~ chapter one ~ part three ~
In the lounge, watching the fire, Mishil strokes Nocturne's face with a hand, Nocturne near frozen in a shiver.
Mishil - "You know what's bothering me ?" A finger dips into Nocturne's mouth, a pull and a gasp ... "I know how we're connected."
Nocturne - Mouth full, with a lick, "... we're connected ..."
Mishil - Leans down and kisses her, eyes on the fire. "And I can see how someone else would connect her with the undead, and to me ... somehow."
Mariposa closes her eyes.
Mishil - "But you ?"
...
Mariposa - "I'm sorry."
...
Mariposa - "I needed to get away."
Nocturne pulls herself up to Mishil's ear and bites it, gasping. She whispers, "She's the fucking book."
________
Screams in the hut, view along the floor ... clothes ... a powder-horn ... blunderbuss ... Goremouse shrinks against the wall, in the corner near the chest with wide eyes.
Goremouse - "... nooo ... nononono ... oh noooo ..."
Asherah screams while nameless roars, Goremouse hides her eyes. The chest lid jumps again.
________
Timepiece enters the garage, pitch black in NV.
...
Looks around ... pulls an empty clip and tosses it into the middle of the floor. A hoard leaps out onto it, tearing into each other to get at it. She looks around examining the vehicles ...
Timepiece - "Fuck." She pulls a tube from her satchel, smooth with holes along, and a pressurized helium canister, plugs it into the end.
She checks a wrist comp for room temperature. A holo-map appears on the floor of the room, dimensions and presumed alcoves. She adjusts the tube's valves, pulls a pin. "! Phosphorous Out !"
They all look up, the door slams, '! Whoosh !'
________
Mishil - Kisses Nocturne in her lap, "There goes our payday, honey."
Mariposa - Standing before two large doors creaking open, "Um. Hello ?"
They look up at her from the kiss.
Mariposa - "I did consider that ... for me too." Behind her, the treasury filled, piles of gold and jewel. "That's why we're in this room. It's where she bribed her public figures."
Mishil - Kisses Nocturne, staring at the gold, "Guess you are lucky. For me."
Nocturne - "... yeah ... that's true too ..."
________
In NV, the garage again, appearing pretty much the same as it did before the phosphorus, with a bit of charcoal and bio-scrap here and there.
She zooms to the side door, far side of the room.
Old, windowed, thicket past the window, simple.
Goggles off, she flips on the gun light, a motorcycle tarp through the door's window, grown over. Flips back.
Timepiece - "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Holding for room response ... then advancing.
Timepiece - "It's just ... 'parked out back !' ... fuck sake."
________
Nocturne runs and tries diving into the pile of gold, hitting it hard. "Fuck !"
Mishil - Watching behind Mariposa, she leans in and whispers, "I thought you might like to know how things ... work. In our world."
...
Mariposa smiles.
________
Just outside the side door, Timepiece pulls the tarp from the motorcycle.
Timepiece - "Found you !"
The front wheel turns toward her with the lamp. Appearing as a char-melted thing on two wheels, balanced on two front blade-like extrusions like the arms of a mantis.
Alerted zombie sounds ...
Timepiece - "Oh fuck."
________
The double doors push open a bit, zombies behind, it slams shut.
~ Nocturne pulls up her pants and loads, Yorick watching.
The doors push and slam again.
~ Mishil pulls her shirt over her shoulder and drops the blade-flails.
The doors ...
~ Mariposa snaps a broom over her knee and brandishes pointy ends.
The door pushes, a pair of frilly Victorian(esque) underwear strung across the two nobs, stretching ...
('Shadows of the Night' by Pat Benatar)
The motorcycle opens up.
____
________
Unfolded, it's much like a police Harley, high windscreen, high seat back, boxed back, all a bit oversized. Longer and sleek, scorched black on the shell pieces, gloss underneath on the main frame and fuselage.
It still has only two central wheels, though wide. The front stabilizers tend outward, and are fairly long with a high elbow. Under-curved blades skid or gouge road on the turns. The rest really is more like a large touring bike, box back.
Enclosed, the high windshield and high-back seat enclose the rider. Not really as transformation so much as closing the lids. To say not the 'tiny moving plates' of current sci-fi, but a very few large ones.
Nearly three meters long (8-10 feet), it's much as a motorcycle mech-suit, twisting with the rider. With a twist in the midsection and turn of the wheel it stops next to her, spotlight lights on the field of approaching zombies.
________
____
...
Timepiece fires rounds through the heads at the forefront before mounting. She pulls the two pistols found and shoves them into the elbow joints of the mantis arms, igniting them through pores with dripping plasma.
She leans forward as it closes around her, becoming more as a mech-suit bike. It arcs and the mid and twists with a stretch before the wheel grinds.
The autumn grass around starts to burn as the wheel starts it's skid.
__________
~ Gunwicks ~
Hard-coiled plasma blades being constantly burned though while expanding. Spewing, chaotic and dripping plasma. You'd have to shake out the last of the fire. Very much like an over-soaked fire-dancer torch, rumbling in sound, like a deep furnace with a pressurized hiss.
