Author's Note:
In chapter two Margaret loses her dad in a helicopter crash and now Benson's not going to let her stay at the settlement, now that's a bad day. This chapter we'll find out if Benson has a change of heart and I finally learn how to spell Margaret's name right, bout time. I do not own Regular Show or it's characters and I'm running out a quips to make on the subject.
Let there be chapter three.
The situation is much more severe than we initially thought. It seems that Nosoi is evaporating into a gaseous form.
Not only does this mean that it's now airborne, but it is mixing with various weather systems.
This means that the area of effect will be much larger than anticipated and containing it will be next to impossible.
The chemical will be heavily diluted the farther reaches, but it only takes exposure to a small amount to cause irreversible damage.
I'm still holding on to hope that we can contain the situation before mass exposure, but it'll be more challenging than I originally imaged.
User ID 4261986- 2 days after incident
"What do you mean no" Mordecai yelled at Benson.
"I mean no, what else would I mean by it" Benson sneered.
"But why?" asked Mordecai.
Benson let out a quiet sigh, "Because we don't have enough supplies".
Mordecai threw his arms up in anger, "Oh, like one extra person is that big a deal".
"Uh, yeah it is" Benson scoffed back, "we're dangerously low on food, especially since both you and Rigby didn't bring anything back".
Mordecai turned to Margaret and walked her to the door, "Margaret, can you wait outside. I'm gonna try to talk some sense into him".
Margaret clearly wasn't happy with his request, but decided to listen to him, "Ok". She walked out of the shack and Mordecai closed the door behind her.
He then walked back to Benson, he put his hands on his desk and leaned in towards him, "Benson, she just lost her father. And now you won't even give her a place to stay. That's messed up".
"I didn't know that" Benson said with a hint of guilt in his voice, "But it doesn't change my decision".
Mordecai took his hands of his desk and stood up, "Ok, you say one more person is too much. Fine, Margaret stays and I'll leave".
Benson was shocked by his words, "Mordecai don't do this" Benson implored.
"No, I'm serious" Mordecai shouted back to Benson, "I promised her dad I'll make sure she's safe, I swore on his death bed. She can take my place".
"Mordecai we need you, who's going to hunt?".
Mordecai crossed his arms, "Margaret can do that, she can do all the things I used to, maybe even better".
Benson rubbed his eyes in frustration, "Fine, she can stay. You both can stay".
A big smirk appeared on Mordecai's face, "Thanks Benson".
"But you have to promise me you'll be more successful on your hunts" Benson added, "And Margaret has to help out too".
"No problem Benson" Mordecai said happily, "We'll both be super productive".
Benson nodded at him, "Good, can you bring her in real quick".
Mordecai turned and walked to the door, he poked his head outside and saw Margaret leaned up against the shack. He motioned her to come in, so she followed him inside. They both walked up to Benson's desk, "Margaret, Mordecai talked me into letting you stay".
A smile came across her face as she clapped her hands together, "Thanks Benson".
"But you'll have to pull your weight around here, we all do our part" He bluntly added.
"Oh absolutely" Margaret nodded, "I'll do whatever you need me to do".
"Good" Benson said, "I think we need another person to work at the canteen".
This job wasn't what Margaret wanted to hear, "Canteen? But Benson I can do so much more than that".
"Yeah Benson" Mordecai chimed in, "There's got to be something more fitting for her skills than that".
"I'm sorry, but Eileen needs help at the canteen" Benson sternly said, "That's the best I can do".
Mordecai looked over at Margaret, she was fuming. He could understand why she was so upset, but the more he thought about it the more he felt it would be for the best. He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her to the side, "Look, I know you were hoping for something more exciting but maybe this is a good thing. I mean, your dad wanted you live a quiet life. The canteen might be the best way to do that".
Margaret lowered her head and stared at the floor, he regretted bringing her dad into it. He didn't think it through, it was only hours earlier that he died. Then to his surprise she looked up at him, "You're right" she said with a tear trickling down her cheek, "It's what he would have wanted". She brushed past him and walked up to the desk, "Ok, I'll do it".
Benson nodded his head at her, "Alright, I'm sorry I didn't have anything better. If anything else comes up I'll let you know". Benson's words made her feel much better and she cracked a small smile. This also caused Benson to smile a bit as he turned towards Mordecai, "Mordecai, show her around the settlement. Introduce her to others and help her settle in".
"You got it" Mordecai said cheerfully as he walked Margaret to the door. They exited the shack and walked three buildings down before Mordecai looked back at Margaret, "If Benson wants me to introduce you to everyone then I think it makes sense to start with his right hand man". They entered the small shack and were greeted by the smell of burning incense. Margaret looked around and noticed the room was decorated with dream catchers and weird artifacts. Mordecai inspected the room as well and noticed that no one was there, "Hmm, guess he's not here".
He was about the turn around and leave when Skips entered the shack. He was wiping grease from his hands when he noticed the two, "Oh hey Mordecai, glad you're back" he said as he threw the cloth into a small basket "What can I do for you?"
"Hey Skips, I was just showing Margaret around and acquainting her with everyone" He explained before turning towards Margaret, "Margaret this is Skips he helps Benson, he also does repairs and maintains all the machines in the settlement".
