The War of Toca Island: The Invasion.

Chapter 2

Geoffrey woke up as the sun streamed through his window. He yawned and looked over at Bronwyn. She was still sleeping peacefully, so Geoffrey decided not to wake her.
He quietly slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and then went down to the kitchen. He had started to make breakfast when he noticed movement in the doorway.
“Need any help Geoff?” asked a voice.
Geoffrey sighed. “No Shamus”. About three years ago, Geoffrey noticed a boy being attacked by a wild coyote. Geoffrey had shot and killed it, but sometimes wished he hadn’t. Shamus, although very helpful, is also a bit of a handful. He’s just too loyal, if there is such a thing.
“Are you sure?” he asked, bounding up and down on the spot he was so keen. Geoffrey sighed again and said “alright. Start making the coffee”.
Shamus had a giant grin on his face as he started his given task. Jeez, thought Geoffrey, I’ve never seen anyone get so excited about making coffee.
As he was sitting down, Geoffrey felt two arms wrap around him and a pair of lips on his cheek. “Morning,” said Bronwyn, taking her place next to him. He and Bronwyn had met about 4 years ago, and since then had hardly been apart. What could he say, Geoffrey loved her. Her long brown hair, her beautiful green eyes, her silky smooth skin, everything about her was beautiful.
“Morning,” Geoffrey said as he brushed some hair out of her eyes and kissed her back. Shamus looked uneasy but said nothing as he brought the coffee over. Life is perfect, thought Geoffrey.

* * *

Minna woke up in her small home on the north side of town. She lay there awake, pondering whether to get up at all. With no-one to share it with, it seemed pointless. Regardless, she got up.
After a light breakfast, she left to go for a short walk around the town. There wasn’t much else to do. Toca Island was just a tiny island in the middle of The Pacific. Toca Island was split into two nations: Toloran and Calarmity (the first two letters of each forming the name of the island).
The two nations were separated by a large desert to the south of Toloran and the west of Calarmity. The whole island was a desert, but that part of the desert was so inhospitable that it was not part of either nation, rather a border between the two nations.
Lately though, things were changing. The new leader of Calarmity had been claiming parts of the desert. Minna knew things were getting tense between the people of Toloran and the leader of Calarmity, but the king of Toloran refused to act. In his old age, he’d developed Alzheimer’s disease, making him think that not only his wife and kids were still alive, but that the current leader of Calarmity is the one they had 50 years ago, a time where the two nations were at peace.
However, Minna just shrugged it off. She didn’t believe anything would happen, since Toloran’s population was almost twice Calarmity’s. Even with the population of the desert, they’d still only have about two thirds at most.
Minna continued on her walk. She wouldn’t let something like that bother her. Why should it? Surely Calarmity would have realized this and simply back down.
Minna put it out of her mind. Today was too nice a day to worry about such things.
She continued wandering aimlessly through the town until she realized she was outside Geoffrey’s house. There she stood for a while. She and Geoffrey had been friends since they were kids, but something had changed in that time. She had developed feelings for him, but she didn’t know how to tell him. Then he met Bronwyn, and that was it. She missed her chance.
Despite this, Minna didn’t despise Bronwyn. She was a nice enough person, but Minna just wished she could have another chance.
She turned to leave. She didn’t want to think about them.

* * *

“Just...one...more...” strained Francis. He pushed hard and, eventually, he did it. “That’s a hundred,” he called to Nathan.
“You really think I can believe you done a hundred sit-ups?” asked Nathan.
“Yes,” replied Francis.
“When yesterday you struggled with 20?” said Nathan.
“Yes,” Francis insisted.
Nathan sighed and shook his head. “No frickin’ way,” he said aloud.
“What? You don’t believe me?” asked Francis.
“Not really,” said Nathan. “Seriously man, you think you can beat Hank Valentine in the Toca Island Iron Man, but you are clearly not committed.”
“What do you mean, not committed?” Francis demanded, “I ran from here to the capital and back.”
“With breaks in between,” added Nathan “and what’ this I hear about a hotdog eating contest?”
“So? I was hungry,” said Francis.
Nathan sighed again. This is just plain pointless, he thought to himself, he’s just not getting it. Three months ago Francis lost the annual Toca Island Iron Man to Hank Valentine, famed for being one of the strongest men on the planet. Francis had begged Nathan to help him train for next year’s event, and eventually Nathan agreed. Since then, Francis seemed to be getting less and less committed to the cause. Every day, Nathan considered just leaving him to do his own thing, but he didn’t want to give up on a friend.
Francis had obviously picked up on Nathan’s annoyance, because his next words were “okay, if you want, I’ll go run the desert circuit.”
Nathan looked up at him, and said “Yeah, sure you will.”
“I will, I swear,” said Francis, as he ran out the door.
Nathan blinked twice in shock, and then smiled to himself. He’s not really gonna run that, he thought, he’ll probably hang out at his brother’s house for twenty minutes and come back. Nathan decided he’d wait there about ten minutes before going to Geoffrey’s to bust him. Until then, he decided to make up some coffee.

* * *

Bronwyn had to get out for the morning. It was way to beautiful outside to stay in the house. She opened the door and than, across the road, was Minna heading the other direction. Poor Minna, Bronwyn thought to herself, she needs to find someone.
Minna had been a friend of Geoffrey’s for years when she’d met him, but when Bronwyn had first met her she thought she saw something die inside Minna. Bronwyn told herself to ignore it, but lately it became more and more obvious. Minna was clearly in love with Geoffrey. And why wouldn’t you be? He was one of the most divine men she’d ever met.
Bronwyn continued heading towards the outskirts of town. She had decided to go to her quiet place, a cliff south-east of town. It was so peaceful, Bronwyn often found herself going to sleep there. The ocean crashing against the rocks, the wind in her hair, and soft grass, Bronwyn was glad she’d never told anyone where it was.
Off in the distance she could see Geoffrey’s brother Francis running off towards the desert circuit. No doubt trying to pretend to train to stop Nathan complaining, Bronwyn thought, no way he’d actually be doing that run.
Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at her quiet spot. She sat down next to her favourite rock, and felt herself slipping towards sleep almost immediately.

*

Bronwyn awoke as someone shook her. Wha...what’s happening, her sleepy mind thought, is it an earthquake? Quickly, she realized Francis was shaking her. His panicked expression alarmed her, and then she noticed someone lying on the ground next to him. They were face down, so she couldn’t see if they were man or woman, or even if they were still alive.
“Thank God you’re awake,” he said breathlessly.
“What’s happening? Is everything okay? Who is that?” Bronwyn asked.
“Well, you see...” he started.

