As the orange coat marched the man reflected on the state of his marital prospects. It had been a long time since any of the men in orange had seen a living woman. The dead bodies of woman who would have looked decent if they were alive was a constant reminder of their constant disappointment.
When taking the city, they had been given orders to take no prisoners. There where a few who had tried to hide away a woman or a distant relative but they where all burned alive. After being forced to watch whoever they were hiding burned. Sure, most of the men had dipped their beak in the first few days at one point. If nobody was going to live it didn't matter what atrocities, they committed to the people of Yourz.
However, since then it had been an awfully long disappointing dry spell. For all the men. There were no women folk in the orange coats. If there was, she would be spoken for at this point as she would be the only living girl in the entire city?
Sadly, no woman was a part of the orange coats, the nights, the cavalry, or the craftsmen. A few men that nobody liked to talk anyway might have been seen dragging a body into the house they had claimed. Most of the orange coats talked about those guys. It was generally agreed that they were sick, but it was not to be brought before the Sergeant of Arms. Most of those guys seemed to have disappeared since the dead started walking. Not that anyone was looking to hard for them.
As he arrived at the tradesmen's factory a feminine shape vanished down an alley. It was not possible. A trick of his imagination. Something that probably needed to be investigated. The solder looked at the man orange coat with three diamonds on his shoulder.
"Sergeant," said the orange coat. "I saw something duck into the alley."
"Fuck!" shouted back the Sergeant. "Detail load muskets."
The men loaded their muskets and the team of twenty men walked to the alley. The floor of the alley was clear. No corpses walking or otherwise stood in the little street.
A man gasped and fired a musket in the air. The solder looked up to the top of the alley where he saw a skull seemingly floating in the air.
"Shoot it!" shouted the sergeant.
A volley was fired, and the skull disappeared over the roof. The gaggle of men looked at the empty alley unsure of what to do.
"Everyone to the workshop," shouted the sergeant.
The men walked briskly to the giant double door. The sergeant banged his fist on the door.
"Reload," ordered the sergeant.
Ramrods quickly began working to pound new powder into the muskets. The night was dark the moon was gone and every shadow was hostile. The door opened and to the orange coats relies the man who opened the door was living.
"Whats got you guys in such a panic?" asked the grey beard holding the door open.
"The dead are in the aria," responded the sergeant. "A floating skull just winked at us. We need to lock down for the night."
"Shit," said the grey beard opening the door as wide as possible.
The orange coated solder hurried into the workshop. The facility was made to produce blunderbusses. Gun parts sat all over the building on benches and shelves.
"Move to the observation posts," ordered the sergeant. "Call out the last shift nobody goes home until sunrise."
The solder found a window to look out of. The dark streets below were empty. The streets where thankfully dead. All was quiet all he had to do was wait until morning.
Then she emerged from the darkness. A woman in a long grey dress stepped down the street. Her grey hair seemed to be blowing in the wind. She walked the street with more poise and confidence than he thought a dead woman could. The dress itself seemed to be in too good shape for someone who had been killed weeks ago.
"Does anyone else see her?" shouted out the solder.
"I do but…" said the solder on the next window.
Bang!!!
The solder shot at the grey lady. Too his surprise she did not stop or even flinch at the shot. She walked right up to the barricade looked through the window before turning and walked down an alley.
The solder could not make out her face. A sense of unease spread over him.
"Sergeant!" There is a woman in grey walking around out there.
"Did you kill her?" shouted the officer.
"She didn't even flinch sergeant," shouted back the solder. "She walked down skull alley."
"Eyes open people!" shouted the sergeant. "You see her shoot! You miss call her out! Don't get soft hearted!"
"Can we form a search party sergeant?" shouted a voice from the other side of the workshop.
"Keep it in your pants!" responded the solder. "You go out their chasing tail and there is no telling what will catch you! For all we know she's a dead woman walking!"
"HgmmmmPH!" mumbled a voice from the center of the building.
"Let him go creature!" shouted an older voice.
The solder turned around to see the skull. In the dim light of the workshop Its thin arms legs and chest could be seen wrapped around the grey beard. The other tradesmen stood back always tools and a few guns in hand facing off against the creature as it backed to a chimney.
"Do we shoot?" asked the man next to him.
"Don't shoot you'll hit Victor!" shouted one of the tradesmen.
"He's dead already!" shouted the sergeant. "Fire!"
Nock!! Nock!!
Two loud nocks on the door ruined the men's attention. No reinforcements where meant to come tonight. Quickly the solder looked out the window to see the grey lady standing in front of the door. Patiently waiting for someone to let her in.
"First floor!" shouted the solder. "She's back shoot her!"
The men guarding the door opened the door shrapnel guns at the ready. Men took shots at the creature and its hostage it dashed into and up the chimney. As the orange coat blinked the grey lady looked up at him nodded and disappeared into the night. The men on the first floor took shots at her escaping form to somehow miss with the scatter guns.
As the woman and the bone faced hoarer disappeared into the night the solder tried to remember the woman's face. She looked right at him. It had been dark, but he was close enough he thought he should have been able to make out some detail of her face. He could not make it out. Something about how featureless it was bothered him.