Redneck X Swamp

 

 

     Cleetus Opened his eyes, yawned, and stood up from the Moss bed; he looked around, trying to wake himself up. Then he reached up with his stumps to rub his eyes, only to stop at the last second. “Fuck almost poked my eyes, got to remember these things.”

  He looked at his stumps only to see the new addition he installed, two poorly made hooks he created using Hamza’s cabin; Cleetus yawned and looked around the cabin. He saw the many gadgets that Hamza made.

  Slowly he stood up and walked to one of them; he opened his mouth and bit down on a rope, then slowly he brought it down, he could hear the mechanism working.

  He saw the machine moving, small little contraptions helping each other, a little bit of steam escaping now and then. Then, finally, he heard a splash of water, and he knew that the machine was fishing out a fish from the tank.

  Cleetus saw a fish with small crab legs attached to it, wiggling around trying to escape the machines. Still, it failed, and he saw the machine gut the fish, descale it, and finally, a flame thrower grilled the fish.

  The machine dropped the fish on a plate, then a cup of water was placed next to the fish; Cleetus sighed and sat down on a wooden chair. “Man, this cabin is good… but dammit, do I feel like a dog.” He pulled his head back and lowered it to the fish, then he began eating without using his stumps.

  He enjoyed the taste of the fish; the flesh tasted like a mix of BBQ beef jerky and grilled shrimp. The crab legs were hard to crack, but they tasted like caramelized onions when he slurped the flesh.

  Slowly he looked at the cup and placed it on his stumps, then he gulped the freshwater, it tasted kind of musky on account that it was swamp water, but Cleetus had no choice. He could feel the small creatures entering his body, but he paid them no mind; they didn’t kill him yet, so he did not worry much.

  Cleetus was done with his breakfast, did his morning routine that he kept for a month now. First, he did a couple of stretches, then as Hamza advised, he did 100 sit-ups, pushups, and squats. Finally, when he was done, he walked out of the small cabin and did a 10 KM run around the small Island the cabin was in. When he finished his morning workout, he inspected the repellant lines.

  Finally, Cleetus went to the wooden dock where a lazy hammock was swinging in the breeze; next to the hammock was Hamza’s book. He lazily rolled on the hammock and opened the book.

  Just when he opened the book, he heard a scream in the distance. Cleetus turned his head and saw ten people getting mauled and eaten alive by the monster. After a month of constant screaming, Cleetus got used to the screams, and he simply opened the book to page four hundred.

  “Chapter four, Nen, and how the fuck can you obtain it?!”

  Cleetus shrugged and continued reading; so far, the book has been great; it showed a map of the local area, how to survive said area, how to use the cabin, and more.

  “Wazzup, you miserable bastards, I hope you survived so far because guess what?! I just figured out how to unlock Nen! HAHA, fucking awesome dude.”

  The next thing he saw is a picture of Nen, showing the different aspects of it.

  “Now since I unlocked my Nen, I found out that I am a specialist, but I ain’t telling you my powers fuck you! HEHEHE Dave gave me that idea, but all I can tell you is that I figured out how to put Pictures in my book! So check it out; this is me. This is lil Dave, and this is the fucking map HAHA!”

  Cleetus saw all these pictures, and he smiled a little. “Good to put a face to Hamza at least.” Then he grew disturbed a little because of Dave; that doll looks creepy as fuck.

  “Now, let me explain how to unlock Nen; there is the hard way! That’s what I did.” The following words are all rambling of a mad man, but Cleetus figured out that he unlocked his Nen because of the constant screaming of people dying next to him.

  “And there is the easy way, but there is a small chance of 80% you may die HAHAHA! So I suggest you use the easy way because you may not survive the swamps.”

  He saw another photo of a vial. “Now I’ve hidden this vial full of my Nen aura; if you hook that shit up, it will kick start your Nen, but the danger is that when your Nen escapes, you have to hold it in, or you may die.”

  Cleetus grew a little bit excited when he learned more about Nen, slowly with every page, he learned more and more. He learned about the aspect of Nen, how they work, how to control them. And what really caught his interest is the last part.

