Chapter 96: Luck

Gene landed hard outside the walls.

They grimly looked at each other as they helped him up.

The group  turned to look at the collapsed wall.

Before any of them could move there was the sound like a gun shot

The castle wall exploded outward.

Wilbur was flung outward.

He landed hard and ended up half buried in the ground.

Blood splattered all around, he was bleeding heavily.

Out of the hole, the Nightmare creature came pouring out from the opening he made.

Thousands.

The Queen’s army.

There were too many to count.

Far too many.

Wilbur grunted as he tried to get up.

He dug in a small bag and threw something into his mouth.

A massive black tendril erupted from the ground. 

A monster had managed to sneak up on him .

It wrapped around what was left of his arm.

The pig warrior roared in pain.

The tendril tightened as it pulled.

Bone snapped.

Flesh tore.

Blood squirted into the night.

The arm came off.

Wilbur fell roughly on the ground.

Everyone froze.

For one horrifying second nobody moved.

The severed arm still held onto the bag as disappeared back into the castle.

Wilbur was hit and was sent rolling into the trees.

Blood poured out from the ruined shoulder.

He quickly dug in his pocket and pulled out a handful of white dust.

He slapped his hand against the wound and cried out in pain.

With the blood temporarily clotted, he struggled to stand.

Somehow.

Someway.

He stood.

“You stupid pig! Don’t do anything like that again! You better be glad that your luck is simply... TERRIFIC!!!”,Charlotte said with happy tears in her eyes.

Wilber then started running towards Gene and the others. 

The one-armed warrior looked toward them.

“Why are you all staring at me?”

Wilbur roared.

“We still need to get out of here! One of you come lend me your hands. Ha!!”

Even now.

Even after losing an arm.

The idiot was still making jokes. 

Lilith immediately burst into tears.

Selene shot a fireball at the incoming creatures.

Gene felt something tighten in his chest as he watched.

“In a situation like this, a character in a movie would usually fall down and get killed”

Wilbur stumbled once.

His foot landed on a rock and his ankle twisted.

This time he almost fell.

Gene was already moving.

Owl also flew fast towards Wilbur.

They rushed forward

Gene punched past Wilbur and destroyed a wave of incoming nightmare creature.

Owl grabbed onto Wilbur to stop him from falling

The group retreated into the forest.

Nightmare creatures followed.

⸻

The Queen’s forces hunted them relentlessly.

Several times they nearly caught up.

Several times Gene thought they would die.

But somehow they survived.

Just before dawn.

The resistance scouts found them.

The rebels launched a counterattack.

Nightmare creatures were driven back.

The survivors collapsed inside the hidden bunker.

Safe.

For now.

⸻

The medical room fell silent.

Wilbur sat on a reinforced bed.

His missing arm wrapped in thick bandages.

The healer finished her work.

“It’ll heal.”

Wilbur nodded.

“Good. Good.”

Lilith punched him.

Not hard.

But just enough that he knew she was mad at them.

“You idiot.”

Wilbur blinked.

“What?”

“You almost died you know!”

“Oh.”

He thought about it.

“Yeah. I guess I did huh.”

Lilith looked ready to cry again.

Instead she hugged him.

The giant warrior froze.

Slowly.

Awkwardly.

He patted her head.

“There there.”

Gene watched from nearby.

Relief washed through him.

They had survived.

Barely.

But they had survived.

The Mad Hatter approached.

For once his expression was serious.

“The Queen knows we’re here now.”

Gene nodded.

“I figured.”

Hatta looked toward the east.

Toward the distant castle.

“Then our next move becomes simple.”

Gene folded his arms.

“What ?”

Hatta smiled.

Not his usual cheerful smile.

This one looked dangerous.

The smile of someone who had waited years for revenge.

“It is time to stop hiding.”

Outside.

Far away.

A scream echoed across the kingdom.

Eleven voices.

One Queen.

And somewhere within that terrible sound…

Something laughed.