Chapter 44: Dethroning.
Malakai peeked his head over the edge of the broken window and peered down into the darkness below, thanks to his dark-adapted eyes he easily picked out all the shapes moving around below him.
He glanced back at Wisp who was peering over his shoulder, "I still can't believe you managed to persuade Seven to convince me to turn my armour into a saddle" he grumbled and Wisp shot him an evil grin.
"Well how else am I supposed to ride you my sugar spider?' she shot back with a playful kick of her heels in the makeshift stirrups now sewn into the sides of the body armour he was wearing that now looked like a cross between a bomb vest and a horse saddle.
"Seemed to do alright the other night without one," he said with a sly smile and Wisp laughed.
"Well yeah but then you were on your back and I had a lot to hold onto, well unless you want to flip over and have me ride your fluffy bum all the way down to the ground, sure as hell would work as one fucker of a distraction don't you think?" she said making him flush bright pink.
"Err I think I'll just keep it this way thanks," he said and she laugh again.
'Thought so, now how many do you count? I got about two hundred of them down there" she said.
"Two fifteen to be exact and what looks like some rather strange ones locked up in cages off to the right there, though they don't look like girls to me," he said pointing towards a stack of what looked like a mixture of welded shopping trolleys, chains and rebar that had all been welded together to form some kind of jail.
Wisp looked where he was pointing and Malakai swore he could hear her eyes whirring as they zoomed in, "Hey yeah you are right if anything they look like boys, but it's hard to tell, they could be regular super mutants, but there's just something off about them" she said.
"I'll take a closssser look, can you lower me down?" Riss said from Malakai's right, Malakai nodded and he quickly began weaving a silk harness like a sling which he handed to Riss who hooked herself into it, the fibres were so fine as to be nearly invisible looking like a fine grey shimmer.
Fortunately, the strands were more than strong enough to hold her weight and planting all eight of his legs far apart as Riss leaned over the edge applying her cloaking as she did Malakai took the strain of holding her weight, slowly he fed the strands through his hands lowering Riss down till she hit the ground and he pulled up the makeshift rope and using his spinnerets he severed it from himself.
Wisp pressed her radio PTT, "Riss in on the ground over" she said and Seven came back almost instantly.
"Roger that, we're getting everything set up here any eyes on the queen or her enforcers yet? Over," he said.
Both Malakai and Wisp looked around the crowd, "Negative nothing yet" Wisp replied.
"Ok roger that keep us in the loop we'll let you know when we're ready over and out," he said.
"Can yous hit that beam with a web?" Runs asked pointing to a metal roof beam a few feet away from them.
The ceiling was a latticework of heavily riveted steel beams that interlinked in order to support the huge glass ceiling that was mostly and surprisingly still intact except for a few panels like the one that the small group were looking through.
Runs was dressed completely in black and his face was painted with stripes and swirls of black paint, on his back was both his bow and a rifle both crossed over his chest, the only thing that showed his heritage other than his bow were the soft mocisans on his feet.
"Yeah should be no problem, gimme a second" Malakai said and using his spinnerets he began to create a ball of sticky silk, now as an Arachnakai he could make multiple types of silk, like the super dense thick and non-sticky strands that he used to make the armour they were all wearing, now he was producing a super sticky and elastic type that would work as an anchor this would be attached and blended into an elastic but non-sticky variant that would allow it to be climbed on without sticking to the climber.
He was about to throw it when Runs stopped him, "Don't throw, attach to this" he said holding out a blunt-tipped carved arrow made from wood and Malakai couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship that had gone into it as an artisan himself he loved admiring the work of a fellow artisan.
Malakai nodded and took the arrow before using his leg to pass the sticky anchor to his hands he quickly attached the ball to the tip and wrapped the arrow in enough sticky silk to hold it anchored in place before handing it back to Runs who smiled and nodded as he admired Malakai's craftsmanship.
Runs took his bow from his back and nocked the arrow into it, "I's needs enough rope to make it to that beam there" he said pointing to a beam slightly further away than the one he originally pointed at and Malakai nodded before he kicked his spinnerets into high gear and they rapidly began weaving the silk together like it was being braided and wrapped, now to look at his silk glands it would be easy to assume that Malakai only had two large spinnerets but that wasn't true as Arachnakai had six.
