The young airmen saluted and practically sprinted out the door.
Turning to the others, she said, “Get comfortable. It sounds like the scuttlebutt has informed you all that the world operates like a game system now. When the others arrive, Allistor’s gonna spend some time filling you in on the details. In the meantime, who’s cooking around here now?”
A voice from the back called out, “That’s me, Sarge. I’m still here.”
Andrea smiled, grabbing Allistor and pulling him toward the back of the room and the kitchen. “Thorne! Good to see you. Fire up the grill. Allistor here has bits of giant snake monster that you can throw a little salt and pepper on and grill up for lunch. I’m sure you guys are a little tired of MREs?”
“Right on! Any chance you’ve got any bacon, too?” Thorne asked hopefully.
“I’m afraid not, at least not on me. But once this place is cleared and claimed, I can get you some. And maybe we can capture some pigs to raise for a steady supply.” He nearly jumped as a round of applause burst out behind him.
For the next ten minutes, Allistor worked with Thorne and another cook to prepare lunch. They had fresh baked-from-scratch bread, canned vegetables, and snake steak for everyone. Between his short time assisting Dean and his shift at the grill here in the Silo, his cooking skill was now up to level 5.
Allistor spoke to the gathered troops as they consumed their first reasonably fresh food in weeks. The discussion went faster as several of them were gamers who followed along easily. He decided to rely on them to explain the fine details to their comrades. Some of them had assigned attribute points already, others seemed to be waiting for guidance. And a few had developed skills, most around their day-to-day duties. Unlike folks above ground, these men and women had continued doing their day jobs. Security patrols, maintenance, system monitoring. Eventually, he got to the bit about claiming the base complex.
“So we need to clear out all the mobs down there. I’ll take the lead, but I could use a few of you as backup. Most of you haven’t had much of an opportunity to level up. From what I’m told there are a hundred or more mobs down there. Those who join me will gain a good bit of xp. Of course, you’ll also be risking your lives.”
An airman named Durham spoke up. “Tell us again why you’re the new boss? You’re not an officer. Not even military. You’re just some gamer kid with a bear following you around.”
Andrea snapped at him. “He’s the boss because I say so! And the bear is not only cute, but he’s also a higher level than you. So sit your ass down and shut your trap, Durham!”
Allistor held up a hand. “It’s okay, Sarge.” He turned so the others couldn’t see and winked at her. “I’d ask the same question if I were him.” He turned and addressed the airman. He was tall and thin with beady eyes and a permanent scowl on his face.
“You’re right. I was just a college kid and a gamer when all this happened. I didn’t ask to be in charge. It just sort of worked out that way. My town was flattened by a sixty-foot giant right off the bat. My family was all killed in the first days. I managed to survive, kill some of these things on my own, and save a few other survivors. Then we grouped up and fought more of them, eventually killing the giant, as well as some other elite monsters. The group I was with just sort of made me the leader because I knew what to do. Then I built a Stronghold, helped liberate another one from murdering asshats, built a couple Outposts, and another Stronghold here at the mall. But mainly, it is because I claimed a large quantity of land very quickly, and earned myself the title of Baron. It’s like being named a general – it gives me certain powers and authority to do things you can’t do.”
Most of the men and women in the room were nodding their heads. But Durham’s sneer got a little nastier, and he shouted, “Why should we risk our lives so you can claim this place and play overlord over the rest of us?” His face was turning red.
“I’m not looking to be anyone’s overlord. I didn’t want this responsibility. But it’s mine now, and I’m determined to make all of us stronger. To reclaim as much of Earth as we can for ourselves before our year is up. So that we can have decent lives going forward. I’m not ordering anyone down into the lower levels here. Each of your lives is just as important to me as my own. There are so few of us left, every human life is precious. I’ll be leading the way myself. I’d appreciate volunteers to help, but I’ll go alone if I need to.”
“Screw that noise. I’m not risking my life for you. And none of my brothers and sisters here should either!” Durham was on his feet now. He looked around the room for support but received only cold stares.
