TCB Chapter 12: Highway To Hell
With the puppet gouverment tyranny depleted in Elsewhere, the Courageous Brigade have stopped in the outskirts of that village where the cemetery was. During the funeral of Theodore's mother, Courage can still remember his little conversation he had with Viss when they all were heading back to the surface, in regards to what Vesha gave out her plans.
[FLASHBACK ON]
"Pink bean, i.. i think i owe you an apology." - the nurse lady told with a sense of guilt she had.
"You knew all of this, didn't you?" - the dog asked.
"I'm so sorry.. But believe me, when i thought my sister's actions were ruthless and inhuman, i couldn't stand in her way of stopping her without having myself being tortured in the most gruesome ways those captives were." Viss griefed her sister's death and remembers the horrible past memories.
Courage remained silent but she continued.
"I admit the truth that i hated dogs as much as humans, but i wished there were other ways... other ways of justice..." she sniffs in tears..."Not this bloodshed... Despite yer inner rage, Courage.. you were the one truly unique dog that i haven't exposed to public cause what you gave me... was something that my own family never did... a hug. Vesha barely even recognized me as a family! Pa was always busy.. I couldn't stand no more!"
One hug was all she needed and Courage could see dripping tears out of her tired raven looking eyes.
"It's not your fault." Courage assured her, while Viss couldn't believe it. "I understand quite perfectly... you were only trying to keep yourself safe.. I know how it feels when even your own family leaves you.. the things you do for love.. just let it go now." The dog smiled.
"Wh-wh-what? You're.. forgiving me? After what.. happened here? After what my sister has done? You're not even ...going to bite me?" Viss was down-right stoned.
Courage giggled. "No silly, i've been in worse situations before the comet strike than you could possibly imagine. In my case, i was left without parents as a pup not because they ignored me but they got launched into space... to who knows where..." The dog's ears went down.
Viss was out of words until the pink hound replies "Leave the past behind. I'm trying my best to leave it all behind me myself but.. something inside me prevents it."
"Like what?" Viss asked.
"I think you know the answer already when my other-side attacked you." He whispered to her ear.
The raven nurse freaked out remembering Courage's beast mode in her hut. The dog continued.. "But that was something temporarily. I'm not sure if i can get rid of it by own will, if there's no permanent cure."
Leaving that matter in Courage's hands, what's more importantly, a part of Viss's mind was thinking of a plan to restore peace back in the village with the demise of her sister. To continue the bloodline in a different way. Both her and Courage were silent but Viss stood peacefully with the impression of being forgiven by a dog. And not paying too much attention to his plague. She muttered nontheless...
"I'm sure you'll find something.. pink bean. Like love... The Jaw is your next destination. From there your path to Bulletown should be clear. At least i hope you succeed in going through than my former sis.. " Viss winked and giving a weak smile on her beak.
[FLASHBACK OFF]
Bigfoot's adoptive mother's grave was surrounded by Courage's allies. Most closer to it was the big boy sitting on his knees and grieving. Courage came to him and placed a paw on his back to comfort him in which the hairy monster had no reaction to it but appreciates it nonetheless.
They had to keep going without risking of being invaded by wardog rallies even if Elsewhere village was liberated except for control points still standing between them and Bulletown. Finally Bigfoot stood up after mourning for hours. The allies returned to their vehicle leaving Bigfoot alone for a bit, as he began to howl louder in her mother's tribute.
Later on, with food supplies and material resources replenished thanks to Viss's leadership, The Courageous Brigade were set off on the road again. As they vowed to live in peace once Mad Dog is erased off the face of Earth along with his loyalists.
Courage was on the wheel this time with Shirley sitting next to him. The medium began to smoke from her pipe she bought from the village, however her expression remained dull.
"I didn't knew you were a smoker." Courage told while driving.
"Always have been." she replied, while starting to cough after few puffs.
"Don't you think you're hurting yourself more than you are?"
"Does this really matters now, dog?" the medium looked at him mildly annoyed with a paw on her forehead. "I have a terrible headache now after all this, and i need something to calm myself down." She rests her head on the window.
"I'm sure there are other ways but smoking is bad. Perhaps more... meditation?" The dog said.