Margaret looked up at the large man, "Wow, that's impressive".
"Well I just do maintenance on the machines" Skips said modestly, "Techmo's the one who designs them all".
"Don't sell yourself short Skips" A voice yelled from outside, soon tall man entered the shack, "I couldn't do it without you… I mean I could but it'd be a pain". Margaret looked at Techmo, he appeared almost reptilian with green scaly skin, he had white hair and wore a black trench coat that appeared to be made of leather. What stood out to her the most was his cybernetic eye and bionic arm which was exposed by the right sleeve of his jacket being ripped off.
Skips smiled and shook his head at his remark, "Do you just sense when people are talking about you?"
"Only if it's flattering" Techmo joked, he glanced over at Margaret, "Who's this?"
"Margaret" Skips answered, "Mordecai was showing her around".
Techmo approached her and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you Margaret. I'm Techmo, the settlements personal technomancer".
"That's just a word he made up" Skips interjected, "It's just his way of saying he designs most of the machines and tech stuff".
Techmo shrugged, "Well I can't say you're wrong, but when you've been through the things that we've been through the past two centuries you can call yourself whatever you want" he chuckled.
His statement baffled Margaret, "Wait, two centuries? How's that possible?"
Skips turned to Margaret, "Well you see, when we were changed by that chemical weapon all those years ago it drastically slowed our aging" Skips told her, "People like us are referred to as 'immortals' but theoretically we could live for hundreds of years".
She looked up at Skips in awe, "Whoa, how many of you are there?"
"Including me and Techmo, three, but I'd assume there'd be more that we don't know of" Skips answered.
"Who's the third one"?
"A crazed man who calls himself 'Death'" Skips answered in a foreboding tone.
A quiet snicker escaped from Margaret's beak, "Death, seriously?"
"Yes" Skips nodded, "After the outbreak he went insane, he became convinced that he was the fourth horseman and that one day it'd be his duty to spread death and destruction to the world" Margaret's amused expression was replaced with one of discomfort. "If you ever cross paths with him, run, or he'll stop at nothing to kill you". She didn't say anything, all she was able to do was nod.
"Well I think we'll be on our way then" Mordecai said trying to break the awkward silence, "Nice talk Skips". He then lead Margaret to the door and exited the shack.
"Sure thing" Skips said while they left, "And welcome to the settlement Margaret!"
The two walked down the street and after a few quiet moments Margaret looked at Mordecai, "So Skips seemed… interesting".
He turned his head towards her, "Yeah, he's seen a lot of things in his life. Sorry it got kinda weird in there, he's actually really cool most of the time".
"Oh I believe it, I bet he has all kinds of crazy stories" Margaret replied.
"You have no idea" Mordecai chuckled, "He's seen it all, the outbreak, the fall of the old civilization, he even…" Mordecai was cut off when someone ran into him and knocked him to the ground. He looked from the dirt and saw an older gentleman with a large round pink head. He had no hair except for a white handlebar mustache.
"Oh dear, are you ok Mordecai" He asked as he reached his hand out, "My deepest apologies".
Mordecai grabbed his hand and he helped him up, "It's ok Pops" he assured him as he dusted himself off, "But why were you running?"
A large grin appeared on Pops' face, "Oh, I was chasing this butterfly" he held up his finger and suddenly a butterfly with blue wings landed on it, causing Pops and chuckle, "Isn't it beautiful?"
"It's very pretty" Margaret said as she leaned in towards the butterfly.
"Oh my, who's this young lady Mordecai" Pops asked as the butterfly flew away.
"This is Margaret" answered Mordecai, "She's gonna be staying here now so I'm giving her a tour".
Pops took Margaret's hand and shook it while chuckling happily, "Good show, welcome to our home".
Margaret couldn't help but laugh at his childlike personality, "Thanks, pleased to meet you".
Pops let go of her hand and turned to Mordecai, "Well I have to go tend to my garden, ta ta" and with that he ran off.
Mordecai and Margaret continued to walk, and Margaret was still laughing from her encounter with the delightful old man, "He seems nice".
"Yeah he is, Pops is always happy" Mordecai answered.
A confused looked crept on Margaret's face, "So, is he… your dad?"
Mordecai looked over at her, "No" he frowned, "My dad died a long time ago".
Margaret cupped her hands over her mouth, "I'm so sorry Mordecai, I just thought because you called him…"
"It's ok Margaret" he interrupted, "You didn't know".
The two continued to walk until Margaret remembered something she heard the day before, "Did it have anything to do with the Feral?". Mordecai stopped dead in his tracks. He stood silently, staring at the ground. "I heard what Havoc said to you back at the park so I figured you had a history with them".
"I do" Mordecai answered quietly without breaking his gaze at the ground, "But he died before that. I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about it right now".
Mordecai started walking again, "Ok, sorry I brought it up" Margaret said as she started to follow him, "So why did you call that guys Pops then?"
Mordecai smiled as he looked back at her, "Because his round pink head and skinny body make him look like a lollipop".
Margaret ran to catch up with him, "Jerk!" she yelled as she shoved him, "That's so mean, why would you do that".
