What Not To Do In The Valley

The Amalgamation

Clark never returned and Matt was promoted. He was soon moved to permanently reside underground alongside their wonderful god. It was restless as of late, and the KFC cultists took that as an ill omen.

A funeral for Clark was held, where they laid out chicken bones and spicy wings in her shape to represent her lost body. It was mournfully fed to the Amalgamation in a silent act.

The ledge they stood on crumbled slightly. It had made a habit of rubbing itself on the walls. A two-story tall all knowing mass of flesh and glory, clearly unhappy with its conditions. Its cavern had worn away to a near cathedral-sized pit in which it sat. 

It was a burrowing god. Huge tunnels filled with thick shadows were barely visible behind it.

Matt lived on the ledge now. He and his friends had crafted camouflage to hide behind when an employee came to "take out the garbage."

After watching the Amalgamation shuffle in and out of its tunnels for two days, he told the others they should act similarly and venture out. 

They'd gained new members now that their purpose had been found. To prove their loyalty, they were sent out to the woods to learn more about the Orchestra. Maybe even retrieve Clark's body.

Unfortunately, the third batch of newcomers returned home having found the mangled corpses of groups one and two. They had bites taken out of them, and organs removed.

The fallen were fed to the Amalgamation. Respectfully. 

It was hard to transport the corpses around the KFC discreetly. Some told Matt there were roadworks across the street directly in view of the drive-through and parking lot. 

Matt emerged from the underground to see what troubled them and found workers closing off the road, which had been split by a long snaking crack that Matt followed all the way to the library, which had partially collapsed into a sinkhole. 

The hole was deep and dark, and he couldn't sneak close enough to see how far down it went. 

The Amalgamation was restless indeed... Matt hoped the workers didn't enter the tunnels, then again maybe that's what it wanted. 

He wondered if it had been underfed. 

The light burned his eyes and he quickly retreated, but that night he called for the leader of the third forest expedition, Lila Smith. She would be his second in command, and she was tasked with finding alternate sources of food.

She was given a team, who she took the the convenience store dutifully. Her team piled the bagged roast chicken into the trolley while she searched through her wallet. 

She had been fired from her job after she stopped answering the phone, even though the phones everywhere had stopped working. She had brought ten dollars. And a hatred for whoever abducted the cell tower. 

Perhaps it was fate itself, leading her to her true calling here and now. Fate should have given her more money.

Her team piled together their remaining funds and the chicken was purchased. There was no better way to appreciate the life they had in the KFC cult, where the chicken was free. 

Lila was the first to climb over the construction fence in the dead of night, arms full of roast chicken. She crept past the dormant machinery, deepening the cracks in the road. The others followed suit and together they dropped the chicken into the pit. 

A tired creaking and groaning echoed from below and they all stepped back. Leaving The Amalgamation to its offerings. 

They would investigate the snack bar at the theatre next - it had worse security and was far closer, but it was beside the museum, which had a statue that gave Lila the heebie-jeebies. 

It was a sacrifice she was eager to make for her new god. 

Matt was pleased to have such dedication. He felt it freed him to plan for the Orchestra's downfall. They would make the best meat.