Tray Of Ducklings

Letum could feel as his brow twitched in annoyance; this was not how he planned on spending his night. She had a great knack for pushing all of his buttons, it seemed. He blankly stared at her for a few moments while he contemplated his next move.

While she seemed like someone who could be trouble, he knew if they stayed it would spell trouble for the both of them. Not to mention he didn’t feel like cleaning up one more soul. Sighing, he conceded defeat and held out his arm and motioned towards the path in front of them.

“If you know of a safe place to get to, I’ll accompany you. To make sure you don’t become demon food.” Yes, that is the right thing to do, he thought. His brother would go on and on about how helping people is a good thing, so he might as well take his advice.

“My name is Letum,” he said flatly, realizing finally that not only had he stormed into their burning party unannounced, but he never gave her his name.

With the turn of a heel, she looked at him with glee in her eyes. She had expected him to simply say ‘you’re on your own’ and leave her. This would have been fine. The demons were sure to love him. However, to hear him say he would accompany her, well, that was a lovely icing to the cake.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed, walking over to him until she was close enough to link her arm around his. “This is such an exciting day! Now come along. We’re off for a lovely stroll.” She pulled on his arm —forcefully if needed— and began to lead him away from the sight. “And nice name! Le-tum. I like it! Call me Bekon!”

The area they were about to walk through was, for what seemed to be most of it, empty. Small houses littered the area as though someone had just thrown dice on a table and based the design of the town on where they landed. There were many, but empty. Most torn and destroyed by whatever disaster struck. Dry blood was splattered and dragged everywhere with graffiti littering the walls of many buildings. Most were signs of distress and a call for help to others. Things you would see written in apocalypse movies after an outbreak had settled in. Above all else, that was noticeable, anyways, it was quiet.

‘Bekon, huh?’ he thought to himself, memorizing her name. She was like no other person he had encountered. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, yet. 

She looked him up and down once more. “You don’t look like you’re from the 1800’s,” she stated, pulling on his coat. Way too modern, she thought. His questions got her excited, though. He actually asked her something! He wanted to know something!

“Oh aren’t you sweet to ask?” She straightened herself and let go of his arm, walking in front of him backwards so they could see one another. She raised her arms to her chest and gave a small bow, figuring she might as well act the part of greeting herself. “I’m an Apostle of God, of course. Lady Bekon is what they call me, among other things. Chosen by our High Order to dispose of the damned, save the weak and so-on and so-forth. Dumb stuff like that! I just massacre people as a side hobby. Someone’s gotta take out the trash, right? Why not it be someone already damned… But enough about me!”

Letum could feel as his brow twitched in annoyance; this was not how he planned on spending his night. She had a great knack for pushing all of his buttons, it seemed. He blankly stared at her for a few moments while he contemplated his next move.

While she seemed like someone who could be trouble, he knew if they stayed it would spell trouble for the both of them. Not to mention he didn’t feel like cleaning up one more soul. Sighing, he conceded defeat and held out his arm and motioned towards the path in front of them.

“If you know of a safe place to get to, I’ll accompany you. To make sure you don’t become demon food.” Yes, that is the right thing to do, he thought. His brother would go on and on about how helping people is a good thing, so he might as well take his advice.

“My name is Letum,” he said flatly, realizing finally that not only had he stormed into their burning party unannounced, but he never gave her his name.

With the turn of a heel, she looked at him with glee in her eyes. She had expected him to simply say ‘you’re on your own’ and leave her. This would have been fine. The demons were sure to love him. However, to hear him say he would accompany her, well, that was a lovely icing to the cake.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed, walking over to him until she was close enough to link her arm around his. “This is such an exciting day! Now come along. We’re off for a lovely stroll.” She pulled on his arm —forcefully if needed— and began to lead him away from the sight. “And nice name! Le-tum. I like it! Call me Bekon!”

The area they were about to walk through was, for what seemed to be most of it, empty. Small houses littered the area as though someone had just thrown dice on a table and based the design of the town on where they landed. There were many, but empty. Most torn and destroyed by whatever disaster struck. Dry blood was splattered and dragged everywhere with graffiti littering the walls of many buildings. Most were signs of distress and a call for help to others. Things you would see written in apocalypse movies after an outbreak had settled in. Above all else, that was noticeable, anyways, it was quiet.

