Deadman

I stood still for a few moments, feeling my ribs slowly knit themselves back together, and using a large amount of willpower to keep myself from going back to Pete’s corpse for another bite. The thought of doing so made my mouth water, but while I was certain I could justify the missing chunk of his face to anyone who found the corpse, a missing arm or leg would probably be more than I could get away with. His body remained in his inflated state even after he’d died, and I took a moment to wonder if any deadman in the past had a similar ability to increase in size as he had. I sighed, wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my cloak and walked back up to the main floor of the Butcher’s shop. As I made my way out the front door, a number of Undertaker’s were making their way to the building. I leaned against it and waved at them.

Nix and Rhea were in the lead, and stopped in front of me, looking at the blood and viscera that had splashed across my face and clothing. “It was Pete,” I said, gesturing toward the shop. “You’ll find his body in the cellar. Though it doesn’t look much like him anymore.”

Nix nodded and gestured to two undertakers to go check it out, then she turned her attention back to me. “How’d you know it was him?”

“The second victim. She also worked at a restaurant in this area. With the suspects I had for Lydia’s murder cleared, the only person left was the man at the scene covered in blood near where she was found. Once I confirmed at the restaurant that he had been their meat supplier, I knew it was him. When I arrived to find him covered in blood and hunched over a pile of meat in his cellar…that pretty much settled the rest of it for me. I’m certain that if we talk to the owner of the restaurant the second victim worked at, we’ll find that he had the same meat supplier as well.”

Nix shook her head. “What was his motive? Was he obsessed with them? Did they refuse his advances?”

“No. He wanted to eat them. That’s why we found the bodies in the states they were in. Basically, the man was insane.”

Rhea looked again at the blood that covered me. “Are you alright?”

I shrugged. “Fine. Just a long day.”

The two undertakers that Nix had sent down came back out the front, grim expressions on their faces. One of them spoke up, “He’s definitely dead. Head cut off, and face looks like it took a shotgun blast from the side. He’s also huge. I’ve seen the guy before and it looks like he swelled up with muscle to be twice as big as I remember.”

Nix shook her head and looked over to me. “The honored dead will probably like to know what happened here. They’re still deliberating about you and the information you gave them.”

I stood up off the wall and stretched a bit. “I’ll go let them know.”

She and Rhea nodded, and I started walking toward the mausoleum. I wasn’t really expecting much applause or thanks for what I did, but I was glad I’d taken care of it. Sometimes a field like Pott’s grew a weed or two, and they needed to be plucked before they did too much damage.

On my walk to the mausoleum I drew a number of long stares from the deadmen and women I passed. The smell of blood and gunpowder wafting off of me on top of the blood that covered me and the stares I typically drew anyway added up to me causing severe congestion as people tried to make their way through the city. I entered the mausoleum, walked past several whitecoats, and made my way to the meeting room of the Honored Dead. I could hear them in the midst of some kind of deliberation, when I pushed open the doors and they all stopped talking to look at me.

Mama’s look was one of concern as she noticed the blood on me. “Donovan, are you you alright?”

“Fine. Just wanted to let you know I took care of the murderer.”

“Who was it?” asked Julian.

“His name was Pete. He was a butcher.”

“What was his motive?” asked Kit.

“Hunger it seems. He attacked them because he thought they would taste good. That’s why the victims were covered in bite marks, and missing chunks of flesh.”

Jim looked sick and turned away from the table.

Solomon stood from his chair. “When you say ‘took care of’, what do you mean?”

“I killed him.”

He shook his head dramatically. “Killed him? Without allowing him to be judged? To be brought to justice according to the rules of Pott’s?”

“Well, he was trying very hard to kill me at the time. Didn’t have much of a choice.”

“A marshall such as you? Who has done the things you’ve done in the wastes? You couldn’t restrain a single fellow Deadman?”

I shook my head. “Not this one. No.”

He turned to the other Honored Dead. “Yet another example of him taking Pott’s for granted and acting based on selfish needs.”

Mama shook her head. “Let it rest Solomon. You’ve already been outvoted.”

Solomon scowled momentarily, but got it under control quickly. “I am aware of the vote. I simply want to note his actions for posterity. It should be known that he was allowed to continue on in spite of my objections and the damage that vote has and will cause.”

