With its greeting and threat completed, the mecha stomped backward into the shadows.
“You get used to him pretty quick,” said the first young man apologetically. “It was pretty weird at first, but he’s definitely stopped some strange creatures from following people through the door.”
“That seems like an interesting Perk,” I replied, then offered my hand. “I’m Hal.”
Introductions all around followed. The young man who had called us to the library was Jeremy and the mechanical guardian was Evan.
I got the sense that Jeremy was the overly friendly talkative type, and he proved to be a font for information. Before today, their roles had been reversed. Jeremy had volunteered as a caretaker for the wheelchair-bound Evan, who often spent his free time in the library where his mind could explore the world through the books he read. This morning, Evan had selected a Perk to become the mechanized guardian for the library, as well as a lesser Perk that provided a database filled with information about this new world.
Jeremy went on to fill us in about the Safe Zone and Shop that Evan had mentioned, including that the Shop could even impart magical abilities if you could afford the price.
While the conversation ran on, full feeling and movement gradually returned to my left arm as it healed. After about ten minutes, I cautiously exercised it a little more vigorously to ensure that it was back to normal.
With full mobility restored, I unloaded my weapons and took stock of my inventory before I reloaded the guns on the library counter. I only had three shells left for the shotgun, so I would have to make them count. Fortunately, I still had three full magazines for the Colt.
“How are you doing for ammo?” I asked Adam during a break in the conversation.
“Just one full mag,” he replied. “I’ve got a few extra rounds on top of that.”
“You’ll have to be careful with your shots,” I said. “Especially since it seems to me like firearms aren’t doing the kind of damage they should.”
“That’s right,” Jeremy said. “Your weapons aren’t System weapons, so they will be less and less effective against higher leveled creatures.”
“Great. Even these?” Zeke hefted his massive sledgehammer.
Jeremy nodded. “Yep. It’ll still do damage, but System creatures will have resistances to being hurt by it. You’ll need to purchase weapons integrated with the System from the Shop to do full damage.”
“You keep saying System as if it's a title,” I said.
“It is,” replied Jeremy. “The System is what all of this is called. The blue windows, the Levels, the experience points. All of it.”
I nodded in understanding. The System was the video game world we lived in now.
We definitely needed to get to this Shop. Without System weapons, we wouldn’t have a chance once the mutations climbed higher and got closer to the actual level of the zone.
I opened up my status sheet and looked it over. Moving fast and shooting accurately were still my best bets to stay alive, so I dropped my free Attributes into Agility and Perception yet again.
That last fight had pushed my experience up quite a bit, especially since I had performed the majority of the kills, and I was already a good portion of the way to my next level.
Unfortunately, my attributes were still far below the minimums needed to unlock my Class Skills. Some quick mental math showed me that I would have to get through Level 15 or so before I could fully unlock my Class.
Status Screen
Name:
Hal Mason*
Class:
Hunter*
Race:
Human (Male)
Level:
3
Titles
None
Health:
150
Stamina:
150
Mana:
170
Status
Normal*
Attributes
Strength
16 (30)
Agility
17 (60)
Constitution
15 (50)
Perception
20 (40)
Intelligence
17 (40)
Willpower
17 (30)
Charisma
16 (40)
Luck
16
Class Skills
Hinder
1
Keen Senses
1
On the Hunt
1
Perks
Gut Instinct
Combat Spells
None
I closed the status window and looked around.
Paula poked at the restored flesh of her leg, visible through the gaps in her slashed and blood-stained jeans.
Zeke fidgeted with his hammer, clearly preoccupied as he worried about his kids and impatient to get moving again.
Adam stared at the door as if dreading what was outside.
I stretched to loosen up before we headed back out, and my movements drew the attention of the others.
“Well, Jeremy, thanks for all the info. It’s definitely been educational, but I think we need to get moving,” I said then nodded toward the door. “Shall we?”
Zeke nodded solemnly and threw his hammer onto his shoulder before walking to the door and pushing it open. I followed along, with Paula just behind.
Adam stood still. “I can’t.” He shook his head over and over. “I can’t go back out there.”
The rest of us looked back at him. He hadn’t moved from the front desk and clutched at the rifle with a white-knuckled grip.
“I’m not going to make him go anywhere.” I shrugged.
“I understand, man,” Zeke said as he looked toward Adam. “But I gotta get to my kids.”
Paula walked back over to Adam and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You can stay here,” she said, then looked at Jeremy. “He can stay here, right?”
“I don’t think there will be any problem with that,” replied the young man. “As long as he’s willing to help out around the place.”
“I can help here,” Adam said frantically. “Just don’t make me go back outside.”
Zeke walked back over to the young man and patted him on the back before giving him a handshake to say goodbye. The interaction calmed Adam a bit.
“Good luck, kid,” said Zeke.
The big man turned back to the door and pushed his way out. I nodded at Adam and followed, Paula bringing up the rear.