"I didn't start it" Mordecai said defensively, "They've been calling him that long before I got here".
Margaret crossed her arms and diverted her eyes from him, "Whatever".
Mordecai signed heavily as they approached the canteen, "Well here it is, the canteen" he said while holding his hands out as if it was an amazing spectacle.
"Oh, it's magnificent" Margaret laughed.
They entered the shack which was filled with tables, at one of them Rigby sat sipping from a glass of lemonade. The two walked over and sat down across from him, "Hey Rigby" Mordecai greeted.
"Hey" Rigby said quickly before taking another sip of his drink.
"You already met Rigby so I'm not gonna bother introducing you two again" Mordecai chuckled.
"Ah what?" Rigby scoffed, "What's that about"
"Nothing" Mordecai answered, "There's just that much about you to explain".
"No, it's cool" Rigby sneered as he crossed his arms, "I just guess I'm not important enough to talk about".
Mordecai slapped his hand against his forehead as he groaned loudly, "fine" he turned to Margaret, "Rigby's the scavenger, he goes out and gathers supplies. He also helps me do small chores that Benson gives us".
"Wow, that's very cool" Margaret said pretending to be interested to make Rigby feel better, but it came off as disingenuous. Fortunately for her he didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah it is, isn't it" he gloated. Rigby went to take another drink from his glass when he suddenly rolled his eyes, "Uhg, not her again"
Mordecai and Margaret stared blankly at him confused by his random statement, but then their question was answered when Eileen arrived at the table, "Hey Mordecai, how's it going?"
"Not too bad" he answered, then he pointed to Margaret, "Eileen this is Margaret, she's gonna be working here with you".
Her face beamed when he informed her of her new coworker, "That's great, I've needed the help for a while now". She stretched her hand out to Margaret, "Nice to meet you Margaret" Margaret reached out and shook her hand, "I'm Eileen, but you probably already knew that on account of Mordecai saying my name when he was introducing me to you" she let out a quiet snicker.
"Well it's nice to meet you too Eileen" Margaret chuckled.
Eileen then looked over at Mordecai, "Anything I could get for you guys?"
"I'll just have some lemonade, do you want anything Margaret?" she shook her head, "Just the lemonade then Eileen".
"Alright, I'll be back with that in a sec" she turned around and walked back to the kitchen.
"Finally" Rigby groaned, "I thought she'd never leave".
Margaret shot Rigby a sinister glare, "Rigby, what's your problem with her? She seems nice".
"Oh, Rigby's just annoyed because she has a thing for him" Mordecai chuckled.
"Ahh, that's adorable" Margaret replied.
"Shut it" Rigby scoffed.
"You should go for it dude, you'd make a cute couple" Mordecai teased.
"Stop talking!" Rigby yelled furiously. He started punching Mordecai's arm repeatedly, which Mordecai just ignored, until Eileen returned to the table.
"Here you go Mordecai" she said as she placed the glass on the table.
Mordecai picked up his glass, "Thanks" he said before taking a huge sip.
"No problem" she then turned to Margaret, "Hey Margaret, I can show you around the canteen if you want" Eileen said as she let go of her hand, "Let you know how things work".
"Uhhh" Margaret looked over at Mordecai.
"Go for it" Mordecai said, "I already introduced you to everyone important anyway".
"Ok" Margaret said as she turned to Eileen. She stood up and followed Eileen back into the kitchen, leaving Mordecai and Rigby alone at the table.
Mordecai looked back and watched Margaret as she walked away, he smiled as he turned back to find Rigby giving him a funny look, "What?"
"Dude, you're pathetic" Rigby sneered.
"Huh?"
"You've only known her for like a day and you're already falling for her" Rigby chuckled, "That's sad".
Mordecai narrowed his eyes into a glared, "I'm not 'falling for her', and even if I was it's not of your business".
"Hmmm-Hmmm, yeah right" Rigby said before taking a sip from his glass.
Mordecai was about to respond but before he could get a word out Benson stormed into the canteen and approached them, "Hey Mordecai, are you done showing Megan around?"
He looked up at his boss, "Her names Margaret, and yes".
"Good, because a tree fell through the back wall of the settlement and I need you guys to clean it up so Skips can rebuild it" he elaborated.
"Ah what?" Mordecai groaned, "How are we supposed to do that?"
"By cutting the tree into smaller pieces and moving said pieces to the wood pile" Benson answered.
"But that'll take all day" Rigby whined.
Benson glared at him, "Well then I guess you better get started".
"Can't somebody else do it" Mordecai asked, "I just got back like an hour ago".
The liquid in Benson's dome turned red as it started to boil again, "No, somebody else can't do it because I told you to do it. Now get it done before sundown or your both exiled!" He then turned around and charged out of the canteen.
"Uhg, can you believe that guy?" Rigby droned.
"I know, but you heard him. We need to do it" Mordecai added.
"Fine" Rigby replied, "Quick round of Dig Champs first?"
Mordecai grinned from ear to ear, "Hell yeah".
