“Not only are you taking half of the village’s fighters, you’re taking the best,” Mr. Lowe grumbled.
Wesley spread his hands apologetically, “That’s not really true, Steve. Don’t forget about the people with fighter classes that came in yesterday. You have more than twenty people who can defend this place if you’re attacked while we’re gone.”
He held up his hand, stopping Mr. Lowe from interrupting him. He continued, “Most of our fighters need hundreds of points of experience to get to the next level. The hospital dungeon looks promising. We can get some experience points and cull the monsters. If those monsters aren’t thinned out, they’ll overrun the area surrounding the hospital.”
Mr. Lowe’s frown deepened, “That’s a problem for that other village.”
Wesley sent him a reproachful glare.
Mr. Lowe sighed, “Fine. Just be careful and hurry back. We can’t afford to lose any of you.”
Twelve of us paraded through the heavy wooden gates before we flowed onto the farm to market road. New cracks spider-webbed throughout the asphalt; new signs of decay. Hanna, as the best scout – well, our only scout, took point. David Huerta came next. His class, spear-prodigy, sounded exotic. I knew him from school. He’d been a grade ahead of me.
The rest of our party walked single file. What an assortment we were. Everything from traditional warriors and archers to a combat mage and a combat medic. I took my place at the end of the file. The walk back to the hospital took a couple of hours. More cracks in the highway asphalt reinforced the forced decay of our world. When we passed by woodlands, they appeared wilder, seemed to be closer to the road than before. I couldn’t help but feel eyes on us as we walked.
“Halt.”
The barricade of pickup trucks and cars still blocked the access road to the hospital. The same cop stood in the bed of the same pickup as before. Instead of a shotgun, now he carried a heavy crossbow. The sleeves of the navy blue police uniform stuck out from a leather armor that covered his torso.
Several more fighters from the village ran toward the barricade. The cop’s eyes swept over our raid-sized party, settling on Wesley, “I hope this is a social call.”
Wesley offered a wry grin, “If you call coming to clear out some monsters in the hospital a social call, then I suppose so.”
A moment later, the mayor, Chuck Kimball arrived. Sweat plastered his sparse grey hair to his forehead, and his face was beat red. When he climbed into the bed of the pickup truck, his worried expression gave way to a guarded smile. His eyes zoomed in on Wesley, “Mr. Parsons, you come over here to enjoy our hospitality or our hospital?”
I wanted to groan at the pun. Wesley for his part just grinned. “Maybe the hospitality of the hospital. If you still want some help clearing monsters, we’re glad for the experience.”
The mayor looked toward the multi-storied building rising low on the horizon a few hundred yards away. “Don’t expect a rescue if you get yourself in over your head. Other than that, have at it.”
As we turned on the hospital’s access road, the thought crossed my mind, the mayor was sitting on a goldmine. He could charge people to farm the mine. Even though trash loot wasn’t worth a lot, anything they didn’t have to do for themselves was free money. I filed the thought away for later. If we ever capture a dungeon, perhaps people would pay to farm it. Then maybe Wesley would stop treating me like an ATM for the village.
The hospital’s lawn had once been immaculate. Even though eight days of decay had done very little to the building, the hospital still looked like a warzone. Most of the windows were blown out. Cars were scattered across the parking lots, almost like a child had thrown a tantrum.
As we neared the first parking lot, Lewis Warner, a combat mage who walked a few feet ahead of me, gasped, “What the hell did this?”
An arrow clattered across the roof of the closest car. When it fell to the cracked asphalt, I looked at it. It was crude and poorly made. Still, if something like that had struck someone’s vitals, the critical damage could still kill.
From the hospital’s emergency room entrance spewed a flood of goblins. Some, in the rear, shot arrows at our raid group. Others flung spears. Most just screamed and charged with swords grasped in their green little fists.
Wesley and the other melee fighters with shields raced to create a shield wall. Hanna fell back, only stopping when she took up a position behind Jayden, who held his sword with both hands.
And then the goblins were on us. Several of them slammed in the shield wall, their weight pushing our fighters back a step or two. To the right of the shield wall, Jayden refused to take a step back, and swung his longsword, sending part of a goblin one way and the other part to the ground.
We had bunched up as we came down the road. I swung my rifle across my back and pulled the Remington from its holster. The goblins were too close for comfort.
Several goblins swerved around Jayden’s right, effectively flanking him. Hanna dashed forward, taking one in the throat. But two others scampered past her. My mouth went dry when they spotted me. And charged.
