Rob ran. His whole focus had narrowed down into travelling south as quickly as possible. As he steadily paced out the miles, travelling over the shattered remains of the interstate, he marvelled at how quickly the world had completely changed.

The first hour after the System had arrived had been muted, filled with a certain shock. It had been hard to accept that this was happening, even when the bleachers had been vanished and the tamed nature of the surrounding park had taken on a wilder aspect. The people who remained had grouped together, waiting for the other shoe to drop as they tried to understand why their world had been undone.

The appearance of the Status Screen came as a surprise, but one that started to take away the shock, the fear of the unknown. Video games were part of the world’s culture now, and even the oldest there had at least a passing understanding of what a screen like that would mean.

Rob was furious. His life, all that he had worked, sweated, and sacrificed to achieve was gone; replaced in an instant with a mockery of a game. To be told that one’s greatest accomplishments were considered meaningless, and that some spiteful deity desired a more interesting reality ignited his rage.

His anger was tempered though, by the need to get back to his family. It had only been hours ago that he had talked to them before heading out to work, taking advantage of Skype and the internet to make the thousands of miles between Mexico and Washington state meaningless. The distance hadn’t meant much at the time. A cheap plane ticket and he could be home the next day, the constant calls and updates allowing him to still be a part of his family’s life.

Now that distance seemed endless, a vast gulf between him and the ones he loved. His trusty old car, much loved and even more abused, had vanished in the change, as had the majority of the other vehicles, the parking lot, and most of the road leading out of the park.

The dugouts were still there, and Rob walked over to the closer one. Spotting a metal bat, he walked over and picked it up, hefting it a little to get a feeling for its weight. The family and the referee were still huddled together in the center of the field, animatedly discussing their plans. Rob considered joining them, but shook his head.

For all that he had found steady work here in Walla Walla, he was still an outsider. That hadn’t meant much, just a few suspicious looks and the occasional awkward distance, but Rob didn’t expect that to stay the same. The world was a different place, a scarier place, and communities would draw inwards in their desire to survive. He was an outsider, and he no longer had a place here.

Leaving them to their discussion, Rob ambled over to his hotdog stand. Somehow the raggedy shack had survived the terraforming earthquakes in one piece. While most of the stock had already been sold off to hungry families, there was still a good amount of food left. A quick flick of the lightswitch that changed nothing, supply lines must have been vanished as well.

Without electricity, without running water, and especially without grocery stores to supply food, Rob knew that there was a limited time window before life truly became difficult. He quickly stored all the cooked hotdogs into a food bag, and then bagged up portions of the uncooked hotdogs as well as various toppings. Recalling seeing a few backpacks in the dugout, he picked one up, loading up his supplies before looking around one last time. He had food to eat, a baseball bat for self defense, and a destination just over 2,000 miles south of here.

Moving through the remains of a once bustling town was an unnerving experience. A lone house surrounded by wildflowers was all that remained of a homely neighborhood. A gas station was bracketed by a pair of giant trees, ancient in feel and in stature. At one point he saw the broken remains of an elementary school, the few teachers and students huddled together by the bus drop sign, waiting for someone, anyone, to help explain this terrifying new world.

Wild animals were common sights, exploring their new surroundings with no fear of humanity. While he hadn’t done it in a while, Rob was confident that he could manage to trap a few squirrels or rabbits if they came too close.

One problem was the river that the town had been built around. No longer was it tamed; bridged and dammed. It flowed freely through the surrounding area, twice the size it had been. Thankfully the highway bridge had been spared from the surrounding destruction, and was already being put to use by many of the survivors, as they tried to make their way to rejoin family or simply find an unaffected area. Rob refused to make eye contact, tightening his grip on the bat and hoping that he wouldn’t need to defend himself or his supplies yet.

