The hundred yards or so they had to walk past the tree line were pure torture for Allistor. Each jostle sent pain spiking up his arm. When they reached the creek, the two men just walked right into it, wading out to the center where it was maybe four feet deep. They lowered Allistor so that his feet touched bottom, and held him steady while the two women scooped up sand from the bottom and scrubbed at him.
When he was reasonably clean, they all moved him to the shallows and left him there as they cleaned themselves. Allistor dunked his head into the water several times, blinking his eyes and taking in big mouthfuls of water for further rinsing. Eventually, the smell faded.
When everyone was reasonably clean, they helped Allistor to his feet. He was feeling stronger now, his body having had some time to recover. He was able to walk along with them.
Arriving back at the stronghold, he was escorted inside by Amanda who directed him straight to the infirmary. Ramon and Michael followed along, both having some injuries that needed tending. By the time she finished bandaging and splinting Allistor’s wounds, the two men were both sound asleep. After two full days of fighting and dodging that monster, nobody blamed them.
Allistor sat at the table by the fountain, going through his notifications. The experience from the kill had bumped him up to level five. He’d picked up skill levels in Piercing Weapon, as well as Blunt Weapon and Improvisation for his use of the pole weapon. The fame points had been awarded by several different factions, hence the multiple golden numbers that had crossed his interface. He’d never heard of any of the factions, but nine of them had awarded him fame points. He wondered if that meant they were watching him. Or just that anyone who killed a void titan was okay in their book.
The notification he was most excited about was an award of system points. Since the titan had entered the perimeter of their sensor net and attacked Stronghold citizens, killing it had counted as a successful defense of the Stronghold. Which had been awarded eighteen thousand system points! They now had enough to get both electricity and the crafting hall, with several thousand points left over.
Since they’d all agreed the night before, he went ahead and opened his Stronghold interface and spent points on electricity and a crafting hall. Once again the golden light filled the cavern, and the changes were complete. The hall formed next to the infirmary, a two-story structure with a double-door front entry.
Taking some jerky from his bag, he began to munch on it. He’d rested for a good while, but he needed food and drink to speed up the healing on his elbow. Amanda had promised to search the market for magic bandages or other instant heal options. Apparently, there were variants to healing in the new world. Lost blood could be regenerated quickly – a matter of minutes if you rested and ate. Superficial wounds could be closed instantly if, for example, you leveled up. But more serious injuries like broken bones or lost digits would take more time to heal.
Regardless, it would happen much faster than it would have two weeks ago on old earth. Already the pain was dulling and the swelling had gone down some. Allistor waited for the others to emerge from the infirmary, and they all walked together back outside for the funeral.
The funeral pyre was built, and the bodies resting atop it by the time Allistor and the others emerged from the Stronghold. The body of the titan was nowhere to be seen. Allistor looked at Sam, the obvious question apparent on his face.
Sam shrugged. “Lilly asked us to help her cut some skin from it, something about using it as armor. When we’d peeled off enough to build a damned tent, the corpse faded into dust.”
As the sun cleared the treetops to the east, they lit the funeral pyre. The bodies were consumed by the flames as they all stood quietly. A few tears were shed, but most were too numb or too lost in memories of their own loved ones. Allistor felt a building anger. Too many innocent people had died. Including all of his family. He’d only known the three who just died a few days, but he thought of them as friends. And they died fighting next to him.
Who the hell decided that 90% of the human race needed to be killed off? What gave them that kind of authority? And what kind of an ass would drop a level ten giant killing machine in a newbie zone in the first week of stabilization?
Finally, as the fire burned low, they turned and re-entered the Stronghold. As Sam closed and barred the doors, Meg muttered, “It’s a shame. I think Sandy fancied Robert Edward.”
Allistor stomped his way back to the fountain, the anger still building.
Chapter Six
Pie R Round
Back in the town center, as he thought of it, Allistor called a meeting. The others gathered around the tables that were still set up there and took seats. He paced back and forth as he considered what he wanted to say.
“First, I want to say thank you to Michael and Ramon. I don’t know how you guys did it, but you kept that thing off the rest of us for two days.” He waited as the others all chimed in with thanks and pats on the back.
“I’m just a kid. I didn’t know a whole lot about the world we lived in last week. This new world, though. This I know at least something about. Its rules and mechanics are a lot like the VR MMORPG games that I’ve played all my life.” He looked around the room, hoping someone would chime in. Apparently, there weren’t other gamers among the survivors.
“One thing I can tell you is this. The people… the beings running this ‘system’ as they call it, are cruel. They gave us three days to read up and prepare for the stabilization period and warned us that they were going to kill off 90% of the human race. Fair enough. But then they drop the equivalent of a nuke on our little town just a few days in. That titan was two or three times the level of any of us here, and resistant to all of our weapons. You just don’t massacre all the newbies in your starter zone! You have to at least give them a chance to…” His voice drifted off as he noted the puzzled looks on several faces.
With a sigh, he said. “That thing was overkill. In any fair system, we should have had much more time to get stronger and learn how to live within this system before something like that wandered into town. The octopoids, canids, the other things roaming around at night, those were even a bit of a stretch. We should have started out fighting fluffy horned bunnies and angry mutant frogs or something.”
