We all remember major dates in our recent history. We can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing at the time. During the Gulf War, I was in junior high school; a freshman during the Waco siege, a sophomore when OJ Simpson had his televised car chase, and a junior when the Oklahoma City bombing happened. I was a recent high school graduate when Princess Diana died, and a soldier at Ft. Bragg North Carolina when Columbine happened. When The Twin Towers fell, I was carrying tools up to the third floor of my brigade’s HQ so I could continue remodeling the conference room. But the day I will remember the most, was in mid-June, 2023. When the world changed and our way of life ended.

On the day in question, I was on a job-site completing the remodel of a single-story residence about an hour's drive from home. I was constantly returning to this small construction crew of about four people including my stepdad and the general contractor. Technically, I’m medically retired and no longer fit to work in the construction industry. However, VA disability pay did not always cover the bills. Plus, being a prior Army Engineer along with 26 years of construction experience, gave me a wide array of skills that were sometimes difficult to find in a single employee. The problem is, I wasn’t exactly easy on my body during my military service or afterwards. As an Airborne and Air Assault qualified soldier, I was constantly hurling myself out of various types of aircraft. This was whether I was rigged up to a parachute or bounding down a rope from the side of a Black Hawk helicopter. After years of construction work, as well as a year spent in Iraq right at the beginning of the war, and a few injuries sustained in air operations, I'm not physically capable of strenuous work all the time.

I had tried a variety of things besides construction. Right after leaving the Army, I got sponsored by a local police department who put me through the academy. During my time in law enforcement, I had different positions including patrol officer, K9 officer and school resource officer. I also focused on active shooter training and firearms instructor. In the end, my knees and back got even worse, and thanks to unknowingly drinking tainted creek water in Iraq, my stomach has constant issues. After 8 years, I left the department and finally got my VA disability rating. I had attempted being an entrepreneur, opening a couple of different companies. They weren’t necessarily failures, as I broke even. However, they definitely didn’t pay my bills or let me live the type of life I felt I should live. So here I am, working on another construction project… again.

Over the years, I had issues with my marriage and left my ex-wife. The only positive thing to come out of the relationship was my three sons. Later, the true love of my life came out of nowhere and hit me like a ton of bricks. Her name is Denise and she was a friend of a friend. Me, being of average looks and a bit overweight, never believed I had a chance with her as she was stunningly beautiful. She also had a kind personality. Trust me, those two qualities aren’t always available in the same person. But for some reason she approached me while our group of friends went on a day trip to the lake. She expressed her attraction to me, which floored me. Soon after we were dating regularly. Our relationship grew quickly and within a couple of years we were married. Along with her son and daughter, we now had five kids, and life was good.

At the moment the world flipped upside down, I was in an attic, for the thousandth time. I was wiring up some can lights in the ceiling, as that was the current fad for homeowners. I was often in the attic, so much so that I always sent Denise a selfie of me wearing a respirator. I would use the hashtag #atticlife. Side note, one positive thing about an apocalypse is no hashtags. She was always worried about me being in the attic. Well, she was always worried about me doing anything. Definitely not because I always get hurt. Luckily I never suffered major injuries. It was cute, and she liked it as much as I did, even though she denied it. I just liked to tell her and send her pics so she'd fuss over me.

While in the attic, thunder crashed like the sky had split open above the house. Now, I’ve never claimed to have PTSD; luckily during my time in Iraq, I never had to take another person’s life. We were, however, mortared every other day. Loud noises and explosions always rattled me. The fourth of July and New Years Eve is always a hard time for me. Instead of celebrating the holidays, I’d much rather stay in my room reading or listening to a good book. As I climbed out of the attic, I saw my step dad standing at the front door staring up at the sky. He had a look of shock and fear on his face. Another loud thunder crack sounded. I called out to him, “hey Frank, what the hell is going on out there?” Frank didn’t answer and continued staring up at the sky. I reached the door and looked outside, and what I saw was unimaginable and terrifying. For as far as the eye could see, lightning bolts were striking the ground. I looked over and saw our boss opening the door to his truck, about to get out. Yelling as loudly as I could, I told him to stay inside. Hopefully being on rubber tires would protect him if lightning hit him. I pulled Frank out of the doorway and into the house in the hopes we weren’t struck by lightning either.