  “Now I hope you understood the deferent parts of Nen, you fucker, but if you wish to know what type you are, just get a small leaf and a glass of water, then we will see. I, on the other hand, got specialist, but don’t tell Dave I told you that!”

  “Now, this is the end of chapter four; I hope you learn all that shit. To get the vial of Nen, I’ve hidden it in ruins north of the cabin. Now you may ask yourself, Why the fuck would I hide it up there. And I will tell you why IT’S A PRANK, BRO HAHA! I did that shit to prank Dave! Man, am I so funny.”

  Cleetu’s face morphed into a sour one. “Fucking hell, man, why did a crazy dude like you survive this shit.” He sighed in defeat, then he heard another pair of screaming.

  “NO, DON’T EAT MY WIFE AHHHHHH!” He heard the sound of flesh getting pulled and bones snapping; this reminded Cleetus of pulled pork.

  Another scream. “NO! BABY DON’T DIE I LOVE YOU!” A snap and silence.

  Cleetus stayed there for a moment absorbing it all in. “Yeah, I think I know why you went, man Hamza.” He opened the book again and read the final passage of the chapter.

  “Yo, this is Dave… Don’t tell Hamza, but there is a small canoe I built; I’ve hidden it under the cabin, use it to reach the ruins. But, fair warning, don’t get near the Bloodsuckers or the death archipelago; that place will kill you if you don’t have Nen.”

  Cleetus closed the book and got off the hammock, then he peeked under the cabin, only to see a small canoe parked underneath the cabin. “Well… it seems like Dave is the sane one in this relationship.”

  He took a deep breath and pumped himself up. ‘Look, man, you don’t want to go mad like Hamza; just get your food, water, and survival stuff. Then get that canoe, find the Ruins, unlock this Nen thingy. And escape the swamps’

 He exhaled his breath. “You can do this shit, Cleetus! Go out there and make something of yourself; you died already, so what are you scared of? NOTHING! That’s right, you are God damn Cleetus Clifton Carson Jr., the World's best moonshiner!”

  Cleetus turned around and flipped the monster off; he saw the monster stop mid-bite and give him a curious look. “Fuck you, ya bitch! You won’t eat me; I am going to eat you!”

 The monster screeched and threw a half-eaten body at him, Cleetus dodged. “FUCK!” The body sailed and hit a specific bloody spot on the cabin. The cabin started up again, and he saw hooks take the body and throw it back at the monster. “Do we have to do this shit every day, Bobby!” Cleetus named the monster Bobby.

 

 

 

    After two days of gathering materials, food, and survival equipment, Cleetus opened his cabin door and Greeted Bobby. “Mornin Bobby, How’s breakfast?!”

  Bobby turned his head and screeched at Cleetus. Which only made Cleetus chuckle a little bit. Bobby started his morning routine, and in the middle of the training, he saw Bobby swim away from the portal. “Nice, now I can run away!”

   Cleetus quickly gathered his stuff and pulled the canoe out of its hiding place; he bit down on his hooks and changed them with a paddle hook he made.

   He pushed himself away from the cabin and lowered his body to hide. Slowly he rowed and rowed, away from the cabin. He saw the safe zone lines, and he took a deep breath, then he pushed himself.

  In the distance, he could see a small island with a lone weeping willow. ‘I just need to get past the island, and I am home free from Bobby’ He smiled to himself and paddled.

  When he approached the halfway point, he saw the mist surrounding the dissipate, and he could see the tree. With hope in his heart, he paddled some more.

  When he was about to reach the island, he felt something… Something big, His canoe began shaking from the force of whatever was swimming under the waters, and he held his breath.

  Cleetus grew nervous and stayed quiet; he could feel his heartbeat with each second. Like the drums of war, his heart sang of his demise, but he remained focused and held hope.