Don’t let anyone kid you. All that fancy gunplay in movies like Django Unchained or True Grit is fine for movies, but it takes a lot of practice to accurately shoot a revolver with one hand, especially on the fly. I held the grip with both hands and aimed at the nearest monster. He was racing toward me. Without overthinking, I activated my ranged attack, which gave me plus two to my aim. And I pulled the trigger.
The flimsy leather jerkin offered no resistance to the bullet, despite the cartridge being infused with only ten mana. He crumpled, falling to the ground in a heap. Another jumped over him, sword raised high. He let loose a guttural scream that worked better than I’d like to admit, sent a shiver down my spine. I pulled the hammer back with my thumb and fired. He was only a few paces away from me when the hammer detonated the infused mana. The bullet flew straight. A small hole appeared just above one eye. The war-cry died on its green lips as he fell at my feet.
I was breathing fast as I scanned the parking lot, almost like I was hyperventilating. Just as fast has the battle had started, it was over. Lewis stood a few paces away from me. A goblin lay in a mangled heap, tendrils of smoke wafted from the body, evidence of the spells that killed him. A half-dozen green bodies lay in front of the shield wall. And even more bodies were splayed around, killed by the rest of our raid group.
Seeing the bodies fade away after we’d looted them made it easier to think of them as something other than alive. Almost like the System put them there for us to kill. But goblins had killed several people in our neighborhood. Maybe the System saw us as fodder for the monsters it spawned.
Unhappy at the thought, I waited a few minutes for several of our mages to replenish their mana. While we waited, Wesley came over to me while I swapped out the spent cartridges for fresh ones. “Good job, Cade. Probably gonna be close quarters in the hospital. You okay for ammo?”
I carried a haversack I’d bought at auction; I’d slung it over one shoulder and it hung below my hip. I carried loose ammo as well as some food in it. I patted the canvas bag. “I’ve got enough ammo, I think.”
The truth was, I’d already turned in some spent cartridges to the new village blacksmith, along with molds I had saved from my dad’s gun safe. I had enough .44 caliber pistol ammo for a few more reloads, in addition to the two spare loaded cylinders I carried in an inventory slot. But I really needed to return to the blacksmith to see if he’d had any luck reloading the cartridges.
He patted me on the shoulder, “Let me know if you run low.”
With that, he headed over to Lewis, checking on the inexperienced mage, giving a few words of encouragement before moving to the next person. There was more to leadership than just creating a group, or in our case, a raid party. Wesley seemed to know what to say as he went around the group. To me, leadership had always been about knowing how to tell a group how to take down some boss. But Wesley showed how much more was really involved. From making sure everyone was okay, to checking on supplies, there was a lot more to leadership than I once thought.
Once the last of our mages had regenerated their mana, Hanna took the lead, slipping through the broken door. She’d gotten better; I couldn’t hear the tread of her feet as she maneuvered through smashed glass scattered on the linoleum floor.
As soon as she entered the building, Jayden called, “Hey, there’s a quest for clearing the hospital.”
I called up the quest
Quest—Clear the first floor of the hospital
Clear all kobolds and dire-rats from the first floor of the hospital
XP Reward: 200
After we accepted the quest, Steve Jr. followed Hanna into the building. In one hand he held his shield in front of him. In the other was his sword, ready to give the pointy end to any monster. Unlike Hanna, his feet made a lot of noise when he walked over the broken glass.
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Overturned chairs and scraps of magazines were scattered across the bloodstained floor. Behind the nurse’s station was the sound of something skittering across the floor. While the rest of us came through the shattered doors, Steve Jr. hurried across the floor toward the noise. When he reached the counter of the nurse’s station, he held his shield high as he peered around the rim.
“Kobolds! Big ass rats! They’re running away.”
The doors to the emergency department’s rooms flew open and there was more skittering. A lot more. Despite the hallway’s gloom, I saw flashes of brown fur.
Wesley’s voice rang loud, “Steve, don’t get ahead. You and Edgar with me. We’ll form a shield wall.”
The rest of the raid group followed behind the shield wall. The first room to the left was stank like a sewer. And rats. Lots of rats.
Edgar knelt and used his shield to most of the doorway. The rest of us took turns throwing fireballs, arrows, or bullets into the mess of huge rodents until the room grew quiet. A few moments later, the rats disappeared once they were looted.
Sarah grimaced, “Gross. Rat tails. I bet they're used for alchemical potions.”
Wesley dipped his head, “Good reminder. Any loot that seems off, like body parts and the like, collect everything. No telling what can be used for potions.”
The biggest kobold I’d seen yet rampaged from the next room. He was the ugliest and biggest dog-like creatures I’d ever seen; easily five feet tall. And on his heels were a pack of kobolds. He carried a spiked club and swung it at the shield wall. It slammed against Wesley’s shield, pushing him back. A couple of smaller kobolds darted through the opening.
