“What next part?” I scoffed, “The Metois are all but wiped out, we’ve got our base, what more could we want? Our goals have been reached, and anything we tack on there is going to feel like just that. Tacked on.”
“Will it though? This is a game, it’s meant to be fun. I think you’re just panicking because we’re in the mid-game and your brain doesn’t know how to handle that.”
“What do you mean ‘mid-game’?” I asked, forgoing the fact that he’d said my brain couldn’t handle it, “This is Thren, there’s no ‘mid-game’.”
“Sure there is.” Chad said matter-of-factly, “There’s the beginning, which is basically just getting all the crap you need to survive, plus building up your general defences. Then there’s the mid-game, where you have all that stuff from the beginning, but you’ve got to fight to keep and enhance it. And then there’s the end-game, and that’s where everything you’ve built ends up becoming almost entirely independent of you.”
“So, what? I get to look forward to when we reach the end-game and have literally nothing else to do?”
“What are you talking about?” Chad huffed amusedly, “The end-game is the best part. It’s where you get to go nuts with all the crazy gear you want without really worrying about whether you live or die. That was the problem with our old clan, and the Metois come to think of it, they never wanted to leave the mid-game, they were too obsessed with basically creating a second reality that they forgot that this is supposed to be fun.”
“And that was their ultimate undoing?” I chuckled disbelievingly, “Not wanting to have fun?”
“No, what got them was their hubris. Fun’ll get you killed, but, well, at least you were having fun.”
Chad’s optimism had reinfected me, well and truly, and suddenly I was planning ahead for the future again, excitedly waiting for the opportunity to get to the coveted ‘end-game’ that he’d mentioned.
“Alright, so what are we meant to do between now and then?” I asked as I realised that we’d been wandering in circles on the second floor for our entire conversation, “Twiddle out thumbs aimlessly and wait?”
“Again, no.” Chad said while shaking his head and smiling, “We work. We work and work and work until the job is done, and then we have fun.”
“You know what?” I chuckled, “You’re no fun at all.”
“It’s not my job to be fun,” Chad replied, grinning almost furiously, “it’s my job to make sure that you do your job to the best of your ability.”
“Man… you’re freakin’ awesome at your job then.”
“Yeah, well, you know, I try. C’mon, let’s go see what the other guys are doing.” Chad said slightly seriously before turning to something a bit goofier, “Or we could go over to Paul’s AFK body and break his legs?”
It was probably a horrible thing to do, but I laughed. I laughed and laughed, and nodded giddily, “I was wrong before, you are so much fun.”
Chad seemed to think on that, before stopping in his tracks, putting his hands on his hips, and looking up at some invisible thing, “I can truly do it all.”
Chapter Seven
“Things seem to be going pretty well out here,” I said as I saw Miles approaching Chad and I, “how’d your perimeter sweep go?”
“As expected,” Miles replied dejectedly, “there’s absolutely no sign that anyone or anything is going to attempt to breach our compound any time soon.”
“Well don’t sound so excited.” Chad mocked, “Isn’t that, you know, a good thing?”
“Except for the guy who has bugger all to do.” Miles droned, “Seriously, what am I supposed to do here?”
Chad almost audibly rolled his eyes at that and shook his head, “You and Zo should start a club.” he half-joked, “Seriously, you guys are really starting to get me down. What is it gonna take for y’all to stop being so damned depressing?”
“Some Goddamn action.” I replied before Miles could, “I know you got me all pepped up in there before, but Miles has a point. We’re still unassigned.”
“Give it some time, I’m sure something’ll fall into our la-” Chad started then stopped as a notification popped up in all of our vision.
SERVER (World): A Gold crate has been deployed.
“See!” Chad exclaimed happily, “Why don’t you two go and get that?”
“I don’t think that’s gonna be an option!” Pete called from the roof, “Y’all are gonna want to look up.”
I was briefly confused by the suggestion, but did as Pete said, “Holy crap…” I muttered as I watched the crate and its chute slowly descending almost directly over the compound.
“How lucky are we?” Miles chuckled, “Seriously, how luc-”
“This ain’t lucky,” I interjected, “in fact, this is pretty fuckin’ unlucky. Chad, call everyone back, and get everyone who can’t fight into the basement ASAFP.”
“Already on it,” Chad replied coolly, “I don’t know if the Js are gonna get back in time though, should I order them to head somewhere else?”
I had to think for a few seconds, but eventually nodded, “Yeah, yeah, send them out to that farmhouse.”
“Sounds good.”
“Why are you guys panicking so badly?” Miles asked with a confused smile, “A crate is a good thing. Look at what Chad got out of that last one!”
“No, a crate is a bad thing,” I replied as I made a move for the two-storey structure nearest the main building, “we’ve got maybe a minute before things go tits up and this place is teeming with players all trying to get a slice of the pie.”