  To his left, he saw a great shadow emerge from the water; slowly, blue feathers that were soaked with water surfaced. He saw the beginning of a tongue searching for food. The tongue swiveled around searching for anything; it slowly pointed in his general direction. ‘Oh Lord, please save me! I will feed the homeless! I will be a good boy!’ he thought and prayed to his safety.

  And just when the tongue was about to focus on his canoe, he heard the distinct, familiar sound of screaming and the portal opening. The tongue instantly changed direction, and the massive body of Bobby spun around and charged to the portal.

  Cleetus stayed there in his fetal position, not trusting Bobby. But after a while, he heard the familiar sound of pulled pork. Instantly Bobby stood up and used all of his strength to push himself to the island.

  He huffed and puffed, he could feel his arms giving in, but his spirit and fear won’t let him lose hope, and finally, he reached the island hidden from Bobby. In front of him was the fishing zone that Hamza told him about, and finally, he took a deep gulp of air.

  Cleetus raised his arm up and removed the sweat from his brow. “HOLY SHIT, I SURVIVE THAT SHIT!”

  Cleetus stretched back and relaxed for a moment. ‘Ok, it should be easy sailing now; I just need to stay away from the west side, dodge the acid frogs and the clay monkeys, then I should be near the ruins.’

  Slowly he stood up and took his water bottle; he took a nice long sip of water. Then he opened his black eyes, he saw the distance he had to make, and he smiled. “Let’s do this.”

 

 

 

    Cleetus spent over five hours traveling; the mist obscured his vision. The poisonous clouds merged with the mist almost killed him; he dodged the acid frogs who spat acid at his canoe. The clay monkeys who covered their bodies with gray mud threw their shit at him. And it almost made him gag from the smell alone.

  Finally, he turned to the left from the lazy river and saw the Island that Hamza told him about. Cleetus parked and pulled the canoe inland.

  The island was covered with green wetland, the earth was covered in mud, and he could barely hold himself together. Then, nodding to himself, he saw the signs of the island matching the description of the book.

  Gently he walked forward inland, his mind was working hard, trying to find any danger, but luckily he found none. And after walking for an hour, he found the ruins.

  Green, bright moss covering the stone walls of the temple, massive walls that reached over fifty feet, each stone was ten feet wide and ten feet tall, the moss-hung to these walls akin to a spider web.

  Cleetus walked into the ruined temple; he traced his stump on the glowing green moss with each drag. He could feel the moss attach itself to him; when he removed his stump, he found it to be clean; not even a single speck of dust was on him.

  Ignoring the moss, Cleetus looked at the massive gate of the temple; he saw one of the wooden doors smashed open. He walked forward and looked at the broken gate. He saw a fist imprinted on the gate. Next to the fist was some Arabic writing; ignoring the writing, he understood that it was Hamza’s doing.

  Moving into the temple made his skin shiver from the unnatural cold around him; darkness greeted him, which made him light up a torch.

  He saw strange writings that blended together, forming pictures. Whenever he moved, the images changed, and the writing shifted with his movement. “I reckon I’ve seen this shit before… Mah cousin Cooter once had a picture like this, but how did these people do writings like this?”

  Cleetus walked forward and simply enjoyed the pictures on the walls; the first set of images showed people swimming in a great ocean. Behind them was a monster following them.

  Then the pictures changed to the people finding these lands and building a home. With each room he passed, he saw more of their history, their struggles, their wars with each other.

  Just when he got invested, the pictures stopped, and he saw a gate in Infront of him, a massive skull with an entrance under the crown. “Hold on now…. That skull looks like Bobby’s! What the fuck?”

  Cleetus walked into the maw of the beast; the skull alone was bigger than Bobby; he saw a wooden gate at the end of the skull. Cleetus gathered his courage, and his curiosity was on an all-time high.

 Pushing the door open resulted in a cracking sound of old damp wood. Then he walked forward; the room was massive in stature. An enormous staircase made out of bones leading to an altar of some sort.

  Walking in, he saw more pictures on the walls, and he finally understood. The first picture was of an old king sitting on his throne contemplating something; then, the old king demanded the construction of a magnificent temple.

