Shadow Sun Survival

by Dave Willmarth

  Allistor prepared himself. He asked Meg for two of her grenades, in case the thing got too close. His only hope was to blind it and try to avoid getting crushed. The gun crews piled four rounds each next to their guns, with one already loaded. Sam said as fast as the shellback moved, they wouldn’t have time for more than three or four shots.

  With a quick kiss for luck from Amanda, Allistor hopped on his ATV and rode forward. He honked the annoying little horn a few times to make sure he had the monster’s attention. About halfway to the spot where it had attacked before, he saw some telltale swirling of the water. He picked up a little speed, watching the water as his heart pounded.

  As predicted, the shellback surged upward from the lake water, crossing the grass as it opened its beak and roared at the bite-sized human who dared taunt it. Allistor gunned the engine and shot forward, the front wheels rising up slightly as the ATV threatened to flip under him. He leaned forward and eased off the throttle slightly, getting all four wheels back on the road as he watched the tank-sized spiked monster hurtle toward him.

  It passed behind him, only missing its target by about ten feet. The tail swished toward Allistor’s ATV, a last-ditch attempt to crush him. It fell short, but one of the spikes slammed into the rear tire and knocked the small vehicle on its side. Allistor rolled with it, back on his feet in a second. As the shellback slid down the grass into the center of the median, it began to turn. On a whim, Allistor tried casting Restraint on it. The thing paused for maybe half a second before resuming its turn.

  The two Howitzers fired less than a second apart. The first round impacted the side of the monsters shell, punching through and rocking the thing toward its other side. The second round hit its underside on an angle. It didn’t penetrate, but the explosion pushed the thing further onto its side. Allistor tried Restraint again, but it had no effect that he could see. The monster was just too many levels above him. He Examined it quickly, to see how much damage the guns had done.

  Ancient Shellback

  Level 22

  Health: 97,400/130,000

  Allistor nearly leapt from his moving ATV in excitement. Two hits from the big guns had done more than thirty thousand damage! And one hadn’t been a direct penetration. Turning his ATV toward the monster as it righted itself and began to turn again, he slowed. A moment later, two more 105mm rounds pounded into the shell. They hit simultaneously. One round punched into its shell, shattering it and sending chunks flying. The other streaked past its head to impact right at the spot where its neck emerged from the shell. This one penetrated deep into soft flesh before exploding. When it did, it was like setting off a firecracker inside a soda bottle. The thing exploded, its neck torn to shreds and its head falling to the ground.

  The cheers from the survivors fell off abruptly as their interfaces lit up with notifications. Even spread among two dozen people, the experience from killing a level 22 monster was incredible! The kids jumped from level zero or one to level four and five. All of Luther’s adults picked up at least three levels. Allistor himself hit level nine and got halfway to ten. Fame points flooded across all of their screens. The gunners all picked up new skills, and Allistor got something called a Title.

  Congratulations! You have earned the Title: Killer of Giants

  Shaking his head, he took a moment to recover. The others were getting in their vehicles to join him as he rode the ATV over to loot the monster. When he set his hand on it, more notifications scrolled down his screen. He received three hundred fifty klax, six pieces of shellback armor, two stacks of twenty pieces of shellback meat and one more item.

  This one was special. A picture of it appeared on his screen, highlighted in pulsing purple light.

  Ancient Shellback’s Heart

  Item Quality: Extremely Rare

  The Ancient Shellback has walked the various worlds of the Nexus for more than a thousand years. It has absorbed the essences of hundreds of species that were unfortunate enough to cross its path. These essences were preserved in the very heart of the monster, combining to form an organ of great value to the elite among GrandMaster crafters.

  As the vehicles came to a stop and the others piled out, Allistor pumped his fist in the air. “WE just hit the damned lottery!” he shouted. He described the heart to the others as they all took turns looting the monster. Each of them received a few hundred klax, some meat and armor bits. One of the elder ladies received a scroll. And two of the kids each received an eyeball, much to their delight.

  When they’d finished looting, Sam grabbed a knife and a crowbar, telling others to do the same. He began skinning the shellback, explaining to the others how they’d harvested the titan. The shellback didn’t smell good, but it was much easier to take than the titan stench. They spent some time harvesting skin and fragments of shell that they managed to break off around the edges of the cannon round impacts. George spent the time cutting the beak off the monster, saying he planned to mount it above his door and spend his old age exaggerating the details of the battle. Two of Luther’s men drove the Humvees back and retrieved the Howitzers and the unused rounds.

  Looting complete, they piled back into the vehicles and resumed their trip. It was past sunset when they arrived, and the gates to the Warren opened for them. The look on Ramon’s face as the convoy passed by him was priceless. After he closed the gates and caught up to them, he teased. “We send you away to retrieve a few strays, and you come back with an army!”

  It was late in the evening before everyone was settled. Allistor’s first order of business had been to use the Stronghold interface to construct more sleeping quarters. He raised another fifteen, this time on the opposite side of the central fountain. He didn’t want to force the two groups to mingle on the first night. There were several couples and families among Luther’s group, so fifteen was sufficient to house everyone. Some of them were two and three bedrooms.