The outer spinnerets which were the ones that everyone saw and that Wisp continually loved to tease and play with as she was rapidly developing a little habit of either tickling them when he wasn't looking or gently pinching them before gently patting him on the rear.
But under those two large spinnerets that were about the size of two average human fingers stood end to end there were four more under them that were a little harder to see, there were the mediums and then the smalls and they all had their jobs, the smalls wove the finest of the threads into the weave, the mediums handled the thicker threads while also applying tension to already in play threads to make it easier to weave them.
Runs took careful aim before taking a deep breath holding it and drawing the bow in one fluid strong movement, the arrow hit exactly where Runs aimed it and stuck solid thanks to Malakai's web adhesive.
Runs tugged at the web and while it stretched the bonds were solid, he took the other end of it and tied it off to another beam in the window and he tested it, it was solid so he rehooked his bow on his chest and tied off his quiver so non of his arrows fellow out while he turned himself upside down and began to shimmy himself headfirst down the line.
As Malakai and Wisp watched he shimmied his way across the gap and flipped himself up onto the beam, he was stood in a crouch balancing on the beam giving Malakai and Wisp a thumbs up before vanishing into the shadows moving along the beams as silent as the shadows he was cloaked in.
"Alright sugar legs our turn let's move out," Wisp said and Malakai nodded.
"Alright hold on tight gorgeous this is going to be pretty jarring at first," he said and he felt her tightening the straps designed to hold her in place while inverted.
"Ready," she said.
"Alright here we go," Malakai said and with that, he moved forwards and flipped himself over the lip of the window and attached his feet to the metal, behind him his spinnerets were working overtime creating anchor points by attaching sticky silk to the metal so if the worst happened and he lost his footing or the ceiling fell away they wouldn't fall to their deaths.
As they began to move along the inside of the roof he could feel Wisp clinging on to him tightly with both her arms and her legs, he couldn't deny he loved the feeling of her thighs gripping him tightly.
Suddenly the radio sparked up in their ears and they froze, "Risssss to SSSSeven over" Riss's voice crackled into their ears and it was obvious she was speaking in a whisper.
"Go ahead Riss over" Seven replied.
"I have confirmation that the Amazonssss are holding fifteen repeat fifteen human prissssonersss and ssssix ssssupermutant prissssonerssss, the ssssupermutantssss are malesss, they have been tortured, assss have the humanssss, I have seen four bodyssss they are all children over," Riss said and the fury was obvious in her voice.
"Roger that Riss, did you say male super mutants? Over" Seven said.
"Yesss malessss, they sssseem to be a tribe like the Amazonssss are" Riss replied and that's when Shauna came on the line.
"Male super mutants!? That has to be the Greasers, they are the male equivalent of the Amazons, there are a lot fewer of them than the Amazons but during the experiments that created us one in six males wound up as a male super mutant, quite a few of them banded together to form a group that call themselves the Greasers because their leader is obsessed with some age-old styling, they use hair products and animal fat to shape their hair and wear modified leathers but they aren't a very big group for them to have fifteen of them they must have ambushed one of their camps but from what I know of these guys they aren't bad guys, just a bunch of guys trying to deal with what's been done to them and trying to find a new place for themselves in the world, as far as I know, they've never hurt anyone well any good person anyway, I did hear whispers of them attacking Raider caravans but I don't know for sure, but they sure as hell don't deserve this" Shauna said.
"Roger that, alright Malakai and Wisp you're top priority is those prisoners, we also need to move the non-combatants out of the way, how are we doing on the flash bombs? Over" Seven said.
"I'm placed three doing four now over" Runs said in a soft whisper.
"Ok roger that, where are we on identifying the queen and her enforcers now? Over" Seven asked.
"SSSStill working on it over" Riss replied.
"Ok well, we're ready over here how's things on your side Ven? Over" Seven asked.
"We're ready, Shepherd has set up that frame thing you give her and I'm ready to get in there, over," Ven said and that's when Gregory cut in quickly.
"Overwatch to Seven I have the queen repeat I have the queen over!" he exclaimed.
"Good job overwatch, is she with her enforcers? Over" Seven asked.
"I see at least two maybe three but I haven't managed to identify the others over but I have the queen dead on say the word and I'll drop her slaving ass with my first round, I saw through my scope the state of those kids Riss mentioned so say the fucking word Seven because this bitch is going fucking down! Overwatch out" Gregory snarled darkly into the mic.
