I spend the next ten minutes or so just swinging my new bat around, grinning all the while. It’s made of reinforced titanium, which is so incredibly illegal for actual play; it’s got a real heft to it, compared to any other bat I’ve ever used.
God, I’ve always wanted one of these, and I get to smash in alien skulls with it; my inner schoolboy is so giddy right now.
Eventually, though, I get a gentle cough from Anaideis, and sigh. Well, no use putting it off any further; I need to return to the panic room. I trudge my way over to it, reluctantly. Stupid Usk, needing saving.
Once there, however, I’m presented with a problem; how, exactly, do I get them to open up for me? After all, they’re probably pretty certain that I’m dead.
It takes me a moment to think, but then I smile. I bring my knuckles back, and rap out seven notes on repeat; bu-doom bap, bu-du-boom bap. Cash Rules Everything Around Me.
I’m slightly worried they can’t hear me or something, but then I catch hints of muttered voices from somewhere above. I glance up; ah, right, the vents. Well, that works too.
“It’s Jet. I’m alive, you two! Open up, yeah?”
The muttering gets louder, more intense. Sounds like an argument is happening, and it’s pretty obvious what the sides are. Thank god I didn’t try this while I was actually in danger.
After a minute of increasingly sharp back-and-forths, they pause, and then the door is screeching open in front of me, slowly and carefully. Olivia opens it up just enough to peek her head out a little, and when she sees me in an empty room, she shoves it open more forcefully, hurrying me inside.
It’s darker inside than I remember, and my eyes take a moment to adjust; as they do, though, I spot Usk bunched up on the bed. He’s got one arm cocked back, and for a second I think he’s prepared his own molotov, but there's no flame. Wait, was his plan to just. Chuck a bottle of alcohol at me and pray? That sure is… hopeful.
“You’re back,” Olivia notes, and I focus myself back on her. She’s still squinting at me a bit, through the plastic of the respirator she’s still wearing. “It is you, right? Say something?”
Why would she- oh, right. I vaguely remember zombies coming up earlier. “It’s me, I promise. I killed the ones that were out there, just needed to catch my breath a bit afterwards.”
Amazingly, this doesn’t seem to reassure her much. Usk scoffs, and turns away, apparently deciding he’s going back to bed. Does the office worker drenched in her own blood not scream killer, or something? Wait, don’t answer that.
At least, Olivia doesn’t discard it out of hand. Instead, she carefully scans me, top-to-bottom. Her eyes pause on my damaged arm, and the bat it’s holding in a loose grip. Then she takes in the large shield fixed to the other. I must be quite a sight.
“What the fuck happened out there?” she asks, bluntly.
I squirm under her gaze. What to even say?
In the end, all I can offer is, “A lot? I’m a Vanguard now.”
Her eyes widen, and she inhales sharply. “Holy shit.”
I nod, awkwardly. Holy shit indeed.
“Does that,” she pauses, and gulps again, “does that mean you’re going to lead us out of here?” Her voice is nervous- obviously my abrupt career change doesn’t instantly make leaving this panic room appealing.
I smile gently at her. “No, I have a solution for that, actually. Anaideis? The universal power source, thanks.” I hold my hand out, palm up.
Anaideis subvocalizes the purchase, and I wince as I hear the cost. Eight points is a lot to spend on something that doesn’t directly help me. Still, the way Olivia jerks back in surprise as a box appears on my outstretched palm is very much worth it. With an encouraging grin from me, she takes it.
I have to say, I kind of expected the thing to be bigger, but when she pulls it from its box, the power source fits easily in one hand. It’s sort of just… an orb, really? A brushed grey metal surface, a flattened base, and one incongruent feature: a hole at the top, with a tiny metal nub sticking out. After a moment’s careful consideration, Olivia tugs at it. It comes out easily, and reveals a connected cord. In fact, this thing looks suspiciously like…
“An aux cable?” I ask, stupefied. I haven’t seen one in years.
Appearances can be deceiving, pet. Her voice is smug. Try and plug it in.
I relay that to Olivia, who shrugs, and doesn’t argue. As soon as she brings it near the console, the connector reforms itself, shifting smoothly into a compatible shape. Huh. It slots in seamlessly, and before long the console is booting up.
I have to squint against the sudden glare as the main lights in the room come on, followed quickly by the cctv monitors. I guess we were on emergency lighting before, which makes sense. Olivia barely flinches, eyes fixed on the console monitor, as she boots it up. As soon as it loads, she’s quickly navigating the computer, trying to find the emergency beacon.
Anaideis gets there first. Allow me, dear. Mine is better, anyway.
The screen lights up, and the message it shows is distinct and unequivocal: ‘Vanguard override. Extraction required, at the following location.’
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
That should see your companions extracted in approximately 12 hours, far before any threat sufficient to breach this room is released, Jet. Congratulations. They’ll make it out because of you. That’s another two points for saving civilians, by the way.
Well. Fuck. It’s good to be king, I guess? I’m a little stunned by how easily that went.
However, I’m quickly reminded that my part isn’t over, as Anaideis takes over the CCTV monitors from an unresisting, slightly-catatonic-with-relief Olivia.
Hmm. These cameras only extend to the immediate vicinity of this office, Jet. It seems the rest of the building is on a separate internal system. It’s almost like you expected a hyper-proficient artificial intelligence to want to take them over, or something.
“So you can’t see the way out?” I ask. I already wasn’t looking forward to fighting out; doing so without clear knowledge of what I’m walking into is worse.
