Chapter 7 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 7 — Whataburger

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Hunt · Previous: Chapter 6 — Miriam, Pony and Bianca · Next: Chapter 8 — The Night Wyrm's web · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

The town was a “Small Bugbear Settlement,” but at night, I only saw the funeral bell mushr

Summary

A small bugbear settlement, already bombed out and looted by hunters who moved through 'like locusts', its quest graveyard dug up; the funeral bells deactivate traps inside the walls. Fist bumps with Miriam and Prepotente, who is suddenly acting like a best friend, and a promise to stay out of each other's way. The saferoom is a Whataburger. In the personal space: Katia back with Very Sullen, Louis and Firas, and Britney, the Ukrainian, in a corner and pissed off as usual; Chris and Clay-ton in the bar waiting for Meadow Lark. Mordecai — 'a bootleg Monchhichi with a bad haircut', per Donut — waits on the counter with his arms crossed, and Donut pre-empts the lecture: yes it was idiotic, no she will not leave him, yes he will tell her the plan from now on, and 'we are not going to have some long, drawn-out storyline where we break up and then get back together. We're already doing that with Katia.' Carl: the barrels were a quarter of what he could build, and he has a plan for a huge one. Thirteen hours to the release.

Characters

• Carl — 'It was one or two square blocks'; a bigger bomb planned.
• Princess Donut — Delivers Mordecai's lecture for him and closes it.
• Mordecai — Arms crossed on the counter; 'open up your prize boxes and reset your buffs.'
• Katia Grim — Back, and irritated: he said nothing stupid today.
• Louis and Firas — Firas wants Whataburger fries; Firas's girlfriend is not his girlfriend.
• Britney Proskurina — In a corner, pissed off as usual; not Firas's girlfriend.
• Miriam Dom — Fist bumps and a promise to stay in touch by chat.
• Prepotente — Suddenly a best friend.

Locations

• The bugbear settlement — Looted, bombed, and trap-free inside its mushroom guards.
• Safe rooms — A Whataburger with an orange-and-white cup.

Motifs

• The hunters — Thirty-five dead; 'they're all going to be coming for you.'
• 'Goddamnit, Donut' — The break-up storyline she will not have.