Now he was getting nods of agreement. “In light of this, I think we have to push ourselves harder than we have been. I’m talking boot camp combined with midterm cram sessions combined with trade school. All at once. We need to build our bodies and our skills. We need to craft, or buy, better weapons and armor. We need to get ready for whatever nasty surprise they send us next. And the one after that. And when our year is up and the stabilization is over, we need to be strong enough to go find those dicks and get some payback!”
He slammed his fists on the table and looked around. He didn’t get the rousing cheers of agreement he hoped for, probably because his Charisma only had one point. But most were nodding their heads and slapping the table. Nancy was giving him a dirty look, her hands over Chloe’s ears. Chloe was giggling.
Attribute level increase! Your Charisma attribute has increased by +1
Allistor waved away the notice. “I’m sorry, Nancy. I’ll try to watch my language. But I’m afraid in this new world, Chloe’s childhood is going to be much shorter than any of us would like.” Lilly put an arm around Nancy’s shoulder, giving a quick squeeze for support.
Then she spoke up. “In case you folks who were outside didn’t notice, we have electricity! And the crafting hall.” She pointed to the new building. “Both will go a long way toward helping us grow.”
Meg chimed in, “Then let’s get outside and start rounding up useful items. Appliances, medical equipment, tools. We’ve got lots of space down here. Let’s grab what we can while we can!”
Allistor held up a hand. “I was thinking about just that this morning. I want to go to the car lot and find the keys for the two trucks and the Mustang that are still intact. We’ll bring them back here. I
’m going to sell the Mustang on the open market. From the research I’ve done, it should bring us a butt- … err, a great big pile of money.” He winked at Chloe.
“We can hook one of the trucks up to the trailer and use both trucks to gather what we can use. A group of us will go out together. There is strength in numbers.”
He looked at Michael and Ramon. “From the snoring that was happening in the infirmary earlier, you two need some sleep. There are several unclaimed sleeping quarters.” He paused as they all thought about the three friends they just lost. “You two grab a place and get some sleep. You’ve got the rest of the day off.”
Michael nodded. “Thanks. But… I have to ask. Who put you in charge?”
Allistor opened his mouth, then shut it again. “You are absolutely right. Nobody did. And maybe one of you is better qualified. The system chose me to establish this Stronghold, but we’re not really sure why. So if one of you thinks you’d rather lead…” He opened his arms in a gesture that encompassed the entire table.
“I’ll do it! I wanna be boss!” Chloe shouted, raising her hand and wiggling her fingers. Nancy hushed her but was smiling at her irrepressible child.
Allistor grinned at her as well. “Anybody else?”
Michael shook his head. “I don’t want the job. And I meant no offense. Just trying to catch up.” Ramon nodded his agreement.
Sam spoke up. “Allistor has done a fine job so far. I vote we let him keep doing it until he screws up or someone else steps up.” He raised his hand, and one by one the others did too.
Allistor was half disappointed. He had mixed feelings about running the community. On the one hand, town building was one of the things he loved to do in his games. But here, the lives lost were real, and the deaths were permanent. It was a huge responsibility.
“Alright. I need two of you to come with me to the car lot. We’ll figure out the proper keys and bring the vehicles back here. Hook up the trailer, put the Mustang on the market, and then get to salvaging. Also, it would be good if somebody could go upstairs and search the sheriff’s station and City Hall for some paper and writing utensils? Organizing everyone and everything would be much simpler if we could write stuff down.”
Sam and Meg volunteered to go with him. Lilly and Amanda said they’d go upstairs and poke around. He warned everyone to stay on their toes.
Nancy and Chloe walked out with them, closing and locking the doors behind them. They promised to wait on the ramp and let folks back in.
*****
An hour after they left, Allistor, Sam and Meg were back with the vehicles. It hadn’t taken long to identify the keys and get the vehicles moving. Sam had come up with the idea to siphon the gas from any of the disabled vehicles that still had an intact tank. So both trucks and the Mustang had full tanks.
They’d stopped on the way back to explore a couple of houses, including Sam and Meg’s place right behind the diner. The truck Sam was driving held a refrigerator from their basement, a gun safe, a bunch more food, as well as most of a set of real plates and bowls and silverware. Meg’s truck was piled high with mattresses, blankets, pillows, and various other household items. Sam had tried to bring the pool table from their basement, but Meg wouldn’t have it.
When Nancy opened the gates, they drove all three vehicles down the ramp and into the main cavern. Parking near the fountain, they quickly unloaded. Amanda and Lilly had scored dozens of legal pads, pens, pencils, and other supplies. They’d also brought down more toilet paper and paper towels.
Allistor took some time as the unloading was happening to figure out how to list the Mustang. He’d been going over a ‘pitch’ in his head and thought he had a good one. Dictating it into the market’s description box, he poured it on thick. The rarity, history, the thrill of the ride, the roar of the engine. Then he set the minimum bid at fifteen thousand klax.
That done, he turned his attention to the salvage operation. Gathering all that were close by, he grabbed a pen and pad and asked, “Okay, let’s talk about priority items. And where we might find them.”
