Apologies for the huge delay. A mix of distractions and writer's block. 

Half an hour later Oli, Isaac and Bjorn gathered in the passageway leading to the exit. They were calm and quiet, not talking, as they prepared themselves to go back outside. This was the first time they were responsible for the safety of others, it was a much more daunting task than simply exploring or levelling by themselves.

Oli looked up as Elle called out to him from a few yards away. She walked closer, and then leaned on the wall next to him. To any onlookers, she was bidding him farewell.

"I followed Allard and his little Sheriff. They don't trust you particularly, but as far as I can tell they have no intention of breaking the agreement. He wants to use you to get stronger, and then he'll be happy to see you gone. And as for her, she seems to distrust me a lot more than she does you."

Oli laughed gently. "I wonder why?"

"Harsh. I'm perfectly trustworthy, have I let you down yet?"

"Elle, I've known you a grand total of two days, and the first thing you did was help me kill a man by lying to everyone else here. I know people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but that seems distinctly shady to me. Apt really, don't you think?"

"Apt, how?" Elle suddenly looked cautious.

"You aren't the only one with a few tricks, my pretty little Shadowmage." As Elle tensed, ready to make a move, he continued. "Relax. I have no plans or plots. I didn't lie about needing to prepare for a journey. Isaac and I need to find our family, and there is an ocean in the way. That's more than enough trouble without me picking fights on the way. As long as you don't give me a reason to, I have no intention of causing you harm."

Elle was quiet for a moment as she considered. After a few seconds, she spoke again. "Chosen power?"

"Malia, Goddess of Wisdom. I got an inspect skill."

"Maybe she isn't as useless as she looked."

Oli snorted at that last. "Elle, I like you, you're funny, and clever. But if you ever cross Malia, something tells me I wouldn't even have a chance of helping you. And I'm not sure I'd try."

"You're going in for all this 'Gods and Goddesses' bullshit then?" 

Elle suddenly seemed more attentive. Oli could tell that she'd been thinking about this a lot. He couldn't blame her, it had been weighing on him a great deal too.

"I don't know. There's a lot that doesn't add up. Malia openly admits she is keeping secrets from me, and I know for a fact that there is some kind of power above the Gods, which doesn't seem very ... Godly. But I do know that they are a lot more powerful than us. Until we have the strength to compare, they might as well be Gods, so I'll go with it for now."

"At least you can talk to yours. I have the grand honour of being Chosen by the Lord of Shadows. I don't even know his name, he turned up, explained the rough situation, and then told me he didn't care what I did, but that I should amuse him before I die. Real cheerful fellow."

"Look on the bright side Elle, at least neither of us is being forced to fight. We have free rein."

"Hmmm. Maybe. Anyways, looks like your babysitting is almost ready to start. I'll keep an eye on things here for now. And Oli? Decide if you can trust me or not. I think I want to tag along when you leave here. I have no interest in holing up and waiting for things to get better, and a group has more chance of survival."

She didn't wait for an answer. She left the same way she had come, smirking briefly at Jenny, who glared back. Oli stood up from the wall he had been leaning against, and nodded to his companions. Without speaking they stood up. Jenny approached them, two quiet, competent-looking men in their late twenties stood behind her alongside Surly.

"You ready?" Clearly, she wasn't in the mood for a chat.

"You have a plan, or we just driving round looking for trouble?" Oli asked.

She nodded to Surly, who unrolled a map. He spoke in a deep voice. "This shows the local area. Circles are where we hit goblins, crosses ratmen, and the dots are dog-packs. We figure if we drive through where they are closest together we can find them fairly easily."

Oli looked up at his companions, Bjorn specifically. "Ideas?"

Bjorn crouched over the map. All of the people here had witnessed his strength, so no one questioned the sense in asking a child for help.

After a few seconds of quiet thought, he spoke. "Monsters aren't just spawned. They're lifted from another place and dropped here. They won't just wander aimlessly, they will gather and set up a base, somewhere to live, to replace the home they've been stolen from. From the map, I'd say the wild dogs are different, roaming wherever. We might find them, and we might just drive aimlessly. The goblin encounters are almost in a straight line, following the main roads. It seems they are moving through the area, not settling here. Only the ratmen are clustered together. I'd say you have a fairly big nest of them somewhere here." Bjorn circled an area on the map.

Jenny spoke up. "That's a residential area, smallish houses. A few shops. No big central location."

One of the other men interrupted. "Wait. Here." He pointed at one building almost in the centre of the crosses marked on the map. "Local church. Fairly big building, plus I've been in there. They have big cellars, two layers of them."

"Ok." Oli decided for the group. "We head there, investigate the Church. If we find nothing, we check the area. At the least, we stand a better chance of encounters there than we do anywhere else. Aim of the day isn't extermination, if we find some kind of nest we pull back and plan based on what we find."

