Chapter 8: Barbarians are at the gates, some ors are there, too.

A small rounded object landed next to the bush before exploding spectacularly, ripping most of the foliage from its branches and causing small fires to break out amongst the grass. A hoot of excitement preceded a skinny young man hopping to his feet from behind a depression in the earth a stone’s throw from the bush.

“See, Tabby? Pretty cool, right?” asked Larry, grinning up at her as she left her protective crouch, huge paws still held over rounded tiger ears. “Oh, you can take your hands off, the shows over,” Larry said, reaching up to pull her elbow. The much larger woman gave him a bashful smile as she lowered her arms.

“Hey! You alive? Should we send in Helena?” a man yelled, fifty feet back and hunkered down behind a felled tree and stacked boulders. Still further behind that bunker the top of a white haired woman’s head popped up over several stacked logs and packed earth, concern in her eyes and nervously twitching ears. Her horn gleamed in the sunlight.

She lowered her head immediately as a worried man’s voice raised concern. Next, two black paws reached over the berm followed by wolf ears and red eyes, fire trailing from them.

“Can I come over now? I wanna see the ‘splosion,” Rekka called, clearly frustrated at not being closer to the display. It had taken true actual pleading and begging from Bill to have her back that far in the first place. He’d tucked Helena in with her in case Larry got himself, or more importantly Tabitha blown to pieces. No begging could keep Tabitha away from Larry’s side.

“Hell no! You promised!” Bill yelled back, “Next he’s going to test that stupid gun of his, and we both know how that turned out last time!” He looked back toward Tabitha and a now scowling Larry. “Tabitha, please for God’s sake get away from that madman and his deathwish!” he called.

Bill himself was only this far forward so he could see if there might be any secondary explosions before calling for the medic. Tabitha only shook her head and looked down at Larry, placing her large paw hand on his back.

“My gun is not stupid, you fucking redneck! It’s the most advanced piece of technology this world has ever seen!” He yelled back, incensed. “Now watch this shot,” Larry finished, shouldering his stupid gun and taking aim at a small tree trunk.

Hesitating, he lowered the gun slightly and looked over at Tabby for a moment. “Still, you should move a few feet back and cover your ears ... I only fired this thing a few times before they took it away from me,” He admitted softly, “Just don’t tell Bill.” Again Tabby shook her head, this time with a slight smile.

“No, I trust you,” she responded quietly, her eyes shining with pride for him.

Larry took in a breath to calm himself. He never thought he’d be feeling such concern for someone else’s safety, finding it a deeply unsettling experience. Still, he just had to prove that shithead wrong. The Boomstick Mark I was a thing of beauty and elegance, and he’d shoot Bill next if he didn’t admit it after this display.

“Right. Okay. Here we go,” he said, shouldering the weapon again. He nodded at Tabby as she placed her paw hands over her ears. Sighting down the barrel he pulled the trigger.

With a deafening roar the gun bucked in his hands, slamming into Larry’s shoulder and causing him to take a step back. Tabby reached out to steady him as they beheld the poor tree he’d aimed at. Unlike the muskets most of the smoke did not spew from the end of the barrel, instead venting to the sides through cleverly designed ports. They could easily see the tree with a fist sized hole in one side, looking like someone had taken a large bite out of it. The tree slowly bent to its side before snapping off completely as they watched.

“Dead yet?” Bill called before cautiously poking his head out. Larry didn’t seem to hear him. Turning around he sneered at Bill, shaking his gun over his head like a Tusken Raider.

“You see that shit? Perfect! This world better watch out, the Boomstick Mark I is here!” he yelled.

They yelled back across at each other a few times, clearly not getting their points across until the ringing faded from Larry’s ears.

“I said fire another round off! I want to be sure!” Bill yelled again.

“Fuck you think this is, Russian Roulette?” Larry snapped back.

“Yeah!” Bill responded, ducking back down.

“Fine, asshole!” Larry nodded at Tabby who once again shielded her ears. Pausing a moment he took the time to stuff cotton wadding in his ears, having forgotten it last time in his haste to show off. He pulled the Luger-like slide causing a small cylinder to fly out of the ejection port, not bothering to catch it due to it probably being hot as hell, but minding where it fell. That done, he immediately sighted and fired off another shot, this time having braced himself better for the recoil.

