[Player Log Start!]
[Player: Verity Monroe]
[Level: 1]
There had been another Harbinger near the fire twister.
She didn’t mention it to anyone, but there had been a familiar burst behind her eyes when she had caught sight of the silhouette through her spyglass that confirmed the similarity they shared. She had kept her mouth shut about it and stuffed the spyglass into her jacket’s nebulous pockets.
Now, they were no longer in Wayside, so letting the tornado arsonist run free didn’t weigh much on her mind. There were more pressing matters to her.
Such as the fact that this green-tinged world was swarmed by undead corpses.
Ben the zombie hunter led them through the wilderness, baseball bat held at the ready in case of a sneak attack. She seemed brave and unshakeable, more experienced with these monsters than anyone else, so Verity gritted her teeth and fell in line.
What had once been a calm and serene façade had shattered, revealing a world just as wild and brutal as Wayside, if not even more. Sure, it wasn’t as hot or stifling, but the danger was still there, making her blood sing and feet twitch.
“Okay, kiddos.” Ben announced, “We’re here.”
They were standing in front of a fenced-in area at the edge of the town. Inside was a half-constructed building, patched over with white walls and tiles. Zombies were lingering around the chain-link fence, and a few were stiffly turning to look over at them.
“You sure this is safe?” Michael asked, eyeing the closest shambling zombie.
“Yeah, yeah, just move fast.” She instructed, reaching for a metal cable stretched over the fence that connected the topmost floor with a damaged electrical tower outside. They watched as she scaled the tower and shuffled across to reach the building.
Zombies were lingering below them, jaws snapping aggressively. Verity followed her, gripping the cable with her arms and legs to drag herself over the abyss of death. Asadullah easily transformed into a cat and scurried over at the same time. She landed onto the half-built platform and turned to watch the others make the journey.
Michael went next, laptop case strapped to his back, whimpering slightly. Jared rounded up the end, cursing up a storm the whole time until he finally collapsed onto solid ground.
“You okay?” Ben asked, leaning over as he lay prone.
“Think I pulled my braces…” He panted, rubbing his left knee, where the metal frame stuck out, knocked loose by the rough treatment. Ben frowned and leaned forward to get a better look at it.
“I’m more of a vet, but there’s a doctor in the house.” She offered.
“Still not a doctor, Ben.” A man noted as he came out from the shadows. She was flicking the safety off her gun before she even noticed Ben relaxing into a smile.
“Hey, this is Tench.” She explained, waving a hand towards him, “He was going to complete his residency in a few months, but then the world ended.”
“Which means I’m not really a doctor.” He explained, taking all of them in before zeroing in on Asadullah, “Where did you even find a teen furry?”
“I’m not all furry.” Asadullah replied, ears flat and unimpressed, completely missing his point.
Tench froze, staring dumbfounded at the floating words.
“What.”
Ben pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s a bit of a mess.” She explained shortly, “I might have signed up for a supernatural Game to stop… at least three Armageddons. Maybe more.”
“What?” He looked even more confused.
“It’s a whole thing. I still haven’t been given the full picture, but there’s some intense magic stuff going on. And I may have given my soul away to this already.”
“Dude.” Tench threw his hands up, “You’re smarter than this! I thought we agreed if a wizard appeared and offered us a wish, we wouldn’t take the bait!”
“Yeah, but that was before we found out that magic was real and corpses started walking!” Ben shouted defensively.
“Fine.” Tench breathed out, “There’s nothing we can do about this anymore. It’s already done.”
“Knew you’d understand.” Ben grinned, “Now, this one has wrecked his braces. Think you can fix that?”
“I can do it myself!” Jared assured him, reaching forward to roll up the pant leg, revealing a complex and fragile metal frame that was attached to his ankle and went all the way up his leg. Tench hissed and rushed towards him, looking over the mechanism in a panic.
“Why is it so rusty?” He asked, voice shaky.
“It was the best I had, alright?” Jared replied, crossing his arms defensively, “It’s a miracle I got them to work for five years as it was.”
“Five years?” Tench and Ben parroted simultaneously.
“Yeah, that’s when the world ended, right?” He asked, sounding less certain about that fact than before.
The two of them exchanged glances, “It definitely hasn’t been five years for us.” Tench replied with a frown, “Think it’s been more like two?”
