After Carl and Mike woke up, things got into full swing. Carl and Diana worked in the garden. Carl made things grow while Diana did most of the grunt work and stared at him intently while he used his skill. Mike went off to scavenge for an hour. He came back with odds and ends, but anything had the potential to be helpful in the right hands. Nik continued to sleep while Joe rested on the deck. The remaining adults supervised the children and showed them how to dig up cattail roots. They were no potato, but they sure as hell beat starvation. Plans were made to use the spears for gigging frogs as soon as they had a light source.

When Mike returned, a break was called, and everyone rested and drank some water. After about twenty minutes, Diana, Mike, and Carl grabbed their spears and headed northwest towards the rift. Joe didn't like it. He knew that there was no reason they couldn't handle the first four clearings, but he worried. Joe restrained himself from foolishly insisting on going. They were right. He needed to rest.

The next three hours were peaceful, and some might have said idyllic. For Joe, they were filled with worries and insecurities. He wanted to DO something. Honestly, almost anything would make him feel better at this point, but there wasn't anything that he could do. When one of the kids saw the trio returning from the rift, it took all his self-control to stay seated and wait for them to join him. They looked tired, and Carl had a nasty scratch down one leg, but it was already healing.

"How'd it go? Any sign of the other hound?" Joe tried to sound as calm and nonchalant as possible, but even to his ears, it sounded forced.

"Nothing yet," Diana replied. "No issues in the rift. We've got the berries. When Nik is awake, we need you three healing again. Oh, your gift for Frank is still sitting there and smells delightful."

Joe laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. It had been a childish stunt, but he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Things changed quickly lately. Yesterday he'd been worried about using too many of their most precious resource. Today he just wanted back in the fight. Diana had clearly been expecting some sort of pushback based on her raised eyebrow in his direction, but Joe smiled in response. He did not doubt that he would violate his resolution to make better decisions soon enough, but he wasn't going to sprint headlong into it.

Carl and Diana went back for gardening round two while Mike sat on the deck with Joe. Something was clearly on Mike's mind. He tapped his foot to no discernable rhythm and glanced over at Joe periodically. Twice he opened his mouth to speak and seemed to change his mind at the last second. Joe noticed all of this but left him alone. If it were important, Mike would talk. Finally, he did just that.

"I don't know how you guys do it." The words came out quickly, and Mike looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I'm so damn scared every time there's fighting."

Joe didn't speak for a moment. He wasn't intentionally letting Mike stew after his confession, but he wanted to make sure he said the right thing.

"Mike, I was terrified in my calibration. I look back, and if I had kept my head on straight, I could have done better. I was scared out of my mind the first time in this rift." Joe paused again before continuing. "Then I was scared for everyone else, and I let that cloud my judgment. I should have pushed forward and at least tried to get to level 4 with Nik. Maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but maybe we could have killed that monster without almost dying."

Joe stopped talking and looked up at the summer sky. Big fluffy white clouds meandered across the endless deep blue field. If he only looked up at the sky, it was easier to forget everything that had happened and remember the times before the System.

"Just do your best and take care of the people that are important to you. That's what matters."

The adults congregating by the deck broke Joe's zen sensei moment. Nik came out of the house holding a black plastic bag. There was a strong smell of blood coming out of the bag, and Joe knew that the monster's heart lay inside.

"We need to do something with this before it goes bad," Diana said. " There is still a lot of blood mana and essence in this thing, but it's fading at a steady pace."

"I assumed we would cook it," Deena chimed in. "I sure as hell don't want to eat it raw, especially after sitting at room temp all night."

"Is it safe to eat? What will that level of mana and essence do to someone?" Carl asked. Joe felt it was a very valid point, and almost as one, everyone looked over at Diana. Regarding magical perception, she was the best in their group.

"I honestly don't know. I think we should start small and work our way up from there."

A few more minutes were spent hashing out the details, but Joe zoned out a bit. Eventually, they cut a small strip of meat off the heart and boiled it in a tin can filled with relatively clean water. The plan was to sip the water first and then try the meat. Diana had confirmed that some of the mana had transferred over to the liquid.

"I'll do the tasting," Joe said. He'd been quiet the whole time, waiting for things to reach this point. "I have the highest Vigor and Fortitude, not to mention the only healing skill. I'll be careful."

Then came the standard outburst about Joe's condition from the group, while Diana looked doubtful about his last statement. He was surprised that she didn't say anything, but she didn't look thrilled. Still, his points were valid. Even injured, Joe by far had the best chance of surviving accidental poisoning or issues with strange foreign mana. Someone produced an old coffee mug, and the hot heart water was drained to give Joe a sip. He blew on it a moment before drinking.

