Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2

by DoctorHepa

  I backtracked, looking at the “Auxiliary Tracks. Warning” switch. It led to a long track that entered the root system. That basically meant I could jump onto a different track without going through the gateway if I wanted, though with the switch controls on the other side of the portal, we’d be stuck with whatever track the last train had utilized. In other words, we’d be on the same track as that red-colored train.

  The “Recycle” switch clearly led off to the abyss. So our only real choice was station repair.

  I took a screenshot of the portal, and it was the same massive train yard as before, still filled with zombies. This one appeared to be on a different side of the yard as where the subways entered. I looked worriedly at the closest zombie creature. I couldn’t examine its properties using the picture, but I recognized the monster as a zombiefied Cornet, one of the sound-attack rabbit monsters. The skinless monster was covered in sores that exposed bones, as if worms had erupted from the inside. It reminded me of the parasitic worm things that had infested Grimaldi’s circus crew. I shuddered.

  I returned to the train to find Fire Brandy sticking her head out of the door, chatting away with Donut and Katia.

  “I’m a mother, too,” Donut was saying as I entered the train. “My boy is named Mongo.”

  “That’s a good name,” Brandy said. “I have two children so far. We don’t name our young until they’re presented at the altar. What about you?” she asked Katia, who’d retreated to the back of the cab to escape the heat.

  “No kids,” she said. “I was about to adopt, but aliens destroyed my planet.”

  “Ah, that’s too bad, honey,” Brandy said, sounding genuinely sincere. She looked at me. Her face scrunched up, as if in pain. Another child was born. “We heading out?”

  “Returning to the station,” I said. “I don’t suppose you know if they’ll let us just drive the train out of the yard?”

  “Don’t know. We usually just go in circles all day long. Try not to blow the train up, okay? I have two little ones to look after.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I said.

  A note from DoctorHepa

  Yo, yo, yo! Happy weekend everyone. I hope everyone is staying safe and sane.

  If you're reading this, and it's still Saturday, and you're in the United States, you can snag a copy of my horror LitRPG Kaiju Battlefield Surgeon for free today on Amazon here. The freebie ends at midnight.

  Meanwhile the folks over at Patreon don't know this yet, but I'm about to add a new poll where they'll get to vote for the contents of a fan box. I wonder what will happen to garner that sort of prize?

  Chapter 90

  When we entered the portal, every car on the train made it through. The world flashed, the train bucked, and we entered a massive train yard. A notification appeared.

  Entering Station and Repair Hub E

  “Station E?” Katia said. “Does that mean there are more of these giant things?”

  “Probably,” I said, looking over the massive yard. It just went on and on. “Remember there are nine thousand-something stairwells out there. When we saw that clip with Lucia Mar, there were several bunched up in that one area, but that still means there has to be hundreds of instances of each one of those stairwell stations. There’s no way they can fit all of those trains into a single trainyard. This station is big, but it’s not that big. I bet there’s at least twenty of these yards. There might even be more than one of those Abyss places I saw earlier.”

  “Do you think they all have zombies in them?” Donut asked.

  “Maybe. Who knows?” I said.

  We were still in an underground area, but the ceiling was very high, higher even than the fake sky of the Over City. The place was lit with random spotlights, giving the whole area a surreal, washed-out look. The train clunked as it moved over several switching tracks, and we angled forward, pushing into a long track section, straightening out the cars behind us.

  I marveled at the sheer size of the fenced-in area. It had to be at least a full mile from the portal to the fence. The stone wall of the chamber blocked the area behind us, and I couldn’t even see how far the yard went from left to right. Thousands of zombie creatures milled about. They gave no heed to our sudden appearance. Most were congregated in the far distance, up against the high wall that led out of the yard.

  The entire fence was shaking, I realized. They were pushing it back and forth. It would collapse at any moment.

  Dozens of freestanding towers dotted the railyard at regular intervals, like watchtowers at a prison. At this distance, I couldn’t see the creatures inside of the fortifications, but there was definitely movement in the closest one, about a quarter of a mile away.

