Evelyn couldn’t help but recall a time before the Chosen Few, before the start of the Apocalypse. She’d been with her boyfriend, Reggy, as they finally pulled the trigger on a vacation they’d been planning for well over a year at that point. But with both of them working full-time jobs and having other things unexpectedly crop up at inopportune moments, they’d never been able to actually find the time.
Until finally, the stars finally seemed to align. The two of them both managed to get a week off work approved by their jobs. There weren’t any last second emergencies to delay the trip or anything that required a sacrifice of some of their savings for it. The time had finally come. They would take a full week to just have some fun and go on a roadtrip across the country.
Or at least, that’s what was supposed to have happened. Evelyn remembered how it felt to get in that car and take the wheel. To get on the road with her boyfriend at her side, believing that the next week would turn into a memory that’d be treasured for years to come. But as it turned out, the Apocalypse had a different idea in mind.
On that fateful day, one could say that the two of them survived the initial blast only through pure luck. That they just so happened to wake up before their alarm went off, and decided to leave a bit earlier than initially planned. So they had a quick breakfast, made sure everything was packed, and drove off.
And they’d left not a minute too late. As soon as they got on the highway and were putting the city in the rearview mirror, the System’s warning came. But then just a moment later, an explosion erupted from the center of the city. From how far their car already was, they managed to avoid the fireblast itself. The booming tidal wave of air, however, was a different story.
Just a few seconds after they registered the fiery explosion itself, their car was suddenly slammed by the sonic boom. It easily shoved them forward, ripping it out of her control. The last thing Evelyn remembered of that particular moment was her panicked attempt to intentionally drive them into a ditch and at least get the car to stop. But then before she could, another out of control vehicle smashed into them.
Their car was flipped over and tumbled off the road. Evelyn and her boyfriend bounced around in their seats from being thrown around, their seatbelts seemingly barely able to keep them in place. Then a split-second later, she was knocked out as the back of her head was knocked against the roof of the car.
At the time, Evelyn had no idea how long she was unconscious for. Though now she knew that it was probably around a few hours before she eventually woke up. But when she did, it wasn’t in the car or anywhere near it for that matter. Instead, it’d been somewhere in the woods off to the side of the highway.
And sitting a short distance away from Evelyn was her boyfriend. Though she remembered her eyes widened with some shock as the fog in her mind slowly dispersed. His regular clothing had been exchanged for a suit of chainmail armor. But just as shocking were the things off to the sides of her vision, golden screens from the System.
Things were so hectic at that moment as she’d been filled with a thousand and one questions. For what just happened, what the golden screens meant, and where that explosion had come from. And then just what had happened to her family that lived right around the origin of the fire blast.
Those initial hours of the Apocalypse would likely remain the most confused and panicked of her entire life. But at the same time, things at that point were also rather simple. Evelyn and her boyfriend’s goals became rather straightforward. Survive the undead that were now prowling the area, that’d risen from those that had died in highway accidents like theirs.
They survived the first day and made their way back to the city. They survived the increased number of undead there and made it to where their families lived. They survived even with the grief of knowing that both of their families were already dead. As long as they were together, as long as they had each other, the two of them could keep moving forward.
—--
The redhead’s eyes fluttered open. Above her was the dark ceiling of her current earthen home. Evelyn slowly sat up and rolled her shoulders. She didn’t have a bed, but that was fine with her.
There was only so much to spare in terms of those kinds of accommodations, and she was used to rough sleeping conditions by now. Compared to the jagged flooring of a half-collapsed building, bare dirt was actually quite comfortable.
Evelyn sighed as she glanced toward the open doorway of the structure. There was no door, but there didn’t need to be one. After her recent private discussion with that Sam girl, her consciousness alone would be enough to keep her restricted to this small dirt hut.
It felt like she’d only been napping for a little while, but that was apparently enough to start dreaming. Something that made her thankful that she didn’t need to sleep very often if she didn’t want to. Because nowadays, it felt like her dreams weren’t of imaginary things, but almost strictly memories of the recent past.
In a way, Evelyn almost missed those early days of the Apocalypse. They weren’t even a full two months ago, but it almost felt like an entire lifetime had already passed. But at least those initial few days had been straightforward. Just her and Reggy against a world recently turned upside down.
She pursed her lips. Just where had things gone wrong? To lead to her eventually joining as a member of the Chosen Few? To then be blind to everything they were truly about, until the moment a blade was about to plunge into her body.
