy and we will annihilate them without mercy. We will tear out their hearts and feast on them as we paint our walls with their blood! Tear our their eyes! Snap their spines! Strangle them with their own intestines! Empty all of your ammunition into their corpses! Make them scream for mercy as we tear them apart! They will know that this is THe Brannon Farm! This is our home! This is our world! Here we are LAW AND THEY ARE NOTHING BUT MEAT!"
His forces cheered for him and Thaddeus let them go on for a bit before he continued. "The Boy who is with them. Derrick Blackburn. He alone will be spared and brought back here to our client. To Miss Morganstern. But only after he has watched us bathe in his family's blood and we drag him through the mud by his broken leg like the worm he is...Now. Come with me my family. Let us march to battle. Let us wreak our vengeance upon this rebellious meat! It is time for The Blackburn Family TO REAP THE WHIRLWIND!"
They roared in approval as loud as they could to shake the house like the booming thunder above them.
Thaddeus descended the staircase and joined his forces. "Come along with me. It's time to slaughter the livestock."
"They're in the Guest House." Miss Morganstern told them casually. "Beee carefuuuulll."
"Thank you. We'll have him back here."
"Remember." She tapped the hourglass.
"We'll have him back here. Feel free to help yourself to refreshments until then. Good day Miss Morganstern."
He opened the door and stepped out where Ambrosia was pulling out in a car with the girls in the back. Thaddeus paused to watch them and then he blew a kiss to his daughters. "Stay strong girls. I'll call you back to the farm when this is over." He whispered and then steeled himself again.
The Brannons and their forces marched towards the Guest House while Miss Morganstern turned the hourglass over.
The Brannon family weren't the only ones getting ready for the upcoming battle. The Blackburn family had been scavenging the Guest House for anything they could find to help them in the battle. They'd managed to scrounge up a few things that when combined together could be used to change the tide of the battle.
OUT Filter Mate® Potassium Permanganate Water Treatment Iron Filter Regenerant, Beauty 360 USP Pure Glycerin and Table Sugar could be mixed to cause small explosions which, when combined with their improvised molotov cocktails and their plan for the curtains and alcohol, could be used to burn away the Brannons.
Bleach and vinegar which when mixed together could make Chlorine Gas. That would be placed near the entrances to the house along with Chloromine gases mixed from Bleach and Ammonia and Chloroform mixed from Bleach and Rubbing Alcohol. They had no doubt that the regenerative abilities of The Brannons would protect them from the effects of the gases, but that meant that they'd be too busy fighting off the effects to notice the smell of alcohol on the curtains until the Blackburns lit them up. Besides, the henchmen and corrupt cops wouldn't be protected by any form of regeneration and it would stop them in their tracks and thin the herd.
Besides, any damage to them was a hit to their total regenerative abilities and taxing their healing factor was part of the goal here. The Blackburn family didn't necessarily need to win this though that would be ideal. They just had to hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Hopefully by then The Brannon Horde would be weakened enough that their reinforcements could finish them off with whatever arsenal they brought with them.
They found a few more tools and weapons they could use around the house. Perhaps most importantly, they found a surprising amount of duct tape which they used to tape books, cookie sheets, pots and pans and other random objects to their bodies and under their clothes. It wasn't a perfect solution and it made it a bit awkward to move around but it was better than having absolutely no protection from their super strong enemies. If their improvised armor could help them take even one extra hit then it would be worth it.
Leonardo Blackburn was sitting down on the floor with his eyes closed as he tried to rest his battered battle worn body and gather his strength.
Derrick quietly sat down next to his father and waited for a minute before he spoke up. "Hey dad? Dad are you okay?"
He smiled and put an arm around his son. "Just resting my eyes kiddo. Just taking a break. It's been a long day for all of us."
"Tell me about....the sooner we get home the better." He patted his chest feeling the books and cooking sheets he had duck taped around his body underneath his shirt. "Maaaan this feels weird."
