Chapter 21: Master of Puppets | 1

Gray painted, metallic, futuristic looking grieves, were walking among what was thought to be corpses. The soldiers had won the encounter at Na'hram pass. All that was left now was silence and the bodies of the deceased. Bodies which used to belong to soldiers and wizards alike.
It was a bloody battle, just like any other. This is the fate of all human conflict. Multiple vehicles and cleaners were dispatched immediately by the army. They had to clean up this macabre and gory scene, otherwise, this place would become a giant insect heaven, due to all the corpses.

By the time all the fighting stopped it was afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set. Extreme heat was starting to turn to extreme cold. Thankfully, the soldiers armor could adapt to shield them from both of these elements. Mankind always tries to find ways to reject nature's embrace.

"Hey, Viktor..."
"What is it?" Viktor answered dejectedly. His entire company ended up being wiped out by the disasters the wizards produced, only he and one other soldier survived. He really didn't care about whatever his mate was about to tell him. Viktor had taken off his helmet, revealing his masculine, handsome face. His head was shaven clean, much like his facial hair, and his green eyes were gazing into nowhere in particular. It was a rough day for everyone.
"Do they... not... bleed?" The soldier next to him was talking slowly, with a confused and shaky voice.
"What do you mean, Hans?" Viktor didn't even bother to look at what his friend was seeing, his eyes where still drifting into the horizon, as if they were searching for hope. His mouth opened on its own and answered automatically.
"Look at th.. their... corpses...?" Hans sounded incredibly anxious and confused, Viktor had to pay attention.
"What the hell..." Viktor snapped back to reality, his defined face becoming expressive once again.

On the grounds below them, among the carcasses of their fallen comrades, lay the peculiar remains of the wizards. Their bodies were not bleeding though, there was no blood on them, there was no blood coming from their wounds and severed limbs.
"What is this..." Viktor crouched down to take a closer look at one of them.
Not only were they not bleeding, but their skin resembled the texture of dry clay, like the kind you would find in pottery. It almost had the color of skin, and there were many cracks and fissures on it. Their complexities looked like dried dirt, full of crevices.
They looked like dolls that were made to resemble humans, empty shells.
"Hey! Are you sure this is safe?" Hans shouted at Viktor with a worried tone.
"If I get killed by a dead man I probably deserve it..."
Viktor grabbed an arm that was about to come off the main body of a wizard, ripped it out, and threw it away from the main body. Inside, there was darkness. Nothing.
No organs, no blood, no arteries, nothing that would normally be inside of a human.
"What do we have here..." Viktor looked puzzled, and so did his mate, Hans. They didn't know what to make of this.
Hans crossed his arms, and sighed in frustration. He was still in full armor, helmet and all, so none of his features were visible.
"I still think they aren't safe. How should we deal with them?"
"Well... it looks like clay, right?" Viktor just got an idea.
"I guess..." Hans noded.
"I don't suppose we need their clothes for anything." Viktor grabbed the entire body, and was not surprised to find out that it was way lighter than a typical human. After all, they were hollow inside.
He then proceeded to throw the whole body in the ocean to the left side of the pass. 
"You think this counts as pollution? heh." A slight smile appeared on his face.
The entire body started dissolving and blending with the water, leaving behind a light brown color that faded slowly but surely.

As time went on, more and more soldiers caught wind of this strange phenomenon.

***

Night time, the Settlement.

The trowing of molotovs and crude spears and rocks was being exchange with carefully crafted crossbow bolts. 
"They just won't give up..."
The junkies kept trying to invade the people here almost every single night. It was starting to take a toll on the people living in the settlement. No one could sleep calmly anymore. The illusion of safety was being broken more and more as the days went by.

Their invasions were systemic though, so the survivors here learned to expect them every time. This way, they could eliminate most of them from afar, before they got close. It was easy to see them coming, as there was almost zero cover in the wasteland.
These fights were easy, but that didn't mean the people weren't getting tired.

The real problems begun when the junkies would come late at night, when all the insects were out on the surface. The insects were not going close to the junkies for some reason, it looked like they were being repelled by an invisible force. They only attacked the settlers.
"Come on! Get rid of em now so we don't have to deal with insects later on!" Many shouts were heard, every guard sharing his own thoughts amidst the battle.

"Aim higher. And adjust for the wind." Up on the right tower, Gregory was being trained on how to use a crossbow properly. He was kneeling down in a tactical position, his body sweating but his eyes focused on the targets.
"Live targets are always better. At least you're getting something out of these attacks."
"Hey, was that a... joke? Coming from you?"
"Shut up and hit the junkies." Astrea's voice was as machine-like as ever. 
Gregory chuckled, as he pulled the trigger. The sound of the bolt piercing the wind was heard, it was not a loud sound but it often signaled death. The bolt found its mark on the head of a junkie who was about to throw a rock at nowhere in particular.
"Good hit. By the time they stop attacking you will be a deadeye like me."
"Heheh- Ouh.. What was that for?"
"Do you think I'm not a deadeye?"
"That's not was I laughed for..."
"Sorry. It looks like they're ending. Practice is over, let's go down."

All this time the settlement had not seen attacks like these. But after a group of scouts spotted human life in this place, the whole hivemind was alerted, and they've been sending invaders on a regular basis. They would not stop until either they all died, or they got what they wanted. Human bodies.

"Are they always like this?" Gregory looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Are they always.. this... dumb? Like they just run at us and achieve practically nothing."
"Well, that's just how they are normally, but now that you mention it... lately they've gotten stupider. I wander what's going on... The fungus might have mutated and so it's controlling them differently..."

After that, the attack stopped, and the residents of the settlement were free to enjoy their dinner and finish the day.