* * *

Whew, thought Francis, this was a mistake. The desert heat had already hit boiling at ten in the morning, it was bound to get hotter, and Francis was in the middle of it. Maybe his original plan to go to Geoffrey’s wasn’t such a bad idea, but he had to prove a point to Nathan. He was starting to think Nathan was going to give up on him. Francis couldn’t blame him; he had been pretty uncommitted from the start.
Francis tried not to focus on that and kept running. Sweat was pouring down from his brow; he knew he needed to stop. Luckily, a river ran parallel to the track.
Francis pulled off the path and sat down next to the river. He splashed some water on his face and lay down on the bank. He had to go back, he knew he did. The problem was, the heat was getting the better of him. He splashed some more water on his face and looked around. Beside the river and the path, there was nothing but sand and rocks for miles around.
Then he saw it. One of the rocks over the other side of the river was moving. No way, thought Francis, that’s just the sun. Francis watched as the rock moved closer, and closer. Francis thought he could even make out a face. Then it struck him: that was a face. It wasn’t a rock, it was a person.
Francis swam across the river as quickly as he could, and raced to the person. They were coughing and spluttering, and clearly exhausted and burnt all over. They must have been out here for days, thought Francis.
They collapsed as Francis reached them. He flipped them over and had a look. Their beard was a clear sign they were a man, appeared to be in their early thirties, and not that big (in both height and weight). Francis gathered him up and carried them to the river. He poured some of the cold water onto his face. The man started coughing, but didn’t wake up. Francis decided that he’d have to head back. He clearly needed some kind of medical treatment.

*

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Bronwyn, “You were actually trying to run the desert circuit?”
“Does that really matter right now? You’ve gotta help me get this guy back to town,” said Francis.
The man, still unconscious, was much easier to carry with two people. He wasn’t much of a problem before, but the distance made it difficult. He was still breathing, so there’s a good sign. Not far now, thought Francis, hang in there buddy.

* * *

“Shamus, could you clean the toilet please?” called Geoffrey.
“Yes sir,” replied Shamus immediately, and with that he ascended the stairs. Shamus didn’t want to do this (really, who would?) but he felt obliged to seeing as Geoffrey had once saved his life.
Three years ago, Shamus was alone in the woods with food for his village, when a large coyote attacked him. The coyote was large, larger than any coyote Shamus had ever seen. He thought he was a goner, until he heard the gunshot. The coyote fell to the ground, and Shamus got up. Geoffrey was standing there, shotgun in hand. He had asked Shamus to come home with him so he could treat the wounds, but Shamus just got too attached to this place. Much better than where he was before.
Shamus thought back to his early life. He’d been in an orphanage since he was two, so he didn’t really know his parents. He was adopted by several families over the next eight years, mostly working as a slave, fed as little as possible, bathed very infrequently, and slept on hard floors. Then, four years ago, the mayor of the town bought him from his current family. He thought his quality of life would improve, which it did, but not by enough. He got more food, washed more frequently, and even had a proper bed. But now he had longer hours, more duties, and harder work. That included going to the woods and bringing back enough food for the whole village.
Shamus smiled to himself. That day in the woods was a Godsend, he thought as he scrubbed the toilet. Here, he still had a lot of duties, but at least he got three full meals a day, properly cleaned and a decent place to sleep.
Fifteen minutes of scrubbing later, he heard someone knocking at the door. Shamus came downstairs to see Nathan. He looked slightly concerned, as if something unexpected had happened.
“Neither of you have seen Francis?” asked Nathan with a look of shock.
“No, sorry,” said Geoffrey.
“And you’re being serious?” asked Nathan, still in shock.
“Like I said, he’s not here,” replied Geoffrey.
“Maybe he’s actually out there training,” suggested Shamus.
Nathan and Geoffrey looked at each other, and then burst into laughter. “Good one Shamus,” said Geoffrey, “Francis, running the entire desert circuit, in this heat.” He paused, then said “but seriously, where the hell could he be?”
“Maybe he decided to throw me off his tail by hiding at Minna’s,” suggested Nathan, “I’ll try there.”
It was a quiet hour before Nathan returned, this time with Minna right behind him. “Okay,” he said, “I’m thinking maybe Shamus was actually right about him actually training.”
“Which means he probably dead from dehydration somewhere out there,” said Minna. Everyone turned and stared at her before she said “just being realistic here.”
“A little optimism would be nice. That is my brother you’re talking about,” said Geoffrey. Minna’s face seemed to fall a little.
“Minna’s probably right though,” said Nathan grimly, “or if not, we have to act now.”
Shamus didn’t normally believe in freaky coincidences, but this was definitely a freaky coincidence. Right at that moment, Francis came right through that door with Bronwyn, and another man Shamus didn’t recognize. He was so limp in their arms that he might as well have been dead.
“Francis! What the hell happened? And who the hell is that?”
“Long story and don’t know,” he said as he dumped the man on the couch.
The group gathered around the stranger lying on the couch. “Oh my God, he’s bleeding,” said Minna, pointing to his shoulder.
Geoffrey put his hand to the wound. “No he’s not. It’s dry,” he remarked, “Shamus, get some water and bandages.”
Shamus left the room. What the hell happened to that guy, he thought, he looks like he’s been shot, and he’s wandering around the desert? Is he mad?
He returned shortly with a bucket and some cloth. Bronwyn tore some of the cloth and wet it in the bucket before placing it on his head. “I think he’ll be fine,” she said, “but he’s probably insane. We might wanna get rid of him when we can.”
There nods and murmurs of agreement from around the room, and slowly the group dispersed. It was soon it down to the three residents of the house and the stranger.

* * *

Eugene sat at his desk, staring angrily at his three associates, and the lead Coyoteman. “You three,” he said, turning to Jaime, Craig and Ashley, “why would you leave stuff like that just lying around?”
“Sir, if I may,” said Ashley, “Jaime is the one who left the plans out.”
“SILENCE YOU!” screamed Eugene, and he turned to the head Coyoteman, “and you. Weren’t you taught how to smell the difference between human and coyote blood?”
“I was,” said the Coyoteman, “but sir...”
“THEN HOW DID HE TRICK YOU?!” screamed Eugene.
“Because Coyotemen blood has the combined smell of men and coyotes,” replied the Coyoteman, “I assumed some of his blood had hit his armour.”
Eugene grinded his teeth together, then screamed as he pulled out his revolver. “THIS IS THE PRICE OF FAILURE” he screamed as he fired it. The head Coyoteman hit the floor with a soft thump.