"Beggars can't be choosers son. This is a really bad situation to be in so we had to improvise with what we had laying around."
"Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." Derrick nodded his head. "But still, I never thought we'd ever actually put ideas like this into practice."
"Danger always strikes when everything seems fine.
" Leo reminded his son. "You gotta be ready for anything and you never know when learning new tricks could save your life."
"Who said that quote?" Derrick asked his dad.
"Kambei Shimada. He was played by Takashi Shimurai in Seven Samurai. It's an old school movie but he was certainly right. After we get home we can make some popcorn and watch it together. Would you like that? Watch a samurai movie with your old man?""
"I'd love to dad." Derrick admitted. "Hold up though, I thought you were more of a gunslinger."
"Oh don't get me wrong, gunfights and Westerns are my jam but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate other genres." Leo explained to his son.
Downstairs the rescued citizens, Herschel Harkey, Jania Justus, Whitley Wojtowicz, Quiana Quail, Chere Clyme, Reynalda Riles, Louanne Lewter, Tyesha Tischler, Joseph Joiner, Branden Buehler, Kenisha Krauth, Sandy Senior, Akiko Auger, Velma Vrba, Martha Mutch and Randi Resh, were working with the Blackburn Family to come up with some improvised weapons.
"Next we need to measure 2 parts sugar to 3 parts KNO3. Be careful not to breathe it." Michelle explained to them while pouring the ingredients into a bucket they'd emptied out. The citizens did the same with their own. It started to smoke from the mixture of the two. "Now add one tablespoon of baking soda to the mixture." She did just that and then passed it around to the others. They added in their own tablespoons and then they closed the lid on the bucket and shook it thoroughly. Once it was all mixed up, they opened the lids back up and added in hot water. "Good good! You're doing great! Next we're going to mix it up until it's a clear black liquid everyone. Ready? Mix!" They followed her lead in mixing it all up further with spoons until they had a nice black liquid and then they poured that into clear plastic containers. "Get the newspapers and fold them up and put them on top of each other until everything is soaked!"
They followed her lead and placed the folded up newspapers they'd separated into layers and placed them on top of each other until they were soaked. Once this was done?
"We're done with them for now. Take them out and let them dry for the next 10 minutes while we prepare the rest. You guys are doing good. We're proud of you."
Alessandro meanwhile was working with the papers that Leo had quick dried earlier before he sat down to rest. He wrapped the layers into compact rolls, secured them with tape, wrapped tinfoil around them to hold everything together and then he taped that up and inserted fuses into the bombs for the finishing touches.
At the same time, Josephina was working on mixing the chemicals to create disorienting mixtures to weaken the enemy. Their regenerative powers were astounding to be sure and it would certainly kick whatever they could come up with in here but any damage done to them would be something that weakened their overall powers so it would be worth it. Out of simple household materials and tools they found laying around the Guest House she'd developed multiple explosives and a few more chemical mixtures.
At the same time Argos was putting together Newspaper Nail Knife Bats. He rolled up wet newspapers, folded, unfolded, folded and unfolded again. Then he inserted the knives and nails just right or left of the folds and then he folded again so that the nails were pointing outwards and then he taped the papers together and laid the melee weapons out in a row. They weren't perfect solutions but he knew the psychos wouldn't see them coming. They'd function as a last resort in case they ran out of ammo. One last extra weapon to swing at their eyes as he'd instructed them to use if they got in too close.
Derrick walked down the stairs and waved to his family. "Dad and Aunt Gloria are doing alright. So. Came back down to see what I can do to help out."
"You can start distributing these kid." Argos offered.
"Hell yeah." Derrick bounded over and picked up the Nail Knife Bats and began handing them out to everyone.
Tina was on lookout and keeping watch out the window. "How far away is our backup anyway?"
"Nancy's house is pretty far away from here but I know for a fact that they're en route and they're bringing an armory. We'll just have to hold out until then."
Josephina explained. "Any sign of them out there?"
