Evelyn didn’t have time to stare at Paul’s severed arm bleeding out next to her. The giant wolf ran toward Wayne next, but the warrior blocked its charge with two hands on his machete. Evelyn needed to help. She grabbed the pickaxe strapped to her belt, but her legs refused to move. Wayne wouldn’t last long without her and she was as good as dead if he was defeated.

Evelyn slapped her thighs and let loose a scream. Her battle cry echoed through the cave and with renewed courage she managed to take a step. With shaking legs, she wobbled forward as fast and as graceful as a chicken on ice. Hollering as she went with her pickaxe lifted high above her head. She aimed for its eye. She only had two points of strength and she needed to make her blow count.

Evelyn hurled the axe with all her might and it hit just below the eye. It didn’t blind the wolf like she was hoping for, but it did wince as the metal sank deep into its flesh. Wayne was able to use that distraction to grab a gun strapped to his waist and shoot it through the head.

Warm blood splattered across her face and the beast stumbled but did not fall. He shot it three more times and finally, it flopped to the ground and stopped moving.

“What the hell was that? It was at least five levels higher than us.” Wayne questioned.

“I don’t know, but I need to go see if Paul is still with us.” Evelyn ran to the wizard sprawled out on the floor. His chest rose and fell quickly in rhythm with his breathing. He was alive. “Hand me his arm. I’ll try to reattach it.”

Wayne winced as he grabbed the oozing arm and placed it gently next to Paul's body where it belonged. Evelyn closed her eyes and reached for her center where she knew her mana resided. “Heal.” She commanded. She felt the power flowing out of her hands toward Paul. But she kept her eyes closed in concentration. She could still sense where her magic was flowing into his body. Mana flowed through his blood and started attaching the two parts of his body back together.

Tendons, veins, and muscles stretched out and reached for their match. Once they paired up with their counterpart they knit back together, Evelyn opened her eyes. The arm rose up into the air and reconnected with Paul’s shoulder.

It was almost over when she felt the last of her mana sputter out and falter. She’d used up everything she had. The arm was attached, but the skin wasn’t fully back and she could see inside where the bone was.

“We need to get him to the hospital. I’m out of magic and he’s lost a lot of blood.”

“I’ll carry him back to the entrance, but you aren’t looking too hot yourself. Will you be able to walk on your own?” Wayne asked.

That was a good question. Evelyn pushed herself up off the ground and the blood rushed up to her head. Everything was blurry. She slapped her face and sucked in as much air as she could. “I think I can make it. But if you hear a thud, you might want to check and see if I’m still behind you.”

“How about you lead the way instead, that way I can keep an eye on you.”

Wayne was smart. She nodded and went to grab her pickaxe where it had fallen. She tried to pull it out of the wolf’s corpse, but her arms couldn’t force the thing out of its skull. She could barely stand, and her body was shaking so she gave up and left the axe. Evelyn headed back the way they came. They hadn’t come very far into the dungeon, which made it easy to get back. The return button glowed green and she hobbled up to it and slammed her hand down. The world disappeared, as they traveled through the portal and were spat out on the other side.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Evelyn noticed the soldiers were still standing by the entrance. “Help. We have a wounded adventurer. Somebody call an ambulance,” Evelyn managed to holler before the world went black and she fainted.

She woke up in the hospital emergency room with a crowd of people around her. A voice to her left said, “This is the fourth party today to need emergency care. Something is changing and I for one don’t like it.”

“Has anyone asked the Fluffs about this?” Was that Wayne’s voice?

“Yes, but they are avoiding the problem. All they say is that leveling up is the best way to get stronger.” The first voice replied.

Evelyn sat up and everyone nearby turned to look at her. “Hello.”

“How are you feeling, Miss Barker?” A young man in a blue suit asked.

“Better now. I overused my magic and had a mana reflux. How is Paul?”

“He’ll always have a scar and will probably have reduced mobility in that arm, but he’s alive and healing well thanks to you.”

“And who are you?” Evelyn asked.

“I am Timothy Thatcher, I represent the Evermore Guild, which Wayne here is a member of. I have been collecting data on the increasing difficulty of the Game.”

“So we aren’t the only ones who’ve been hurt?”

“No, I’d even say you were lucky. There have been four deaths today as opposed to the usual four or five a year. Things are changing.” Timothy picked up the remote by her hospital bed and turned on the TV. A reporter was showing graphs of data and explaining the different wavelengths of power surging through the portals. All pointing to a change in the Game that many Americans had been enjoying for the past five years.

Great, now all the conspiracy theorists will be protesting the Fluffs again. It took years for things to finally calm down after the Fluffs arrived. Glowing aliens that couldn’t be killed by any of their weapons and who were offering to help humanity had put many into hysteria and panic mode.

“Do you have any more questions for me? I need to go home,” Evelyn asked.

She searched around the bed for her backpack and gear. Everything was there. She put the backpack over her shoulder and strapped the rest of her gear to her utility belt before she realized her car was not at the hospital. She’d left it by the dungeon. Did she need to catch a bus to pick up her vehicle? Her body ached all over and she just wanted to lie down in her bed and forget about everything.

The hospital cot was looking inviting, but she was already worried about how much money she was going to have to fork out for the ambulance and check-up. Her insurance was lousy. Wait. How much did it cost to use an ambulance? Wasn’t that a few thousand dollars?

“Hey Wayne,” she called out, “did you drive us here?”

Please say you did!

“No, I use a bike. It’s better for the environment. The ambulance came really quickly though, I was impressed.”

Damn it.

Don’t cry. You’ll be fine. You’re already in debt so what’s a little more. A few more years of drudgery and putting off having any sort of life.

Wayne’s eyebrow rose up. He could probably see the anxiety that was rolling off her like waves of darkness and doom. She forced a smile to her lips. It was probably more of a cringe than anything else but it was the best she could muster at the moment. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

Though it would have been better if you’d left me on the ground. I just needed time to recover, I didn’t need to go to the hospital and waste all my money. How much is my deductible? It was somewhere between four and five thousand dollars.

She said a quick goodbye and lugged her stuff to the nurses' station. Evelyn waved down the first hospital employee she could find. “Where do I need to go to talk to someone about my bill? Is there anyone who can help me find ways to reduce my out-of-pocket pay?”

Evelyn knew a lot of people who were scared of the fluffs. But aliens didn’t scare her. The rising cost of living mixed with unexpected bills that were pricey for absolutely no reason, except for corporate greed, now that terrified her. Because there was nothing she could do to fight against it.