Yggsdrasil

everittdmickey (73)in #fiction • 7 years ago (edited)

Chapter 16: Who's the Boss, and what to do with the Sepoys?
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They had killed thousands of demonrats..
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Eventually it was over. They were all worn to a frazzle. It seemed that they had killed thousands of Demons but surely there hadn’t been that many. Surely? They had certainly killed a lot, though. There was no way to tell how many since anything as small as a human, or Demon, that had fallen during that running fight was trampled to nothing but smears on the roadway. The herd would swerve and run around large animals that fell, Fallen cattle or even horses didn’t get trampled too badly. Anything that was man sized or smaller left nothing more than a smear.

Of the fallen humans only Lamar had become a bear rider. All the others were retrieved by the Griffins , except for Hobbs , had been dropped into one of the Buffalo Wagons. The massive bison, six to a wagon, hadn’t even noticed the added weight. The elf controlling the team usually rode astride one of the beasts. The men were at a bit of a loss as to what to do in the big empty wagons. Many of the injured didn’t do anything but rest. A few had retained a firearm and shot at rats. Much of the time they hit cattle instead.

A few fallen men had sheltered behind a dead animal. The running fight had been hard on the herd. All those bullets had to go somewhere. A great many cattle died from gunshot. Their carcass was just perfect for a desperate human to hide behind.

The herd had finally run itself to exhaustion. The great beasts in their thousands, had finally slowed to a walk and dispersed from the yellow bricked road way. The road was littered with dead and wounded cattle, a few Rhinos and a great many Terror Birds. Great swaths were slimy with blood-smears and trampled bodies that were mostly Demons. Here and there Trolls, chained to their war-buggies, sat despondently behind grazing Rhinos. They were pretty much doomed unless they somehow managed to get free of their chains.

Lamar and Kraki sat astride the big short faced Bear, gazing upon the carnage.

What were they going to do?

Gradually everyone came together into a group. It was an odd assemblage by any standards. Those humans who had survived a fall during the stampede were riding in Buffalo wagons. Those who had not fallen were riding in their own wagons or mounted on horses. Except for Sgt. Hobbs. Sgt. Hobbs was missing. Due to his unique method of transportation he’d been assigned a mission. He was searching for more survivors. He and his Griffins could travel faster than anyone else except for lone Griffins. The language barrier precluded sending Griffins out alone. There was no way to tell them what to do. Hobbs could use sign language as needed.

He apparently hadn’t found any since he came swooping in like an avenging angel. Just as he approached the parked wagons the Griffins dropped his ropes and Sgt. Hobbs hit the dirt running. The Griffins found a place to land and watch. This should be fascinating. Hobbs slowed to a walk while releasing the dragging ropes. He looped the ropes into a coil and walked over to the group.

Sgt. Hobbs was covered in the blue blood of the Demons, sweat and dirt. He was almost vibrating with suppressed energy and adrenalin. He tossed the coils of rope toward a supply wagon and then saluted First Sergeant Halsey "Sgt. Hobbs reporting , SIR! Nary anyone left alive back there. What the hell we gonna do NOW!....SIR?"

"At ease Sargent" said the senior NCO with a sad thin smile "Since when do you salute an NCO? You always were a smart ass. No surviving officers are there? “

Sgt. Hobbs shook his head mournfully. “Nope, couldn’t find a one. I’m gonna miss “em.”

“As will I, Sergeant, As will we all” The First Sergeant said as he turned to the remaining officer. The big Black Texan was lazily sitting astride a huge bear. There was a small black furred boy with a long tail and pointed ears sitting on his shoulder. There was also an equally huge, if somewhat nervous, Buffalo Bull, snorting and stamping behind the bear.

The bear ignored the Bull.

"As Sgt. Hobbs is not so subtly is pointing out, sir, we seem to be short of officers. You appear to be the ranking man here, sir. "

The First Sergeant, though wounded, laboriously struggled to his feet, come to attention and saluted the Texan. “Awaiting your orders Sir!”

The Texan stared at him for a moment. Then he carefully removed the little boy from his shoulder, set him on the bear’s head, and stood up. The Texas Captain, who happened to be black as coal was all business. He came to attention and returned the salute.

“At ease Sergeant,” then he grinned ironically and surveyed the gathered creatures, humans and otherwise.

His speculative gaze lingered for a moment on the forlorn cluster of Trolls sitting in chariots off to one side, then it moved on. The Texan grinned again and slowly appraised the humans more closely. He spoke in that slow Texas drawl yet loudly enough for all to hear." For all of you that don’t know me, which would be most everyone, I’m Captain Lamar Pedernales, late of the Tenth Cav, Company A, of Ft. Concho in Texas. We're up a creek without a paddle here folks. I’ve been a lot of places in my life and seen a lot of things that most of you would swear to be impossible, but nothing like this.“

“This is new to me. I’ve got no clue as to where we are. If we want to survive we need to keep our wits about us. I'll do what I can. I’ll assume command on one condition.”

“That condition is that everyone accepts it voluntarily. If anyone here doesn't want a Black Man to be in charge they can leave, now. Send me a letter from San Francisco telling me about the trip”

The gentle threat wasn’t lost on the men. They were in Dire Straits, possibly with Dire Wolfs nearby. They needed the most qualified person in charge, regardless of skin color. The Calvary NCO’s seemed to think that that man was the Black Texan.

“No rush...take all the time you need. You've got ten minutes. No, make that an hour to make up your mind. Talk among yourselves,hold an election for all I care. I’ll tell you one thing up front though. I’ve had about enough of being called “nigger”. I won’t tolerate it. I’m warning you now. Don’t do it. It’s liable to make me angry. You won’t like me when I get angry.”

The big Texan then made a show of checking his watch.

“You’ve all got an hour to make up your minds. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Can we get some coffee made?"

"First Sergeant Halsey a moment of your time?" the Texan asked quietly so that not everyone could hear. "I'm concerned about the Trolls. Have you any suggestions?"

The two men discussed the matter. What were they to do with the Sepoys?