"It's a bit hard to tell with all of this rain and mist but I don't see any people out there." She closed the blinds and stepped back to the kitchen where Derrick handed her a bat. "Oh sweeeeet."
"Remember. It's a last resort move for if we get cornered."
"I know but it's still cool." Tina gripped it with both hands and raised it to the ceiling. "It's nice to have some real weapons....by the way? What happened to your ax?"
"That....I mean...Dad has it. I couldn't stand to use it." Derrick admitted. "Come on. Lets see what else we can do here."
Tina pulled her cousin close and hugged him. "We're gonna be okay, Derrick. We're all together now and we're gonna be okay. Mom says it'll be over soon."
Derrick lowered his bat and wrapped his spare arm around her. "I know cuz. I know. We're gonna kick their redneck butts right out of their own farm."
They patted each other on the back and walked back over to the adults to implement their strategy.
"So do you guys do this all the time?" Herschel asked while mixing chemicals.
"Not all the time. Only when it's necessary. It's all part of basic training." Michelle informed him. "Mirage Division." Okay, so that's just a prettier name for the Guerrilla Division but these guys didn't necessarily need to know the specifics.
"Oh hey I've....never heard of that."
"We keep out of the papers." Josephina pointed out. "It makes our job easier."
"What kind of jobs? Was it stuff just like this?" Jania asked them.
"Similar but uh we haven't fought cannibals in a long time. Also we usually have more preparation time but we're good at improvising too."
"When this is all over...would you please teach us how to be badasses like you?"
"Heh. Our line of work isn't for the faint of heart but we can certainly teach you some real survival skills and point you towards excellent physical trainers."
"I'd love that. Thank you."
Whitley accepted his bat from Derrick. "Thanks kiddo."
"We all gotta do our part to chip in if we're gonna win this." Derrick smiled.
"Hey with a bunch of superheroes like this at our backs how could we possibly lose?"
"Soldiers but we appreciate the sentiment." Alessandro laughed.
Argos wrapped his hands up in bandages. "You're right about one thing though. We're gonna kick these assholes assholes and we're all going home together. You'll be home safe and sound before you know it."
"You guys really are angels. You're Guardian Angels sent from Heaven to save us." Quiana Quail beamed.
"Just soldiers and two kids. We appreciate the sentiments though."
"Excuse me, Mr.Argos? Mr.Alessandro?" Chere Clyme raised her hand. "But, you said earlier that the hammer man....you said you shot his head off and he still regenerated and had his mind? How do you think that's possible?"
Alessandro shrugged. "Who knows? It's either because their nervous system retains the information or they have some kind of genetic cellular memory function."
"Ohhhh okay. So we're fighting flatworms?" Tina joked while handing out the weapons.
That got a few laughs while they continued to make their preparations and assemble their weapons and mix the chemicals.
Upstairs, Leo placed one hand on his bandaged stomach just below his ribs and he placed the other hand on his chest. He took a regular breath and then he took a slow, deep breath. He breathed in slowly through his nose, paused for a second or two, and slowly breathed out through his mouth. Leo did this slowly several times until he had a calming rhythm. As he inhaled, he imagined that the air he was breathing was spreading relaxation and calmness throughout his body while sweeping away the stress of his body. As he repeated his breathing exercises Leo eased his mind into a relaxed level of consciousness. Relaxed but alert. He'd been fighting since the trucks attacked them and he needed to rest and let his body recharge. This building was going to become a battlefield soon and he was going to need all the strength he could muster to win and save his family.
As Leo entered this meditative state he used his internal energy to increase his body's natural healing. It wasn't a perfect solution, it certainly wouldn't heal him all the way before the Brannons arrived, and it certainly wasn't his preferred method compared to an actual hospital but the old military tricks were still handy in a pinch.
In the room next door to him, he could tell Gloria was doing the same as him, even if she was doing so unconsciously. He could only hope she woke up before things got too dicey. They were going to need her.
Everyone prepared. Guns were handed out. The trap was set. They took their positions.