He narrowed his eyes and straightened up. Another soul floated by and he sliced at it. He knew he probably looked very silly, slicing at things she couldn’t see. After a moment he grabbed his scythes and held them together. They glowed for a moment and soon after they fused and shrunk in size into a bat-shaped brooch. He placed it back on his neck and dusted off his coat, after which he folded his arms across his chest. 

His statement made her simply look away and shrug. She didn’t expect him to stick around once bigger trouble lurked around the corner. The rest of what he said made her stare at him. It was a surprising little twist she hadn’t expected. Mostly from the use of the word ‘behoove’ that she just had to pick at.

“Wow, behoove. Be-hoove. You are a proper gent, aren’t you?” She chuckled and turned her body towards him, arms at her back comfortably. “But fair enough. I guess I really shouldn’t be getting such a handsome ‘reaper’ into demon problems. You already have dead people to worry about. At least the demons have something to snack on while we leave.”

“You’re right, I’m a reaper.” He sighed. A rogue soul floated near him and he without much effort he sliced it in half. It collapsed in on itself and became a glowing orb, which it plucked out of the air and held it up to her.  

“You might have destroyed their bodies, but their souls remain. And now it’s my duty to go through and make sure they go to the right place.” He let go of the orb and, like a brick, it fell through the ground and disappeared. ‘Hm, she was right,’ he thought. ‘They were bad people.’

She laughed at the mention of him being a reaper and determining where they go. So much so that she snorted and had to chuck a body part hard into the fire to make it crackle hard under the weight. Goodness, how she hated her horrid snort of a laugh. She calmed herself down and threw the last body into the fire. After a moment, she just turned the barrow over to join the corpses.

She looked back to the man talking again and the mention of demons made her crack a grin. He was playing his role so well! “Really?” She began to walk back over to him. “The butt pretending to sleep might see his friends again, then!”

“Shut up!” Jay shouted, finally rolling off the box. He was unsettled, that much was clear by him looking around at something. “I’m heading back to camp. Don’t get into more trouble and for Christ’s sake, Bekon, he’s not lying so don’t get into a fight with a reaper. OR more demons.” With that, Jay was gone and out of sight around the building.

Bekon couldn’t help but laugh, covering her nose and mouth with both hands to stop from snorting again. She still didn’t believe it. At least not the reaper part. “Demons, demons, demons! I guess I’ll have to run along to safety now. Oh, poor defenseless me. Unless…” She brushed down the scythe and over his hand with hers, leaning over a bit to speak low. “You wanna scoop me away to safety all for yourself, hm? We could have lots of fun.”

Her words were alien to him. They must have confused him for someone else, but he wasn’t too concerned with that. He raised a brow at her; her reactions were not what he normally got out of people when he showed himself, especially for someone coming out of the woods brandishing giant knives. 

He walked past her a bit and got closer to the fire, looking it up and down. She said they had deserved to die. What did that mean? He himself had said those same words centuries ago when he was a priest, but since becoming a reaper his thoughts had to change. Well, he tried to change them anyway. If these people really deserved to die, he would rather they have the blood on their hands than his. 

All Bekon could do was watch him. Watch as he walked past her without a single word uttered and then watch him stare at the fire. While he inspected Jay’s handiwork, she stared at his back and observed his weapons. They reminded her of the Grim Reaper and they were quite gorgeous. Sharp, certainly. The sun reflected off the blades and she could see the craftsmanship on the handles. They were unique, that much was true. She crept closer and closer, slowly reaching forward with the limb to touch them.

Once he spoke, she stopped and looked at him, retracting the arm only a bit. His voice certainly indicated that he was annoyed, even if she couldn’t quite see it. She backed away with a small laugh and simply patted his back with the limb before returning to the barrow of corpses. He was so serious!

“I wouldn’t call it a little massacre,” she said lightheartedly, chucking the arm into the fire. “More like a little cleansing. And I’m cleaning it up so you don’t have to work or—I’m sorry, what did you say? Reap?” She looked a little confused by that term. The only time people from the organization used that term was when a lot of people or undead were about to die. Not towards souls.