After another minute of thunder and lightning, I could see through one of the windows in the living room, massive blue ripples rushing through the sky. It looked like a lake of pure energy that someone had thrown a handful of rocks into. Ripple after ripple moved throughout the atmosphere covering the entire planet. As quickly as it started, it ended, and all was silent. The silence was deafening. Not only was what appeared to have been a massive electrical storm no longer sounding, but the job site generator was off. Frank’s Bluetooth radio hooked up to his Pandora account was silent. Even the boss's running truck was now shut off.

Out of nowhere, a single word sounded in my mind… INITIALIZE. A blinking yellow light appeared at the bottom right of my vision. No matter where I looked, the blinking light stayed in the same place within my vision. When I focussed, it opened up and read “Initializing Statistical Data”. It was then replaced with a notice and a female voice that read the notice as it scrolled in my vision. “Congratulations citizens, your planet has reached peak occupancy and mana levels. It has been selected to join a vast coalition of human civilizations that have awakened to their higher abilities. Beware though, humans are not the only awakened civilizations in the multiverse, and only the strongest will survive. Your physical attributes, training and experiences will now be tallied in order to determine the basis of your evaluation. Your skills and abilities are ranked at five levels: Beginner, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master and Grand-Master. Each level is rated from 0 to 9. You will receive 3 attribute points and 2 skill points per level, however you have 5 extra attribute points for starting at level 1. You can access your stats anytime by saying or thinking “STATUS.” No further information or training regarding your status screen will be provided. Good Luck Citizen… SURVIVE”

A status screen appeared in my vision similar to a heads up display in many games I played throughout my life.

STATUS:

Name: Derrick Miller Race: Human Level: 1

Attributes:

Strength: 11 Dexterity: 15 Constitution: 8 Intelligence: 17 Wisdom: 12 Charisma: 18

Health: 40/95(regen: 6 pts P/M)

Stamina: 115 (regen: 7.5 pts P/M)

Mana: 170 (regen: 10 pts P/M)

Carry Capacity: 165 lbs Armor Class: 3

Skills:

Hand to Hand: Beginner 6

Blunt Weapons: Beginner 8

Axe Mastery: Apr 3

Sword Mastery: Beginner 5

Bow Mastery: Apr 3

Daggers: Beginner 7

First Aid: Apprentice 9

Building: Journeymen 5

Crafting: Journeymen 5

Wilderness Survival: Journeymen 2

Sneak: Beginner 5

Herbalism: Beginner 5

Arcane:

Minor Heal: Beginner 5

Tame Animal: Beginner 9

You have 5 unassigned attribute points.

You have 0 unassigned skill points.

“THE FUCK?” Was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

“What in God’s name is going on?" Frank asked as he exited his status screen.

“I don't know, but it sounds like we’re in BIG trouble," I said. “Are you okay Frank? Not hurt or anything? Where’s Dan?”

“No, I’m fine, just a little confused. Dan was still in his truck the last time I saw him," Frank said.

“Okay, let’s go get him and see if he’s okay and then figure out a plan of action. We need to make sure the women are okay. I know Denise loves thunder or electrical storms; but I’m sure she’s going to be crazy worried after whatever that was, and I’m confident mom is too.” We both stepped outside just as Dan stepped out of his truck seemingly unharmed.

As we walked towards Dan’s truck, I pulled out my cell phone to call my wife but the cell phone was dead. I pressed the power button several times but nothing happened. “Does anyone’s cell phone work? Mine is dead.” Both Frank and Dan pulled out their cell phones and sure enough, both phones were likewise inoperative. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach as I felt I knew what that storm may have been.

“Dan, try starting your truck.” I said. Dan did as requested, however when he turned the ignition on nothing happened. Not even the sound of the starter trying to kick over like having a dead battery. As I looked up from my cell, I took in our surroundings fully. And what I saw froze me dead in my tracks. There were blackened scorch marks, large craters and sporadic brush fires. As we were out in the county area, there weren't many houses close by. However, I could see in the distance that at least a couple of them were on fire. The only description that came to mind was “Hellscape”.

