Nobody else laughed at my incredible humor, the only logical reason being that nobody here understands a word I'm saying. A damn shame.

Mild shock adorns the faces of most of the people around me, which I get. The giant bugs aside I did act a bit unhinged a moment there, people are sensitive about people having mental breaks, especially around their homes. I'm good now though, I’m zen, anger came, anger went, I’m an empty vessel, more embarrassed than anything.

I start wiping Belle on my shirt but realize i'm just making it worse since im drenched in goop all over my front so i find a relatively clear spot and start again. The people around me break out of their fung and start moving again, some still staring but many moving toward the corpses littered in front of their village, and collecting thrown arrows. Once I'm relatively satisfied Belle wont smear bug juice on my holster i slide her back in the polymer carrier and move to where Freya rests, a few yards from where I landed on my ass. I'm so ashamed, my gun must’ve caught air when i was sacked, she doesn't deserve that.

Making my way over, Vema and Co. also head in my direction, but I'm a little focused right now, gotta make sure I didn't make any new marks on my gun... naw, she's practically an heirloom, not just a gun. As I lean over and pick up Freya, Vema starts to talk but I cut her off before she can get started.

“Give me a minute here, Vema. I gotta look at something real fast.”

Saying her name seemed to have caught her attention and she thankfully stays quiet while I do my inspection. Few drops of bug blood, thin film of dirt along the whole right side, some dirt down the barrel, new likely superficial ding about a third of the way down the barrel, and a new few gashes on the left side of the stock, upsettingly deep, but probably also superficial. Doesn't look like any major damage, thank god. I clear off as much dirt as I can for now, and rack the slide a few times, causing everyone in Vemas group to take a step back in apparent fear/shock: frock or shear which i'm sure are both already actual words. No shells eject, confirming Freya was empty for the last bugs assault, and i didnt short stroke, like I thought. I dont really know how to feel about that, part of me is glad it wasnt human error, and part of me feels like a fucking idiot for not realizing i was out of shells. With that conflicting feeling in my chest, I sling Freya over my left shoulder and turn to Vema, then gesture ‘go ahead.’

She still holds the fear in her eyes, just barely, just for a moment, but it's gone, and I almost doubt I even saw it, but I did. I know that look, I get it from time to time, out shopping, or at a gas station. Usually out-of-staters, who’ve never seen someone walking around with a gun on their hip, i never understood why people go to a state known to have lax gun control laws, then freak out when they see someone carrying one. how fucking stupid do you have to be to go somewhere different, then be wierded out the place is different? Then i, a law abiding citizen, get harassed by some holier-than-thou waste of space who makes me out to be some fucking monster just because i want to defend myself should the worst ever happen. You don't drive a car without airbags do you, you fucking parrot? You ever go on a rollercoaster without safety bars peanut brain? Whew.

Well, if some group of people have lived out here for god-only-knows how long then they probably aren't that familiar with guns, so i wont hold their impressions against them. They might not even know what guns are, nobody’s reacted to them until now anyway, i know they’ve seen Freya and Belle while i’ve been about the village.

Anyway, Vema starts talking, “Pah-Pahuvwa Vasco thank you for assistance, The Woods wraith is a fearsome thing, but you have proven yourself a rival in that regard. Most prove their bravery by surviving an encounter with The Wood, with the display of force from you I now believe with all my heart Pahuvwa Nunu was understating what he mentioned regarding you living comfortably alone in The Wood. I would like to extend, once again, an invitation asking you to reside here in the village with us, should you not accept, know you are always welcome to visit our village henceforth.”

No fucking thanks. Willy Wonka could turn this whole fucking forrest into a reallife Candy Land, then cut off a patch of his own sour-sweet skin, dip it in gold, write ‘admits two’ on it and hand deliver the golden ticket to me and id tell him to use it as a condom and fuck himself with it ‘cause im not camping in this godforsaken place ever again, nostalgia and sentiment be damned. Not by myself at least, three people minimum, so someone will always be awake to keep watch no millipede-from-king-kong mother of hellspawn comes skittering out of the darkness.

Know what? Nevermind, i was right the first time i’m never camping here again, i don't need anyone who im still close enough to, to go camping with and hear the little bitch screams i’ll make if i see that shit.

“Thanks, I'll keep that in mind, but i'm still heading out with Dane” I smile and nod and point the direction away from this place causing Vemas faintly optimistic look to melt into a neutral one at the mention of Dane and pointing away. Maybe mention giant fuckoff animals in the brochure next time.