  When the people finished the temple, the king was not satisfied and demanded a blood sacrifice. This stopped Cleetus. ‘How the hell? The pictures only show an old king-looking bored… how did I know?’

  Slowly he walked forward to the next picture, and he found the answer; somehow, the story entered his mind with each step he takes.

  Cleetus looked at the new set of paintings; it showed the king hunting a massive beast bigger than Bobby, an army clashed with the beast. Rain and blood poured covered the ground of the king’s people.

  Then it showed the king celebrating his victory with a massive suicide ritual. Next, it showed the king sacrificing a thousand virgins, and finally himself. Finally, they entombed the king and his virgins in this temple.

  Cleetus sighed to himself. He turned around, wishing to go to the alter, but something stopped him; a nagging whispering sensation called to him.

  He walked to this sensation, and he found a small set of writings in that strange language; the script spoke to him. They called the king mad and a traitor; he sacrificed the God of the swamp, and the swamp cursed them, the land will forever be closed. Only the worthy shall be allowed to pass the sandy gate.

  New information inserted itself into him; it showed a smaller Bobby Growing bigger and bigger. Still, it can never be the same as the God of the swamp. Bobby grew and grew, but there is something wrong with him.

  Bobby had an unstable blood lust. It attacked the villagers, massacred the people then defended the way out of the swamp.

  A new vision showed itself; this time, he knows the person. It was Hamza. He fought with the beast for days until he tricked it.

  Hamza gained a vial of green blood from Bobby; using the blood, Hamza covered himself with the green blood. Then, he walked through the sand gate. A massive storm of sand tried to push Hamza away, but the blood allowed him to pass.

  The vision stopped Cleetus blinked for a moment, and he looked at the writing. He searched it for a while and finally, in the corner he found it. Writing in Arabic, and it seems to be poorly made.

  Finally, he understood. “Seems like Hamza figured out how to send messages like them people. Thanks, buddy.”

  Cleetus smiled and walked back to the altar; he climbed the bone staircase; with each step he took, he heard his footstep echo across the temple. Finally, he reached the top of the altar, and he saw a tomb made out of bones.

  On top of the tomb was a mummified corpse of the king he saw in his visions. But the appearance of the king stopped him. The king was covered head to toe with mad writings; most of it was. ‘Hamza and Dave waz herez!’

  Cleetus sighed and looked at the king’s mouth. Something was stuck inside, and it seems to be glowing a faint color. He reached in, and with his hook, he pried it open.

  A stone vial that glowed from the bottom, covered with rope and chains. On the top of the vial was a golden cap. Next to the cap was a set of numbers. ’55, 540, 420, 69, 96,69,96,69.’

  Cleetus turned the vial around, trying to find any more clues, then it struck him. “The fucking book!”

  He opened the book and started flipping the pages, finally when he reached the final number. The book glowed for a second, and he heard a small tick.

  Turning the book around, he found nothing, but then he heard another tick, but this time it was from the vial. He saw the golden cap slowly pushing itself out. A long needle made from gold floated in the air, then it spun around, and without warning, it dashed to him.

  He reacted, but the needle was faster, and he felt a sharp amount of pain penetrating him; his nerves screamed at him. His voice made the temple shudder, but then something incredible happened. He felt a fantastic source of power.

  It felt like a thousand red bulls at two Am in the morning; a white glow seeped from his body; Cleetus felt amazing; he looked at the book again and opened the fourth chapter.

  He opened the warning part, and he read the instructions. “Aright Cleetus, you can do this! Just like moonshining, you have to control the fucking heat, Boi!”

  Cleetus imagined himself in the middle of the woods. The boiler for the moonshine was steaming, and all that alcoholic goodness was seeping away. He saw himself turning the gears on the boiler, controlling the valves, cooling the metal with cold water, but the steam won’t close.

  He saw himself get angry and demand that the boiler listens to him, for he is a redneck through and through. The boil screamed and screamed, but Cleetus was a man of his word, and he started hitting the boiler until it listened to him.

