Completely ignoring Matthew, the girl kept staring expectantly at Rebecca. “So what’s the plan,” she asked nervously. “You’ve got to have some idea how to get out of here, since you managed to walk in here. What’s it like out there?”
Rebecca took a moment to glance over at Matthew, who just shrugged nonchalantly. “Asked you, not me,” he replied with a smirk. “Wake me if you need me. I’m gonna be relaxing at the bleachers. They look more comfortable than the floor back there.” Following his words with action, he promptly strolled over to the nearest bleachers and then laid down across them, crossing his arms behind his neck and closing his eyes.
Staring nervously, the girl in the tennis outfit anxiously asked, “Is he okay?”
Staring herself, Rebecca pursed her lips together, making a sour face before answering. “Damned if I know sometimes,” she admitted. “All I know for certain is that he knows a whole hell of a lot more about what’s going on now than I do. I just can’t figure him out. Sometimes I think he’s a guardian angel. Other times he seems like nothing more than a deranged idiot. The only thing I’m certain of with Matt is that he’s a strong one to have beside you in a fight,” Rebecca reluctantly admitted. “I saw his work up on the third floor. He took out a whole floor of those g-things all by himself – and without the slightest injury to show for it.”
Blinking a few times, the girl stared back over at where Matthew was now lying down at, and then back up at Rebecca, before staring thoughtfully back over at Matthew again. Frowning, she finally turned her attention back to Rebecca. “So what’s it like out there. It’s been hell in here.” Still keeping a safe distance from Rebecca and the sword she was holding once again, the other students slowly gathered up closer to try and hear everything that was being said as well.
“The world’s fell to hell from what I can tell,” Rebecca whispered softly, trying not to let tears fill her eyes. “People were killed all over. We started out up on the third floor and I saw dead bodies in the classrooms, in the hallway, down the steps. It’s horrible,” she shivered involuntarily. “I don’t know where Jason thinks he can go. There’s bodies scattered out across the school parking lot with the crows ripping and plucking at them like they’re just some sort of old roadkill.
A collective groan seemed to escape the students. Several wobbled where they stood and then slowly sank down to their knees to cry. “The police aren’t coming. The army isn’t coming. No one’s coming to save us,” Rebecca went on, seemingly lost in her own thoughts and oblivious to the affect her words were having on the others. “We’re on our own, and I really don’t know what we need to do,” she admitted.
“But,” she turned and pointed over towards Matthew, “I think he does.”
“Huh? I do what?” Yawning, Matthew sat up and looked around lazily.
“You know what we need to do to survive this,” Rebecca told him. “And you’re going to tell us,” she demanded firmly.
“I would ask why,” Matthew laughed, “but in this case the answers so simple I won’t. To survive this, all you have to do is not die.”
“Not die? Not die? What the hell are you going on about?!” The girl in the tennis outfit shook her fist angrily in his direction; her voice growing louder by the moment as she gave in to her frustration. “That’s you oh so great advice?! Don’t die! What the hell are we supposed to do with those things come back in here in a few hours?”
“Well,” Matthew answered calmly, “not dying would be a good start.” Half shouting in frustration, the girl bent down, pulled off one shoe, and tossed it at him, hitting the bleachers several feet above his head.
“If I say it again, will you take off something else and toss it at me?” Matthew asked mockingly. “I’d prefer you start at the top instead of the bottom, but I can work with this, if you like it this way better.” Turning red, the girl hobbled over, picked up her shoe, and then turned her back on him.
“Seriously Matt.” Walking over, Rebecca sat down on the bleacher beside him and stared pointedly. “What are we going to do to keep everyone safe and alive.”
“We?” Matthew asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. “We aren’t. It’s not our job to keep them safe and alive. All we have to do is keep ourselves safe and well,” he told her seriously. “If they want to survive, they’ll have to learn to fend for themselves. Or maybe show me their tits,” he laughed suddenly.
“You and your damn ‘show me your tits’.” Snorting with frustration, Rebecca reached down and unbuttoned the single button holding her shirt closed. Pulling the tattered cloth free, she lightly held it in her left and stood there topless for the world to see. “There,” she sighed, “God damned tits.”
Laughing lightly, Matthew reached over and gave her a light pinch on each nipple. “Sorry, but I’ve already seen these. They’re already mine. If you want me to spoon feed you all the damn answers, I want to see hers.” Smirking, he pointed a finger over at the girl wearing the tennis uniform.
“Fine,” Rebecca agreed, slowly standing up. “Jen – wasn’t that the name I heard Jason call you by? Take it off.”
“Wha…” The girl blinked a few times and then slowly took a step back. “You can’t be serious!”
“Take it off,” Rebecca demanded, raising her sword up menacingly, “or else I’ll cut you down where you stand. The sun is getting closer to going down every minute, and there’s no reasoning with this jackass. If you don’t give him what he wants, he won’t give you what you want – and what I want is for him to tell us a way so we can all survive. Losing that damn top of yours is a small enough price to pay to save all the people in here. You can either take it off, or I’ll take your head off,” she bluffed, trying to sound as cold and unemotional as possible.
