Saving Cleric Anderson

Wearing a blue t-shirt with her Azure Armor and khaki cargo shorts with white tennis shoes, Victoria found herself walking into Fat Monsterland, a part of the Cursed Lands that was new to her. She had also draped her Bandolier across her armor because its abilities were just too useful to pass up. Her mission was to rescue Order of Lightbringers cleric Serena Anderson and some other Order clerics who were on a training mission to the region. They were tasked with eliminating some of the monsters since their population had gotten too high for the Order's taste.

Victoria felt a forceful gust of wind rustle her hair and make the Bandolier across her armor jingle as she stared at a forest that was similar in density to the Lycan Woods and featured as much brush that enterprising enemies could use for cover. She was pretty sure that the group of clerics had traveled down the path that went right through the woods on their crusade. The brunette would just have to follow in their footsteps in order to find them. She wondered why the area was called Fat Monsterland. Chances were high that it had to do with the size of its denizens.

Victoria set down the path with shotgun in hand. Her recent experience from the Lycan Woods told her to watch both sides of the path for enemies lying in wait for prey. She went off into the woods to look for the clerics... or what was left of them.

-Down the path, 15 minutes later-

Victoria walked cautiously down the path while watching and listening for the clerics or for trouble. Past experience taught her that trouble was never far away in the Cursed Lands and that she would run into it sooner or later. The only unpredictable factor was when the encounter would take place. There was also the question of what opposition the Sabertooth mage would be facing.

To date the brunette had encountered zombies, skeletons, pumpkin creatures, necromancers, and ghosts in the Cursed Lands. The name Fat Monsterland suggested that super-sized versions of the usual suspects could be found roaming the area. She did not know whether their increased size translated to new abilities or just meant that the enemies were bigger than normal. Nothing could be taken for granted in a world of magic.

Victoria was walking down the path when she stopped in front of brush that was particularly thick. What had caught her eye was a small section where the brush had been beaten down the middle like someone had run into it... or had run out of it. She was not sure which way it went and was about to investigate when she heard female screaming in the distance. Victoria dropped to one knee and raised her shotgun towards the source of the sound.

She waited and was soon rewarded with a trio of young women running towards her. In the lead was Cleric Serena Anderson.

[Word Count: 500]
[Total Word Count: 500/8,000]

Victoria watched as the young women ran towards her without regard for their own safety. She lowered her shotgun and stood up as the trio continued to run for their lives. The mage decided to switch to her Light Machine Gun because whatever had frightened the three clerics was something not to be trifled with. Victoria dispelled her shotgun and brought out her Light Machine Gun in the nick of time because something burst out of the brush.

It was a corpulent zombie with a meat cleaver in its hand. It wore a white undershirt and blue jeans with brown work boots. It stared at her with milky white eyes and bloody lips before throwing its arms back. A heaving noise came from it as a green blob was expelled at her.

Victoria shrieked and ducked under it, the projectile flying overhead like a putrid comet. She stood up and began firing with her weapon, firing until it fell onto its back and stopped moving. She then walked over to its body and fired a Five-Round Burst into its head, ignoring the blood that spurted from the wound.

Victoria had just finished making sure the fat zombie was truly dead when the three mages walked up to her. The Sabertooth mage backed away from the woods and walked over to them.

"Hi there Victoria! It's been awhile!" Serena sheepishly greeted her. Victoria raised a hand in greeting to Serena and her two companions. One of the female clerics had short blue hair while the other had long red hair and carried a magic pistol.

"It looks like you've gotten some new gear since the last time we met." Serena said to the armored brunette, the former's blue eyes looking over the Bandolier draped across the armor.

"Yeah. I got a nice blue cuirass and a Bandolier specially made to power up my type of magic." Victoria replied, turning an eye towards the woods.

"You sure killed that fat zombie without any trouble. You turned it into Swiss cheese!" The red-haired mage complimented Victoria.

"Yeah. I don't think it's gonna get up again. not that I want it to. That thing's just gross." Her blue-haired companion commented. Victoria was pleased to hear that. She did not want the puking zombie to get back up because it took a bit of effort to put down to start with.

"So, what brings you three out here?" Victoria asked Serena.

"Well, we were out here training under the guidance of an older cleric to prepare for an advanced magic class, but things turned ugly fast. The teacher got attacked and eaten by a swarm of those fat zombies and the rest of the class scattered. We started out with eight students and now we're down to three." Serena explained what had brought them here. Victoria winced when she heard that the teacher got eaten. So did the other two clerics who were with Serena.