The next tree fared slightly better than the last. Larry’s aim was off and it only blew a small chunk off the side, leaving it standing. It seemed to pull to the right, something he’d like to fix but would just have to compensate for until he found time and tools.

Bill didn’t bother getting back up before shouting, “Another! Stress test that sunovabitch!”

Larry had already removed the cotton so he was hearing well enough to respond. “Fuck you, dude! I’m not made of bullets, and you already threw out my extra powder! I’ve got 3 shots left in this, and only 10 in the box!” he shouted back, already slinging the gun onto his shoulder.

Bill scowled to himself, before looking up as Rekka slid into his foxhole. She grinned at him as she nestled to his side.

“That was kinda neat, huh? Did you see that tree! Boom, then it had a hole in it! An’ he didn’t blow himself up or anything!” she said, clearly impressed.

“I thought you promised to hunker down while he was shooting that thing. God knows how far the shrapnel could fly when that ridiculous hunk of metal explodes,” Bill responded, scratching at her ears while frowning with worry.

“Hey, that’s what Helena is for! I made sure she wasn’t watchin’, so no problem!” Rekka responded cheekily.

Bill just sighed and stood up to look over the berm to make sure Larry wasn’t about to blow up before pulling Rekka to her feet. She was short enough to not see over herself and growled with irritation.

“C’mon, make him do another ‘splosion. I wanna see one of those grr’nades,” she ordered.

Bill looked down at her, the worry clear in his eyes but he admittedly wanted to see one go off himself. Instead of just hearing it and waiting for the gurgling screams from Larry. Taking in a breath and blowing it out he finally nodded. “Okay, but when I yell duck you duck, alright?”

“Yep! This is gonna be so awesome!” she declared, pulling herself up to see the action.

“Yo, Larry! One more grenade. Don’t screw it up! You’ve got an audience now,” Bill called, glaring menacingly at Larry before pointedly nodding down at a captivated Rekka.

“Hey, no problem. These are goddamn foolproof, and kinda lame. Wait until I make the next ones! Then you’ll see some serious shit!” he shouted before laughing slightly maniacally, and nodding once again at Tabby to cover her ears. Bill’s hands did the same for Rekka as he stared grimly down the field.

Lighting the fuse from the torch stuck into the earth beside him, Larry immediately threw the grenade as far as he could before crouching down a bit next to Tabitha. Bill had to admit the skinny little wimp could throw, and the grenade sailed safely away to land among the still smoking bushes. Once again it exploded, shrapnel tearing apart the nearby branches and small fires breaking out in any dry grass around it.

Larry stood up and turned around to grin back at Bill and Rekka, waiting for the applause. Rekka tilted her head to the side and called over.

“That it? It ain’t as good as I thought it’d be,” she called over.

“What? Dammit, this is the most advanced warfare the world has ever seen, be amazed!” Larry snapped, shouldering his gun. With Tabitha’s assistance he scrambled up the slight depression and walked over to Bill’s foxhole.

“Pfft. Wait until you see an angry dragon, now that’s impressive. Thought it’d be somethin’ like that,” Rekka said, disappointed. “Your metal thingy is neat, though. I bet that’ll go through one of them stupid knights pretty good,” she said, clearly anticipating seeing just that.

“Wait, dragons? For real?” Larry asked, scanning the sky before looking at Bill for confirmation.

“Yeah, clear as I can tell there’s just about any “mythical” creature we can think of around here. Pretty cool, huh?” Bill explained, excited by the prospect and eager to sightsee.

Larry clearly didn’t share the sentiment, suddenly closing his eyes before muttering, “There’s no place like home...”

“Fuck that, and fuck Kansas. I see any ruby slippers I’ll shove them up old Ozzy’s ass,” Bill stated, completely serious as he looked over at Rekka. She just grinned at him, not terribly interested in whatever pop culture he was going on about but happy to know he was completely onboard sticking with her.

“You need to get over that, and soon. You really gonna leave all this behind? You going to leave Tabitha behind?” he asked, lowering his voice as Tabitha wandered over carrying the crate of grenades on her shoulder.

“Fuck dude, this sucks,” Larry said, hanging his head. He was torn, and miserable for it.

“Figure your shit out. Hell, getting home might be impossible anyway. I almost hope it is, but I’d like to find out just the same,” Bill whispered.

