That soft glow reminiscent from use of the tokens seemed to descend upon everything around us. Almost as quickly as it started, it dissipated. Aside from Jayden and me standing outside with weapons and armor, the world didn’t feel especially different, except for a slight tingling that had started with the light and seemed to fade over the span of a dozen heartbeats.
Hanna opened the door, “Come back inside, you two. We still have power. Let’s see what’s on the news.”
I sat down to some ad telling me to talk to my doctor about some expensive medicine. When it finished, a cable news anchor sat at a station desk. At first, he seemed a bit disoriented, but eventually he forced a smile, “Joining us is Mindy Davenport, from Buffalo, New York, with a story of a missing family.”
The screen cut to an attractive black woman holding a microphone in front of a colonial-style building, “Thanks, Brett. In a rare turn of events–”
The image of the reporter disappeared. Across the TV screen flashed, “Special Alert.”
The news anchor reappeared, frazzled. “We’re receiving reports of a riot in our nation’s capital. We have an on-the-scene report from our own Carl Jenner. Carl, what can you tell us?”
A tall man with wavy blond hair appeared. Behind him, the Lincoln Memorial filled the screen. A group of people raced across the sidewalk in front of the stairs leading to the memorial. Carl said, “There are fires raging just a few blocks away from here–”
Before he could say anything else, small figures, barely taller than a child, appeared, chasing after the people who had just ran off screen. The figures were green skinned with pointed ears. They carried swords and spears. Guttural noises, like grunts, came through the TV speakers, caught on the reporter’s microphone.
Brett, the anchor, nearly shouted, “What are those…people behind you, Carl?”
Many of the little green… monsters continued chasing after the people who had first caught Carl’s attention. But many others veered toward Carl and the camera. The chittering noise grew in volume as the camera caught the monsters’ features. Their faces were sharp and angular. Their noses were as pronounced as their ears. And their red eyes and sharp teeth were unmistakable. Some of the swords carried by the little green monsters dripped blood. Carl screamed as they swept over him and the camera fell over. Blood splattered onto the camera lens a fraction of a second before the screen cut back to the news anchor. His face was ashen, “And now, a word from our sponsors.”
Instead of a commercial, multicolored horizontal bars filled the screen. A sound like a blaring horn vibrated the TV’s speakers. A moment later, words scrolled across the TV, The Emergency Alert System is releasing the following alert from the Department of Homeland Security for the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and all US territories. Serious rioting has broken out in major cities across the United States. You are ordered to shelter in place until further notice. Civil Defense Administrators will provide appropriate localized guidelines. Until this emergency is contained, martial law is in effect.
The message repeated several times, while our jaws sagged toward the ground. Hanna broke our silence, “What’d I say?”
Jayden glowered at her. “Stuff your ‘I told you so’ up your ass. We still have power.”
Hanna scoffed, “For now.”
The polished wood of the rifle in my hand gave me some small measure of comfort. Unlike the reporter, to the degree we were able, we were prepared, “I guess we know goblins are one of the spawns.”
Hanna shuddered, “Uglier than anything I’ve seen in any game.”
Despite the end of the emergency alert, the screen on the TV continued to display the horizontal multicolored bars. Jayden switched the channel to another cable news network and saw more horizontal bars. Both channels were down. He flipped the channel to a sports channel, and a previously recorded game played as though the world wasn’t going to hell.
A nearby blast rattled the front windows. A piercing scream rent the air. While adrenaline surged through me, my stomach churned and my bowels felt like ice as I gripped the rifle and moved toward the door.
When we opened the door, hell seemed to have found our little neighborhood. Mr. Toliver stood in the middle of the street, his rifle held against his shoulder. The air shattered as the gun jerked against his shoulder. Halfway down the street, more goblins than I could quickly count raced toward him.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Three of the goblins pitched over and twitched. But the small horde reached him, swinging swords, knives, and spears as they swarmed over him. The small horde of goblins muffled Mr. Toliver’s scream as they overwhelmed him. Without realizing what I was doing, I threw the rifle against my shoulder and sighted down the barrel. The distance between me and the goblins was less than sixty feet. I fired and a goblin’s head exploded in a red mist.
