[Player Log Start!]
[Log Holder: Terence Glasgow]
[Level: 2 (Sub-Level)]
Terry landed with his toes balancing on the edge of a wooden harbor, crystal clear water below him promising an icy wakeup that he had narrowly avoided.
Seconds later, Jared appeared behind him in a pop so startling, he nearly ended up falling in anyway, if it hadn’t been for the hand that grabbed onto the back of his shirt.
“Careful there.” Jared beamed at him, pulling them back onto the wooden planks. They sniffed and brushed his hands away, patting his jacket as if trying to rid them of some infectious mold spore.
“Okay, you don’t have to be like that.” Jared snorted, “I was just trying to help.”
“Like you were trying to help your friends?” Terry asked.
Jared’s face twitched for a moment as it tried to formulate a response, before warping into a scowl, “That’s a low blow, Glasgow, and you know it. I just did what had to be done.”
“Oh, really? Doesn’t that sound familiar?” Terry asked, frustration bubbling over, “What if we were to kill all the people who were infected without even bothering to look for a cure? Or what if the Harbingers were to do the same thing with someone less incompetent than Burks? All of them would justify it in the exact same way. Face it, you’re a hypocrite. Maybe even closer to being a Harbinger than your friend back in the cove.”
Jared looked at him blankly, “Vera is our friend.” He told them slowly, “Not just mine.”
“It’s cute that you think that, but I’m not letting myself get caught up in this again.” Terry shook his head, feeling drained, and not in the way he did when he found himself resorting to sign language. In a way that made them want to curl up and sob and lie still for a millennium.
And it was as he was struggling to cope with this startling emptiness did another character enter their midst. A heavyset woman wearing a green vest with bait and tackle hanging out of the numerous pockets. She had on a hat with a small yet floppy brim, and a smile that showed off large, pearly teeth.
“Hello there!” She greeted, her voice booming and upbeat, “Are you fishermen?”
There wasn’t even the slightest alarm on her face at seeing two strange children wandering about the dock unsupervised- oh, no, Terry was an adult now. And very visibly one at that, too. That was a feeling he wasn’t going to get used to soon.
But, regarding her question, Jared shook his head quickly, “Sorry for taking up space on the dock. We’ll be going now. Have a good catch!” He made to steer Terry away, but the woman shook her head.
“That wasn’t what I meant.” She laughed, “In all honesty, I’m relieved.”
Jared and Terry exchanged glances, “You… are?”
“There’s simply too many fishermen here.” She agreed, “What do you two do?”
“I work with mushrooms.” Terry confessed, fighting the urge to show off their Mold Glove. It might get them outcasted from the village for being witches.
“I… play cards.” Jared told them lamely, “And do negotiations between fighting parties but nowadays, it’s mostly cards.”
The woman clicked her tongue disapprovingly, “Young strapping men like you should do something more productive with your time.” She lectured, “Try running around some, getting fresh air, going for a hunt. Anything’s better than gambling away any pithy amount you make from a job as unneeded as yours.”
“Mhm.” Jared agreed, calm and placating, even though the majority of her ire seemed to be directed at him, “I’m not exactly gambling anything, in the grand scheme of things. Except my self-respect, but you know, it’s not a bad gig. Until it goes sideways.”
These words were nonsensical to anyone not in the know, but Terry could tell what he was implying. It had gone sideways for him. Even worse than sideways. It was turned on its head and shaken like an excitable child with a snow globe. A disaster for Jared, too, it seemed.
Tery didn’t voice their thoughts until they were far away enough from the woman currently arranging her fishing poles on the dock for her to overhear.
“You know I thought that you were making some sort of final confession in the cove earlier?” They said.
“Huh?” Jared looked confused for a moment, before laughing, “Are you kidding? Why would I just admit to everything in a premeditated move? I was just overwhelmed by it all.”
“I mean, that’s what all the villains did in the movies.” Terry told him, realizing the ridiculousness of that statement the moment he said it, “Sorry, ugh. They were my only friends in that supermarket. I’ve been equating them too much to real life.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Could’ve fooled me. Don’t think I’ve ever heard you make inferences to movie logic before. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak much. It’s mostly just you backing up Asadullah or someone else. Or just being scary. You’re really good at being scary.”
“Oh, thanks?” Terry blushed a little, “I mean, you’re i-intimidating yourself.” Shit, was that a smart thing to admit to someone who most definitely did not have their best interests at heart? He’d figure out soon if he should have regretted that confession.
For now, though, Jared laughed, “Me? I’m not intimidating at all! I’m just a bastard. And very good at making sure people know that I’m one. A bit too good, it seems.”
Terry shoved him a little, regaining their courage just a smidge, “Don’t think that you’re tricking me.”
“Tricking you into what?” Jared asked, and maybe he really was as good of an actor even without the Card, because he looked genuinely confused about what Terry was referring to.
“Into thinking that you fucked up and don’t deserve to have some mistrust levelled at you and that I should feel sorry for you.” Terry told him firmly, “It isn’t working.”
