Nobody chased them as they made their way back to where they parked the van. But from the commotion coming from town, it was clear they had stirred up a hornet's nest of activity.
Norman glanced back. From his position on the shallow forested hill outside town, he could see dozens of previously hidden vehicles searching the area near the corpses. Norman was a bit surprised to see so many vehicles and people searching for them. He had not really believed Toby when he spoke of how big of an operation Sin ran. After seeing how many men were in this one small town, Norman now believed him.
Once the men failed to find him near the area, they would begin spreading out. After that, it would only be a matter of time until they came across where they had hidden the van. Knowing that they had little time, Norman pushed himself harder to keep up with Toby and Anna. Both were much further up the slope thanks to being in better shape than Norman. Norman’s lanky body was really only good for short sprints.
Soon the top of the hill came into view. As Norman topped the rise, he gasped for air while the others were busy tossing the food and items – that they managed to recover after the fight – into the van.
Catching Toby’s worried gaze, Norman hurried toward the van. He got a vague impression, from that glance, that Toby was willing to leave Norman behind just to save Anna. Norman knew the only thing Toby cared about more than himself was his sister, even if it meant he would be stuck as undead for the rest of his existence.
It was a reminder to Norman, that despite their deal, Toby only truly cared about two things.
Norman hauled his tired body into the van, ensuring Toby didn’t have time to come to a decision. He really needed to find better friends.
They managed to escape the area without running into any of Sin’s men. Most of that was due to Toby’s planning. Norman was loath to praise the man’s ability but he did know how to plan ahead.
The van had been parked at an overlook, but all of the roads leading to the overlook were far outside of the town. And the road they left on led directly away from town, meaning anyone that wanted to cut them off would have to reach the end of that road before they could box them in.
It was a good thing Norman wasn’t the one driving. His gut churned at what he had done to another human. Thankfully Anna and Toby didn’t comment on his distress as they made their escape.
Before night fell, Toby pulled into a driveway with a small cabin at the end of it. He stopped the van near the front door and hopped out. It was much the same as when they had stayed in the mansion. Only instead of a wall, the cabin was surrounded by thick woods that blocked its view from the road. Toby broke a window on the door and unlocked it to let himself in. Once he scouted inside and deemed it safe, he returned to the van.
He jerked the back door to the van open and looked at Norman. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong! I killed a man today.”
Toby rolled his eyes. “Oh please, quit being so dramatic. Not like you’ve never seen a corpse before.”
“That’s- That’s not the same. I never killed them.”
Toby looked around, but Anna was inside the cabin. “I see how it is, you feel bad for killing someone you didn’t even know and who was trying to capture you. But when it comes to me, you couldn’t shed a tear?”
“I didn’t kill you, I tried to save your dumb ass. You’re the asshole that thought it was a good idea to leave poisoned potions in your van. Technically, you killed yourself.”
“Uh, huh. Get over here so I can technically put my foot up your ass!”
Norman scooted out of the man’s reach and exited the side door. Norman knew Toby hadn’t been actually trying to attack him. He was probably just trying to distract Norman from what had happened. And if the gesture had come from anyone else, Norman would have even appreciated it.
Toby was right, not that it made Norman happy. He knew there was no other way out of that situation besides killing those two men. Unless he wanted to be captured and carted away like some ill-gotten prize. Norman wasn’t keen on being someone's slave. That still didn’t make what he did right. It did make him realize he would have to live with what happened though.
While Norman had done a lot of shady shit in his life, he always prided himself on the fact that he had never harmed anyone, physically. Norman took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He was on the run from criminals now so this wasn’t likely the only time he would have to fight.
“You done moping?”
“I’m not moping.”
“Good, let's get the rest of this shit inside so you can make whatever the hell you needed all this shit for.”
“Alright, I gotta get one more ingredient though.” Before Toby could ask what he meant, Norman walked off.
It didn’t take him long to find a cluster of clover growing nearby. He picked a handful of the small plants and headed back toward the cabin.
Toby stopped him before he entered the cabin. The man leaned close and whispered in Norman’s ear. “What did you give my sister?”