Our combat medic screamed as one latched onto his leg with sharp teeth. Another one darted toward me. I hadn’t returned the Remington to its holster since entering the hospital. I pointed, activated my firearms skill and shot.
The Kobold’s foreign chattering died on his lips, his face turned to pulp as he fell in front of me. Someone else lit up the other kobold with a fireball. Before anything else could break through the shield wall, Wesley pushed forward until his shield interlocked with the others.
I pointed my pistol at the huge kobold. But there were swords flashing and heads getting in the way. Without a clear shot, I inspected the monster.
Level [5] common elite Kobold.
I cried, “He’s elite.”
The shield wall barely held as he slammed his club against it. Steve Jr. growled, “Thanks for the head’s up. I think he just broke my shoulder!”
Even though Jayden’s sword repeatedly found its mark, the Kobold barely looked like he’d taken any damage.
Our other two-handed weapon user was classed as a barbarian. Flacco Huerta carried a four-foot long two-handed sword. It had started off life as a museum replica. But now, incorporated into the System, it was deadly sharp.
But the elite kobold was tough. When Flacco swung his sword, it left only a flesh wound. But it was enough to draw the monster’s attention. He spun around and swung his club at the barbarian.
Flacco hit the wall, knocking a hole in the sheetrock before falling to the floor. A gash in his exposed shoulder bled.
An opportunity opened and I squeezed the trigger while activating my firearms skill. I hit the Kobold in the head. I don’t know what kind of damage I did to it, but all I could see was a crease along his head and trickle of blood from that scratch.
“Damn, he's one tough son of a bitch!" I muttered as I cocked the pistol. I had infused ten mana per .44 cartridge. It was a lot less than I used in the ammo for the rifle, but the pistol was for short range, like this kind of combat.
I tried not to think of the added stress I might be putting on the cartridge, or the cylinder, or the barrel as I spent more mana to bring the next cartridge up to thirty mana. Now wasn’t the time to test the pistol’s limits.
The Kobold slammed his club into Steve Jr. The teenager screamed in pain as he dropped his shield and fell back.
The kobold pushed himself through the opening in the shield wall. And I fired at his head.
The pistol kicked in my hand in a way it hadn’t since I’d turned to using mana infused ammo. The kobold’s head snapped back. A bellow that rattled the overhead lights made me want to shake in my shoes. There was something terrible about his wail.
When he lowered his head, his right eye hung from its socket. His remaining eye fixed on me and he knocked our fighters aside, even while taking damage from blades, arrows, and fire bolts.
My heart was practically in my mouth as I infused mana into my next round. But the kobold wasted no time crashing through our party, so intent on ending me.
He pushed aside Sarah, whacking her against the wall. He swung his club back, ready to knock my head from my shoulders. Terror surged through me. Were I older, I’m sure my life would have flashed in front of my eyes. It was all I could do to thrust the pistol into the kobold’s face and pull the trigger.
His club fell from his hand when the bullet struck his other eye. He bellowed in pain and fell to his knees as he clawed at his face. Fire bolts splashed against his fur. Arrows pierced him and finally, his cry was cut off and he fell. Dead.
Our melee fighters made quick work of the rest of the kobolds. The average kobold dropped rusty knives, the odd vest, or a battered and pitted sword. When we looted the elite kobold, we had our first surprise.
Phydoux's Club
Equipable at
Level 3
Quality
Uncommon
Durability
100%
melee Attack
+1
Strength
+1
Damage
18-24
The loot made me miss the MMO games I’d played where the loot tended to be something useful. But here, it tended to be something the monster carried, like his spiked club. We each received a couple of silver coins and once every topped off their mana, we continued clearing the first floor.
Once we cleared the first floor we ended up in the hospital’s main lobby. More broken glass littered the floor between the entrance and the elevators. The sliding metal doors were beat to hell, like someone like the elite kobold warrior had taken a club to the doors.
Jayden piped up, “I just completed the quest to clear the first floor!”
That’s when I noticed the flashing light in the corner of my vision.
You successfully completed [Clear the first floor of the hospital]
You are awarded 200 experience points.
Would you like to accept the next quest in the hospital quest series?
I accepted the quest.
Quest—Clear the second floor of the hospital
Monsters have overrun the patient rooms at the hospital. Reclaim the second floor by clearing all monsters.
XP Reward: 200
After everyone turned in the first quest and accepted the next, Steve Jr. peered through the elevator’s sliding doors. “I guess we’re taking the stairs.”