Part of me felt revulsion at the death I’d caused. But no sooner had the feeling rose, than it fled as I levered open the trapdoor on the breech and fed another round into the rifle. A second later, another goblin fell to my shot.
The small horde, now reduced by five, turned toward me and howled a bloodcurdling shriek. And charged.
I let the gun fall from my fingers and pulled the Remington, thumbing it as I aimed at the closest goblin, now only twenty-five feet away. BLAM!
His head snapped back and when he fell, several others stumbled over him. Before I could shoot again, I felt Jayden take up a position to my left and Hanna join me on my right. Jayden held the heavy longsword in front of him, while his sister held the two knives, waiting to strike at any goblin who came within range.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Click.
Five more shots and I had knocked several more goblins off their feet. Still, they came. Jayden stepped forward and thrust at a goblin now in range. The little green monster, pushed on by the ones behind it, ran into his blade, did the hard work of dying.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
I took a half step back; my mind couldn’t process what I saw. But my mouth and hands seemed to know. I cried, “Inventory!”
A floating box with slots appeared in front of me. A second later, I held a fresh cylinder. A few heartbeats after that, I swapped out the spent cylinder for the fresh.
When I snapped the cylinder closed, for the first time since emptying the pistol, I took stock of my surroundings. It wouldn’t be fair to call Jayden any kind of a swordsman. Even so, he swung that hunk of razor sharp steel back and forth and any goblin who got close enough to feel the sword fell. Hanna dodged back and forth, avoiding a goblin with a sword. After the goblin swung and missed, she jumped forward, plunging a knife into the goblin’s throat.
I aimed the pistol at the next goblin behind the one now gurgling and drowning in its own blood, but before I could pull the trigger, my target flew off its feet and knocked over several others. A resounding boom and another neighbor’s hoarse shout let me know we were not alone in this scrum of a fight.
There were more goblins, although the pile of dead in front of us seemed to cause the remaining to hesitate. That’s when I noticed one of our neighbors from down the street inching toward us, a shotgun pointing at the goblins. Beyond him, I spied another neighbor. She was a grandmother. She carried a hunting rifle and held it like she knew how to use it.
One goblin, more brave or foolish than the others, darted toward Hanna. When she jumped back, I pointed my revolver at the little green monster and pulled the trigger. More sharp rifle reports and the booming of the shotgun were enough to turn the tide and send the remaining goblins scrambling away, back down the street, toward the woodlands that surround our little neighborhood.
Jayden let the blade of his sword fall to the ground as he leaned against me. A tear threatened to spill from his eye, “I, I was wrong. This isn’t any video game. It’s hell come to earth.”
I felt numb as I slid the pistol into its holster. No game I’d ever played left me feeling so sick to my heart. While there was an element of the System to the goblins and there was no doubt they were not humans, still, to see the monsters I had killed strewn on the ground in front of me was nearly more than I could handle.
Hanna’s lips twisted into a frown as she leaned down and wiped the gore from her blades on the nearest corpse. When she slid the blades into their sheaths, she shook her head, “Don’t overthink it, Jay. You did really good. And oh my God, Cade. You’re a terror with those guns. If you hadn’t taken out so many of them, I don’t think we’d have made it. Damn, boy. Jesse James got nothing on you.”
Tears spilled over as the emotional turmoil got the better of me. Hanna put an arm around my shoulder and she sniffled as she cried along with me and Jayden. We’d survived our first contact with the spawns.
Mrs. Norris, the grandmother with the hunting rifle, waved, “You kids look like you’re okay. I need to check on the Smiths.”
The man with the shotgun knelt next to a dead goblin, “Huh? That’s interesting.” Then he glanced at us, “We can loot them.”
Just when we were trying to wrap our minds around the terror of the moment, the System slapped us with a reminder it really was like a game. When I mentioned that, Jayden shook his head, “More like Hunger Games, man.”
Still, he stepped forward and knelt by one he’d killed. When he put his hand on the body, his eyes opened wide, “Copper. Several coins.”
He rose and moved over to another body. No sooner had he moved than the first goblin shimmered before fading away. “I guess we don’t have to worry about cleaning up around here.”
I wiped at my eyes with my gambeson’s sleeve and bent over and touched the closest goblin.