"You are not wrong there, courageous one." she closed her eyes while giggling and taking another puff. "I would worry more about your twin-demon disease inside you, than my health." And that statement already exhausted Courage's thoughts. He was so done with this burden but vowed to keep moving cause there was nothing left to lose. Shirley on the other hand, tried to forget about her shattered crystal ball.
Inside the van, Hunchback let Bigfoot playing with his bell cane to cope with his loss. And surprisingly it's working as the monster yet again has put up a smile to his face by ringing the bell over and over. Scarecrow was inspecting the harpoon launcher installed by the mechanic in order to learn how to use it. Even though oceans of water have been seriously dried out after apocalypse, it doesn't mean they cannot "fish" for something else that is tough or resisting..
"We are now approaching the so called Jaw." Computer announced on the dashboard.
Without Courage's will, the vehicle was stopped by Computer for them to witness their destination far away ahead.
The Jaw is what Vesha described. The gigantic gates in shape of a shark-like mouth leading to Bulletown. They were indeed made out of real shark teeth, bigger enough to fit the whole vehicle in as the shark skull itself was another outpost built for wardogs. Though they weren't just ordinary goons like the previous canine clowns. These where the Elite Wardogs. Better equipped with standard but stolen body armor, armed with submachine guns and wearing sunglasses due to their flesh crippled eyesockets from the meteor wave. It should've blinded them but on the contrary, it made them more clear seekers and agile in attacks.
No wonder Vesha's gang got seriously injured attempting to break the gates.
Computer also closed its headlights knowing that there was another surprise blocking the path. Courage witnessed a guard tower with an ordinary wardog sniper. It was still night time and the tower's spotlight was covering the whole area, even if there were small rocks in the way. Luckily it doesn't reach the brigade's vehicle position, otherwise it would've alerted the entire complex.
"How are we gonna get through without being spotted?" The machine asked.
"Go around it?" Courage suggested.
"It'll cost us too much time, also the Jaw fences seems to be stretching by miles away, with barbed wire and booby traps, the only safe route is through the front gate." Computer told.
"..and i can see the town far away ahead" Shirley added. "..smokestacks.. neon lights...dancing fireworks.. i still doubt people there or animals are living like in Vegas." she gave a suspicious look.
"We'll find out when we reach there. Now what's the plan, twit?"
The pink dog scratched his head thinking...
...
Then an idea came to Courage!
The wardog sniper was smoking a cigarette while calibrating his rifle, but little did he knew that one of those tiny rocks surrounding the tower... began to move.
The "fake" tiny rock was actually Courage covered in brown cloak. His physical being resembled quite well with a tiny pebble. He was certainly being scared at first, but the trick worked and continued with the plan. Everytime the sniper was looking away, the pink hound would approach the guard tower with caution. If the spotlight caught the moving "rock" standing still, the sniper thinks its just a boulder. Courage held up a grappling hook from the vehicle's harpoon launcher, hoping he would attach it to the tower's support structure. And so he did!
Courage gave out the OK signal, prompting Scarecrow to activate the launcher in by pulling down the whole wooden tower apart.
The van just hit in gear with high speed towards the Jaw gates, and before the sniper had any chance to take a shot on the vehicle, the whole tower began to collapse to pieces with the sniper dog being burried in rubble.
The Jaw outpost is now alerted by the noise and began its defensive attacks. The elite wardogs went to their posts and opens fire. And of course that freaked out Courage as well.
The allies charged without mercy attempting to shake off the bullet impacts they were fired upon. Nobody was on the wheel and it was quite protected thankfully by its durable metal plates. Scarecrow fired the rear harpoon again attempting to distract the enemies from Courage.
The pink hound ran really fast towards the Jaw skull, while his friends kept the guards busy as a distraction. Now Computer can drive with ease in wibbly wobbly directions allowing Scarecrow to do his job.
Hunchback looks through his telescope seeing Courage infiltrating the Jaw outpost in the distance. Sweating and breathing hard after climbing up towards the outpost entrance, Courage surely is determined to get the job done despite his conditions. Much to his surprise, the elite wardogs haven't noticed him. Taking advantage of this distraction, he went sneaky past through those animals concentrated on their target. Courage found two levers indicating the controls for the Jaw gates.