The flavor was odd. Despite being cooked, there was still the strong iron flavor of blood. Underneath that was a faint gamy meaty flavor. Holding it in his mouth didn't do anything but flood his senses with the flavor, so Joe swallowed. Joe focused on himself as if he had eaten a berry and noticed when several small trickles of mana spread through his body. They followed his veins from what he could tell until they came to a large bone. Then the mana soaked into the bone and faded from Joe's perception. It didn't seem to do anything, and Joe said as much. There was still some water left, and Joe suggested Deena try it. She had lost almost as much blood as Joe had.

Deena repeated the experiment with similar results. Joe knew it was unlikely the heart would heal them with a bite, but he had hoped it would do something. He grabbed the sliver of meat and ate it. The mana came faster and more robust, winding through Joe's body. This time he actively guided the mana towards his bones. He focused on the cracked and broken ones in his chest. They still hurt, but hopefully, some of the mana's power would help the healing process.

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"It's stronger, but nothing dangerous. It helped to guide the mana towards my bones, which makes sense. That's where the marrow makes blood. I want to try a small raw piece."

Joe wasn't enthused about eating raw monster heart, but they needed to know what it could do. Everything was new, and if there was a chance of turning this into a lifesaving measure, it was worth the gross-out factor. Nik cut a small piece and handed it to Joe.

The blood flavor was overwhelming raw. It was less like meat and more like solid fibrous blood overwhelming his senses. Joe swallowed it whole, not wanting to chew and linger on the flavor more than necessary. Almost instantly, thick cords of blood mana spread from his stomach through his cardiovascular system. Joe did his best to herd them towards his bones, but they were too large and numerous. Most of the ones that escaped were harmless, but when they spread to his chest, his heart stuttered and then beat like a war drum at double speed. Some blood mana traveled up his neck, and a headache instantly developed, deepening by the second. Joe felt something warm on his lips but ignored it.

Joe's world had shrunk to the darkness behind his eyes and the feeling of the blood mana running roughshod through his body. He tightened down his will and continued to push the mana towards his bones. Joe didn't try to differentiate between whole and damaged bones. There was no time in his dash to contain the power, and any bone would do. It was only a few minutes later when Joe opened his eyes, though it had felt longer to him. The group stared at him grimly, and Joe gave his best smile to alleviate their fears. The effect was somewhat ruined by the blood dripping from both of his nostrils.

Diana handed Joe a spare scrap of cloth, and he wiped his face before he addressed the group. The headache continued to pound in time with his heartbeat, but the nosebleed had stopped.

"The raw meat is ... dangerous."

Joe explained the sensations and difficulties that the blood mana had inflicted on his body. Joe's heart had already slowed down to normal speed, and with it, the headache lessened slightly. He didn't fight Diana insisted he go in and lie down immediately. Mike and Carl helped him up, and Joe lay inside on one of the mattresses. Diana gave him a berry, and Joe ate it willingly before guiding the mana to his head primarily. He had thought the risk was minimal, but Joe knew that he was lucky he hadn't had a stroke with a blood pressure spike like that.

Diana brought a chair in from the kitchen and continued to watch him with her now silver-colored eyes. Joe tried not to wonder if the system and his skill could heal brain damage. He was happy that this time he wouldn't have to find out. The berries had been entirely benign, and Joe was used to their mana. He now knew how tame and weak that mana was compared to the heart. Joe was a little shaky from the experience but was glad he had been the one to try it. There was no telling what it would have done to the others. He had meant to rest, but sleep snuck up and claimed him after a few minutes of calm.

When Joe woke after a couple of hours, he felt amazing. Well, not entirely amazing. His chest still hurt, and the various cuts and scrapes hadn't stitched themselves shut just yet, but his head was clear, and the depleted feeling he'd been lingering under had all but vanished. Joe's muscles responded far more quickly than even a few hours before. The heart meat had done...something. Joe looked around for Diana, but he was alone in the room. He slowly rose to his feet and went to the backyard, where he could hear people talking. Everyone turned and looked his way as Joe went out the sliding glass doors.

The smiles on everyone's faces brought one to Joe's own. He waved at the group and walked over to sit on the edge of the deck. There was a pot on the fire, and Joe could see small chunks of meat boiling in water. Off to the side, thin strips of meat were half smoking, half grilling on green wooden strips. The smell would have been amazing if not for the strong scent of iron it carried with it on the languid summer evening breeze. Everyone was sitting down for an evening meal, and Joe joined them.