  “Ah, crap,” I said as we were automatically routed into another track, one with a dead end. The sign above the track read Service Bay 32. A shadow fell over the cab as we went under a corrugated metal awning. I had to slow and stop. I knew the train could go backward, but I was hoping to find a way to unhook the broken cars behind us and steam out of the yard and onto one of the other tracks. “It looks like the road ends here.”

  “Maybe not,” Katia said, peering out the other, broken window. “It stops here, but there’s a roundabout system.” She pointed forward, and I saw what she was indicating, a vast, baseball-field-sized section of ground that appeared as if it could spin like a turntable. Track sections on the circular platform were designed to line up with these service bays, allowing trains to proceed forward. You could pull the engine onto the platform, and it would spin, lining up with another track. One of the odd watchtowers was situated at the edge of the disc. I assumed the controls for the turntable were up there.

  “Hey, those aren’t zombies,” Donut said. She had her face smushed up against the glass, looking out into the yard.

  I followed her gaze out the side window to the pair of monsters shuffling by. She was right. One of them was speaking with the other. Zombies don’t talk. They hadn’t noticed us yet. These were a pair of moss-covered, bark-skinned creatures. They were covered with the same sores as everyone else, though with their wooden skin, it looked like gunshot wounds.

  Festering Ghoul – Level 18

  One of the unfortunate side effects of the Rev-Up Amazing Cure-All Vitamin Immunity Shot is the possibility of addiction. If a customer becomes addicted to the vitamin shot, and they do not get their dosage in time, they oftentimes start suffering from withdrawal. The effects of withdrawal ravage the addict’s body, and if they are not treated in time, they begin to suffer from a dreaded condition known as the DTs.

  Once the DTs start, there is no cure. All die. Or worse.

  At stage one, sufferers are overcome with violent tremors. They are barely able to think, or to move. Their mind starts to rot out from within. Only fifty percent of sufferers survive this stage. Half move onto stage two, which allows for increased mobility. The other half drop dead.

  They don’t stay dead long, however. They soon transform into what you see before you now. A Festering Ghoul.

  Important note. A Festering Ghoul is not a true Ghoul. It is not undead. It is simply a new lifeform reborn in the shell of the old. As such, anti-undead attacks will not work on them. Still, a double-tap on these guys is not a bad idea.

  A Festering Ghoul has two purposes. One, to devour as much organic material as possible, and two, to find more of its kind. These particular ghouls have been born with the knowledge on how to get to this area. All they need now is enough of their kind to arrive before their purpose becomes clear.

  “That sounds vaguely threatening,” I said. “So I guess all those babababoons we fought had survived stage one and got to skip the ghoul stage.”

  “Unless they turn into something worse if they die at the end of stage two,” Donut said.

  “How are they getting here?” Katia asked. Even though the mobs appeared to be able to talk, everything else about them screamed mindless zombie. There were hundreds of different types, but they all moved in that same
, plodding, aimless manner.

  I thought of those robots and that secret tunnel. “I think I know what’s happening, but Imani and Elle are about to discover for sure. The real question is, what happens when enough of them get together?”

  “It’s obviously something awful, Carl,” Donut said. “We need to get out of here.”

  We heard the echo of a detonation. It sounded like a cannon blast. A moment later, there was a mighty crash directly over our heads. Whatever it was, it had hit the corrugated awning covering the train. Then came a click, click, click sound of something being ratcheted tight.

  “I think someone’s shooting at us,” I said.

  “Look,” Katia said. “There’s a chain. It’s coming from that tower.”

  She was right. The closest watchtower, the same one at the edge of the turntable, had shot some sort of chain at the roof over our heads. Whatever it was, it connected with the roof, and it was now ratcheting itself tight.

  “Do you think they’re going to pull the roof off the awning?” Katia asked.

  “No,” I said. “Look. There’s a little dude up there. In the tower. He’s going to use the chain to get to us.”

  Sure enough, once the chain was tight, the small creature attached a little basket to the length. The basket hung off the chain by a pair of straps. It looked like and was the size of a large, woman’s purse. The little, furry man jumped in. The basket bounced wildly as it slid down the length of chain toward us.