...
Bad luck just came back. One elite wardog decided to turn around and spotted Courage about to pull the lever.
"HEY! You there!" The wild animal shouted. So much for stealth... He was about to shoot the pink dog in point blank with his SMG.
At the same time the harpoon reached through the outpost window inside the cracked shark skull, scaring both Courage and the elite wardogs as it hit a wooden ceiling. With tremendous force, the harpoon pulled the ceiling down, crumbling to bone fragments as the debris fell on top of the wardogs about to shoot down Courage. The shark skull outpost was now roofless but the pink dog managed to dodge the debris impact.
Scarecrow carefully took the shot without harming Courage thanks to Hunchback's eagle eye guiding him with his telescope. Courage smiled and with one last effort, he pulled the lever.
The Jaw gates are now opened the same way as a shark mouth would. And the van wasted no time in going through. Courage immediately jumped in the air out of the outpost and landed on the vehicle. It wasn't what Courage planned to do by gaining extra wardog casualties, but nonetheless his plan still succeded. They were evil anyway.
'They weren't that elite as i thought.' The dog confirmed now Vesha's bluff...
Scarecrow reseted the harpoon back and the brigade can drive now without problems of "checkpoint control". Courage quickly took the wheel and Computer switched back from autopilot to manual drive again.
"They'll let us in then. What a way to use yourself as bait, twit." The machine told while the dog giggled.
Behind the Jaw, the team was impressed how could this gigantic sea creature could've exist as they explored the skeleton buried in sand. Escaping through the ribcage, finally they spotted what they hoped so far ahead.
Bulletown.
The city of wasteland opportunities... And highly concentrated on ammunition manufacturing.
Before entering the town itself, Courage spotted a totem statue resembling Mad Dog as a hero holding a steering wheel in the air. Just pure propaganda leaving the pink hound irritated. Computer took notice of his expression.
"If you like, we can take that down too." Computer suggested.
"Huh? Since when do you suggest something like this?" Courage asked knowing the machine wasn't the type to recommend vandalizing properties.
"Twit, we already lowered control and freed some of the lands from our past journeys. If our objective is to bring Mad Dog to justice, less propaganda would benefit the public." he replied.
Courage raised an eyebrow and smirked a little by the sudden change of behavior from Computer.
"...plus i was having too much fun regardless of conditions." He continued. Eventually the machine started to get a hang of these situations while adventuring on wheels. Pretty rough in the first days or weeks, but Computer accepted the living conditions and went with the flow. Not knowing the post-war era once MD is finished, the machine just kept going.
Luckily this time, the totem was unprotected. And Scarecrow gladly went on bringing that statue down to the ground with the harpoon. As lazy as these wardogs are, unable to make durable statues, they are better off at other things than raising their own morale for the wardog lord. That's another thing taken care of, as they moved quickly from that area before attracting anymore attention.
Very soon they will not be able to see Elsewhere and the Jaw behind far away, and just as they drove towards Bulletown they were about to cross over a huge bridge. The canyon below was quite abrupt and falling here would be instant death cause there was no water.
But only sharp rocky spikes and bones buried in sand and ashes.
The gap was massive encircling the city, there is no doubt there might be few other bridges connecting the city to the other sides. Regardless of the scenery, it was quite impressive looking and the bridge itself was a torn down highway but partially rebuilt.
"Courage? Eyes on the road." Shirley called him out.
"Oh what? where? Ah.." The dog's eyes were distracted by the image of the tallest buildings of Bulletown. He was wondering already if the wardogs would immediately attack them after crossing the bridge, but the highways themselves weren't that busy with columns of cars waiting to move again.
The roads were occupied with rusty pieces of vehicle junk and sometimes skeletons, unfortunately these people weren't able to reach their destination before the apocalypse. But the brigade's van drove in between the "parked" cars, nonetheless they were prepared if any surprises comes before entering the town properly.
Courage was already devastated by this turn of events seeing so many lives lost after witnessing the highway cemetery.
As the team was crossing the bridge, Hunchback and Scarecrow poped their heads out to see properly the oddly looking town yet very illuminated with neons and smokestacks, rusty metal foundries and advertisement panels showing Mad Dog's strength and other variety of propaganda. Still, they were really unaware of explosives rigged inside the destroyed cars, but the medium sure felt something was wrong. It was too quiet and too easy to cross, wires seem to be connecting through each skeleton inside the cars until...
