Ah, I see you're hoping for a battle between the hooting creatures and the cowboys! I kind of feel that Ben, Red and Jimmy might be a little outnumbered at the moment, and I'm not sure who out of them and the creatures can swim. Probably some of both....
Caught We stood on the slope leading up to our administrative building and I shivered despite the fact I was in full sunlight. "We should get out here as fast as possible," I said. "Now, for preference." "Now hold your horses there," said Ben, patting the air with a hand. "We're not scared of our own shadows round these parts; these things have been attracted by the noise and the looting these guys were doing. They caught them but they've left us alone. We've got time to take a wander around and see what's in the warehouses you pointed out, and then we leave. Tomorrow morning, bright and early." "You'll be out of cigars well before then," I said. Jimmy looked like he wanted to jump in, but Ben pulled a packet of cigars out of his jacket pocket. "Found them on one of the bodies," he said. "Guy didn't have any arms left so I figured they were no use to him no more." Jimmy looked appalled, enough that I started laughing despite the gory scene, the horror of the night, and Ben wanting to stay one more. "I'm with Red," said Jimmy, clearly struggling to pick one thing from what he wanted to say. "We should leave now and not risking getting caught as well." "The boat keeps coming back," said Ben. "There's something worth coming back for here, and they knew about these hooting creatures. I want to know what's so attractive that they'd brave death time and again for it." That got me, because it was true. If it was just a city inhabited by these creatures with a few bits of jewelry and a lot of gold leaf on the buildings, I would have left and not come back. So Ben had a point: what could be in here that was worth the danger. More than once, or twice -- hell, they'd built a dock. "There must be something big," said Jimmy softly, and it was clear he'd had the same line of thought that I'd had. I sighed, which I thought I'd been doing a lot of since we got here. "Let's go search the bodies," I said. "We'd better see if they have any of the keys from the map; not much point us finding out where they were going and then not being able to get in there ourselves. "You think they knew about the map?" I thought about that; there were a lot of keys on there still and it hadn't looked like many were missing. If any. "I think so," I said at last. "I think they just left there there because when you take them off you can't easily tell what they belong to." "Makes sense," said Jimmy. He looked around. "I'll take the one here then, Red, you check the ones on top of the shacks, and Ben, you check all the ones that look like smokers." The laughter that broke out across the field of slaughter was probably inappropriate but it made us all feel a little better.
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Ah, I see you're hoping for a battle between the hooting creatures and the cowboys! I kind of feel that Ben, Red and Jimmy might be a little outnumbered at the moment, and I'm not sure who out of them and the creatures can swim. Probably some of both....
Caught
We stood on the slope leading up to our administrative building and I shivered despite the fact I was in full sunlight.
"We should get out here as fast as possible," I said. "Now, for preference."
"Now hold your horses there," said Ben, patting the air with a hand. "We're not scared of our own shadows round these parts; these things have been attracted by the noise and the looting these guys were doing. They caught them but they've left us alone. We've got time to take a wander around and see what's in the warehouses you pointed out, and then we leave. Tomorrow morning, bright and early."
"You'll be out of cigars well before then," I said. Jimmy looked like he wanted to jump in, but Ben pulled a packet of cigars out of his jacket pocket.
"Found them on one of the bodies," he said. "Guy didn't have any arms left so I figured they were no use to him no more."
Jimmy looked appalled, enough that I started laughing despite the gory scene, the horror of the night, and Ben wanting to stay one more.
"I'm with Red," said Jimmy, clearly struggling to pick one thing from what he wanted to say. "We should leave now and not risking getting caught as well."
"The boat keeps coming back," said Ben. "There's something worth coming back for here, and they knew about these hooting creatures. I want to know what's so attractive that they'd brave death time and again for it."
That got me, because it was true. If it was just a city inhabited by these creatures with a few bits of jewelry and a lot of gold leaf on the buildings, I would have left and not come back. So Ben had a point: what could be in here that was worth the danger. More than once, or twice -- hell, they'd built a dock.
"There must be something big," said Jimmy softly, and it was clear he'd had the same line of thought that I'd had.
I sighed, which I thought I'd been doing a lot of since we got here.
"Let's go search the bodies," I said. "We'd better see if they have any of the keys from the map; not much point us finding out where they were going and then not being able to get in there ourselves.
"You think they knew about the map?"
I thought about that; there were a lot of keys on there still and it hadn't looked like many were missing. If any.
"I think so," I said at last. "I think they just left there there because when you take them off you can't easily tell what they belong to."
"Makes sense," said Jimmy. He looked around. "I'll take the one here then, Red, you check the ones on top of the shacks, and Ben, you check all the ones that look like smokers."
The laughter that broke out across the field of slaughter was probably inappropriate but it made us all feel a little better.
Greg - I can't say I'd like their chances if they had to go head to head with these things.
These three are quite the crew. I like that you always find a way to show their differing personalities, both through dialogue and their actions.
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