Bjurstrom stood up. “You’ve always been a dick, Durham. Sit down.” Turning to Allistor, he saluted. “I’m in, boss. Er… Baron?” The other three who had greeted them at the lift stood as well.
“Neither,” Allistor said. “I’m just Allistor. There may come a time in the future where we have to pay attention to bullshit like that, but for now, I’m just Allistor. If I understand correctly, Andrea here is the highest rank among you? So you can call her boss.”
More of the airmen stood up to volunteer in ones and twos. Eventually, all but Durham were on their feet. Seeing that he’d lost, he stood as well. “Fine. I’ll go too.”
“No, you won’t,” Allistor said. “I just met you, but you seem like a self-centered ass. Am I right?” he looked around the room to see many nodding heads. “That’s what I thought. I don’t need people like you. We need to be a community. To work to support each other. Risk our lives for each other without having to be shamed into it. I frankly don’t trust you at my back with a gun. So until you prove yourself worthy of trust, you can stay back here and do something useful.”
As Durham turned an even deeper shade of red, Allistor asked Andrea, “What does he do around here?”
“Communications. He runs the radio network and relays orders received.”
“Great! Durham you can hang back here and get on the radio. See who else we can find out there. Military or civilian. As I said, people are the most valuable thing on Earth right now.”
Durham just scowled and sat down. An airman next to him kicked his ankle and gave him a dirty look. He flipped her the bird and proceeded to sulk.
Seeing this, Allistor added, “It seems we have a problem child. He’ll need a few babysitters. In case he gets any bright ideas about sealing the blast doors behind us.” The look he gave Durham was full of contempt.
After a moment of thought, he looked at Helen. “You going down there?” She nodded, and Andrea did as well. Fuzzy just squeezed his Fibble and drooled in an affirmative manner.
“Alright. I think maybe six or eight more of you would be good. We have plenty of guns, and I have a few magic ranged attacks. But those little creeper things are fast and nasty. Who here has some melee weapons experience?”
All four of the guards raised their hands. About a third of the remaining airmen did as well. Allistor looked to Andrea. “Okay, I’ll leave it to you to choose, as you know these folks. And let’s see what kind of weapons we can come up with. Axes, long knives, whatever we can scrounge.”
Campbell spoke up. “Each of the rifles in the armory has a bayonet, and we’ve got a few fire axes.”
“Good. I’ve got a sword and a spear, plus a few other weapons in my ring that I’ll share. Who knows how to mix up chemicals to make some sort of napalm or liquid fire? We can make some grenades that should help take down the slimes and the larger groups.”
They went to work, the whole group helping to prepare the volunteers who were going into battle. They were very efficient for the most part, their training kicking in. All except for Durham, who continued to sulk. McCoy escorted him to his communications station where he just sat and stared at the walls.
The most valuable items that the crew came up with in Allistor’s opinion were the radios. The security team produced throat mics and earpieces that were tuned to the complexes internal frequency. They were designed for use inside
the underground complex and were strong enough to transmit and receive clearly - even through layers of rock and steel. This was like having a party chat and would allow Allistor to stay in contact with those who stayed behind. They also each had a camera strapped to their helmets.
Ninety minutes later they were ready to go. Everyone in the party had been outfitted with body armor, helmets with visors, and weapons. Some carried assault rifles, others shotguns. And among the shotgun loads were both slugs and pellet loads for a wider damage spread. One of the machinists had taken some scrap metal and together with Allistor had improvised some rough machete-like chopping blades. Thorne had created a mixture of bleach, grease from the grill, and other chemicals that combined to burn hotly. They used empty jars to create half a dozen grenades. Both airmen had earned the Improvisation skill, and Allistor’s own had increased one level.
Allistor sent around party invites, and they were ready to go. Twelve people and a bear cub descended to the blast doors that sealed off the lower levels. Three more would be guarding the door behind them, ready to seal it if necessary. Andrea had detailed two burly airmen to watch over Durham, while most of the others gathered around the security stations to watch the team’s progress on closed-circuit cameras. As always happened when a large enough gathering of soldiers came together for an event, the betting had already started.
