Alan had expected that the boat ride back north to The Damn would have been faster than walking, and at first it was. That is until they reached the Moab City’s limits. The city’s river patrols had put a complete stop on all river traffic coming to and leaving from the city. The narrow, canyon bound river was now clogged with boats of all kinds and all were barely moving.

“Come on! Why does there have to be such a long line of boats?” Alan sighed as he lay half drooped over the barges railing.

The dark water gently lapped the boat’s dark blue pealing panted side as a breeze wafted from the direction of the city. With the wind came the mixed smells of foods, trash, and industry. The tall skyscrapers shinned brightly in the distance and lines of flying vehicles weaving between them could be barely seen. Moab was quite the modern city that hosted many wonders, but to the Skull and Sun People waiting to get by it, the city was just an annoyance.

“We will find out soon enough.” Garth said casually coming to stand next to Alan. He then pointed his long metal spear past Alan, “See, the barges ahead are still moving forwards.”

Alan looked upriver to see that a Moab Patrol boat was working its way down the long line of barges that were anchored in the narrow river. The Moab Patrol looked to be conducting searches of each boat they arrived at, because the intervals between each barge or boat they went to was nearly twenty minutes each. At the rate the patrollers were going at, it was looking like the Sun People’s barge was going to be stuck on the river till dawn.

“You call that soon?” Alan said giving another exasperated sigh. “Why can’t we go by land again? It will only take a few hours of walking to get to The Damn. I still have no idea when the hoard will be coming and for all we know, it might be too late.”

“We can’t go by land because of the cargo we are carrying.” Garth replied. “The Creeping Mahonia roots, leaves, and dried berries we carry are essential to our way of fighting the Twisted. To us humans the Creeping Mahonia is a pleasant smelling and somewhat tasty, fruited plant. I personally don’t care for the berries, but others among us can’t seem to get enough of them. Some have even tried brewing them, but that is not important. What is important is that the smoke messes with the Twisted’s sense of smell, balance, and direction. We use their time of confusion to kill them effectively.”

“You kill them effectively for their body parts, right? Waste not want not, correct?” Alan asked. He then spit into the water and lazily watched the saliva bubbles float way.

“Exactly. We need them for our own purposes.” Garth answered and then he pointed at the distant city towers. “The labs in Moab City are far ahead of most other countries or city states when it comes to their research on the Twisted. However, they are not as knowledgeable as we are. The Twisted have more uses than Inducements and that pathetic vaccine they use to speed up healing wounds or preventing illnesses. The Sun People in the Grand Canyon have been researching much more effective ways to use the Twisted that the modern world has yet to know.”

“But you guys still cover yourselves in mud like toddlers and wear loin cloths like savages. Real technologically advanced, I’m sure.” Alan said giving a halfhearted laugh. He then got up from the railing and looked at the unamused Garth scowling at him from under his bison head hat.

“Laugh all you want, Speaker, but we hold a proud tradition. Something mere gangsters wouldn’t understand.” Garth sniffed.

“We have tattoos of bones on our body. So, we look more like you guys than regular folk. Though tattoos look way cooler.” Alan retorted. “All that a side, nearly two hundred and fifty Sun People came north with us. I am still surprised that any of you came. Were you all that bord?”

“Most of us indeed were.” Garth nodded. “We might not have known about the hoard, but we did notice that the numbers of Twisted had thinned a great deal in the last few months. We already assumed a Hoard Mother was gathering them too her, however, we didn’t know where the Hoard Mother was. The scouts were coming up empty handed.”

“Is a Hoard Mother really that influential among the Twisted? I though they were just random monsters, rampaging across the world.” Hemlock said joining in on their conversation. He was sitting cross-legged on the deck among the other Skull members that were laying lazily about in the sun.

“She is. Hoard Mothers have telekinetic abilities that let them control the other Twisted with a hive minded mentality.” Garth answered.

“So, how are we going to fight off something like that?” Sharp Tooth asked opening one eye overhearing the conversation.

“A Hoard Mother hasn’t been killed with typical methods, so the best we can do is drive it off with the smoke and killing enough of the hoard to make it feel vulnerable.” Garth answered. “Though neither option is going to be an easy one.”

Alan rolled back over on the railing to stare at the glittering brown river. “Well, I guess we will just have to wait and see.” He took another glance at the patrol boat. “We are going to be stuck here a while longer.”

…

“Why does this have to take so long?” Tammy whined.

The trio and 56 had returned to Moab City and loaded up the Party Badger into is semitruck trailer for transport. They were now sitting in the crowded Hunter’s Clan hall waiting for their turn to submit their camera’s recordings to the clerks of the Clan. This was the most efficient way of submitting proof of the number of Twisted they had killed in the invasion. However, the sheer length of footage that needed to be reviewed was astronomical.