“But this is the Metois ba-”
“Do you really think anyone’s gonna care about that? I mean really? Everyone has to know by now that we utterly destroyed them and everything they’ve built.”
And that’s when Miles seemed to realise the full extent of what was about to happen, “So they’re all gonna come here expecting a massive fight that we’re not geared for.”
“Exactly,” I said as we entered the building and started for the stairs, “and it’s not like we can just bunker down and hope for the best. Whoever ends up winning that fight is going to end up trying to take this place because… well, look at it, it’s ripe for the taking.”
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Stop talking. First lot have come through the gate. Four with assault rifles, two with shotties. Geared to the tits.
It was hard to stop talking, especially seeing as I hadn’t had the opportunity to tell Miles where to go or what to do, but the former Metois soldier seemed pretty in tune with what needed to be done, and moved down the long hall to one of the unopened doors at the end.
With a slightly shaky hand, I opened the door in front of me, slipped into the small room on the other side, and pulled the door shut, all the while hoping to God that I’d managed to keep my location secret to the people who were just outside the window that faced out onto the compound.
Looking around the tiny room I knew that I’d be absolutely screwed if any of the guys on the ground had a grenade, but that didn’t stop me from pulling the DMR off my back and slowly shuffling toward the window.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Focused on the main building. Get in position.
As stressed out as I was, I couldn’t help but appreciate how freaking awesome it was to have some eyes in the sky.
Confident that Pete would’ve let me know if the situation changed, I slowly peeked over the waist-high windowsill and spotted the group of players.
They were a good ten or so feet from where the crate had landed, and were clearly tossing up whether or not the thing was worth all the trouble of getting any closer.
“I don’t think there’s anyone here,” one of the gunmen announced with letting his guard down, “they’d have been shooting at us by now if they were.”
“That, or they’re waiting for us to approach the crate so they can blow us all to fuckin’ bits.” another replied, “So keep your fuckin’ mouth shut and your eyes focused on the b
uilding, they could be on us any minu-”
“Hey guys!” Paul called out from the building he’d been waiting in, stealing everyone in the compound’s attention, “I finished the… Oh… oh, oh no…”
The armed men were clearly about to simply open fire on the building, but were stopped as, with a deep and guttural growl, a Humvee came roaring through the main entrance, taking the soldiers by surprise as they struggled to get out of the metal meteor’s path.
The infantry weren’t about to go out without a fight though, and before I knew what was happening, the courtyard of our little compound erupted in a massive exchange of gunfire.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Two more Hummers inbound. One with different colours and a 50 cal. Hold.
Stone_Eagle307 (Community): You see those raptors coming in? There’s a pack of four or five coming down the road.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): I see them. There’s also a rex coming in from the forest.
Zoey (Community): So this place is gonna be a bloodbath in about fifteen seconds, yeah?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): One can only hope.
Now, I could see the problems with having a compound full of dinosaurs, sure, but at the same time I could see the problems with having a compound full of armed men fixing to clear us out and steal what we had.
Besides, I knew death by dino would at least be interesting.
Chapter Eight
Players had started to pour into the compound like crazy, and the game’s notifications were struggling to keep up with all the deaths that were piling up.
I wasn’t keeping my eye on that though, no, I was far more focused on making sure no one went into any of the buildings while at the same time not actually getting any kills or making myself visible.
It’s more difficult than it sounds.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): I’ve got two coming my way.
Zoey (Community): Got em.
There was a second of delay as I lined up the shot, but I managed to shoot the shotgun-wielding of the two guys clean through his leg, causing him to topple over, the sound of the Humvee’s massive machinegun making my DMR almost silent in comparison.
+1 Firearm Skill
Firearm Skill: 12/100
Level Progression: 20/200
After a few seconds, the mate of the freshly incapacitated shotgun guy realised that his team member wasn’t with him, and doubled back in an effort to save himself from the unseen shooter that was me.
I went to take the second shot, but Miles beat me to the punch, squeezing off a round that I could only just hear as it was fired, and left me to watch the would-be hero catch a bullet in the chest and go down.
For a moment I was confused as to why Miles hadn’t gotten the kill, but then I realised it right as he sent out the message.
Stone_Eagle307 (Community): Blood loss. What’s the situation with those dinos?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): They’re hanging around the walls. I think the gunfire’s spooking them.
Zoey (Community): How long til they brave it?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Couldn’t tell you. I’ll give them a few more seconds then see if I can put someone down near the gate. The meat should be enough to draw them in.
The anxiety that we’d be stuck with a bunch of raptors and a rex following the already dicey situation that was the gunfight below was almost palpable, but I was still somewhat confident that we were actually going to hold up against whatever was thrown our way.
Zoey (Community): How are you holding up Paul? Still hunkered down under that desk?
