Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy

by S. L. Rowland

  I don’t waste any time, immediately jumping through the portal and searching for Apocalyptica. It’s another world I have never heard of, but the name sounds ominous.

  When the portal empties me into Apocalyptica, I expect there to be a group of people, but instead, I am completely alone.

  I stand in a clearing, a forest to my back and a ruined city in front of me. The skyline is on fire. It’s late afternoon and the sun closes in on the horizon.

  Something blinks on my map and I look in that direction. A gun lies on the ground. I pick it up and check the stats.

  Item: M16 Assault Rifle with Bayonet. This lightweight rifle is extremely accurate and versatile. Carries 30 rounds per magazine.

  The gun feels light in my hands. I press the stock against my shoulder and look through the sight. Everything becomes clearer as I look towards the city. Many buildings have broken windows. There appears to be several people walking the streets. Where did the princess and dwarves end up? Did they all get separated?

  I open my messages to check in with them, but its grayed out and I can’t get them to open. I guess part of this world’s rules is no outside communication. A message flashes across my screen.

  Congratulations! You have been given the quest ‘Target Practice.’ Do you accept? Y/N

  I accept and immediately, a target range forms a hundred yards from me. Three black targets shaped like humans stand at the end. There is a bullseye on each target’s head and chest.

  Aim for the head.

  I focus my sight on the center of the bullseye, directly where the brain would be, and pull the trigger. There is a loud boom, but very light recoil from the rifle. I miss the target entirely.

  I line up the sight again, this time noticing the rise and fall of the target with each breath I take. I take a breath, hold it in, and focus on the center circle of the target’s head. It steadies in front of me and I pull the trigger. This time, I hit the first target right above the ear.

  I repeat this process several times until I finally hit the bullseye. I empty through the entire magazine and hit the bullseye five times out of thirty. Most of the other shots hit the target, but are not as accurate as I would like. If I had more points in Dexterity, I’m sure my aim would be better. After I fire the last shot, I receive a notification.

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest ‘Target Practice.’ Reward: 50 gold. You have been offered another quest, ‘Find the Girl.’ Do you accept? Y/N

  I accept and three magazines of ammo appear on the ground in front of me, along with two grenades. What the hell could I be in for that I’m going to need grenades? My experience bar goes up slightly from completing the quest. Almost level thirteen. I add the ammo and grenades to my inventory. A pink dot has now appeared on my map.

  It must be the girl. She doesn’t appear to be too far away. Perhaps half a mile from my current position at the edge of the forest.

  This has to be the first quest of the tournament. Why else would there be a quest waiting for me as soon as I entered the world? It’s a little strange that it’s a shooter, since they are far from the most popular worlds on Pangea. I’ve never had much interest in them myself. To me, they are very repetitive and lack the depth of most other games. Plus, when too many shooters get together, there is always a lot of teabagging and name calling.

  I walk towards the pink dot on my map and it feels like I am being followed. Every time I turn around though, the world is as desolate as ever. The dot grows closer and closer on my map. I try to see if I can spot anyone up ahead, but wherever she is, she’s not broadcasting her location.

  The farther I walk, the dot gets closer and closer until I am practically on top of it. I’m standing next to the forest, but no one is here.

  The rattle of branches in a nearby tree causes me to look up. A young girl wearing a yellow dress clutches tightly to the tree. She’s scared of me, a look of terror on her face.

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest ‘Find the Girl.’ Reward: 50 gold.

  If I keep doing these small quests, I’ll make back the gold I spent on Buzz in no time.

  “What are you doing up there?” I ask her. For a moment, it seems like she won’t talk, then the terror fades from her face.

  “They can’t find me up here.” Her voice is barely more than a whisper.

  “Who can’t find you?” Besides her, the only people I’ve seen were far off in the city streets.

  “The others.”

  That’s spooky. Now that I’ve found her, there must be something that I am supposed to help her do.

  “Is there anything you need from me, little girl?”

  She puts her fingers to her chin as if thinking very hard. “Can you help me find my mommy?”

  Congratulations! You have been given the quest, ‘Find My Mommy.’ Do you accept? Y/N

  Of course I do. A blue square appears on my map. Her mom must be located somewhere inside it. Judging by its location, we’re going into the city.

  The little girl climbs down from the tree and grabs me by the hand. Her grip is strong to be so small. Now that she is in front of me, I can tell she has blonde hair and her dress is dotted with blue butterflies. She is oddly out of place in such a wasteland.

  Her demeanor changes once she takes hold of my hand. She almost skips as we walk towards the burning city.

  “What is this place?” I ask.

  “Mommy told me to run and hide. She said she would come for me when the bad men were gone.”

  Who are the bad men? She called them ‘the others’ earlier. This is obviously an end of the world scenario, so I could be facing renegades, rebels, or something else entirely.

  The city grows larger the closer we walk. Tall buildings block out the sun as it dips closer to the horizon. I lift my rifle and look through the sight. I can see people walking through the streets. They seem to be moving without purpose.

  The little girl hums beside me. I’m sure something dangerous will happen at some point and I will have to protect her. This is a classic escort mission.