Pulling myself out of my own shock, I walked over to my truck and the same thing happened, the ignition wouldn’t turn over. My instrument panel didn’t light up and I couldn’t hear the fuel pump kick in either. I pulled out a long, rubber handled Philips screwdriver out of my tool box and popped the hood of the truck. I connected the screwdriver first to the negative terminal and then to the positive terminal. Sparks arced across the screwdriver letting me know the battery still held a charge. This told me the computer and electronics were fried. It also confirmed what I feared the most.

Walking back over to Dan and Frank I said “I think we’re in worse trouble than I originally thought." Neither our phones nor our vehicles are working, and I couldn’t help but notice the generator isn’t on anymore either. I think that storm was some kind of massive electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. I’m pretty positive it fried our electronics. Did anyone else get a notice and a status screen in their vision afterwards?” Both Dan and Frank confirmed they had. “Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but my first priority is to get back to our families. If all our electronics are burned out, I’m guessing we’re going to have to walk home.” Our current project site was located out in the country in Central California. I lived sixty miles south in a small dust bowl town. Frank and my mom lived about ten miles east of that. Dan was a little luckier, as he lived in a small town about halfway between the job site and my house. He would be about thirty miles from home.

“Dan, was your wife home today or at work?” Dan’s wife was a registered nurse who did part-time in-home elderly care. Dan always complained that she should have retired already, as they were both in their mid sixties and had his thirty year retirement from law enforcement. Dan only works now because he couldn’t sit still and always had to do something. Needless to say, it was a point of contention between the two but it never turned into an argument because of the good nature they both shared. It was more of an ongoing joke for all who knew the situation.

“No, she was supposed to be at home today but I’m not sure if she had anywhere else to go.” Dan replied.

“Okay, we need to leave for home as soon as possible obviously, but I estimate it may take about a day to make the trip to Dan’s house from here. However, it’s likely to get dark in about four hours," I replied. At the time of the storm, it was getting close to our normal quitting time which was around three pm. Since it was June, the sun set around seven thirty to eight pm. “That means we need to find somewhere to bunk down tonight, unless you want to try and just keep going,” I continued. I did not believe Dan would be able to travel quickly. Besides being in his mid sixties, he was also a cancer survivor and his physical capabilities were diminished by the disease.

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“We need to get as far as we can as quickly as possible. I’m worried about your mother, she's alone out there," Frank said.

“I’m worried too Frank, but she shouldn’t be alone right now. Alex was heading out there this morning to help her with some baking today," I replied. Alex, my middle son, was nineteen years old and a very smart kid. Not to mention he was about five inches taller than me and strong as an ox. “Besides, I think you’re forgetting she was raised on a farm growing up. She’s more than capable. If the power is out, which it is most likely going to be, she knows to hurry and fill the tub before the pressure lets out of the well’s tank so she’ll have plenty of water to use for drinking and cooking. Not to mention filling the toilet tank so they can flush it. There’s also plenty of food in the freezer that will last a few days if they don’t open the door much. Alex knows how to start fires and there’s plenty of wood for the grill. To top it off, she knows where the shotgun is and how to use it.”

“Do either of you know what to make of that status screen?” I asked. Frank was in his mid fifties and I knew he had played video games in the past, but Frank liked mainly racing games. Dan on the other hand, I was fairly sure he had not played anything like that. I confirmed my suspicions as Dan stated he had no clue what that was and Frank had only a minimal understanding. “Okay look,” I started. “I’m not going to pretend to have any idea about what’s going on right now. However, I played a number of role-playing games when I was younger, and that status screen is pretty similar to what I remember.” I was never that into Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, but many of my friends were and so I played it several times. I was more into Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse from the World of Darkness series. I was, however, addicted to playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

