Chapter 76: Beep beep

The road continued.

It stretched endlessly across rolling fields beneath a sky painted with impossible colors. 

Purple clouds drifted lazily overhead while golden sunlight poured lazily across the hills covered in sparkling silver grass.

Gene wasn’t entirely sure if it was morning, afternoon, or evening anymore.

The Dream Road seemed to ignore things like time.

Which, unfortunately, meant his stomach had absolutely no idea when it was supposed to be hungry.

“How long have we been walking?” Emily asked.

“Three hours.”

“Twenty minutes.”

“ Two days.”

Gene pointed at each answer in turn.

“Those are all equally possible.”

Selene laughed.

Emily wasn’t sure if he was joking.

The scary part was that neither was Gene.

After their encounter with the strange spirit inside the spider, the group had spent some time discussing what to do next.

In the end, they had arrived at the only conclusion available; Keep moving forward.

The mysterious figure had pointed down the road.

The cat had told them to follow the road.

The test itself appeared built around following the road.

So that was exactly what they were doing.

Gene had a growing suspicion that every step was carrying them deeper into a book that had gone horribly wrong.

The thought wasn’t particularly comforting.

They found what seemed like the actual corpses of Jack and Jill after their talk with an enigmatic purple cat.

And there was also Emily’s family spider.

The further they walked, the more Gene wondered how many of Earth’s stories originated from this place.

A strong breeze blew across the road.

Selene suddenly slowed.

“Do you guys smell smoke?”

Gene immediately looked around.

Emily nodded.

“I do.”

The three moved forward cautiously.

Several minutes later they found the source.

Signs of battles scarred the area.

The road ahead had been severely damaged.

Several wagons lay overturned and smoldering.

Bent and broken weapons littered the ground.

Deep craters and slashes scarred the earth.

A still standing section of fence gave evidence to have been smashed by something enormous.

Gene crouched beside a damaged wagon wheel.

“This seems recent.”

Selene nodded.

“Very recent.”

Emily looked nervous.

“The spider?”

Gene shook his head.

“No.”

He pointed at the damage.

“This seems way too organized plus…”

Gene pointed at several arrows that remained embedded in nearby posts.

Sword marks covered a few pieces of debris.

Whatever happened here, had involved people.

A lot of people.

The road continued beyond the battlefield.

As they searched the area, Gene noticed something stuck to a fallen wooden post.

A poster?

Or perhaps it was a sign.

He pulled it free.

The paper looked surprisingly new.

Large letters were written across the top.

⸻

TRAVELERS WELCOME

SAFE OUTPOST AHEAD

FOOD - SHELTER - SUPPLIES

PEEPS AND SHEEPS AGRICULTURAL COMPANY

⸻

Gene blinked.

Then blinked again.

Selene immediately noticed.

“You recognize something.”

“Maybe.”

Emily looked between them.

“What?”

Gene pointed at the sign.

Silence.

Emily folded her arms.

“Should I know who that is?”

Gene paused.

“Actually I thought that this place might be famous since it had a poster. The names might come from another story from my world but who’s to say…”

Selene groaned.

“Of course it is.”

“At this point I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.”

Gene flipped the poster over.

A line near the bottom caught his attention.

POSTED BY CAPTAIN OF SECURITY: THOMAS PEEP

⸻

Gene paused.

Then smiled.

Selene immediately noticed.

“What?”

“The last name.”

“The last name?”

Gene nodded.

“Peep.”

Emily looked confused.

“Is knowing the last names of random people your special ability or something?”

Gene shrugged.

“This time I’m not too sure. In the story I remember, peep was a girl…”

He folded the poster.

“Welp, I bet that If the owner is a Peeps, then this might actually be one of the safer places we’ve encountered.”

Selene raised an eyebrow.

“That’s a crazy sentence coming from you.”

Gene couldn’t argue.

Something about the sign felt genuine.

Nothing in this place was safe so far.

But perhaps the new destination would be far less dangerous.

Which counted for something.

The three continued down the road.

As they traveled, the landscape slowly changed.

The hills flattened out.

Large fenced fields appeared.

Windmills turned lazily in the distance.

Massive barns dotted throughout the horizon.

Several enormous warehouses stood beyond them.

Gene looked toward one of the fields.

Then immediately stopped.

Um… Why are the sheep so enormous?”

The others followed his gaze.