Nearly a month had passed since Margaret arrived at the settlement and she was adjusting well. Over the few weeks she got to know everyone, and she especially grew close to Eileen, Rigby, and Mordecai. Despite how happy she was with her new life there were still a few things that plagued her mind. She longed for adventure, she missed the action and thrill of exploring new areas, but was unable to because of the promise she made to her dad whose death was still weighing heavy on her. Every now and then Eileen would be woken up during the night by the sound of Margaret crying in her room because of a dream she would have about her father. Despite this she enjoyed living in the settlement, she felt like she belonged.
One morning she woke up just like she always would, she got up and walked into the living room where Eileen would already be waiting for her. She got ready and the two leaved for work, but something was off this morning. The streets were virtually empty, they continued to walked through the deserted settlement. The absence of people was unnerving, "Where is everyone?" Margaret asked Eileen.
"I don't know" she answered, "I've never seen it this dead before".
They stayed on course to the canteen. The scenery gradually got brighter as the morning sun slowly crept over the horizon, illuminating the already unsettling sight. When they arrived at the canteen they entered to find Mordecai already waiting inside. "You're up early" Eileen said trying to act cheery, "You going out on a hunt I'm assuming".
"Yeah" Mordecai answered groggily, "I'll have some eggs and a glass of orange juice, you know, the usually".
"You got it" Eileen said before walking back to the kitchen.
While Eileen was cooking Mordecai's breakfast Margaret sat down across from him, "Hey Mordecai, do you know where everyone's at?"
Mordecai let out a big yawn, "What do you mean?"
"I mean there's nobody out on the streets today" she explained.
Mordecai thought about what she said for a moment, "You know now that you mention it I didn't see anyone on my way here".
"I know right" Margaret replied, a little concerned.
"Don't worry about it" Mordecai reassured, "I'm sure everything's fine".
Soon after Eileen walked up to the table with a plate holding a pile of scrambled eggs, "Here you go Mordecai, this should help fuel you up for the day" she said, giggling a bit at the end.
"Thanks" he said, then he started to eat his meal.
About halfway through the mountain of eggs Benson walked into canteen, he looked extremely worried, "Mordecai the hunt is off, I need you to wake Rigby up and meet me in my office pronto".
"Sure" Mordecai responded, baffled by his request, "What's going on?"
"I'll explain at the office, just hurry up and get Rigby." Benson said before turning to the two waitresses, "Margaret and Eileen you two should go home" he then ran out of the canteen.
Mordecai quickly stood up and looked at the girls, "I got to go, this seems really important" he turned around and made his exit.
Margaret looked down and her smaller friend, "We need to check this out".
Eileen stared up at her, "But Benson told us to go home, I'm curious too but I think we should listen to him".
"I'm sorry Eileen, but I can just go home and wonder what's going on. I'm going to go to his office and listen in, are you with me?"
Eileen thought about it for a moment before nodding her head, "Ok, I'm in".
Margaret gave her a nod back and the two left and made their way to Benson's shack, they waited across the street and watched to small building until Mordecai and Rigby finally arrived. They looked as the two entered his office, "Now" Margaret whispered. The two then shuffled across to the shack and crept by the door to listen.
Inside Benson, Skips, Techmo, and Pops sat around Benson's desk. Mordecai and Rigby walked up and took a seat as well. Once they were seated Benson leaned forward onto his desk, "Mordecai, Rigby, thanks for coming".
"What's going on?" Mordecai asked.
"Yeah, what's so important that you woke me this early" Rigby scoffed still half asleep, at least until he was woken up by Mordecai jabbing his arm.
Benson took a deep breath, "Guys, I don't know how to tell you this, but the settlement's been hit by an epidemic".
"What!" Mordecai shouted in shock.
"It's true" Pops said in a disheartened voice.
"It started about a week ago, we thought people were just getting colds but then the symptoms got more severe" Benson explained, "By the time we realized our mistake it spread though out the entire colony".
"Wait, then why aren't we infected?" Rigby asked.
"Well, you two aren't infected because for some reason the sickness only infects mutated humans, not mutated animals" he answered, "And the reason Skips and Techmo aren't infected is because even though they were human they adapted animal traits".
"What about Pops?" asked Mordecai. Skips, Techmo, and Benson all shared a look, as if they were trying to think of what to say. But Mordecai figured it out first, "No, Pops is…"
"I'm afraid so" Skips interrupted, "He was one of the last to get infected, he has about twenty four hours before he develops the advance symptoms ".
Rigby threw his arms into the air in frustration, "Well what are we supposed to do?"
"We need to find a way to stop it" Techmo answered, "I looked at a sample of infected blood under a microscope and it seems to be caused by a unique type of bacteria. So we need to get our hands on some powerful antibiotics to treat the infected".
"Can't we just use mold" Rigby suggested, "Isn't mold an antibiotic or something?"
"Not quite" replied Techmo, "If we're going to treat this we need actual medicine".
"How the hell are we going to get our hands on that?" Mordecai yelled.
Suddenly Margaret burst into the office, "I know where we can find some".
Everyone's eyes turned to her, "Margaret, what are you doing here? I told you to go home" Benson asked as the liquid in his head started to simmer.
"It doesn't matter" Margaret argued, "I know where to get the antibiotics".
Skips looked over at Benson whose dome was now filled with a bubbling red fluid, he put his hand on his shoulder, "Hear her out Benson".