Norman was confused for a moment before he remembered. “Oh… um, it was a spell that gave her protective armor.”
“I can see that. How does she remove it?”
Norman slapped himself. He had forgotten she had activated the armor during the fight, and she didn’t have a spell anchor to pull it off. She had been wearing it this entire time without so much as a word. He fished into his pocket and handed Toby his. “She just has to touch this to the armor and it will be removed. This will also replace the spell anchor she activated.
Toby inspected the small tooth with curiosity. “Spell anchor? Never mind, I assume you mean the bone. You got any more?”
Norman shook his head. “Just the one I gave her and my personal one. If we hadn’t been forced to flee so fast, I could have converted those two bodies into spells.”
Toby looked mildly disgusted by that and looked like he wanted to toss the bone away. Even though the man had been perfectly fine killing the guy only hours before.
Norman quickly assured Toby that the one he held was fine. “That was made from animal bones, as well as the one Anna has on. Heck, you can verify this with her, she was the one who helped me retrieve the bones from that glue factory.”
“Glue factory?”
Shit, he probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “Ask Anna about it.” Yeah, that should work.
Of course, Toby did ask Anna about it. Anna realizing she was in trouble, promptly said it was all Norman’s idea. To which he stringently denied. That led to a round of arguing and blaming before the truth turned into mere speculation and Toby had had enough and left the cabin for some peace and quiet.
Both Norman and Anna winked at each other. Before all this nonsense with the gangs and magic, they used to pull this stunt on Toby all the time. It was nice having a bit of normalcy in their chaotic lives.
It was also nice to just be able to stay someplace long enough to do some magic, even if it was just potion-making. Once Toby returned, and seeing that they had time on their hands, Norman suggested a drinking game.
Just a simple game of poker with the loser having to drink one of those gag alcohols. Anna lost the first round and hers was a butter-flavored vodka.
Toby and Norman laughed as she tried downing it all at once, only to cough half of it back up. Toby handed her a glass of water to wash the nasty taste from her mouth.
Norman was the next to lose a hand. His punishment was a pickle-flavored whiskey. The shot-sized bottle went down as well as a shot of pure pickle juice. Norman wheezed but managed to keep the disgusting contents down.
Of course, he lost the next two hands as well. The pepper-flavored scotch wasn’t horrible but the ranch dressing gin made him almost lose his stomach. Toby finally lost a hand after that, having to drink a black licorice-flavored tequila.
The look on his face said enough about how that one tasted. It also brought up an interesting question for Norman. How does an undead process food and liquids? Toby had been eating and drinking as normal but he hadn’t seen the man go off to use the bathroom.
He wanted to ask about that, but with Anna here he couldn’t just bring it up. After that, the group fell into an uncomfortable silence. It seemed that the group as a whole decided that punishing themselves like this was not all that fun and the game ended shortly after that. Norman was in complete agreement, seeing as he had received the brunt of the punishment. They took the rest of the bottles and dumped them out outside.
The others cooked up the meat, while Norman made up a small batch of potions. He would have liked to make a full batch but he just didn’t have the magic powder to spare. What he also hadn’t told the others is that with the use of the two orbs today and the one he tested in the woods, he was nearly out of energy. Ugh, he was just going to refer to it as mana from now on. Trying to define it as something else was just irritating.
That meant he was going to have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Toby and Anna sooner or later. Norman chose later. Partially because he didn’t want to have the conversation about him needing to rely on the magic powder like an addict, and partially because Norman still hadn’t seen just how long it would take to completely run out.
Sometimes wanting to test all of these variables out sucked. But Norman knew he would need to do it sooner or later. And best to have it happen when people were nearby to ensure he didn’t die. Which is why he needed the potions to deal with any possible injuries that might result from withdrawal.
The other reason for the potions was he needed Toby to drink some and see what happened. Call it the first test in restoring Toby to the world of the living. A test that Norman was looking forward to, probably more than Toby would when he learned about it and the possible drawbacks.
Toby was the first to break the awkward silence. “We need to discuss what to do next.”