“Very well. We will note that you did not appreciate Donovan solving a series of murders and removing a clearly dangerous lunatic from our midst.,” said Julian dryly. “For posterity of course.”

“So, I’m guessing I’m not exiled then?” I asked.

“No my dear,” started Mama. “We made that decision quite some time ago in fact. Even those of us that may disagree with your actions, recognize their value, or at least their potential value.”

I let out a breath. I found myself surprisingly relieved to not be exiled. Though it likely wouldn’t have changed things for me too much generally, it would certainly have made my goal of supporting Pott’s and Deadmen in general significantly more difficult if they all refused to talk to me.

“Now. We did have some questions regarding this treaty you’ve given us, and the Remnants in general.”

I nodded. “Shoot.”

“Your contacts with the Remnants. Tell us about them,” said Kit.

“I’ve met two of them. Leah, and Graves. Leah is a sniper and infiltrator. When I first met her she was claiming to be a Marshall and gave me the advice that I should work to integrate myself with the Iron Horde. When I worked together with her in STAR it was revealed to me that she is not a Marshall, but is a class called Agent, and is working for what she claims to be the Remnants of the old US government. I don’t know much about Graves, but he works closely with her.”

“Would you consider them trustworthy?” asked Mama.

“Absolutely not,” I said. “I thought about killing her on the spot when her deception was revealed to me.”

“Why didn’t you?” she asked.

“She claimed that her Remnants are going to take back the country. She said that they would make things better for deadmen. The specifics, I assume, are in the document I gave you.”

“I wouldn’t have thought you the type to hesitate to kill someone,” said Jim mockingly.

“I wouldn’t have either,” I agreed, taking the wind out of his remark.

“In your personal opinion what do you think about working with them?” asked Julian.

I shrugged. “I’ve thought on it since I first heard their offer, and I think we should at least pretend to do it.”

He smiled. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, so far they’re a lot of talk. They say they’re gonna sweep across the wastes. They say that they’re the rightful leaders of the US, but I have no idea if that’s true or not. All I know for sure is that they have information, tech, and at least a strong foothold in STAR territory. I say we go along with them, but don’t commit until they put their money where their mouth is.”

He nodded. “A sensible solution, and not unlike what we ourselves have been discussing. Their offer now is simple as laid out in their treaty. We are allowed to keep all territory within deadzones as our own, a moot point since we’re the only ones who can have those anyway, and any territory they take will support our undertakers and treat us fairly with no tribute like the Khan demands, nor taxes like STAR demands. In return, we help them scavenge certain things in deadzones, and provide them with data they can’t obtain themselves.”

“Sounds about like what she told me.”

Julian nodded. “We have altered the agreement somewhat to include us receiving the production facility you so recently cleared out.” His eyes twinkled as he spoke about it. “The radiation it leaks makes it useless for them anyway. I feel it’s only fair we have it. Especially when they seem to know where more are located anyway.”

I hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense to me, and I had to say, I liked the idea of deadmen having their own source of tech like that. “There is one other thing I think we should consider,” I said.

“What?’ asked Julian.

“The Iron Horde. I don’t think we should discount the possibility of them being allies as well. They may be rougher, but they’re proven and in their own way, they’re fair. The tribute they demand has always been less than the taxes that STAR required, and I’ve already been able to improve things for deadmen in their territory. I also have a strong feeling they won’t roll over for the Remnants like STAR will.”

“It seems to me like a decision would need to be made eventually. Though, I think we can put one off for a good long time,” said Solomon with a smile spreading across his face. “I say we keep good standing with both of them, and see how things play out before making any decisions.”

“Play both sides?” asked Mama with a smile. “You always were a politician Sol. Even on the playground as a boy.”

Solomon let out an uncomfortable cough. “Well, there would potentially be Patriot Point penalties for us through the system if we void the contract, but we don’t need them here in Pott’s like they do in the wastes, and it would only affect us Honored Dead, rather than the people.”

Julian nodded. “It’s settled then. We’ll agree to the treaty with some modifications, but avoid making any big moves.” His eyes settled on me, “Perhaps you should consider a low profile for a while?”