Geoffrey and Bob found the king’s place easily enough. It was nearly impossible to miss, with its enormous size and royal feel about it, not to mention countless guards.
Geoffrey and Bob ascended the many stairs leading into the palace. The inside was extraordinary. All around the room was some of the most expensive pieces of furniture Geoffrey had ever seen, some of which was made of pure gold. The walls stretched high above the floor to a domed ceiling, so Geoffrey and Bob’s footsteps echoed as they walked through the long corridor.
“I wonder what part the king is in,” said Geoffrey, still staring in amazement around the passage.
“Do you think the guards might tell us?” asked Bob.
“I wouldn’t think so,” Geoffrey said, “I mean, would you let two strangers just walk up to the king unannounced? We’d probably have to make an appointment.”
“But this is something that threatens national security,” said Bob, “they’d have to let us see him.”
Geoffrey nodded, but didn’t say anything. What could he say? He didn’t know what the king would be like. And with his Alzheimer’s, how long would he remember this meeting for?
Along the walls of the corridor were pictures the royals, past and present, long elegant tapestries depicting famous moments in Toloran history, and doorways leading to rooms crowded with people, guards and commoners alike.
Soon, the two had reached the end of the corridor, where a large mahogany door stood. A sign on it read “WARNING: KEEP OUT. Staff access only”. Geoffrey looked at Bob and said “you think he’s through here?”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE,” shouted a voice from behind them. The two turned to see a guard charging towards them, though as he got closer they noticed a significant different in his clothes to other guards. He must be a high ranking officer, thought Geoffrey. “Didn’t you read the sign? Staff only,” said the guard.
“Sorry sir,” Geoffrey said, “but my friend here brings news of an invasion. We must be allowed to see the king.”
“What invasion? We have heard of no such thing,” the guard said, “now move away from the door or face arrest.”
“I have proof,” said Bob, and he reached into his pockets and pulled out the plans “You see? Calarmity is planning an invasion,” said Bob.
The guard examined the plans carefully, before replying with “these plans are fake.”
Geoffrey stepped back in shock. “What?” he asked.
“These are fake plans. There is no invasion, it’s all part of a plan to assassinate the king,” said the guard.
“Why would we want to assassinate the king?” asked Geoffrey.
“I don’t know, but I think I know an assassination when I see one. I’ll have you know I stopped the king’s son killing him,” said the guard, “now leave before I arrest you both for treason.”
“Now wait a minute,” said Bob, clearly getting angry, ”I traveled across the desert, got shot in the shoulder, risking life and limb to get here, AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!” Bob then reacted by bursting through the giant door.
“BOB! Wait,” Geoffrey called after him, as the guard rushed past him. Geoffrey followed close behind. He knew he’d get in trouble too, but he wasn’t about to let Bob do something stupid like this.
There were loads more guards behind the door, so it wasn’t long before Bob was tackled to the ground. The head guard then grabbed Geoffrey as well. “To the jail with them,” said the head guard.
Geoffrey was roughly handed to one of the other guards and dragged away, trying to think what kind of punishment awaited them.

*

Two hours passed before the head guard entered. “I’ve spoken to the king about what you two tried to do,” he said, “and he said he was very curious as to why someone would try and fake something like this.”
“THEY ARE NOT FAKE,” yelled Bob, thrusting his fists through the bars trying to reach the guard, “THERE IS A REAL THREAT.”
“Calm down,” said the guard, “he said he would like to see you about this. If you can convince him, then I’ll believe you.”
Bob continued to breathe heavily, but slowly he began to settle down as the guard opened the door. Geoffrey saw a look in Bob’s eyes that said ‘I still want to kill that guard’, so he figured that he might have to be ready to grab him before he went back in for a lot longer.
Geoffrey had learnt somewhere that the jail was positioned at the back of the palace, and deep underground. There were several misleading doors within the jail, for prisoners escaping at night. Under the cover of darkness, they’d attempt to escape out one of the doors, only to find that it had no floor beyond it, and they’d fall down a cliff to the jagged rocks below. Either that, or straight into a guard’s quarters, where they were immediately arrested again.
The guards were trained to know the way out, and were required to cover the prisoner’s eyes so they couldn’t find their way out if they did escape. Geoffrey never wanted to be able to confirm that this was actually true, but he now could. He didn’t have any idea how far down they had been taken.
As it turned out, they’d been taken quite deep. Five minutes of steep staircases later and Geoffrey was exhausted. “Get up you wimp,” ordered the guard, “There’s not that much further to go.”
“For you maybe,” complained Geoffrey, “you probably do this everyday.”
“No, I meant as in the king’s throne room is through here,” said the guard in a displeased kind of tone.
Geoffrey stood up, and turned to Bob. “Have you still got the plans?”
“The king already has them,” said the guard, “he and one of his generals are discussing whether to treat them as a threat or not. He only wants to talk to you because you brought them here.”
Bob had his fists balled up, but said nothing. He really doesn’t like this guy, he thought to himself. How long will it be until he just snaps and punches him out?
The guard stepped in front of the two of them, then pushed open a large door. Inside was a beautifully decorated room, with thick carpet leading up to the far end of the room where the king sat on his throne.
The king looked up at the new arrivals to the room. Time had not been kind to him. His face was lined with so many wrinkles that a prune would look smooth, and the bags under his eyes implied he did not sleep as much as he should. He looked so fragile that a small gust of wind could knock him down. The crown looked like it would crush his head into his neck.
He tried to lift a frail hand, but to little effect. “Who have you brought to me, Sir Lance?” he said in a very weak sounding voice.
“Sir, I have brought you the two who claim that Toloran is under the threat of an enemy invasion, like you asked”
“What? I never asked for such a thing,” said the king.
Bob looked at Geoffrey with extreme concern. We’re screwed, Geoffrey thought.
Sir Lance turned back to them and said “don’t worry. If you do convince him we’ll keep it a secret from him so he doesn’t cancel it.”
Bob sighed with relief as he stepped forward. “Your Grace, I come from Calarmity to warn of an invasion. They plan to take over your fair nation for themselves.”
The king looked at him confused. “No they aren’t,” he replied, “we have been at peace with them for years.”
“Not anymore,” Bob said as Sir Lance handed him the plans. He approached the throne and laid them in front of him. “See these? I stole these from the king of Calarmity and his associates.”
“Bah,” said the king, “these are fake plans. You probably made them yourself to try and start a war between us for your own benefit.”
“The benefit I’ll get from this is that of saving you and your citizens from certain death,” Bob replied. Geoffrey could tell Bob would lose his temper soon. Bob’s hands were clenching into fists repeatedly. Keep your cool Bob, Geoffrey thought. If you lose it here we’ll have no hope.
“You’re clearly injured, and if we go to war your neighbours will be killed and you’ll buy up on their property. Is that it?” the king asked.
“No, this is a serious threat. You have to do something,” Bob pleaded.
“I will not be responsible for the loss of my people if I can avoid it,” said the king. Geoffrey cringed at the irony of what he just said.
“I’ve traveled across the desert with practically nothing, been shot, chased by Coyotemen...”
“Coyotemen?” the king questioned, though he was ignored by Bob.
“...and all but died for your country. You have to do something.”
“Okay. I’ll do something,” the king said. Quizzical looks came from everyone in the room. “To death with them,” the king ordered.
Alarm bells rang out in Geoffrey’s head as Sir Lance stepped forward and stated “sir, in all fairness, they haven’t done anything deserving of the death penalty. In fact, this guy” indicating to Geoffrey “hasn’t done anything since he got in here.”
“That’s because I merely brought him to the capital. My brother found him almost dead in the desert and brought him home to rest.”
“So you don’t know this man,” said the king, “yet you willingly bring him to me, not knowing if he is telling the truth.”
“Why else would he be in the middle of the desert?” asked Geoffrey.
“He is one of the crazies who live in the desert. If you two turn your backs he’ll attempt to kill me, I’m sure of it,” the king said, eyeing Bob suspiciously.
“I’m not crazy. I’m trying to warn you, you old bat,” Bob said, outraged.
“Excuse me,” the king said. Uh oh, thought Geoffrey. This won’t end well.
“You are so old that you have delusions that everything in the country is perfect. Well, it’s not. There is a war coming and it will bring about the death of your people UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING,” yelled Bob.
Before anyone could react, Bob ran up to the king and began shaking him, yelling at him to do something. Sir Lance quickly grabbed him and pushed him to the floor. The king was taken back by what had just happened, but managed to stand up. “TO DEATH WITH HIM,” he ordered. Sir Lance picked Bob up by the back of his shirt and started dragging him out the door. Geoffrey followed closely and closed the door behind them.
“You’re not actually going to kill him right now, are you?” asked Geoffrey, concerned for the man who tried to save them.
“Not yet. The king has to sign that he be murdered before he can be killed, so you have a good chance of survival,” said Sir Lance.
“Then can I try and convince him again?” asked Bob.
“I cannot allow that,” said Sir Lance.
Geoffrey gave him a confused look. “Why not?” asked Geoffrey.
“I said that if you could convince the king I’d help. You couldn’t do it, so I will not help,” replied Sir Lance.
“But Lance...” Geoffrey started.
“That’s SIR Lance to you,” snapped Sir Lance, “and sorry, but I have to go through the proper procedures until further notice.”
Geoffrey backed down from the argument. There was no convincing this guy, he thought. Bob didn’t see it that way though.
“C’mon, I try save your country and you try to kill me? That hardly seems fair,” he snapped, struggling to get free.
“It’s only the king who’s trying to kill you,” said Sir Lance calmly, “and he’s not likely to have you executed once his memory resets. Trust me.”
“How would you know?” Bob demanded, still struggling, “you’ll probably try and convince him to kill me once you bring him the papers.”
“I promise I will not try and convince him to do that,” said Sir Lance, “but I will be telling him what happened and see if he still wants you dead or not.”
They then arrived back at the jail, and Bob was put back in the cell. Geoffrey, on the other hand, hadn’t committed a crime and was therefore kept outside the cell. However, to prevent him doing anything, he was handcuffed to the cell door.
Sir Lance sifted through some files until he found the papers he wanted, then turned to them and said “okay, I’ll take these to the king. If either of you try anything while I’m gone then don’t expect any mercy from me.” He then picked up his keys and left the two alone.

