[IK] Dead Man Walking | ходы игроков | Party III: Linda and Juan

JUAN

They thought you’d die in the desert.
But you were stronger. You were powered up by hatred and despair.

You crawled. You cried. You shouted.

But in the end you came back to town. You were still alive.

After some time you needed to prepare yourself, you went on a hunt. A hunt for bastards.

You were going to their lair - straight to you revenge.

But you heard shots. Lots of them.
The bastards you came to kill were shooting at a lady: pale lady in man’s suit.

It was a perfect moment to strike right in their backs.

You killed several assholes, but, after all, there were only two of you - and two or three dozens of enemies.

Blackness.


LINDA

McCoy was an asshole. A bandit.
But a freakingly honest and courteous one. One with honor. And it’s rare: too fucking rare in this shitty world.

And the guys who decided to get rid of such a man deserved a lesson.

Town of Carrion Hill.
Who the fuck names this place this way? He had a shitty sense of humor, for real.

This place was the last place where McCoy was alive.
The place, where “Yellow Cobra” - a bandit with a really sick sense of naming - lived with his lackeys.

You came here and started asking questions.
Yellow Cobra killed McCoy. Just for the sake of getting rid of rivals.
And it was not a beautiful deaths, like you can see in heroic books - they just shot him in a bar while he was fucking one of the courtesans. They shot her too.

And that’s not how the things are meant to be done.

There were lots of baddies - several dozens of them. Maybe the idea of going through the front door was not really good. Just maybe.

Suddenly, in the middle of the gunfight, new sounds added to the chaos - someone was shooting at the baddies from the back. A freaking mexican. What did he forget here?

Nah, not that important. You got some freedom of action, and went all-in.
They died like rats, ‘cause they were not ready for a woman to be this out of mind.

One of them shoot you. Totally accidentally - and that was the worst thing here.
After, of course, the fact that you died.


BOTH

Cold. Wet. Dirt.
Growls. Whining.
Dogs.

You were lying side by side in a shithole - or a barn, if you use commoner’s language.

There were several really big dogs around - and they were hungry. You could see that in their eyes. But there was also fear - after all, their food was alive. At least, partially.

A mexican with several fresh holes in his stomach, and a white lady with a hole in the side of her head.

- Fuck...

First just a faint mumble. Just a fair sound that would maybe make someone look once, just to check. Did that corpse just say something? Well, everyone knows that dead person would still hold some air in their lungs. So if you press on some corpse's check, some air would escape - faint moan. That's why, upon hearing this faint sound, people would have looked twice, not once. Was someone just grabbing that skinny bitch's tits?

No, nobody around to grab her tits, except for a dead Mexican next to her, who didn't look to be in condition to do any grabbing. Him and the dogs - ugly and hungry and stupid and so much like almost everyone she ever met.

- You fucking bitches! - cried out the lady, immediately showing she is no fucking lady at all, as she attempted to grab the gun. She didn't care much about shooting dogs, but even sound of a gunshot should have scared the animals away.

Do you ever wondering, how does it feels - having a hole in you? How painful is this? Well. That's a true agony.
How many times did they shot?
Five?
Or six?
It doesn’t really matter now many holes he has. He must be dead. He knew it, because he was killing people before. A simple man can’t survive that…
He’s hearing barking. Some fucked up from hunger dogs want to kill him. Gut him, chew his meat and drink his blood.
But he is not ready to go to Santa Muerte. So, he need to get up now. Right fucking now.
- Oh, ¡Mierda! ¡Jodidos perros!* Argh! – He shouted. He tried to stand up, but he was exhausted. So, he crawled to a wooden wall of the barn and tried to lean on it, and at the same time trying to find his good-old gun.

* Oh, fuck! Fucking dogs!

The dogs were…. unsure. It wasn’t the first time they saw a dead body - and not the first time they were ought to eat it.
But something was really, really not right. Maybe the fact that the dead bodies were standing, shouting and waving hands. Basically, doing so much more than intended.

Linda was a bit frustrated. She tried to grab the gun only to find an empty holster. Looks like the bitches who killed her took it. After all, she had a crazy good .45 Colt - the Peacemaker. The name was a bit of a satire, ‘cause history didn’t new a way to use it to make Peace without shooting someone in the guts.
But, even without a Colt, Linda was scary. Really, really scary. Some of the dogs even tried to back away a little. Just in case.

Juan was scared. And that was, well, kinda logical. He was dead, with no gun, surrounded with a pack of crazy hungry dogs. For now they were frightened by the dead lady, but for how long?
But Juan was not just a scared man - he was a scared man who was trying to find a way out.
The barn walls were too high, but there were two exits. Three, actually, if you’d count “be eaten by fucking dogs” as a way out.
The first one was a gate in the opposite part of the barn.
The second one was everywhere - this barn was not the best built building in the world, and the walls at least looked like you could break them with enough force.

- Rotten bastards! - yelled Linda, seeming forgetting about the dogs. - My gun!

Lack of gun meant problems. How the fuck would she talk to people without having a weapon? Having revolver became so handy in recent time, that Linda could not really imagine not having it. So, her first course of action would be to find a gun - her own or at least any gun at all. So, where could it be? She was distracted by the dogs, but she was sure she saw another person in a barn, and now she really looked at him for the first time. Which actually took her aback a little, as the guy, by the looks of him, was supposed to be dead. So Linda found nothing smarter than asking:

- How the hell are you alive? How are you even standing? - she demanded from Juan. - You were obviously shot in the guts!