Fat Zombie:

[Word Count: 500]
[Total Word Count: 1,000/8,000]

"So, what do you guys wanna do? Do you want to go back and try to save the other students or do you think they're already dead?" Victoria asked the trio of clerics while keeping a watch on the woods. The three looked at each other and hoped that one of them could come up with an answer. The brunette was not going to pressure them or pass judgment because she was here to rescue them and technically she had accomplished that goal.

"I say we go back and try to rescue our classmates." Serena spoke up with a clenched fist. The red-haired cleric and the blue-haired one looked at each other for a moment before reaching their decision.

"Yeah, I agree." The pistol-wielding redhead voiced her agreement.

"Me too. We can't just leave them!" The blue-haired girl chimed in.

"OK then. We'll go back for them. Just be careful because I don't know when more of those things will pop up." Victoria warned the group. Moments later a quintet of fat zombies blundered through the brush and shuffled towards them. Victoria began firing into the mob as the three clerics prepared their spells.

The redhead fired a beam of concentrated holy magic by using her pistol as a focus for her magic. The beam of golden light punched through a zombie's skull and caused it to flop to the ground with an audible THUD. The blue-haired girl punched forward with a fist enveloped in golden energy and sent out a burst of light energy that broke into four separate beams that disintegrated the heads of the remaining four zombies, ending the fight in a spectacular fashion.

"There's plenty more where they came from. We need to get moving." Serena suggested. Victoria nodded in agreement and volunteered to lead the group into the woods. She had instant firepower available while the clerics took time to charge and use their magic, so she would be the best choice to lead the way into hostile territory.

"OK. Everyone follow me and stay close. Don't get separated." Victoria warned them before plunging into the woods on a quest to rescue the remaining Order clerics.

-In the woods-

Victoria kept an eye out for trouble while the three clerics followed her like the tail of a comet. Everyone needed to stick together because they were deep in hostile territory with zombies possibly lurking around every corner and no rescue coming for them. Victoria had to rely on the clerics and the clerics had to rely on Victoria if they all wanted to make it out alive. They had to stay focused in the woods, which was not too hard because they were jumping at almost every shadow.

"I can't really see anything." Serena complained.

"Yeah, me neither." The redhead said aloud. The blue-haired cleric remained silent. So did Victoria. She was listening for the moans of zombies because that was the easiest way to detect them long before visual contact was made. The redhead noticed Victoria's vigilance and made a comment about it.

"You act like you've been through this before." She remarked to the brunette.

"Yeah. I've taken three jobs out here before, so I have some idea of what to expect." Victoria replied to the redhead without taking her eyes off of the woods.

"Wow. Three jobs out here and you're still going strong. How do you do it?" The bluenette asked.

"Easy. It's where the money is." Victoria answered candidly. Dangerous jobs like this tended to pay the most money. Victoria liked money.

"Huh. I never figured you for the mercenary type." The redhead remarked calmly.

"I'm not proud of it, but I'm not going to lie to you. The money's good. Still, I'm going to help you guys rescue your friends because I don't leave people to get eaten by zombies if I can save them." Victoria assured the trio that she was not going to abandon them in the woods. The shame began to bubble up but was just as easily suppressed because she spotted a gang of zombies shambling towards them. The brunette paused in place and looked around. The only threats were in front of them, so the quartet was free to engage them. Victoria fell back to the group so that she was out of their line of fire and vice versa.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 1,750/8,000]

"Get ready guys! This is gonna get rough!" Serena cautioned the group as she began charging her staff with magic. The other two clerics began charging their respective spells as Victoria aimed and opened fire on the gang of seven zombies shambling their way with ominously bloody meat cleavers in hand. Victoria's opening volley struck one of them in the forehead with three rounds, knocking it down for the count as its partners shambled on without regard to its demise.

The redhead aimed and fired a beam of light from her pistol, frying the brain of another zombie and stopping it for good. The remaining five zombies continued their undead march without pause, but Serena was ready for them. She aimed her staff at the tightly packed mob and released a wide beam of golden light that disintegrated them all with about as much effort as it took for the brunette to breathe.

"I'm glad that's over. I can only imagine what happened to those poor people that turned them into the undead. May they find peace on the other side." Serena solemnly stated. Victoria recalled the brown-haired cleric's distaste for disrespecting the dead and kept any disparaging remarks to herself as she listened out for more zombies. The other clerics kept their magic ready to use because they heard a high-pitched growl sound from deeper within the woods followed by female screaming.