  I walk a little faster, aware that hundreds of other people are completing the same quest as me.

  A dull roar fills the air and I realize it’s coming from inside the city. The people who were walking the street have spotted me and now walk in our direction. I grab the girl by the hand and move her behind me. My rifle is raised and ready. I call out to them as they approach. I’ll try for peace, first.

  “Stand down. I mean you no harm. I’m trying to find this girl’s mother.”

  They don’t acknowledge my words, but press on nonetheless. The girl clings to my pants leg now that she sees the men.

  “Stay behind me and we’ll find your mother,” I tell her. She nods, but doesn’t say anything.

  I look through the sight again and it stops me in my tracks. The closest man’s lips are missing. He has blood caked around his mouth and down his chin and neck. He must have eaten his own lips away. Broken and chipped teeth jut out violently from his gums. His eyes are a milky white glaze. I look up and down his body at his ripped clothes and battered limbs. This man has been through hell. The others are the same.

  When I try to focus on them, their stats don’t show up. Whoever they are will remain a mystery for now.

  I don’t think there will be any talking to these people. They look crazy and murderous. Each step they take puts this girl’s life in danger.

  “Cover your ears,” I say. Her small hands cover her ears. Our eyes lock for a moment and it feels like she may be more than an NPC.

  My first shot hits the closest man in the ribs. He steps back for a moment, but then resumes his march. The noise from the rifle acts as a prod and they all move faster. I count ten. Those that weren’t marching towards us certainly are now.

  I take a deep breath and steady my aim. I shoot again. This time, it hits him square in the chest. In the heart. It should be enough to drop him dead in his tracks. Instead, he swipes at the air and lets o
ut a roar.

  Then I remember my training. Aim for the head. The man is no more than forty yards away at this point. I can make out the jagged strips of flesh that hang across his teeth.

  Deep breaths.

  Steady aim.

  I fire.

  The bullet enters his eye socket and red mist explodes from the back of his head. He falls to the ground a lifeless mess.

  Now that I know how to stop them, I pick off the next few one by one. Sometimes I miss. Sometimes I graze their head or blow apart a jaw or ear, but more often than not, my aim is true and I take them down.

  The last one falls to the ground and I think we are safe.

  I am wrong.

  The sound of the battle has brought more of them towards us. A small army, too many to count, spills around the corner of a nearby building.

  I don’t know if I should fight or run. The only thing I do know is that for once, I can’t die. I might have only one shot at this quest for all I know. I can’t take the chance that I’ll die and respawn in my home portal, eliminated from the tournament. I have to win this. I have to at least beat this first quest.

  They turn the corner and rush towards us. They are actually running. Their limbs flail about and it sounds like a rushing tide as their screams blend together down the city street.

  I start shooting and kill a few, but at this rate, I’ll never be able to kill them all. There has to be something I can do. I need to think outside the box. They’ll be on us in less than a minute if I do nothing.

  I have a thought. It shouldn’t be possible, but I don’t see any other way.

  “Little girl?”

  “Yes?” Her face is innocent. It makes what I’m about to ask even more preposterous.

  “Can you shoot a gun?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The girl smirks and holds her hand out. I place the M16 in it. She takes it, drops to one knee, and begins picking off people with pinpoint accuracy. It’s like she has shot the weapon her entire life.

  Congratulations! You have learned the passive ‘Inspire Resistance.’ NPCs in your party will fight with increased fervor.

  I can’t believe that worked, but I don’t have time to appreciate my good fortune. A horde of crazies is fast approaching. Even with my new backup, there are so many of them that I don’t know if we have a chance.

  It’s time to break out everything I have. I equip my axe and take off towards the mob. I cast Mud Pits and they immediately slow down. I cast Resilience on myself and jump into the fray. Their movement and attack is cut down by fifty percent while my attack speed is increased by twenty percent.

  They try to bite me and I finally realize what is wrong with them. They are zombies. ‘It begins at the end.’ When they die, they come back again. We’re in the apocalypse. “Live or die, begin again.” Whether you live or die, it’s a new chance. No wonder Ryken was the first to beat this place. He’s a death knight, he can control the undead. It won’t be so easy for me.

  I attack with everything I have, cleaving heads from shoulders and splitting them down the middle. Blood soaks through my clothes and covers my face. Pretty soon, I look no different from the zombies I am fighting.

  The girl is still in position, picking off men and women who attack me from my blind side. There are so many zombies, I wonder if it will be enough.

  I take my axe and spin in a harsh circle, decapitating three of them. Their heads roll along the ground and continue to bite long after they are removed from their bodies.

  The funnel of zombies seems never-ending. Dozens of bodies lay in piles around me and more continue to barrage us. Through it all, the girl remains calm, almost robotic, as she fires round after round.

  My stamina has dipped low and the only reason I have any at all is because of my boots. Without them, I would certainly be dead already. There is a marked difference between my fighting with both Mud Pits and Resilience active versus when they are not.

  I hear a light click that cuts through the fighting. I know the sound and it sends a shiver down my spine. The M16 is out of ammo. She’s run through all the ammo I gave her, some one hundred rounds.

