Damnation Road Show

Modified on 2012/05/16 19:38 by Kerrick Categorized as Books, Deathlands

   O eyes, no eyes, but fountains fraught with tears;
   O eyes, no life, but lively form of death;
   O world, no world, but mass of public wrongs,
   Confused and filled with murder and misdeeds.

   - Thomas Kyd,
   1558-1594

   As the story opens, Baron James Kerr is communing with a sentient fungus that holds his ville in its grip. It's hungry, and wants more sacrifices, so he goes about setting it up.
   Meanwhile, in Bullard ville, the carnival is coming to town, followed closely by the companions. They ran across the carnival's trail some days back, in the remains of a town that was completely wiped out and looted, and are hoping to reach the next town in time to warn the inhabitants.
   In town, Jak meets up with an old friend - a lion he met in Baron Willie Elijah's zoo. The ringmaster, Crecca, recognizes Ryan and goes to report to his master, Magus. Magus tells him to make sure they have front-row seats for the show.
   The next day, everyone's ushered into the big tent for the show. It goes off as normal until the carnies bring in a large covered trailer. The companions are already suspicious, and they figure this is the point where the carnies release nerve gas and kill everyone, so they start shooting and get everyone out.
   A huge three-way firefight ensues as the townsfolk discover the carnies looting their town. The companions grab an RV and flee, with the remnants of Magus' people hot on their heels.
   Kerr has previously blocked the road, posting a detour onto a narrow trail that leads up into his ville in the mountains (a way to divert fresh food to the lake). The companions and carnies are forced up the road into the ville, where they fall victim to the fungal spores - all except for Doc, who is somehow immune.
   Several carnies are sacrificed for the fungus, and Crecca kills Kerr for the right to rule the ville. Meanwhile, Doc discovers an old pumping station - the fungus was apparently a predark experiment, and there's an emergency release valve to drain the lake if anything went wrong. He turns the valve, which starts to drain the water; the flood drowns most of the remaining carnies. Crecca goes to investigate and tries to kill Doc, but Doc kills him instead. The lake drains completely, killing the fungus and releasing everyone from its grip, and the companions leave the ville.

DEATHLANDS, OUTLANDERS, EARTH BLOOD, and JAMES AXLER are all the property of Gold Eagle / Worldwide Library, and are used here strictly under Fair Use guidelines.