“Did you both get five extra stat points for reaching level one?" I asked. Both confirmed they had. “I have no clue if what I remember from game play will impact anything here but it’s a place to start. From what I can recall, strength is obviously how strong you are. It affects your ability to move objects, the power of your striking blows and I think it may also affect your carrying capacity. Constitution deals with your resistance to damage and poisons. I think the combination of the two determines your overall health pool. Dexterity determines your balance, speed and how effectively you manipulate items such as tools or weapons. If I remember correctly, your dexterity and constitution affect your stamina score. Intelligence usually determines the amount of mana you have. Mana is basically the amount of power you have to cast spells, if you have any. Intelligence also determines your ability to read and understand spell tomes and other esoteric knowledge. Wisdom determines your willpower and perception and can influence how you use the knowledge you’ve gained. Charisma determines how receptive people will be towards you when speaking to them. It can affect a wide range of things such as buying or selling prices, to manipulating someone to do something they normally wouldn’t do. I know that’s a broad spectrum. However, that’s about the closest I can explain without knowing if any of my explanations are even remotely close.

“Armor class is different." I continued. “Armor class is usually governed by the items you have equipped on your body. My status screen shows I’m wearing a cotton T-shirt bright in color with an armor class of one. It also says that I have a negative stealth rating of ninety percent. I guess that makes sense, since I’m sporting a bright neon yellow construction shirt. I’m also wearing denim pants worth an AC of one and a pair of steel toed boots that have a combined AC of one as well. Interestingly, the boots have a damage value of six with a twenty-five percent chance of a critical damage bonus.”

“If things hold true with gaming strategies," I said. “Then there are a couple different things you can do with your stat points depending on what you plan on doing with your build. A number of players like to do what’s called min-maxing. That means they sink all their points into those aspects that greatly increase their main attributes and skills. For example, a front-line warrior would place more points into strength and constitution and leave intelligence alone. An assassin on the other hand, would be more of a dexterity build with an emphasis on wisdom for higher perception and willpower. Personally, I prefer being more well-rounded. In some games there are negative status effects when one stat is drastically higher than another. As far as whether that's true here, who really knows? The one thing I do know is, if we plan on getting home, we need strength and constitution.”

Looking at my status screen again, I noticed I was at less than half health. “Is anyone else missing health from their health pool?” I asked. Frank looked at his status screen and noticed he was also missing health points. Dan confirmed the same. “I guess we can safely assume that whatever that storm was didn’t remake our bodies as my knees and back still hurt like normal” I said. “It says I have a spell called “minor heal”, not sure what it does but it’s worth a shot.” I accessed my status screen and focused on the minor heal spell.

-Minor Heal: Heal up to 30 points of damage to a single target within 10 feet.

Cost: 50 mana

Cool down: 1 minute.

Due to your experience and training in first aid, your casting time has been reduced to zero.”

Starting with my time in the military, I was a first aid student. About every six months, my unit was required to conduct testing for basic soldiering skills. This also included first aid. We were only required to take first aid classes once a year but if you failed any testing, you’d have to be retrained. I also completed the Combat LifeSaver course with my unit. As a law enforcement officer, I was required to be trained in first aid at least once a year. I had to renew my CPR certification every two years. It was always a running joke in the department that if you wanted to pass your first aid course, sit next to Officer Miller. This also added to the explanation why my first aid skill was one of my highest skills.

I exited my status screen and focused on my intent to heal myself. I felt a surge of power come from my core and flow into my left hand. By core, I meant I felt it come from my abdominal core, or gut. Not that I was aware of a “core” that was the central part to a mana system or storage of some kind. My knowledge of any such things was extremely lacking at this time… But I digress.

I touched my hand to my chest and instantly felt much better. My knees and back hurt drastically less. Again I looked at my status screen and my health read “70/95” and my mana pool was “120/170.” I was so excited. Not only had I just cast magic, but my life long injuries had been almost completely healed. And after a few more minutes, I would be completely healed. The joy on my face was unmistakable and it brought a tear to my eye to be free of the constant pain that I’ve felt for so long. Seeing my face, Dan and Frank assumed it had worked. I pulled myself out of my awe and confirmed for the two what had actually happened. “Do either of you have any healing spells you can cast,” I asked. Neither of them did. “Okay no problem. I have about a one minute cool down per cast. I’ll have to check on how fast my mana regenerates but I think I can get us all healed up before we make our way home. In the meantime, I think we should start gathering up supplies for our trip home. It feels to me that we’re facing some kind of apocalypse scenario here, so look for weapons that we can use. I’d also take this time to go over your attribute points and assign them as well.”

