Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 20

her hand reaching for the hilt of her cutlass. Near the
ship, she saw shadowy figures waltzing slowly towards it. They looked decrepit and hunchbacked, arms
heavy and slouching.
Even closer in the foreground, only a few hundred yards away from Bana, was another hunchbacked
being. His face was clearer in the moonlight, lacking
skin, a skull with hollow eyes and nostrils. Wearing
rags and a tricorn with some dirty, wretched wig underneath, the dead thing growled.
A walking corpse. Bana had never heard of
such a thing, nor would she have believed it.
With careful backward steps, Bana loosened
her sack of black powder, stuffing her musket frantically. Then, she dashed forward with the gun held in
front of her, letting off a blast.

Bana noticed the monsters stopped in their
tracks, looking behind them. Bana glanced in the
direction they looked at as well. Walking out of the
jungle was a woman in a long flowing white dress.
Her skin was dark, even in the light of the lantern she
held.

Bana turned to run. Mountainous heights
surrounded her to the other side of this land, and she
could only move so far in that direction. If only the
creatures weren’t surrounding the ship, she would
have looked for a way to turn back and maneuver. Perhaps the only feasible place to run was the jungle...

Bana’s lantern fell to the ground. She cursed
herself as the light went out. Swallowed by darkness,
Bana pulled off her cloak and threw it behind her. She
looked back, only to find more of the slouching corpses moving on the sand. Their mouths all dripped with
the same jade-tinted spit.
Close to the mountainous wall blocking the
beach, Bana turned to look at the jungle. More dead
corpses were crawling from behind the trees, moving
into the moonlight.

Bana began to load her gun again. She knew
the action was in vain, but she couldn’t think of any
other way to escape. Her eyes were trained upon the
monsters. She lifted up her gun, aiming it—
A woman