“We need to leave,” Norman sighed, “you may be ok with killing people but that isn’t me.”
Norman expected a mocking laugh but got a glare from Toby instead. “You think I like killing people? That was the first time I’d had to kill anyone. The difference is I understand the need to do it. Sin isn’t going to just let us waltz around the state. Eventually, we will get caught.”
“Look, I didn’t mean it like that.” Toby could be so touchy about things. “But it sounds like we both agree, we need to leave. Leave the state.”
“Is that safe?” Anna asked past a mouthful of food.
The girl looked famished as she was shoveling food into her mouth like a starved person. Norman just shook his head and smiled wryly.
“Safer than waiting around to be captured,” Toby added, throwing a pile of napkins at his sister.
“Hey!” she complained, spitting out a bit of food from her mouth.
“Ok, so where do we go?” Norman asked.
“North is the only real option. Unless you want to go into elven lands?”
Norman shook his head. “What about going west?”
“Too dangerous. The roads through the mountains haven’t been maintained in two years. With the frequent tremors from the fall, I fear they could be blocked. Even if they aren’t the roads are probably going to be in poor condition. We would have to leave the van behind and hike over the mountains on foot. We will probably still end up having to abandon the van at some point but I would rather do so once we are outside the state or at least close to our destination.”
“Ok, do we have any idea what lies to the north?”
“Some sort of long grass savanna. But there isn’t much known about it since anyone that has entered, hasn’t returned.”
Anna gave a loud swallow of the food in her mouth before chiming in. “That’s not ominous at all.”
“Well, we have two guns and Norman’s magic. Hopefully, that will be enough.”
“Wait, where did you get a second gun?” Norman asked.
“I just took it from the man in town. He wasn’t gonna need it anymore. As to your magic, can you make another armor thing for me?”
“Not with what I have on hand.”
“What do you need?”
“Bones, probably a full corpse. Something like a deer should suffice.”
“Ok, well, we’re going to stay here for a few days and let the heat die down. I’ll see about getting those bones.”
Nobody chased them as they made their way back to where they parked the van. But from the commotion coming from town, it was clear they had stirred up a hornet's nest of activity.
Norman glanced back. From his position on the shallow forested hill outside town, he could see dozens of previously hidden vehicles searching the area near the corpses. Norman was a bit surprised to see so many vehicles and people searching for them. He had not really believed Toby when he spoke of how big of an operation Sin ran. After seeing how many men were in this one small town, Norman now believed him.
Once the men failed to find him near the area, they would begin spreading out. After that, it would only be a matter of time until they came across where they had hidden the van. Knowing that they had little time, Norman pushed himself harder to keep up with Toby and Anna. Both were much further up the slope thanks to being in better shape than Norman. Norman’s lanky body was really only good for short sprints.
Soon the top of the hill came into view. As Norman topped the rise, he gasped for air while the others were busy tossing the food and items – that they managed to recover after the fight – into the van.
Catching Toby’s worried gaze, Norman hurried toward the van. He got a vague impression, from that glance, that Toby was willing to leave Norman behind just to save Anna. Norman knew the only thing Toby cared about more than himself was his sister, even if it meant he would be stuck as undead for the rest of his existence.
It was a reminder to Norman, that despite their deal, Toby only truly cared about two things.
Norman hauled his tired body into the van, ensuring Toby didn’t have time to come to a decision. He really needed to find better friends.
They managed to escape the area without running into any of Sin’s men. Most of that was due to Toby’s planning. Norman was loath to praise the man’s ability but he did know how to plan ahead.
The van had been parked at an overlook, but all of the roads leading to the overlook were far outside of the town. And the road they left on led directly away from town, meaning anyone that wanted to cut them off would have to reach the end of that road before they could box them in.
It was a good thing Norman wasn’t the one driving. His gut churned at what he had done to another human. Thankfully Anna and Toby didn’t comment on his distress as they made their escape.