As he got closer, he unhooked his brooch. From it his twin scythes emerged, and he held them out at arm’s length as he got closer. Whatever monster had caused this many murders would fall at his hands, he would make sure. 

She could see Jay sitting away from the fire with a cigarette in his mouth. Off against the wall atop of a random crate with the gun he’d been lugging around in his lap with the strap loosely around his shoulder. He paid her no mind and she simply rolled the barrel close to the fire. “You made a nice fire!” she complimented. “I like that you added wood to it and not just gasoline. Impressed as usual!”

She tossed in a limb and watched the fire crackle from the new weight. She used the second limb to stoke the fire, watching the hand catch on fire. Before she could toss in the limb, she heard the rustle from the bush nearby and quickly stood ready to beat whoever was there down with a burning limb. There stood a tall man in clean cut clothes holding two scythes. Certainly out of the ordinary for where they currently were.

Bekon looked at him up and down, standing up a bit more straight the longer she stared. There was something odd about this man, and it wasn’t just the fact he had his weapons out. If anything, that was completely normal and something she didn’t even take as dangerous. There’s something off here… Handsome, well dressed, out in an abandoned building with sharp knives? It’s like a kinky dream come true, but pretty sure this isn’t a dream this time. So who…are you?

With the help of the reflecting sun off a cross on his body, it clicked in her head. She let out a disgruntled sigh so loud that Jay could hear it from his corner. “Okay, okay. I know this looks like a human bonfire, but before you go reporting me, let me explain. Cause I’ve— Lady Bekon, by the way —got a really good reason for this little happening.” She waved the limb in her hand back and forth as she spoke, using it as an extension of her own hand gestures. “They really deserved to die. I was just delivering the sentence from the headmaster up above.”

Letum scowled at the book. Being a reaper was the most unpredictable job imaginable. You could never count on when people were going to die, and you had to be ready at any moment. Well, the reapers who took their job seriously did anyway. Letum was one of those kinds of reapers, and as he looked down at the names of the deceased that magically appeared on the paper he couldn’t help but think of the other reapers he knew. His brother was hardworking, at least to an extent. He wasn’t sure about the newest member of their odd little family, Dread, for he still harbored a sort of resentment to the young reaper. Still, his brother cared for him, so he had to put up with him. 

Pushing those thoughts aside, looked down the at paper to see where he needed to be. According to it, he wasn’t far off from the location. There also seemed to be a decent number of names, and he raised a brow as yet another name was added. 

     Bekon finished wiping as much blood off before chucking the bloody cloth at the gruesome sight she had left to be cleaned. “Fine, but I’m gonna be real slow about it!” There didn’t seem to be hurry. What were they going to do? Rise from the dead and atta—Well even if that was a high possibility of happening, she still didn’t feel like being prompt.

“I told him to look out for your stop,” he said, sitting down again. He stretched, but soon regretted it as he felt his wounds scream at him. Sighing he leaned back in his seat taking his coat off and wrapping it around him like a blanket. He got comfortable and looked at her, smiling to himself as he saw how tired she was. 

“I think after I drop you off and go back and try and round up my ghosts,” he chuckled. “Maybe it’s a good thing; they don’t get outside much.” He talked even though she seemed to be dozing off, and, not wanting to disturb her, he quieted down. Tentatively, he reached his hand out and touched hers ever go gently. 

Her focus strayed and she could barely stay conscious for what he had left to say. She tried to seem awake by giving small hums here and there, but they silenced quickly. Her hand twitched at the feel of his and her fingers coiled inwardly, trying to grab at the hand that wasn’t there. His words were faint and she knew she would question if it was a dream or not when it was time to leave. However, for now, sleep was best. Therefore, sleep finally took over.

It was so strange, he thought, how he was so tired. Reapers didn’t sleep, but he noticed some bodily needs never really left. Like eating, or breathing. It took a strong reaper to ignore those urges, and he wasn’t one of them. He seemed almost out of it at this point, but he wanted to stay awake just a bit longer and talk with her. Gear, the most important person in his life right now, he realized with a smile. 