Jared laughed, throwing his hands up, “You caught me.” He admitted, but it was a hollow sound.
“Where do we go from here, though?” Terry asked, looking at the cottage nearby, “Fancy asking one of these people for help?” Please say no, Terry was not up to talking to a stranger. He’d clam up and it would be humiliating.
Jared’s face lit up, “Oh, I’m good at playing the cute kid who you should definitely let into your house.”
“Were you an accomplice to a cat burglar?” Terry asked suspiciously, “Or were you the cat burglar?”
“No one was the cat burglar.” Jared told him calmly, dispelling Terry’s fantastical theories. Then he dropped the ultimate bombshell, “I was casing the places for the local mob, if you must know.”
Terry stopped so abruptly that Jared walked right into his back, but he didn’t even have time to apologize before Terry was asking, “You what?”
“Don’t be so shocked. You knew I was shady from the start.” Jared told him primly, stepping around him.
Terry followed after him, “I am so not letting this go, dude, what the hell? You were in a mob family? Are you okay? What was it like? Any freaky stories?”
“Only the freakiest.” Jared answered shortly, “There isn’t any other kind. Didn’t think you would be so interested in it. I was just trying to shock you.”
“Well, consider me shocked. I had a whole mob/mafia phase in high school, so this is really crazy to me-” He broke off, glancing at Jared as the realization struck him, “Oh, uh, you didn’t go to high school, right?”
Jared shrugged, and he didn’t seem to be bothered, but Terry could tell by the slope of his shoulders that he was. And perhaps a little insecure about it, too.
“School was a drag back before the Apocalypse anyways.” Jared justified, “It was always Michael who wanted things to be normal and boring. I just wanted people to stop hurting.” Here, he frowned, thinking over his words, “Or, well, I thought that was what I was doing.”
It. Wasn’t. Working. Terry had to remind himself fiercely, even as his heart broke so hard that it may have audibly cracked. With no other way to respond to such a startling but inconsequential revelation, he simply decided on… not doing that. So, they walked along in silence, all the way up to the door of the cottage, which Jared knocked on twice, not too demanding, but not unnoticeable either.
Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long for the doors to be opened by a dark-haired woman with a severe look on her face. Even in the comfort of her own home, she was wearing a black coat atop a green vest and creamy shirt. Her boots were shined to perfection, their tips sharper than nails as she gave them an appraising look.
“Are you the new boys working down at the dairy?” She asked, finally.
“Er, no.” Jared replied, hands obviously gripping onto his shirt and stretching the fabric, “We aren’t exactly from around here, you see. Got thrown here with no explanation on where to go or what to do, and not even the foggiest hint of an Objective.”
This was not technically true, as their Objective had hung over their heads for a few foreboding minutes when they had first arrived, but the solid dialogue boxes had only declared them to be ‘Loading’. Which meant that the Objective was incoming. But this was merely semantics.
“So, we’re hoping to get some help from the nearest person.” Jared finished, looking up at her beseechingly, in a move that Terry was certain had been used against him by a Girl Scout at some point before the Zombie Outbreak.
The woman nodded, looking appropriately moved by such a display, “That is quite the conundrum. Who did you say brought you into the Game?”
Terry was thrown for a moment about how this woman had managed to glean information about the Game, but then he caught the glove on her right hand, which was the same type of computer glove he had seen being used by Linda and Danny. A fellow Gamer, it seemed. Everyone in this place was one, it seemed. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
“We didn’t.” Jared told her brightly, “But it was Danny Winston.”
“Hm, that upstart? She has no authority to be bringing in other people.” The woman whispered to herself, “She’s only been here for five years. I’ve been around much longer.”
“Well, there’s some inexplicable tension there, I can see that.” Jared laughed, taking a miniscule step back, “Any blood feuds that are going to carry over to us?”
“Nope. You’re good in my books. At least as long as you’re not getting any funny ideas.” She groused, looking at them both with an invasive gaze, “You look like a pair that would kick up all sorts of trouble, just given the chance.”
“I’m reformed, thank you very much.” Jared sniffed, “On the straight and narrow forever now.”
Somehow, this actually soothed her fears as she relaxed into a smile, “Always nice to see someone making an effort. People rarely do, I’ve found. Everyone here is such a fuddy-duddy. It’s all about stagnation with this place.”
And it was clear how that was, given how small and idyllic the place was. It was like a retirement home he had once volunteered at, and promptly had a panic attack on the first day. But only in the atmosphere. The retirement home looked nothing like this.
“I see that you’re a woman of action.” Jared nodded approvingly, “Which means you know where to go if we want to get things done. Places that wouldn’t allow newcomers to directly teleport into, maybe?”
“Uh… that would be town hall.” She told them.
Town hall! Of course! Destination set, Terry was able to scope it out easily.
“Great! We’ll head right over.” They nodded to the woman, dragging Jared away.
As they walked, they heard something curious.
“Is that… music? Where’s it coming from?”
[Player Log End!]