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Blinking several times, Jennifer stared at Rebecca, who stood in front of her, top open for the world to see the large round mounds she had on display, sword drawn and held out straight and pointed at her. Glancing back over her shoulder for support, the other students remained silent and kept their heads down, refusing to look her in the eyes.
“Last chance,” Rebecca warned, taking a few steps forward to close the distance. Hanging her head and trembling like the last leaf on a limb in late fall, Jennifer slowly grabbed the edges of her tank top and pulled it up over her head. “And keep your damn arms out of the way,” Rebecca warned, as she slowly turned back to look at Matthew. “Happy now, asshole?”
Laughing lightly, Matthew slowly clapped his hands together in light applause. “I didn’t think you had it in you to do something like that,” he laughed. “Good show! Good show!” Smirking wildly, he stared back and forth from one girl to the other. “Yours are bigger and rounder, but hers aren’t bad either,” he grinned. “Got a nice curve and tight little perk to them. Makes you just want to grab them and squeeze.”
“Keep her alive through this, and you can squeeze them all you want afterwards,” Rebecca promised. “But for now, tell us what we need to do to keep everyone safe. Leaving isn’t an option. Staying and waiting on the damn g-things to come swarming out in the night isn’t an option. What are we supposed to do? Can you take everyone back to your home, where they’ll be safe?”
“Nope.” Matthew answered cheerfully. “At my level, I can only take one passenger at a time back and forth with my magic – unless we’re in a group, of course. If anyone here is level thirteen to thirty, I’d be happy to group with them and take them with us.” Looking around, he half laughed and then shrugged. “No. Didn’t think so,” he pouted. “Looks like I’d be stuck taking them one at a time, and my magic wouldn’t hold up to make a dozen trips back and forth before it ran out. Taking everyone to my home isn’t an option I’m afraid.”
Getting more frustrated every moment, Rebecca demanded to know, “Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”
“Finish your quest,” Matthew told her calmly. “If you find the dungeon heart, you can either destroy it and get rid of the gibberlings for good, or you can claim it and make this a ‘human dungeon’. Of course,” he warned, “either way has its own problems. If you destroy it, the gibberlings will be gone, but that doesn’t take care of anything else that might try to come here and look for people to eat. On the other hand, if you make this a ‘human dungeon’, you’ll just draw the attention of other creatures that’ll want to claim the dungeon as their own.”
“The best you can do,” Matthew laughed sarcastically, “is save these people for today. It’s ultimately going to be up to them to learn to fight and keep themselves safe, if they want to live tomorrow.”
“And that’s it?! That’s all you can tell me,” Rebecca demanded. “Just finish my damn quest, and then it’s up to them to take care of themselves!”
“Yep. That’s all I’ve got,” Matthew nodded.
“Put your damn top back on,” Rebecca demanded angrily as she fumbled with pulling both halves of her shirt closed and buttoning it again. “That bastard’s seen all he gets to see for now.” Tossing her hair back with a flick of her head, Rebecca turned and swiftly strode towards the door. “Come on asshole, you’re with me,” she demanded, without waiting on Matthew to follow. “The rest of you stay here,” she ordered harshly. “We’ll be back and let you know when it’s all clear.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m with ya,” Matthew laughed, as he eased up from the bleacher and slowly followed behind. “Come with us, toots!” Grabbing Jennifer by the arm, he dragged her along beside him, ignoring her yell for him to, “Let go! Get off me!”
Stopping abruptly, Rebecca spun quickly in place and pointed her blade back at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing,” she asked warningly.
“I’m sticking to our second bargain,” Matthew laughed. “You said if I kept her safe through this, I could grab and squeeze them all I wanted. She’s coming with us so I can make certain nothing happens to her.”
Rebecca’s mouth twitched several times and her hands trembled as her knuckles turned white from the furious grip she was holding the blade with. She looked like she wanted to scream and stab him several times, but instead she bit her lip and turned her gaze hard upon Jennifer. “Keep your damn mouth shut,” she warned, “and quit your blubbering. If you’re so damn loud that I think you’re going to wake those g-things…”
“Gibberlings,” Matthew corrected again, calmly.
“G-things,” Rebecca repeated stubbornly, refusing to call them by their name, “then I’ll gut you like a fish and leave you flopping on the ground to fertilize their damn plants. Got it?” Looking around wild-eyed, Jennifer saw that no one was going to step forward and help her. Teary eyed, she simply nodded and didn’t make a sound.
“And put your damn top back on for goodness sake! Didn’t I already tell you that?” Moodily, Rebecca turned and started to storm back out into the hall.
“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Matthew laughed as he followed behind, dragging Jennifer with him by the arm. “I think she’s just perfect the way she is.”