Tales of the Wastelander Ch. 28 -Teaser (Patreon)

“I need to start doing that more. Trusting my gut,” Yasha said in lament.“It’s never too late to start trusting yourself like that,” her sister told her good-naturedly. The group continued to cut away at the main wall of the barrier, managing their way through it well enough. As they kept going, the men at work found some sort of leather satchel as they passed the halfway mark.“What in the spirits is this?” Snahrk wondered as he hefted the item in his hands.“Might be some hidden swag?” one of the men suggested, eyeing the satchel appraisingly.“Keep working! We’ll look at it on the way out of this place!” Snahrk grumped, tying the satchel to his hip as he kept cutting with his axe.“Boys, we got a Screamer!” one of the men called out as loudly as he dared.“Just one?” one of his friends yelped, trying to keep his voice down.“Yeah!”“Quiet you idiots! Don’t move!” Jarx snapped, hoping and praying that the Screamer would just meander on back the way it came. Everyone did as he said and stood absolutely still, waiting to see what the Screamer would do.Only the mercs who were standing close to the fork in the road saw the creature as it hobbled along. It had noticed their movement and was starting to wander over to where it saw movement. The guard group knew the cat was out of the bag and that they only had one option left. To wait for the beast to come near them so they could kill it with one blow. Missing would cause it to scream and if it did, then all hell would break loose!The Screamer neared the group of mercs, its head swiveling this way and that, looking for the source of movement. The moment it turned away from them, one of the mercs hefted his axe and threw it as hard as he could. The weapon flew true and buried itself in the back of the creature’s head, silencing it instantly.“Damn! That was fucking clo—” the man started to say until an ear-splitting shriek pierced the air.The group winced, then turned and spotted the source of the sound, which was another Screamer, wading out of the forest’s edge. One merc with a bow and arrow aimed at it and let fly, taking it right in the throat, but the damage had already been done. More horrendous screams filled the air, filling the entire mercenary company with fear.“How long do we have?” Jarx called out, knowing there was little point in staying quiet anymore.“Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes if we’re lucky!” the former slaver shouted back.“Get that hole cut! We ain’t dying here!!” Jarx bellowed as the mercenaries all came together, closing ranks around the carts.Not waiting to see how many Screamers they were up against, the group of mercenaries went to work. They cut away the barrier with all due haste, hoping and praying it would be done in time. Just as they were breaking down several boards did an alarm go up.“We got ourselves a proper horde here! Get through the wall! Go, go, go!!” Jarx shouted, urging the group through.