Link of the Dead II
Chapter 10:
The soldiers slowly made their way through the dark, abandonned streets of Windfall armed with crossbows. Just then, a swarm of Redeads appeared and charged for the soldiers. They each fired their crossbows and killed the oncoming swarm. As more Redeads appeared, they pulled out swords and slashed them all down. Kamor appeared from behind the crowd of soldiers, holding a bloody sword. He too was wearing a veil to block the infection from getting into his mouth.
"Pathetic creatures," he muttered, pulling down his veil, "Now, I will be heading up the lighthouse with the bomb. After, we will have just one hour before it blows. We should meet at the boat in no more than fifteen minutes, got it?"
The soldiers nodded.
"I want you all to spread out," continued Kamor, "Split up and patrol each section of the city in case there are others hiding in this town."
"Yessir!" said one of the soldiers, "Alright men, let's move!"
"Wait!" said Kamor, "I want two of you to come up the lighthouse with me and watch my back."
Two random soldiers stayed with Kamor as the rest of them spread out.
"Let's go," said Kamor, clutching the bomb tightly.
Link walked down the long, dark street, passing the café and Zunari's stall among other places. Link removed what was left of his heavily damaged shirt and tossed it to the floor. He eventually heard someone.
"Damn," muttered Link.
In the distance, he saw the silhouette of a soldier and the faint glow of his lantern. Link ran into a nearby alley to hide. Without a weapon, Link knew he would never survive the trip to the lighthouse. Fortunately, he knew just how to get one. Link began to breath heavily as he planned out his attack. It was an extremely risky move. Link approached a trash can and kicked it down.
"HEY!" shouted the soldier, "Who's there?"
The soldier ran to the alley and entered. However, there was no one there.
"Show yourself!" ordered the guard, as he held up his crossbow.
"Meow!" said Link, who was hiding in the shadows.
"Just a fucking cat," said the soldier.
The soldier lowered his weapon. As he began to leave the alley, Link suddenly pounced on him. Link grabbed the man's head and struggled to hold on. The soldier desperately tried to shake Link off, but Link managed to wrap his arms tightly around the man's head. With one quick movement, Link snapped the man's neck, and they both tumbled to the floor. Link bent down and picked up the man's crossbow and his quiver of arrows. He did not pick up his lantern, however, as he felt he needed the darkness for health.
As soon as Link left the alley, he saw another soldier in the distance running towards him.
"Halt!" ordered the man.
He held up the crossbow and aimed it at the oncoming soldier. With only the man's lantern as a faint guide as to where he was, Link fired, and the arrow struck the man in the eye.
"Bullseye," said Link.
Link continued to run for the lighthouse.
Back at the other side of town, the gang hid behind the prison, examining the docs from a distance. There were several soldiers guarding the place.
"Damn," said Mila, "How are we gonna get to that boat?"
"We're gonna have to fight our way through," replied Aryll, clutching a club she stole from the prison.
"All we have are a few shitty weapons from the prison," said Mila, "They're all highly trained soldiers equipped with hi-tech weapons. We'll never make it!"
"Well, we can't just sit here!"
"Wait," said Phil, "We can still make it to the boat by going around the east side. There seem to be fewer guards there. We can probably sneak right on!"
"I hope you're right, mayor," said Mila, "Ready, guys?"
Everyone nodded.
The gang carefully snuck their way through the darkness and headed towards the east side of the docs. The gang quickly hid behind a nearby tree. A soldier stood close by.
"What now?" asked Mila.
"Think," said Aryll, "What would Link do?"
"We better come up with a plan," said Mila, "We have to find a way to make our way around those guards."
"There's no time!" said Aryll, "We're not going around those guards, we're going through them!"
Aryll then picked up her club and charged towards the guard.
"ARYLL NO!" said Mila.
The soldier turned around and saw Aryll coming his way, but before he had a chance to fire his weapon, Aryll swung the club and struck him in the face. As he fell to the floor, Aryll continued to smash his head with the club, until chunks of the man's brains covered the floor.
"Woah!" said Mila, "Calm down Aryll! I think you got him!"
"Sorry," said Aryll, who was covered in blood, "I guess I did go a little overboard..."
"Where did you learn to swing like that?"
"Well, I..."
"Hold it right there!" shouted a voice.
The girls saw a soldier running their way. He pointed a crossbow straight at them.
"Drop the weapon," he ordered. Aryll obeyed. "I don't know how you got out, but you're coming with..."
Suddenly, Phil appeared as if from nowhere and rammed a knife into the soldier's neck. The man screamed in pain and died shortly afterwards. Aryll and Mila just stared at him.
"I'm too old for this shit," muttered Phil, who then picked up the man's weapon.
"Daddy?" said Maggie, who approached Phil, "You did that?"
"Come on," he said, "Let's get to that got-dang boat before I get a heart attack!"