Benson looked up at Skips, soon the fluid in his dome returned to its regular state as he turned to Margaret, "Go on".
"There's this other colony about two days walk from here, They were well stocked on medical supplies" Margaret explained, "If you send someone over there they could trade for some antibiotics".
Benson rubbed the base of his dome as he pondered on the idea, "Hmm, two days?".
"It's the best option we have Benson" Skips told him.
"Yeah" Techmo agreed, "If we send someone to get the medicine we'll have enough supplies to treat the patients until he gets back".
This didn't sit well with Benson, but he knew he was out of options, "Fine, Mordecai you go get the antibiotics" he then turned to Margaret, "Margaret, can you write down the directions to this other settlement?"
A smirk crept onto Margaret's face, "I'll do you one better, I'll go with him".
Benson slammed his fist against his desk, "Absolutely not".
"Look Benson, I know the way and it'll be better than some homemade map" Margaret argued, "Plus if you send more people there's a better chance of at least somebody coming back with the medicine".
Benson let out a loud groan, as much as he hated to admit…she had a point, "Fine, you go with him".
Margaret smile and pumped her fist victoriously.
Rigby looked at Mordecai and remembered what it was like less than a month ago when he didn't return from his hunt. The uncertainty of whether or not he was dead or alive, he knew he didn't want to go through that again, "I'm going too".
"You know what, whatever" Benson scoffed, "The more the merrier I guess".
Shortly after saying that Eileen ran into the office, "Then count me in too".
"Eileen?" Benson said in bewilderment, "Why do you want to go?"
"I have medical experience" Eileen answered, "My mother was a nurse so I could act as a medic on the trip".
Benson rubbed his eyes in annoyance, "I'm done arguing, you can all go!"
Eileen looked over at Margaret and the two high fived, all to the dismay of Rigby, "Oh no!. why does she have to come with?".
"Alright, if you're all going to do this then you need to leave now!" Benson yelled and the group, "And I can't stress how important this is ok, this isn't a 'road trip'. This is an important mission, got it?"
"Yeah, got it" Mordecai answered.
"Ok, now go!" Benson shouted causing the four to run out of the shack.
After they left Benson laid back in his chair and sighed, Skips walked up to Benson and patted him on the back, "Don't worry, you can count on them".
"I hope so Skips" Benson spoke quietly, "The future of this settlement depends on it".
The four hiked across the hills with Margaret letting the group. They'd been walking for a few hours already and Rigby just about had it, "Uhg, I'm soo tired" he whined as they scaled up a hill.
"Cut it out Rigby" Mordecai scoffed a few steps ahead of him, "She said it'd be a two day walk, you knew what you were getting yourself into!"
"I didn't know anything" Rigby shot back at Mordecai, "Can we at least take a quick break?"
Mordecai glared back at his lazy friend, "Sure, if you're ok with it taking four days because you have to stop every couple hours!"
"Oh like one short break would slow us down that much" Rigby huffed as he struggled to reach the top of the hill.
Soon they made it to the peak of the hill, they looked into the distance at the plains with a thick forest to their right. Mordecai took a second to reach into his pack, "Here" he said as he pulled out a bottle of water "Just drink some water and you'll be fine". He tossed the water bottle to Rigby, who barely caught it because he wasn't paying attention, "Now we need to make it last so don't…" while Mordecai was talking Rigby unscrewed the lid and chugged about half of the bottle in mere second before pouring some on his hot face before Mordecai snatched it out of his hands, "Damn it Rigby, this has to last us two days. Do you know how hard it is to find clean water out here?"
Eileen proceeded to open her bag revealing several containers of water, "Don't worry Mordecai, I brought plenty of water".
This did little to calm him down, "Thanks Eileen, but that doesn't excuse Rigby for being so wasteful. He didn't know that".
Margaret turned around to face Mordecai and Rigby, "You two stop, we don't have time for this" she spun around and pointed at the woods, "Now, if I remember correctly the other settlement is on the other side of the forest".
"If you 'remember correctly'?" Rigby asked doubtfully, "What if you don't remember correctly?"
Margaret looked back at him and gave him a sinister smirk, "Well then I guess we'll be wondering the woods until we starve to death" she patted him on the head and made her way down the hill.
Rigby just stood there for a moment with a befuddled look on his face, when he finally snapped out of it he noticed he was alone on the hill as the others already started their descent. Rigby ran to catch up with the others, but running downhill caused him pick up to much speed and he lost his balance and fell. He tumbled down the hill almost hitting Mordecai before he jumped out of the way. He reached the bottom when he finally came to a stop. He didn't move, he just laid there face down in the dirt groaning loudly. The other three busted out laughing at Rigby's fall as they made it to the bottom.
Rigby slowly lifted himself up, he grabbed his left shoulder in pain and rolled it. Eileen made her way to Rigby, still laughing from before, "Let me take a look at that" she said as she put her hands on his injured shoulder.
"Get off me" Rigby yelled as he jerked his body out of her hands and stormed away.
Eileen shook her head, rubbing her eyes in frustration. Margaret ran in front of the group, "Ok everyone, this way". And with that they all followed her lead into the thick woods.