“And the Apocalypse back home has only just struck.” Asadullah added, “Obviously the end hasn’t hit at the same time.”
“Think there’s a pattern to it?” Michael asked, clearly working through the numbers in his head.
“Probably.” Jared sighed, “But we aren’t here to solve secrets. We’re here to pass Level One, which might entail stopping the Apocalypse. This Console isn’t being very cooperative in handing out info.”
“Might as well crack it open while we’re in a safe place.” Ben agreed, crossing her legs as she sat down next to Michael, “Take a look at what that laptop was trying to get us to do before we were distracted by all those brainiacs.”
So, the laptop was broken out, and some minor administrative things were adjusted so that Ben could join [Party(Main)] too.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
(“You need to change that name.”
“We’re never going to do that.”)
“By the way, are you the only people here, or is there an entire society gathered downstairs?” Asadullah asked Tench as the others obsessed over the Console.
Tench laughed, a tad uncomfortably as he struggled to keep up with the words, “Nah, it’s just us two. Squatting here since the very beginning.”
“What happened to everyone else?” Verity asked, over the edge of the laptop, “Construction workers, the other doctors, everyone? This was meant to be a new wing at a hospital, right?”
Ben’s eyes softened in sympathy, “The hospital is on the other side of town, kid. Nearly ten blocks away.” She explained, “This used to be a butchery. Sometimes the cows set aside for non-anesthetized slaughter make a run for it, so the fence was made sturdier to combat it.”
Convenient. And bloody.
Before she could ask anymore questions, the Console began glowing again.
[Starting Level One…]
[Level One Objective: Fetch a Cure-Maker]
[Difficulty: A+]
[Details: Many experts have been working on a cure for the zombie pathogen. Many have failed. Few are on the brink of discovering the ultimate cure. All that is needed is one last push. Find the Cure-Maker, deliver them safely to Safe City: Hygeia, and ensure the distribution of cure.]
[Side Objective: Each Party Member must fulfill an Individual Sub-Level. Find a Warp Point to start an Individual Sub-level.]
[Good Luck!]
“Well, that’s interesting.” Jared mused, reading the level instructions again, “At least we’ve got a clear and concise idea of what we’re expected to do.”
“Who makes sidequests mandatory?” Ben fumed.
“Because sidequests are the best part.” Tench told her primly, “It’s sad that you still can’t accept that.”
“Oh, shut it, Tench, you’re not even part of this whole debacle.” She grumbled.
Silence for a few moments, followed by a tentative, “…I think I’d like to be.”
Michael nearly dropped the laptop. Or, he did drop the laptop. Verity managed to grab it at the last second.
“You better be sure about this.” Asadullah warned him, “There’s no backing out.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Tench rolled his eyes, “Besides, you guys have all the general party slots filled except for the healer. You need one if you expect to keep going.”
“I could be the healer.” Ben offered.
“You’re a veterinarian.”
“Point taken. Begrudgingly.”
“Ugh, fine, stop bickering.” Jared interrupted, shoving the laptop into Tench’s hands. A moment’s pause, followed by the ever-cheerful ding and the return of the green panels.
[Gideon Tench has Entered the Game!]
The regular pattern followed. He joined [Party(Main)], the Game issued a congratulatory message, and then it was over.
“Huh. Very anticlimactic.” Tench noted, looking around as if he could now see the world in new eyes, “What happens now?”
“We prepare.” Verity replied darkly, “The zombies can be hunted for experience points. Experience will help us level up. For now, we grind.”
“I have no idea what that means.” Asadullah groaned, “But it sounds like a drag.”
“The catboy gets it.” Ben nodded.
“Seriously, we’re going to have to play this smart.” Jared continued, “We need to inspect all our stats and abilities, see what we can do, try to level out all our skills and grids so that we can all make up for what the others don’t have. That way someone doesn’t end up carrying all the weight themselves.”
“I get it, you’re expecting that someone to be me. Don’t try to be too subtle about it.” Asadullah snorted, tail curling up behind him in a smug manner.
So they got down to it. One by one, each profile was pulled up from the [Party(Main)] page. They were all carefully analyzed and noted by all of them. And subjected to well-meaning ribbing.