Both Malakai and Wisp glanced at one another, they had never heard the gentle loving young man so fired up and angry before so what he had seen must be bad, "Roger that Gregory, hold it together my friend, don't you worry she'll get what's coming to her if I have to pull her fucking throat out myself but keep a cool head we need this to go perfect or it's going to turn into a blood bath Seven over and out" Seven replied and the others knew that there was no turning back now, it was on.
It took another twenty minutes for everyone to get their tasks done and to get into their positions, "Is everybody ready? Over" Seven called after everyone checked in Seven audibly took a deep breath over the radio, "Roger that, Riss dose em" he said.
From their position hanging over the prisoner cages, Malakai and Wisp couldn't see the NightStalker girl but they saw the results of her actions clear as day, the six enforcers one after the other suddenly began to coke and look panicked reaching up with their big hands to clutch at their throats as the toxic mixture of her own venom and Malakai's that she had silently added with a syringe to their food kicked in, now they didn't know if it was going to be potent enough to kill them but that wasn't the point, it was to distract and incapacitate them while helping to identify any others lurking in the crowd below.
The place was shaped kinda like a shanty town with a large collection of ramshackle homes that the girls had made out of everything they could get their hands on, from corrugated iron and wooden pallets to old tyres filled stones covered with tarpaulins, it was like an indoor town.
It worked beautifully as no sooner had the six of them began to choke and convulse Runs had identified four more, there were a series of hisses and thuds along with much heavier thuds as his specially made anti super mutant armour-piercing arrows hit home in quick succession and Malakai couldn't help be amazed, the man really was a lethal shadow in his own right.
As if on cue the queen leapt to her feet from her makeshift throne which sat at the head of a table at the head of the large room atop an abandoned and destroyed train, both Malakai and Wisp had noticed the two young human males that were chained naked to the sides of it looking thourally beaten down, their young bodies covered in a litany of bruises and scars.
"We're under attack! Prepare to defend your queen!" the queen yelled.
"Overwatch, hammer down I repeat hammer down," Seven said and a single shot rang out right on cue.
The queen's head snapped backwards as Gregory's round slammed right into her forehead before his body was even halfway to the floor Seven was back on the radio, "All call signs All call signs go go go!" he yelled and there were four huge roars from either side of the chamber as four doors were blown inwards, there were followed by two further roars but these two came from the two heavily armoured Claws that charged into the room at full tilt heading right for the enforcers who were still trying to fight off the venom mixture they had been dosed with, that's when the weapons started appearing.
Malakai landed with a heavy thud at the side of the prison and Wisp was off his back in a second, behind the metal the humans and male super mutants looked stunned and terrified, as Malakai lifted his rifle into the aim to cover his beloved one's back Wis planted a small conical stich charge to the main lock of the cage and lit the fuse.
"Fire in the hole!" she yelled and the lock exploded inwards as the small charge detonated.
By now the Amazons who were going to fight were already at it, the remaining enforcers were yelling and trying to rally a defence but Seven's plan was already working, as instead of rallying to them the majority of the female super mutants were either diving for cover or trying to hide from the lead that was flying in every direction as the two groups exchanged fire.
Most of it was being direct at Ven and Visa who had cut right through the incapacitated enforcers and were now in the middle of the fray, but to the casual observer, it looked like the bullets were bouncing right off them without ever making it into the armour that protected them but to those in the know they'd have seen Seven at the corner of the room holding an invisible bubble around the two claws shielding them from the vast majority of the flak.
Though more women joined the defence than they would have liked the attackers were still pushing them hard, both Sheild and Shauna had joined the fray now both holding huge riot shields that had been constructed of plate metal and given a coating of Malakai's silk to not only catch lower calibres but to prevent either shrapnel damage and catch richoets.
Behind each of them was a strike team of six women who were using them as mobile cover, the pair were wearing two of Malakai's heaviest armour creations that looked like an oversized bomb suits, the women behind them were leaning out to fire at the defenders as they advanced into the room.
Malakai saw two Amazons turn towards the cages and as soon as they saw Wisp cutting the cage locks with her small plasma torch they went to hoist their weapons in their direction, he didn't even hesitate as soon as his hyper-precise eyes perceived the threat to his beloved one his body was already moving, he lifted his rifle in exactly the way Seven and Gregory had taught him and he opened fire.