*

Ten minutes later Sir Lance returned to the jail, a slight look of alarm on his face. Before either of them could ask about it, he pulled out his keys and said “you’re both free to go.”
Geoffrey was stunned for a moment, then started “what hap...”
“It doesn’t matter. You guys can go,” he said as he uncuffed Geoffrey and open the cell door. He pushed to two out of the jail and quickly shut the door behind them.
The two looked at each other confused, then Geoffrey said “well, that was weird, but at least you don’t get killed.”
“Yeah, but this place is still doomed,” said Bob gloomily.
Geoffrey nodded in agreement. What was there left to do? The king refused to help, and they would be able to raise an army by themselves to fend them off. Everything seemed too grim to think about now that death was imminent.
The two left the castle while Geoffrey tried to think of how he’d break the news to Bronwyn. He didn’t know how she’d react to this. In all the time he’d known her, never had her life been in danger in this way.
They headed back toward the hotel, to a place they’d agreed to meet before parting ways. He spied them sitting at an outside table. Bronwyn was facing away from them, so he decided to sneak up on her...when he got close, she said...

*

“Yes, yes, I know that part,” Bronwyn interrupted. She stared up at him with concern and said “so, Toloran is done for?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Geoffrey, “I just don’t know what to do.”
“We’ll defend this place ourselves,” said Shamus.
“Yeah, ‘coz that’ll work,” said Geoffrey, in a defeated tone, “We have us four, plus Francis, Minna and Nathan back home. They’re bound to have more than seven people invading us.”
There was a long silence, then Bronwyn asked “what are we gonna do then?”
Geoffrey looked at her for a moment, and then said “we’ll go home tomorrow. Might as well die with our friends back home than here.”
Shamus gave Geoffrey a shocked look, and grabbing Geoffrey’s shoulders said “c’mon man. If there is an invasion then we might as well die trying to fend them off.”
“It won’t make a difference what we do. Unless the king decides to fight them off, this nation is done for. We alone can’t beat them.”
Shamus let out a frustrated scream, then stormed off. “SHAMUS, wait,” called Bronwyn, and she took off after him.
Geoffrey turned to Bob and said “I’m gonna start packing. You might as well do the same.”