The sheep were indeed huge.

Absolutely huge.

Each one stood nearly as tall as an elephant.

Thick white wool covered muscular bodies.

Massive curled horns protruded from several heads.

One of them casually bit through a wooden fence post while maintaining eye contact with Gene.

Gene stared at the sheep. 

The sheep continued chewing.

Neither trusted the other.

Eventually the sheep won the contest by looking significantly more derpy.

Gene looked away with dry eyes.

“Baaaaaaaah!!!”

The sheep seemed pleased.

“Those are not normal sheep,” Emily whispered.

“No.”

“They look a bit dangerous.”

The sheep continued watching them.

Several slowly approached the fences.

Not aggressively.

Just curiously.

Which somehow felt worse.

One giant sheep sniffed at Gene.

Its nose was nearly the size of his head.

Gene stood perfectly still.

The sheep sneezed.

Gene was immediately covered in wool.

Selene laughed so hard she nearly fell over.

The sheep wandered away.

Its dignity intact.

Gene’s dignity however, was less fortunate.

Eventually they reached a nearby warehouse.

The structure was enormous.

Built from dark stone and heavy timber.

Several towers overlooked the nearby fields.

A large wooden sign hung above the entrance.

⸻

PEEPS SHEEPS

ESTABLISHED BY MARY & BO PEEP

⸻

“Well,” Gene said.

“At least the poster was real.”

The front doors stood closed.

Several large bells hung nearby.

Emily looked nervous.

“What if it’s a trap?”

Gene considered it.

“Then it’s a very successful farming-themed trap.”

Selene knocked on the door.

Nothing happened.

She knocked harder.

A moment later several heavy locks clicked.

Chains rattled.

Bolts shifted.

The door slowly opened.

A woman stood inside.

She wore practical farm clothes.

A shepherd’s staff rested against her shoulder.

Golden hair fell behind her back.

Sharp blue eyes carefully examined the newcomers.

For several moments nobody spoke.

Then the woman smiled.

“Travelers?”

Gene nodded.

“Travelers are welcome Hopefully.”

The woman laughed softly.

“Good answer.”

She opened the door wider.

“Come inside before the sheep try to sneak in.”

The warehouse interior surprised all three of them.

It looked less like a warehouse and more like a fortified town.

Storage buildings filled the massive chamber.

Livestock pens occupied one side.

Workshops occupied another.

A surprising amount of people moved around everywhere.

Workers.

Farmers.

Guards.

Children.

Dozens of them.

The atmosphere felt alive.

Safe.

Comfortable.

Something Gene hadn’t expected from a farm.

The woman shut the doors behind them.

Then extended a hand.

“My name is Bo peep.”

Bo shook his hand.

Gene nodded and introduced Selene.

“Selene.”

Emily followed.

“Emily.”

Bo’s eyes widened slightly.

“Muffet?”

Emily tensed.

Bo immediately raised her hands.

“Relax.”

“We actually helped your brother.”

Emily looked surprised.

“You have?”

Bo nodded sadly.

Silence followed.

Several nearby workers quietly lowered their heads.

Apparently the story had spread farther than Emily realized.

Bo’s expression softened.

“I’m sorry but he already left for the capital city.”

Emily looked away.

For a moment nobody spoke.

Then Bo changed the subject.

“You all look exhausted.”

Gene immediately pointed toward Selene.

“She’s all good though. She literally Hasn’t done a thing since we got here.”

Selene elbowed him.

Hard.

Bo laughed.

“I like you already.”

The giant doors suddenly opened again.

Several workers entered carrying sacks of grain.

Behind them walked another woman.

This one carried a ledger beneath one arm.

She looked older than Bo.

More serious.

More businesslike.

The moment she spotted the newcomers she stopped walking.

Her eyes widened.

Then narrowed.

Then widened again.

She pointed directly at Gene.

“Oh no.”

Gene blinked.

“What?”

The woman looked horrified.

“What are you doing here?”

Gene stared.

Selene stared.

Emily stared.

Bo sighed.

“Mary.”

The woman ignored her sister.

She continued staring at Gene.

Then spoke words that immediately made everyone uncomfortable.

“Please tell me you met the rabbit already.”

Silence filled the warehouse.

Gene slowly lowered his hand.

“…The what?”

Mary’s face turned pale.

“Oh dear.”

And suddenly Gene had a very bad feeling about what came next.