Before night fell, Toby pulled into a driveway with a small cabin at the end of it. He stopped the van near the front door and hopped out. It was much the same as when they had stayed in the mansion. Only instead of a wall, the cabin was surrounded by thick woods that blocked its view from the road. Toby broke a window on the door and unlocked it to let himself in. Once he scouted inside and deemed it safe, he returned to the van.
He jerked the back door to the van open and looked at Norman. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong! I killed a man today.”
Toby rolled his eyes. “Oh please, quit being so dramatic. Not like you’ve never seen a corpse before.”
“That’s- That’s not the same. I never killed them.”
Toby looked around, but Anna was inside the cabin. “I see how it is, you feel bad for killing someone you didn’t even know and who was trying to capture you. But when it comes to me, you couldn’t shed a tear?”
“I didn’t kill you, I tried to save your dumb ass. You’re the asshole that thought it was a good idea to leave poisoned potions in your van. Technically, you killed yourself.”
“Uh, huh. Get over here so I can technically put my foot up your ass!”
Norman scooted out of the man’s reach and exited the side door. Norman knew Toby hadn’t been actually trying to attack him. He was probably just trying to distract Norman from what had happened. And if the gesture had come from anyone else, Norman would have even appreciated it.
Toby was right, not that it made Norman happy. He knew there was no other way out of that situation besides killing those two men. Unless he wanted to be captured and carted away like some ill-gotten prize. Norman wasn’t keen on being someone's slave. That still didn’t make what he did right. It did make him realize he would have to live with what happened though.
While Norman had done a lot of shady shit in his life, he always prided himself on the fact that he had never harmed anyone, physically. Norman took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He was on the run from criminals now so this wasn’t likely the only time he would have to fight.
“You done moping?”
“I’m not moping.”
“Good, let's get the rest of this shit inside so you can make whatever the hell you needed all this shit for.”
“Alright, I gotta get one more ingredient though.” Before Toby could ask what he meant, Norman walked off.
It didn’t take him long to find a cluster of clover growing nearby. He picked a handful of the small plants and headed back toward the cabin.
Toby stopped him before he entered the cabin. The man leaned close and whispered in Norman’s ear. “What did you give my sister?”
Norman was confused for a moment before he remembered. “Oh… um, it was a spell that gave her protective armor.”
“I can see that. How does she remove it?”
Norman slapped himself. He had forgotten she had activated the armor during the fight, and she didn’t have a spell anchor to pull it off. She had been wearing it this entire time without so much as a word. He fished into his pocket and handed Toby his. “She just has to touch this to the armor and it will be removed. This will also replace the spell anchor she activated.
Toby inspected the small tooth with curiosity. “Spell anchor? Never mind, I assume you mean the bone. You got any more?”
Norman shook his head. “Just the one I gave her and my personal one. If we hadn’t been forced to flee so fast, I could have converted those two bodies into spells.”
Toby looked mildly disgusted by that and looked like he wanted to toss the bone away. Even though the man had been perfectly fine killing the guy only hours before.
Norman quickly assured Toby that the one he held was fine. “That was made from animal bones, as well as the one Anna has on. Heck, you can verify this with her, she was the one who helped me retrieve the bones from that glue factory.”
“Glue factory?”
Shit, he probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “Ask Anna about it.” Yeah, that should work.
Of course, Toby did ask Anna about it. Anna realizing she was in trouble, promptly said it was all Norman’s idea. To which he stringently denied. That led to a round of arguing and blaming before the truth turned into mere speculation and Toby had had enough and left the cabin for some peace and quiet.
Both Norman and Anna winked at each other. Before all this nonsense with the gangs and magic, they used to pull this stunt on Toby all the time. It was nice having a bit of normalcy in their chaotic lives.
It was also nice to just be able to stay someplace long enough to do some magic, even if it was just potion-making. Once Toby returned, and seeing that they had time on their hands, Norman suggested a drinking game.
Just a simple game of poker with the loser having to drink one of those gag alcohols. Anna lost the first round and hers was a butter-flavored vodka.
Toby and Norman laughed as she tried downing it all at once, only to cough half of it back up. Toby handed her a glass of water to wash the nasty taste from her mouth.
