On A Dare

-Silent Cemetery-

Wearing her usual "office lady" attire with boots, Diana strolled into Silent Cemetery with a mission. Her objective was to rescue a young man who traveled to Silent Cemetery and vowed to spend an entire night in the dangerous location. Why did he do it? Did he undertake such a hazardous endeavor to save someone close to him or to honor a pledge to family? No.

He did it on a dare.

Diana was hired by his girlfriend to rescue the headstrong youth, a fellow named Andrew, from himself before it was too late. Some friends dared him to go there and spend a night in order to win 50,000 Jewels. The blonde mage was skeptical that the "friends" would follow through on their promise to pay Andrew even if he managed to stay alive long enough to collect. She was not sure who was the bigger idiot... the "friends" for making the dare or Andrew for accepting the dare. It was not her place to pass judgment because she was being paid to save him from himself.

Diana called upon her Suppressed Handgun and started sweeping the cemetery for its undead inhabitants. They represented the bulk of the threat and were its most numerous inhabitants. The area had recently been the subject of a travel advisory issued by a group called the Order of Lightbringers, who strongly suggested that travelers avoid the region entirely. Normally Diana would have followed that advice, but she was on a legitimate job, so she had no choice but to go into the danger zone. Besides, it was not her first dance with the dead.

She had killed some of them in and around the Abandoned Cabin, so she knew what it took to put them down for good. All it took was a Full Metal Jacket round to the head and they went down just like ordinary humans. Armed with that knowledge, a good measure of determination, and an arsenal of magic weapons, Diana had what it took to extract Andrew from the cemetery. Now she needed to find him before it was too late. Hopefully Andrew had found a "safe" place and stayed there for the duration of the dare instead of wandering around and getting lost.

However, the blonde doubted that the job would be that easy. Andrew seemed like the sort who was addicted to going into danger; the more dangerous a situation was the more he liked it. Diana hoped that the pay was worth the effort of saving this guy from himself.

[Word Count: 426]
[Total Word Count: 426/3,500]

Diana felt the cool air on her face as she began her search for Andrew among rows of tombstones that were neatly aligned. She did not see any zombies to shoot just yet, but that did not mean that they were not around. All one had to do was pay attention to one's surroundings and shoot them in the head whenever they appeared. It was not exactly rocket science to defeat zombies.

She walked through the cemetery until she came across a gaggle of five zombies standing around a grave, staring at the world with milky white eyes and swaying in the wind. It was time to put them out of their misery. With no fanfare and five well-aimed headshots they were dropped to the ground never to move again. Diana was of the opinion that the dead should stay dead, not get up and pursue the living. Maybe that was because she was a contract killer with no small amount of skeletons in her closet... she did not want to run into any deceased victims of hers who had risen from their graves.

The blonde walked past the dead zombies and soon found herself facing a choice. She could go left or continue straight ahead. The blonde looked down and spotted a shredded brown leather bomber jacket at her feet. While it was no indication of where Andrew went or if he was even still alive, a closer look at the ground it was lying on showed a series of footprints in the dirt leading straight ahead. They were spaced far apart like whoever made them was running.

Behind those footprints were multiple footprints that blended together but were enough to clue Diana in that the first person was running from the group. Diana even noticed that there were drag marks in the dirt like someone was literally dragging their feet. Since zombies were not renowned for their grace, it was fairly obvious that the drag marks were made by a zombie doing their trademark shuffle. Now that the right path was laid out for the blonde, all she had to do was follow it. Diana left the shredded jacket behind and through the cemetery in her quest to find Andrew before he became a resident.

Diana walked until she spotted a pair of zombies standing near a tombstone with an unlit candle on top that she downed with a Full Metal Jacket headshot apiece. She looked around to make sure that more were not approaching from her sides, then kept going. The footprints continued to lead straight, which was a good indication that she was on the right path to the person she was supposed to save. One thing that struck Diana as odd was the silence that prevailed around the cemetery grounds. There was no wind, no animal noises, not even the soft sound of grass rustling in the wind when the odd breeze did come through the ground.

