Sinking to her knees, Jenny dropped to all fours breathing hard. Her sweat-soaked hair stuck to her face. She felt like puking. Next to her lay the Wretched Angel’s corpse, its head now separated from its green body by her hatchet. She felt so gross and tired and empty; all she wanted was a hot bath and to pretend this was all a nightmare.
But beneath the gritty exhaustion, she felt something else, pulsing. She’d killed this creature that seemed so powerful and monstrous. She now had a strength she’d never had before, and she wanted to kill more of these nightmarish things.
Susan's sobbing cut through her thoughts, and Jenny turned to face her. She wiped the sweat off her brow, trying not to think about the blood running down her arm beneath her armor. It was nothing compared to Susan’s leg.
The angel had bitten off the fleshy bit of her calf. Exposed muscle twitched, and blood spurted from several places where Jenny swore the strands of flesh were actually exposed blood vessels. She thought she could see the white of Susan's bones.
Susan squeezed her thigh with both hands. The back of her head against the wall. Her eyes shut tight. Jenny wanted to comfort her but she was afraid of causing more pain.
What do I do? What do I do? Jenny’s thoughts spiraled as she kept picturing the worst. "Susan," she whispered, her heart breaking each time Susan sobbed.
"It's okay," said Susan through clenched teeth. "It doesn't hurt too much."
Jenny shut her eyes tight, trying not to cry. Trying to remember the medical things she'd seen in war movies. Apply pressure to stop the blood flow. Wrap it tight with something. Cauterize it?
Energy, she thought. Okay. I got fifty from that damn angel. That felt too low. Why didn't that big ass thing give more? She grimaced glancing at the wound again. It was all red and ugly and angry.
Jenny didn't know what to say. She wanted to slap Susan for rushing into the fight. But that felt hypocritical. Then she realized Susan had leveled up as well because she'd attacked the Wretched Angel.
> Human (Level 5)
Which meant she got energy too.
"Susan," Jenny whispered urgently. "How much energy do you have?" She was going to tell her about the healing potion she imagined earlier for Mark.
But Susan wasn't responding anymore. Her face had gone pale, sickly and ghostly, almost like one of the angels. She was shaking violently.
Fuck, there was no time. Potion. Cmon. Jenny concentrated so hard that her head hurt.
> A Minor Potion of Recovery will cost 100 energy. Insufficient energy.
No, fuck that. Give me half. Give me half the potion. Not the whole vial. Just something. She pleaded with the system, her nails digging into the bit of her armor that covered her palms, begging with everything she had.
Finally, it said:
> Sufficient Energy.
She almost collapsed with relief when golden light appeared in her hand. It was the vial with the stopper, red liquid glistening inside it. Like something she might've stolen from the chemistry lab rooms. It wasn't completely full, but it had cost her all her energy, and if it could take some of the pain from Susan then it would be enough for now.
How did this work anyway? Should she bring it to Susan's mouth?
Something nudged her thoughts, giving her the impression she'd have to pour it over the wound for direct application. Biting her lip, Jenny prayed this would work. And if it didn't.... she didn't want to think about that.
She pulled the stopper out with her teeth. Then poured the red liquid onto the exposed shredded flesh of Susan's leg. It splattered, then shone with a warm red glow before seeping into the wound.
A moment later, Susan stopped trembling and opened her eyes, wide. She stared at Jenny then pulled at the torn cloth of her leggings.
The chunk of her leg was still missing. It was still bleeding, but it didn't seem so fresh and raw anymore. Some of the flesh had turned a soft shade of pink, looking like new skin. She let out a shuddering sigh. "Jesus fucking Christ," she whispered. Then she looked up at Jenny and nodded weakly. "Nice outfit."
Jenny sobbed, muttering a thank you to... she wasn't sure what. God? The system? The universe? She squeezed Susan's hand. She tried not to think about Mark suffering in the bathroom. Or the headless angel beside them. She tried not to think about how many more angels might be on their way. She was just happy Susan was okay.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"Please don't do that again," said Susan.
“Do what?”
Golden light folded around Susan's hand. Jenny watched as a little circular container appeared and Susan popped the lid off to reveal a pink cream. As Susan scooped it out with her fingers and applied it to her leg, the same red glow from before appeared, but this time there was a faint fizzing. She sighed, shut her eyes, and said nothing for a while. Then she closed the container and thrust it into her pocket.
"Don't rush off like an idiot," she said finally. "Please. I thought we were in this together?"
Jenny bit her lip and nodded. She knew it had been dumb. But... she wasn't going to mention that a part of her had found the whole thing exhilarating. "I'm sorry," she said.
"I suppose you thought you were being the hero."