56 was feeling impatient too. He knew that the MFA was still out there looking for him and sitting in one place for too long was risky. He kept a watchful eye on all the entrances and those that came in and out of them. Orville was deployed out above the building conducting his surveillance of the area as well.

“Give it a rest Tammy.” Sam grumbled pulling his hood further over his face. “Use this time to take a nap and rest up for the next fight.”

“Ha! Sleep? I cannot do that right now. I am still feeling psyched from fighting the Demon Kodiak!” Tammy replied as she paced in circles around the bench Sam and 56 were sitting on.

“That was hours ago! At least sit down.” Sam continued to grumble as he peeked at his watch. “Its already 2:00 AM and we probably have a long drive ahead of us. I will be driving first and need to rest, but with all your racket I can’t!”

“Fine, I’ll sit down.” Tammy replied rolling her eyes dramatically. She then plopped down heavily on the bench between Sam and 56 and crossed her arms crossly.

Satisfied, Sam closed his eyes and was just about to try sleeping again when Dixon returned. Sam groaned and threw an arm over his eyes upon seeing that his chances for some sleep were now dashed. 56 eagerly looked up a Dixon for any telltale sign that they would be leaving. If things hadn’t progressed further, 56 was thinking about leaving them to find some other place to lay low.

Tammy on the other hand, was renewed with energy and she jumped up from her seat. “Are we going now?”

“Yes, we finally are going.” Dixon sighed as he sidestepped the excitable Tammy and took her place on the bench. Dixon then pointed at the long line of Hunters that were standing in front of the Clan’s clerks. “I stood in line for the last six hours to turn in our footage. I just handed it in and asked that they pay us when we return. I trust that they will count the correct number of Twisted we killed. Even if they low ball us, we are still going to score a huge bounty.”

“That’s great to hear. Hopefully, I was able to contribute enough for me to keep traveling with you three.” 56 replied.

“Yes, you were most helpful indeed.” Dixon answered patting on 56’s back hardily. “How about you consider joining up with us? We could use another crack shot.”

56 smiled and shook his head. “I am afraid that I can’t do that at this time. I have prior commitments that I can’t put aside. Though I am tempted to do so. I had never seen anything quite like what we went through yesterday. Seeing so many mindboggling creatures packing into one place was worth every bit of the risk.”

“Well maybe you will change your mind after we kill that baby Hoard Mother, and you see the price tag they placed on its head.” Dixon replied. Then giving a reluctant, achy moan, Dixon got back up. “Come on team, lets get back to the truck and start the hunt!”

When they all climbed into the cramped cabin of the semitruck Dixon took the passengers seat and 56 was crammed into the back with Tammy. Sam gloomily grabbed the steering wheel and pushed the truck’s on button. The electric engine hummed softly to life and Sam pulled the truck out onto the desolate city streets. They had only gone a few blocks when Tammy passed out completely asleep with her face pressed flat against the window.

“It’s not fair. It’s not fair!” Sam whispered hotly, but Dixon and 56 heard him and they both held back their mirth.

“Let’s see how far out the tracking signals are.” Dixon said softly as he pulled out a laptop from a backpack on the floor between him and the driver’s seat. “Hopefully, the Twisted haven’t dislodged their trackers and we end up having to follow them ourselves with their footprints. Right, Sam?”

“Do you have to bring that every time?” Sam said eyeing Dixon with a twinge of annoyance. “I thought the tracker dart hit that Night Hound’s head and not the log floating in the river behind it. We found the pack in the end too.”

Dixon chuckled, “I know, I know. Its just funny to bring up.” He then opened the tab for the tracking device on the laptop and entered the information. As it opened to show a 3D map display of where the trackers were, his face darkened and turned serious. “Sam, you might want to speed things up.”

“What’s wrong?” 56 asked peering over the passenger’s seat to look at the screen.

Sam didn’t need to be told twice. The trucks momentum increased noticeably as Sam started to merge onto the highway that was bound for the north of Moab.

“If this signal is accurate the Twisted are getting dangerously close to an unprotected town just north of here. I think it called The Damn.” Dixon answered in a grave voice. “That town will probably be slaughtered and eaten if they get attacked.”

“They don’t have any protection at all?” 56 asked.

“No. That area is well out of Moab City’s protection and no other country has laid claim to that lawless zone.” Dixon replied as he zoomed in on the Twisted’s location. “Luckily, there is a cliffside blocking them from reaching the town right away, but its only a matter of time before the Twisted get around it. Judging from the distance they have to go to the town and how far we have to catch up, we likely won’t make it in time!”