Larry looked up, curious about that, but didn’t want to continue the conversation with Tabby standing over him. She looked down with such love in her eyes and he felt his chest tighten. Confused feelings welled up in him as he did his best to smile up at her. The purr he loved so much started up, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat. He quickly grabbed her paw in his and they began walking back to the carriage.

Suddenly a cry came from the farthest bunker. “Hello? Is no one injured? May I come out now?” Helena’s musical voice queried. Felix’s head could be seen peering over the top of the bunker at them, clearly not comfortable letting Helena follow suit.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about them,” Bill said before yelling back, “Yeah, it’s all clear. Y’all can come out! Rekka will be right there to help!” He nodded at Rekka and shrugged. She smirked back and trotted over to help Felix push Helena up and out. Bill had no intention of assisting. After Rekka had explained unicorn physiology he had absolutely no idea where he could grab the woman without causing offense.

Once Helena had been extricated from the bunker the group met up around the carriage for a discussion.

“That went better than expected. Nobody died, Tabitha wasn’t hurt. Unfortunately Larry remains with us, but what can ya do,” Bill began, winking up at Tabitha to show he was only kidding. “I suppose we can trust the gun and the dinky grenades a bit. Still, never fire that thing standing next to Rekka or we’ll have words,” he said, his last statement lost his usual brashness, the sober tone communicating to Larry how important her safety meant to him. Larry nodded slowly, unexpectedly understanding how Bill felt. Bill returned the nod, pleased that Larry was treating this seriously as he resumed speaking.

“Hate to say it but I’m impressed. You made one hell of a cannon there, Larry. Be proud. Tabitha, you be proud of him, that thing is a marvel of engineering the likes of which this world has never seen, and I honestly cannot comprehend how he was able to do it. I’m sure Larry has many more advancements he’ll amaze us with down the road,” he finished, brow raised at Larry questionably.

Larry stared right back before lowering his eyes and fiddling with the Boomstick for a moment.

“Yeah, I’ve got some ideas. I’ll need a workshop, tools, and some competent assistants for a start,” he finally admitted, still not completely coming to terms with his predicament, but getting there.

Bill nodded a moment, then seemed to remember something, he turned and jogged over to his purse, digging through it. Finding what he was after he walked back over to Larry and presented him with the multi-tool. Larry snatched it out of his hands like a hungry wolf.

“My God. You had this the whole time? This is hardened tool steel, precise ... So goddamn precise! I’m keeping this, fight me for it,” Larry said defiantly, holding the little tool to his chest.

Bill laughed, holding his hands up and backing away. “All yours man, that cannon and whatever else you plan to make are probably the only things worthy of it in the world. Enjoy, I’m glad it found a home,” he said, shaking his head with amusement as Larry brushed his fingers lovingly over the unfolded multi-tool.

Felix was clearly curious about the little tool, asking, “What is that? It looks very well made.”

“That is just a taste of what we have back home. Machine tooled precision. Hardened steel, you’d have to try very hard to break that thing. And it’s just something you stick in your pocket to use on run of the mill tasks. I mean no disrespect,” he nodded at Helena now, “but your people could not possibly equal it’s quality.”

“Fuck no they couldn’t, the tools I spent months making, using tools a blacksmith had on hand? God damn. Those tools I made were barely sufficient to make the actual tools I needed to make the Boomsticks,” Larry explained, still marveling over his new toy. Continuing he said, “Those tools? Not even close to how well made and useful this thing is going to be. It’s going to take me years to be somewhat satisfied with a workshop here.”

Larry was so caught up in the tool he did not notice as Tabitha’s chest swelled, breaking into a smile. Her tail twitched and waved behind her as she gazed down at him, believing now that he planned to stay, if only long enough to get his workshop running.

Bill’s heart went out to her then. He was going to seriously beat the tar out of Larry before the man left, if he decided to. Shrugging, he hoped it wouldn’t come to that, and figured it probably wouldn’t the more time Larry spent with Tabitha in any case.

“Moving on. Felix. How far would you say we’re from the quarry?” he asked, looking over at the man.

“Oh. I’m not sure, I’ve only guarded the returning wagons once. Normally I had garrison duty, or close patrol. I can’t be certain but with the time we’ve been traveling I’d say we’re only a few hours away by foot,” he explained, gazing down the road before shrugging at Bill.