"Someone's in trouble! We've gotta hurry!" Serena exclaimed. Victoria and the rest followed the staff-wielding brunette deeper into the woods and eventually emerged in a clearing where two mages were fighting for their lives against over a dozen fat zombies Serena and Victoria rushed forward while their companions provided support.

"Help!" A black-haired female called out to the pair of brunettes.

"I've got this. Just give me some cover!" Serena commanded. Victoria fell into line beside the other clerics and dispelled her Light Machine Gun, then brought out her Grenade Launcher and fired a single grenade that landed right in the middle of the ragged formation of zombies. Moments later it went off and sent them sprawling to the dirt with a lot of them missing legs.

"That'll do it." Serena dryly remarked. Victoria and the others quickly began picking off the downed zombies, avoiding their salvos of vomit or projecting shields to stop them before they reached their targets. Soon the attacking force was reduced to corpses littering the ground in the clearing.

"That was good timing. I don't know how much longer we could have held out." The black-haired girl thanked Serena, Victoria, and the others for the unexpected rescue.

"How is everyone?" Serena asked the dark-haired cleric. The raven shrugged.

"I don't know. The teacher's dead. We tried to find a way out or find the other students when we were trapped in this clearing." The girl reported. Serena sighed and turned to Victoria.

"Well, we found two more of our friends. The bad news is that the other three out of the class are still missing." Serena said to the Sabertooth mage. Victoria took advantage of the lull in the action to dispel her Grenade Launcher and bring out her Light Machine Gun again. She had taken a liking to the weapon because it was rapid-fire and hard-hitting, two qualities that were needed in a forest setting. The Grenade Launcher was powerful, but she could not risk starting a forest fire because either the fire or the smoke inhalation would kill everyone.

"I don't know if they're still alive. We'll go search for them anyway." The raven said as the redhead and blunette joined the group of female mages. Victoria was doubtful of their chances of survival, but she kept her doubts to herself because she might already be in deep trouble with her candid admission that money was the greatest motivation for braving the Cursed Lands. She was also still obligated to help the Order clerics bring their friends home dead or alive.

"Just be ready for anything." Victoria warned the raven.

"Yeah. Those things are everywhere, but I have a feeling that they're the least of our worries. We have no idea what else is out here just waiting for a chance to attack." The raven replied. She was right. Victoria did not know what else was out here. That was why the group needed to stick together.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 2,500/8,000]

The group took a few minutes to catch their breath from the battle with the zombies and try to figure out where the rest of the Order mages were. Victoria had found five of the eight mages. According to the survivors, there were three more mages to be found, but their current location was unknown. There were no clues as to their whereabouts, so the group would just have to find the survivors themselves.

"Do you have any idea where the other three might be?" Victoria pressed Serena.

"Not at all. We got separated when those zombies attacked us. They ran in a separate direction and we haven't seen them since." Serena confirmed what the group already knew. Victoria tried anyway just in case the cleric might have remembered something. The group was back to square one. Suddenly the redhead saw a golden flare shoot into the sky and motioned to it.

"Hey, there's a flare! They might still be alive!" The redhead said optimistically. Victoria hoped that the group would not be too late, but they would not know until they got there. As long as there was hope the group would try to rescue the remaining three clerics. Taking the lead, Victoria dashed through the clearing and towards the source of the flare.

-In the woods-

Victoria kept up a brisk walk with the other clerics walking right behind her. All of them were hoping that they were not too late to help, but they had to consider the unpleasant possibility that they might be too late and the best they could do was avenge the fallen. The group pressed on until they came up against another force of ten zombies that emerged from the approximate direction of the flare.

"We don't have time for games! Outta the way!" The black-haired cleric shouted before kneeling down and slamming a golden fist into the ground, generating a golden shockwave that raced along the ground in front of her. The shockwave hit the zombies and disintegrated them with only a collective moan to mark their second passing. Victoria was amazed by the power that the clerics could wield.

Moments after disposing of the first zombie horde a second group shambled into view and began vomiting green globs at the group, which Serena blocked by raising a golden dome-shaped shield around everyone. When the shield dropped Victoria opened fire with her weapon and made one do a grotesque dance as she riddled its body with concentrated magic and its body jerked from the impacts. Eventually a bullet hit it in the forehead and dropped it for good. Serena charged magic into her staff and fired a wide beam of holy energy that disintegrated the remainder of them.

The group rushed through the ashes and had ran about thirty-five steps when yet another zombie horde stopped them in their tracks. The redhead stepped forward with a glowing golden pistol. She aimed at the zombies and ten golden dots appeared on their foreheads. She fired a burst of magic energy that split and hit all ten zombies in the forehead, burning a hole in it and making them fall simultaneously like puppets whose strings had been cut.