There was small talk and jokes, laughter, and thoughtful silence. It was a peaceful dynamic. Joe was offered a roasted root and a grilled frog leg from a second fire. The lack of salt made both of them rather bland, but fresh food was so welcome that Joe didn't care in the least. The other adults sipped cups of heart broth, with Deena and Nik eating small chunks of soft, well-cooked meat. Both looked better, with a healthy flush to their cheeks that had been missing previously. As a surprise, someone had found some wild strawberries nearby. They were small, but in a life devoid of processed sugar, the taste was amazing.

The children played in the fading evening light while everyone else sat, content to just be. After about an hour of pleasant small talk, Diana stood up and took charge of the gathering. Chores were assigned for the next day, and rift runs were discussed. Deena and Nik did not feel up to going in yet, and no one blamed them. To absolutely no one's surprise Joe insisted he was fine to go in. There was some minor back and forth, but it was decided that Diana would accompany him as the closest thing they had to a medic. Joe was suspicious of the lack of argument, and looking around the group, he figured that this situation had already been discussed. He supposed that it was a rather predictable set of events.

Eventually, the night started to fall in earnest, with the cooing of the morning doves and the sharp call of killdeer sounding from the area around the house. A robin trilled a goodbye to the day before the last of the light faded from the sky. Everyone went inside except Joe. He hadn't thought about it before, but he found his new favorite thing about the System at that moment. His Fortitude was too high for mosquitos to penetrate his skin. They would land on him and sit there before giving up and flying off a minute later. The heat of the day started fading away as the pond steamed slightly in the wan moonlight.

Joe only stayed outside for half an hour, but it gave everyone inside time to organize and get ready for the night. Joe was on the first watch with Nik, which made sense since they had slept the latest of the group. He didn't feel tired mentally, though his body was still piecing itself back together, and that certainly was a strain on his internal resources. The strain wasn't as bad as it should have been, though. The heart meat had done something.

The two men sat in companionable silence for the first hour before boredom crept in. The night was calm, which was excellent but not conducive to staying awake in the dark. So they did what night guards did for centuries before the advent of modern technology. They talked. Nik was a combat veteran with multiple tours in the middle east. Joe wasn't surprised in the least based on the man's bearing. Nik had never been married but had a sister and niece in the town he'd left. Nik didn't address it directly, but Joe could hear the worry in his voice when the other man talked about them.

"We'll get you back to see them as soon as we're up for travel. I promise."

"I appreciate that. Even with the berries, I don't think I'll be ready to make the trip for a couple of days."

"Then," Joe said, "we'll make the trip in a couple of days. Family is important. We'll get you back to yours."

The small talk died off after a while. There wasn't much to discuss, and both men felt the lack of professional sports to fill the empty time with pointless but entertaining discussion. The moon was high in the sky when Joe decided they'd fulfilled their duties and went to wake up the next round of guards. He walked carefully up the stairs and knocked on a bedroom door. The sound of movement and Deena grumbling let him know that he'd gotten it right and she would be down in a minute. Joe waited for five and was debating going upstairs when he heard her footsteps coming down. Mike had already taken Niks place at the table as Deena joined him, looking out into the night.

The mattress was a little crowded with two men on it, but Joe didn't mind. His alertness was fading fast as his healing body's demand for rest rose to the forefront. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Times Square, New York City, New York

A blazing blew circle flickered and danced to a wind that wasn't present in reality. The light it shed illuminated a scene of carnage and destruction. Shop windows were smashed and empty, the roads littered with debris and trash. The remains of dozens of people sat in various degrees of decomposition and consumption as roaches larger than housecats milled around the area in a slow waltz to music only they could hear. There were hundreds in the space, and the scrape of carapace and click of mandibles was the only sound nearby. In the distance, shouts and the occasional scream could be heard peppering the warm summer night.

A pinpoint of bright white light flared into existence at the far end of the square. The insects took notice immediately and swiveled to orient to this new phenomenon. The point expanded to a circle before suddenly snapping into a large square ten feet across. The interior had been white static sparks until that point, but suddenly a ripple of rainbow light replaced the sight. A man stepped through the light, and even in the small flickering blue light of the rift, it was quickly apparent that this figure was not human.

He stood almost seven feet tall and was thin, almost willowy. His pale golden eyes set in a harshly handsome face took in the sights around him as he raised his palm to the mass of insects now swarming in his direction.

"Disgusting."

Pure white fire billowed from the man's palm, spreading like a fan to blanket the entire square in front of him. It turns out that giant cockroaches can scream. The cries faded quickly, replaced with the pop of burst shells as their blood and ichor boiled. The fire didn't stop until everything in the square was reduced to carbon and any stray metal glowed cherry red. A moment later, five more figures came through the curtain of rainbow light to join the first. The portal irised back down to a single point before that winked out of existence. Words were for politicians and poets. These were soldiers, so none were shared.