“Hmm, good enough. Time to do some scouting,” Bill replied, waving his hand in front of Larry to get his attention.

“What do you suppose those lanterns are, some kind of spotlight?” Larry asked, peering through the scrub brush he was hidden in.

He and Bill were prone on a hill overlooking the quarry, watching as the denizens went about their day. Tabitha was prowling somewhere to their rear, well out of range so as to put any Huntstone users at ease, but close enough to provide aid if the men ran into trouble.

Rekka had stayed with Felix and Helena to make sure no passing mamono decided to have their way with Felix. Coincidentally keeping Rekka out of harm’s way herself. Making the decisions came with perks, and Bill abused his power shamelessly.

Looking over the quarry they could see the place was far more fortified than the prison, ironically. The walls here were complete and looked as though they had seen much wear and tear. Scorch marks and scored masonry spoke of past battles.

Despite this the guards on the wall did not seem particularly wary, and the entire operation gave off a much more lenient civilian atmosphere. One of the guards was currently sitting between two merlons with his legs hanging over the drop, eating his lunch. Another was carrying on a half shouted conversation with someone below and out of sight.

The two “lanterns” were spaced evenly apart along the main wall on either side of the front gate. Even in daylight they gave off a visible white light, pulsing regularly in concert for no apparent reason.

What they could see of the inner compound was a hive of activity. Most of it was taken up with the actual quarry. Sunken steps with the far wall melding into the side of the hill and filled with half-chiseled blocks and rudimentary machinery. The north side of the quarry served as a natural barrier to attack, the sheer cliff keeping all but the most tenacious mamono from attacking. Two raised stone towers served as a line of defense there, manned by archers.

The inner buildings were also stone, well built and low to the ground. The place was the size of a decently large town. Stables, some kind of inn or tavern, and housing for the workers and guards. Several smaller houses were likely for those higher up on the food chain. Another structure placed conspicuously farther away from the others was built far more sturdily, but also sported a light wooden roof. Larry had reckoned this was where they kept or manufactured the black powder.

Finally answering Larry’s question BIll said, “Nah, look at them. That’s not flame, and we both know these guys ain’t discovered electricity. I’m betting those are like my Huntstone. Some kind of early warning system for mamono,” Bill replied, staring down at the compound. He continued, “I’m not certain why they pulse like that, I have to point mine around to find anyone.”

“Hmm, they probably pulse faster the closer the uh, mamono’s come to the walls,” Larry guessed.

“Not a bad idea. And it’s just mamono,” Bill corrected before asking, “Can you see Tabitha out there at all?”

“Hell no, Tabby’s a damn ninja. I’m sure she can see us just fine, though,” Larry replied, scanning the area behind them.

“Wave her over if you can. Be ready to stop her though,” Bill requested, staring at the lights.

Larry nodded, turning around to wave at the area to their rear. He wasn’t surprised when Tabitha seemed to materialize out of a patch of grass he was certain he’d stick out of like a sore thumb. She sprinted towards them at incredible speed and Larry smiled viciously with pride.

Bill watched the lights, which began to pulse quicker in concert. The guards immediately took notice, reaching hastily for weapons and scanning over the walls in all directions.

“Alright, send her back,” Bill said with a wave, now barely peeking over the hill.

Larry waved her back frantically, and Tabitha stopped on a dime, turning back to her hiding spot and disappearing from sight.

The lights returned to their previous slow strobing, and the guards calmed down a bit, a few still anxiously scanning about. A few minutes passed and the guards returned to their usual bored slacking.

“Yep, good thinking, seems to be exactly how they work. It’d be a real bitch for mamono to sneak up on this place,” Bill said, before an evil grin spread across his face.

“Course, they never banked on a couple of fools like us.”

“Alright, I have a plan,” Larry stated.

They were back at the campsite, roughly a half mile from the quarry town. The horses and carriage were hidden by a screen of trees from the road where Rekka, Tabitha, Felix and Helena waited attentively.

Rekka had a pleased look on her face that the plan was not coming from Bill this time. Tabitha’s tail waved lazily through the air, so she may have been relieved as well.

“Scratch that, Bill has a plan. He just wanted me to say that for some reason,” Larry said, looking at Bill with a raised eyebrow.

Tabitha and Rekka both let out sighs while Felix and Helena shared a worried look.

