3. Saint-Neumann

Date: July 13th, 1897, "Saint-Neumann Incident"

To be frank, it was a massacre. Mason's machine gun tore through a majority of the Werebats like tissue paper, but some of them dodged the hail of led. Jacob, with his Carcano, was able to land 2 shots on two Werebats, before Christopher slam-fired 3 rounds into one attempting to pounce on him. Vincent gave Christopher cover as he reloaded his shotgun, holding off Werebats with his Winchester Repeater. His 15-round magazine was able to hold off the horde well, until Christopher finished reloading. Jacob landed a few more hits on more Werebats, as he ran out of ammo. There was a ping as the last shell was ejected, but he loaded in a fresh clip of ammunition swiftly. The Dragon they heard earlier recognised Jacob charged, and shoulder bashed him in the air. He flew around 3 feet backwards, then landing on his back. He swiped out his sawed-off shotgun from it's holster, and blasts the Dragon with buckshot at point blank range. While their scales did a good job of resisting the shell, it blasted off their right forearm. The Dragon was stunned, and it allowed Christopher to empty a shotgun shell into their head, which popped it like a watermelon.
"Up on your feet, Private!" Christopher exclaimed, grabbing hold of Jacob's hand and hauling him up on his feet. The horde was gone, for now. But if that much monster girls showed up, there was bound to be more.
"We have to keep moving!" Mason exclaimed, cocking his machine gun. They ran down the hallway, looting some more stores and vendors. They were really looking for weapons and ammunition; they were burning through it like fire does a match. They were still not out of the station, though.
"I used to live here, you know." Vincent called out, loading some rounds into his Repeater.
"Uh-huh...and what will that get us?" Jacob responded, clutching his Carcano rifle.
"I'll cut to the chase...there's a local gunsmith in town, their work is renowned internationally." Vincent explained, looking to Christopher.
"Bervone and Silane, they're shops a mile out from the station exit." Vincent continued, looking forward. Well, that was a start. If their work was internationally renowned, they could get some real firepower on their hands. The likes of the Mauser C96, the Winchester Automatic Shotgun, and much more could all be in their hands. That is, if they could make it past the Hellhounds.

After a good hour of walking, the group made it out of the station, hopping down the stairs and onto the brick street. It was just empty. Street lamps buzzing, horse carriages empty, and even some gutted horses laying on the streets. Vincent, being only 19, nearly threw up at the sight of a horse gutted like a fish. Christopher provided support, slinging Vincent's left arm over his shoulder.
"I'm...eugh...fine..." Vincent declared, holding onto his Repeater. A realization soon swept over all those faces that somebody had to do that killing. Nobody who owned a horse would kill them that brutally, lest leave them in the street to rot.
"Do we even have enough ammo to hold off another horde?" Mason inquired, looking worried. They only had enough ammunition to hold off only around 300 more monster girls respectively, so that gunsmith shop had to be near, lest their pelvises be in danger.
"C'mon...we gotta haul ass." Jacob ordered, now running down the street. His group followed, and turned a corner. The Hellhounds spying on them at the station entrance sprung into action, audibly jumping in the empty street behind them. This made the group stop in their tracks, and turn around. The Hellhound's eyes flared up with lust and flame, as they watched the fairly burly soldiers turn around.
"We've been looking for you~..." One Hellhound declared, looking at Jacob. Jacob didn't respond, but only aimed his Carcano rifle at the speaking Hellhound. The respective one he aimed at looked fairly spooked, staring down the rifle of a modern firearm. News of the peasant's magic muskets spread quickly, though both Mamono and Order controlled lands.
"Now...we can go our separate ways...and we can forget about this." Jacob ordered, stepping back.
"I won't forget your scent for a long time..." Another Hellhound declared, speaking up. They then proceeded to do a deep sniff, inhaling and exhaling. It appeared to be exciting for them, which was alarming to Jacob.
"...future husband!" They exclaimed, opening their arms and jumping forward, diving to grapple jacob. Jacob didn't waste a single second, and fired a round into the Hellhound's head. It made it pop like a watermelon, and they fell to the ground in front of him.

"RUN!" Jacob ordered, turning around and sprinting as fast as his equipment-burdened legs could carry him. The group obeyed his command, and they sprinted with him.
"UP ON THE ROOFS!" Christopher ordered, pointing at an alley with a ladder scaling the side of a building. What Christopher was implying is to climb up to the roofs, where they would attract the attention of other humans. They sprinted into the alley, having Mason climb up the ladder first, as he could put more lead out the fastest. Christopher and Jacob held off the Hellhounds, also holding off some miscellaneous monster girls. Their ammunition was burning through quickly, and they were only able to put lead on target a few more times before they had to use bayonets. It was in the nick of time, however. Mason and Vincent had finished climbing up, and Christopher, all out of ammo, rushed to get up on the ladder next. Jacob had the most ammo left, around 10 more shots in all. He emptied 3 rounds into separate monster girls, then rushing to get up the ladder. He scaled it like a gecko, climbing up like his life depended on it. Jacob kicks off the screws bolting the upper part of the walls, and kicked it, causing the upper-part of the ladder to keel over. They ran to the other side of the roof, looking over the edge. They finally spotted their destination, the Bervone and Silane shop and office.
"There!" Vincent screamed, pointing at edge of the sign. The Hellhounds scaled the walls with ease, and leaped over the edge of the roof behind them, landing gracefully on their paws.
"JUMP!" Mason screamed, leaping to the roof of the gunsmith office. They all followed, besides Jacob, who shot one more Hellhound. He fired his final round, hearing the signature ping. He leaped off too, falling to the gunsmith's roof. Jacob fell through the plaster and concrete roof, his 215 pound body crashing through it. He fell onto the floor hard, having the air knocked out of him and being nearly knocked out. He flipped on his side, seeing a pair of legs walking towards him. Those weren't monster girl legs, they appeared to be wearing quite expensive, yet dirtied pants with dress shoes.
"Bervone, we got another one!" The man called out, yelling to another person.
"That's great...one more mouth to feed!" Another men yelled back.
"Bervone, don't be like that! They were escaping the same women we were!" The man yelled back.
"Silane, we're running out of food and water! We can't keep 'em long!" The man yelled in response. The man in front of him lifted him up, and perched him up on a chair.