Akio Auger kept her eyes peeled to the window until she finally saw the cannibals marching across the farm. "They're coming!"
They scrambled out of the room and Martha whistled sharply twice. It was time for war.
Thaddeus and his family stopped outside of the Guest House. He stared up at it for a few seconds before he turned to his sons. "They're waiting for us. In all likleyhood they will be armed with every gun they've stolen from us. But it won't save them. We are still going to butcher them regardless. Diablos! I want you to circle around and climb up the back of the house to the back window on the third floor. Dread! You climb up to the roof. Once the fire fight starts, I want you both to break in. We'll catch them by surprise and tear them apart before they know what's happened."
"Yes father!" They agreed simultaneously and embraced their family in the pouring rain.
Pulling apart, Diablos ran around the building to the back and Dread quickly dashed around to the side. He shoved his guns into his pocket and he began climbing up the side of the building, literally digging his hands into the wall with his incredible strength and breaking his feet into the wall to make handholds while his brother did the same around the back.
"Uhhhh hey? Do you guys hear that?" Randi asked the pair in the room with him.
"Yeah it's...behind us." Martha slowly peeked out from around the corner out the window and then she suddenly pulled back and motioned for the others to hide around the corner in the shadows. "He's coming. The metal mask man. He's climbing up the wall!"
"Shit! Shhhiiiit! They can do that now?" Randi whispered.
"It looks like it."
They hugged the walls while he climbed past the window and then Martha ran to the hallway. "Guys! We've got a problem: They can climb walls now!"
"Awww fuck. That's just great." Josephina hissed. "Are they coming up the side?"
"One of them is...I think another might."
Leo looked up at the ceiling. "Considering how strong they are? I believe it. I'm guessing he's going to try and come down through the ceiling. At least one through their and another through a window. Maybe two. It doesn't change the plan we'll just need to be careful."
Outside, Thaddeus grabbed the doorknob and tried to force it open. The door bumped against something and stopped. He tried again. Nothing. "Okay fuck it." Thaddeus reared back and punched the door hard enough to obliterate it and blew the shelf that had been placed in front of it to splinters!
Michelle's eyes widened. "Holy shit that's what you were all fighting?"
"Yeah." Leo growled. "These guys hit hard. Avoid close combat."
Thaddeus Brannon walked into the Guest House drenched head to toe from the rain but his eyes were still blazing with hatred. The first thing they saw however was the pile of farmhand corpses waiting for them. Thaddeus stopped cold for the moment and his sons and the farmhands and crooked police too were mortified by the sight.
Leo kept his eyes trained on the first floor. Step 1: Psychological Warfare.
"Oh fuking hell fathuurr. What thay hell kaand ov psychos do something like this here?" Romulus asked him.
Chunk ran a hand through his hair. "Ay know who weez when ay say this but this here is messed up."
Lonnie, one of the farmhands, took a step back. "I uh, I, mean, do we even have enough ferepowuurr faw these assholes?"
Upstairs the family tensed as they waited for them to make their moves.
"It doesn't matter." Thaddeus growled. "It doesn't change anything. We have work to do." They were on a time limit. They had to finish this quickly. They didn't have time to mess around. "Follow me."
"Uh, sir?"
"They will pay with their blood and we will eat their hearts." He snarled and swatted the corpses out of his way and stomped on the others. "LIVESTOCK!" Thaddeus bellowed up at the third floor loud enough to rattle the windows.
"HEAR ME LIVESTOCK! I AM THADDEUS BRANNON! I AM THE HEAD OF THIS FAMILY AND GOD OF THIS FARM! I AM THE LAW IN THIS ENTIRE FUCKING STATE! YOU HAVE SLAIN MY MEN AND KILLED TWO OF MY SONS! GIVE ME YOURS AND WE WILL MAKE YOUR DEATHS QUICK! YOU HAVE ONE CHANCE BEFORE WE COME UP THERE AND TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"
The response came in the form of Leo simply forming a sniper rifle, stepping forward and firing a focused beam from the barrel at one thousand eight hundred forty and nine hundred nine thousandths miles per hour. Thaddeus saw the sniper rifle though and while he tried to dodge the shot, this instead simply resulted in the beam taking off the upper right side of his head instead of putting a hole through the center of it. The beam kept going and took out a few of the henchmen before continuing on outside and shooting a hole through the ground. Thaddeus fell on his back to the screams of his sons and the shock of their minions.