That lack of background noise was unusual, but Diana was not on a nature walk. She was here to extract someone from hostile ground and take them back to Hargeon Town alive. Completing the job was all that she really cared about. That was all she needed to focus on doing right now. With that in mind, the blonde kept walking and kept an eye out for trouble.

Keeping an eye out for trouble was not too hard because the terrain was level, wide and open. The only possible cover for zombies was behind tombstones and the occasional above-ground burial vault, but she was not terribly concerned about the zombies because they were slow and gave themselves away with their incessant moaning. The mage's concern was more focused on whether Andrew was OK... judging from what his girlfriend said, he was an incorrigible thrill-seeker who would take any dare if it promised to be exciting.

[Word Count: 648]
[Total Word Count: 1,074/3,500]

Diana's path through the cemetery took her by many tombstones, most of which were in good condition. She wondered who it was that kept them up since she did not see a caretaker or any lodging for a caretaker. It might have been cheaper to do without one since the person would have to be armed, insured, and cared for just like any other employee. Her thoughts turned from that subject because she was an employee herself; she was employed only as long as she was of use to the company. When she was no longer useful, she fully expected to get a bullet to the back of the head and be unceremoniously dumped in an unmarked grave, assuming she even got the dignity of a grave.

The blonde was not particularly upset by that possibility because contract killers seldom lived long enough to retire. They tended to be knocked off one way or another when they could no longer work in their particular trade. Diana planned to be one of the exceptions to that rule. As soon as she got enough money to retire, she was going to find a private island or a cave, buy it, and live the rest of her life far away from other people. Failing that she would buy somewhere with a good line of sight so that she could see hit squads coming and prepare to defend herself with all necessary force.

Before she could begin devising her exit plan from life, Diana had to earn enough Jewels to retire on to begin with. This job was one of many that she would take before she got out of the game. She spotted a dozen zombies swaying on the road ahead and about five swaying at various points right beside her. Three were standing side-by-side in front of a burial vault to her left and two were standing next to a freshly dug grave that was not yet occupied in a row of tombstones to her immediate right. It would be prudent to eliminate the threats to the side before focusing on those in front of her.

Diana took careful aim and used Full Metal Jacket rounds on the zombies, killing the three zombies in as many seconds, then quietly turning around to kill the ones to her right. She then looked behind her to make sure that none of their friends had managed to sneak behind her to try and take a bite. No zombies had gotten behind the mage and the threats to the side were gone, which meant that the zombies down the road were now easy targets.

Diana brought out her sniper rifle and dropped to one knee. She took careful aim at the first zombie she spotted and fired a Full Metal Jacket round to the head. It went down like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She aimed and fired, aimed and fired, and repeated the process until all the zombies were lying scattered on the path. It was a painless process... for Diana.

Once the path was clear she continued walking down it on the way to her goal, which had to be somewhere down the path because the footprints still continued. She put away her sniper rifle and brought out her Suppressed Handgun in case she was surprised at close range by a suddenly emerging zombie who rose from the grave or from the ground. She paused in place and switched to night vision mode to get a better look around and possibly spot Andrew. The blonde's change of vision was rewarded when she spotted a faint white object in the distance that was on top of a burial vault. Diana switched to infrared and saw the object glow with heat... it was human and it was alive.

Diana immediately headed in the direction of the object, being mindful of potential ambushes by the undead. She hoped that the object was Andrew, but if it was someone else in need of rescue, she would come to their aid as well. There might be more money in it for her if she succeeded.

[Word Count: 688]
[Total Word Count: 1,762/3,500]

Diana carefully walked towards the object in the distance. It had a human shape and was waving its arms above its head in a regular pattern that was too coordinated and too smooth to be a zombie. She kept her weapon ready and walked until she could throw a rock and hit the burial vault that the person was standing on top of. The person recognized her as a fellow human and shouted to her.

"HEY! HEY THERE! Could you please help me down from here?" A female voice asked. The voice belonged to a young woman with black waist-length hair and blue eyes who wore wearing a short-sleeved lavender shirt. She wore blue jeans and tennis shoes, which was not the best clothing for an extended stay in such a cold place. Diana put away her handgun to avoid frightening the person and held her arms out for the young woman to jump into.