With no-one saying anything after my decloration on getting the fuck outta here the atmosphere becomes dangerously close to awkward, exactly the type of shit im trying to avoid right now, so i start looking around aimlessly for a moment before my sight locks on to the path of destruction I had a heavy hand in making, and i forget im standing in front of anyone.

Fifteen dead bugs killt. 50 meters is a… unideal distance for buckshot, and big as they are, these bugs aren't quite big enough to be shooting them at that distance with this ammo, it's just barely in range for something like a deer, and you’d want to be closer to have a better chance at a killshot, it's a hunters duty to keep an animal suffering to a minimum afterall. Despite that, not only did one of the beetles die around that distance but I also managed a two-fer due to the spread of the shot, so technically even with my blunder with that flying bastard I still came out on top.

Ah, that's a lie, im never gonna let myself live that down.

So fifteen is actually a lot of corpses to look at all at once, and while its not the first time I've seen sights like this, it does seem a bit surreal looking at gargantuan beetles next to the villagers around them. I guess it's always a strange sight seeing bodies lying about a field, no matter the species.

The first time I've seen so many corpses in one place was while I was quail hunting with a buddy of mine, and his buddies, someone who isn't part of my now previous group… a work buddy lets say. Digress. Anyway, while we were all walking in a line about 30 meters apart the guy on the far right end called everyone over, which was unusual, we go out hunting to hunt and keep anything interesting to say for when we take a break. Well, we all walk over to him, which takes some time since the guy on the other end of the line was about 120 meters away, and low and behold some biblical shit meets our sight. A field of rotting cattle. At the end of the trip we had a total body count to be somewhere in the mid thirties. We did some redneck investigating and it seemed to us, some low down pieces of shit took a joyride in the middle of the desert, found a herd of cattle and opened fire, riding down any that tried to get away. Real fucked up shit right? I hope the owner of those cattle found whoever did that and got some frontier justice, and now they rest in a shallow pit somewhere near all those rotten carcasses. I'm not just saying that neither, i really do, some people don't deserve the gift of life that their mother gave them, and im sure as fuck aint gonna mourn someone who spends their life doing shit like that.

The scene in front of me does remind me of that experience but the smell is way different. These are fresh corpses and somehow it doesn't seem the insides of the beetles smell any different from the outside, it just gets stronger as you get closer. The cattle on the other hand did stink. Dozens of bodies out in the desert sun for what had to be between a week and a month, and you’re damn sure gonna get watery eyes walking up on them. To be honest though, the smell didn't bother me too much until i was practically face to flesh, hell when the wind was right it smelled almost sweet, which made me a bit concerned for myself, especially when two of the guys we were with started dry heaving the moment they barely caught a whiff.

Thinking about it, right now i would prefer rotting cow to fresh killed beetle, the musk just keeps hitting my nose in a way that feels like there's a miner in my head swinging a pickaxe at my forehead from the inside. I'm just glad I don't have to touch these monster freaks again.

So, final tally: Freya gets seven kills and an assist, two for Belle, and six dead at the rocks and spear and arrowtips of the villagers. Well, unless some of the ones i hit just fell down and the villagers finnished them off while i was incapacitated, but im counting them anyway.

The villagers in question, once finished with gathering their thrown supplies, start swarming the giant beetle corpses and drag or carry them toward the village. Dear lord please tell me there wasn't bug meat in that stir-fry… ah fuck it, i am sort of an asshole so i’ve probably eaten a loogie or two after deciding to go out to a resturaunt while having a bad day, and honstly i prefer big bug beef to phlem fondue.

I don't want to talk about the weird shit i’ve possibly eaten anymore.

Watching the villagers drag, or team up and carry bug corpses i notice they aren't touching the ones i killed. That seems a little odd to me, but it's not like i'm going to volunteer to help with that job, i already did my fair share of the work, and its not like im gonna be the one who has to deal with leaving a bunch of rotting animals outside my home.You know, ‘i cook, you do the dishes,’ or, ‘i kill a hord of huge fuckin bugs, and you pick up the corpses.’ plus its not like there's a shortage of villagers to help, even without the 30 or so who ‘fought’ there's still enough villagers to have two carry each body.