  Meg took charge of gathering all of the turtle meat and getting it into cold storage. With literally hundreds of pieces of it, she was determined to experiment and create a tasty recipe that provided at least one buff.

  Allistor’s people helped the newcomers unload their possessions and cart them into their new quarters. Thrilled to have company closer to her own age, Chloe insisted on introducing herself and hugging each of the children. Max was beside himself with all of the attention he was getting from the rugrats, which only lessened slightly when Chloe introduced them all to Beatrice and Thumper.

  With the unloading done, they grabbed a quick meal, then put the children to bed. Some of the adults crashed too, having had a very long day.

  Meg broke out a makeshift bar - opening several bottles of booze and setting out a case of cold beer. The two groups mingled, introducing themselves and chatting about little things, like the apocalypse.

  George took a chair and thumped on the table, taking on the role of storyteller and relating a colorful tale of their journey and the giant turtle battle. He insisted that it was his crew that fired the fatal shot at the shellback. Sam and his team objected good-naturedly, which led to a drinking contest to decide this matter of honor once and for all.

  Eventually, everyone retired and the Warren grew quiet. Except for Sam’s snoring.

  *****

  Morning found everyone gathered for breakfast. There was much laughter as the two groups got to know each other better. The folks from Luther’s group had lived for weeks with the threat of starvation and murder because of Evan’s actions. The relief they felt now was visible in their eyes and their smiles. Powdered eggs, real sausage, and fresh onions didn’t hurt either.

  When the meal was done, they spent some time as a group discussing the skills people already had, and what they’d like to achieve. Two of Luther’s men were former soldiers, another was a mechanic who was willing to take up the Engineering trade. One of the women from the group was a former EMT with five years on the job. She was fascinated by the new healing abilities within the system. Amanda immediately
adopted her into the infirmary. Lilly picked up two elderly ladies who already had sewing skills and wanted to contribute.

  Nancy and two of the other ladies became the unofficial wardens of the kids during the day. Those from Luther’s group that were orphans had already been taken in by others, but the community at large had been helping to take care of them. They saw no reason to change that.

  Nancy pushed once again for Allistor to expand the Warren above ground. Put up some walls and allow them to garden safely. With more mouths to feed and more kids to occupy, it was a clear necessity.

  Allistor asked her to wait with him and requested Luther and George join them. The four of them went topside and looked around. George admired the garden, which he hadn’t seen in the fading light on their way in.

  After some brief discussion, Allistor disclosed their extensive Stronghold account and said they would add to it by selling one of the RVs. Luther and George agreed, as long as Allistor promised they’d make a trip up to retrieve a few more. They were a good way for groups to travel long distances that might require overnight stays. If they were going to expand, they’d need that ability.

  Allistor opened up his Stronghold interface and authorized the others to see it. Luther was already slightly familiar with it, having built his Stronghold. They discussed the options and chose a modest beginning. After making the selections, and reviewing the cost, he approved the transaction.

  The same golden glow that had engulfed the cavern below wrapped around the four humans standing in the middle of the former sheriff’s station. When it faded, they were surrounded by stone walls twenty feet high. A rampart ran the entire length of the interior, about five feet below the top of the wall. Switchback stone stairs ran upward from the now smooth ground every hundred feet or so. There was a single gate with two massive metal doors that rose twenty feet from the ground, each one hung with two six-foot long hinges. The perimeter of the wall ran two hundred yards in each direction, meaning it encompassed just under ten acres of land.

  Inside the wall, not only had all the debris disappeared, but a few new buildings had risen. Just inside the gate stood a barracks, two stories tall with the main floor sunk four feet below ground level. A ramp led down to the front door. The roof was level with the parapet and would make a great place to mount a Howitzer. The inside consisted of storage space, a kitchen, bathrooms at either end with three stalls each and showers, and a dozen rooms each with two bunks.

  Next to the barracks was a motor pool with a six-bay garage and doors large enough to pull the RVs inside. Its rounded roof made it look like an airplane hangar. A side structure that was basically just an extended roof with stone pillars provided space to park a dozen or so trucks underneath.

  Each of the four corners sported a watchtower that extended ten feet higher than the wall. The towers were covered with windows facing each of the cardinal points. Inside each was a stairwell leading down and a door facing the ramparts on two sides. A brazier was mounted below the floor level, designed to allow heat to rise without reducing the night vision of the guards.

  The largest and most expensive of the structures was toward the back of the compound near the gates leading down to the cavern. Over the top of where their small garden had been located now sat a greenhouse. The one-acre building was built from some kind of metal with clear panels that were more durable than glass.

  The group walked inside the building, its entrance a double set of swinging doors. The interior was organized into raised plots filled with soil. Metal framework rose from the corners of each plot, allowing future additions of second and even third levels of growing platforms. The ceiling stretched twenty feet high, sloped slightly to allow snowmelt to drain easily. Sprinkler pipes crisscrossed overhead in a grid, with grow lights extending down from the rafters every thirty feet or so.

  Nancy began to tear up as she looked around. “We could grow food for… fifty people in here. A hundred if we’re just supplementing meat.”