"Let's keep going!" The raven suggested after the third group of zombies was defeated. She nearly overtook Victoria as the brunette began jogging through the forest with her Light Machine Gun at the ready in case more fat zombies came out to play. She spotted another clearing just through the brush and burst through it to find that the worst had happened.

-In the second clearing-

Victoria paused at the sight of the three dead clerics lying sprawled on the ground in a rough triangular formation. They had stood with their backs to each other so that they could not be attacked from behind, but the precaution was not enough to save their lives from the sheer number of attackers that they had to fend off. Victoria looked around and saw parts of at least two dozen zombies scattered around the dead clerics. They did not go down without putting up a fight. A short distance away was a force of roughly thirty fat zombies... they had to be the ones who had finally overcome the brave but outnumbered clerics.

Victoria only sighed. Despite their best efforts the group was too late to help the three clerics. She did not know how the other mages would take this news.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 3,250/8,000]

It did not take a psychic to predict that the response of the other clerics was going to be a poor one. They acted distraught and lamented the fact that they were too late to rescue their friends. Victoria's face remained neutral. She did not know these people, but she was unhappy that she could not have rescued all eight Order clerics. The best that everyone could do now was avenge the fallen and take their bodies back to Holy Castle.

Victoria dispelled her Light Machine Gun and brought out her Grenade Launcher in order to deal with the two dozen fat zombies lurking in the gloom just ahead. She carefully aimed and fired a grenade that landed right in the middle of them, drawing a groan of what sounded like surprise. Three seconds later it went off with a loud explosion, destroying the legs of most of them and spreading body parts across the clearing. Victoria then dispelled the Grenade Launcher and brought out her Light Machine Gun again... the noise of the explosion was going to draw more enemies to them and she needed to have something that could throw a lot of lead downrange.

"I'll handle these guys. You tend to your dead." Victoria assured Serena and the other clerics. The redhead silently hefted her pistol and joined Victoria in the task of disposing of the incapacitated zombies. The pair walked over to the thrashing, struggling bodies and carefully aimed for their heads. The culling then began.

A muffled FWIP that sounded like a suppressed handgun competed with the loud buzzsaw of Victoria's LMG as the two mages began their task. The pair put down the zombies one by one, shooting them all in the head until none remained alive. Once the grim task was complete the pair walked over to the other clerics and rejoined them for the equally grim task of figuring out how to take the bodies of the dead back to Holy Castle.

Victoria looked at the bodies of the deceased clerics and saw that they had an equal mix of meat cleaver chop marks and bite marks from the teeth of the zombies. In her experience with zombies, one did not want to carry around the bodies of those killed by zombies unless one had special protective measures. She wondered what the clerics would do about transporting the bodies of the fallen.

Serena bent down and recovered three golden necklaces with pendants that resembled the end of her staff. She stood up straight and looked at the necklaces, then put them away in a pocket. Her staff was charged with holy magic as she raised it. The black-haired girl gasped and rushed in to stop the brown-haired cleric.

"Don't! Their bodies deserve to be taken back to Holy Castle and buried in hallowed ground!" The dark-haired mage protested.

"No, Sabrina. We can't risk it. They've already been bitten multiple times and there's no telling when they'll reanimate." Serena grimly shot down the black-haired mage's protest. Realizing the truth behind Serena's words, Sabrina reluctantly back down. She turned her back and walked away with clenched teeth and a frown that she did not even bother to hide.

"The Golden Girl always gets her way." Sabrina fired a parting shot without turning around. Victoria recalled the first meeting with Serena back in Haunted Guild and remembered how the brown-haired cleric lamented that other clerics gave her a hard time because they thought that she not only passively benefited from nepotism, but actively used it to her advantage. Her family had been a part of the Order of Lightbringers since its founding and had several prominent clerics in its ranks. Serena was expected to carry on the Anderson family tradition of powerful female clerics. The Sabertooth mage could tell that the young cleric was feeling the strain of the high expectations that were placed on her.

Serena lowered the glowing staff and touched the body of each fallen cleric while reciting words that sounded like a prayer. Victoria and the others remained silent as the bodies of the fallen turned to ash and blew away on the wind. Serena closed her eyes and said one last sentence.

"May they rest in peace." Serena said solemnly.

"May they rest in peace." The three clerics around Victoria repeated solemnly. Sabrina was standing away from the rest of the group while watching everything.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 4,000/8,000]

After the brief ceremony had concluded, Victoria turned to the gathering of clerics in order to ask what to do next. She did not know whether they wanted to look for the deceased teacher or call it good and start heading back to Holy Castle. It was their call. Victoria would keep her word and help them no matter what course of action they chose. It was a grim thought, but at least the group had some sort of closure now that they knew the other three clerics were dead.