There is a job I am willing to do, so I start with it; i walk to where i opened fire, and pick up the spent shells, the 12 gauge first since they're closer, and easier to spot on the ground because the artificial red color they have, the 45.’s casings will probably be harder to find since brass is a bit more of a natural color, even if shiny, and they tend to eject all over the place, where Freya will chuck spent shells in almost the same spot every time, provided you’re standing still. Spent casings are good for reloading, and reloading is good for my wallet. My uncle was the one who started reloading years ago, and I never really go into it until fairly recently after he kept going on and on about how he was saving money on rounds and could spend more on gas to get to the range rather than the bullets. He wore me down, so i went over a couple weekends to see how its done. A simple enough process: deprime, clean the shells, make sure there are no faults in the shell, then put in the powder and projectile. Obviously it's a bit more involved than that, but that's the process. I’ve made a few batches by myself now but i'm no expert; my uncle has caught me accidentally double loading a batch before, a good recipe for if you want a bloody stump where you used to have a hand, so needless to say I don't plan on buying a reloader for myself anytime soon, but these casings will make for good practice, at the very least.

As I finish collecting four red shotgun shells and two blue, remembering I did load two slugs, and also recalling one of the last three bugs turn into a localized blood shower, I notice two of the villagers saddling up behind me. A boy and a girl, both are probably younger than me by a couple years, and both with the villagers trademarked grin ™ sitting on their faces. I turn to them and stare for a few seconds, their smile still never wavering, before making a “well?” gesture prompting them both to start speaking at once.

“Pahuvwa Vas-.”

“Pahuvwa Vasco! Would you like help collecting the Feshea?! Or maybe those clinky-tinky things?! Thank you for standing with our defenders against The Wood! I skip foraging with the elders since they get so near The Wood and I haven't even gone to collect peace stones yet, even though everyone else got theirs so long ago! GraMa Cha says it's okay though because someone will always be able to protect the village, it sounded so silly when she said it but now someone who isn't even born blessed stopped The Woods anger so quickly it has to be true! I was scared for you when that Feshea almost ran you through, but now it's over it was really funny the way your arms flopped around like this after you got knocked over!”

They started speaking at once but the guy was snuffed out almost immediately, buried under the onslaught of the girls loud, bubbly personality. You don't think indeginous people would even begat someone with a personality like that, but i guess nothing’s set in stone in this world, i mean someone having spunk out here is a little less shocking than… everyfucking thing else thats been happening today. Most of what she said went over my head as I was in a bit of a daze because of how loud the girl was, but I definitely did not appreciate the way she grabbed at her chest with one hand and flung her other around in a spastic manner while crossing her eyes and sticking her tounge out in an effort to mimic me as i was stuggling to catch a breath after a bug the seize of a big dog tried to reenact its cousins on the highway using me as a replacement for a windshield.

I don't say anything, since they won't understand what i say anyway, and bend down to pick up a brass shell casing sitting by my boot. I give it a quick dustoff and show the two in front of me what i want to grab off the ground. The boy smiles, nods and gets right to looking around on the ground. The girl immediately starts talking again.

“Oh wow! What is that?! It's so shiny! Are you looking for those?! I’ve never seen a part of a Feshea look like that! Wait, it must be yours right?! Is it part of that loud stick thing?! If I find one can i keep it?! Hold on, i'm going to go look!”

Sighing in relief, I look toward the dead bug a few feet from me, the one that flew at me; and kick the corpse over, finding two more casings under where the cadaver was. It makes sense, the thing was atop me when I shot it, and Belle, while unpredictable, does usually eject shells almost straight backward, so straight into the ground in this case.

Looking around, I see the boy who came over bend down and pick something up, the girl is wandering around, too quickly to actually spot something if she were even close enough to the area the casings would likely be, but she is a good 20 meters away, so if she happens to find something I doubt it’ll be a casing. The rest of the villagers have mostly finished collecting their share of the corpses, and whatever they threw, i just wish they would’ve taken ‘mine’ too so I didn't feel like I have to clean up a mess I made.

I start walking to my car, I need a drink.

I open the back of my truck and fish a beer out of the cooler and open it as i sit on the tailgate to watch the remnants of the villagers walk out of sight behind their rock house things with beetle corpses in tow; nine bodies are still left untouched in the field. The bubbly girl and the compliant boy are still out in the field looking around, and Dane and co. with Vema and co. are where I left them after staring into the field to avoid an awkward situation earlier, just talking amongst themselves.