*

That night at dinner, Shamus was still missing. Bronwyn kept saying he’d come back, but Geoffrey had his doubts. Shamus had never acted out like that before. Where had he gone?
“He’ll be back before morning,” Bronwyn said, “he just needs some time to cool off is all.”
“I don’t know,” said Geoffrey, “he seemed pretty insistent that we protect that nation. I reckon that’s what he’ll try to do.”
“He’s 17 and has hardly been in a fight in his life,” said Bronwyn, “how does he expect to put up a fight against an entire army?”
Geoffrey was about to respond when they climbed to the top of the flight of stairs to see Shamus outside their room. He looked up and ran up to them, obviously excited about something.
“Guys, guys, you’ll never believe who I just met,” he said, almost bouncing off the walls in excitement.
“You didn’t convince the king to go to war did you?” Geoffrey asked, thinking that might be the cause of this behaviour.
“No, better,” he said, “come on. I’ll show you,” and he started running out of the hotel, leaving Geoffrey, Bronwyn and Bob to follow.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Geoffrey was shocked to find that Travis was missing. He had crashed there for the night, Reg had gone to Francis and Nathan’s, and the two girls stayed at Minna’s. He saw Shamus emerge from the other room and asked if he knew anything about this.
“I’d assume he’s trying to plan something for the war,” he replied, “I don’t know where he’s gone.”
“You’re damn right I’ve been planning for the war,” said a voice. The two of them turned to the door to see Travis standing there. “I’ve just been going around nearby towns advertising to join up.”
“That’s great,” said Shamus, “how many did you get?”
“I don’t know yet,” said Travis, “I merely dropped a bunch of flyers telling people about it. We’ll find out this afternoon when they come over.”
“Come...over?” questioned Geoffrey, “I haven’t heard anything about this. Where are they coming over to?”
“Here,” said Travis, “we have to meet with them somewhere before sending them off to die.”
“Didn’t you say we were going to win?” asked Geoffrey.
“There’s gonna be casualties. God, do you not know anything about war?” Travis said.
Geoffrey didn’t say anything. What could he say? This guy was obsessed with the concept that he was about to kill not only himself, but a sizeable group of other people, most of whom he doesn’t even know.
Travis picked up Bob’s plans off the table and went to the kitchen. Geoffrey went followed him in, but as he entered Travis stopped him.
“Hold it there,” he said, “I need peace and quiet for the next couple of hours while I plan.”
“I’m just getting a glass of water,” said Geoffrey, “and besides, it’s my kitchen, in my house.”
“Not anymore, it’s my planning room, and you have no permission to enter,” said Travis.
Geoffrey stared at him before he was pushed out of the room. This guy was really getting on his nerves now. Geoffrey seriously considered whether it would be a smart idea at this point to kick him out until the war was over. He decided against it, the chance of success was already extremely limited. It was probably better not to screw it up completely.
He started to wonder what time the new arrivals would get there. How many would there be? Would there be enough? Geoffrey was very anxious about what would happen when he heard a knock on the door. Were they getting here already?
Travis must have thought so, because he shot out of the kitchen to grab the door. He opened it eagerly, but his face fell when he found Francis standing there. He let him in nicely, but glared at him as he backed into the kitchen.
“What’s his problem?” Francis questioned, obviously not expecting the reaction he got.
“I think he was expecting you to be a new recruit,” said Geoffrey, “also, my kitchen is apparently no longer a kitchen. Starting from about an hour ago it’s a planning room that the owner of the house can’t enter.”
Francis stared for a moment, but then simply stated “well, last night this guy seemed crazy, but now I haven’t a doubt in my mind about it.”
Geoffrey nodded in agreement as there was another knock at the door. Again, Travis shot out of the kitchen to open the door. This time, he seemed a little more pleased since he, along with the others present, did not recognize the man standing there.
“Hello,” the man said nervously, “I’m looking for Geoffrey Baker?”
“Yep, that’s me,” said Geoffrey, not sure how this guy knew who he was.
“I’m here to help with the defense m-mission,” he said.
Geoffrey looked at Travis. “You told them to ask for me?” he asked accusingly.
Travis looked at him smugly and said “yep, so?”
“Well, why do you keep sprinting to open the door yourself?” Geoffrey asked.
“I have a delivery coming in. I told them to come here too,” he said.
“Sorry, I haven’t come in the middle of something have I?” the man asked, “Because I can come back later.”
“No, come in,” said Travis, “Geoffrey, go in the living room and interview him please.”
“You’re not gonna make me interview all of them are you?” Geoffrey questioned.
“Could you? I do have to finish our plans,” Travis replied, then retreated to the kitchen.
Geoffrey stared after him, grinding his teeth. He looked back at the new arrival. “Well, you might as well come in, get this over with.”
The man hesitated for a moment, then entered the house and followed him into the living room. Geoffrey sat him down on the couch, while he took a seat on a chair on the other side of the table. Francis sat in the one next to him.
Geoffrey looked at this man for a while. What was he meant to ask this man? If he’d been told he was going to do this he might have more of an idea of what to do.
Luckily, Francis broke the silence. “So, let’s start with your name,” he said.
The man looked up and said “Eric Stanley Landry.”
“And why do you want to help us?” asked Geoffrey. Might as well try and make an effort, if not a good one.
“Well, about ten months ago, my village was ravaged by Calarmity. My brother and I tried to escape, but they were all over the place. We hid from them in a nearby warehouse. I thought we were goners.”
Geoffrey and Francis were captivated by the story. “How did you escape?” asked Francis.
Eric wiped away a tear before he continued. “My brother saved me. As they entered the warehouse, he hid me in a box. When I got out, I found that a hole had been blown in the wall and my brother was gone. He tried to distract them until his last breath. he led them away so I could run.”
Geoffrey and Francis looked at each other. Geoffrey then asked “so, you want in to avenge your brother? You’re hired.”
“What? That’s all I had to do? Tell why I want in?” Eric asked.
“I’m not sure if you could tell from what I said to Travis back there, but I didn’t know I’d be doing this until just now. And since we are running low on members, you could have made up any old shit and you’d be hired.”
“Should I do that for you then?” asked a loud voice from the corridor.
The three men looked up to see an extremely buff looking man standing in the doorway with a woman hanging off his arm. Geoffrey looked over to Francis, who was looking star struck. Did he know this guy? He waved his hand in front of Francis’s face, but got no response. He started clicking his fingers in his eyes, but instead of the expected flinching, Francis simply pushed Geoffrey’s hand down.
“Holy shit,” said Francis, “it’s Hank Valentine.”
Geoffrey gave a confused looked. “What?” he asked.
Francis spun around and gave a surprised look. “HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO HANK VALENTINE IS?” he yelled, then in a much calmer voice continued with “that’s Hank Valentine, one of the strongest men on the planet, if not THE strongest.”
Hank had been ignoring this little conversation, and took a seat on the couch next to Eric. “Okay, my reason for joining. I was killing a sizeable hoard of zombies with my rocket-propelled chainsaw when a surfing unicorn handed me a flyer telling me about a pending invasion, and I decided that I’m totally in. I just have to finish making my life-sized Weird Al Yankovic statue out of Cheeto’s.”
Everyone stared at him for a moment, but then Francis asked “sorry, why was your chainsaw rocket-propelled?”
“So many questions about that story, and you chose that one,” Geoffrey commented, shaking his head.
“What does it matter, I’m hired anyway,” Hank said.
“We didn’t say you were hired yet,” said Geoffrey, then remembering what Francis said he added “of course you are, but we just hadn’t said it yet.” He followed that last bit with a nervous laugh.
Hank let out a loud, hearty laugh at this. “You honestly think I’m going to beat you senseless for something like that?” he asked. Geoffrey nodded, and Hank let out another laugh. “I wouldn’t waste my energy on you. And even if you did refuse to let me join, do you really think you could stop me showing up the battlefield?”
“Okay, Eric and Hank, you’re both in. That brings us to thirteen,” Geoffrey said.
“Hey, what about me?” said the woman, speaking for the first time. She approached the brothers and said “Barbara Valentine, Hank’s wife.”
Geoffrey could have sworn that Francis’s mouth hit the floor at that moment. He recovered enough to utter the sentence “you...you’re one of the strongest women on the planet. You’re hired.”
“Hey, I had to share my nonsensical story with you, and all she has to do is tell you her name?” Hank complained.
“Hey, I had to do both,” said Eric.
“Don’t try and one up me buddy,” said Hank, “we may be on the same side, but that won’t stop me from making a you-shaped hole in that wall.”
“Okay, we’re on fourteen now. Francis, go check if there’s anyone outside,” said Geoffrey as the three new arrivals continued their squabbling. Bronwyn entered as Francis left, and immediately noticed to new arrivals. She crossed the room to Geoffrey to talk to him.
“Geoffrey,” she whispered to him, “Who the hell are they?”
“Don’t know,” he replied honestly, “Travis dropped a bunch of flyers in order to recruit some new members, and I somehow ended up as the interviewer.”
Francis returned then, and said “Geoffrey, we have another person for you to interview.”
Geoffrey sighed to himself. This was going to take a while, he thought to himself. “Alright, send him in,” he said.
“Hey,” said a girl’s voice, “I most certainly am not a ‘him’.”
“Oh, whatever,” Geoffrey said. He’d almost lost all the very limited passion he had for this job.
“You really don’t wanna piss me off there boy,” the girl said as she entered the room, “I know eleven different ways to kill you right here right now. Do you want that?”
“Pfft, I doubt you’re that good,” challenged Francis. As he finished those words, the girl grabbed a coaster off the table, and threw it like a Frisbee across the room. It hit a lamp at the other side of the room, and to everyone’s surprise, went through it and stuck in the wall.
Bronwyn picked up the lamp, or at least the top half, and remarked “that’s...incredible. The part where it’s cut is so smooth.”
“I’m a bit more impressed that she did that with a cheap, plastic coaster,” said Geoffrey. He turned to the girl and said “okay, why don’t start with your name?”
The girl took a seat on the arm of the couch and said “my name is Angela Annabelle Keller, and I’m here because I want to kill those bastards from Calarmity.”
“Sorry, but who gives their child two names starting with AN?” asked Hank. Angela gave him a shooting daggers type look, and he said “sorry. Continue.”
Angela nodded towards him, still glaring at him, and said “about a year ago, I lived in a desert village. Life was good. I lived with my boyfriend Vivian...”
“Isn’t that a girl’s name?” interrupted Hank. Angela smacked him over the back of the head for that one, and to everyone’s surprise, he yelped in pain. She then continued her story.
“Anyway, the people of the village thought the good times would never end...” she said before she was interrupted again.
“Then they did, that’s why you’re here. Am I right or am I right?” said Hank.
“Did I kill your last brain cells when I hit you? Jeez,” said Angela.
“Your story is boring everyone. My story was way more awesome because it had vampires,” said Hank.
“I thought it was zombies,” said a confused Francis.
“Close enough. Can somebody call me when the bore fest is over,” said Hank, leaving the room.
Angela glared after him, and then continued on the last part of her story. “Anyway, one day our village was invaded by Calarmity’s forces. They killed men where they stood, and...” Angela stopped here. She had kept a tough face before, but now she looked close to tears. Barbara put a gentle arm around her.
“We don’t need to hear the whole thing,” Geoffrey said, standing up and walking over to her. “You’re hired,” he told.
She looked up at him, and seemed to mouth ‘thank you’ between sobs.
“Is she done yet?” called Hank from the other room.
Geoffrey leaned over to Barbara and asked “is he always like this?”
“Believe it or not, he was actually more disrespectful at his uncle’s funeral,” she replied, “I think he’s going fairly easy on Angela.”
Geoffrey blinked in shock, but then heard from the hallway “Finally, they’re here.” The group moved into the hallway to see Travis unpacking a large box of guns.
“WOAH!” yelled Shamus, “Where’d these come from?”
“Yeah, me and the others know a guy,” replied Travis, pulling out a large machine gun.
“Those aren’t loaded are they?” Hank asked when the barrel started to point towards him.
“Of course not,” said Travis, “now, how’s the interviewing going? Have we got an army of hundreds yet?”
“Err...no we don’t. We have fifteen,” replied Geoffrey.
“Good enough. We’ll meet back here tonight to discuss tactics,” said Travis, and he immediately disappeared back into the kitchen.
The new recruits started inspecting the guns while Geoffrey stood there dumbstruck. He really questioned why he was putting up with this guy, what with the crazy plans and the taking over of his kitchen and now the unexpected gun delivery. Despite this, Geoffrey decided that if the plan worked he would never question Travis again.