She thought for a moment about his question. She had requested to be dropped off at the next town, but with her current condition, the more she continued to think on it, the more of a bad idea it sounded. It would give her more time with him. She wanted that. Would it be too much of an inconvenience, though? She didn’t want to delay him.

She looked at Railin and could see how tired he was. It had been such a rough day. It was evident on his clothes and in his face. She smiled and stood to her feet, placing the blanket over his tired form while she plopped back into her seat to lie down on her side. When her head hit the pillow, she could feel herself melt into it.

“I’m headed to the desert,” she finally answered, eyes closed and resisting opening again. Her head was closest to the wall and her body was facing towards Railin’s seat. She curled up as much as possible on the bench seat, trying hard to accommodate the bandaged gash on her torso. “There’s this huge church-like building and it’s the main housing for the people my friends work for. They might be there, I hope, but if not, I can find out where they’re stationed… But I’ll just be getting off at whatever station we’re closest to when we wake up. That would probably be easier. But I guess we‘ll see.”

As they got closer, he noticed something moving around the train. Going immediately to the defensive, he walked ahead of her and got closer. However, he was happily surprised to see one of the worker ghosts peek around the now fixed train.

“Mister Railin!” he said, floating over. “With all that commotion I was sure something terrible had happened to you. But the train is fixed! It’s amazing!” Railin chuckled at his ramblings, happy to see him. “Wow, you look terrible, no offense.” 

“It’s OK,” Railin said, climbing aboard. “We had a very rough day and we just want to relax now.”

“Oh please do, sir! I’ll drive the train for ya, just sit back and relax. I think you need it.” Railin nodded in gratitude and helped Gear up on the train. It hadn’t hit him before just how exhausted he was, but he was determined to get her home in one piece. He sat down on one of the front seat, sighing as he felt his stiff muscles relax. 

Walking into the train felt almost serene. As if everything that had happened, had not. Perhaps that was how it was meant to feel since it for those who were dead. It was such a gentle feeling and it put her at ease while taking a seat across from him. She leaned against the cushioning and could feel the aches in her muscles.

“Definitely a wild adventure,” she answered, chuckling a bit. She stretched a little, resting her hands on her lap while staring at him with a small smile. “Hopefully it won’t happen again for at least another couple months.”

It then hit her about her items and without hesitation, she jumped out of her seat and quickly paced down the carts to the one she had been staying in. “Be right back!” she yelled behind her. She opened the doors quickly and saw her belongings well intact. It was a relief and she could almost cry. She grabbed hold of the radio, hugging it to her chest as she grabbed the rest of her belongings and headed back to Railin.

One of the reapers trekked through the snow to where they were, looking exhausted. Railin turned to them, nodding in thanks. 

“Your train’s all done,” he panted. “Try not to crash it again, please.” Railin laughed sheepishly, nodding. 

“Ah, I can’t thank you all enough.” With a tired wave, the reaper disappeared into black smoke. The other workers by the train did the same, and when the smoke cleared the train looked like new. He almost felt like crying at the sight; he was so sure his precious train would have been scrapped this time. For once he was very grateful for being a reaper. 

She stood to her feet and held his hand as the reapers disappeared. The train looked grand as ever, just as she remembered it on day one. Her hand clutched his tightly and it felt like things were finally falling well into place. She stepped forward, pulling at his hand gently for him to follow. They were exhausted, beaten and torn. It was time to rest up and perhaps talk a little more before passing out.

“Don’t be sorry, it was…amazing,” he laughed. He brought her close and hugged her. “Oh Miss Gear, you make me so happy.” He released her and let out a small laugh, brushing his hair from his face sheepishly. 

“You really think I’m handsome?” he blushed. “I think you’re stunning honestly.” He took a good look at her and ate in her features, realizing he was right in finding her beautiful. He turned his head to where the reapers were working and perked up. He motioned with his hand for Gear to look. 

“Your compliments are far too kind,” she giggled out. “But I do think you’re handsome. No doubt about that.” With a glowing eye and glowing hair, stitches on his body and keeping his arm on neatly, these features of his made her head over heels just looking at him.

