Hatter's Revenge (rewriting - read at own risk)

Ch. 7: Memories and Madness

They walked through the Dark Forest for three days before breaking out of its southern edge to be greeted immediately by the sands and dry heat of a desert. A river flowed past them, serving as a border between the forest and the desert.

Yet another strange thing about Wonderland was that there was no gentle transition from climate to climate. Wonderland was split into four elemental environments, each sitting right next to the other with no regard for their extreme differences.

In the north, no one lived. It was a barren tundra, constantly whipped by brutally cold winds that created killing blizzards.

The south, as mentioned, was blazing desert, the ground a mix of mostly deep sands broken by sharp fields of cooled lava and stretches of low, rocky hills. Dry mountains marked the eastern edge of the desert. 

This is where most of the outcast Black Decks lived. They managed to scrape out a living by memorizing where reliable water was and trading with each other. Most lived in small, nomadic groups. Mavros hated the heat and so didn't bother the Black Decks as much there.

Separating the tundra and the desert was a sprawling jungle to the west where it rained almost constantly, and to the east was a land comprised mostly of temperate grassland and leafy forests. This was where Heart Castle was and where Mad had lived his seven years in Wonderland.

The more temperate climate was similar to what Mad had grown up with in America as a boy in Colorado. For obvious reasons he wouldn't live in the western jungles and he had never truly enjoyed the desert, but had spent time as a boy there on some of his father's ranch holdings in New Mexico. So he was experienced enough in the ways of the desert to travel across them without getting himself killed.

Knowing how grueling traveling the desert was going to be, Mad suggested they stop early, rest, drink and prepare for what was to come. The others agreed and Maris set about putting together a camp fire and meal.

Mad unrolled his canvas gun bag as he did every time they stopped to make camp, and went over each of them, making sure they were loaded, clean and ready for use in case things got interesting.

He had collected as many guns as he could before something drastic happened and the Queen revoked his right to have them. When leaving, he had taken as many as he could carry, knowing it was unlikely that he would be able to return. What he was carrying was probably only about a quarter of what he actually owned.

This was accompanied by two other bags. One was for rations and also held extra clothes and other, smaller odds and ends. The other was a munitions bag. Mad had shoved as much ammunition as was possible into this one, wondering if it would even last him a month. These bags were fairly small. They had to be, otherwise there would be no way he could actually carry it all.

Going back to the gun bag, Mad looked with satisfaction at the five lever action rifles lined up side by side. They were Wonderland's version of Model 94 Winchesters and were just as reliable as the Real thing. Along with those, he had two shotguns, along with two extra 1911s and three extra revolvers. 

All of this plus two more revolvers at his waist and the 1911s he usually carried. Some might call this overkill, but Mad had been a Boy Scout. He believed in being prepared.

It was heavy. Heavier than he had been expecting, and he realized that he had become a bit lazy since his days fighting in the war. Mad just kept reminding himself that it all weighed no more than the machine gun and other gear he had lugged around in the heat and humidity of the Pacific. Actually, if he really though about it, it probably all weighed less.

At least, Mad thought as he rubbed at his sore shoulder. The one he'd been using to carry his bags, favoring the shoulder that had been shot. At least Wonderland doesn't have air like boiling soup that we have to trudge through.