You looted [8] copper coins.
You looted a rusty dagger.
When I stood, the body faded away. Even as I tried to come to terms with what we’d just gone through, the System seemed to pull me into it and I went from body to body until all the bodies in the Browns’ yard had disappeared.
When we finished looting, the man with the shotgun knelt in front of Mr. Toliver’s body. The goblins Mr. Toliver had killed had vanished. The man reached over and slid his hand over the dead man’s face, closing the eyes of the deceased. When he rose he came toward us, “I’ve seen y’all around, but this is an odd way to meet. I’m Wesley Parsons.” He hiked a thumb behind him, “My family and I live just on the other side of Columbia Street.”
That was the street that led from the Farm to Market road into our small neighborhood. Hanna stepped forward first, “Hanna Brown.” She jabbed a finger at her brother, “That barbarian is my brother, Jay. And the desperado is Cade Taylor.”
Wesley eyed the end of the street down which the goblins had fled, then grimaced, “I need to check on my family. But we really should put together some kind of security for the neighborhood before tonight.”
While watching him walk away, I noticed a flashing light in the corner of my vision. With a thought, I made it expand.
Combat concluded. You have been victorious.
You have killed [9] level 1 goblins. Experience points awarded by the Universal Development System are not mitigated. You have received 90 XP.
Congratulations! You have leveled. You are now level [2]. You have received +1 to Constitution.
You may now pick a class.
Another blue screen appeared below the XP screen. It was titled Classes.
Student–Each level awards +1 Intelligence or +1 Wisdom.
Soldier–Each level awards +1 Strength or +1 Constitution
Ranger–Each level awards +1 Agility or +1 Strength
Gunslinger–Each level awards +1 Agility
Sharpshooter–Each level awards +1 Agility
Citizen–Each level awards +1 Random attribute
I pushed aside the classes long enough to find Jayden and Hanna, “Did you get your experience? I have class options.”
Jayden’s eyes came into focus as he nodded. “Yeah. I picked up fifty experience points and now have the option of becoming a fighter, warrior, or soldier.”
Curious, I asked, “Is that all? Three options?”
He shrugged, “No, but the others are boring. No way I’m going to be a lame-ass citizen.”
A glance at Hanna showed she was zoned out, reading whatever filled her vision. I focused on my available classes. I already had a couple of pluses to my agility stat from my gear. Focusing on agility would really let me become more adept at using both my rifle and pistol. At least for as long as my ammo lasts.
I could second guess myself until the cows come home and knew it wouldn’t make my decision any better. While there was a certain thrill to shooting goblins with my pistol, I much preferred to target them from further away. I returned to the porch, retrieved my rifle, and selected my class.
Congratulations. You now have [1] level as a sharpshooter. You have unlocked the [firearms] skill. +1 to use of any firearms. Use of firearms skill costs 20 action points, increasing ranged attack by +2 for 10 seconds. You have also unlocked Ranged Attack, a passive skill.
A tremor shot through me and my body shuddered as it adjusted to an increase in my agility and constitution.
When the tremor stopped, I glanced at Jayden and did a double-take. He looked more buff than before, if that was even possible. He grinned at me, “Yup. I went with Warrior. Got a plus one to my strength and con.”
Hanna was the last to come out of the vacant look we all seemed to have when reading the System text. She eyed Jayden for a few seconds, “Yeah. I can tell.”
She turned and inspected me. “Ranger?”
I shook my head, “Sharpshooter.”
Her eyebrows arched, “Didn’t know the System would give you that kind of class. Pretty cool.” Then she pulled one of her knives and flipped it in her hand a few times, “I know I said I’d be happy to become a student again, but that doesn’t seem a good fit. At least not now. I picked Scout.”
“What’s it give you, Sis?” Jayden asked.
Hanna flipped the dagger, palming the handle. She took aim at a tree and flicked the blade toward the tree trunk. It made a satisfying THUNK. She gave us a wry smile, “Agility for now. But I noticed I have skills to unlock on my character sheet. I bet I’ll be able to get some pretty sneaky skills that will let me develop my own style.”
I wasn’t sure what Hanna’s style would be, but as I watched the blade quiver in the tree, I knew I wanted to stay on her good side.