The man who propped him up had a navy blue stud hat, with a fairly fancy suit jacket and ghost white blouse under it, with a crimson red tie. They had some blood stains across their clothing, and their thick mustache looked a bit ruffled. They had a heavy chin, with soft cheeks and a fairly long nose, with a heavy bump to boot. Their bright emerald green eyes complimented his nice and caring nature a bit too perfectly.
"Are you alright, stranger?" Silane asked Jacob, looking worried.
"I just hit my back...I'm fine..." Jacob responded, feeling the lower end of his back. It was aching, he did just crash through a plaster and concrete roof after all. The man checked up on his injuries, only noting a cut on his right calve.
"You just need some rest and a bowl of soup, and you should be a-okay!" Silane declared, hauling Jacob up to his feet. Jacob was in a backroom of sorts, a warm lantern radiating heat and red-yellow light in the opposite end of the room. It felt like home, for him. His comrades were in the front of him at the other end of the room, sitting around a circular table and drinking some beers. Jacob strolled to the other end of the room, his boots thumping against the hardwood floor. He snagged an open seat at the table, slipping on it and sitting down.
"Jesus Jack, we thought you feckin' died." Mason told him, taking a sip from his beer. Jacob did a quick snicker at the declaration, then snagging a beer from an ice-box beneath the table. He flicked of the cap, and took a sip. As bitter as always, but refreshing nonetheless.
"I die when I say I do!" Jacob retorted, taking another deep sip of his beer.
"So, uh...what's drivin' you troops here?" Bervone asked them, tapping his foot.
"We need ammunition." Mason answered bluntly, eating another spoonful of soup.
"Why's that? You all armories on your backs." Bervone responded, placing his hand on the wall next to him.
"Didn't you hear our train pull into the station?" Mason asked, raising a brow.
"Wait, that train's yours?" Bervone asked, pointing to the train's general direction behind him.
"Yes." Jacob answered, putting down his beer.
"Well...we would come with you boys, but...this shop is our lives." Silane interjected.
"We just need the ammo and we'll leave." Vincent declared, cracking his fingers.
"With all the firearms you boys have, we'll be outta stock! And we have to protect ourselves too!" Bervone objected, sounding a bit angry.

"Bervone...we can have them get the brass and powder shipment." Silane suggested.
"Brass and...what now?" Jacob asked, looking a bit confused. But that was probably still the daze of the fall earlier.
"Brass and powder. It's how we make bullets." Silane explained, scratching his head.
"There's a shipment of that stuck in the streets out there. Get that, and we might lend you the ammo." Bervone bluntly offered, adjusting his bandolier.
Jacob considered his options. On the other hand, there were rape machines out there that would eat up his ammo harder than he did that stew. Well, they needed that ammo. The train had more ammo, but that was probably being used up by the remaining troops on there. So, Jacob finally spoke up.
"We'll do your job." Jacob answered, standing up, and gripping his rifle. Mason and Christopher looked at him like he was insane.
"Jack, are you crazy?!" Christopher yelled, bolting up.
"We need the ammunition!" Jacob yelled back.
"Jack...you...ugh, fine!" Christopher responded, reluctantly gripping his shotgun. Mason and Vincent both stood up, dusting off their firearms. Their expressions told that they were excited for action.
"Now...we'll set you up for ammo to get you on your way." Bervone continued, walking into the lobby of the store. They all followed, and saw the interior. It was quite grand, with victorian-esque red and gold wallpaper, polished spruce floors, and a marble ceiling. Behind the counter, there were gun accessories, like kits and cleaning oil, and firearms on racks. Bervone reached into a drawer under the gun racks, and got out some boxes of ammunition. He tossed a box to each of the fetching party members, and pointed to the exit.
"Go forward, take a right by the stables, follow the curve, and take a left at the coffee shop. There, you should see a carriage with our ammo." He explained. He let down his arm, as the fetching party walked to the door.
"You guys ready for this?" Jacob asked, placing his hand on the door handle.
"As ready as a troop can be." Christopher answered. Jacob pushed open the door, and the smell of death and stone entered his nostrils. They heard scurrying into the left of them, and turned their heads to the source. To their horror, what seemed to be more than 200 Hellhounds leaped from the rooftops and onto the street to the left of them. As always, with a look of lustful hunger in their burning eyes.
"RUN!" Vincent screamed, sprinting forward. The rest of the troops followed, as the Hellhounds gave chase.

TO BE CONTINUED

Hey everybody. Writers block and general depression has hit me hard. But not to worry! I'm getting help, and I'll make sure to pump out new chapters and stories as soon as I can!

- Lizdo Writing