And even now that she’d left, her association with them was something that still had to be answered for. Evelyn hung her head low as she stared into the ground. Just where had things gone wrong, indeed.
—--
Jaco glanced over to his current companion as the two of them trekked their way through the countryside. At the moment, it was just him and Alex. The pair were currently making their way across the entire area surrounding the camp. Their mission was a rather simple one.
Chances were that there were still some undead lurking around the general area. Leftovers from the horde that had left the camp, but then became idle for some reason. Even if they were just shambling across an open field, some undead would just stop in place.
None of them knew the reason why, or if there even was one in particular. But it was a behavior that had to be accounted for. So even after cleaning the camp itself, a sweep around the area for any stragglers was also necessary.
When the time had come to select some people to perform that mission, Alex had suddenly come in and volunteered himself for the job. Under normal circumstances, perhaps he would have been enough. As one of the strongest people of the camp, Alex was no slouch in terms of power. Even for the highest Leveled undead amongst the horde, the Skeleton Mages, he could probably take on if it was just one of them.
Yet Jaco had been a bit concerned. Some time had passed since his talk with the teen. However, it was certainly not enough for him to be over the deaths of his team. There was simply no way he’d have already finished grieving when it hadn’t even been a full day as of yet.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
So as a bit of a precaution, Jaco had decided to come along as well. His assumption was that perhaps Alex was doing this as a form of distraction. Something simple to distract him from his current grief. And despite the morbid fact that all undead used to be people, Jaco had to admit that smashing Skeleton skulls made for a good, cathartic outlet.
But despite assuming as much, he didn’t bring it up to Alex. And nor did the teen say anything about the subject in turn. But that was his choice. If he wanted to talk about it while it was just the two of them, then Jaco would respect his decision to not do so yet.
“Hey Jaco, can I ask you something?” Alex then asked as they continued to walk together.
“Sure man, what’s up?”
“Well I’ve just been thinking. I know you said that you met a Guardian Angel, but is there anything else about her that you didn’t mention earlier? It’s just that I honestly can’t wrap my head around it, you know what I mean?”
Jaco slightly tilted his head to the side. “Hmm, I’m pretty sure I described her with as much detail as I could remember. But what part do you have trouble wrapping your around, exactly?”
“Err, It’s hard to put into words. I guess…” Alex fiddled with his sword as he seemingly struggled. “I guess just the whole idea? Like I know that Heaven and Hell are real, that much is obvious after everything that’s happened.”
“Right,” Jaco agreed.
“But it’s not like we’ve seen any actual Demons yet, despite them claiming Earth. So I guess it’s just hard for me to understand how an Angel suddenly appeared, here out of all places? Like with Heaven falling, they should practically be nearly extinct right?”
“Ahhh, I think I get what you mean. And I don’t know. I don’t want to say that it’s fate that the Angel brought to the fort right as I infiltrated it. But that’s just me being biased, since I don’t like the idea of predetermined destiny,” Jaco said with a thoughtful expression.
“But then otherwise, that would just be the biggest coincidence in the world, right? I know you said that you didn’t see her Level and all. And that she just looked like a kid. But I don’t know, something about it all just feels… off? Like it’s amazing, but also kinda weird. Sorry, I’m not really even sure what I’m saying anymore.”
“No, no, you’re fine,” Jaco reassured him. But since he really didn’t have a good explanation and then admitted as much, the conversation ended with that. So with the silence, both of them were just left with their own internal thoughts.
To be honest, I don’t disagree with him. When looked at it from an objective point of view, that entire encounter does feel odd. Like how her emotions were so muted right up until she revealed herself as an Angel. Or just everything else about that situation and her behavior as a whole. Too many questions, but with practically zero answers, Jaco thought to himself.
After a while, Jaco noted the sound of some shambling off to their left. It seemed to be coming from the opposite side of a close by hill. From what he could tell, it sounded like some Skeletons and a Ghoul. Though from clinking of armor mixed in, a few of those Skeletons were likely Warriors.
“Some undead just across that hill, Alex.” Jaco then relayed what kinds he believed were in this group. “Do you want my help with that, or do you think you could take care of it?”
“Nah, I’ll be good. I can just clear out the riff raff and then deal with the Ghoul. If it’s just one, it won’t be a problem at all,” Alex said.