Taking my own advice, I accessed my status screen again. I decided to put four points into constitution as it was my lowest stat and one point into strength bringing them both up to twelve. I got a prompt asking to confirm my selection. Thinking yes, I gasped as a surge of energy rushed through my body. It wasn’t a lot of energy, but it filled my body with warmth. It made my muscles briefly tense with a feeling like an electrical pulse was going through me. Instantly I could feel my body getting ever so slightly stronger. I also found the heat of the day to be a little bit more bearable. I surmised that people could die from exposure, as exposure to harsh elements damages the body. If this theory holds true, that constitution governs the body’s resistance to damage, then a higher constitution would make it possible for me to ignore some of that damage.

Looking at my updated stats, I noticed my health was now sitting at “70/120.” My stamina rose to 135 and my carrying capacity rose to 180 pounds. Looking at my mana recovery, I recovered mana at a rate of ten points per minute. This means it would take me seventeen minutes to refill my mana pool if I was completely empty. Not wanting to get bogged down daydreaming about higher stat points and what they could grant me, I decided not to check out the majority of my skills right now. I would have time for that later, after we found a place to bunk for the night. I wanted to look at the other spell listed in the arcane section, as it may help us on the road home. Again I focused on my status screen.

-Tame Animal: Beg 9, Using your mana, pit your will against any animal and tame it, bringing it into your service. This not only depends on your will power but also on your knowledge of the particular animal you wish to tame

Cost: 100 mana

Cool Down: N/A,

Casting time: 5 seconds.

You have a 20% chance of taming any animal. Because of your training and experience with canines, you have a 50% chance of taming canines or canine hybrids. Caution: failed attempts to tame an animal may have adverse or dangerous consequences.

I thought I understood why my skill with canines would be higher. I had two different working dogs during my handler career. The training needed to keep a dog fresh and well trained was a daily procedure. Not to mention, during monthly training with K9 teams from other departments, I worked with dozens of other canines over six years. What stood out to me the most was the term “canine hybrids”. Does that mean Earth would start seeing actual monsters and things straight out of fantasy novels? I couldn’t even begin to imagine. I exited my screen and relayed the information to our group. I also cast another heal on myself bringing me to “103/120.” I gained a couple health points while looking at my stats. One more heal would bring me to one-hundred percent health.

I walked over to my truck and pulled out my get home bag, which was an olive drab green, medium sized rucksack. Ironically, I was a prepper and a survivalist. I wasn’t a doomsday prepper per se. I didn’t prep for an apocalypse, even though that seemed to be exactly what was happening at this moment. I prepped more for natural disasters or major incidents. This is especially the ones that would stop me from returning home to my family when I worked out of town. For that reason, I always had my Get Home Bag. I have been a student of survival methods since I was a cadet Marine in high school. I took a snow survival course with my unit after my freshman year. From there it turned into a lifelong endeavor. I even had a survival blog.

Inside my rucksack, I carried various survival items. Two of the most critical items at this time were food and water. I had split up a few meals ready to eat (MRE’s) and picked over some of the main protein and carbohydrate items, as well as a couple accessory packs that contained salt, pepper, sugar, instant coffee and a book of matches. And of course, who could go without a couple packets of jalapeno cheese spread? I ditched the rest of the novelty items like pound cakes, non-dairy shakes, candy bars and especially the hard as rock chiclets gum. Alongside the pieced out MRE’s I carried a couple Top Ramen noodles packs, two cans of tuna, and two small bags of dehydrated backpacking meals. What military man could refuse dehydrated chili mac and chicken with rice? I also carry a Life Straw and a backpacking water filtration pump capable of filtering up to 500 gallons of water. And perhaps the most significant item of all, a roll of toilet paper in a Ziploc bag.