[Name: Asadullah Khan]
[Age: 17]
[Class: Level-7 Djinn-Fusion Feline Shifter]
[Level: 8]
[Active Powerup: Djinn Capture Band]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 5]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 7]
[Charisma: 4]
[Remove Abilities Menu→]
[Shapeshift Lv. 10]
[Tracking Lv. 8]
[Intimidation Lv. 7]
“Huh. This is… actually solid stuff.” Jared muttered, looking it over. “What do you think the numbers are a scale for?”
“No idea, the thing doesn’t want us to know.” Michael replied with barely restrained frustration.
“We’ll figure it out when comparing it to the others.” Verity offered.
[Name: Benedict Carrey]
[Age: 29]
[Class: Human (Animal Healer)]
[Level: 6]
[Active Powerup: None]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 3]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 6]
[Charisma: 5]
[Hide Abilities Menu→]
[Melee Lv. 8]
[Climbing Lv. 8]
[Healing Lv. 7]
“Wait, wait, why am I so weak compared to the shrimp?” Ben demanded.
“…Because you aren’t being quasi-haunted by a genie?”
“Because you’re just not as good.” Asadullah preened. She stepped on his tail in retaliation. That shut him up fast.
So, it continued.
[Name: Gideon Tench]
[Age: 30]
[Class: Human (Healer)]
[Level: 6]
[Active Powerup: None]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 3]
[Strength: 4]
[Agility: 7]
[Charisma: 4]
[Hide Abilities Menu→]
[Archery Lv. 6]
[Evasion Lv. 8]
[Healing Lv. 9]
“This is some bollocks, I’ve been in the medical field longer than you.”
“Again. Veterinarian.”
The first blip in the system was Jared.
[Name: Jared Caliber]
[Age: 16]
[Class: Human]
[Level: 6]
[Active Powerup: Compulsion Card]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 4]
[Strength: 3]
[Agility: 4]
[Charisma: 12]
[Hide Abilities Menu→]
[Strategizing Lv. 9]
[Compulsion Lv. 10]
[Facelessness Lv. 7]
“Holy unbalanced stats, Jared. What is that?” Michael gaped.
For once, Jared looked uncomfortable with the attention, “Who knows?” He mumbled, “Could be anything. Maybe I’ve been too much of a conniving bastard for my body to keep up with.”
Verity doubted that. Especially combined with the abilities he had. Jared was hiding something, but she wasn’t going to call him out on it. Not when she had her own secrets to keep.
[Name: Michael Kapok]
[Age: 16]
[Class: Human]
[Level: 6]
[Active Powerup: None]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 3]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 4]
[Charisma: 3]
[Hide Abilities Menu→]
[Melee Lv. 9]
[Hoarding Lv. 5]
[Computer Affinity Lv. 7]
[Hidden Ability – Unlocked at Level 8]
“Ooh, a mystery.” Ben poked Michael in the shoulder, “Very cool. We need to level you up fast. Maybe you should do the sidequest first.”
Verity didn’t give her own input. Nails were digging through her jeans and into the flesh of her knees. She was next and last. Please, please let the deception hold.
[Name: Verity Monroe]
[Age: 16]
[Class: Human]
[Level: 8]
[Active Powerup: Arsenal Coat]
[Compress Character Profile→]
[Power Stats:]
[Durability: 3]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 5]
[Charisma: 2]
[Hide Abilities Menu→]
[Sharpshooting Lv. 8]
[Resource Conservation Lv. 8]
[Hand-to-hand Combat Lv. 8]
[Tracking Lv. 7]
[Killer Instinct Lv. 9]
[XP Available. Add points to stats]
For a moment, she felt stunned. Then…
“Killer Instinct?” Jared snorted, “Dramatic much?” A wave of soft chuckles went through the crowd. Relief erupted inside her. It worked. Deception was working. Cloaking her wretchedness from them all.
But for how long?
“Alright, we can work with this.” Michael decided, running a hand through his notes, “We’ve got a pretty solid base to work off, and nothing a little grinding won’t fix.”
“Then what?” Asadullah asked.
“Then, we find these Warp Points.” Verity replied, “Find out what lies on the other side.”
Nods all around as everyone retreated into their own minds, thinking it over.
Jared clapped his hands, “Forget about that all, right now.” He announced, grabbing the laptop from Michael, “Let’s eat.”
[Extracting Asset…]
A box of eggs and cold cut meats appeared in front of them.
Tench whistled, “I think I’m going to like this place.”
[Player Log End!]