The gang followed Phil towards the docs.
Link found himself near the plaza. The streets were full of Redead corpses, all killed by the soldiers. Link looked around before carefully making his way through the abandoned area.
"Hey!" shouted a soldier, "Halt!"
Link turned around and saw a soldier running towards him. Out of instinct, Link fired the crossbow he held, but unfortunately, he missed.
"Dammit!" said Link.
The soldier fired a shot, but Link dodged it. The soldier then pulled out a sword and ran up to Link. Without his sword to defend himself, Link held up the empty crossbow to block the blow. The soldier tried to swing horizontally, but Link rolled to the floor to dodge the attack. The soldier tried again, but Link kicked the weapon out of his hand. The soldier tried to fight hand to hand, but Link managed to grab the fallen sword and ram it into his chest.
"Hey, you!" shouted another soldier, "Halt!"
Link then got up and looked around. He saw many soldiers suddenly appear in the plaza.
"Give me a fucking break!" said Link.
"Freeze!" shouted a soldier.
He fired an arrow at Link, but missed.
"There is a citizen on the loose," said the soldier, "Contact Kamor!"
One soldier left the scene and ran off to find Kamor. With no time to reload his own crossbow, Link began to run. The soldiers fired several arrows at Link, but the speedy Link managed to dodge them. One, however, slid right past his right shoulder, creating a small gash.
"Ow!" snapped Link.
After running for a while, Link stumbled across the potion shop.
"I think I can get them here," said Link.
Link ran inside, making his way past the dead corpses that lay on the floor, and ran to the backroom. He immediately opened the bunsen burner...
"Alright!" said the soldier, kicking down the door, "Come out with your hands up!"
There was no answer.
"I said," continued the soldier, "Show yourself!"
Link suddenly appeared holding two small flaming chemical beakers.
"You're fired..." said Link.
Link tossed the two beakers at the soldiers, creating a huge explosion. Within seconds, the soldiers were burned alive, and Link bolted out the door. Link stared at the shop and watched it burn to the ground, along with the corpse of Doc Bandam and all the information he kept in his secret room.
"Thanks, Doc," said Link, "For teaching me how to make those."
The gang snuck their way onto the pier where the boat was parked, with Mila leading the way.
"Alright," said Mila, "We almost made it."
"But how are we gonna get on without being spotted?" asked Aryll.
"We could try to lead them away," said Phil.
"We don't have a distraction big enough lead that many soldiers away," said Aryll.
"Then we have no choice," began Mila, "We have to fight."
"What?" said Maggie.
"If we try to sneak on the boat," replied Mila, "We'll get spotted. Even if we get on the boat and get it moving, they can easily stop us! This will only end once they're gone! Are you with me?"
"I guess so," said Aryll, "I killed one of 'em. I guess I can kill 'em all!"
"It's time to fight for Windfall!" said Mila, "Even if we don't make it, we'll at least stop these guys from leaving!"
The crowd then cheered.
"Those who can't fight will stay behind and prepare the boat for departure," said Aryll.
"Let's do this!" said Mila.
The gang looked in the distance and saw several soldiers standing together. With no hesitation, they emerged from hiding and beganto charge towards the soldiers.
"Sir," said one of the soldiers, "Is that..."
"How in the fuck did they get out?" demanded another soldier.
"Forget it! Just kill them all!"
The soldiers pulled out their crossbows and began to fire, striking down a few people, while missing others. Still, the gang continued to charge. The soldiers attempted to reload, but the gang began to hurl weapons at the soldiers. An axe struck a soldier in the face, while another man received a dagger to the leg.
"Call for back up!" ordered the lead soldier, "There are too many of...AAAAHHH!"
Mila had just rammed a sword into his stomach. In just seconds, the whole scene turned to chaos as the angry townspeople fought an intense battle against the soldiers. Though the soldiers were highly trained, the townspeople outnumbered them, and back-up had to arrive, though many of them were dead at this point.
"Threaten to destroy my town, will ya?" said Lenzo, as he stabbed a soldier, "DIE!"
"Come on guys!" said Phil, "We can do this..."
A random soldier grabbed Phil by the arm and pointed a sword at his face.
"Who do you think you're kidding, old geezer?" said the soldier.
Without saying anything, Phil heabutted the soldier. As he staggered backwards, Phil sliced the man's chest open with a large sword.
"I'm no geezer!" said Phil.
Meanwhile, Aryll, who had just killed a soldier, was suddenly struck in the face by a soldier and fell to the floor. As she looked up, she saw the man pointing a crossbow at her face.
"Playtime's over, little girl!" said the man, "Come with me, or die!"
Aryll grew terrified. Off in the distance, Salvatore saw Ary'lls predicament.
"I'll save you!" shouted Sal.
