Maggots of South Hill - Adventures of a Torn Land

France is under attack by the invading Maggot army. Brave men stand for their nation to protect their friends and family.

Maggots of South Hill: Adventures of a Torn Land

Payton Smith

 

We are strong, when we have made up our minds to die. –Napoleon Bonaparte

 

The screeching cries for food and the taste of blood came from the south of the soldier’s position. Most of the soldiers wore heavy silver plate armor and each battalion was assigned a weapon that they were specially trained for. What was left of the army rested atop a large butte getting ready for the battle they knew they would have to end up fighting in, and knowing that none will survive. They prepared themselves by cleaning their weapons, wrapping up wounds, some drinking, and planning out how they could at least but a scare in the opposing army.

Captain Sno Lefemos paced around his battalion and looked in the direction that the terrifying screams came from. He was at the frontline when he met face to face with death. Pulling his sleeve back on his left arm showed the large scar that was just recently stitched together. His armor was destroyed from a Maggot and he refused his soldiers’ offers to give up their armor. On his back were two large claymores, a musket, and at his waist a katana that was given to him by the Emperor of China, Qianlong Emperor.

Sno had seen plenty of fights in his life, but none like this. An army that had been in wait for a thousand years, the army of the dead, the Maggots. Maggots came in many shapes and sizes, some in the form of men half rotten and some as the size as a mighty dragon. Vicious beasts that would not stop until their enemy are completely smashed or devoured. What provoked them out of slumber no one knew the reason, but it was a bad dilemma to have to deal with them.

The Maggots had already torn through Albi a small town in southern France and Sno’s only guess was that they were making the long journey to Paris, where they could spend their time eating upon the large population. Sno walked up to one of his soldiers that had a telescope and was watching the Maggots. The man was shaking as he watched the Maggots tear bodies to pieces and realizing that was his fate.

“Be strong my man,” Lefemos said and grabbed the scope from the soldier then looked forward at the creatures, “Beasts of hell they are, you just have to make them scream out in agony and wish they had never risen again.”

The man was still shaking as he took back the scope and looked through it again. Sno walked over to a small battalion standing around three cannons. The battalion was getting them ready for fire and was loading them up. A cannon ball was rolling away, but Sno stopped it and handed it to one of the men. They had the cannons ready for war and they moved them into the position to fire upon the cretins of death.

The time was getting closer for the screeches came louder and louder as if they were almost on top of them. All the soldiers stood up from their resting positions and got their weapons ready, loading rifles and muskets. Swords were released from there sheathes, banettes were placed upon rifle ends, and rapiers were pulled ready to fight.

The Maggots were advancing fast, obviously they knew the soldiers were there because they got to the bottom of the butte and began to climb up the large rock. The soldiers pushed down boulders crushing small groups of Maggots below, their body parts and limbs flinging into the air. One boulder fell upon a Maggot that was in the dead body of a rotting drake, crushing only its legs. With a cracking sound the drake Maggot pulled its lower body from its upper and began to climb once again. The soldiers fired their firearms sending small round bullets through the rotten skin of the creatures below. A Maggot’s, with the body of an old dead knight, head burst to several pieces sending the dead body and armor tumbling down the steep cliff face.

The first Maggot to reach the top of the butte was one like an old woman. A soldier sliced through the deathly neck and the head went for a long fall with the body not far behind. The Maggots came up the butte as if a giant wave far in the ocean ready to crush the ship it held victim. Screams of pain came from the soldiers as the Maggots bit into their flesh and began to devour them while they still fought for freedom.

Sno fired his musket into the face of a Maggot with a troll body and it feel limb. He dropped the firearm and drew one of the two claymores. Slicing through decayed bodies the Maggots fell to his feet, all the time he began to wonder why none of the cannons were fired. As he looked over with a quick glance he saw the few cannoneers had been killed by flying Maggots. Ripping through a dead soldier Maggot, Sno ran over to the cannons and picked up a burning torch. Lighting each cannon he ran away from them and turned to watch them blow the Maggots standing in front of them to bits and parts.

A tugging from Sno’s sword came as something pulled at the claymore. With a look down Sno saw an original Maggot that was basically a maggot but the size of a small dog beginning to devour the blade. Lefemos pushed the sword deeper into the Maggot and it burst out of its left side with green goo following it. Leaving the sword where it was he drew the last claymore and began crushing the devils in front of him.

He was in a zone, he didn’t know how many men were left or if he was the last one standing. One thing was for sure, he had already accepted his death it was just a matter of how many of these b******s he could take with him. The blade of the claymore crashed through a skull, but got stuck and Sno just pushed the body to the ground. The katana at his waist was released instantly began to shave the dead bodies into separated parts.

There was a sign of hope as Sno heard a large group of horsemen and then a load of firing of rifles. Many of the Maggots shattered to the ground. Sno smiled and continued slicing them as if they were just pieces of cheese. As Lefemos raised the katana a bullet ran into his body and sent him to his knees. With foggy eyes he watched the once dead corpses dropping like flies. This was it; he accepted death and waited for him to wrap his horrific hands around his body and to take him to the place he deserved.

 

*****

 

            The day was young and the sky held the sun barely over the horizon. The Frenchmen walked atop the butte to see if anyone had survived the killing spree the night before. To their predictions no one had breathe within them. One man with glasses bent over Sno’s body, he sheathed the katana stood up with a shout to his commander.

            A man walked over, not a tall man, but you could see he was a smart man as you looked into his eyes which burned with a plan for the world before him. The man in glasses handed him the katana and pointed down at Sno’s body.

            “I’m sorry my dear friend,” the short man said and placed the katana back into the dead bodies hands.

            “Napoleon, sir,” a man shouted out to the short man, “We found one with some life still in him.”

I hope you enjoyed this, there will be many more short stories in the history of earth with these mythical events happening, these are not real historical events just for enjoyment not research. -Rococo

 

 

Author's Note

Any comments are appreciated.