  Cleetus opened his eyes, and he saw a thin layer of white mist, much calmer than the raging storm it was.

  Just to test it out, Cleetus used his stump and punched one of the bones from the alter; instantly, the bone broke and flew.

  Cleetus stood there dumbfounded. “Dat was Nen I recon… Shit is awesome, Boi!” Cleetus began dancing an old Hillbilly dance to celebrate his victory.

 

 

 

  In another country far away, a massive city with skyscrapers that touched the clouds, a dark figure squatted on the rooftop.

  The figure took a deep puff from his pipe and exhaled a dark cloud of smoke. He looked down at the corrupt city with its evil people. “Last chance, Pudding! HAHAHAHHA! Tell me where you've hidden the porn!”

  The figure was handsome with long dark braided hair; his purple eyes danced with anticipation for unlocking secrets.

  Hamza turned around and looked at his masterpiece, a man hanging in the air, his skin was flayed, and he was hooked from his shoulders with dark metal hooks.

  The hanged man whimpered and cried. “Please! I won’t do it anymore! Please!”

 Hamza laughed and walked flamboyantly towards the chained man; with each step, Hamza’s facial features changed, from happy to mad, from mad to excited, to sad, and finally settled on a mad crazed look, his eyes dark filled with vengeance.

  His delicate finger caressed the chained and flayed victim with love. “Don’t worry, Pudding… I won’t hurt you much, but I really need to find those dirty, dirty porn photos of the first prince, I mean, really Pudding? He is only two years old; how much did you think you would have gotten if you sold it in the black market?”

  The chained man was about to replay, but another voice stopped him. “Come on, Hamza, stop playing with the victim.”

  From the corner, a small figure, almost doll-sized. Revealed itself. The figure was wearing a dark trench coat and an old-timey fedora. The doll was smoking a handmade cigar.

  When the chained victim saw the doll, he crapped himself. Hamza jumped back, dodging the smelly excrement. “Y-Y-You are D-Dave! The Sacramental Doll!”

 The victim thrashed around. “LET ME OUT! PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO DIE BY HIS HANDS!”

 Dave took a puff from his small cigar and exhaled. “Here we go again, just tell us where the fucking porn is, champ.”

 “Sure, fuck the money! It’s in….”

“Shush!” Dave turned his head and gave Hamza a strange look, Hamza in these rare moments, he was serious.

  Dave took another puff; he saw Hamza turning around and looking in deferent directions. Then, finally, he saw Hamza return back to his normal mad self. “HAHAHAHAHHAHA!”

  Hamza fell down on the ground. He started gasping for air, his beautiful glossy hair now in ruins; his eyes bulged from their sockets in anticipation.

  Dave slowly walked to Hamza, and he poked him with his soft, sock-like feet. “You ok there, buddy?”

Hamza stood up, and while chuckling, he answered. “We got another earthling Davey boy! HAHAHA!”

  Dave sighed and took a deep puff from his cigar. “Nice…Do we wait for them? Or go to them?”

 Hamza stood up and licked his finger, his hair flowing in the wind. “Ammh, let's wait for them Davy, they didn’t get the blood from the guardian yet.”

  Dave sighed. “fine, let me finish up with this guy.”

  The victim saw Dave walk to him, his breath hitched, and he could not move, he thrashed around, and he could feel the dark metallic hooks tearing his flesh apart, but his fear drove him to escape. With each step, he saw Dave change. The small hand-sized doll increased in size.

  Slowly the squishy doll steps turned into a small earthquake, and Dave changed more and more. Finally, when Dave reached the victim, a dark reverberating sigh escaped him. “Another one died from the looks alone… Fuck, I was really looking forward to adding him to my collection.”

  Hamza hummed in the background. "You killed him before he could tell us where the porn was deary."

  Dave reached the victim and pulled him from the dark meat hooks, a squishing sound of tearing flesh followed.

 Then the sound of jaws smashing the victim's body into a bloody mess followed. "Don't worry about it, I know where they are now."

  Both figures began walking away while Hamza hummed a nice tune with his sweet voice.