After The Fallout - Chapter 19 now up 4/10/07

Our trip to the city was uneventful. We
passed through the dead countryside in a few days, consuming our supplies
as we traveled. Water was scarce, the horses were getting tired. By the
time we got to the outskirts of the city, we had no supplies left. Somehow
we managed to avoid outlaws and mutants. It wasn't going to be any safer
in the city.

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Darlyn: Keep your eyes open and your wits about you Bobby...this
is a dangerous place.

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Darlyn: There's evil people here. We should have salvaged
some weapons before we left.

Bobby: Yeah....this place sure is creepy....

We rounded a corner and came across a roadblock. Two men
armed with rifles and a cannon blocked our path. I pulled the horses to a
stop.

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Outlaw: Stop right there, lady.
Unless you'd like a hole the size of the moon between your ears.

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Then the skinny outlaw came closer to the
wagon. He had a crazed, glassy look in his eye.

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Outlaw: Alright bitch, what you got in that wagon? Anything I
might be interested in? Other than what you're sittin on I mean. An the
boy there...he might fetch some good trade. Get yourself down here boy
before I blow your head clean off your shoulders.

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Darlyn: Don't move Bobby. Stay still as a lamb. But be ready to
hit the ground runnin.

The outlaw looked a little twitchy. Maybe he was pre-occupied or more
likely he was on something.

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Either way, I didn't come all this way to get robbed by some bozo.

Darlyn: Pretty tough talk for a man who likes to hold his
shaft... But I don't think you're steady enough to hit the broadside of a
barn from 10 paces.

I could feel the anger rising in me, and the
staff I was holding onto began to pulsate with energy.

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Darlyn: And I'm gonna count to three. And by two you should be
turning around and walking away because if you're not I'm going to have to
come down there and kick your butt myself. You hear me? One....

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Darlyn: Two!

By this time it felt as though there was
electricity flowing through my body. The men were looking at me like I was
crazy. And maybe I was cause I had no idea what I was gonna do when I got
to three. But it seemed more like someone else was controlling me....

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Darlyn: Three!

And suddenly I felt a surge. All the energy
seemed to leave my body, through the staff, and outwards toward the evil
men!

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A bolt of energy shot forth from the staff. The men began to writhe in
pain. It appeared as though they were being electrocuted!

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They screamed in agony as they burned from the inside out. I smelled
that stench of burning flesh for the second time in less than a week.

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They died a slow, agonizing death, twisting and convulsing.

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I felt no remorse as I watched them die. I was cold as stone. Two less
evil scum to stunt the growth and prosperity of mankind.

I got back into the wagon and nudged the
horses into a slow trot.

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Darlyn: Well....that was different now, wasn't it? Too bad we
can't get that cannon inside the wagon. I bet it's worth a great deal in
trade.

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Darlyn: The horses are in bad shape. I wonder if we can find a
place to get them re-shoed? Giddyup boys, we got places to go.