Chapter 8
The sun was nearly overhead, occasionally peeking through the clouds, when the three of us walked back outside. More pedestrians were out on the street now as people came to terms with the world that had changed. Most people were armed or tightly clutched improvised weapons, everything from baseball bats to hockey sticks. Everyone seemed hurried as they scampered from building to building. Nervous glances were exchanged, though most refused eye contact.
An atmosphere of anxious anticipation filled the air, as if danger could explode at any moment. It felt like being back on patrol through a warzone, something I’d hoped to never experience again.
Things were different now though. I was stronger, faster, and had superhuman abilities.
Here I could fight the dangers.
The farther we got from Murray Avenue as we walked west down Forbes, the more the foot traffic died off, and within a block, the busy storefronts gave way to a more sedated residential area. The houses were generously spaced apart and well kept, with neatly manicured lawns and shrubbery.
The three of us talked as we traveled. Zeke revealed that his wife had passed on from cancer almost a decade ago. That left him alone to care for their two children who were now in high school, two years apart.
Paula and her husband, Jake, were childless and spent most of their free time volunteering at animal shelters.
Under normal conditions, getting to the Cathedral of Learning would have been a brisk forty-min
ute walk, at most. The need to stay alert and deal with the occasional monster spawn forced us to move more slowly. None of the single monsters were particularly threatening, not with three of us, and I held back whenever possible to conserve my ammo. I still led the way, scouting ahead as Paula and Zeke hung back slightly to either side of me as we walked down the street.
This stretch of Forbes Avenue ran straight and mostly level through the neighborhood. After several blocks, we reached a Y-intersection. Here Forbes Avenue turned north to curve gently downhill toward the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. The offshoot straight ahead climbed a slight rise as it headed through a golf course and into Schenley Park.
I looked back at the group behind me. “Straight ahead through the park or down around by Carnegie Mellon?”
“Distance-wise, it’s about the same, isn’t it?” said Paula.
“Just about,” Zeke replied. “I don’t want to deal with the CMU students though. Let’s go straight.”
“Through the park it is,” I stated.
Wide fields with gently rolling hills bordered either side of the road ahead, the open ground dotted with putting greens. Occasional rows of trees were spaced out along the road, but since they were cultivated as part of the golf course, there was no ground clutter that could give cover to any hidden monsters.
The frequency of the trees increased from managed landscaping to naturally forested as we reached the end of the golf course and entered the main part of Schenley Park.
The road twisted north then south again as it continued west. The street widened slightly and added rows of parking on either side as it curved toward the Phipps Conservatory. But before the Conservatory came into view, the trees above us rustled ominously and a pungent odor assaulted my nose.
Paula gagged at the sudden stench, and I looked up as a half-dozen giant stink bugs dropped to the ground from the trees on either side of the road. The massive insects had each grown to the size of a sofa, and their spindly legs dented and ripped through the cars parked along the street as they crawled over the vehicles. Noxious clouds emanated from the bugs as they closed around us.
As the clouds of fumes rolled over me, a notification popped up.
Poison Effect Resisted
I stepped toward the closest insect and fired my shotgun. Most of the pellets deflected off the hardened carapace, but a few sank into softer flesh around the eyes and proboscis. I dropped the ineffective shotgun on its sling and drew my pistol.
Behind me, Zeke coughed lightly as if only slightly affected by the gases, but Paula retched violently. I could spare no time for them as the two nearest insects charged at me.
I fired my Colt, each carefully aimed shot targeting the eyes of the first bug. Goo splashed out of the wounds, and the bug toppled as its momentum carried it forward. The second bug had almost reached me, and I jumped sideways onto the corpse of the first bug as it skidded to a lifeless halt.
My movement confused the still living bug, and it paused with antenna waving as it tried to locate me. I took advantage of the unmoving target and double-tapped it in the same head location as the first.
I turned to look at my companions. Zeke had dealt with one bug, which lay in a crumpled heap behind him. Even as I watched, he smashed aside a probing leg with his sledgehammer, then brought the weapon up overhead. The hammer never stopped swinging as he brought it down to crush the insect’s head.
A scream jerked my attention over to Paula. The last two stink bugs had her pinned to the ground beneath them. Each insect had proboscises jammed into her torso, and the woman shook violently as her muscles seized from the poison effects. She batted at the tubelike appendages pumping toxins into her body as her screams grew weaker and her movements slowed.
Zeke was closer than me, but we both charged to her aid and reached the last two bugs at the same time. The big man hit one with another overhead strike that crumpled in a section of its carapace, and the wounded bug released Paula as it stumbled back.
I slid under the other bug, knife in hand, and activated Hinder. I sliced deeply into the insect’s soft underbelly as I passed under it. Guts and goo squirted from the cut, mostly missing me as I rolled out from under the giant insect.