They all trekked through the forest along an old path, they were all exhausted as the hours past. It was quiet in the woods, but Margaret couldn't shake this feeling that they were being watched. It was getting late and the sun was starting to set, "It's starting to get dark, we should set up camp here" Mordecai said as he sat his bag down.
"Good idea" Margaret replied doing the same. They crafted a fire pit out of large rocks and proceeded to fill it with dried logs and sticks.
After finishing the fire pit Mordecai turned around to see Rigby going through his pack, "Uhh, what are you doing?"
Rigby lifted his head up from the bag, "Looking for the matches".
"What?"
Rigby went back to digging through the bag, "Yeah you can't start a fire without matches, where'd you put them?"
"I told you to bring them!" Mordecai shouted at Rigby.
Rigby brought his head out of the bag, "What, no you didn't"
Mordecai threw his arms above his head, "Yeah I did, it was the one thing I specifically told you to bring!" he yelled absolutely livid, "Now we have no light, no heat, and nothing to cook with".
"Don't worry guys, I got it" Mordecai and Rigby turned around to see Eileen sitting next to a roaring fire.
"Oh nice you brought matches" Mordecai said relieved.
"No, I just did it the traditional way" Eileen said holding up a stick and a notched piece of wood.
"Whoa, how did you learn to do that?" Margaret asked.
Eileen turned towards Margaret, "My dad taught me, we spent a lot of time in the woods when I was a kid before we found the settlement".
Rigby was stunned, "Wait, you mean you can start a fire where ever you want, whenever you want?"
"Well, I'd need some dry wood, but essentially yeah" Eileen answered.
A small smile crept onto his face, "Wow, that actually pretty cool".
Her face lit up, Rigby never gave her a complement before. Rigby noticed her reaction and was afraid she'd get the wrong idea, thinking fast he pulled out a plastic bag of venison from Mordecai's backpack, "Here, throw this on the fire" he threw the bag at her.
Unprepared for the toss the bag of meat hit her in the face, it then fell into her hands. She readjusted her glasses and looked down at it, "Wow, these are really good cuts of meat".
"Yeah, Mordecai gets first pick" Rigby explained.
Mordecai shrugged his shoulders, "Just one of the perks of being a hunter". He then pulled out a metal spit and walked over to Eileen. He took the bag from her and skewed the venison onto the rod before setting up a rotisserie over the flame. He sat beside the fire and turned the meat until it was cooked all the way through. He took it off the fire and passed a piece to everyone.
As they were eating it became extremely quiet. All they could hear was the sound of crickets chirping and the crackling of the fire. After a long period of silence Mordecai decided to start a conversation, "So Margaret, what's this colony like?"
Margaret took a second to finish the bite that she just took before answering, "Pretty nice, there's a lot more people there and it's well stocked. Me and my dad stopped there awhile back to trade for supplies".
"Oh, cool" Mordecai looked into the fire, he was watching the glowing embers when a question crossed his mind, "If it was so nice, then why didn't you guys stay there?"
Margaret looked over at him, she didn't say anything for a bit but then she let out a deep sigh, "Like I said before, we didn't really like dealing with other people that much".
"So you didn't like the people there?" Mordecai asked.
Margaret shook her head, "No, not really, but the lead was kind of a dick. He was hard to get along with".
"Really?" Mordecai said in a shocked tone, "Then what makes you think he'll give us their medical supplies?"
"Because" Margaret said before taking a sip from her water, "If we can make him a good offer on them then he'll be glad to trade".
"I hope so" Mordecai said before taking another bite of his food, "Otherwise this whole trip's been for nothing".
On the other side of the fire Eileen leaned over towards Rigby, who was still eating his food, "How's the shoulder doing?"
"Better I guess" Rigby mumbled with his mouth full of food.
"I still think you should let me take a look at it" Eileen said sternly, "You might need to put it in a sling".
Rigby looked up from his food and turned towards her, "Eileen seriously, it's fine. Don't worry about it" he said rather annoyed. Eileen frowned as she went back to eating, and for once Rigby actually felt guilty for snapping at her and decided to cut her a break, "Hey nice work with the fire earlier, we'd be pretty screwed without it".
Eileen didn't say anything, she just continued eating. But a smile slowly crept on her face. Suddenly she felt something hit her head, she looked up and soon something fell onto her face. Soon rain began to pour from the sky, "Oh no, it's starting to rain!"
They all stood up and tried to cover their heads from the rain, Mordecai turned to Rigby, "Rigby, get the tents".
"Uhh"
"Rigby, what are you waiting for?" Mordecai yelled at him.
"I didn't bring em" Rigby replied.
"What, why not?" shouted Mordecai.
Rigby quickly pointed his finger at him, "Hey, you never said anything about tents".
Mordecai slapped his forehead, "Well great, what are we going to do now?"
"Maybe we can build a shelter" Eileen said while constructing a frame from old sticks, "Everyone grab as many dead branches as you can".