The young woman obliged and jumped off the vault, landing precisely in Diana's arms. The blonde wobbled for a moment but managed to stay on her feet and keep from toppling over with the person in her arms. She set the dark-haired person down and the girl put her hands on her knees and took a deep breath. She exhaled and stood up straight to thank her rescuer.

"Thanks a lot, Miss. I was afraid I'd be stuck there for another eight hours!" She said to Diana.

"I'm Maria. It's nice to meet you!" She extended a slender hand for a handshake. Diana took the hand and shook it out of courtesy.

"How did you get here, Maria?" Diana asked.

"Well, it's a long story. The short version is that I... I- hold on. It'll sound dumb, but I'll tell it to you straight. I was dared to go here by some friends." Maria explained, blue eyes looking towards the ground. Diana was incredulous. Another person was dared to go to Silent Cemetery and stay there for an extended period of time? Maria and Andrew needed to make some new friends before their current "friends" got them killed.

"Do you happen to know about a young man named Andrew?" Diana asked Maria. Maria nodded.

"Yeah. He's my brother. We took the dare together." She replied with a red face. Diana's incredulity spiked again. A brother and sister who were old enough to know better took dares from friends to stay in Silent Cemetery? The blonde was mildly surprised that Maria had made it this long, but the raven had the good sense to climb up to the top of the burial vault and stay out of the reach of the zombies. Hopefully her brother Andrew was sensible enough to follow his sister's example.

"I apologize for asking this, but I would like to know. Why did you and Andrew take such a dare?" Diana asked Maria.

"I'll be honest with you, Miss. We needed the money. Ever since our parents died in an airplane accident, it's been tough making ends meet. Andrew's working in a seafood restaurant and training to be a chef. I work as a waitress in a cosplay cafe. Neither job's very lucrative, so when Andrew's friends offered us 50,000 Jewels to stay in Silent Cemetery for an entire day, we jumped on it." Maria freely admitted.

"It was a dumb idea." Maria chimed in shortly after with embarrassment all over her face. Diana could not fault them for trying to get ahead in life. The world was harsh for those who did not have a lot of Jewels. Still, Andrew and Maria needed to figure out a better and safer way to earn money other than taking risky and stupid dares like this. Even though she was not part of the job, Diana could not just leave someone to the zombies.

Was Diana doing this out of altruism or was she doing it in an effort to save her bloodstained and blackened soul from what waited for her on the other side? She had no idea. All she knew was that she could not heartlessly leave someone to be eaten alive.

"I was sent here to rescue your brother, but I am not leaving you behind. Come with me and stay close." Diana instructed Maria. The raven nodded and got behind the blonde for protection. She felt Maria's hands on her shoulders and felt oddly warm. Was that what trust in another person felt like?

Maria:

[Word Count: 744]
[Total Word Count: 2,506/3,500]

Together Diana and Maria made their way through the cemetery grounds in an effort to find her brother Andrew, the person the mage was originally sent to rescue. Diana switched to infrared vision and glanced around the cemetery, leaving no spot unchecked because she had no idea where the missing youth could be. She saw nothing until she spotted someone standing on a burial vault that was surrounded by human shapes reaching up for the one standing on the high ground. Chances were high that she had found Andrew. Now the blonde had to rescue him and she knew just how to do that.

Diana wordlessly brought out her suppressed sniper rifle and walked closer in order to get a better look at the situation. Her hunch was right... a young teenage male in a white t-shirt and blue jeans with tennis shoes was standing on a burial vault and trying to avoid falling or having an ankle grabbed by the zombies gathered below him. Diana's plan was to pick off the zombies one by one with her suppressed sniper rifle and rescue the youth once they were all down. She turned to the worried Maria, who had recognized the figure on the vault.

"Listen to me, Maria. I need you to remain quiet for what happens next. I am going to save your brother, but you must not call out to him." Diana commanded Maria. Maria nodded and stepped back as Diana took a knee.

"Watch my back and sides for zombies." Diana ordered the raven. She spotted ten zombies clawing at the vault and reaching for the hapless male. She focused on the head of the first zombie and fired. It went down without a problem and without alerting its friends. The other zombies were too busy trying to get to their prey to notice that they were being picked off.