“Dammit, dude. Now they’re going to take some convincing. At least tell them you approved the plan,” Bill demanded, glaring at Larry.

“I wouldn’t say approve ... It’s not a bad plan. Not a great plan. Not even a good plan. It’s certainly a plan, though,” Larry admitted.

“See? Our resident genius couldn’t think of a better plan and stamped it with his seal of approval,” Bill said, clapping Larry on the back and nearly knocking him over.

“Sounds more like you’re ‘bout to get us in a fight again, husband,” Rekka said, her tone not displeased. Rekka liked fighting, though she preferred Bill stay out of it.

“Well, probably. I mean, hell, it’s pretty much certain. That’s a big part of the plan, in fact,” Bill replied. “Still, there is some finesse involved, a little more trickery than stealth this time.”

Rekka and Tabitha shared that look again, and shortly after Tabitha nodded her acquiescence. She immediately crossed to Larry and wrapped him in her huge paws.

“Don’t worry Tabby, they haven’t seen anything like my Boomstick before, I’m betting they fall over and start worshipping me as a God as soon as I show them how it works,” Larry said, running his hands through the silken fur of her paws.

Bill grinned at Rekka and held his palms up in question. Rekka simply shrugged and grabbed his hands in her paws before pulling him in for a long passionate kiss.

“If you get hurt I’m gonna kick yer ass, husband,” She stated after pulling away after a few moments.

“Good enough! The plan is a go!” Bill stated, rubbing Rekka’s back and smiling at his captive audience.

“Excuse me, don’t we get any say in this plan?” Felix asked suddenly.

“Hell no, you don’t get a vote until you survive at least one of my stupid plans or escapades, check your contract,” Bill replied, grinning down at Rekka.

“Well, ridiculous as that sounds it does seem fair ... what exactly is your plan?” Felix asked, a worried look on his face.

“First off, we’re going to need an army.”

“How do you know you’re using that thing right? It’s fucking magic,” Larry questioned as they trooped along the deer trail deeper into the forest, Bill waving the Huntstone around in front of him.

“Because I’m a natural when it comes to this hocus pocus crap,” Bill retorted, smirking at his pilfered Huntstone.

Larry coughed suddenly, sounding suspiciously like “Bullshit.” Bill simply scratched at his temple a moment with his middle finger.

“Anyway, why’d we have to take everyone with us?” Larry asked, looking pointedly at Felix and Helena.

The two seemed to be having trouble walking along the small path while holding hands, but they did not seem comfortable being out of each other’s reach.

“Cause if we left them alone Felix would probably get dragged off by some mamono and be ravished, Larry. We went over this, we have to babysit him until we’re sure he’s not going to end up ruining our healer,” Bill replied. “You never play DnD? Always protect the healer and never split the party,” he finished.

“Huh, wouldn’t have pinned you for a DnD geek,” Larry said, a mocking smile on his face.

Bill simply shrugged, saying, “What can I say, I’m a complex man. Plus it’s more fun than poker and you can drink budweiser while fighting dragons.” Larry sighed at the mention of beer.

“You fought a dragon, husband? Wow! That ain’t easy, they’re real tough,” Rekka exclaimed, beaming up at Bill.

“Damn right, never mess with barbarians,” Bill replied, puffing up with false pride.

“Now, what we have here is your standard adventuring party,” Bill stated pointing at everyone in turn, “Tabitha’s the tank, Rekka’s the DPS, and Helena’s the healer. You with your stupid boomstick are the wizard, and Felix is the useless NPC porter.”

“Huh, wizard. I like that ... and don’t call the Boomstick Mark I stupid,” Larry muttered. “And what does that make you then, huh?”

“Me? I’m the plucky comic relief,” Bill replied, sharing a grin with Rekka.

“So you’re kind of like our mascot, sure. Don’t split the party, huh? Then why’d we leave them behind to check out the town?” Larry asked, gaze still fixated with avarice on the glowing crystal.

“That was scouting, it’s completely different than splitting the party. Besides, Rekka was watching the dependents. There’s no better guardian than her, trust me on that. I needed you there because I’m pretty sure I can outrun you if we got attacked,” Bill replied, waving the Huntstone about and making satisfied sounds.

