Chapter 21: The Reaper Death Scythe

The feel of the autumn chill brought a smile to Sam’s lips. It was getting colder, but the cool night air was a familiar feeling. She’d been going to the Boffer Club for over a month now, and by this point she would admit it openly: it was some of the most fun she’d had.

Not just good exercise, not just a way to pass the time, Sam was doing something she enjoyed, because it was fun.

All she needed to do was ignore that little nagging voice in the back of her head that was telling her to be careful of history repeating itself.

It won’t be like that this time. I won’t let it.

“So, you excited about today?” Sam turned to Mary in defiance of those doubts, startling her.

“Y-Yeah, I guess…”

While Sam’s skills had improved a little, Mary… wasn’t getting better. Staves were hard to learn, apparently, and she still needed a lot of practice. And the only one light enough for her to use was Andy’s, and she would only lend it to Mary part-time.

Speaking of Andy, they ran into her and Josh on the way to the field. Jamie was going to have to skip today, and the goth girl wasn’t about to miss the opportunity. She’d unzipped her hoodie to show off her cleavage, which Sam found to be a questionable decision in this weather.

“Is it just me, or are there less people here than usual?” Sam asked as they stepped onto the field. Carly and Nick weren’t here yet, and Daniel was the only other freshman.

Josh sighed. “It’s really hard to get numbers up. We’re lucky we’ve got you guys as regulars. Maybe Shannon will come though…”

Andy’s lips pinched into a scowl.

“Okay, guys, I talked with Carly,” Mike called everyone over as they grabbed their weapons. “She and Nick are going to be coming, she just needed to use the car.”

He sighed as he said that, and had a look of exasperation on his face. Sam had a bad feeling.

Then she realized Cain wasn’t here, and perked right up. Tony and Mac were the only other regulars, meaning they had a pretty small group tonight at just eight people.

“I was thinking we should start with a game of Zombies while we wait for more people to show up,” Mike suggested. It was one of the games they could play with only a handful of members.

“Perfect!” Carly’s voice echoed from the parking lot. “And I’ll be the Zombie Lord!”

Carly marched onto the field with Nick in tow, and everyone did a double-take. She wasn’t carrying her thin sword.

She was carrying an abomination.

“What is that?!” Mary asked, her jaw dropping in shock. She held her spear up in front of her instinctively, terrified of the beast in Carly’s possession.

A wicked smile crossed the brunette’s face as she stopped in front of them, presenting her weapon for appraisal.

“This,” she said with a proud smile, “is The Reaper Death Scythe!”

Nick sighed, burying his face in his hand.

The scythe was taller than Carly was, and about a third of it was made out of cutting surface. The blade bent out like a hook, nearly a foot of thick foam covered in black and silver tape. On the other end was a smaller point, like a spear, which was probably there for a counterweight more than anything. Even with the handles coming out of the side, it looked like she could barely swing the damn thing.

“…You finished it?” Mac gasped, his eyes wide with amazement. “Dude, that’s so cool!”

“The perfect weapon for a Zombie Lord…” Carly grinned wildly. “A scythe that can rip apart any who stand in its way! Rend havoc upon the living, and rise to do my bidding, lost servants of darkness!” She threw back her head and cackled like a lunatic.

Sam was still trying to figure out the physics of how you would even use something like that, it must have weighed thirty pounds.

“That is safe, r-right?” Mary asked, trembling. Sam sympathized, of all the Boffer weapons she’d seen, this one looked like it could do some real damage.

“It’s safe,” Nick said. The look on his face wasn’t a ringing endorsement, though.

“And badass,” Andy said, nodding eagerly. Her eyes were gleaming with gothy approval. “Way to go, Nick. Make one for me next.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

Mike just sighed. “Well, Carly will be the Zombie Lord this round, I guess. Let’s see if she can even get any kills with that thing.”

“Oh, just watch me,” she promised, raising the scythe menacingly towards him. She took her position while everyone gathered in front of her, watching her warily.