Thaddeus tried to talk but with half of his brain missing it just came out garbled and incomprehensible. He raised a trembling hand to the missing chunk of his skull while his body frantically tried to regenerate it. A follow up beam took out the upper left chunk while the family flung down their homemade bombs and chemical mixtures on the cannibals, to be followed up with a hailstorm of bullets. Leo gritted his teeth and turned around and raised his rifle towards the ceiling. Now then. Where would the climber break through?
The cannibals were expecting a firefight but they were most certainly not expecting this kind of resistance! Tear Gas, Chloroform Gas, Smoke Bombs, Explosives and Molotov Cocktails were flung down to the first floor with pitch perfect accuracy! The result was a cloud of fire and smoke as the gases from the chemicals mixed together. The madmen coughed and hacked and sneezed and cried out from within the cloud as the flames covered their bodies. The Brannons stumbled through the smoke while their farmhands and crooked cops screamed in pain from the flames as they fell to the ground.
With the first volley a success, Josephina gave them a signal and The Blackburns rose up and began spraying gunfire down to the first floor. The bullets rained down like the pounding rain outside. The farmhands and cops were ripped apart by the hailstorm of bullets but the Brannon Sons remained standing. Even as The Blackburns focused their gunfire on them, they remained standing. The fat one was standing in front of his father with his burning back to the family, using his own body as a human shield to protect his wounded father.
It was noble, Josephina thought to herself. She could understand his feelings and respect why he was doing that but all the same, The Brannons had started this war. Now it was time for The Blackburns to end it.
Chunk coughed and hacked. "Sh-shit! Shiiiit! This here is awful bad! We need-ta get pa out ov here!" He choked out.
His brother tried to say something but his voice only came out as a loose and wet cough, like thick phlemy mucus was sliding up and down his throat with each violent expulsion of air. He instead motioned for him to follow him out. They grabbed their father and ran outside. Bullets tore into Chunk's back until they slipped outside around the corner.
Josephina signaled for them to stop.
Chunk collapsed outside and bent over sharply as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Drops of blood and vomit splattered his lap and knees
to be washed away by the pouring rain while the bullet holes that covered his back bled all over the ground. Whatever was in that cloud was downright nasty! Between the coughing, hacking, wheezing, sneezing and disorientation, it was clear their bodies were trying to fight off something bad.
On the bright side the rain was quickly snuffing out the flames.
By slow, torturous degrees, the coughs eased in intensity and then slowly, slowly passed.
"Ch-Chunk? Chunk are ya are ya alraheet there?" Romulus asked him.
"Ay feel like shit but ay'm alraheet." Chunk groaned as his stomach finally settled and his back pushed out the last of the bullets. His wounds closed back up.
"Oh shit what thay ...err hell were all that there?"
"cRhEmIcAsL." Thaddeus gurgled out while the upperhalf of his head grew back. Blood spurted out of his skull while tissue regenerated. "hOsHeOlUd cHvEmIuCaLs. JtHeNy mUsEtE'V MwXiDe tChEm aLtL ToGhEtHrE WhIlE Ew wEbRjE PrReApInAg." He sat up but his head was still facing down and his body remained slumped over and limp. Like he was a marionette left on a shelf. He slowly moved his legs underneath his body and then he stood up again. His suit was ruined. It was covered in burns, bullet holes rain and mud but Thaddeus was still standing strong regardless. He dusted off his chest. "I underestimated them. I didn't expect a laser beam when I went in there. That's on me. But this time there will be no such surprises." He turned to his two sons and smiled. "Thank you for protecting me my sons. I owe you both a feast when this business is done."