Both women dropped in the hail of bullets that Malakai unleashed on them, "DIE SLAVERS!" he bellowed as his weapon chattered next to his head spitting hot lead death on the women who posed a threat to his beloved one as well as the innocent prisoners she sought to free.
As the weapon snapped dry Malakai dropped the magazine and slapped in a fresh one before hitting the bolt release which slammed the parts forwards and recocked the weapon, it was over in three seconds and to him it barely felt like he'd moved, infact that's when his brain caught up with what he'd done.
But before he could freeze up Wisp appeared next to him, "Prisoners are free! We need to extract! Come on Malakai!" she yelled and he snapped back to the moment and spun on the spot, he charged into the cells and began grabbing the terrified men and boys.
"We're getting you out of here! Come with me!" he yelled hoisting two of them up under his arms and leaping from the cage to the wall where he began to run up it at full speed while Wisp began removing the others, as he reached the glass he shoved them through the hole where Gregory was waiting while still laying down sniper fire.
He kicked down the other anchored knotted ropes that Malakai had woven and anchored and even before Malakai hit the ground and rushed to grab more there were already men climbing them some with young boys hanging off their backs like baby monkeys, even the male super mutants were doing it.
"They're freeing the oppressors! Kill them!" someone yelled and Malakai spun on the spot just in time to see three of them levelling their weapons on the climbing boys, without a second thought he lept right at them putting all of his strength into the leap.
Even as he was in the air with his eight legs fanned out to land he felt the bullets impacting into his armour along its underside and in the front, t felt like he was being his all over with hammers but the adrenaline shielded him from the pain but not from the force, but it didn't stop him and he slammed into the three of them knocking them flat.
Quick as a flash he sank his fangs into the neck of the nearest one and his legs and spinnerets hit turbo mode wrapping super sticky strands around them as best as he could as they struggled to throw his weight off them, but it worked and the three women were bound together in a sticky mess of webbing, that's when Riss just appeared out of thin air next to them and riddled the struggling mass with bullets.
That's when Malakai heard the call over the radio that everyone had dreaded hearing, "Man down! Man down! Oh god, they've hit Sheila!" Shauna yelled.
He spun on the spot after leaping clear of the pile of dead women and he instantly saw Shiela's team, two of them were holding up her massive shield while the other four were trying to drag the fallen woman into cover behind some nearby barrels.
Bending his legs Malakai stored power before releasing it in a huge leap that allowed him to clear the majority of the room, he landed next to the team who all flinched at his sudden appearance out of no-where, "I've got this you get moving!" he yelled and with a struggle, he quickly hoisted the fallen super mutant woman onto his back and bound her to him before running as fast as he could towards the wall.
As he emerged from the hole Wisp was waiting for him with the medical kit in her hands, Gregory was to their left laying down further fire but the fight below them was already petering out as the final resistance was being crushed under the weight of the attack.
Malakai quickly placed the unmoving Sheila down in front of her and he quickly began to search the armour for the impact and that's when he saw it, her completely glazed over and lifeless eye, singular as the other one was just gone, Sheila had taken a hit directly to the right eye, she was dead.
Wisp removed her armoured helmet and froze as she saw the wound, slowly she lowered her head and listened but there was no breathing, there was no heartbeat, there was no life, their new friend was gone.
She looked up at Malakai and shook her head and he felt his heart sink, despite already knowing the painful truth even before she'd pulled that helmet off her he had still felt hope in his soul, but now it flicked and vanished like the last candle in a storm being blown out.
Below them, the gunfire had all but ceased and after a couple of sparse shots it did cease and they heard Seven's booming voice echoing up to them, "Amazons you are defeated, lay down your weapons and I promise you will not be harmed, but this is ended, your days of raping, slaving and killing are ended, your queen and her henchwomen are dead, no longer are you slaves to the will of tyrants so I say again, lay down your weapons and you will be treated fairly and justly, lift them up again and you will face the wrath of the free peoples" he said with such power and confidence that it was evident in the echo.