More noxious gases roiled forth from the injured bugs, but I still resisted their effects. Zeke coughed again, affected but not disabled. He powered through the poison and whaled away at the bug until it was a lifeless, crumpled husk.
My target, wounded by the gaping hole in its underside and slowed by my Class Skill, couldn’t keep up with me. I circled and slashed at exposed joints as it failed to turn fast enough. After only a few more hits, I finished it by stabbing it through the eye. I confirmed it was dead with a glance at my experience notifications and turned to find Zeke already kneeling beside Paula.
I walked over to them. When I got closer, I saw that all of Paula’s exposed flesh had turned a pale, translucent white. Where the insects had injected her torso, it had withered as her insides liquefied. Zeke shook his head and looked at me.
“She’s gone,” he said sadly, then coughed violently. He wheezed. “It’s my fault.”
I grabbed him under his shoulders and lifted him to his feet, pulling him away to fresher air. “Let’s get out of this cloud.”
Once free of the fumes, Zeke sank to his knees again and stared back at Paula’s body. “If she hadn’t come with me, she’d still be alive.”
“You can’t know that,” I said softly. “You have no idea what people might be running into out there. The world has gone crazy.”
“She chose to come with me,” Zeke argued.
“That’s right,” I replied and placed a hand on his shoulder. “She thought that you getting to your kids was something important, and that was her choice. Honor her for that.”
My words quieted Zeke, but he still sat unmoving with his gaze fixed back on Paula. I gave a firm pat to Zeke’s back, then went to loot the giant bugs as the stinking cloud dissipated.
After nearly filling my Inventory with bug guts and carapace pieces, I really hoped that we would get to this Shop before my Inventory got completely full. I hated the thought of leaving potentially valuable loot behind.
I went back to Zeke and offered him my hand. “You gonna be okay, big guy?”
After a moment, he grasped my hand and allowed me to easily pull him back to his feet. Both of us were slightly surprised by how effortlessly I’d pulled him up. Strength was my lowest physical attribute, but even that had increased to the peak of human conditioning. My agility was over triple what it had been, and I could only imagine how much faster I had become. My shooting accuracy had certainly benefited from my increases to Perception and Agility.
“How are you handling all of this so well?” Zeke countered.
I met his eyes. “It’s not the first time people around me have died badly.” I rubbed a finger over a couple of the holes in my Kevlar plate carrier. “I’ve been shot, burned, and blown up. Somehow, you get used to the horror of war or it overwhelms and drowns you.”
Something in my voice caused Zeke to look at me intently, and the big fellow searched my face. His eyes widened as though noticing the burn scars on my cheek for the first time. His gaze traced the ripples of the scar tissue down my neck where they disappeared under my T-shirt and plate carrier. Then he looked back up at me.
“You’re not just a bounty hunter,” Zeke said. “You were military.”
I shook my head and forced myself to turn away—from Zeke, from Paula, and from the carnage that lay behind in the wake of our latest fight. I didn’t want to think about the reminders of my past or fallen comrades.
“Let’s get going,” I said.
It took a few steps before my strides regained confidence. By then, Zeke let out a heartfelt sigh before his ponderous footsteps followed along behind me.
Chapter 9
We continued following the road. It curved in a gentle bend in front of Phipps Conservatory, but I halted as soon as I caug
ht sight of the Conservatory’s greenhouse windows. Or what was left of them.
Almost all of the massive panes had been shattered, and from the scattered glass, it was obvious they had been smashed from inside. From within, masses of vines and brilliantly colored flowers stretched out. Some of the plants climbed upward along the outside of the buildings, while others ran out along the ground and reached almost to the road.
“Oh, hell no,” exclaimed Zeke as he caught up to me.
“Agreed,” I said. “I’ve had my fill of killer plants for the day already.”
We edged toward the far side of the street as we worked our way past. In several places, thorny vines had wrapped themselves around cars on the side of the street nearest the Conservatory. We gave those spots extra distance as we went by.
Occasionally, a pained scream echoed from inside the building. Each time it happened, I shuddered before continuing on.
Zeke just shook his head and said, “Nope. Nope. Nope.”
Once we were halfway through the parking lot, the vines no longer expanded out onto the road and we were well beyond their reach.
I sighed in relief. “That was like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ on steroids. That movie gave me nightmares as a kid.”
“Never saw it,” replied Zeke. “Don’t think I’d want to now either.”
“Well, good news,” I said as I pointed at a towering rectangular building that rose above the cityscape in front of us. “That's where the System Shop is supposed to be.”
We both instinctively picked up our pace as we crossed the Schenley Bridge. The main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was on our right, sharing a massive beige stone building with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
We made it by the library and bypassed Schenley Plaza without incident. That brought us up to intersect with Forbes Avenue once again as the road passed between us and the Cathedral of Learning.
Fist Full of Credits: A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless Book 1) Page 6