Chunk wiped the rain from his eyes and stood tall with his father. "We love ya Pa."
"We really do father."
"And I love you my sons." He raised his arms and clenched his fists and organic guns grew out of them. Organic replicas of the guns he'd consumed earlier. "Now then. Lets go get some fucking payback."
His sons grinned and followed suit.
Inside the family kept their eyes focused on the doorway while the cloud slowly dispersed. They could now clearly see the bullet ridden burnt bodies of the farmhands and crooked cops. The majority of them were dead on the floor with a few remaining wounded stragglers. Josephina was particularly amused as she saw Officer Broken Nose rolling on the ground in pain coughing and hacking with snot and blood pouring out of his nose. With his legs all shot up he was no longer a threat. The same went for the rest of the wounded. They were in no condition to keep fighting and could be safely disregarded. That meant the family could focus their attention on The Brannons. At the very least they had them bottlenecked at the entrance. If they tried to come through their, the family would light them up again. Even if they did make it to the stairs, The Blackburns had prepared another surprise for them on the way.
They were snapped out of their thoughts as the Guest House started to shake. There was a loud booming sound from the ceiling. It was so loud that they thought it was a thunder clap! The booming sound continued to grow louder and louder and louder as cracks spread around the ceiling! After a brief pause there was one last loud BOOOOOOOOM! and then a twenty foot hole opened up in the ceiling and Dread dropped down with guns growing out of his arms!
Unfortunately for him, his big display just gave away his position so while Dread was dropping down, Leo simply raised his sniper rifle and he fired another energy beam from it that punched a hole right through his head! Metal mask and all!
Diablos' body dropped to the floor unceremoniously with rain pouring down on his body. He had barely hit the floor though before bullets ripped through the rear window! Leo dived out of the way while the family scattered to the right and to the left. Diablos broke into the house and left halfway into the hallway. He landed next to his brother's body and took a moment to check on him.
"Dread? DREAD! DREAD GET UP! DREAD!"
There was no response but for the squishy squelching noise of his head regenerating. He sighed with relief and returned his attention to the family. He walked down the hallway spraying bullets from his arm-guns at the doorways while the family and the civilians crouched down on the floor around the corners while bullets ripped into the rooms. Leo laid on his side and kept his gun pointed at the door. Once he was close enough, Leo pulled the trigger. An energy beam shot through the doorway and shot off the masked madman's feet! "FFFFUUUUUUUUCCCK!" He screamed and fell on his face! Leo slammed the door open and pulled the trigger again and took off his head! He turned around and did the same to the other guy while he was starting to get up. His body collapsed all over again. Leo took a few sharp breaths and then motioned for the others. They followed Leo, surrounded the cannibals and began spraying gunfire into them.
They were soon joined by the rest of the civilians. The Blackburns stepped out of the rooms they'd hid inside of to avoid the gunfire. Josephina looked over the ledge to see the others were now running up the staircase like freightrains! She and Michelle smirked and tossed Molotov Cocktails down on the stairs.
The Brannons had been so blinded by rage they never noticed the alcohol soaked curtains the family had laid on the stairs earlier. Not until the flames ignited the alcohol and caused it to combust!
The Brannons were lit up like a bonfire which was only exasperated by the molotov cocktails thrown down on them. They screamed in shock and recoiled which gave The Blackburns enough time to resume raining bullets down on them.
"Hey! Hey guys!" Leo called to the civilians. "We need more guns over here!"
Half of them split off from the circle of gunfire and ran to the barricade they'd set up and joined the family in raining gunfire down on the Brannons while the rest of them circled around the two on the floor and resumed shooting them. Leo kept his sniper rifle ready and split his attention between the Brannons on the floor and the barricade, ready for whichever group got up first. Just because it looked like they had things up under control didn't mean they were going to drop the guard.