"What do you guys want to do next? Do you want to go find the teacher or do you want to start trying to get out of here?" Victoria asked Serena and the others. It did not take the brown-haired cleric long to make her decision.

"We're going to find the teacher. We owe it to him to free him from his cursed form." Serena answered without hesitation. The redhead, the bluenette, and a pink-haired girl all agreed with Serena. Sabrina kept her distance from the group and shot a look of disapproval at Serena.

"What's the deal with Sabrina? Why is she angry at you?" Victoria asked the staff-wielding cleric. She frowned at the Sabertooth mage.

"Sabrina's been something of a rival of mine. She thinks I'm only where I'm at because of my family name. We've been on-again and off-again friends ever since we started training as clerics." Serena explained the bare minimum of what must have been a lengthy story. She was sure that they could discuss the whole thing later, but right now they needed to get moving because the Sabertooth mage could hear moaning in the distance. More of the undead were coming out to play.

"If we're gonna find that teacher, we'd better do it now. More of those fat zombies are gonna be here looking for a bite and we don't wanna be around. We can fight our way out if we have to, but I don't want to have to do that if we don't have to." Victoria suggested. Serena and the others nodded. Sabrina simply stared at the group.

"I'll lead the way." Serena offered. The group all fell in and followed behind Serena. Everyone except for Sabrina, that was. She did not look happy with the arrangement at all. Victoria did not have time for this kind of thing.

-In the woods-

"We last saw Mr. Reyes in a clearing to the northeast of here." Serena filled Victoria in as the mage hustled to catch up with the clerics. They were walking briskly and not stopping for anything, which was a good approach to take because the moans were getting louder and more frequent. Combat was imminent.

"And you said that he was already dead? How long ago was that?" Victoria asked.

"Uh, ummm... about an hour ago!" Serena answered. Victoria kept a watch around them because the group heard the sound of brush giving way to something heavy. Moments later they saw large shadows walking towards them from out of the dark brush. A volley of green vomit preceded the arrival of the fat zombies, but Serena was ready and cast the golden dome shield to block all the vile projectiles.

As soon as the shield dropped everyone put their backs to one another in a triangular formation so that they could not be attacked from behind without someone being there to at least face any attackers. Everyone picked their targets and began to fight for their lives. Victoria was the first to engage the enemy with her LMG; she aimed for the head of the first zombie to present itself and opened up with a Five-Round Burst.

The targeted zombie went down with blood spurting from its large head and the redhead next to her brought down the next target with a beam through the forehead. Not counting the zombies which had already been killed, Victoria's eyeball count of targets was thirty or so shamblers. The clerics were using their magic to thin out their numbers, killing multiple zombies with each burst of holy magic. The brunette was glad that they were on her side.

The zombies were losing teammates with each attack, but their minds no longer worked enough to care. All they cared about was the armed buffet standing in front of them and they were hungry.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 4,750/8,000]

The zombie army was down to roughly half its numbers, but they still kept coming and nothing could stop them short of a bullet to the head. Victoria would be happy to oblige them. She fired off another Five-Round Burst that hit a zombie in the head and knocked it down for the count. Her redheaded companion charged and fired a beam that punched through the forehead of another and punched through its head. The zombie army was being whittled down, but would the whittling be fast enough before the shambling corpses reached them?

"I've got this." Sabrina announced. She raised a fist into the air, then punched the ground and created an expanding dome of golden energy that disintegrated all the zombies that had surrounded the group and a few stragglers following behind the main group. Victoria was relieved at the end of the fight because the zombies were getting close enough to smell the stench of rotting meat emanating from their bodies. Sabrina dropped to one knee and took a series of short, deep breaths. Serena walked over to help her but the raven refused the helping hand.

"I don't need your help." Sabrina said sharply. The dark-haired girl then forced herself to her feet and walked forward towards the clearing. Victoria followed behind the cleric because going anywhere in Fat Monsterland by oneself was a bad idea. The rest of the group followed shortly.

-In the clearing-

Sabrina led the way and spotted the corpse of a gray-haired man in a long jacket with black pants and a black shirt with a white collar. She did not look happy at all. She rushed over to his side and knelt down to examine the body. Victoria followed the cleric and stood at a respectful distance, keeping watch for any more zombies who wanted to attack the group.