As a solid, remember those stupid little 'snakes' they have on 4th of July in places they can't have good fireworks ? Same principle. Light it, it expands, drawing the plasma through the pores. Fueled, hardened by the consistency of the flow.
Gunwick's a good name. It's fire. Also make me think of Bushwick.
It shoots just by pressure ejecting the blade. A solid plasma, constantly reforging through the expansion ... likely via a carbon. Mid cooling when ejected, it would both shatter and splash, which is horrible.
________
____
~ inside the manor ~
Nocturne - Gun clicks, then punches through a zombie face. "I'm out !"
Mishil - "Me too !"
Mariposa - Holding two blunted sticks bloody, "I'm all nubs !"
Zombies gathering a pause in examination of not re-dying, a few unearthly grins of slow realization ...
...
...
Nocturne - Pulls her swords, "Ladies ... Kunai me."
__
Scorched Earth and zombies more to test the bike's abilities than need.__
Mariposa and Mishil each holding a foot, Nocturnes spins through the zombies, heads lopping, upside down smiling face up and hacking, until they're each holding an empty boot.
Mariposa and Mishil each holding a foot, Nocturnes spins through the zombies, heads lopping, upside down smiling face up and hacking, until they're each holding an empty boot.
__
The bike leap from the forelimbs, throwing the heavy back end to over the gate. It skids to a stop while Timepiece sits upright, mechanisms adapting and back to the Harley base, forelimbs curling under like foot-rails.
__
The bike leap from the forelimbs, throwing the heavy back end to over the gate. It skids to a stop while Timepiece sits upright, mechanisms adapting and back to the Harley base, forelimbs curling under like foot-rails.
__
Nocturne flies through the crowd joyously, shish-kebabing through and over the stairwell, sticking into the front door. Fire
growing all around, Mariposa and Mishil roar down the stairs with a
couch, laden with treasure bags, covering the width of the stairwell.
__
Timepiece
watches the manor burn a moment, eyes clicking through modes, then
off. Fading out on the burn as it begins exhausting itself.
____________
The bell from Venus' shop door, an exit.
Venus looks down and opens a letter, reading ~
Venus smiles and tucks it away, takes her parasol and closes early.
Venus looks down and opens a letter, reading ~
(Mishil's voice)
"My dear Venu.
"You've actually changed my
opinion of you, after all this time.
"Thank you.
❤
"Arsinoe."
Venus smiles and tucks it away, takes her parasol and closes early.
____
The
chain hits ground, the gate swings open and they drive into the dawn
from the manor. A burned through classic, ashen, shredded and melted at
the plastics and interior, not sounding good. Tires functional ... manor burning behind.
A 1958 Edsel station wagon (a tank). Trunk sagging, tailpipe dragging. A hand thrusts the zombie head out the backseat window, holding it as it's stringy hair blows in the wind through the credits.
Yorick's wide eyes take it all in ...
('Streets Shed Tears' by Ice Cube)
Venus
walks through and from the afternoon marketplace, into the woods
surrounding. Timepiece rides, Yorick takes in the view from out the
window. Asherah and nameless face each other making love, gasping into
grasping kisses.
! The ! End !
~ after credits ~
Nocturne - In a robe, crumples a letter, eyes go to the side. "Doe ! I've got girl-gang duties tonight."
Doe - Robed, he kisses her, she smiles. "Got some damage of my own to do at the pier. We'll hook up after." Hands her coffee.
Nocturne - Looking up with a sip ... "You do know ... right ?"
Doe - Sips his coffee. "No dudes ?"
Nocturne - "Boys drool."
Doe - Puts down a plate of eggs. "Then I guess it keeps on tickin'."
He strokes his hand through his hair on the way out and into the bathroom, the shower sounds, door left open.
...
Nocturne - Giggles suddenly into her coffee. "I just got that."
Doe - Robed, he kisses her, she smiles. "Got some damage of my own to do at the pier. We'll hook up after." Hands her coffee.
Nocturne - Looking up with a sip ... "You do know ... right ?"
Doe - Sips his coffee. "No dudes ?"
Nocturne - "Boys drool."
Doe - Puts down a plate of eggs. "Then I guess it keeps on tickin'."
He strokes his hand through his hair on the way out and into the bathroom, the shower sounds, door left open.
...
Nocturne - Giggles suddenly into her coffee. "I just got that."
Does
sings deeply and beautifully from the shower. It's door slides open.
Her eyes dart between the food and the shower, back and forth, back and
forth ... undecided.
She looks at Yorick on the mantle, he looks back.
Sunset, the music fades back in (at 1:48, boom at 2:28).
The
partially fixed car drives, head out the back window, passing the
Fleetline on it's way to the docks. Fleetline rolls through the
automated gates and onto a docked ship, parking at the fore.
Crew to work, attacking the safety clamps and calling to orders, they sail.
The pier in the distance in the last of the light explodes behind the sailing ship. A long series, one after the next, tears through the buildings and quiet ships behind the sail out, Fleetline at the fore and into the night.