U_Maad (Community): Fuck yeah Im still under the table! Wher the fuck am O sposed to go!>
I have to admit, the grammatical errors in Paul’s post kinda made me smile. He was completely safe, we were making sure of that, but the fact that he was over there panicking his little head off was… I don’t know, I suppose you could say it was kind of cute.
Anyway, for some reason that was enough to bring my attention to the fact that Chad had been mostly silent throughout our conversation, and I started to wonder if he was okay.
Zoey (Community): You out there Chad?
There was a long wait, enough to have three more people die anyway, before Chad even noticed that I’d sent him the message.
Gable_1337 (Community): I’m good. Ended up having to go into the bunker with the builders.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Suuuuuuure, has nothing to with the fact that you’re a little pussy.
Gable_1337 (Community): Don’t go callin me a pussy unless you want me to come up there and whoop your freakin arse straight off that rooftop.
I wish I could say I was sure that he wouldn’t actually do that but, honestly, I can’t.
Zoey (Community): Stow it guys, we need to focus on the task at hand. How’re the dinos?
Pete didn’t have to answer as, within seconds of me asking the question, the prehistoric lizards came barrelling into the compound, going after the alive and dead alike.
It was, as expected, exceptionally bloody.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Give me a shout if you see any heading for the buildings.
And with that, a wave of worry hit me and I realised that we were actually in a far more dangerous position than I’d initially thought.
Players would go down with one good shot to the leg, head, or spine, but dinos could take a Hell of a beating before going down, which meant that the only one of us capable of putting them down with a single shot was Pete.
Zoey (Community): Change of plans. Everyone head for the elevator and get downstairs.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): What about all this shit?
Zoey (Community): It’ll either resolve itself or it won’t. We’re in a shit position right now, and our only chance of survival is if we pull the fuck out.
I expected more resistance, but got none.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): I’ll cover you guys. I think Paul should go first though.
U_Maad (Community): y!? So I cna die?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): No, so that we can all cover you, we’re in a much stronger position than you.
No one wrote anything for a while, undoubtedly because the idea of running out into a horde of gunmen and dinos scared the living shit out of Paul, which I understood completely, but he eventually gave in.
U_Maad (Community): Alright. I’m leaving now.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Good, use the side door facing the main building, it’s the least crowded.
There was a few seconds of delay as Paul moved through the building, but I eventually spotted him poking his head out through the door.
U_Maad (Community): Am I clear?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): You’re clear.
I couldn’t confirm what Pete had said, but I trusted his judgement, and so did Paul apparently, who went running out at full pelt toward Pete’s building, clearly struggling not to look back at the shit show that was unfolding behind him.
“Come on…” I almost silently muttered as Paul legged the final few feet before, with an almost triumphant leap, he made it to safety, “Good job.”
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Alright, Miles next.
Miles didn’t need to be told twice, and based on the fact that his door creaked open almost as soon as the message went out, I was pretty sure that he’d actually been waiting by the door since before Paul had even left his building.
I was left to wait as I had no possible vantage for the door that Miles was going to use, and so didn’t really pay all that much attention to the world around me, and instead opted to just try and plot out the best exit strategy for me.
However, what that meant was no one told Miles, or anyone else for that matter, about the raptor that, with the curiosity of a cat, had started slowly shifting in our direction, away from the firefight.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Hold up!
Pete was too slow on the draw though, and befo
re I knew what was happening Miles was running toward the main building and I was being left to panic about what had just happened.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Raptor on the first floor Zoey. You’re gonna have to go through the window.
Zoey (Community): What if I break my leg?
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Then you’ll probably die. But if you stay in that building you’ll definitely die.
I didn’t even read that last message all the way through before vaulting over the windowsill and crashing to the hard, blood-stained ground below.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): You’re good, just run.
Again, I didn’t read the message, and instead simply started legging it toward the building where everyone else was.
GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Raptor behind. Don’t panic.
Fun fact, if you don’t want someone to panic, don’t tell them that there’s a raptor behind them.
There were bullets flying every which way, but by some sheer feat of luck not a one of the damned things had found me, which couldn’t be said for the raptor that was closing in on me.
I’d hoped that it would lose its attraction to me and instead go for the angry rex that was making aggressive love to the Humvees, but apparently all my luck was working on deflecting bullets.
I was positive I was about to meet my toothy end mere metres from my goal when, with a whip crack, I heard the raptor scream out in pain.
“Keep running!” Pete roared from the roof, “Just keep running!”
I immediately pictured Ellen DeGeneres as Dory singing that to me, but even that was just barely enough to make me smile as I heard the raptor letting out the sound that I knew was a call for help.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” I muttered as I finally cleared the main building’s threshold, knowing full well that making it into the building didn’t necessarily mean I’d made it to safety.
And then I heard it.
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