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Isaac stepped forward. "Aren't we going for supplies? Why not just avoid the area?"

"Better to deal with any big threats first. We level up, and the area becomes safer. Remember, we're leaving in five days. If we spend the time stocking up here, they gain another month or so. But if we help them make themselves stronger then they can last indefinitely. Teach a man to fish and all that." 

Oli looked up just in time to catch a slightly surprised, and gratified, look on Jenny's face, before she turned away. "Don't worry though, we'll give it a couple days and then gear up. We still need our own stockpile too."

As Isaac nodded his understanding, the others packed up the map and gathered their weapons. They headed out to Surly's truck, ready to embark.

-    -    -    -    -

An hour later, the group was ducked down, sheltered behind a misted glass balcony above a shop front. They had climbed up here as the most convenient hiding spot, taking cover from the group of enemies which Bjorn had warned them was heading down the street. The truck was parked a couple of streets away, left because of the risk of enemies hearing them approach.

Oli spoke in a whisper. "We let these go past if we can't guarantee silent takedown. If we fight here and there is a base nearby we might warn them."

The others nodded. Jenny showed none of the anger she had while they were in the relative safety of their base, out here she acted like a veteran. The group waited, holding weapons ready. After a few minutes, Bjorn spoke out. "They're here." 

Moments later, the rest of the group heard soft footsteps and gasping, almost sobbing. It was accompanied by a strange chattering sound.

Almost without thinking, Isaac looked out through a gap between the misted panes of glass.

"Shit. Oli, they're chasing someone."

Oli quickly looked too. In the street was a small figure wearing an oversized, ripped and torn parka with the fur lined hood covering its face. It was currently sprawled on all fours, gasping for breath, head down in seeming defeat. It seemed like the chase was over.

Surrounding the figure were 5 ratmen. They loomed over it, drool hanging from snarling, fanged snouts, beady eyes practically glowing with malice. They looked as though they would be taller than men if they weren't hunched over in a twisted form. They had brutishly strong looking shoulders, but their arms and legs were thin and wiry. The strength was still evident though, they were all holding unwieldy spears with no effort. Long, hairless tails stood out behind them, seeming to counterbalance the forward leaning hunch.

Oli sighed. His first instinct was to avoid trouble, there were too many enemies to take out silently, and he didn't yet know their strength. But he also knew his companions, Isaac especially was bound to attack even if he had to do it alone. Jenny too gave the impression that she was ready to go. And honestly speaking, even behind the cold and callous self preservation instinct, Oli was hesitant to let someone die in front of him. The wedding ring hung around his neck seemed to weigh more all of a sudden.

His mind made up, Oli acted as soon as the lead ratman raised his spear. With a thought, his axe appeared in his hand and he shouted out "Isaac!" Isaac immediately stamped, and appeared below, slashing up with his battered falchion to deflect the descending spear. 

Meanwhile, Oli jumped over the balcony, pushing off the top as he did, projecting himself forward. He flew past the rearmost rat, and left the scaled axe embedded in the back of its skull. Landing into a roll, he smashed into another ratman and grabbed hold of its spear, pulling it into a contest of strength that it stood no chance of winning.

Bjorn followed almost instantly, both feet colliding with the back of a ratman in a two footed flying kick. He landed on his back and immediately flung himself up. In a feral leap he landed on the back of his downed victim. He raised both hands, clenching his fists as iron gauntlets formed on them, and then smashed down, caving in the head of the ratman under him. Gore splattered over him, making him seem even more savage than their foes.

Isaac was now clashing with the leader of the enemy, falchion flashing as he swung it. Blade clashed with spear many times in just a few seconds. Before the struggle could continue, the screeching figure of a now disarmed rat flew into the side of the leader, sending them both crashing down to the ground. Isaac dashed forward and beheaded both sprawled forms before they could recover, his strength now incomparable to just a few days ago. He raised a hand to Oli briefly, thanking him for the assistance.

Jenny and Surly had by now made it to the ground, and he tackled the last ratman in an American football style hit, ducking under the lunging spear. As he pinned the foe, Jenny ran forward and hacked down with the machete. They looked up, ready to fight, before realising that Oli and his companions had already wiped out the other four.

"I knew you were strong, but..." Jenny tailed off, looking at Oli with newfound respect, and an even stronger wariness.

Oli ignored her however, moving over to the hooded person still kneeling in fear on the ground.

"Hello? It's okay now, you're safe."

There was no response. He moved closer, still talking softly. The others watched in silence.

Oli reached out cautiously, before placing a hand on the figure's shoulder. Immediately, it turned and a hand shot out, wielding a small knife and aiming for his face.