Sam wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing. Carly kept the most threatening part of the scythe (the scythe part) hanging beside her, nearly resting on the ground. What she pointed at them instead was the spear tip.

Still, no one tried to get close, not even Mike. He just waited back to see what would happen. Sam had to agree with his decision. One of the most frustrating lessons she’d learned in dealing with Mac and Tony was how difficult facing a weapon with longer range was.

Speaking of Mac and Tony, they both approached. As soon as they did, though, Carly quickly shifted her hip forward while she pulled her left hand back. The leverage of her swing sent the scythe’s head sailing forward, forcing them both back.

“That’s a real beast,” Mac had to admit. “Still, it’s blockable!” He lunged forward as Carly swung again, raising his shield. He easily deflected the blade, jabbing Carly in the chest with his spear.

Sam sighed. Yeah, that’s what she figured. Menacing in theory, worthless in practice.

Carly scowled. “Just try that again!” She threatened, returning to the respawn point.

Mac shrugged and obliged her. This time, though, the Death Scythe’s insidiousness made itself known. Because Carly didn’t swing for a kill shot. She aimed for the legs, and with the side of her weapon, she managed to get one.

That changed the entire dynamic of the game.

As the Zombie Lord, Carly was functionally invincible. Any injury or death she could just respawn away. But that wasn’t the case for the humans. Their wounds remained until death. Sam quickly realized at the same time everyone else did that Carly’s scythe may be easy to block in a fair fight, but if she aimed for the legs it was almost impossible to counter.

In a second everyone scattered like bowling pins. Carly threw back her head again and laughed.

Sam got about ten yards away in a dead sprint before coming to a stop, taking a moment to check her surroundings.

That was when she saw another obvious weakness of the “terrifying” Reaper Death Scythe.

Carly was all of five foot nothing, and was lugging around a solid wrecking ball of weapon. Which meant she was running about as fast as an arthritic tortoise. Sam could evade her all night without even getting winded.

Mary was a different story, however.

“Haa… haa…” Even with all their stamina training, Sam couldn’t create miracles. She couldn’t turn lead into gold, and she couldn’t turn an anorexic shut-in into Elaine Thompson-Herah.

She sighed, trudging over to Mary in order to save her from Carly’s wicked scythe.

“Sam!” Carly brightened as she approached. “You came to get me, how nice!”

“What can I say,” Sam grinned. “If I kill you, you’ve gotta go respawn, right? That’s a nice five-minute break right there.”

“If you think you can,” Carly teased, pointing the end of her scythe at her.

Sam tried to circle around her, but to her surprise, Carly was fairly agile. She was able to keep in front of her, and Sam had to be careful about getting too close. But as they circle, she was slowly inching into the center, just one lunge and she could get her.

Then Carly surprised her by thrusting forward with the spear tip. Startled, Sam stepped back and deflected the strike, only for her opponent to immediately pull back. By the time she realized why it was too late.

Sam had her sword raised in front of her to block, but with a flick of her wrist Carly was able to pull the scythe up around her guard and hit her in the back, killing her before she even had a chance to strike. She swore under her breath.

“Welcome to the team,” Carly crowed. As Sam marched to the respawn point, she realized she wasn’t even mad. The scythe had some weaknesses, sure, but she’d also underestimated it. Because of its odd shape, Carly was able to attack at angles Sam wouldn’t think of, making it hard for her to defend. It was a complete difference from all the ways she was used to fighting, and she had to admit- it was pretty clever.

Next time, though, I’ll get her, Sam promised. But first, the game.

Once Sam became the first zombie, the tone of the game went through another drastic shift. Now, people weren’t safe just staying out of Carly’s range. Sam brought speed and mobility to the zombies’ side, and she used that to try and lure her opponents closer to Carly so the Zombie Lord could finish them off.

And then there was Mary. Poor, pitiful Mary. She didn’t have the speed to get away, or the skill to fight back. She was basically zombie bait. So as Sam watched from across the field as Carly raised her scythe and swung at the scared little lamb, she sighed in sympathy for her.

But somehow she survived it.