I carry various other items as well including a change of clothes, hiking shoes and other camping and survival gear. Most importantly a bush-craft knife and a skinning knife. I changed out of my too bright shirt and put on the long sleeve camo shirt but ditched the hiking boots. I kept my steel-toed boots as they had an actual damage rating. When I looked at my stat screen again, I noticed the debuff associated with my too bright shirt had cleared. I pulled out a couple small flashlights I kept in my ruck but as expected, they were useless as well. I suspected, like the truck battery, the AA’s would still hold a charge but the fragile electronics in the lights had been damaged. Further proof that whatever happened caused a massive EMP.

Next I collected my tool belt. I removed the tool bags from the utility belt but kept the leather thong that held my framing hammer. The framing hammer would not only be effective in a fight, but was sentimental to me. The hammer was a twenty-three ounce “Drive Master” and sported a long red hickory handle. I’ve had this hammer since I was a private in the military. The hammer even went to Iraq with me. Next, I slid the sheaths of the bush-craft knife and skinning knife onto the belt. I positioned the hammer on the right and the skinning knife on the left. As the bush-craft knife was carried horizontally in its sheath, I positioned it at the small of my back.

The bush-craft knife was one of my favorites. It was a “Tom Brown '' or “Tracker '' survival knife. It had a seven-inch blade segmented into two parts. The first two and a half inches of the blade from the hilt was considered a chopping blade similar to an ax. The rest of the blade fanned out wider in more of a teardrop shape and was a razor sharp filet blade. The blade spine was cut with a saw tooth edge. It was not only effective for bush-craft, but also effective in hand-to-hand knife fighting.

With my immediate weapons needs handled, I gathered my pack and put extra water bottles from the job site cooler inside. Frank grabbed our lunch bag, which was a large cloth cooler with a nylon shoulder strap. None of us ate lunch that day, as usually happens when we get overly busy on a job site. The bag contained two sandwiches, a bag of chips and Gatorade for each of us. Frank also put more water bottles from the cooler in the bag. He then grabbed an emergency blanket from under the truck’s seat and rolled up his sweater inside it. He tied it off with a piece of rope as a bed roll. For weapons, Frank had his pocket knife and retrieved his hammer and placed it on his tool belt as I did. He also grabbed an eight-pound sledge hammer to use as a two-handed battle hammer if need be.

Dan, on the other hand, emptied one of the DeWalt tool bags with a carrying strap, which normally carried cordless drills. He grabbed a canvas drop cloth and rolled it around the tool bag carrying strap as a bed roll. Seeing this, I thought it was an excellent idea and rolled up another canvas drop cloth and attached it to the top of my ruck. I had a small backpacking sleeping bag, and of course I had my poncho liner. It was affectionately known as a “Woobie” by anyone that served even a fraction of the time in the Army. Canvas drop cloths would be ideal for ground covers and shelters while on the road.

In the tool bag Dan placed a few snacks he had in his truck. These snacks included a bag of beef jerky, a few granola bars and a bag of peanuts. For a weapon, Dan grabbed a long, heavy duty aluminum, telescoping paint handle for use as a bow staff. Interestingly enough, both Frank and Dan had martial arts experience. Frank was a first degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do and Kickboxing. Dan, on the other hand, was a second degree black belt in Jeet Kune Do. His lifelong instructor was one of the last few remaining direct disciples of Bruce Lee.

It took about an hour, but all three of us were packed with whatever items we could salvage from the job site and vehicles. After a few healing spells on both Dan and Frank, we were ready to go. The job site was located in the county area. This was a mix of grasslands, wooded patches with inter-crossing back roads and at least two rivers and irrigation canals. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like traveling through towns right now,” I explained. “But I’m sure panic will be everywhere. There may also be looting starting very soon, if it hasn’t already. I think it would be better, and maybe even faster if we headed straight south from here, breaking brush. Travel as the crow flies. I don’t really want to walk on the roadways if we can get away with it. "What do you guys think?” Not having any better ideas or arguments for the plan, we set out southward, hopefully headed towards home and our families.