Hey all, yet another long overdue chapter. I am going to change the synopsis comment of updates every couple of days, as I have been clearly unable to stick to that recently. I will update as and when I have the chapters ready, but will try to keep it as frequent as possible. Apologies to those who have been waiting!

On another point, please continue to let me know what you think of Alpha so far. I've received messages from people who have helped me plan out future events, or spotted errors in my chapters that need fixing (some of which still need fixing...!), or to simply say which characters they like or dislike. That kind of interaction has been really useful to me in planning, and in writing these chapters. Thanks to those people, you know who you are! 

You can let me know what you think in whatever way you prefer, reviews, comments, or messages.

Anyways, most importantly, please enjoy!

A small blade, barely bigger than a pocket knife, shot towards Oli's face. It happened too quickly for anyone surrounding to react, they were just too far away. Oli himself jerked backwards and used the arm he had stretched towards the figure to try and block, swinging it in front of his face.

The blade hit his cheekbone and glanced down, the force from his defending arm sending it away from his eye. It opened a gash on his face, starting from near the corner of his left eye, and angling down. It ended near the bottom of his ear. It wasn't close to a life threatening injury, but blood poured down his cheek.

As his companions began to react in a rage, ready to leap to the attack, Oli held out his arms and shouted.

"Stop!"

What they had failed to notice was that once the attack had failed, the hooded person had not continued to strike, but had hunched over, ready to be hit. Shoulders shaking, obviously terrified, but still silent. The blade was lying where it had been dropped. A tear fell onto the ground from the shadows of the parka's furred hood.

Oli noticed all this, and thought of one other thing. As soon as the hooded person had realised that Oli was a human, its eyes had widened in shock. Thinking about it, Oli knew that the strike was from fear, a last ditch effort to avoid the ratmen. It had not been aimed at him.

He held out his arm again, and again placed it on the figure's shoulder, gently. He could feel trembling. The figure turned, this time slowly, and without violence.

"It's alright. You're safe now. It's ok." Oli spoke calmly and gently, placing his other hand on the opposite shoulder. With one last glance up, the figure jumped into his arms, hugging onto his body tightly and breaking down into sobs. He shook his head helplessly, and placed a hand on the back of the hood, patting reassuringly.

"She's a girl," he said quietly to the now silent figures surrounding him. "A kid. Maybe 12 or 13?"

Jenny gasped, realising that she had been about to attack a young child. The others looked slightly shamefaced, apart from Bjorn, who maintained his uncaring demeanour.

"She must have been discovered by the ratmen, and chased down. They were toying with her. She probably thought that I was one of them. This isn't her fault." Oli spoke, continuing to keep his voice calm and soothing. "We're falling back, to the truck. We'll decide what to do there."

He stood, scooping up the exhausted and emotional girl with ease. Lifting her in a princess carry, he let her continue crying as he moved. The others followed quietly, the excitement of their victory overshadowed by the sympathy they felt for the child who had been surviving alone while they lived in the relative security of the mall. In turn, they appreciated once again how lucky they were, despite the difficulties they faced.

-    -    -    -    -

"She's deaf."

The realisation had come to Oli fairly quickly. After they began moving he had tried talking to the girl several times. However, her face had never lifted from his chest. Looking back, the only time she had reacted to his words was when she had been looking at him directly. He assumed she was able to lip read to some extent. It also explained why she had remained defensive despite the short but fierce battle against her pursuers. She hadn't even noticed the fight, as she had been curled up, expecting a spear at any moment.

He had a fairly easy solution, in that he could talk to her telepathically. However, he was hiding that area of his skills from the group of survivors. Even though he wanted to try and reassure her, a cold and logical part of him realised that he did not know this child, and had no reason at all to trust her to keep things to herself. So he did what he could instead, carrying her, and patting her head reassuringly. When they got to the truck and stopped, he confirmed that she was deaf by lifting her face and asking her directly. She nodded, and so he informed the rest of the group.

"She's exhausted, and half starved. We will struggle to communicate with her clearly while she is in this state. I have no intention of interrogating her here, and I won't allow anyone else to do so either." At this, Oli paused, and looked around the group. No one contradicted him. He nodded before continuing. "We have two options. We all return, or we split up and leave someone to guard her, while the rest continue the original plan. Thoughts?"

Surly spoke out. "It's dangerous. Better to stay together."

Before anyone else could agree, Jenny jumped forward. "No! We're on a time frame here. Unless you agree to stay another day, we can't waste this one." She addressed this last to Oli.

"So," he replied. "In order to become stronger you risk sacrificing a child? Interesting decision for a leader, you should maybe think about that..." 

Jenny looked down in shame. She hadn't even considered that consequence before shouting out. Oli ignored her and continued. 

"Okay people, this is what we do. Isaac, you'll stay here with our new friend. She stays in the truck. First sign of danger, you take her and leave. We'll make our own way back if necessary. Meanwhile, Bjorn and I will take Officer Jenny and her band to level. I'm assuming she won't want to waste one of her own people guarding a defenceless child."

The shame on Jenny's face was beginning to mingle with anger. She didn't respond to Oli's obvious taunt, instead she turned to one of the men accompanying her. 