*

Geoffrey’s living room was crowded that night. There had never been fifteen people crammed into it before, much less all crammed around his coffee table. If he was standing any closer to Shamus they’d be sharing an arm.
Travis spoke up to tell the group the plan of attack. “Okay, what Calarmity were planning to do was launch an attack from the north, east, west and south. However, the only one that was meant to be of any threat was the west attack. The others were made to be merely distractions. I doubt the plans have changed to dramatically, since Bob seems to think that Eugene rushes into things.”
“So he’d be a bad husband then,” said Hank. Nobody laughed at this, and he was clearly disappointed.
“Anyway, I say that we split into four groups and take out their four groups from the land.”
The whole group stared at him before Geoffrey spoke up. “You mean to tell me that you spent the whole day planning that? I kind of knew we would be doing that already.”
“Oh, so you have a better plan,” said Travis, “okay. Let’s hear it.”
Geoffrey backed down. He didn’t have anything better, and doubted he could come up with something better by tomorrow.
Bronwyn spoke up next. “I think we should split the couples so that they’re not in the same groups,” she said. Hank and Barbara gasped at this, but Bronwyn continued. “We will be defending the country, and we don’t want to be distracted by our loved ones if they’re injured, especially during a firefight.”
The whole group stared at her, and then Geoffrey stepped forward. “I agree with her. I don’t want to be worrying about her injuries while I’m fighting off the enemy, and she doesn’t want that either. She’s smart like that, the woman I love.” With that, Geoffrey dropped down onto one knee and gently grabbed her hand.
Bronwyn gasped, and started saying ‘oh my god’ over and over as Geoffrey pulled out a small box. She didn’t even wait for him to ask, she immediately just said “yes” about three times before yanking open the box and cramming the ring onto her finger. She pressed her lips to his, and Geoffrey was then death to the crowd of applause that had then erupted.
The celebration was soon cut short, because at that moment noticed a new arrival. The arrival of a man he had met before.
“Congratulations Geoffrey,” said Sir Lance.
“What...what the hell are you doing here?” Geoffrey asked. He hadn’t even heard him come in.
“I’ve come to join your team, to defend the country,” he replied.
“Didn’t the king tell you not to?” Bob asked.
“He did, but I no longer serve under him,” he replied.
“So you quit?” came a question, but Geoffrey didn’t know who.
“Actually, the king is dead,” replied Sir Lance. Gasps came from around the room, but he continued. “You see, just after you two (motioning towards Geoffrey and Bob) came to see him, he passed on from what his doctors say was old age. The law of the land is that all prisoners be released when the leader dies, which is why you two were free to go.”
The whole group sat there, stunned. Geoffrey couldn’t believe it. He was among one of the last people to see the king alive.
Sir Lance moved forward and said “okay, so who’s in what group? I have cars outside to take everyone to where they need to be.”
Geoffrey didn’t know how he could have snuck in to hear that part of the plan.