  George was impressed. “Damn, son,” was all he said aloud. He patted Nancy on the back and said, “I’d love to join you in your work here. My wife loved gardening, and I used to putter around in the garden out back with her.”

  Nancy hugged the old man. “Of course you can help. Thank you.”

  Leaving them to their plans for crops, Luther and Allistor left to go examine the garage. There was a long bench along the back side of the bays for tools and such. Below two of the bays was a trench that a mechanic could walk down into. Electric lights hung down from above, and there was a bathroom with a shower. The front of each bay had a metal door on tracks that slid to one side. They all stood open at the moment.

  “We could park our entire fleet inside here.” Luther gawked at the expansive building.

  Allistor shook his head. “We can park some vehicles up here. But until I feel safer, we’ll keep some down below. Remember, this place was leveled by a sixty-foot giant that could have stepped right over these walls and crushed every structure here. Who knows if more of them might spawn?”

  The walls and structures had cost another forty thousand system points, nearly depleting their available funds. Allistor returned to the kiosk and opened up the RV brochure he had taken. Using it to create a write-up, he listed the one with the full bedroom in the back end. It was the least practical for their needs, and the most likely to attract luxury buyers. He drove the vehicle into the kiosk, concerned at first that only the front bumper would fit through the door. But as the vehicle approached, the door and the building itself seemed to expand to accommodate it. Allistor chuckled as he got out and exited the building, mumbling to himself, “It’s bigger on the inside.”

  The kiosk did its thing, scanning the RV and throwing up stats about dimensions, fuel, range, etc. Allistor added in his description of the comfortable leather seats, marble countertops, and extensive storage. When he thought it sounded properly snooty, he set the minimum bid at fifty thousand klax and started the auction. He set it for three days.

  Already planning to retrieve more of them, he would sell the fancy ones and keep the more utilitarian models. The fewer fancy gadgets, the less likely something would malfunction. He wanted his vehicles to be workhorses, not luxury rides.

  Just for kicks, he took his stack of shellback meat from his ring. He’d forgotten to give it to Meg, and she wasn’t going to notice. He took half the stack and put it up for auction at a thousand klax. If the shellback was as rare as it seemed in the description for its heart, the meat might be valuable too. If so, they could sell a chunk of it and purchase large quantities of something like burgers.

  He kept the heart in his ring. He wanted some time to research its potential value. If he put it up for sale and made a hundred thousand klax, then found out it was worth twice or ten times that amount, he’d be kicking himself.

  Returning the rest of the shellback meat to his ring, he went back to the fountain and took a seat. He spent some time just watching as folks moved around the cavern. So far there hadn’t been any arguments between the different group members, and he hoped it stayed that way. Of course, no large group of humans could live in harmony for long. There would be jealousies, both professional and personal. Disputes over crafting items, or who would go out on foraging expeditions. And if they suffered losses, it was likely blame would be placed. He anticipated all of that. But for now, things were peaceful.

  He took a few minutes to go through his notifications from the last few days. He’d mostly waved them away as he was busy dealing with more important things. Primarily they were about experience points awarded and Fame Points received. There was an increase in his Improvisation skill that, based on the timing of the notice, seemed to have happened when they used the normally long-range cannons to kill the shellback. He also got a level increase on his Restraint skill when he managed to freeze the giant turtlesaur thing for a fraction of a second.

  A check of his stats brought him a few surprises. The first was that he hadn’t sp
ent any of his attribute points since level five. At level nine now, he had nine points to spend, including the one he had saved. The second surprise was that his title – Giant Killer – showed up in crimson red lettering next to his name. He’d have to do some research into what, if any, benefits came with the title.

  After a few minutes’ thought, he assigned some attribute points. He added three points to Constitution, because he still seemed to be getting bit a lot. Two more points went into Will Power, and one into Intelligence, bringing both up to eight. That left him three more points. Because his low Charisma score of two mocked him, he added one point there, and one to Luck. The last point he banked for emergencies.

  Feeling more alert and refreshed, he made his way to the infirmary to find Amanda. He wanted to plan a quiet evening for the two of them at his quarters.

  She and her new apprentice were dealing with an emergency medical situation. Or so they made it seem. One of the children sat on the exam table, tears in her eyes as the two women fussed over a scrape on her knee. Allistor rolled his eyes but played along.

  “That’s some battle wound you got there. Let me guess. An octopoid?”

  The girl, maybe seven years old, looked at him wide-eyed for a moment, then shook her head. “Nope. Bobby. We were chasing Max and he tripped me. Not on purpose, though. Accident.”

  Amanda made a series of flourishing movements with her hands and chanted: “Oh magic critters of UCP382, come to our aid. Heal this child of her battle wounds!” With the end of the chant, she cast a heal spell on the little girl, who watched wide-eyed as her skin healed in seconds. Allistor golf clapped, earning him a dirty look from Amanda as she took a bow. “There you go! All better. Next time, make sure you’re faster than Bobby so he can’t trip you!”

  The little girl hopped off the table and waved, calling, “Thank you!” as she scurried out the door.