Laundry Day Round 3 – Zakiyah Stunned, the explorers stared at the swollen, bloated corpse bobbing in the now putrid water. Even with the terrible distortion in shape caused by decay, it was clear that in life the corpse had been humanoid…and green and scaly. "A lizardman! Here?" Malone wondered. "What on earth was he doing in our pond?" "Apparently whatever he was doing, he wasn't doing it alone," Roxton drawled, his voice sounding strange as he tried not to breathe in through his nose. He gestured towards the pond, where another scaly corpse had bobbed to the surface next to the first one. It was followed almost immediately by another…and then another. "Great galloping guppies," Challenger breathed, forgetting the stench in his curiosity. "This is quite peculiar!" "This is quite disgusting," Marguerite corrected him, still trying to cover her nose and mouth. "How on earth are we going to get them out of our pool and get rid of the stench?" An instant later, Marguerite really wished she hadn't asked that question. Out in the middle of the pool, the first corpse abruptly twitched. Slowly, the head turned and raised, bringing what was left of its face towards the explorers. Marguerite gasped, feeling ill as the corpse stared at her. "D-did you see that???" she demanded. "See what?" Malone asked, looking at her questioningly. "That corpse just moved," Marguerite said, still staring. Out in the pool, the corpse flung an arm forward, seemingly pointing at the disturbed heiress. Malone laughed. "Nice try, Marguerite." His laughter faded as a second corpse raised its head, also looking towards the explorers. "Uh…then again…" "What the hell?" Roxton exclaimed, reaching for his rifle. "Oh nonsense," Challenger scoffed. "Yes they're moving, but it's just the natural action of the gases caused by the decomposition of the flesh." His voice remained confident despite the fact that all the corpses now had their heads turned towards the explorers. Several more limbs flailed as the bodies rapidly drifted towards them. "I don't think so, Challenger," Veronica said softly as she started backing away from the pond. "What do you mean, child?" Challenger sputtered. "This is no time for superstition!" "Superstition or not, those corpses are coming at us against the current," Veronica snapped back. "Now I suggest we get back!" "I'll do better than that," Roxton said, and brought his rifle up to his shoulder. Sighting carefully, he fired at the nearest corpse. Continued in Round 4 |