Diana aimed and fired, aimed and fired. She did that until all ten zombies were dead. She moved up and looked for more zombies, but there were none in the immediate area. Still, she would remain watchful while attempting to get Andrew down from his perch.

"OK, now you can call to him." Diana informed Maria. The raven sprinted to her brother and called out to him.

"Andrew, it's me, Maria! Get down from there and let's get out of here!" Maria called out to the youth. He sat down on the ledge and let himself fall, landing on both feet and tucking into a roll on his right shoulder to diffuse the impact of the landing. Andrew got up and brushed himself off, then hugged his waiting sister.

"I'm glad you're OK, Maria. I thought I had lost you." Andrew said to his sister.

"I got on top of a vault and that lady saved me. She said she was sent here to rescue you." Maria informed him. Diana put away her rifle to avoid scaring them and faced the pair.

"Yes. Andrew's girlfriend sent me to rescue him." Diana confirmed what the raven had said. Andrew gave a smile.

"I'm glad she sent you. I was getting kinda scared because those zombies nearly got me earlier. They tore my jacket up but I got away and climbed onto the vault. I was worried that I was gonna be there until I died!" Andrew expressed relief that he had been rescued.

"We really need to find some new friends, brother. Real friends wouldn't have put us up to this. Let's get out of here while we still can." Maria gently suggested. Andrew looked at her with concern.

"But what about the money from the dare? We need it!" Andrew argued.

"Forget the money. It's not gonna do us any good if we're dead!" Maria offered a convincing rebuttal. Andrew raised a finger like he was going to object, but then looked into his sister's eyes and decided against it. He lowered his hand.

"OK. Let's just go. We'll get money some other way." Andrew finally agreed with his sister's point of view. The siblings turned to Diana and Maria spoke to her.

"Let's get outta here. Lead the way, Miss!" Maria commanded. Diana wordlessly complied and began to guide the siblings out of the cemetery. The blonde scooped up Andrew's jacket on the way out and got them out of Silent Cemetery with no further zombie encounters.

[Word Count: 731]
[Total Word Count: 3,336/3,500]

-Hargeon Town, eight hours later-

"I'm glad we made it out of there!" Andrew exclaimed in gratitude while standing next to his girlfriend. The trio met his girlfriend at the same cafe they had met at weeks ago when she retrieved the gold necklace from the Abandoned Cabin.

"Me too. Thanks Miss!" Maria thanked the blonde mage. Diana said nothing. It was all in a day's work for the mage.

"It is no problem." Diana said to Andrew and Maria.

"I'm glad you rescued Andrew for me. He's a good guy who works hard and looks after his younger sister the best he can, but he tries just a bit too hard to prove his masculinity." His girlfriend told Diana. Andrew blushed in embarrassment at the statement but did not try to refute it. He knew what his girlfriend said was true and owned up to it.

"I can't deny any of it. I'm trying to earn enough money so that Maria doesn't have to work in the cosplay cafe because some of the customers get a bit... handsy. I can't stand for them to feel her up." Andrew declared to Diana. He seemed serious about his goal. Diana did not like people gawking at her either. That was why she dressed conservatively and always covered up. That and she had some scars from torture that her family inflicted on her for past mistakes.

"We'll get it another way, brother. Taking stupid dares for money isn't one of them." Maria gently assured her brother. He seemed to relent and let go of any lingering doubts about his decision to abandon the dare. Diana was glad that she had completed another job that did not involve killing anyone. Well, anyone living, that was. Zombies did not count as living beings in the traditional sense.

"Here, take this. I owe you for saving Andrew." The girlfriend said as she held out a bag of Jewels. Diana gently took it with both hands.

"Thank you." Diana thanked the client in her practiced manner. She then turned and walked away to leave the happy trio to their lives. She had completed another job and had earned more Jewels. More importantly, she had saved two innocent people from a death they did not deserve. It was hard to say which felt better... the Jewels or the knowledge that she had done a somewhat good deed.

[Word Count: 400]
[Total Word Count: 3,736/3,500]