She looked in the direction he motioned and sat up straight to look at what the working reapers had accomplished. Everything was almost right as it was before the incident. It was a welcome sight and she started to become excited when she realized that Sir Edgar was safe in one of the carts that had not crashed. She hoped the ghosts that had left for safety would return promptly, too. Yes, things were looking up and soon they would be back on track. No puns intended.

Gear leaned back against the log, legs straight out as she sighed in relief. “We’ll be on our way soon. I can’t wait!” It was a bittersweet thought. They would probably end up falling asleep and wake up twenty hours later at the stop, even if the trip would only take them a few hours. She let out another sigh and, using the tree behind her for support, started to rise to her feet slowly.

“That’s exactly what I was trying to say,” he said, reaching out to hold both of her hands. “I just, I really like spending time with you and you make me happy. And when you got hurt I felt like my world was ending and, oh gosh, I’m rambling.” He laughed, is face getting a bit red. 

Letting go of his hands, she threw her arms around his neck and brought his face right back to hers, pushing her lips against his much more roughly than intended. She felt their teeth slightly click against one another and she pulled away quickly, realizing that maybe she shouldn’t have done that. At least not so forcefully. She stared at him and released him from her grasp, hands falling to her lap as she let out a laugh. Slightly from their teeth hitting and mostly from the excitement of their confessions.

She could feel her face begin to redden at her own words. It became worse as he talked and she had to look away for a moment as he shifted his hat. She didn’t know quite how to respond to that, other than saying she felt the same. She thought about what maybe one of the others would say to her in this situation, which she instantly declined to think of any further when she realized they would tease her. She exhaled and timidly looked back to him, seeing his flushed cheek underneath his hat and through his glowing hair.

The more she looked at him, the more she felt her chest tighten and do jumping jacks. Hesitantly, Gear scooted closer to him and leaned towards his face, kissing him on the cheek. She could feel her face burn now with her actions as she leaned back and stared forward at the workers.

He came up to the tree and sat down next to her, letting out a sigh as he relaxed. He turned to look at her and tentatively put his hand over hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Interesting sight, isn’t it?” he smiled. “Bunch of undead people putting a train back together again. At least it’s peaceful now.” 

“It really is quite a sight,” she answered, ignoring the one of her pain. “For a while, I didn’t think we’d get a moment of peace. I thought for sure Beelzebub would come back for a second round, hah hah! But man, what a ride. Figuratively and literally!” She laughed at the thought of everything they went through. It would be quite the story to tell the others once she returned to them.

After a moment of silence, she finally answered his question. “I… I am in pain.“ Her voice was distant and meek, showing how uncomfortable she was in telling him such information. She disliked worrying others. Her voice regained its usual peppy tone as she continued, wanting to reassure him that things were fine. “But I can handle it. It’ll go away eventually. It usually does. You did a great job helping me, after all. …Thank you for that, Railin. Honestly, I wouldn‘t be alive right now if it wasn‘t for you.”

She turned to look at him for the last part, smiling sincerely at him and hoping he could see just how grateful she was to him.

“Knock knock, your clean up crew is here.” From where they were sitting Railin could see the top of a reapers head as he knocked on the broken side of the train. Getting up, Railin stood by the doorway to greet him. 

“Oh thank you for coming so soon.” He said, looking out. He saw behind him a bunch of other reapers all wearing work clothes and wielding heavy equipment. “Um, sorry the train is in pieces…there’s some back there too.” 

“Damn you weren’t kidding.” The reaper said, looking around. “No prob though, we’ll get it done. You might want to vacate the area though.” Railin nodded and turned back to Gear, outstretching his hand to help her down from the train.

She gladly took Railin’s hand and stood up with a slight wobble from haven been sitting for so long. That wobble soon turned to her just falling onto his arm with hands gripping at his shoulder for support. A laughed escaped her mouth as she steadied herself and stood, trying to pretend it didn’t happen. “Okay then! To the trees we go. Don’t mind me.”

She scooted past Railin slowly and made her way out, seeing all the reapers that had suddenly arrived. She stood there in awe of all of them. She wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came out at first. It wasn’t until she took another step that a loud ‘hello and thank you for helping’ came from her mouth as she stepped off and away from the cart to sit against one of the trees that had been knocked down from the crash.