Chapter 24: Hightower Unleashed
During Gerald's reunion with the other mercenaries, Mickey and Patten were down at the bottom of the hole in the floorboards inside Mann Manor. They didn't like it, but Silas was the one who brought them there as 'representatives' for the gathering of Headless Horsemann that was going to take place, which was considered special because such gatherings were rare. The other unfortunate thing was that the gathering was at midnight.
"This sucks!" Mickey complained. "I can't tell what time it is, my stomach is killing me, and—
"Will you shut up for one second, pal?" Patten responded irritably. "You've been complaining for a while, and it's really starting to get on my nerves!"
"Well, I can't help it if Silas left us a crummy ladder that we can't use!"
The two Scouts looked at the dismal-looking ladder that lay at their feet. Earlier, they tried to step on it, but the first rung broke, and then the one after that. This meant that they had no access to food or water for what felt like several hours.
"Maybe there's a way out of here this way," Patten said, getting up on his feet and heading towards the darkness that clung to the edges of the hole. "There's bound to be an opening somewhere."
Mickey looked dubiously at Patten as he walked away. "No wonder everyone says the Tyke Scouts are all a bunch of frickin' morons."
"What did you say?" Patten snapped, turning to Mickey.
"Nothing!" Mickey said, holding his hands up in surrender. Then he got up and followed Patten. "Let's go find this so-called opening already."
They walked the circumference of the hole for a while, and then Mickey found an underground tunnel that was buried under a pile of decayed wood, which forced them to crawl on their hands and knees until they came up underneath the platform of another Control Point that was located inside a large shed that faced the western side of the mansion. From there, the Scouts made their way to the garden for food, but all they found were rotten pumpkins and radishes. But they managed to find adequate water in a well near the garden, and just as they were about to drink from it, a few large shadows passed over them. The two Scouts looked up, and were amazed to see four large birds flying overhead with Gerald and the other mercenaries riding them. Neither of them spoke, and then once the birds disappeared into the setting sun, they shook their heads as if they had just seen a mirage. After that, they drank the well-water to their heart's content, and managed to eat some of the rotten vegetables because of their immense hunger.
When the sun set below the mountains in the distance, Mickey said, "We should probably get back to the hole. Silas might be wondering where we are."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Patten said, though he sounded reluctant.
Then just as they were about to head underneath the Control Point, a strange but menacing laughter filled the air. The two Scouts recognized it as Silas' voice, and then the sky overhead seemed to darken. Next, the ground started to shake as several heavy footsteps came bounding toward the cemetery, which in turn made the Scouts run over there to see what was going on. By the time they got there, about a dozen Headless Horsemenn had gathered there, with Silas among them. They greeted one another in a series of incoherent growls and murmurings, which Mickey and Patten guessed was their natural language. After the initial greetings, which went on till the stars were visible in the dark sky overhead, Silas looked over in the Scouts' direction, and motioned them to come over.
"I thought the meeting was going to take place in the hole," Mickey said immediately after seating himself on one of the tombstones.
"I thought so too, but apparently I was wrong," Silas replied, shrugging his bony shoulders casually. "When you're as old as I am, you tend to forget things easily. In fact, I forgot I left you two in the hole in the first place."
"This is a real frickin' embarrassment," Patten muttered as he seated himself on a tombstone right next to Mickey's.
"Now that our mortal visitors are here, let us begin the meeting," Silas addressed to the other Horsemenn. "We are gathered here to decide if we should go to war against Merasmus or not."
After two nights had gone by, the talk was done, and Silas nudged the two Scouts, who had fallen asleep behind the two gravestones they sat on earlier. Initially, they were surprised, but when they realized it was Silas, Mickey and Patten were strangely relieved. The other Horsemenn crowded behind Silas, staring at the Scouts with curious fascination, as if an old memory from long ago suddenly came to them.
"My fellow Scouts," Silas began. "We have agreed that you do not work for Merasmus."
Patten blinked. "Uh, that's a good thing, right?"
"But what about the war you were talking about?" Mickey asked.
Silas turned to the Horsemenn behind him, who nodded in turn. "Our desire for rest is stronger than having to stay on this mortal plane any longer than we already have. So, we shall march to Hightower under the cover of darkness, and remind that Wizard that he is not as powerful as he thinks he is."
"Can we come with you? We know how to fight, and we can run real fast too!" Mickey bragged in a clearly excited tone of voice. "Just give us some weapons, and we're good to go!"
Silas scratched the side of his Jack-O-Lantern head. "The weapons that we used to have were stolen by Merasmus when he raided the graves here, but there may be some hidden somewhere on these grounds."
While the Headless Horsemenn left to rest for the battle ahead, the two Scouts looked around the premises for any possible weapons. Like Silas had said, most of the weapons were gone, then they came into a shed that was filled with coffins. Fortunately, they were empty, but to Patten's surprise, one was filled with a variety of guns and ammo.
"Sweet!" Mickey said, picking up a Scattergun and filling it with ammo.
After Patten did the same with his Force-A-Nature gun, the two walked out into the garden, and tested their newfound weapons. To their surprise, they still worked despite the rusty barrels and worn-out wooden handles. So they decided to take as much ammo as they could carry in their pockets, while they tied the guns to their backs using rags taken from an old scarecrow that had fallen over due to wooden pole decaying from age.
"Mickey, are you sure you wanna get involved in this war?" Patten asked as the two of them were dozing by the Control Point in the big shed. "We could still leave and head back to Harvest."
"But we can't walk away now," Mickey replied. "Our friends are risking their lives out there, wherever they may be, and there may not be a Harvest to go back to if Gray Mann wins. If we can take Merasmus down, we'd be doing everyone who is threatened by him a huge favor."
"Yeah, but you know we have a higher chance of dyin' than those axe-wielding pumpkin heads, and they don't seem like the type to go down very easily."
"But when has death stopped us? We accompanied Freddie and Steve, didn't we?"
As night fell over Mann Manor once more, the Headless Horsemann returned to the cemetery, where Mickey and Patten were waiting for them with their weapons in tow. Silas picked them up and put them on his bony but surprisingly sturdy shoulders. The two Scouts held on as Silas bounded out of the cemetery and down the mountainside with the other Horsemann in tow. By the time they left the mountains, the sky was starting to glow, and then just as the first rays of sunlight hit them, Silas let out that same menacing laughter which dimmed the light from the sun to where it was almost like twilight. The Horsemann bounded across the desert without any need to stop, while Mickey and Patten did their best not to hold them up. When they got close to Hightower, they saw several legions of Zombies marching down the cliff the area was located on, making their way up a river valley that led into the mountains. Meanwhile, Mickey and Patten saw the ghosts, who had followed the Horsemann like sheep, now flying in the direction of the Zombies.
"I wonder if they're leaving to reclaim their lost bodies," Patten wondered outloud.
"That is exactly what they are going to do, but now that Hightower is empty of its armies, the Wizard is more vulnerable," Silas said, and motioned the Horsemenn forward.
End of Chapter 24