They all scattered to collect branches to finish the shelter. Margaret ran over to some trees and started to gather sticks, when she couldn't see any more lying on the ground she reached up and grabbed a branch on one of the trees. As she broke it off it revealed the head of a buck which startled her. "Oh, it's just a deer" she reached out and grabbed another branch, but suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
"Get hands off branches" the deer yelled out. Margaret screamed in shock as she jerked out of his grasp, falling to the ground and dropping her sticks in the process. Then a creature emerged from the shrubs, it was large and manlike, with hooved feet and a deer head. His chest had weird tribal symbols tattooed and branded onto it. He slowly stepped towards Margaret, "You not welcome to my forest".
Margaret crawled back as he advanced towards her, "We're not here to hurt you, we're just passing through".
The Stagman suddenly stopped, he tilted his head up and inhaled deeply through his nose. He looked down and glared at Margaret, "Smell good, what is it?"
Margaret froze as she looked up at him, "Uhh, beef"
"Liar!" He suddenly thrust downward with a stone blade. Margaret shuffled back out of its way. When he struck the ground between her feet she shot up and kicked him in the face, knocking him back to the ground. She then ran back to the camp site where the others were working on the half-finished shelter, "Guys, stop!" she stopped and leaned over to catch her breath.
Mordecai then ran up to her, "What is it?"
Margaret looked up at him, "There's this man, deer creature that's trying to kill us"
His eyes burst open, "What!"
Rigby rolled his eyes, "Pff, I've never seen a mutant deer before"
Mordecai whipped his head towards Rigby, "Why would she make this up" he then turned back to Margaret, "So why's he trying to kill us". Margaret just looked back at the campfire, Mordecai glanced back to see what she was looking at and noticed the venison sitting next to the fire, "Oh shit!"
Then suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, he looked down to see an arrow sticking out with a crude stone head. Margaret let out a scream in horror, "Mordecai" she yelled while pointing at the arrow protruding from him.
"Yeah, I noticed it" he shouted, "Don't worry it's not fatal, now run!"
Everyone took off but in different directions. Mordecai ran over to a tree and hid behind it while he held his shoulder in pain. He leaned his back against the tree and whipped is shoulder against it, breaking the back of the arrow off. He then took several breaths before grabbing the front and pulling it out. It slowly dragged out with every inch it moved causing more pain and discomfort. It finally came out and Mordecai breathed a sigh of relief. He went to take a step when a hand popped out from the bush next to him and grabbed his ankle, it pulled it out from underneath him and cause him to fall on his back. The Stagman then leapt out onto Mordecai and raised his stone knife in the air. Think quick Mordecai took the broken arrow and jabbed it into his neck just above the collar bone.
He grabbed his neck and Mordecai punched him in the face, knocking him off of him. He stood up and ran back to the campground to retrieve one of his weapons.
Meanwhile Rigby was wandering the woods, spinning in all directions looking to see if the mutant deer was hiding anywhere. During his paranoid search he heard a voice from the bushes, "Psst, Rigby over here". He turned to the voice and saw Eileen hiding in one of the bushes, signaling him to come over. Rejoicing that he'd be safe from the creature that was stalking them we ran over to the bush. Then suddenly the Stagman jumped down from one of the trees and landing behind him. Rigby spun around and froze in terror.
"Don't worry" he said menacingly as he drew his knife, "I use all your parts, nothing wasted". Just when Rigby thought it was all over Eileen ran out from the bushes with a large rock in her hand. She swung it and slammed it into his left eye. As he staggered back Eileen grabbed Rigby's arm and they ran. Stagman stood up and looked in their direction, "There much fight in them".
Mordecai arrives at the campsite, he stops and takes a second to look around for his belongings. When he spots them he hustles over to them. He grabbed his sword and unsheathed it, then he hears something behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Rigby and Eileen, "Are you guys ok?" he asked as he lowered his sword.
"We're fine" Eileen answered slightly winding from the run.
"Do you know where he is?" asked Mordecai.
"Yeah Eileen messed him up good way back there" Rigby explained confidently, "He's got a lot of ground to cov…"
While he was talking Stagman leapt from behind a tree and swung his knife at Mordecai, who blocked it with this sword. Their blades were locked and they both struggled to outdo the other, Mordecai was shocked by how strong we was.
Rigby ran over to Mordecai's stuff, "Don't worry Mordecai" he picked up his rifle, "I got this". Rigby pointed the gun at the two with the stock propped against his waist.
Mordecai saw this from the corner of his eye, "Nooo!"
Rigby fired the gun and the kick knocked him back a few feet into a mud puddle. Mordecai luckily leapt out of the way before Rigby could shoot at him. Unfortunately Stagman was able to escape the path of the bullet as well.
Mordecai grabbed his sword and picked himself up, he then locked eyes with Stagman and he readied his knife, "You think you better than me" Stagman taunted, "I live in forest my whole life".
Mordecai smirked and as he did a quick flourish with his sword, "Well I've been killing your kind my whole life, so bring it".
The two charged at each other. When they met Mordecai swung his sword horizontally towards his chest, Stagman duck and rolled under it and managed to cut Mordecai's right calf. He staggered forwards a bit and fell to his knee. Stagman stood up and grabbed the feathers on Mordecai's head and jabbed his knife into his back muscle. Mordecai yelled out in agony, but he fought through the pain and reached up and grabbed his antlers. With all his might he pulled him forwards flipped him over his shoulders and onto the ground.