Daniel rushed in, raising his sword and blocking the scythe swing, to both girls’ surprise.

“Daniel?!” Mary sputtered.

“Quick, get her! I’ll hold it back!” He shouted, pushing down hard on the heavy scythe, breaking Carly’s stance. Mary fumbled for her spear and jabbed it forward, catching the Zombie Lord in the shoulder as she tried to regain her balance.

Sam added another note to the Reaper Death Scythe’s ever-expanding list of weaknesses. You couldn’t use it with one hand. Carly didn’t even try. She just grumbled to herself and marched back to the respawn point.

“I… I did it!” Mary gasped in disbelief. It wasn’t quite a kill, but it was the closest thing she’d gotten so far. “I did it!”

Sam beamed at her. Even Mary could do it if she tried!

She was so proud she let her bask in the glory for a couple more seconds before sneaking up and stabbing her in the back.

“Hey, come on!” Daniel frowned, turning towards her, but Sam was quick and he was a big target. He managed to kill her but she took an arm, and that was a trade she was happy with.

She’d learned her first few games that as a zombie you should prioritize taking body parts over trying to go for a risky kill. Even if you died. Sam would come back. Daniel’s arm wouldn’t.

Refreshed and ready for more killing, Sam charged ahead of her slower compatriots, looking for new prey. And what a coincidence, Mac was only a couple meters away, and still had only one leg.

Delicious.

With a grin that would make Carly proud, Sam charged him head-on. She evaded his thrust and went low, taking advantage of his stature to claim his other leg. With the handled, she pulled back and circled around him as he sank to the ground, stabbing him in the back at her leisure.

Being a zombie was really-

Foam hit her in the back, nearly knocking her over in shock. She whirled around to see Mike standing behind her with his sword raised, his eyes narrowed fiercely. She sighed and trudged back to respawn. She could take out Mac and Tony without too much trouble, but Mike was just on a different level from everyone else. She wondered if she’d ever get good enough to beat him in an even fight.

The match wore on and the tide started to turn. With faster fighters like Mac and now Andy joining the zombies, the humans were really losing ground. Sam finished off Daniel and turned towards Tony next, when she saw Nick. He didn’t have his funny sword this time, he was testing something new. Two short spears with curved orange blades, and on the other end were strange round shapes that looked like big “O”s.

“Are those cutting surfaces?” Sam questioned, glancing at the strange shapes.

“Yep,” he grinned, stepping forward and thrusting one at her. She evaded it quickly, swinging her sword to keep him back. He may have been wielding spears, but they were so short it didn’t give him any extra range.

Still, it was two weapons to one, so she had to be careful.

“Aha!” Mac charged at Nick’s back, thrusting at him. Startled, Nick stepped to the side and parried the strike, which opened him up perfectly. Sam smiled triumphantly, lunging forward and swinging her sword up to hit him in the chest.

The “SMACK” was satisfying.

The “Yowp!” of pain he made wasn’t.

“Dude, you good?!” Mac gasped.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Nick nodded, standing back up. He turned to Sam with a worried look in his eye. “Sam, can I see your sword for a second, please?”

Sam nodded, handing it over. He turned it over in his hands and squeezed the foam in a few places. He frowned.

“Just as I thought… it’s not Boffer safe anymore.”

“Wh-What?!” Sam asked.

He swung it lightly against his arm, wincing. “The foam’s gotten too compressed from how hard it’s been used. It’s not absorbing the impact enough to be safe for the club.”

Sam turned pale. “I-I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“No, no, it’s fine!” Nick assured her with a smile. “It’s not you! This is an old weapon, that’s all. It’s been used so much, it was gonna give out eventually.”

Her heart sank. “Does that mean I won’t be able to use it anymore?”

Nick gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, sorry. It’s too risky. Come on, let’s go pick out a new one.”

He handed Golden Rose back to her, and it suddenly felt so much heavier. She looked down at the shiny red and gold tape of the sword she’d used so much these past weeks.

I guess this is goodbye, partner…

If Sam was the kind of person who cried, that thought would have driven her to tears.