  His white dot appeared on my map. The creature eventually disappeared over our heads as it landed on the awning. A moment later, the tiny, furry man swung off the edge of the corrugated roof and landed deftly on the front of the engine. He had something large and metallic attached to his belt, and it clanged loudly when he landed. He scrambled up the walkway and approached the broken, port-side window. We all moved to look.

  He was goblin shaped and proportioned, though instead of clothes, he was covered in black, bristly hair. He was much smaller than a regular goblin, about the same height as Zev. He wore a little railroad cap and a toolbelt that dragged a wrench three times his length. It clanged and dragged against the metal of the train as he approached. When he jumped, the wrench didn’t appear to impede him at all.

  Widget – Grease Gremlin – Level 19

  Iron Tangle Steam Engine Train Technician.

  Not all gremlins are bad or evil. Not all of them glory in the tearing of flesh and the rending of bone. Some prefer more quiet activities, such as boiler repair and heavy engineering. Then there are Grease Gremlins, who could go either way. The only thing keeping this guy from attacking you is that “Sensitivity Training” class human resources made him take in order to secure this job. As long as you don’t abuse him or his beloved trains, you’ll probably be fine.

  “I told ye last time dis here station is closed,” the creature ranted. “First the Raven Blade Unlimited and now the Nightmare? I don’t care if you lost the beasties on your backside. Don’t you see we’re suffering from a ghoul infestation? They about to reach critical mass. Now I gotta risk me life just to get your stupid butts out of here. We’re not giving ye a resupply, that’s fer sure.”

  I could barely understand what he was saying. His inflection was like a Creole guy poorly attempting a cockney accent. His head appeared in the broken window opposite Katia. He remained frozen like that for a long moment.

  “Oh for fig’s sake,” he eventually said. “Yer crawlers? Ye took the train? Where’s CrackJack? Didja kill em? Don’t care about the warmage cunt. I hope for yer sake ye didn’t hurt Brandy.”

  I saw no point in lying to the little creature. “If CrackJack was the engineer, then yes, we killed him. Brandy is fine. We’re just trying to get to one of the stairwells.”

  Below, a pair of ghouls finally noticed us. One of them screeched and pointed. All around the trainyard, the mass of ghouls turned in our direction.

  “Stairwells?” Widget said, either oblivious or uncaring by the sudden ghoul attention. He laughed. “Then why d’hell you come all this way? Why not take the Escape Velocity train? It goes to all the stairwells. He rapped on the metal on the window. ‘Ell, this train stops at 83 Tangerine and Plum. You take the Tangerine up to 89 and hop right on the Escape Velocity. It’ll take you straight to a gaggle of stairwell stations.” He laughed. “Silly crawlers. Always making it difficult. Well I reckon no real harm done if’n Brandy’s okay. She’s to be a mum, ye know. CrackJack was a cock. CockJack.” He laughed at his own stupid joke. “And nobody has no love for the warmage kind, either. Out with ye. We about to abandon the yard. Gon all move over to yard A. Ain’t no ghouls at yard A. Ye can catch any numma’ of lines up to 12, I reckon. Or 24 might be better for you lot. Twelve got them janitor ghouls. But all the trains from this yard is done. They ain’t opening the gate for nobody. We gotta use the chains to get out.”

  A ghoul, this one some kind of multi-limbed monstrosity, scrabbled up the side of the train like a spider.

  “Get ye filthy paws off ‘er!” Widget cried, turning to face the ghoul. He pulled the gigantic wrench off his belt and waved it threateningly, using two hands to hold the massive, oversized wrench like a halberd.

  Thwap!

  Through the broken window, Donut fired a Magic Missile directly into the ghoul. It didn’t die right away, but it was blasted onto its back. Its legs curled up. Unconscious appeared over it. A moment later, the notification went away, and it turned into an X.

  “Oi, nice shot lassie,” Widget said. He licked his lips and looked a Donut appraisingly. “I like a lassie within’ meat on ‘er bones. Especially ‘em with fight in ‘em.”