  Several dozen zombies turn the corner, but it looks like it might be the end of them for now. I tell the girl to stay back, while I try to finish them off. She stands with the rifle in her hands, obeying my command.

  A zombie reaches for me and I chop off his hands. His teeth gnash together up until the moment my axe splits his face in half.

  Mud Pits and Resilience both come off cooldown and I cast them. I attack in a flurry. My axe cuts through their bodies like butter. I make sure to keep the zombies in front of me. Without the girl to guard my back, I can’t take any chances. I lure them towards me. They are fast and hungry, but I am faster.

  I don’t know what effect a single bite from them will cause and I have no desire to find out. One bite could end all of this for me. If I can help it, we’re making this run clean.

  Two dozen of them remain. They’re as ravenous as ever as they funnel down the street towards me. Mounds of bodies litter the road, slowing their approach and funneling the zombies closer together.

  I remember the grenades and take one from my inventory. I pull the pin and toss it into the crowd. The explosion is deafening. Blood and body parts erupt and rain down, taking out half of the undead horde. I’m not sure what lies ahead, so I elect to save my last grenade and take out the remaining zombies with my axe.

  When I decapitate the last one and his head rolls down the street like a ball, I take a deep breath. Now we have to go into the city and find the girl’s mother.

  I turn around and she’s not there.

  In a panic, I scream for her. I call her ‘little girl’ because I don’t even know her name. If she’s gone, this is all for nothing.

  A wet crunch startles me right before a heavy body pushes me to the ground.

  This is it. I missed one and now I’m dead.

  I expect the bite to come, but it never does. Instead, I feel a slight suction and turn around to see the girl pull the bayonet from the zombie’s head.

  “Uh, thanks.” I don’t really know what to say. I didn’t expect an NPC to save my life. Was it my new ability or is she programmed to help me?

  My experience bar shoots up drastically after she kills the last zombie. I hit level thirteen and put my new stat point into Dexterity. The increased accuracy will be a godsend if I can find more ammunition for the M16. It will also help with the cooldowns for my abilities. Definitely the smart choice for my current circumstances.

  “I guess we go into the city now,” I say, more to myself than to the girl.

  The blue box telling me where to find her mother is closer now. It’s only a few blocks away. Since we have no bullets, stealth is our greatest weapon going forward.

  We pass the decaying bodies and enter the city. Everything is in ruins. Several buildings burn bright, fires lighting them from the inside. Broken glass litters the street and I have to choose each step carefully to avoid the crunch. Not that every zombie in the city couldn’t have heard our gunfight.

  Around the corner, I see a few straggling zombies. They move without purpose. Far down the street, I see a great deal more. An overturned oil tanker takes up half the road, forcing the zombies into a neat line. Our battle must have drawn their attention.

  The blue box showing me our next objective is halfway between us and the zombies. With no bullets, it feels like a suicide mission to go out there. I could wait and pick them off one by one as they approach, but there is no telling how many of them are on the other side.

  A thought dawns on me. I tell the girl to stay where she is, and I take off running toward the horde. Several dozen have spilled through now. When I’m close enough, I take the last grenade and throw it hard at the oil tanker.

  It bounces off the metal shell and falls to the ground. For a moment, I don’t know if it will explode or not. Then, a loud explosion that ignites the night sky knocks me to my
feet. My vision goes red at the edges and I struggle to stand up. Charred limbs litter the street as I rush back to the girl.

  When I find her, she is fixated on the fire, its flames dancing in the reflection of her eyes.

  We are so close to the blue box and that is all I care about right now. I move quickly to its location. The girl follows behind, quiet as a mouse.

  The blue square surrounds two buildings. One is several stories tall, and fires burn inside the lower floors. The other is an old church. The steeple has fallen off and is lodged upside down in the street. The doors to the church are chained shut.

  Someone locked it from the outside.

  “Which one is your mommy in?” I ask.

  She doesn’t say anything. Her eyes are fixed on the fire burning high in the building.

  That’s where we’ll start.

  We enter through the side stairwell. The door groans as I push it open. A burnt sofa is lodged between the door and the wall. I give it a hard push with all of my weight and it finally gives enough for us to squeeze inside.

  “Stay behind me,” I say. The girl nods. She still holds the M16 in her hand. I hope she doesn’t have to use it again.

  The thought barely comes to mind before I hear a loud groan from up the stairs.

  I creep up one step at a time. The groans grow louder with each step. I can hear someone beating on a door. Whether they are living or undead, I’m not certain.

  There is a loud crack. Then, I hear running. They must have broken through the door. Dozens of thunderous stomps echo through the stairwell. I brace for a fight.

  The first zombie turns the corner and dives towards me. I slice through his midsection, ripping him in half. His upper body falls behind me and the girl stabs him in the head.

  I cast Mud Pits on the stairs just in time to catch the mob. Their eyes are empty, but full of rage and fury. The clatter of teeth chomping will haunt me in my sleep. I take a step closer and chop through the first zombie’s head.

  Not much choice at the moment, but I don’t like fighting on the stairs. My feet are grounded at odd angles and I don’t have the high ground.