“Whatever, man. I’d kneecap you and leave you to the friendly natives. Just let me see that thing before you get us all lost,” Larry said, slinging his ridiculous cannon over his shoulder and reaching for the Huntstone. Bill handed it over, still confident they were heading in the right direction. Larry looked it over for a few seconds, figuring out its workings fairly quickly.

“Huh, no surprise here. You have this thing set at about a kilometer. We’ll be searching these woods for days,” Larry said as he clicked the silver dial down to a much lower setting. Immediately the Huntstone lit up as bright as Bill had ever seen it.

The wind took that moment to shift, blowing into their faces. Tabitha’s tail puffed up as she stared into the surrounding trees, Larry taking notice and grimly unslinging his gun now expecting trouble. Rekka simply chuckled and stared into several conspicuous bushes.

“Whoa, anyone smell bacon?” Bill asked, his stomach growling.

The bushes around them rustled and out popped several women. They were doing their best to dress like Mad Max extras; all leather, buckles, and exposed skin. If this world had cars they would undoubtedly be wearing tire tread shoulderpads.

It didn’t escape Bill that they were well armed, mostly large stone hammers and the occasional jagged stone-tipped spear. Glancing down at the smirking Rekka he decided they probably weren’t in much danger, but he wasn’t going to rule it out. He knew Rekka didn’t worry much about losing a fight.

Stepping forward with his hands raised to show he was unarmed, Bill took a closer look at the mamono. They looked remarkably human, although they were each plumply curved and well endowed. The only truly odd thing about them seemed to be their ears. Large floppy pink ears folded over from the sides of their heads.

Something about their mannerisms bugged him. They looked decked out for a fight and yet they were fairly timid and unsure despite the fact that they outnumbered the group nearly three to one.

“Ladies, hello. I think you’re just who we were looking for,” Bill said with as much charm and confidence he could muster while surrounded by armed babes straight out of Heavy Metal magazine.

“Why are you looking for us?” the closest one asked, stepping up to Bill and lowering her weapon. Abruptly the woman made an odd noise, completely derailing his train of thought.

“Wha... ? Did she just oink?” Bill asked, turning to look at Rekka questioningly. The strangely porcine mamono took the opportunity to pinch his butt, causing him to jump back a bit.

Rekka just laughed and nodded, moving beside Bill and gently pushing the larger woman back.

“Sorry sister, he’s mine. Go find your own before I find out if you taste as good as you smell,” Rekka stated, her playful tone carrying a steely hint she wouldn’t abide any further poaching. Bill gingerly moved behind Rekka for protection.

“Okay. What about the little one?” Mrs. Piggy asked, unperturbed. Another woman from the back of the pack called out, “Ask about the pretty one!”

“Hey! I’m not that small,” Larry snapped, before a concerned look crossed his face. “Hey, who’s the pretty one? Felix? This is bullshit...” Tabitha simply chuffed and hooked her tail around his waist, placing her paws on his shoulders possessively.

“Wait, pretty? Me?” Felix asked, confused. Helena blushed and shuffled closer to him.

Bill only chuckled, shaking his head before saying, “Sorry ladies, we’re all accounted for. Don’t worry, though. I think we can help each other and come to a mutually satisfactory arrangement.”

There were concerned muttering and outraged oinks from the assembled women, with some disagreement about the meaning of mutually, before the lead woman spoke up, “Why? If you’re not here to mate or fight, then why did you come?”

“Well, I’d like to explain that to your leader first. Unless you’re it, of course,” Bill replied.

At his question all the women appeared downcast, shuffling their feet and letting out mournful oinks.

“Our leader was hurt. Hurt bad fighting men at the stone place. Maybe dying,” she said finally.

“Oh! If someone is injured, please take me to them, perhaps I can be of help,” Helena spoke up, moving forward with Felix at her side.

“How would you help?” the pig woman replied, giving her a skeptical look.

“She’s a unicorn, stupid! Just look at her, she can heal! With magic!” Rekka snapped, indignant.

Bill patted Rekka on the back, trying to hide his grin. Clearly she was protective of the pretty little healer.

“That’s right, if anything can be done Helena here will be the one to do it,” Bill said, happy to help but happier still to have some leverage over the next step of the plan.

“Please! Follow us back to camp. No time to waste!” she pleaded, another oink squeaking out her distress.

“Lead the way, we’ll follow,” Bill replied, waving her on.

The entire squad turned as one and began jogging down the deer trail, oinking their excitement.