Seeing how her own wound was in her head, she obviously had no idea how she looked.

- I have de same question to you, muchacha! - Said Juan trying to outvoice the dogs. He neded a plan. Not best, but any. And Juan thought that he do.
He neded to find a leader. The biggest and maddest asshole. If you remove the main thing, the whole band will be destroyed. That Juan remember from his mamá, and that helped him a lot in the past.

Well, of course that asshole would say that. Everyone said that to Linda when they first saw her. And when they saw her the second time. And most times after.
- I just look like that, - she impatiently explained. - I got weak blood pressure and fair skin, fuck off. But you have actual holes in your gut! How are you even walking?!

One doesn’t need to be a freaking genius to see, who was the top dog of this barn. The big, grey dog with a broken ear, who was standing in front of other dogs, who were backing away from walking dead.
The leader was scared, uneasy - but he was ready. You could see that in his eyes.

The dog lowered his head and started growling: and it was totally looking at Juan.

- Come on, hijo de puta! Attack me! Show to your band dat you are strondest and angriest motherfucker OF ALL! - Shouted Juan. He was looking right into leader’s eyes.
He looked just like beast, justifies his nickname. Madness in his mind, he went crazy because of pain, adrenalin and fear.
Juan was to to fight with his bare hands, so it was battle of two animals who fighting with each other for surviving. No humanity, no common sense.

But now, he was waiting - Waiting for leader's atack.

Now the Mexican was just ignoring her. The nerve of that guy! Well, he can stay and get eaten by dogs, for all she cared. Linda, in turn, decided to get out of this place. She didn't want to try and break through the wall, so proper exit was the exit for her. Unfortunately, there was still a matter of dogs and that idiot who now was taunting them. Of course, she could just dash for the exit and hope to avoid everyone, but just in case Linda checked the barn floor. She didn't have a gun, but maybe there was at least something that could be used as a weapon.

The leader was not so easily intimidated, and not so easily provoked - the pack started to surround Juan, like a well-maintained machine, and soon the dogs were standing in a semi-circle around the mexican.
They were waiting for something, but Juan wasn’t sure what for.

At the same time, Linda, who was totally ignored by the dogs now, was looking for some kind of weapon. Sadly, there weren’t any real weapons, but Linda found a shovel with a big, sturdy helve. The shovel itself was not promising, though.
More than that, she noticed one more thing: the way to the gate was now nearly clear. If Linda tried, she could possibly sneak out of the cage.

Shovel was, at the very least, better than nothing at all. Plus, dogs were busy with the dead-alive guy. Get a stray dog and a Mexican together, and they will fight each other for bones.
- Fuck this... - muttered Linda, weighting the shovel in her hands.
And she went to the gate. Not fast, leaning closer to the wall of the barn. She hoped that other parties, gathered here, would be too preoccupied to pay her any mind.

It wasn't a success. Or was it? No, likely it’s not. That was awful plan. All the dogs now surrounded poor Mexican Chico, and were looking at him. And only one person could save him. Unfortunately, that person was slowly going to the door.

- Perdón, amiga, I’m not sure dat I can trick deas again, so please, I would not refuse for some help! – Juan paused

– You know, I still can just run to you and bring all de dogs wis me. So, if it's not too much trouble, can you please use dat shovel which you found and hit dat big dog - he said.

Oh, now he was not ignoring her! What a motherfucking surprise! But this time Linda didn't even turn her head to show she heard the dead guy. While dogs were not attacking her, it was not her problem what they would do to this sack of meat.

Juan's lifeguard didn't answer. And didn't notice him. Anyway, a man must keep promises, right? So, if this Hija de la chingada would not help him, he will take her with him.
Juan looked back, and then ran to Linda.

Juan darted towards Linda… at least, he tried.
The dogs were not really going to let him do anything he pleases.
Especially the leader, who decided that this Juan’s move was a good chance to attack, threw himself on Juan, trying to bite his leg - and he was successful.
His strong jaw locked on mexican’s hip, and the growling dog started shaking his head like mad, trying to destroy what was in his mouth.

Other dogs were not this fast to react, so they were just starting to move.

And Linda was quite and successful - she managed to get to the barn door unnoticed.
But a nasty surprise was just behind the door: she heard someone hastely unlocking a lock and saing:
- What the fuck, why these shitty bitches are so fucking loud?!
It sounded like he didn’t notice human voices behind the noise of growling and barking.

Well, that was perfect. Not only she got through, but someone was opening the door for her. Lucky! Of course, Linda waited until the lock was most certainly removed from the door, after which she went ahead to open the door herself. To meet face to face with the barn owner. Who probably also was the dogs owner, too, but Linda didn't care much about that at the moment. All she cared about was getting out.

That was a bad plan. Especially for his leg. But there was a good news. The guy who maybe was a owner of all this dogs came, so Juan now had a chance not to bleed to death.

- Hola my friend! Is dat your dogs? My leg has bitten and dat's very painful. Can you please order them to stop? -

That politeness was even ridiculous. But that guy was the one who could save his ass. Hopefully, Juan could speak for some time because of pain shock, but after he said what he said, any thing he wanted to say later vanished in his scream.