I sit and stare for a long time. There's so much to think about but i can't grip a single thought, hell I don't know if there's anything going on up there in the first place. Maybe i'm just hollow; as empty physically as i feel mentaly. I was so… terrified, just for a moment, all encompassing, gripping, cold, fear. I’ve been in what I thought to be life and death situations before: bad drivers running a light as I was turning, or a slip while rock climbing. When my parents were having it out, and took a brief respite from their screaming match to look at each other with such hatred, I thought that night, somebody was going to die . This time though, i was so stupid. I always knew what I had to do in each situation, I knew what the right thing to do was, even with adrenaline, or anger or whatever trying to hinder me, I always had a cool enough head. I

forgot I had another arm. Im so fucking dumb, and it was no big thing either, it was a fucking bug that trips me up, after everything i’ve been through. Maybe it's just because it was such a clear struggle, that things life, or mine, kill or be killed. killed.

Did that word always weigh so much?

…

“Pahuvwa Vasco, would you like help loading the Feshea into your cart? It's no problem if you would like the help.”

Another new face, one of the villagers. One of the ones holding a spear. There's black sludge on the speartip I shake my head no and point to the man, hoping he’ll just take the corpses and leave me alone. I really don't want those fuckers in my car. He seems skeptical about what i'm trying to say, but turns and walks away which is good enough for me. Unfortunately the two teens walk up, seemingly done with their task, but looking fairly dispirited. hmm, maybe I should start a club. Bummers R Us.

“Pahuvwa Vasco i'm sorry, we could only find two of these items. If you’d like, we can still assist with harvesting the Feshea?” the guys starts, looking at me like a kicked puppy while handing me two brass shells. The girl looks worse, like she might have a breakdown any minute. I set down my drink and unholster Belle, the two take a jumpy step back, then release the magazine to see how many rounds are still loaded. Just two, plus one in breech so three total so I shot five times earlier: wow, we found all the spent casings. Holstering Belle, I look down at the light clinking i keep hearing, the two casings in my hand keep bouncing off each other as i notice my hand shaking violently. The bottle next to me prespires from top to bottom, not a sip lower than when i opened it.

“Here.” I say as I hold out the casings for the teens in front of me. I don't know how long I've been sitting here but they probably put way more effort into looking for these shells than necessary. I could have counted how many rounds I fired earlier and showed them how many were out there, or just not bothered picking them up at all, i'm not that cheap, I just almost reflexively pick up my spent shells, and wasn't really thinking when i asked them to find them.

They both look a little wary at first, but shortly they both take a step forward simultaneously, and tentatively hold out their hands. When I drop a shell in each of their palms they both show such a beaming smile, i almost feel guilty about them helping me; that's some cheap labor right there.

I stand, grab my beer and chug the contents in one go and hand the bottle to one of the teens as I pass, on my way to Dane.

Walking up to Dane, Vema, Nunu, and everyone else, they stop their chat a moment to acknowledge me, and Dane says something to me in his course sounding language, prompting Vema to translate.

“Merchant Dane would like to know why you have not collected your Feshea. It seems Merchant Dane is anxious to depart swiftly else The Wood Continue its wrathful display. I have been told Feshea corpses are fairly valuable in PakeCrest, and you do have claim to those that you have vanquished. I have requested Young Man Kah, and Young One Mehn to assist you, did they not aid you?”

I look over to the corpses in question and sigh. I hold up nine fingers and gesture to the bodies, then point the ‘four’ at Dane, and the ‘five’ at Vema. thankfully they seem to understand, but seem doubtful about my intentions. After a short time trying to convince them I don't want a bunch of dead bugs they seem genuinely grateful, as both round up their collective groups to go collect the beetles still in the field, and deposit them either in the village, or the wagon.

That buissness wraped up, i get Danes attention and wave my arm in the direction he came from, and say, “lets get the fuck outta here.” showing a big smile he copies my wave and shouts something i imagine translates to ‘okay guys, lets get the fuck outta here’ and moves to his wagon.

I move toward my truck when Vema speaks up again.

“Pahuvwa Vasco, i would like to thank you again for your bravery and generosity. Merchant Dane stated earlier he would like Guardsman Jas to accompany you in your trek back to town. Remember Pahuvwa, you are welcome here anytime. May Chahmeya keep you, and you keep the strength to always move forward.”

“Thanks i guess. You too. See you i guess. Keep it chill Nunu.” and with that, I turn again walking toward my truck once more. This time I hear a set of footsteps behind me, and sigh again. I won't just be able to drive away now with some guy in my car.

Well some good’s come out of getting so scared of dying by a bug: Its really taken my mind off this breakup.