Chapter 3: Valkyrie with a Shotgun

Rebecka felt like she was experiencing jet lag as the sun set. According to her phone it should have been five in the morning, but obviously it wasn't. The compass attached to her go-bag said the Dallas skyline, which partially jutted out from a distant mountain, was to her south. Downtown was normally North of Havamal's.

Her muscles ached and eyes watered.

She was too exhausted to try to run. So, she moved the back side of the thick base of the pine tree she was sheltering against and hoped she wouldn't be visible from anyone looking up the hillside.

I should've grabbed a different jacket, she thought to herself.

The one she had was lightweight, dark gray fabric with an embroidered patch of a flying black raven on the back. It was also pretty short in the torso and would have been horrible to wear in the frigid February weather she had come from. As the temperature dropped after sunset it made the night air more tolerable but still, wasn't the best thing to wear under those conditions.

She didn't expect to get any sleep due to the continued sound of the car horns and alarms going off, but her body had other ideas as she nodded off from pure exhaustion.

Rebecka awoke to the sound of unfamiliar birds singing in the trees around her and the smell of smoke in the air. Her body was sore as she got to her feet and stretched. The remains of Havamal's smoldered along with the village it and the other buildings had intersected with. Strangely, the cars were silent.

Not gonna stick around here, she thought as she ate a can of chunky soup from her bag. I wish there was something I could've done to help people...but not that gang.

Rebecka thanked the gods she updated the food in her old go-bag and double check her supplies before the winter weather was supposed to blow through Texas. Granted, now she didn't have to worry about a polar vortex, but there was no telling what she might have to face. At least the food in her backpack wasn't expired anymore.

She went through a mental checklist of supplies she had with her:

Five pounds of rice, three more cans of soup, four tins of sardines, four cans of Vienna sausage, a small cooking pot, utensils, two utility knives, rope, a couple towels, a sizable first aid kit with extra gauze, a bottle of 90% alcohol, lock pick set, rope and cotton twine, box of 12 gauge shotgun shells (25 shells in the box,) and a few spare rounds in the bottom of the bag. That combined with the eight rounds loaded into Thor, her shotgun, and six more on the stock meant she had fifty rounds of ammunition. She also had basic camping gear in the bag, like a towel, two emergency blankets, water purifying bottle with tablets, two regular bottles of drinking water, a fire starter, and a small shovel.

The bag was heavy but she was strong and it was more than enough to survive in the woods for an extended period of time. If she hadn't gone back for the go-bag and the first aid kit within it she'd be up a creek without a paddle.

The thought of Quincey's bloody side nagged at her.

I got this bag to help him, not me.

Rebecka got to her feet, and started walking through the woods, paralleling the dirt road Quincey had driven down. The raw forest, however, was unrelentingly overgrown with vines, brush, and fallen tree limbs. The angle of the hill steeper the farther she got from the village. Eventually, she accepted that it would be easier to walk down the middle of the road, even though doing so felt like a huge mistake. She carried her shotgun at the ready and searched for any traces of someone, or something, following her. Tire tracks from Quincey's car were readily visible, so she wasn't worried about losing his trail.

Gods, I hope you're still alive, you jerk.

She didn't fault him for leaving her behind. He had been attacked by a gang just before closing, stabbed, and then everything had gotten really really weird. At least she and him hadn't wound up embedded in a wall or something.

This isn't how an isekai is supposed to go. I'm supposed to get whisked away by a cute elf chick and save her kingdom, then retire to a castle as her badass guard.

She continued on as the road became sunken. Tall earthen banks on either side prevented her from leaving the path as she approached the car Quincey had been driving. Deep muddy ruts had been dug by the tires after he had become stuck. The space was too tight on either side for her to squeeze by, so she climbed on the trunk and onto the roof. Quincey had lucked out that the car had a rooftop window. It was open, a smear of blood marking where he had climbed out before sliding down the front windshield. Rebecka began following his footprints in the muddy lane. They weren't regular, with his left foot dragging. The intermittent blood droplets also didn't bode well for his condition. Then, his footprints stopped among a bunch of other prints from much bigger feet.

Who was this? She asked herself as she examined the trail.

A group of people had stopped and circled Quincey. Then his prints were gone and the people with the big feet had turned back around. They had at least two horses with them which had also changed course in the narrow sunken lane.

Someone had found Quincey and picked him up but not continued down the road to get the car. It wouldn't be easy to get it free of the mud, but it wasn't impossible. She could still see the Mia Sorbetto from Quincey's last footprints.

A horse whinnying in the distance made her stop dead in her tracks. Rebecka listened, hearing the sound of hoofbeats and heavy armored steps from up around a bend. The path ahead curved gently to the left through the trees. Steep earthen banks on either side of the sunken road and the car behind her blocked her escape.

But the car would also block whoever was approaching.

She hurried back the way she'd come and scrambled on top of the hood of the little red car. Her shotgun was at the ready when two people, in full plate armor, riding horses came around the corner. Ahead of them, however, was the source of the large footprints: four armored figures with glowing green eyes, each as tall as the large horses behind them.

"Holy shit," she breathed.

One of the giants in front held up a closed fist, which made the rest of the group stop moving forward. They turned their head to the side and asked something of the riders. She wasn't sure what the discussion was because she couldn't understand the language though a few words reminded her of Steve going on about similarities and differences between Old English and Old Norse. From what she could tell the language these people were speaking was a mix of both.

After a few moments of discussion the armored giant who had held their hand up stepped forward, walking alone toward the car. They spoke loudly to Rebecka. Maybe giving instructions, she wasn't sure.

"Stay back!" She shouted.

The giant paused, looked back at their companions, then shrugged and moved forward. Rebecka backed up onto the roof of the car, aiming her shotgun down at the figure. She racked her mind trying to remember the Old English word for 'stop.'

"Thu gestillest! Forstoppast! Standa! Alto! Shit! STOP RIGHT THERE DAMNIT!" She shouted.

The giant stopped, but only after they reached the car. They shook their head and said something that sounded a little dismissive before reaching up to grab Rebecka's leg with one massive armored hand. So, she shot them in the head which knocked them back several steps and pulled her off the car with them. Rebecka's large backpack of supplies had saved her from hitting her head, but made it difficult to get up. She shrugged it off as the giant got to their feet.

The other giants laughed.

"An alibbend Valkyrie!" One of the knights on horseback called with a snicker. They sounded as if they meant it as a joke but at least there was a word Rebecka understood.

"That's right, I'm a fucking Valkyrie with a shotgun. Stay back or I'll shoot you again!" She warned.

The giant looked down at her with their glowing eyes. Their helmet had minor scuffs on it, but no clear signs of having survived a direct hit from the buckshot she had loaded Thor with.

Shit.

Free of her back she was able to move more quickly as the armored giant tried to grab her. She ducked under their arms, closing the distance between them, then aimed the barrel of her shotgun up into the armpit of the armor. The gun barked and shrapnel flew everywhere, catching Rebecka's cheek and shoulder. She rolled away and popped up to her knee just as the giant she had shut shot turned around. They growled something angrily. She replied with another round of buckshot which knocked them back again. How they were able to use their left arm was beyond her.

It should have been a fatal wound.

"Genihtsumige," the voice of the mocking knight from the horse said from right next to Rebecka.

When did they move?

She managed to turn just before they punched her in the gut with a closed fist. The hit sent her into the earthen wall of the sunken road. Her head spun as she collapsed. She couldn't breathe as she blacked out.