Mordecai reached back and pulled out the knife, "You need to quite leaving these things just lying around". Stagman quickly leapt back to his feet and dropped kicked Mordecai in the sternum propelling him back several feet into a tree. Mordecai looked up to see Stagman charging at him with his head tilted down antlers first. Mordecai ducked to the ground so Stagman's antlers hit just above his head. Mordecai glanced up and noticed his left eye was swollen and purple due to the broken socket Eileen gave him, "Nice".
Mordecai slide though his legs and stood up. He turned around and ran towards Stagman, he leapt and planted his foot onto Stag's back and propelled himself into the air above him. He spun around midair and when he final came back down he thrust his elbow down onto Stagman's swollen eye. Stagman stumbled back and fell to one knee, he grabbed his eye and cried out in torment. Mordecai ran towards him and uppercut his eye again. Stag fell to the ground as he moaned, his body trembled from the unbearable pain.
Mordecai walked up and stood over him. He held up the stone knife and prepared for finish him off, but then Stagman jabbed Mordecai in his wounded shoulder. Mordecai staggered back as Stagman stood up, Stag walked over to Mordecai and reached his arm around him and dug his fingers into the knife wound in his back. Mordecai yelled as he felt his fingers burrow deep into the gash. "Good tactic" Stagman stated, "Think I'll try". Stagman tightened his grip and Mordecai couldn't take anymore, his knees gave out and he fell to the ground. He held himself up with his hands as he stared down at the dirt, still shaking from the trauma he just endured.
He looked up to see Stagman in front of him with his knife, he was in so much pain he didn't even realize he dropped it. "To bad" Stagman spoke, "You make good prey". Mordecai lowered his head and anticipated to end of his life, but just when he thought all hope was lost Rigby jumped up onto Stagman's head.
He grabbed his antlers and planted his feet onto his shoulders, he pulled on his antlers so his head would tilt back. "Mordecai now!"
Mordecai summoned his last ounce of energy and stood up. He looked behind him and saw his swords. He quickly grabbed it and swung it at Stagman. Rigby suddenly fell to the ground and landed on his back. The air was knocked out of him and he felt a weight on top of him. When he looked at what was on top of him he was horrified. It was Stagman's severed head resting upon his stomach, Rigby hurried to his feet. "Ah disgusting, what the hell man?"
"Chill out dude" Mordecai chuckled, "It's just a dead deer, I see them all the time".
Rigby brushed the dirt off of himself, "It's a little different when it's a damn head sitting on you!"
Mordecai couldn't help but laugh at Rigby's misfortune, but when his laughter died he gave him a more serious look, "Thanks man, you saved my life".
Rigby looked up at Mordecai and cracked a smile, "Don't mention… actually screw that. Mention it all the time".
Mordecai looked back behind Rigby and saw his gun lying in the mud puddle Rigby fell into. He ran over and picked it up to examine it, "Ah shit, it's way too dirty" he groaned while wiping the barrel off, "I won't be able to use this till I clean it".
After a moment Eileen ran out from behind the tree, "Hey guys, where's Margaret?"
Mordecai and Rigby looked at each other, but they both shrugged their shoulders. Mordecai looked back at her, "I don't know".
"I've been looking and I can't find her" Eileen said apprehensively, "What if that deer guy got her?"
Everyone went quiet for a moment, the thought of Margaret dead was troubling them. Then suddenly Mordecai thought he heard something, "Shh, listen".
Everyone listen carefully, a few seconds later they heard a faint voice yelling 'help' in the woods. They all ran towards it and the closer they got it became more recognizable as Margaret. The three finally reached the source of the cries and were met with a humorous sight. Margaret hang upside down from a snare, "Not a word, ok" she scoffed.
Everyone tried their best to not laugh but failed miserably, "What you doing Margaret, just hanging out?"
"Seriously dude?" Mordecai asked looking down at Rigby, "You have a shot at a grand slam and you go for the bunt?"
"Uhh, I hate to interrupt but could someone please get me down!" Margaret shouted.
They all help her down from the trap, once on the ground Margaret dusted herself off, "We never speak of this again, alright?"
After helping Margaret they all went back to move to campsite to another location, since no one really wanted to sleep near a headless body. Luckily they found an area where a large rock protruded outward that made a shelter during the rain. Everyone made themselves comfortable and went to sleep, they still had a lot of ground to cover.
The blood that runs within my veins
Keeps me from ever ending up the same
The fire that's pushing me on and on and on
To me it's everything and it makes me fucking strong
Love me or hate me
I walk alone
Been called a monster, called a demon, called a freak
I'm not an idol, not an angel, not a saint
I walk alone, I always have, I'm not ashamed
A living nightmare from the cradle to the grave
Author's Note:
Well that's another chapter come and gone, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading and to all of you who left reviews last chapter. Now to point out a couple things real quick. Like most of you probably noticed a lot of this chapter is inspired by the episode 'Camping Can be Cool' with Stagman and such, just with a more action packed climax. Finally this chapter's footnote is from the song 'Cradle to the Grave' by Five Finger Death Punch.
Tell next time.