Norman was the next to lose a hand. His punishment was a pickle-flavored whiskey. The shot-sized bottle went down as well as a shot of pure pickle juice. Norman wheezed but managed to keep the disgusting contents down.
Of course, he lost the next two hands as well. The pepper-flavored scotch wasn’t horrible but the ranch dressing gin made him almost lose his stomach. Toby finally lost a hand after that, having to drink a black licorice-flavored tequila.
The look on his face said enough about how that one tasted. It also brought up an interesting question for Norman. How does an undead process food and liquids? Toby had been eating and drinking as normal but he hadn’t seen the man go off to use the bathroom.
He wanted to ask about that, but with Anna here he couldn’t just bring it up. After that, the group fell into an uncomfortable silence. It seemed that the group as a whole decided that punishing themselves like this was not all that fun and the game ended shortly after that. Norman was in complete agreement, seeing as he had received the brunt of the punishment. They took the rest of the bottles and dumped them out outside.
The others cooked up the meat, while Norman made up a small batch of potions. He would have liked to make a full batch but he just didn’t have the magic powder to spare. What he also hadn’t told the others is that with the use of the two orbs today and the one he tested in the woods, he was nearly out of energy. Ugh, he was just going to refer to it as mana from now on. Trying to define it as something else was just irritating.
That meant he was going to have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Toby and Anna sooner or later. Norman chose later. Partially because he didn’t want to have the conversation about him needing to rely on the magic powder like an addict, and partially because Norman still hadn’t seen just how long it would take to completely run out.
Sometimes wanting to test all of these variables out sucked. But Norman knew he would need to do it sooner or later. And best to have it happen when people were nearby to ensure he didn’t die. Which is why he needed the potions to deal with any possible injuries that might result from withdrawal.
The other reason for the potions was he needed Toby to drink some and see what happened. Call it the first test in restoring Toby to the world of the living. A test that Norman was looking forward to, probably more than Toby would when he learned about it and the possible drawbacks.
Toby was the first to break the awkward silence. “We need to discuss what to do next.”
“We need to leave,” Norman sighed, “you may be ok with killing people but that isn’t me.”
Norman expected a mocking laugh but got a glare from Toby instead. “You think I like killing people? That was the first time I’d had to kill anyone. The difference is I understand the need to do it. Sin isn’t going to just let us waltz around the state. Eventually, we will get caught.”
“Look, I didn’t mean it like that.” Toby could be so touchy about things. “But it sounds like we both agree, we need to leave. Leave the state.”
“Is that safe?” Anna asked past a mouthful of food.
The girl looked famished as she was shoveling food into her mouth like a starved person. Norman just shook his head and smiled wryly.
“Safer than waiting around to be captured,” Toby added, throwing a pile of napkins at his sister.
“Hey!” she complained, spitting out a bit of food from her mouth.
“Ok, so where do we go?” Norman asked.
“North is the only real option. Unless you want to go into elven lands?”
Norman shook his head. “What about going west?”
“Too dangerous. The roads through the mountains haven’t been maintained in two years. With the frequent tremors from the fall, I fear they could be blocked. Even if they aren’t the roads are probably going to be in poor condition. We would have to leave the van behind and hike over the mountains on foot. We will probably still end up having to abandon the van at some point but I would rather do so once we are outside the state or at least close to our destination.”
“Ok, do we have any idea what lies to the north?”
“Some sort of long grass savanna. But there isn’t much known about it since anyone that has entered, hasn’t returned.”
Anna gave a loud swallow of the food in her mouth before chiming in. “That’s not ominous at all.”
“Well, we have two guns and Norman’s magic. Hopefully, that will be enough.”
“Wait, where did you get a second gun?” Norman asked.
“I just took it from the man in town. He wasn’t gonna need it anymore. As to your magic, can you make another armor thing for me?”
“Not with what I have on hand.”
“What do you need?”
“Bones, probably a full corpse. Something like a deer should suffice.”
“Ok, well, we’re going to stay here for a few days and let the heat die down. I’ll see about getting those bones.”