Jaco nodded in agreement. Plus it just made more sense for the teen to get the kills himself anyway. Since Jaco was practically double the average Ghoul in Level, they gave practically no EXP to him. But for Alex, he could actually get some Experience Points even while still being a couple Levels higher than them now.
Warrior (Human)
Level: 27
He’d already reached Level 26 around the start of the invasion, and then reached 27 while cleaning up the undead in the camp. So it ideally wouldn’t be that much longer until the teen received his Class Evolution.
The two of them marched up the hill, and then looked down at the other side. There their eyes confirmed what had been picked up by the Druid’s ears. One Ghoul, three Warriors, and about eight regular Skeletons. All of them seemed to be the uppermost of their respective Level ranges, so it should make for a decent haul of EXP.
After giving Jaco a small nod, Alex stepped forward and pulled out a particular item. The Sheath of 100 Blades, gifted to him by the Druid a while before they left the camp. Since then, enough time had already passed for Alex to become attuned as its new owner. And with the recent destruction, there’d been plenty of scrap metal to feed into the artifact.
Jaco watched as the teen raised the sheath. He released a torrent of the needle-like blades at full power. The hailstorm of sharp metal rained down upon the unsuspecting undead. The basic Skeletons basically stood no chance as their skulls were skewered.
These particular Warriors did have shields, which they managed to raise after just a moment. But that wasn’t nearly enough as the shields just as quickly became a pincushion. And of course everything not protected was also pierced through as their legs gave out from under them.
In just the time it took for Alex to put the sheath down after releasing its power, only one undead already remained. Though it was something that could survive being crushed under a boulder, even the Ghoul looked worse for wear. From head to toe, it was covered with needles both big and small. It tried to charge at Alex, though its movement was slowed by all the blades sticking out of almost every pore.
Even as it was still charging straight toward him, the teen didn’t seem considered. He cracked one side of his neck before raising his sword with both hands. Then with an arcing swing of his blade, his Minor Slash raced through the air. The pure cutting force sped right into and then through the undead.
The Ghoul still tried to move toward him for just another second. But as it ran, its body suddenly fell apart into two cleanly halved sections. With a thud, both parts hit the ground as Alex turned away. As he walked back, Jaco gave him an approving nod.
“Good work, Alex. With that, it looks like we’re about done here. Time to head back to the camp and… wait.” Jaco came to a sudden stop. He looked into the distance and focused his gaze on several distant figures.
“What is it, is there something wrong?” Alex asked. He tried to squint to see what it was that Jaco was looking at.
But it was clear that he couldn’t see anything without sharing the Druid’s enhanced eyesight. Since he mumbled as much under his breath. Which Jaco easily heard with his heightened hearing.
As the group of figures approached, Jaco was soon able to make them out. But upon recognizing them, he blinked a few times with surprise.
What are they doing outside the city? he asked himself. And just a moment later, he had a set of golden screens appear before him.
Black Skeleton (Undead)
Level: 34
Black Skeleton (Undead)
Level: 35
Black Skeleton (Undead)
Level: 34
Black Skeleton (Undead)
Level: 36
All of the Black Skeletons appeared to be around Level 35. But there was also a singular undead of a different type. One that Jaco initially assumed to be a Lesser Revenant. However, he just as quickly realized that his initial assumption wasn’t completely accurate.
Revenant (Undead)
Level: 40
Jaco quickly relayed what he saw to his companion.
Alex’s eyes were wide with alarm. “Jaco, those undead are- why are they all the way out here?!” he asked, his voice filled with panic.
“I don’t know. Stay back and just support me from afar however you can. I can handle them, but if possible, I’d like you to get some of the Experience too. If we play our cards right, it might even be enough to help you reach Level 30 and get your Class Evolution. But if any of them even seems to be thinking about attacking you, you’ll immediately make a run for it, alright?”
“I… alright. I’ll stand back here and use a Slash whenever I can,” Alex affirmed. Like a switch being flipped, the panic in the teen’s gaze was replaced by a spark of determination.
“Okay then. No time to waste, so let’s get to work. On my mark.” Jaco gripped his staff. He cracked one side of his neck as he stared down at the shambling undead. With one of them matching his Level, perhaps this’ll be the fight that pushed his main Class to Level 41. Even with splitting some EXP with Alex, he was still hopeful for that to be the case.
But there was only one way to fight out. So as Jaco marched toward the undead, he had already begun to channel Mana throughout his body.