The magical creature was as tall as me, which is one hundred and seventy-seven centimeters. In the center of the torso, most likely the base on which all the other parts were held, was a disc from the front wheel of a Belarus tractor, and the head was the pot in which my late grandmother had cooked the piglets' food. The fingers on his broad palms were made of bolts and scraps of rebar, and his feet were three-centimeter-thick steel plates from... something. The golem looked awful, as if it had been assembled at a scrap metal dump by a paranormal, stoned-out Magoapocalypse fanatic.
- We'll make you weapons and shields," I promised the creature. - You can make them yourself, though.
Shield and hammer, that's what I decided to arm my protector in this new changed world. For the shield I had already prepared in advance a sheet of thick two-millimeter iron. All that remained was to punch holes for bolts and screw on a bracket for easy holding. The hammer was made from a meter-long piece of two-inch pipe and a five-kilogram sledgehammer.
Using a gas can and a high-temperature nozzle, I heated the shield to an orange glow at several points, there the Tin Man punched holes, and then I inserted the bolts. I also heated the pipe, flattened it a bit so it would fit through the sledgehammer eye, and flattened or flared the edges with a "rose" on the back side to keep the beater from popping off.
The Lumberjack held the weapon firmly and used it skillfully and easily, only it skidded a bit on impact. I hope the creature has some sort of self-training, and the Lizard is learning, albeit slowly.
- And now you should disguise at least a little, - I voiced my next thought, - otherwise you, and me for the company, will be pierced with bullets for the mere appearance.
Somehow, with the help of the cape and stockings from the OZK I managed to solve this problem. Good thing the golem turned out to be humanoid and human-sized, the same Licker could only be transported in a sack as fertilizer or flower soil. Or garbage, if anyone looks inside and sees metal parts. He put a double winter hat on the stocking, spread it out and cut the top off one edge to turn it into a stocking. The lumberjack didn't care about normal vision, so the thick fabric with no eye holes shouldn't interfere with his vision.
- Yeah, you're a scarecrow," I shook my head as I examined my protector from all sides. - The camouflage would deceive no one up close, or arouse suspicion from afar. Well, what to do.
While he stole through the outskirts, it was all right, though there was enough shouting, but mostly matting from the interlopers in the family and threats to the marauders. Yes, yes, looters had already appeared, gutting stalls and stores and picking at cars. Almost constantly I ran into surprised and suspicious looks from the townspeople, fortunately, mostly from windows and balconies. They did not like the two figures, one wrapped in army rubber clothes and armed with a huge sledgehammer and shield. And the sound of the Lumberjack's footsteps was a bit different as we moved across the asphalt.
Somehow, unexpectedly, we came upon a crowd of... zombies. When they were alive, they were my countrymen, but now these creatures with their faded eyes and earthy skin were unrecognizable as living human beings. Some of them bore wounds, some of them incompatible with life. That aunt over there was missing a piece of cheek, and the cartilage of her larynx was peeping through a hole in her neck, and she was walking as if nothing had happened. And that pretzel over there in the shorts and running sneakers has his belly ripped open and his insides torn out, causing his belly to fall in, and he doesn't give a damn about anything.
- Piss them, Lumberjack, don't spare them," I ordered. - Hit them in the heads.
A downward blow from the sledgehammer snapped the closest dead man in half, and blew the next one's head open in a spray of blood, bone, and brain. The third... the fourth...
The golem easily dealt with the zombies, who were even slower than he was. It took him less than five minutes to take down a crowd of two dozen dead.