...Shirley's eyes snapped open. Knowing what was coming she began to yell the heck out her chihuahua lungs...
"HIT THE GAAAAS!"
Computer pushed the accelerate pedal without Courage's will engaging in a high speed bridge crossing.
Just a few seconds after Shirley's shout, massive explosions went off behind them and the blasts were rapidly following them boom after boom. It also caused a total collapse of that bridge section. Courage bared teeth trying his best to not scream and freak out but his heart was pounding fast like a parasite.
The whole team races through the carnage to reach the other side before the whole bridge collapses!
Enourmous explosions emanated out of the rusty cars with skeletons as the van avoids each blast but the bridge itself began to lose stability. Just a portion of the highway ahead crumbled and formed up like a jumping ramp. Seeing what was going to happen next...
"The things i do for love." Courage spoke calmly.
...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The whole brigade van just flew in the air after that jump before the ramp fell as well, making every ally scream in terror as the explosions from behind them finished off the last structure of that highway bridge.
Thanking the V8 Gods, that pig mechanic improved the van engine that boosted up enough speed for the brigade to finally reach the other side of the huge gap. The landing was rough. But everybody survived the "warm welcome". If they were running with a stock engine they wouldn't made the jump.
The team pulled over on the side of a road away from the main road that leads to Bulletown, as they got out of the vehicle. Courage coughed from the dust formed in the air and waves with his paws to get a clear view of the city.
"Were they..." he coughes some more "...expecting us?!"
"Well seeing as we triggered the alarm in the Jaw..." The Computer said.
Before Computer could even finish his sentence, hordes of wardog vehicles advanced to their position from the city until they surrounded them. Armed to teeth with flaming spears, machinguns, shotguns and rockets, the wardogs weren't playing any games this time. The whole brigade watched how the columns of twisted metal cars surrounded their vehicle as the wardogs barked in laughs and eagerness of their capture. Every single weapon of theirs were aimed straight at the allies.
"...i'd say yes." Shirley spoke looking at Courage. Raising her arms up, as well as other allies did. Knowing they cannot fight a whole big city filled with ferocious mutated wardogs painted oddly in blue and purple colors, they had to surrender.
The enemies began to quickly chain Bigfoot's feet and his mouth with a bear belt, while Scarecrow and Hunchback were rapidly tied up one another but not without being clawed as well. Courage gasped and his head gets knocked out again while Shirley gets a beatup in the stomach. Computer remained silent and acted like a normal vehicle waiting for wardogs to hop in and drove it towards Bulletown, leaving the allies behind.
But Computer talked to himself in silence, as the enemy dog drove the van to their garage. "Just hang in there.. Courage. We'll be meeting again." After witnessing his friends being captured no doubt he vowed to rescue them.
This wasn't going to be easy moving on to an enemy controlled town, but at least the team weren't straight up murdered here and now after a succesful escape. Of course one way or another they'll be out of here in due time once they gather the info they need about Mad Dog's whereabouts. But in Bullettown? Boy oh boy. Courage would have plenty of opportunities here.
...
Meanwhile...
...
"Those damn idiots! Look what they've done!" A random warcat shouted.
"Katz is not going to like this.." The other cat spoke.
Both warcats eyed straight to their spy outpost destroyed by the highway debris that fell on them. The warcats had a small base right at the bottom of the canyon just below where the bridge collapsed.
"Meow.. Excuse me?! Who came up with the genius plan of setting up a base below a bridge that was going to blow to kingdom come?!" the first cat hissed in anger.
"Hey the surface was way too dangerous, you know how we set up places underground!"
"Screw you and your ideas, moron. We're spider meal now."
"God damnit.." The warcat kicked a rock.
...
[Watch Tower Destroyed + The Jaw Liberated + MD Totem Vandalized + Warcat Base Destroyed]
[Mad Dog's Control = Zero ; Katz's Control = Zero]
[ELSEWHERE LIBERATED!]
That area is no longer hostile.
Coming Up Next - Bulletown.
THE END of Chapter 12