“Geoffrey, wake up. They’re here,” said a voice. Geoffrey woke to find Minna shaking him vigorously. Geoffrey got up quickly and looked out the window. He, Minna, Kyla and Sir Lance were in the castle that was the nation’s capital. Sir lance had got them in here, because ‘being him had its benefits’ he’d said.
Out at sea was a ship. Its occupants were out on deck, but they didn’t seem to be doing anything. Geoffrey looked closely at them in the dim light. Jeez, these guys don’t shave, he thought. The amount of hair covering their faces and bodies was like a fur coat.
“Alright guys,” said Sir Lance, “in the old days when invaders attempted to take the castle from the sea the guards would fire at the enemy with their rifles. We shall do the same.”
“Sniper rifles, you mean,” said Kyla. She handed each member a sniper and a small amount of bullets. “This should last you for a while. It doesn’t look like there’s that many onboard.”
The group showed their agreement in the form of nods and soft grunts then lifted their weapons to the windows. Geoffrey aimed his sniper to get a headshot of one of the henchman standing towards the side of the boat. Before he could pull the trigger though, his head suddenly exploded, followed by a yell from Minna saying “yeah, got one.” Geoffrey swallowed hard. How would they know if they were aiming for the same guy?
The sudden death of their comrade had sparked some interest into the others. They started grabbing their own weapons, but not before the rest of the group started following Minna’s example. Within about a minute they’d managed to pick off half a dozen, no sweat.
However, before they could celebrate, Geoffrey noticed something up the other side of the ship. More henchmen were coming up from below deck. “Guys, they have backup,” he called to the others before starting to pick them off as fast as he could. The others joined him, but they kept coming. His ammo was waning, and even worse they had started firing back.
“Kyla, have any more ammo there?” called Sir Lance, “I’m all out over here.”
“And I’ve only got a few shots left here too,” said Minna.
“I have some, but I don’t think it’ll be enough,” said Kyla. “I honestly didn’t think they’d have this many coyotemen.”
Geoffrey stood there, shocked. There must have been at least a hundred on deck at that point, and more were still coming out. This was unbelievable.
“Everyone, retreat back,” said Sir Lance as a bullet flew past Geoffrey’s head. The group moved back from their windows and kept low to avoid incoming gunfire.
“What are we gonna do?” asked Minna. The tension was clearly getting to her. Geoffrey couldn’t blame her; this was a kill-or-be-killed situation, and they were looking like being killed.
“Okay, I have an idea,” said Sir Lance, “we’ll fire some of the cannons down at them.”
“These cannons are a few hundred years old,” said Geoffrey, “not only shouldn’t they work, but they probably have something to defend themselves against these.”
“No they don’t,” said Sir Lance, “parts of their ship are only wood. If we can hit one of those parts then we might be able to sink them.”
“That’s assuming that those parts aren’t reinforced with something else,” said Kyla. “Seriously, I don’t think that they’d have only wood there. They must have something metallic on the inside in case of things like this.”
“How often would they use those?” asked Minna. “I mean, they only take over desert towns. Why would they need ships?”
“That’s part of the reason why they’d only have wooden ones,” said Sir Lance. “They don’t need anything that good because they don’t need it.”
“Until now,” said Geoffrey, “Sir Lance, get the cannon fired up. We’ll attempt to hold off their assault until it’s ready to go.” He grabbed a handful of bullets and loaded his gun. Kyla and Minna did the same as Sir Lance ran across to the other side of the room.
As Geoffrey raised himself up to look out the window, an explosion suddenly knocked the whole group down. “What the hell was that,” yelled Sir Lance as another one shook through the castle. Geoffrey peered out the window and gasped at the sight below.
“Guys,” he started, “the ship may look old, but their weapons certainly aren’t. That’s got to be navy standard weaponry.” Two large steel cannons stood on the ship’s deck. The coyotemen onboard were frantically loading shells into the back of them.
“Quick guys,” was the call from Kyla, “while they’re reloading, attack.”
Geoffrey didn’t hesitate. He quickly took aim on one of the ones reloading and fired. Blood erupted from his neck, and the ones around him suddenly dropped the shell a little. “Whoever did that, god shot,” one of the girls said. Geoffrey wasn’t paying any attention to the voice; he was too focused on taking out his next target. He aimed for one of the ones on the other side this time. Every second they weren’t hitting them with those things the better.
As he fired and hit the next target, he heard a sound, a sharp clinking sound. He looked next to him to see a bullet. By the looks of it, it had just been fired. He looked back at the ship to see several coyotemen not loading the cannons firing back.
“Minna, you take the ones shooting us. Geoffrey, take out the ones on the right cannon. I’ll take the left,” Kyla ordered. Geoffrey refused to disagree. At this point, they were desperate enough to take orders from the devil if it meant victory.
Geoffrey fired off a couple more bullets before he heard Sir Lance. “Guys, these cannons are all rusty. We may not be able to use them.”
“You mean they’re useless?” replied Minna, clearly distressed.
“No, they’d work, but we would need to use all shots from them wisely,” he responded. “We’d need to hit them every single time, since there’s no guarantee that they’ll last more than one shot.”
Geoffrey sighed. There was no way they could win this. “Load them up,” he called back to him. “We’ll use up the rest of our ammo then we’ll use those things, since we really don’t have any other option.”
“Yeah but,” Sir Lance objected. “These are historical artifacts. We can’t just go around and destroy them.”
“Isn’t that what’ll happen if we don’t use them?” asked Minna, rather agitated.
Geoffrey heard Sir Lance sigh, but then he started loading up the cannons. Geoffrey, Kyla and Minna continued firing off a few more bullets. They’d so far managed to prevent them using the cannons again, but Geoffrey’s team were dangerously low on bullets and the coyotemen kept almost loading the cannons.
Geoffrey fired another bullet before hearing Minna yell out “I’m all out guys. You’re on your own.”
Geoffrey turned back and tried to fire at another one, but nothing happened. “I think I’m done too. Duck and cover guys, I think they’ll hit us with the cannon again.”
Sure enough, within a minute the castle shook. This time however, it shook a lot more violently. Parts of the roof fell down and smashed on the floor. “DAMN,” they heard Kyla yell, “I was all lined up, then that bloody explosion messed up my aim. My last bullet and I hit nothing.”
Geoffrey silently cursed under his breath. This was it, he thought. These cannons had better work, or that’s it for them.
“Okay, got them all loaded up guys. We may not have enough to take them down, but what do we have to lose?” said Sir Lance as he started to wheel one of the cannons up to the window. Geoffrey started pushing another, and Kyla grabbed enough. Minna watched the scene outside, before shouting “They’re firing again.”
The group ducked to the floor as they were hit yet again. More pieces of the ceiling fell down. Bigger pieces smashed on the floor, but as they rose up again another explosion hit the castle. A sharp pain shot through Geoffrey’s body as a piece of the roof smashed onto his leg. He stifled a scream, as he got up with the others.
“Okay guys. Aim for the bottom of the boat. We might be able to sink them if we can get a hole or two for the water to get into,” Sir Lance instructed. Geoffrey silently agreed, still trying to ignore his leg while pushing the cannon to the window. He carefully aimed the front of the cannon to the lower part of the boat. Out on the boat, they looked ready to fire again, so Geoffrey yelled out “they’re firing again.”
The group ducked again, but as the first explosion was heard, the ground didn’t shake like it had before. Geoffrey looked over to see that Sir Lance had fired his cannon.
“BOOM! Hit them,” he said excitedly. He continued to look out at his handy work, then added “Almost perfect, that shot. Too high for a lot of water to get in, but just low enough for some to get in. Plus I distracted them a bit.”
Geoffrey jumped to his feet, immediately regretting it when he almost collapsed. He steadied himself and got behind his cannon. He looked over it to see a hole in the side of the ship. Water seeped in, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop them.