  “Excuse me?” Donut said. “Did you just call me fat?”

  “Why are the ghouls here?” I asked.

  “Some cunt done buggered up the system. Cheaped out. Tryin to combine systems and that there why it broke down. Never worked right. The ghouls are supposing to get all caged up, hop on the service conveyor back to the yard. And then get wheeled onto one of dem Terminus direct lines. Shoulda just build a second conveyor system right into the abyss if ye ask me. But nobody ever asks Widget what he done thinks. Too many came at once. Sometimes them Wrath Ghouls are in the cages, so the cages are broke when they get here. Or they spill out. The system broke down. Ain’t no stopping it.” He pointed to another ghoul. “Lassie?” Donut obliged by firing another missile. This ghoul rocketed off the train.

  “That’s m’girl. What’s a fine lass like yerself doing with this lot? I get off shift in a couple of hours. Got a place up at 60. M’wife will cook us a nice stew.”

  “Your wife?” Donut asked, incredulous.

  “She no mind one bit. She’d liken a smack of you too, I reckon. Plus she cook. We got a drop of fresh fish in our food boxes, we did.”

  “Wait, what kind of fish?” Donut asked.

  “Yo. Focus. How are we supposed to get out of here?” I asked.

  “You gotta abandon ship. Up me chain. Into tower. Then we do a bit ‘o hopscotch. We got a system. One that works.” He grinned. “As long as yer climbin’ skills is up to snuff.”

  I eyed the chain dubiously. Below, another group of ghouls were attempting to climb up the side of the train. A single ghoul had discovered the ladder behind the cab, and it was now scratching at the door.

  Widget leaned in through the broken window and pointed at a red spigot with his wrench. Katia had to jump back from the unwieldly thing. “Turn that one right quick, will ya? Then turn it back.”

  Brandy had told me never to touch that one. I turned the spigot, and the train hissed. Steam spilled from the side and rose all around us. Below, the ghouls screamed. I quickly tightened it back up. “It’ll teach ye right!” Widget yelled down at the monsters. Several scrambled away from the side of the train, but they soon returned. “I reckon I better open a hole in the ceiling before ye get overwhelmed. It’ll take me a good…”

  He didn’t finish. In the distance, a mighty crash reverberated throughout the trainy
ard. A section of the colossal wall that separated the yard from the conductor staging area collapsed in a mighty heap. The crowd of ghouls surged out of the enclosure. Below, the ghouls who’d been advancing on us turned to regard the new exit. A few shuffled off toward it, but most remained at the base of the train.

  “Oi. That no good,” Widget said. “Plan change. Now the wall is gone I reckon it don’t matter if we use the gate. I’ll unhook ye, then I’ll get into me tower. Get on the turntable, and I’ll get ye onto the employee line. There’s only a station over at 60, and it loops back after, so no 72, not that ye’d want that one anyway, but there’s a service entrance at every station between ‘ere and back. Go slow and ye’ll see ‘em. They come quick. The distances are much shorter here. The Homeward Bound is locked up tighter than an octoid’s cunt, so you’ll have the track all to yerself.”

  He disappeared, scrambling over the top of the cab. He dropped into the space behind the cab and the next car. That one ghoul remained at the door, but Widget dropped him with a bonk to the head with his wrench. Less than ten seconds later, there was a mighty clang that shook the whole train. A few moments after that, and he returned to the window. Behind, three additional ghouls discovered the small ladder that led to the back of the cab. They stood at the closed door, banging on it.

  “Oi, you did a mighty nummer on them cargos. No matter now. They’s unhooked. Now I’m going to climb up the chain and get into me tower. Imma turn the table to yer bay. You get on. Make sure you get all the way on. I’n spin it up right and stop at the right track but don’t be leaving yet. Imma come down and we ride out together. Sounding good?”

  “That sounds great,” I said. I wondered if he was genuinely this accommodating, or if this was a result of our charisma. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain. “Better than I hoped for. I appreciate your help.”