"He's dead, Sabrina. Father Reyes is dead." Serena said to her fellow cleric. The raven did not want to accept that. She desperately wanted the man to come back to life. Judging from all the bite wounds, he soon would return, though not in the way Sabrina wanted.

"I don't need you to tell me that! The proof's right in front of me!" Sabrina snapped at the brown-haired cleric.

"Look, I know he was your mentor, but we really need to destroy the-" Serena started before Sabrina cut her off.

"Of course we do! It's not like you're the only one who ever went through the training!" Sabrina said curtly. Victoria could feel some serious issues boiling beneath the surface of the raven's skin. The latter was seriously angry at Serena for some reason and the tension between the two was palpable.

"I was just-" Serena started before another interruption cut her off.

"Father Reyes was a father to me! He took me in from the streets of Magnolia Town and taught me how to use my magic! Unlike you, I wasn't part of a famous family of Order mages, so I had to work for everything I have!" Sabrina raged. Victoria continued to keep a watch for trouble because the sound of the argument plus the sounds of the previous battle were bound to attract more trouble. The Sabertooth mage felt a lot of empathy for Sabrina because of their shared "street kid" backstory. Victoria knew what it was like to scrabble for a living on the mean streets and not have a real parental figure.

"Now's not the time for this! We've gotta destroy his body before he reanimates!" Serena argued back. Sabrina frowned deeply.

"Of course we do, Golden Girl. You can afford to talk like that because your mentor isn't dead. Father Reyes isn't refuse to be burned, at least not to me. But you go right on ahead because the Golden Girl always gets what she wants." Sabrina snarked as she recovered the father's necklace and put it in her pocket. She whispered a few words to the deceased man, then turned to Serena.

"I've said my goodbyes. Now dust him, Golden Girl. You're pretty good at destroying people's hopes." Sabrina commented sarcastically. Serena ignored it and focused magic into her staff, then touched Father Reyes' chest with it. The man's body turned to dust.

"May he rest in peace." Serena led the clerics.

"May he rest in peace." The clerics repeated.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 5,500/8,000]

After the ceremony had concluded the mages gathered to decide their next course of action. Now that the remaining three students and their teacher had been confirmed as dead and their bodies destroyed to remove the threat of reanimation, they needed to decide what to do next. The most obvious course of action was to simply get out of Fat Monsterland and return to Holy Castle, but the Sabertooth mage did not know what the clerics wanted to do. She did not know if they could teleport or not.

"Now that we've done what we set out to do, let's get out of here." Serena suggested to the other clerics. The others nodded their approval. Even Sabrina did not argue with that plan. Victoria flashed a thumbs-up to indicate her agreement. She wanted to get out of here while the going was good.

"All right then. It's decided. We get out of here immediately." Serena reported her decision to the group. She and the other clerics formed a circle and held hands, then began to chant and glow gold. Victoria watched the chanting until she heard moaning in the distance... more zombies were heading their way.

"Get out of here! I'll find my own way back!" Victoria told Serena. She was starting to see shadows massing in the distance. There were too many to get an exact count, but there were easily more than ten of them.

"But you'll get left behind!" Serena protested. The zombies broke through the brush and were advancing on the group. Globs of vomit were incoming.

"My job was to rescue you and I did. Get out of here while you still can!" Victoria urged her, blocking a vomit blob with her Caduceus Shield. Serena looked upset, then nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. The rest of the clerics closed their eyes and finished chanting, then disappeared in a burst of golden light. Victoria was glad that the clerics were out of danger. Now it was time for her to make her own exit... she darted back into the first clump of woods that the group had traveled through and began to retrace their steps.

-In the first clump of woods-

Victoria ran for her life, not stopping to fight because there were simply too many zombies to fight. She would fight only if they barred her way, but so far her luck held and they did not think to get in her way. She rushed past them with ease and stuck to the plan, which was to get out of here and nothing else. The clerics were safe and their colleagues confirmed to be dead. There was nothing to be gained by staying to fight after completing the objective.

The brunette hustled by a fat zombie who had reached out for her and swung its meat cleaver, missing her left arm by a matter of inches. She did not stop to exact revenge. She exited the clump of woods and entered the clearing where the three deceased mages were found earlier.

-In the first clearing-

Victoria paused for a moment to get her breath. She had another patch of woods and another clearing to get through, so taking a break was important because she needed to save energy for the final stretch. However, it was not easy to take a break when a small army of flesh-eating corpses was following her. She had to ignore every instinct to keep running and instead walk and stretch her legs in the little time she had to "relax" before having to keep moving. Victoria stretched her legs, stretched her lower back, and did everything she could to stave off the development of leg cramps because she was no longer in the company of other people who could save her if things got ugly.