There is some good news there, at least. The Security room isn’t too far from here- if you plug me in there, I can survey the rest of the building, and find us a route out.
“Uh huh.” I can feel a ‘but’ coming.
Well, there we have a slight problem. We do currently have one camera outside, overlooking the rotunda. Take a look.
She expands the relevant camera, so it fills the whole screen.
I stare at the lumbering hordes of monsters outside.
Fuck.
----------------------------------------
My mind is whirling, overwhelmed, trying to come up with a plan. Think. What do I have access to? How can I fight that?
“How many points do I have left, Anaideis?” I ask, dubious.
Seventeen, darling.
Right. Okay. Seventeen points isn’t going to be enough to get through all that, and I definitely can’t win with the gear I’ve already bought. I’m going to need to find a solution somewhere else.
I turn, scanning the room, ignoring Olivia’s questioning gaze and Usk’s sleeping form. What do I have access to? What’s left?
I could always make another molotov, for one. That’s not a bad start, but it wasn’t exactly an instant kill the last time I tried it. No, I’m going to need more than that- though I’ll probably make one anyway.
What’s left in the cupboards? I double check.
Okay, the first aid kit could be helpful, but I don’t think it’s worth lugging the whole thing around. I pull out a roll of bandages, anyway; if I can keep a couple points free for something like another hemo-restore (shudder), then these’ll work to keep the rest of my blood inside me in the meantime. Then I grab a nutrition bar or two and store them to one side, then take a third to eat now- I imagine my blood sugar is pretty low from the, well, everything.
From the clothes pile I grab a black shirt and black jeans in vaguely my size; they’ll make me look a bit too much like waitstaff, but it’s better than the bloody, shredded mess I’ve got on at the moment. Olivia pointedly looks away while I change.
That’s all super helpful, but it doesn’t solve my immediate issue. Most of what’s left I discard out of hand, which only leaves the ammunition. It’s in two boxes; from the stamps, it looks like one is 9mm, and the other is 7.62-standard. Pistol and rifle respectively, then. The pocket pistol looked more like .22, but that’s not the only handgun I have access to, is it?
“Anaideis,” I begin, “do any of those machine pistols take 9mm rounds?”
All you had to do was ask. If you show me what those magazines look like before purchase, I could even make them compatible for you.
I grin. Sounds like I’m not going to have supply problems for my sidearm, then. All I need to do is make some kind of makeshift- wait. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to send it to me in a holster, would you?” I ask, as I rip the box open.
She chuckles. It’ll cost an additional point, but that’s not an issue. In fact, I could stretch that so that it comes on a pouched belt, too- it’s skirting the rules a little, but where’s the fun if I don’t bend them for my favourite vanguard, hmm?
I blush. I, uhm, uhm. “Sure, thing, um? I’ll get that, then?”
New Purchase: CQC Machine Pistol- modified order Point Cost: 4, mod: 1. Points Reduced to… 12.
The belt clicks closed around my waist, resting easily on my hips. I don’t have to tighten the elastic at all, it’s already adjusted to my frame. The holster is a non-descript grey leather that perfectly compliments my black clothes. I feel weirdly like I need a cowboy hat to complete the ‘sophisticated outlaw’ look, but I shrug that urge away.
The gun, when I draw it, is beautiful, and perfectly shaped for my palm. It looks to be modelled on the Beretta 93R- though it's very much its own piece, much more curvaceous and stylised. I wonder if that’s so the Protectors avoid a patent lawsuit, and chuckle at the thought.
I’ve never actually held a 93R, but I know its close cousin well: the Beretta 92, which is semi-automatic instead. That was one of my favourite choices on the range, when I was a kid. I wonder if Anaideis knows that, somehow- if that’s why she picked it.
Either way, I check the safety is on, then holster it again. Four more magazines join it, slotting in my pouches neatly. Anaideis reminds me to grab a reload for my shorty, so that fills another pouch- a dozen shells for an extra point. After a moment’s thought, I also secure a bottle of vodka from the fridge, some of the toilet paper, and the lighter, which I find intact on the ground. That’ll work for later.
Well, I’m pretty well equipped, but I should probably leave something for the others. A quick word with Anaideis, and- (New Purchase: CQC Machine Pistol. Point Cost: 4. Points Reduced to… 7.)- I turn to Olivia. Her eyes widen as she sees the handgun nestled in the open box, and she looks apprehensively at me.
“I figured you should keep a gun with you too, just in case.” I offer, a little sheepish.
A voice interrupts before she can reply.
“Why do people keep giving everyone guns except me?!” the mayor yells from behind me, and Olivia and I can’t help but grin at each other.
I turn, and stick my tongue out at him- I didn’t even realise he was still awake. Oh well. He’s not my boss anymore, I can fuck with him all I like.
Still, when I turn back to Olivia, her smile has faded, and she’s looking anxious again.
“Do you have to go out there again, fight through all that? I mean, we’re gonna get saved at some point, right, you could just… stay here?”
I give her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.” And I do- I’ve been mulling it over as I geared up, and I know what I’m going to do.
I turn from her, and hold a finger to my ear- not really necessary, but it feels right. “Anaideis, can you send me a box? I need something rigid, but highly flammable. Reinforced cardboard, or something.”
For one point, that’s not an issue, pet.
I smile. “Thanks.” I turn back to Olivia, and give her a thumbs up. She still looks doubtful.
That’s understandable- after all, I didn’t actually answer her question. Even if I have an idea for how to get through that swarm, that still doesn’t explain just why I seem so eager to do so.
After all, I can’t exactly tell her that I’m mostly just excited to blow up City Hall.