The battle had lasted just ten minutes from start to finish, they had put up far more resistance than Paradise Falls had but finally, it was ended but the cost this time around was a heavy one, even from where they sat Malakai, Wisp and Gregory could see the bodies of more than one of their comrades and friends laid sprawled on the floor being tended by their comrades.
"Fuck I hope this was all worth it," Wisp said glancing at Sheila's motionless body.
"To them, it is," Gregory said gesturing to naked and afraid men who were being shepherded away to be cared for by the prisoner care team that had been waiting on the roof.
"Shuna's going to be devastated," Malakai said softly and the others nodded silently as from below them Runs and Riss appeared having scaled their way back up Malakai's ropes.
"How'ssss SSSShie...oh, oh no" Riss began before seeing the body of the mortally wounded super mutant girl laid out next to them.
"I'm going to make her a body shroud, I'm not going to leave her like that, she deserves all the respect in the world, she gave her life for the freedom of these strangers she didn't even know, even if I have to bury her myself with my bare hands she will be laid to rest with respect and honour, she was brave and she was good, this world is a little darker this day," Malakai said and the others nodded helping him as best they could as he wrapped her up in a death shroud made of his finest silk which was to him the least he could do for her.
Shauna broke down when she saw her best friend laid wrapped from head to foot in Malakai's silk death shroud upon the makeshift stretcher they'd fashioned to get her down from the roof, she fell to her knees and sobbed her heart out as her emotions burst from her like an explosion.
Seven was the first to move, he stepped forwards and he wrapped his metal arms around the grief-stricken woman, next Visa, then Ven followed by Gregory and moments later Shauna was surrounded by a wall of support and love, they picked her up and held her between them.
"You are of us now Shauna you lean on us, never again will you walk alone or in fear because we are right here at your side, we will be your strength and your shield when you need us, when you stumble we will catch you because you are of us and we are of you," Seven said softly.
"Thank you Seven, thank you so so much, all she ever wanted was to make a difference to the world, to make it better and when this happened to us all she wanted was to be accepted, to be loved, hell to be liked, to have someone to love and to care for, she was the nicest person anyone could ever hope to meet, she was so gentle and so happy, she didn't deserve this, it's not fucking right!" she wailed making them all hold her tighter.
The group lost a total of ten including Sheila and Seven's group paid respect to every single life lost regardless of whether they had known them or not, Malakai wrapped them in shrouds while Seven and the others built them stretchers to be carried on back to camp, the males that had been freed had already been moved back to camp ahead of the others by the rescue team so they could be treated by the doctor and given food and clothing, they had been given something to cover themselves while they'd been moved under guard across the city to the camp and by the time the others had arrived with the now freed former Amazons in tow, those who refused to accept to them was enslavement had been secured they couldn't hurt anybody while being transported so that they could be deprogrammed back in Shepherds camp.
The loss of their friends and loved ones had really put a dampener on what had been at its core a very successful rescue mission, in one fell swoop the group had not only removed an incredibly dangerous group from their midst but had saved multiple innocent lives with their actions, but grief is funny like that, the positive really can be drowned in the negative.
To show his respect Seven organised the funerals of all who had died, he said that like the warrior heroes they were they would be burned in funeral pyres and then their ashes would be returned to Earth so they could return to where they had come from so a part of them would live on in every plant that grew and every vegetable that grew so that their sacrifice would live on in future generations to come.
So while the camp was buzzing with activity as the newcomers were housed and checked over Seven and his team with the help of Shepherd and her team created a series of funeral pyres along the outer wall with the bodies of their friends and comrades entombed within them, Gregory and Shauna also made a memorial for them which consisted of a large stone that Shauna with the help of Ven moved into the compound before Gregory carved the names of the fallen into it, at the top it read 'Fallen Heroes Who Died So Others May Live Free, Remember Them Because They Died For All Of Us.'
At the end of the evening when all was ready Seven gathered everybody together, the only ones who weren't in attendance were the freed Amazons and the male prisoners as they were in no condition to be present, well there was one exception, one of the male super mutants had insisted on being there a large super mutant man with a large bushy beard called Raymond.