After a four-minute "break" Victoria spotted zombies closing in from all directions, so she had to get moving again. She took a few moments to kill four zombies that were on the edge of the path she needed to take with Five-Round Bursts to the head, then ran past their corpses and into the second patch of woods. The moans of their friends sounded behind her as a few turned in her direction and reached out for her.

-In the second patch of woods-

Victoria kept running because this was no time to slow down. The zombies were closing in from all directions.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 6,250/8,000]

-In the second patch of woods-

Victoria had to dodge grasping hands, flailing meat cleavers, and globs of green vomit as she tried to make her escape through woods that were teeming with zombies. She ran past a trio of zombies that had spread out to block her route and ducked under their grasping hands. She could not stop to fight because stopping would mean getting grabbed and chewed up like a piece of taffy. All the brunette could do was put her head down and run for it.

Victoria ran past another group of zombies that were standing side-by-side, sliding between two of them and then hopping to her feet before they could spin around and catch her. She did not know how much longer she could keep up the pace, but she would have to keep going because stopping meant almost certain death. It was a good thing that she grew up in Capital Crocus because her "training" in running meant that she could run for long distances before getting tired. She would need every bit of that training to make it out of Fat Monsterland alive.

When she saw the clearing where she found Sabrina and the pink-haired cleric Victoria's spirits lifted because she was getting closer to an exit. Unfortunately the zombies were getting closer to her too. Whether they meant to or not, they were forming a dragnet that was slowly closing in on the Sabertooth mage. She got out of the woods and jogged into the center of the clearing.

-In the second clearing-

Victoria jogged to a stop and tried to stretch her screaming legs because they were killing her. This was a very bad time to have a buildup of lactic acid. It needed to be resolved before the zombies got here. Against her better judgment Victoria began to stretch her legs and drink some water to give her the energy to keep going, but it was difficult to stretch when she could see the shadowy forms of zombies shambling towards her. She ignored the instinct to run and kept stretching until she saw zombies trying to bar the route to the third set of woods from which she and the other clerics entered the clearing.

Victoria took aim with the LMG and began to shoot an opening through them. She took out the zombies on the edge of the fifteen-strong group and began moving inward until she whittled the group down to about eight. That gave her just enough space to get through them. She waited until they got close and were committed to their direction, then ducked under their arms and sprinted for the woods.

-In the third patch of woods-

Victoria heard moaning from every direction as she sprinted for the path at the end of the woods. She only had a bit farther to go and she would be clear of the woods. The zombies were not making it easy... they were forming up in tight groups and blocking almost every way out. The brunette zigged and zagged through the groups while avoiding their grasping hands; she was pretty sure that adrenaline was the only thing keeping her going right now because her legs were aching badly from all the running she had to do.

The Sabertooth mage kept running and dodging all the attacks while breathing in short, shallow breaths. She was beginning to run out of steam at the worst possible time. She just needed to keep going a bit longer and she would make it. Cursing under her breath, Victoria ran for the final stretch and broke through the bush just ahead of zombies swinging their meat cleavers in an attempt to bring her down.

-On the path-

Victoria exhaled loudly when her feet touched the path she walked to get into Fat Monsterland to begin with. She began to walk briskly down the main path to put as much distance between her and the zombies as possible when she spotted a horse-drawn wagon in the distance. They did not need to be going this way right now, but maybe she could hitch a ride out of here. She dispelled the Light Machine Gun and began waving to the wagon.

"HEY!" She shouted at them. She sprinted towards the wagon and saw a man wearing a top hat and formal wear holding the reins.

"You don't wanna head that way. Zombies are heading for us!" Victoria warned him.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 7,000/8,000]

"Are you sure?" The man asked her. She pointed towards the woods, where a group of six zombies broke through the brush and began heaving vomit at them. The man's eyes widened in fright.

"Yeah!" Victoria replied, raising her Caduceus Shield and blocking them. The frightened man gave no further resistance and turned the wagon around.

"Get on!" He shouted. Victoria fired a Hand Cannon at a zombie, bringing it down with a shot through the head. She then hopped onto the back of the wagon and it sped off down the road with her clinging on for dear life. The zombies moaned in vain as she and the man sped down the road to safety.

-Thirty minutes later-

"What were you doing in Fat Monsterland, Miss?" The man asked her. Victoria climbed into the front seat and spoke to her unlikely savior.