This proved to be the wise decision because Thaddeus was still standing. He shielded his face with his arms and turned his head back to his sons. "Chunk, Rom, I'm going up there. I'll draw their attention. I need you two to go down to the second floor and then break into the third floor. Take them by surprise."
"But father!" They protested.
"Do as I say!" He shouted at them over the roar of gunfire. They immediately obeyed and doubled back down the stairs, still on fire. Thaddeus gritted his teeth. Being set on and surrounded by fire and pumped full of bullets was not a pleasant feeling. But now as not the time to fret over minor injuries. His body would heal regardless of whatever tricks they used. A pity they did possess the same gift. Thaddeus crouched down and jumped off of the burning stairs hard enough to break them apart and flung himself up into the air and over their barricade heedless of the gunfire spraying his body. He raised his arms and pointed them at the family and released the bullets he'd consumed earlier. Gunfire erupted out of his arms and sprayed the area. Randi tackled Martha out of the way of the bullet spray, saving her life but he was still hit by a couple in the leg which went right through them! Akio was hit in the arm and in the stomach. Quiana got out of the way but she was grazed by the bullets. Branden rolled over to a wall and curled up in a ball while the gunfire sprayed the floor around him. Leo managed to dive out of the mad spray of bullets from the burning man though and he raised his gun again. Thaddeus landed in front of his sons and the rain poured down on his burning body and snuffing out the flames. He turned around and pointed his gun arms at the family but Leo was a step ahead of him and he fired a beam through his heart. Thaddeus spat blood out of his mouth and recoiled. Leo quickly followed this up with another blast while the family laid down suppressing fire and the and the civilians ran around them and pulled the wounded to safety.
"Unggh! Owwww wh-what? What just...RANDI!" Martha screamed as she grabbed onto him. "Randi! Oh My God! Oh GOD! Can you hear me? God please stay with me man!"
"GAAAAAAH! MY LEGS! MY LEEEEGS!" He screamed. He gritted his teeth through the pain as he heard her voice and he opened one eye. "M-marth? A-a-are you?"
"Fine...I'm fine. Thanks to you."
"Th-then....worth....it." He smiled briefly and then passed out.
Akio gasped for breath and held her wound with a trembling hand while she was pulled out of there by Whitley.
Quiana rolled along the floor and came to a stop, blood dripping down her right leg. "Ahhhhh shiiiit! This huuurts!"
The others moved in and grabbed her and pulled her back while bullets continued to be pumped into Thaddeus until they ran out of ammo!
"Shit!" Josephina tossed her rifle aside and switched to a shotgun. Michelle slung a rifle from around her shoulder and Alessandro tossed his shotgun aside for twin pistols.
Thaddeus Brannon however....remained standing. He was doubled over with blood pooling on the floor from his bullet ridden flamebroiled hole covered body but he was still standing. He straightened up and smirked at the family. Flesh began covering his wounds once more. "Is that really the best you motherfuckers can do?" He asked as blood gurgled from his mouth.
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Leo changed his rifle into handcannons again and began to squeeze the triggers. That was when the floor underneath them exploded! The family was scattered and thrown into the air as Chunk and Rom broke through it. Leo did manage to pull off the shots but they went wild. Taking chunks off of Thaddeus's shoulders instead of blowing him apart and continuing on to blow apart the far wall like it had been hit by bombs! Thaddeus turned around and stared at the massive hole where the wall used to be. "My word....that would've been a problem." He turned his attention back to his sons. "Well done my sons. Excellent timing." He complimented them as the Blackburns landed hard on the floor.
Chunk beamed with pride at his father's compliment. "Thank you father! Are you alright?"
"Give me a minute and I will be." He took notice of what remained of his suit and sighed. He tore the burnt hole ridden remains and threw them away. "I am going to need a new suit though."
"Uuuuggghhh whaaat happened?" Diablos asked as he stood up. His body pushing bullets out while he finished regenerating. With his face mask removed the family could finally see what was beneath it. A set of elongated razor sharp teeth with an inhumanly large smile.