Jenny shook her head, but she couldn't find the words to disagree with. She felt like crying. But not just crying, she felt like sobbing till she collapsed. Gut-wrenching, ugly screaming. Relief and heartbreak and fear and the unrelenting desire to get stronger struggled inside her.
"The boy died," said Susan softly.
Jenny nodded, more sadness clogging her throat. "Did you..."
"Yeah," said Susan softly. "I made a Minor Healing Salve for him too, and I kept putting more and more on him, but I think I was too late."
They didn't say anything for a while. Jenny listened intently for any sign of another angel that might attack them. She pulled her hatchet out of the floor, trying to ignore the angel's wet hair floating in blood.
Susan mentioned doing her stats, and Jenny listened to her talk about stamina and agility. Jenny had eight points available. She applied four to power. Immediately, she felt a shift in her muscles. It was much more apparent applying four points. The remainder she put into stamina and agility, remembering how her fight with the Wretched Angel went. Her breathing felt less strained as soon as she’d applied the points. And she wondered how agility would manifest. She figured she could skip durability for now since she had her armor.
> Jenny Huang
>
> Human (Level 7)
>
> Age: 6,801 days
>
>
>
> Stats:
>
> Power: 11
>
> Durability: 5
>
> Stamina: 5
>
> Agility: 5
>
> (Stat Points Available: 0)
>
>
> (Energy Available: 0)
Satisfied with her new stats, she pushed that thought away. But she had zero energy. What if she needed to replace the armor? She looked at the crack on her forearm. She needed headgear too. She supposed she’d just have to kill more angels.
Once again, that curious bit of excitement flared up inside her. Kill. Kill. Kill.
She looked at Susan who brushed blue hair on the side of her head, her brows furrowed in concentration. “I went for durability,” she said. “I think I'm fucked in the speed department for now.” She pointed to her leg.
“Makes sense,” said Jenny as she wiped the blood off her hatchet. She noticed that the wooden handle seemed slightly darker. As though the wood it was made from had changed. It felt sturdier and thicker without having changed in size at all. The metal part seemed sharper somehow, and it too seemed bigger.
Then she realized that it was bigger. The sharp edge was now curved slightly, giving it more surface area. She swung it and heard the wind wooshing as she cut through the air. She could swing harder. Move quicker. And the more angels she killed, the stronger she'd get.
This really was just like a game. Except instead of fighting goblins or wolves or some cute little slimes, they had to fight angels. She'd have to fight her way to Oliver. And she had to get stronger to protect him and Susan until this whole nightmare was over. Was Oliver even still alive? How many people were left now?
> Human population remaining: 302
Her eyes went wide. It dropped by that much? How?
Susan got to her feet, her cattle prod in hand. “It looks like my cattle prod is stronger,” she said. It looked the same as she held it out to inspect it. But she continued. “It says I can shoot electricity out now.”
She aimed it down the hall, and a bolt of blue lightning burst from the top and stretched all the way to the door, illuminating the gloomy hall with its blue glow. It made a soft cracking sound like distant thunder.
“Holy shit,” whispered Susan. She switched it off and stared at her weapon in awe. “Did you get something too?”
That was when Jenny noticed the thought that had been nudging her gently this whole time. But she'd been too preoccupied with Susan's wound, her own growing blood lust, and worrying about Oliver. It finally came through:
> Hatchet (Tier 2): Your hatchet can now be retrieved on command.
She read it out loud unsure what it meant.
Susan scratched her chin, still leaning on the wall. “Try putting it down then having it go back to your hand? Sounds like you can recall it.”
Jenny passed Susan her hatchet then took a few steps back, stepping over a corpse. She held out her hand, concentrating on it coming back to her. It felt silly, more like a magic trick than an actual ability, but she gasped when she felt a slight pull. It felt magnetic.
With a soft burst of golden light, the hatchet flew out of Susan's hand and straight into Jenny's, positioning itself perfectly in place so that she could wrap her fingers around the handle.
“That might come in handy.” Jenny admired her upgraded weapon. Both their upgrades felt very useful. But they didn't have time to keep trying things out. “We should keep going,” said Jenny. “Downstairs. I don't know... I...” The words fluttered out all awkward. She bit her lip.
Susan nodded. Then stepped away from the wall. She limped slightly, but there was a determined look on her face. Golden light encapsulated her torso. For a second she was naked, and Jenny looked away. Then, blue armor with matching scales like Jenny's appeared on Susan's body. On her head was a pink bicycle helmet
“Safety first,” she said, fastening the straps in place under her chin. “I didn’t have enough for something cooler.”
For the first time since their nightmare began, Jenny wanted to laugh. The pink helmet looked so innocent and out of place, but instead of laughing, she just wanted to hug her.
Before she could say anything, one of the doors of the central stairwell burst open. A large figure stumbled into the hall accompanied by hissing and screeching.