"I was here to rescue some Order of Lightbringers clerics who got trapped here. I managed to buy them enough time to teleport out of here, but they didn't have enough time to take me with them. I had to fight my way out of the woods." Victoria truthfully told the man. She had no reason to lie to her rescuer and there was nothing secret about the mission. He looked at her with interest.

"Me, I was going there to pay respects to a friend buried in Silent Cemetery, but I accidentally took the long way around and ended up here instead. You kept me and my horses from becoming zombie food. I'm glad you were there." He said to her.

"I'm glad you rode by, mister. You saved my life." She said to him with gratitude.

"Don't mention it. I'm from a village near Holy Castle and the Order's always done right by us. They keep us safe from bandits and we send surplus food their way." He explained to her. The mention of Holy Castle prompted her to ask another question.

"By any chance, were you going by Holy Castle?" Victoria asked him.

"My route takes me by there. I can drop you off there if you'd like." He answered. Victoria nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to be dropped off there." Victoria answered in the affirmative.

"It's no problem. I'm always willing to help a friend of the Order." He answered back with a smile. Victoria was grateful for the assistance since she highly doubted that she could have made it back under her own power. It was a lengthy walk from Fat Monsterland to Holy Castle and she did not look forward to the journey.

"It's smooth riding from here. You can relax in the back of the wagon if you want. I'll let you know when we get there." He offered.

"I'll do that. Thanks." Victoria told her well-dressed benefactor. She carefully climbed into the back of the wagon and began to stretch her legs. She was grateful for the chance to safely stretch her legs and even more grateful for the unexpected rescue. If it were not for the bumpy wagon ride she might even be tempted to go to sleep, but beggars could not be choosers. The brunette sat in the back of the wagon and watched Fat Monsterland recede into the distance.

-Eight hours later-

It was daylight when the wagon reached the outskirts of Holy Castle. The man pulled the wagon over to the side of the road and called to Victoria, who was nearly asleep despite the bumpy ride. The brunette slowly rolled over and sat up.

"We're at Holy Castle, miss!" He called out. Victoria turned around and looked over the man's shoulder. They were in the right place.

"Thanks mister. How much do I owe you for the ride?" Victoria asked, producing her pocketbook of Jewels. She felt like she owed the man something for saving her bacon. He put a hand up to refuse the reward.

"I don't want your money, miss. I don't charge friends of the Order. Though I could use some spare parts for this wagon. As you could tell, it's seen better days." He said to her.

"How much would the spare parts cost?" Victoria asked without hesitation.

"I'd say around 25,000 Jewels altogether." He replied with the figure. Victoria counted out that sum and handed it over without delay.

"Take it, mister. Get the parts for your wagon. I owe you a lot more than that for saving my life." Victoria said to him. He looked at her in shock as if he could not believe his good luck. He reluctantly took the money and tipped his hat to her.

"Thanks miss. I won't forget this. I'll see you around." He said to her. He then tipped his hat and rode away, leaving Victoria standing just a short walk away from the Order's headquarters. She began to slowly walk to the front door when it opened and Serena and Father Morris greeted her.

"Oh, Victoria! You made it out alive!" Serena exclaimed to her. Father Morris appeared to be pleased as well.

"You saved us again, Miss Sheridan! Serena told me that you did your best to save the others, but there was nothing that could be done for them. It is unfortunate, but you did your best. No one can fault you for that." Father Morris said to her. Victoria listened to him and wondered if there was something that could have been done to save the other clerics and Father Reyes. Short of being able to teleport or having super speed, Victoria alone could not have saved them from the overwhelming number of zombies.

"Four lights of the Order went out in that terrible place, but we do not weep for them because their lives stand as examples of what the Order stands for. We must keep the light of protection burning bright so that we may push back the darkness. Darkness threatens the land and we must be the light that keeps it at bay." Father Morris told the Sabertooth mage. Victoria was not a spiritual person, but she could understand most of what he was saying. The Order had to keep the vigil going so that darkness did not consume the land.

"Thanks for the helping hand, Victoria. Zombies were everywhere and we thought that you didn't make it out." Serena said to her. Victoria gave a smile.

"I'm don't give up that easily." Victoria replied. Father Morris walked over to her and gave her a bag of Jewels.

"Take these Jewels as a token of our gratitude, Miss Sheridan. Thank you for saving the clerics and doing your best to save the others." Father Morris thanked her.

"No problem. I'll see you guys later." Victoria said to them before turning away and setting out for Ace of Spades. She had beat the odds and made it out of Fat Monsterland alive. Now she needed to find a safer job to take before plunging into the next big adventure.

[Word Count: 1,198]
[Total Word Count: 8,198/8,000]