Another explosion erupted from the room, and they all turned to see Kyla fired her cannon. Looking back to the ship, another hole had appeared on it, slightly lower than Sir Lance’s. More water started to pour in, and the boat dropped a little at the front. Unfortunately, it was nothing that could stop them to much.
Geoffrey jumped back behind his cannon and made sure the aim was right. He whispered a quick countdown to himself. “3...2...1...FIRE!” he yelled as his cannon blasted down to the attacking ship. An exploding sound from the outside made it clear he’d hit them. Poking his head up to the window, he looked down to the ship. He’d hit higher than the other two, so unfortunately very little water reached his hole. Geoffrey’s face fell a bit. He had essentially wasted a shot, one of their limited shots.
Another explosion burst from the room, and Minna had fired her cannon. The other three rushed to the window. They saw the hole suddenly appear on the side of the ship. It was about level with Kyla’s, so plenty of water started pouring in. It had a decent reaction on the ship though. Geoffrey noticed two or three coyotemen fall overboard, and a few others slipped. A couple of them were holding a shell to be loaded into their cannon.
The shell fell from their hands and landed on the deck. A small explosion knocked over a couple of the nearby coyotemen. This is it, thought Geoffrey in a more positive tone. We can do this.
The explosion had blown a hole in the deck, but the ship was still up. Smoke billowed from that side of the ship in thick blobs. However, the cannon on the other side of the ship still worked, and even though the explosion had shocked the other coyotemen, they didn’t drop their bomb.
“Quick, someone needs to reload their cannon,” said Geoffrey. “They’re gonna fire again.”
“We’re not even sure these cannons are still in working order,” aid Sir Lance. “If you give me a minute...”
“DAMN IT MAN! WE DO NOT HAVE A damn MINUTE!” snapped Minna, much to Geoffrey, Kyla and Sir Lance’s surprise. Geoffrey had never seen her flip out like this. The pressure was really getting to her.
As Geoffrey recovered from the shock, the room shook again. They’d fired the shell, and even more of the roof fell down. “Geoffrey, look out,” called Sir Lance. Geoffrey looked around for what it could be before Sir Lance knocked him down, right as a large piece of roof crashed down on his head. Geoffrey gasped in shock, and Kyla screamed.
There was a short pause before Minna grabbed his hand. A few seconds later she said “he’s fine. He’s just been knocked out.” The other two sighed in relief, before Minna said “what do we do now?”
“I say we reload our cannons regardless of whether they work or not,” said Kyla. “We’re doomed either way. We might as well try something.”
The two of them just nodded and grabbed some cannonballs. Geoffrey looked out the window to see what they were doing on the ship. He couldn’t see another shell, so hopefully they weren’t about to fire.
The group loaded their cannons, plus Sir Lance’s, then Kyla said “okay, when you’ve got your aim right, fire at will.”
Hardly a second after these words were said, Minna yelled the word “FIRE!” Nothing happened.
The waited for another few seconds, then Kyla said “Well, we have a dud. Let’s try this one.” She then tried to fire her one. Again, nothing happened. “Damn it, WORK!” she yelled at the cannon. A noise then came from just outside the castle. Geoffrey looked out the window to see a grappling hook hanging from the frame.
The group raced to the window to see several coyotemen scaling the wall. “Oh shit,” cursed Minna. “What do we do now?”
“We need to dislodge it,” said Geoffrey, and without a moment’s hesitation started trying to push the hook of the ledge. Minna and Kyla started to do the same to other ones at other windows. “Just...a...little...further,” strained Geoffrey, and finally, it moved.
A furry paw reached up from the outside, frantically grabbed at whatever was inside. Geoffrey smiled to himself smugly, and said “die you son of a female dog.” He raised his foot and stamped it down on the coyoteman’s fingers, and he heard it scream as it fell to his death. He was so pleased with himself that he ignored the pain shooting through his leg.
He looked over to Minna and Kyla, and they’d both removed their coyotemen as well. Good, thought Geoffrey, we’re still holding them back, even if we are a man down.
They heard more noises from outside. It sounded like they were trying to use more grappling hooks. The turned around to see that this time, the hooks had grabbed onto something higher than them. The chains went right past the windows. The group looked down to see another group attempting to climb the castle wall.
“Guys, shake those chains. Try and throw them off,” called Kyla. Geoffrey grabbed hold of the chain and shook it as hard as he could. “Hey, watch it up there,” responded a voice from the coyoteman climbing up. Geoffrey looked down to see him still making his way up the cliff, ignoring Geoffrey’s attempt to throw him off.
“It isn’t working,” was Minna’s concerned cry. Geoffrey decided to try a new strategy. Leaning out the window, he summoned up as much force he could, and spat at the coyoteman.
“Disgusting pig,” was his outraged cry. The other two had stopped shaking the chains to stare at him.
“You’re big plan was to spit on them?” Kyla questioned him in disbelief.
“And at this point you have something better?” Geoffrey retaliated. Kyla sighed in frustration but said nothing.
“That’s good. Keep fighting amongst yourselves. It just means less work for us,” replied the voice of one of the coyotemen. This made the group jump, since it was closer than before. They turned to see one of them crawling in the window.
No-one said or did anything for a little while, but then Minna ran at him and planted her shoe right in his furry face. The coyoteman screamed in pain and slipped, grabbing frantically for something to support himself. He soon settled on Minna’s leg, and began to fall back out the window.
Minna screamed loudly as she was pulled out the window, but Geoffrey quickly grabbed her hands. There he stood, less than a metre between him and the ledge, hanging onto Minna and a coyoteman. Minna looked down at the creature holding her legs. “Get...the...hell...off...me,” she said while trying to wriggle free off his grasp. Geoffrey struggled to hold on.
The coyoteman swung from side to side below her, before she managed to slam its face into the side of the cliff. He yelled in pain as he released her legs and fell to the rocks below.
Geoffrey pulled Minna back into the castle, and the two collapsed on the floor. They looked across the room to where Kyla should be, and instead found two more coyotemen already standing in the room.
Geoffrey swallowed hard. This is it, he thought. We got past the guns and cannons, but the coyotemen will rip us to shreds themselves. The coyotemen said nothing, just smiled smugly, baring their foul-looking teeth. They started to advance on them when two loud bangs came from within the room.
The coyotemen dropped right where they were to reveal Kyla holding two old rifles. Geoffrey and Minna got up without a word and turned back to the ship. More coyotemen were starting to climb the chains leading up to the castle.
“Don’t just stand there you two,” said Kyla, “grab a rifle and start firing.” Minna followed without hesitation, but Geoffrey had a better idea. And this one didn’t involve spitting on the enemy.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he made sure the two cannons that hadn’t been fired twice were loaded, and then aimed one at the ship. “Geoffrey, we have no time for that,” Kyla said, but he chose to ignore her. He lined it up and tried to fire it immediately. Like the first two, nothing happened. “Come on, grab a gun,” said Kyla again, but Geoffrey ignored her again.
He aimed the last cannon at the ship. “They’re nearly in here again,” said Minna, “Geoffrey, we need you’re help here.” Geoffrey smiled to himself. “Here goes nothing,” he said, and fired the last cannon. The force of the blast knocked him back. He actually didn’t expect that to work. The other two were gaping at him in shock. They obviously didn’t expect it either.
They rushed over to the window to see what had happened. The ship had turned onto its side and they could clearly see many of the minions climbing into lifeboats, as well as many others drowning. The ones climbing up the wall had been dislodged from the shock of the blast.
“Guys,” Geoffrey said aloud, “I think that’s it. I think we just won here.”
They watched in silence as the lifeboats slowly retreated. We’ll let you live, Geoffrey thought, unless you want to mess with us again. “C’mon guys,” he said, “let’s see how everyone else went.”