McCoy and Goodrich unsealed the door and pushed it open. Immediately a creeper flew through the widening opening and latched onto Goodrich. He stumbled back a few steps, the surprise setting him off balance. McCoy reacted instantly, using one of the improvised blades to hack the thing’s head off as it clung to his buddy’s chest.
Shotguns fired as more of the nasty little things rounded the still opening door and flung themselves at the humans. Pasty white bodies exploded or were thrown back. Allistor quickly cast Flame Shot through the opening, surprising his people and burning half a dozen of the mobs.
Andrea began to shout. “Front row! Take a knee! Back row fire!” The military members of the team fell into a formation and began to fill the air with deadly fire. Helen stood to one side, shotgun blasting away as quickly as she could fire. Allistor cast another fireball, this one larger. It burned a few new mobs coming at them and finished off several of the wounded creepers. Experience points poured across his interface.
He heard Bjurstrom shouting, “Hell yeah! Sweet, sweet xp!”
The further the heavy door swung open, the more of the creatures poured in. They’d already killed maybe thirty of the creepers, but scores more were pushing down the hallway toward them. Andrea shouted, “Grenade out!” and hurled one of Thorne’s jars about twenty feet down the hall. The jar shattered against a panel box on the wall, spraying the chemical compound across the hall. Allistor’s fireball struck half a second later, lighting the liquid afire as it covered a dozen or more of the creepers.
She lobbed a second grenade past the first one, this one smashing on the floor about three feet back. The spreading liquid covered the whole floor and ignited when it reached the burning creepers. Now there was a fire barrier across the entire hallway floor about ten feet deep. The creepers that hadn’t reached it yet held back, seeming to be afraid of the fire. Andrea called out, “Kill everything on this side of the flames! We’ll deal with the rest after.”
Her people changed the focus of their fire, finishing off burnt and blinded creepers with speed and accuracy. More experience points flashed across all of their interfaces. The creepers were on average level 4-6. Higher than most of the humans present. So while Allistor got very little from it, the airmen were leveling up quickly.
They took a breather when all the nearby creepers were dead. The ones out past the fire were biding their time, waiting for the flames to die down. Everyone checked ammo and reloaded, took a sip or two of water, and congratulated each other. Allistor said, “You’ve got one minute to zone out and assign some attribute points. Remember what we discussed earlier. Focus on who you want to be, and assign the points accordingly. Or just save them for when you have more time to think.”
Six of the airmen and Andrea leaned against a wall and unfocused their eyes as they reviewed their stat sheets. Most were done in less than a minute. Allistor sent a large fireball downrange, blasting the first several creepers waiting to get at the humans. He saw Andrea getting another grenade ready and shook his head. “Let’s save those for emergencies. These first two cut them down to a manageable level.”
She nodded, turning to her people. “Two rows! You know the drill. If you can’t hit these things in the face at thirty feet, I’m ashamed to know you!”
The airmen quickly formed into two rows, the front row down on one knee. As soon as they were set, she said, “Keep to your lanes! Fire at will!”
The nearly simultaneous blast from nine humans mowed down the front lines of creepers. Shotgun slugs tore through one, then another behind it, and sometimes a third. Bodies and limbs were knocked backward by the blasts. Both lines reloaded and continued to fire as quickly as they could. Allistor sent another fireball to finish off any wounded that might get back up.
Fifteen seconds later, when there were no more obvious targets, Andrea started shouting “Cease fire! Reload!” The weapon barrels dropped and a few people coughed from the burnt-cordite fog that surrounded them.
McCoy took a deep breath through his nose, then sighed. “Ahhh. I love the smell of cordite in the morning!” Nobody laughed. A few groaned.