"It seems we had a little bad luck brother." Dread explained. His face resembled the skull mask he wore but with sharper teeth and exposed gums.
"You're feeling better now. Good. Welcome back my sons." Thaddeus grinned while his body regenerated, closing up the holes and growing his skin back. Chunk and Romulous took his place under the rain while Thaddeus stepped forward and Diablos and Dread stood tall once more. The Brannons stood together now and stared down The Blackburns and their allies.
"We've got wounded. What do we do?" Michelle asked Leonardo.
"Take them into the bedrooms. Tell them to do what they can. This is between families anyways." Leo whispered back.
Josephina raised one hand and motioned towards the bedroom where they'd stashed some of the medical supplies they found. The civilians took the wounded inside.
"Father?" Diablos asked.
"Leave them be for now. We'll kill them after we're done here." Thaddeus explained as his flesh grew back followed by his hair.
The flames that had been licking at Chunk's and Rom's bodies were snuffed out and their flesh began growing back.
The last of Diablos' and Dread's wounds closed up and they stood tall.
"Focus all of your fire on the father. He's the real threat here. The others will be easy pickings when he's dead." Thaddeus informed his sons quietly.
(....is probably what he's thinking.) Leo reasoned. (But the energy blasts should still be enough to blow away any incoming gunfire. I can't fault his strategy however. Because I'm going to be targeting you too Thaddeus. Once I blow you apart I'm sure your family will fall apart with you.)
(A good idea Mr.Blackburn.) Thaddeus complimented internally as he guessed what Leo was planning. (But I'll be prepared and jump in the air to dodge your blasts. I might lose my leg but I can grow those back regardless. But you cannot heal yourself like we can, can you?) Thaddeus smirked. (Go ahead and make your little plans. I'm already prepared.)
While Leo kept his face expressionless he noticed Thaddeus's slight smirk. (You really need to play more poker games motherfucker. I've already guess what you're planning and I'll just aim up at you.)
Diablos did a headcount of the Blackburns. (One. Two. Three. Four....where are the others? There should be another woman, an old man and two kids....so where are they hiding? IN ONE OF THE ROOMS!) He realized and looked at the rooms on either side of them. (But the only ones that haven't been opened yet are on either side of us!) "Father! There are still more of them!"
That was when a door banged open and handfuls of already lit bombs were tossed at them. They caught a brief glimpse of Argos Blackburn and the children before he pulled them backwards around the corner. Rom attempted to open fire on them but then the smoke bombs went off, obscuring their vision and spraying them with tear gas and chloroform gas all over again.
(DAMMIT NOT AGAIN!) "SCATTER!" Thaddeus yelled at his sons. He grabbed Diablos and Dread and leaped backwards with them out of the smoke, over the edge and down to the second floor where he stuck his feet out between the railing and the wall to stop himself from falling down further. He tossed his sons onto the floor.
Chunk and Rom meanwhile dove for the hole in the floor they'd made earlier down to the second floor to escape the smoke cloud. They landed on their feet but they were still left coughing and hacking for a minute.
Speaking of smoke, it was currently traveling upwards from the burning stairs. Leo covered his mouth with one arm and advanced on the stairs and fired a pressure blast down at the flames to snuff them out. It took a lot out of him but it did its job in snuffing out the climbing fire and heat and smoke.
The Blackburns didn't have time to rest though because gunfire began ripping through the floor. The Brannons were concentrating their gunfire on the ceiling above them which happened to also be the third floor! "Doors!" Leo called out to them and the family ran into the various rooms while the hallway was torn up by the gunfire.
Thaddeus motioned for his sons to keep firing while he ran down the hallway, stopped in front of a door, pushed it open and looked up at the ceiling. He smirked. This was where they'd taken their wounded and he had to assume that, if none of them had been hit yet, then at least one of them would be hiding in here. He raised his arm guns to the ceiling.