Seven strode out in front of everyone gathered free of his power armour now which stood like a silent watchful guardian in the corner, "Ladies and gentlemen we are gathered here to pay our final respects to our fallen friends and sisters, to us they were the people who made our lives better just by being present in them, but to others, they are heroes, those who stood tall and proud in the face of those who would hurt them and others and said no-more! No more will you do this for I will not stand for it and if need be I will lay down my life to make sure that it stops here with me and that's what they did, so while we mourn them we also celebrate them, because of them many of us are still here and for that we also thank them, so join me, brothers and sister, as we say not only goodbye but also thank you, thank you for their sacrifice for the nameless people who they stood for and the named ones like Raymond here who stands with us now because of them" he said proudly.
Shauna was stood in the front row dressed all in black thanks to Malakai's efforts, infact a great many of them were thanks to him going into a mad tailor overdrive, infact it was he and Wisp who stood with Shauna holding her tightly between them supporting her and showing that Seven had meant what he said when he said that their group would be her strength now.
Seven and Shepherd took two torches and while Seven started from the left Shepherd started from the right and moved down the line lighting each of the pyres as they went till all of them was aflame and the light reached high into the sky.
That's when the gathered women began to sing much to Malakai's surprise, it was an oddly beautiful and harmonic tune that while he didn't have a clue of the words he bowed his head to listen to the beautiful haunting tone of it, it sounded like a story being sung, a story of love lost but peace found.
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After the funeral was over Raymond approached Seven who was standing with his group, as he approached all of them looked up but rather than fierce stare he was met with soft looks, "Hey man I just wanted to say thank you for whatcha all did for us and to say sorry about your friend, it was a beautiful thing yall did, you just don't see that shit these days and I wanted to say sorry about your friend, even though I didn't know her I know I speak for all of us you pulled out of those cages when I say I'll never forget her," he said in a soft voice that had an oddly musical note to it.
"You are most welcome my friend and I'm glad you could make it out to stand with us, it is very much appreciated," Seven said softly as his group dispersed to take Shauna back home to care for her, they now had Shepherd and her number among them.
"I know the rest of the guys wanted to be out here too but hell they are just in no shape to stand up, how the fuck we made the walk back here I don't know, they caught me last as I was a scout sent to try and find out what happened to one of our camps when those crazy Amazons bagged me, but even locked in those cages I could see that not all those girls were bad they were just under the sway of some real sick fuckers, they were just scared girls looking for a place in the world after what happened to all of us," Raymond said and Seven nodded.
"Yeah, we know that don't worry every effort is going to be made to help them, that was part of the point to help them and you guys but mainly to just put a stop to it full stop," Seven said.
"Yeah well you did that alright fuck me, dude you hit them like a fucking freight train, so umm I also hear from the girls in the medical bay that you guys aren't part of this place and that you have some sort of human non-human co-operative thing going on that true?" he asked and Seven nodded.
"Yeah something like that, see the big Claw girl there?" Seven said indicating Visa who was helping Malakai to lead Shauna back to their house and Raymond nodded.
"Yeah she's my life mate, everyone in my group is open-minded enough that most of them are relationships with a member of another species, we have two human Claw relationships, a human and a NightStalker girl, a synth non-corporeal human girl and an Arachnakai boy, so yeah you could say that," he said.
Raymond looked amazed at this but then his face broke into a smile and he nodded, "You looking for new members?" he asked and Seven looked stunned.
"Huh? Do you want to join us? Why?" Seven asked cocking his head curiously.
"The girls in the medical building and the girls bringing us over here just kept singing your praises, they told us all about what you guys did to take down paradise falls, more specifically they kept upon about you personally saying you are the guy that every woman here would give he left tit to get the single chance to to get with but given what I just saw I can see why they don't try to put the move on you because they like their arse still attached to their body and not thrown over a wall but that seems to me like people I want to run with, I've been running with the Greasers as they are a great bunch of really cool guys, but I want something different, I want to move on and to see new things and I was told one of the things you guys do is show the world that not all non-humans are bad and I want in on that because things like that will help my boys out a bunch," he said.
Seven thought about this then he strode forwards and stuck out his hand to Raymond who looked surprised for a moment but then smiled and took it in his huge green mit and shook it, "Welcome aboard Raymond now you go get ourselves sorted out in the medical building and let the girls take care of you, we'll be buy in the morning to speak to you and to all of the others, but please if you excuse me now I have a friend in need who really needs me" Seven said and Raymond nodded.
"yeah man you go and take care of that big girl and we'll talk tomorrow," he said and with that Seven turned and headed back to their house, tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.