Looking around, Sal saw crossbow on the ground near a dead soldier and picked it up. He attempted to hold it steady and aim for the man.
"Come on Sal," said Salvatore to himself, "Remember that cannon game you owned on Spectacle Isle. It's just like that. You can do this!"
Sal fired the crossbow which sailed straight for the soldier. The arrow struck the soldier in the back of his neck and came out through his mouth. Aryll watched in shock as the soldier coughed out blood and fell to the floor, dead.
"YES!" cheered Sal, "Still got it!"
Link finally reached the lighthouse. He burst open the door and ran inside.
"Stay right where you are!" demanded a soldier, who was guarding.
He fired an arrow, but Link merely ducked under it. While still on the ground, Link plunged his sword straight into the soldier's crotch, which came out the other side. The soldier screamed in intense agony before another soldier came.
"Who's there?" he asked.
With all his might, Link pulled his sword downwards, tearing out all the flesh from the man's crotch. As the soldier died, Link ran up to the other one and slashed him down. Link began to run up he stairs. He prayed he was not too late.
Link burst open the door that lead to the roof of the lighthouse and walked down the small wooden balcony until he saw Kamor.
"Ah," said Kamor, holding the bomb, "So glad you made it. You're just in time to see me light the fuse." Kamor chuckled.
"Enough," said Link, holding up his sword, "It's over. Drop the bomb and surrender!"
"What do you plan on doing, Link?" said Kamor, "You can't throw me into any prison because no one knows I exist! I guess you're gonna have to kill me..."
"I will not kill you," said Link:"Not as long as you are unharmed. Now drop the bomb and come with me!"
"That's why you are a weakling, boy. You are full of remorse, full of sympathy. It slows you down and fills you with fear. I am not afraid to get things done. That's why the Great Sea is such a beautiful place. I kept it that way and I did not let anything get in my way..."
"Beautiful?" said Link, "How can this place be beautiful with all those cover-ups and conspiaracies?"
"That's just the way it has to be unfortunately," said Kamor, smiling.
"You're twisted! It's time to take you out!"
Link began to charge towards Kamor, who pulled out his own sword and blocked Link's attack. Link attempted a vertical strike but Kamor blocked that as well. The two fought on the roof of the lighthouse for several minutes. The clang of their metal swords echoed throughout the town. Kamor swung his sword, forcing Link to bend backwards to dodge it. Kamor surprised Link by suddenly backhanding him in the face. Link staggered backwards and spat out blood.
"Had enough?" asked Kamor.
"Never!" said Link.
The two charged at each other again and pushed their swords up against each other and held them there. Link struggled to push Kamor off of him.
"Give it up, boy," said Kamor, "You can't beat me. If you stop now, I won't kill you...I will allow to go back into your prison!"
"Of course I'll beat you!" said Link, "Don't you who I am? I'm the fucking Hero of Wind!"
Link then kicked Kamor, pushing him back. Kamor angrily charged towards Link again, but Link deflected swing after swing. Unfortunately, Kamor succeeded in forcing the sword out of Link's hands. Link watched as his sword tumbled down the side of the lighthouse. Kamor then struck Link in the face with the handle of his sword, causing Link to stumbled back. Link held on the wooden ledge of the balcony and wiped the blood from his head.
"I gave you a chance, Hero of Winds," began Kamor, "Now, it's time to die!"
Thinking quickly, Link ran headfirst into Kamor before he had the chance to swing. Link rammed into Kamor and forced him through the glass wall that housed the funnel-shaped lights. Link and Kamor both fell to the floor. Link could feel his bare skin being cut by the shards of glass that covered the floor.
"You bastard!" shouted Kamor, who began to frantically look for his sword.
Link, however, stood up and ran towards Kamor and kicked him in the face. Kamor angrily stood up and tried to punch Link, who dodged the blows. Link then tackled Kamor and pushed him up against one of the funnel lights. Link punched Kamor in the face, who immediately returned the blow.
As they fought, Link heard a strange noise. He thought it sounded like a Redead. Suddenly, Kamor wrapped his hands around Link's neck and tried to strangle him. Link slowly fell to the floor as Kamor squeezed tighter.
"Say goodbye!" say Kamor.
Just then, something grabbed Kamor and pulled him off of Link. After coughing a bit, Link looked up and saw a Redead biting into Kamor's neck. The Redead wore a small red hat.
"What the..." began Link.
He then remembered what Phil had said:
"Unless Kreeb, the ligthouse operator, is still alive up there, there is no hope of turning it on."
"Guess you got stuck up here the whole time, eh buddy?" said Link.
Link then ran out of the room. Kamor struggled to get Kreeb off of him, but to no avail. Link watched one last time as his foe was eaten alive by the horrid creature and chuckled at the irony that his life was saved by of all things, a Redead. He then grabbed the bomb and ran down the stairs. It was over. Link had won.