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It wasn’t the most direct path, but he decided to follow the interstate as it headed south. While most of it had been reclaimed, transformed back into pristine forest and wildland, enough remained to help him navigate. Rivers would also be much more manageable if a bridge were still in place, and the highway had that possibility. There was also the fact that the highway would pass through several town, providing Rob an opportunity to learn about any news, and possibly replenish his supplies.

It didn’t take long before he began to earn skill points. First from Running, and then with a bit of effort, both Sprinting and Jumping. The Intro Path was completed, Rob was grateful for the increase in speed that both his skills and stats provided.

Knowing that the surrounding area was now full of wildlife, Rob refused to stop overnight. Even with the light from a crescent moon and no pollution in the air, seeing was still a difficulty, and Night Vision was soon acquired, each level increasing the fidelity and distance that he could see. The air around him was filled with a multitude of animal calls as they went about their nocturnal business, and he gripped his bat tighter.

By the time the sun began to rise, Rob was exhausted, but determined to to fall asleep yet. It was far easier to travel in the daytime, when he could clearly make out his path and keep his direction. Eating some food to both restore his energy and keep himself awake he pressed onwards, ever southwards. Endurance was the next skill he picked up as he pressed against his physical limits.

It wasn’t until evening that Rob stopped. Running for twenty-four hours straight had unlocked the Marathon Man path, which had made him aware of just how badly he needed to rest. A nearby creek provided him with water to drink, after which he climbed a large tree to settle down and sleep. His exhaustion served him well, as he was undisturbed by the noises of the night and woke rested and ready to continue. The last mile marker he had noticed had been 48 miles away from Walla Walla, and he had covered a fair distance since then.

He almost despaired at how long it would take him to reach his home on the west coast of Mexico, but focused instead on his skills and stats. He was already capable of running faster and longer than he had been, and that would only continue to improve as he increased his skill and learned new ones.

Marathon Man took more plot points than he had available at the present, but the returns were still worth it. Increases to his Constitution, Strength, and Dexterity, as well as a new skill, Rejuvenating Breath. It took a fair amount of concentration to maintain, but increased his Stamina regeneration and reduced his exhaustion while active.

It wasn’t long after that before he came to the first town on his journey. Perhaps village was a better word, given how much the population had decreased, and how the housing now consisted of rough hewn cabins, hastily assembled and filled with the lootings of a hundred scattered houses.

He was met by a small group of men, all armed with various implements.

“Put your bat down and we can talk.”

Outnumbered, he did as they requested, ready to run if they seemed aggressive. With his skills in Running and Sprinting, he was confident in being able to make an escape if necessary.

“Where you coming from?”

“Walla Walla, heading further south, trying to get home to my family.” He answered. It was more information than they asked for but he was hoping that it would make him a more sympathetic character, as well as one who didn’t intend to stay and compete over their limited resources.

It took the men a minute of whispered discussion, but they eventually agreed to let him into their village to trade information for some food and water. The local bakery had apparently survived the Change, and they had a surplus of bread and pastries they were willing to trade for a better picture of what was going on elsewhere.

Over a piece of chocolate cake, Rob explained what he had seen of Walla Walla, as well as his knowledge of skills and paths. As well as the bread and a water bottle, he also received a warning.

“Stay away from the cities. There’s a whole lot of people and not much food to start with. On top of that, the skills and their effects allow a few bad individuals to bully a lot more people; not enough police or guns to make ‘em mannered.”

Rob could picture it. Los Angeles, vanished in a moment. Even if only a fraction of its population remained, that 1/27th would still number in the hundred thousands of people, without housing, or water, or electricity. He shuddered a moment. The low income areas had been troublesome before the change, now, with a fraction of the police and none of the distractions, it would be a nightmare.

It took a fair amount of talking, but Rob managed to leave on polite terms without staying the night. It wasn’t that he was afraid for his life, but his need to make sure his wife and two daughters were alright.

As the third day since the Change came to an end, Rob turned south. There were many miles to go before he would be home, but all he could was to keep moving. And with a final wave to the villagers, Rob ran.