He found the stairwell to one side of the elevators. There were stairs leading to the second floor and stairs to the basement. The stairwell was pitch black, save from what little light that came from the open door. He turned away from the door, “Up or down?”
Before anyone could respond, a spear zipped past Steve Jr.’s head. He fell back as blood seeped from a cut on his cheek. “Damn! There’s someone in the stairwell.”
Wesley lept past Steve Jr. A javelin struck his shield, but didn’t stop him from taking the stairs two at a time. Sarah, flames from a fire bolt flickering in her palm, raced after the paladin. When I reached the stairwell, the walls were bathed in the flickering light from the mage’s un-cast fireball and Wesley stood over some creature he’d beat down with his war hammer on the landing between the two floors.
After he looted the creature, Wesley said, “Looks like the second floor is goblin infested.”
As I followed behind our shield wall, I noticed the second floor contained mostly patient rooms. And goblins. Lots of goblins. Before we could reach the first room, dozens of the green monsters swarmed from the rooms and charged.
Wesley’s voice was as close to panicked as I’d ever heard, “Shield wall!”
Steve Jr. hurried over and interlocked his shield with Wesley’s. Thanks to the heals he had received, the teen was sure footed when fell into place next to the paladin. The other warrior, Edgar, scrambled into place, sliding his shield into place a heartbeat before the horde of goblins slammed against the shields.
Despite the strength of the men in our shield wall, they gave way step by step, even as they reached over their shields, hitting with sword or war hammer. Reaching around Steve Jr., Jayden cleaved into the scrum of goblins while Flacco, our barbarian, did the same from the other end of the front line.
When our fighters took a step forward, it looked like they were on the brink of breaking the goblins. Until several of the creatures jumped onto the back of their fellow goblins and launched themselves over the shield wall.
Wesley swatted one with the flat of his blade, sending it flying behind him. Like some kind of green midget acrobat, the goblin landed on its feet and jumped at Sarah. The fireball in her hand fizzled as she screamed. The goblin’s sword fell on her, cutting into her shoulder.
Sarah stood next to me. I pointed at the goblin’s head and pulled the trigger. It was point blank. I couldn’t miss. Sarah’s next scream was one of revulsion as blood sprayed her, as the goblin crumpled from the shot.
Another goblin landed in front of the combat medic. I pointed and fired, sending it crashing to the floor. I grabbed the medic’s arm and pointed to Sarah, “Can you heal her?”
I didn’t wait to see his response. The goblins were jumping over the shield wall faster than we could kill them. Four more shots from my pistol added to the carnage spread across the blood-slick floor. I took a few steps back as I retrieved a fresh cylinder from my inventory. A few seconds later and I was ready to wade back in.
The shield wall bent, Steve Jr. and Edgar had been pushed back. Goblins were pushing around both sides. Although to get at Jayden, they were stepping over the bodies of their fellow monsters. Blood covered his arms as he swung his sword. With almost every swing of his sword, he kept goblins from exploiting the opening.
On the other end of the shield wall, they pushed Edgar the barbarian back and they slid past him by one by one. And that’s where I spent most of my next six shots. Thankfully, Sarah joined me, spamming fireballs at the green monsters. It was enough to allow Edgar to push back.
Pressure on the shield wall eased. It was less from the goblins running away, and more that there just weren’t that many goblins still on their feet. A handful of us chased them down, going room to room throughout the hospital’s second floor, killing the handful that remained.
After assisting in looting the slain goblins, I sank to the ground and checked my revolver. There was still a single round left in the cylinder. As I reloaded the cylinder, Sarah grumbled, “Shit, Cade. Next time you decide to shoot one of those damned things, don’t do it when it’s right at my face.”
She’d found some baby wipes and used them to clean the blood and gore from her face.
I shrugged as I fit the conversion plate on the cylinder and inserted it into the frame and jiggled the cylinder pin until it threaded through the cylinder. I glanced her way, “You’re welcome.”
Jayden came over to me and slid to the floor, “I’m not sure how many of those fuckers we killed, but must have been dozens.”
Then a look came over him, “Look at that. There’s something in the basement.”
After I put my pistol in its holster, I brought up the system.
You successfully completed [Clear the second floor of the hospital]
You are awarded 200 experience points.
Would you like to accept the next quest in the hospital quest series?
With a single thought, I accepted the next quest.
Quest—Clear the basement of the hospital
You’ve cleared the minions from the hospital, but their master vows revenge. You have sixty minutes to defeat Khan the Infected. Failure will result in Khan calling new allies to assault the nearby village.
XP Reward: 200
Time remaining 59:59
“Ah, shit. Accepting the next quest started a countdown,” I said as I climbed to my feet.