The fires had mostly burned out, though there were a few hot spots left. One of the team grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused them. At Andrea’s command, they all stepped forward and looted the dead creepers. There were some pleased sounds when they received klax and cool body parts like claws and teeth. Goodrich started cursing when he jammed some in his pocket and poked himself. Bjurstrom laughed, saying “You need to buy yourself one of those bags of holding like they have in the games.”
Allistor called out “In this system, they’re called Personal Pocket Dimensions, or PPD’s for short. The cheaper ones, like this ring here that has one hundred slots, cost two hundred klax on the open market.” He held up the ring. Just for show, he made his shotgun disappear and pulled his spear from it. Eyes widened all around him.
“I’ll tell you what. You guys help me clear this place, I’ll make it a Stronghold with a market kiosk. And the first thing I’ll do is purchase a ring like this for everyone.” He paused for a second and grinned at them all. “Except maybe Durham. Screw him.” This got him cheers and laughs from the group.
Talk of the market got him thinking about selling the nukes that were down here. And thinking about the nukes gave him a sudden sense of alarm.
“Uhh… guys? Before we go much farther. It’s my understanding that there are very big explodey-things down here. And we’ve been sending a lot of lead and fire flying every which way. Are we in any danger of hitting a warhead and killing everyone? Cuz that would be bad.”
A wave of chuckles ran through the group. Andrea patted his shoulder. “Silly bossman. We’ll warn you when you have to tiptoe past the explodey-things. Don’t worry.”
“Right on!” He gave her a thumbs up, grinning widely. “Then let’s go kill stuff!”
The group moved on past the piles of dead creepers, those in front kicking the bodies to one side or another to make a path. Fuzzy sniffed at them and raised his snout in disgust.
At the end of the corridor was a T-intersection. To the left was another short corridor with four doors. To the right was a stairwell door.
Allistor looked to Fuzzy, who stood next to him seeming unconcerned. “Fuzzy doesn’t smell any bad guys, but let’s clear those rooms to be sure. Me and the ferocious bear will guard this door.”
Helen stayed with him as Andrea and her team moved down the corridor. They broke into two teams and each hit one door at a time. They found nothing inside, and Allistor had them close the doors behind them as they left. Back at the stairwell, he put his ear to the do
or for half a minute before opening it.
As soon as he pulled it open and found the landing clear on the other side, he stepped inside the stairwell. From this level, the stairs only went down. A thought struck him, and he motioned for the others to wait while he closed the door. The back side was clean, no scratch marks or blood. Opening the door again, he said, “Nothing tried to get in from this side. Looks like we’re clear down to the next level.”
Campbell chimed in, “Makes sense. Most dungeons you get a safe zone as you move from one level to the next. The stairs and sometimes a small room at the bottom.”
Allistor led the way, his spear still in his hand. With all the firepower behind him, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to get some blunt and sharp weapon experience. They reached the next level without incident. Once again he put his ear to the stairwell door. He heard faint noises he couldn’t identify.
“Something in there. Moving quietly,” he whispered into his throat mic. The others all nodded.
Standing in front of the door with spear at the ready, he motioned for Helen to pull it open. She yanked it hard, allowing Allistor to leap through before anything on the other side could react.
Unfortunately for him, what was on the other side were several dozen small slimes. They had apparently run up against the door and stayed there, their passage blocked. Allistor’s first few steps were fine, but his third step landed upon a slime. His right foot sank into the thing, and two seconds later his skin began to burn.
Acid Slime Scavenger
Level 8
Health 3,000/3,000
“They’re acid!” he shouted, blasting everything around him with a column of Flame Shot fire. The others all backed up as the slimes oozed through the door, the pressure of those behind them pushing them through. Allistor slipped as the slime underneath him moved, losing his balance and falling onto his back, landing on several more slimes. His head struck the concrete floor, and his vision went fuzzy.
The others frantically fired around him as he writhed in pain and tried to get back to his feet. He couldn’t get any purchase or leverage, as everywhere he touched with hand or foot was covered by slimes. And he was quickly becoming trapped inside the jello-ish monsters.
Shadow Sun Survival: Shadow Sun Book One Page 35