"You'll stay too."

'Too easy. She's more of a kid than the deaf girl. Isaac, keep her safe, but try not to let the guy die either. We need at least some good will for the next few days, to make things simpler.'

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Isaac nodded to Oli, and stepped forward to take the deaf girl from his arms. He put her gently in the back of the truck, where she lay. Her sobbing had slowed into exhausted sleep.

Oli gathered the others, and turned to head back towards the area they suspected was a den for the ratmen.

-    -    -    -    -

The next few hours were an exhausting blur of blood and sweat. Oli and Bjorn led their little troop in a ring around the area. With Bjorn scouting, they were able to locate ratman patrols and lay ambushes fairly easily, while avoiding unfavourable fights. The main focus became letting Jenny and her men kill the enemy. However, in order to achieve this, Oli and Bjorn still ended up killing more than half of the ratmen they encountered, leaving injured and incapacitated foes for the others to kill.

After gaining a couple of levels, their companions became braver, fighting more confidently. By the end of the afternoon, they had reached a point where they all had confidence in beating any of the ratmen they had encountered in a one-on-one fight. Oli identified them. Jenny had reached level 7, while her companions were all level 6.

They returned to the truck full of excitement. The last stop they had made was at an unlooted store, and they all carried full bags. This, combined with their new found strength, lent the survivors a party-like atmosphere. Oli and Bjorn followed behind, still watchful of their surroundings.

"Level 7!" 

The man who had been left with the truck alongside Isaac exclaimed. He was both excited, and jealous, after all he too could have been out levelling. Only Isaac next to him reassured him, he wasn't the only one not levelling up. Unfortunately for him, what he didn't know was that due to the bond, any experience gained by Oli, Isaac, or Bjorn was all split evenly between the three. Oli knew that both Bjorn and Isaac had reached level 10. He was satisfied with the progress they were making.

Oli waited until they were all loaded up and ready to move before he checked his own stats.

"System."

NameOliver MordeClassPsionAlignmentNeutralLevel11Strength22 (+3)Agility22Toughness18 (+3)Spirit36TitlesAlpha Tester, Chosen of Malia, BondsmanTraitsMercy KillerSkills[Close Combat Small Arms Proficiency, Passive] level 2, 12%

[Identify] level 1, 84%

[Mental Toughness] level 3, 42%

[Minor Telepathy] level 1, 32%

[Psionic Blast] level 1, 18%

[Psionic Manifestation] level 2, 25%EquippedScaled Axe

Oli smiled calmly. He too had made a great deal of progress. This was the first time he had tried this style of levelling, almost grinding. He had become stronger across the board as his level rose, and had also levelled up his [Small Arms] skill. This had given a further boost to his strength and agility. His greatest gains were, as always, in Spirit. However, he had not been using any of his Psion abilities, in order to keep them secret.

It seemed like the experience required grew for each level. Despite receiving equal amounts of experience, Isaac and Bjorn were catching up in terms of level. Oli assumed that eventually they would stay the same. This made him think of another couple of points. Eventually, most people would have the same level, as the experience required increased too much. It would make a sort of soft cap. At that point, it would be skills, and skill mastery, that decided the ranks of the powerful. Levels were important, especially at this stage, but as far as Oli could see, skill mastery would become even more vital as time went on.

"Like what you see?" 

Jenny spoke up, drawing him from his thoughts as she fished for information. She made no secret of her dislike for Oli, but the constant effort he had put into keeping her and her men safe from harm was beginning to wear off the rough edges. It helped that three times this afternoon Oli had clearly stepped between her and harm. Of course, if she had known that Oli had deliberately only stepped in at the very last moment each time, watching her struggle beforehand, she may have been less grateful. Oli didn't feel guilty however; the more she became used to taking care of herself, the better. As far as he was concerned, he was helping her become stronger.

"It's been a productive afternoon." 

His reply was non-committal, giving her no information. His reply could be referring to levels, or to the loot they had gathered. As well as supplies, each member of the hunting party carried a small bag filled with coins. They had stuck to the rule of whoever killed a ratman, kept the loot. As such, Oli and Bjorn carried significantly more that the others, amounting to several silver coins each. As well as coins, they had received three fur pelts and a healing pill. The pill was with jenny, while Bjorn had two of the pelts. Oli's personal loot consisted only of money, but he had more than all of the others.

Ignoring Jenny, who turned away to talk to Isaac, Oli thought about the day's gains. More importantly, about how to improve his gains. His biggest issue with keeping his class as a trump card was the fact that he couldn't train his Psion skills. As he thought about this deficiency, an idea that Malia had given him days ago came to mind. As the group began to drive back towards the mall, he began to focus his skill. Underneath his sleeves, purple armbands began to form around his biceps; they were small and thin, but there. They weren't strong enough to act as armour, and they couldn't be used to attack without becoming obvious. They were basically decorative.

After a few moments Oli smiled, satisfied. While the armbands served no real purpose, the fact that he was maintaining them meant that he was training his [Manifestation] without drawing any attention. Now he could focus on levelling without the fear that his main strength would fall behind.