CJ dodged under another lunge from the big Cicada. He pulled mana filament wire taught as it buzzed around the tree, diving at him once more. Its pincers flared out expecting to sink into some nice flesh before they met the barest of resistance. CJ felt the weight of the creature as the wire almost imperceptibly flared with his mana. The two halves of the bug flopped to either side of CJ, still twitching. He released the tab in his left hand and allowed the wire to retract back into his right thumb ring. Then he turned back to his companions holding his index finger up to his lips.

  New Message from Theo: That was awesome!

  New Message from Elena: He’s just showing off. Next one’s mine.

  New Message from Party Leader CJ: Pay attention, we don’t know if that thing set off some kind of bug alarm.

  CJ squatted in the grass and small brush. He’d gotten some bug ichor on him as he cut it in half. After a good few minutes of wiping off his clothes he looked up to see Monty. The bunny was standing between two bushes. He kept trying to walk forward and then immediately hopped back.

  “What’s wrong?” CJ whispered, knowing full well he should use the party chat.

  New Message from Monty: You need to see this. It shouldn’t be here, but it is.

  With that CJ, stood up and waived at the others to stay down. He crept over to Monty’s position and just waited for the contemplative rabbit to say something.

  “Just step forward, you’ll see.”

  He did so immediately receiving a shocking prompt. It spun his mind off in random directions as he crossed his own arms and tried to think of the implications.

  Warning: You are entering a high density zone of corrupt mana. Evey hour spent within the zone will cost one health point. Damage greater than your total health will result in random mutation to the point you will no longer be classified as- Human.

  “Does that mean what I think it means?” CJ asked Monty.

  “It means there is a corrupted mana font within this forest. It’s corrupted bad enough the Slates need to warn us.”

  “Why were you stepping in and out of the warning area?”

  “I wanted to see if this was a hard edge or a curve. Good news, it’s a curve.”

  “What does that mean? This time take me through your whole thought process, so we don’t have to go back and forth.”

  “Well forgive me for trying to teach the big man something. The curve means we are at the very outer edges of it. So far out in fact it’s not the full boundary.” Monty began explaining really slowly like he was talking to a child, before moving off in a direction behind CJ. “That’s good because we want to go this way. It will take us away from the highly corrupted mana that will kill us if we spend too much time in it. You and I would most likely be fine with our regeneration. The others, not so much.”

  “So, what’s the problem?” Asked CJ, he then beckoned for the others to start following again. “Let’s just go the way you pointed that leads away.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “The bug you just killed came from the corrupted zone. That is a good indicator that the nest is in there.” Monty then performed his characteristic wiping his paw over the top of his head and back down over his ears before they shot back up. “With that much corrupted mana, they’d just keep evolving into different forms. Imagine an army of those things Roger hit with the Escalade.”

  “Fuck!” complained CJ before the sound of rhythmic thrumming could be heard. “Crap, another one.”

  As CJ crouched down in preparation to slice up another bug, the Cicada landed on the trunk of a nearby tree. The tree itself had moss aggressively covering its truck and the oversized insect didn’t manage to gain purchase efficiently. CJ turned in that direction ready to dodge just before Elena sped forward, chainsaw raised. She slammed into the bug with the flat of the blade and engine portion of the chainsaw. These Cicada’s were about the size of dogs, and she splattered it against the tree with a meaty crunch. Her weapon of choice coupled with her strength forcing all the innards to burst forth from the creature.

  New Message from Elena: See, you can be stealthy with a chainsaw.

  New Message from Party Leader CJ: Well-done. Let’s get moving.

  New Message from Marty: How strong is she? That was crazy.

  New Message from Party Leader CJ: Wait till you see the crotch saw.

  New Message from Jenn: Hey, no giving away secret techniques.

  New Message from Marty: Gods no! I didn’t want to know that existed, never mind seeing it.

  New Message from Elena: Mind your P’s and Q’s and it won’t be an issue.

  New Message from Marty: Message received.

  New Message from Party Leader CJ: Shit, Rubio was right. Too much chatter.

  They all continued to follow Monty. No more monstrous incidents occurred over the next hour. Until they reached a point where the trees had been marred by gunfire and corpses lay strewn around. There were Cicada bodies all dried out and filled with bullet holes. The human bodies were another matter. Some had bullet holes in them while others looked like they were burnt badly. Several of bodies all wore the same uniform.

  Upon recognizing the insignia on the uniforms, Marty hauled off and kicked one before spitting on the corpse. The look on Theo’s face was pure unadulterated hatred as he looked down at the bodies.

  “What’s that all about?” asked CJ turning toward the pair.

  “Fucking Flaming Pitchfork assholes!” exclaimed Marty, hands balled into fists. “That’s what. These guys led several raids on the survivors around Atlantic City. How have you not run into them this whole time?”

  CJ looked over at Elena and Jenn. Elena just shrugged and began collecting any dropped firearms before checking them for ammo. Jenn just shook her head.

  CJ was getting a bad feeling. He could almost recognize the area they were in now and the Reservoir wasn’t far off. Stepping around the bodies, he wondered if Tommy and Redmond were alright. Even going as far as thinking these guys may have tried to raid Skippers little oasis in the apocalypse. Looking down he noticed one of the body’s uniforms was mostly intact. Some singe marks on the back but CJ could work with that. Might come in handy for infiltration someday. He pulled the shirt off the man before getting a slate notification.

  New Item: Flaming Pitchfork Padded Shirt/ Uncommon Cloth Armor- This uniform was crafted by Cynthia Redmond and affords the wearer the following bonuses: 5% reduction from Blunt, Slashing, and Piercing damage.

  “Fuck.” Said CJ as he stood there holding the shirt.

  Everyone in the party slowly turned their heads and looked at him. Monty looked over at him with confusion. Elena and Jenn stopped divvying up spare ammo from the fallen. Marty and Theo just watched waiting to hear what CJ had to say.

  CJ didn’t know the best way to break it to everyone that they were going to the Flaming Pitchfork stronghold. He didn’t understand. They didn’t have uniforms when he was with them, and they weren’t called the Flaming Pitchforks. Where did they even get that name? He decided to explain everything he had just learned to the team. Just not right in the middle of a battlefield.

  “I’ll tell you everything, let’s just get away from here first.” Gesturing to the party to follow him off of the trail. “It’s almost noon so let’s find a shady spot to eat, sit down, and talk.”