Reaper Kissed

19. Reaper Kissed

The jeep ran over something causing the car to jerk suddenly to the left.

"No, no, no!" Lauren exclaimed as the engine cut.

"I forgot," Chloe commented – eyeing the smoke now billowing from the engine, "you killed my Toyota."

Lauren laughed suddenly, surprised herself by the unfamiliar sound.

"Even now," she shook her head, "still not letting that go?"

The girls got out of the car. They'd made it halfway up at least. Looking down they saw the carnage in Solemn. Lauren grimaced, her jaw clicking in frustration. Chloe's heart thudded painfully in her chest. It was their friends down there...  Turning their backs on the slaughter, they continued to climb. "I missed you too, you know," Lauren spoke softly, after several minutes of walking in silence.

"Lewis said you came back to life. Mind sharing how – you know just in case we..." Chloe stuck out her tongue to mime get-horrifically-murdered.

"I don't know. Honestly, the longer I've been back – the hazier it's become."

Chloe sighed.

"Perhaps dying's supposed to remain a mystery." She suggested.

"Or someone's screwing with my mind," Lauren muttered, too softly for Chloe to hear. Murias she did remember – that and his hissing voice. Reaper kissed. Absentmindedly she touched her lips. They were cold, despite the sweat streaking her sooty face.

The girls reached the top of the slope. Crouching low, they peered over the edge and looked down into the Obituary Pits. Chloe's lips parted in astonishment as they stared at the imps' mighty machinery. They watched one catapult launch a gigantic steel spear down at Solemn – the momentum causing an assault of air that made their hair billow out. Chloe's keen eyes scanned the levelled terrain.

"There," she pointed. Mineshafts burrowing deep into pits pockmarked the broken soil. They just needed to reach them.

Imps operated the great catapults, squawking and barking to one another. Blocking their way. Lauren nodded uneasily. Clambering over the craters lip they crawled, their movements stirring up clouds of dust. The lower they got – the hotter the ground became. They winced, clenching their teeth as the broken junks of concrete and tarmac blistered their skin.

Unable to bear it any longer Chloe rose to her feet, squatting low. Lauren did likewise. Crawling was no longer an option. Chloe's heart was thundering in her chest. The land was too open, they'd be spotted soon. She looked about them, peering through the haze. The dust in the air was beginning to part, stirred by the catapults and Lauren saw the imp silhouettes approaching them.

"Chloe," she hissed urgently. Chloe grabbed her arm and yanked her firmly. Scrambling quickly Chloe raced over to a trench and jumped neatly down into it – pulling Lauren in with her.

The trench walls were mud, broken roots poked out - catching at Chloe's hair. Lauren looked up and down the trench.

'Which way?' she mouthed, not daring to make a sound. Chloe led the way, gun poised. She licked her dry lips nervously. They moved quickly through the trench, occasionally having to step over a butchered imp's body. A particular body pile-up occurred beside an unattended board game. Pieces were still out on the board, but looking closer Lauren saw that the pieces were crafted from severed fingers.