Sam started it off. “Radios. I’d feel a lot better if we could talk to each other while we’re out. The sheriffs had radios that would work for miles. We need to round up as many as we can. And the base system and chargers.”
Amanda added, “Medical equipment and supplies. All we can find. Machines, surgical supplies, drugs, bandages, all of it.”
Meg said, “Food, obviously. Anything in bottles, jars, sealed plastic, basically anything still edible that will keep. And we have the cold storage and electricity now. So we can keep meat, vegetables and such viable for a good while.”
Allistor wrote it all down. “Okay, good. I’d like to add that we should keep an eye out for items of value. To be sold on the market. Gold, gems, rare items like that Mustang. Anything that other people will pay klax for. We can convert them to system points to grow this place.” He wrote down wine on his list. “I want to take a trip to the winery soon. Hope it’s intact. Wine sells for good prices. Plus we can hold some back for personal use.” He grinned at them. “But the most important thing is to keep an eye out for threats. I think maybe the titan scared off most of the lesser monsters. But now that it’s gone, they’ll almost certainly return.”
Lilly asked, “What if we run across other survivors?”
Allistor hadn’t considered that. “I’m not sure. I think if you know them, or they’re townspeople, bring them here. Anybody else, be suspicious. I’m not saying shoot on sight. But don’t disclose the existence or location of our Stronghold. Let’s say we take them to a neutral place… say the church. The steeple is still there, so there’s at least some kind of shelter. Leave them there and report in here. At least until we get the radios up and running.”
They talked for a while longer, then broke up into two groups. Allistor was going with Amanda to find medical supplies, Sam, Meg, and Lilly were going to start hunting for the radios, and both teams would grab any useful items they found.
Allistor drove his pickup out and hooked it up to the trailer. They were going to start at the doctor’s office here in town. But after, they’d be going the four miles to the regional hospital to see if it was still operating and grab whatever equipment they could if it wasn’t.
Once again, they left Nancy and Chloe behind, along with the two men who were sleeping, to guard the Stronghold. Allistor needed to figure out a way to secure the doors from outside, so they didn’t need to leave someone behind all the time. He was already missing Sean’s Engineering skill. Maybe he could pick it up himself or convince one of the others.
He parked the truck in an alley behind what had been the doctor’s office. It was part of a row of storefronts just off Main Street. The roof was gone, and the glass front was shattered and twisted. But the three other walls remained - at least the lower six or seven feet of them.
The inside was scattered with debris. The carpet was squishy, soaked by a broken pipe somewhere in the building. Allistor stalked through all the rooms, making sure the place was clear, and went to go find the water meter and shut it off while Amanda grabbed whatever supplies she wanted.
He located the meter out back, along with six others for the strip of tenants. After shutting off the water for all of them, he rejoined Amanda. She’d found a rolling cart and was loading up boxes of bandages. There was already a large box of medications, mostly samples, on the cart. She pointed to an adjustable exam bed in one of the rooms. “Do you think you can move that?”
Allistor walked over and tested it. He grabbed hold and tried tilting it on its side. When it didn’t budge, he crouched down and looked at the base. There were brackets holding it secure to the floor. They were simple bolts. Not having any tools with him, he tried grabbing hold and twisting the bolt head. He squeezed as hard as he could with his thumb and forefinger, then twisted. No joy.
“I’ll have to come back with tools and unbolt it. I’ll bring one of the guys with me. It looks heavy, but two o
f us should be able to lift it.”
Amanda nodded then pointed to a stainless steel cabinet with glass doors. “How about that?”
Allistor took hold of either side of the cabinet and pulled. It came away from the wall without issue. He carefully hefted it, walking backward then sideways out the door. He set it down outside. Looking at the truck and the trailer, he shook his head. “If we just set this up there, all the glass will be broken by the time we get back.”
Going back inside, he found two sofas in the waiting area. He was tempted to take them back but settled for pulling all the cushions off them. He lined the bed of the pickup with the cushions, then lifted the cabinet up and set it down atop them.
After some poking around, he found several rolls of duct tape in the shop next door. He used the tape to secure the cabinet to keep it from sliding back and forth. Amanda filled in the open spaces in the bed with small boxes of medical supplies, piles of robes and scrubs, anything relatively soft.
Once she’d pulled everything she wanted, other than the bed, from the doc’s office, they jumped back in the truck and headed out of town. It was slow going, having to drive around, and sometimes over, the debris. Once they cleared town though, the roads became much clearer. They had to stop once for Allistor to clear a few fallen trees from the road. There was clear evidence the titan had passed that way – a path of devastated trees and brush stretched away on either side of the road.
The hospital was deserted. Abandoned vehicles were scattered about the parking lot. Some of them with broken windows and blood spatter. Several of the ground floor windows were shattered, including the automated doors that led to the ER. Clearly, something had attacked this place. Several somethings.
Allistor parked the truck right in front of the ER doors and got out. He gripped his spear and checked the .45 holstered on his hip. He could feel the shotgun strapped over his shoulder. Amanda was holding her shotgun like she knew how to use it.
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