Bring Out Your Dead!

It was a grizzly scene. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" A cart man and his team pushed and pulled along a cart with half rotting corpses on top. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" The man held a crude gong on which he banged, before crying out his marketing phrase. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" Simple, but affective. Clang! "Bring out your dead!"

People scattered at the sound of the team. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" One poor bloke had a huge coughing fit, but still forced himself away from the Cart man. Clang! "Bring out your dead!"

The ground was soiled with L-sama knew what. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" It slipped and slid whenever you thought you'd gotten a firm grip with your feet. Clang! "Bring out your dead! Ninepence." The cart man said once a person dropped a dead body onto of the others, the man paying before he left on his marry way.

Clang! "Bring out your dead!" And away they went again. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" An old woman banged her cat against the wall, the reason unknown. Clang! "Bring out your dead!"

Basically, this place was a shit hole. Clang! "Bring out your dead!" A place where people died regularly from diseases. Clang! "Bring out your dead!"

Another man walked up and stopped the cart, to the gratitude to the people dragging it along. "Here's one." The frail looking sickly body was slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

The cart master scratched his head. "Ninepence."

"I'm not dead!" Said the dea-er, um, the not-quite-so-dead old man.

"What?" Said the cart master. This was new.

The man looked nervous. "Nothing. Here's your ninepence." He held out the small change.

"I'm not dead!" Said the dead person, to save space.

"'Ere." The cart master handed back the money. "He say's he's not dead!"

"Yes he is."

"I'm not!" The dead man protested.

"He isn't?"

"Well, he will be soon. He's very ill."

"I'm getting better!"

"No you're not!" The man said gruffly to the dead person. "You'll be stone dead in a moment."

The cart master shook his head. "Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations."

"I don't want to go on the cart!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" The man shushed the dead.

"I can't take him."

"I feel fine!"

"Well, do us a favor..."

"I can't."

"Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long."

"No, I've got to go to the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today."

"Well, when's your next round?"

"Thursday."

"I think I'll go for a walk." The dead person said, bringing attention back to him.

"You're not fooling anyone, you know." He shifted the shoulder carrying the dead weight, before turning back to the cart master desperately. "Look. Isn't there something you can do?"

The cart master looked around, and just when the dead person said, "I feel happy! I feel happy!" He took his gong mallet and whacked the poor dead person on the back of the head. The dead person finally died.

"Ah, thanks very much." The man said as he placed the corpse on the cart with the others.

"Not at all. See you on Thursday."

"Right. All right." He was just about to turn away when a howl, and then the clopping of a horse brought his attention to Amelia, who was pretending to ride a horse just like Lina was earlier, with Gourry behind her clopping happily with his coconut, an equally big trunk of crap on his shoulders as Zelgadis had slung across his back. They rode on past them, carefully avoiding the cart and the scattered dying bodies. "Who's that then?"

The cart master looked at the man before turning back, stating, "I dunno. Must be royalty or something."

"Why?"

"She hasn't got shit all over her."

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