Julie left the table after taking all of their orders. The prices felt reasonable, but it was hard to tell what the dollar-to-monster core conversion rates were supposed to be. In any case, the team was happy to have a nice meal that they didn't have to prepare themselves.
Ice didn't seem to be a thing anymore, which made sense. With the loss of electricity getting something to freeze in the Texas weather was a near impossibility. The beverages were good though. Sitting and talking, the team really got a better chance to get to know each other.
Briana had been a belly dancer in a previous life, and she even gave them a little taste of what she used to do. Bobby and Kedron had actually both been in the armed forces at one point, and Kedron was in training to become a chaplain before the world went to shit. Austin had been between jobs, but was hoping to find another job as a chaplain at a hospital and was even on his way to a morning interview when the obelisks had appeared in the cities.
Clay was an interesting person. He seemed to be working on a ranch with his family when what everyone was now calling the apocalypse happened. He lived in a backwoods area of Texas but happened to be in Irving visiting his sister who had moved away from the farm to live in the city. He prattled on about how the government was out to take away everyone's rights and that he thought this might be the way of the universe telling people that there was too much control of everyday life.
DeeDee had been a scrum master at a tech company in Dallas while supporting Graham's career as a medieval fighter. They had been able to travel all over the U.S. for his tournaments because the company DeeDee worked for was a remote-only company, so she was able to work on the road with him.
A huge fanfare with multiple waitresses came through as they brought out the food and set the giant seventy-two-ounce steak in front of James. They even had a timer for him to eat the food. He made sure the steak was to his liking and the clock began, one hour and counting. James tore furiously into the steak and ate with gusto, tearing through half of the steak in the first fifteen minutes. When he got to the second half of the steak he began to slow down.
Eventually, he stopped and laid back in his chair waving his hand up in defeat.
"Awww, what's the matter? You full already? I thought you were some kind of eating machine?" Kiera teased.
"Shut up you. With your salad and chicken." James said.
"I'm just watching my figure. You might want to do the same." Kiera said poking at James' overfull belly.
"Stop! Don't do that or I'll be sick." James said.
"Serves you right for making all the rest of us sick all the time," Jay said.
"Oh you're one to talk," James said.
"Glad you agree. I do feel I should talk." Jay said.
"Maybe if it had been penis he would have finished it," Graham said.
"Nah, he just would have shot it," Kiera said. "That would have been a waste."
Continuing to joke back and forth, the teams laughed and enjoyed each other's company while they relaxed. Once they finished their meal, they paid with their monster cores and headed back out to the vehicle.
"You know, these inventories are amazing. I don't have to figure out where I'm gonna put my doggie bag in the car!" James said.
"They really are useful. Something good came of this apocalypse at least." DeeDee agreed.
"It's really nice for weapon storage. We can keep way more weapons on us than if we were carrying bags and it's faster to arm them." Jay said.
Hopping back in the car, the teams drove outside the city to find a place to camp for the night. They found a place off Highway 40 where they could set up the vehicles as a partial barrier and then pitch the tents they brought with them.
"Looks like the next major city we hit is Albuquerque. Wonder what we'll find there?" Tom said after camp had been made and everyone was sitting around the fire.
"Hopefully something civilized. I think we could have stayed in Amarillo, but after Rhome, I've been hesitant to say we stay in the town." Derek said.
"I can see why, but seeing as the last two cities we've hit have been better, we can likely trust it," Tom said.
"I know someone in Albuquerque," Kedron added. "We could look them up and see if they made it and find out what the situation is there."
"That would be way better than going in blind and hoping for the best, Tom said.
"It's an old Navy buddy of mine named Carl. I bet he made it. He was a tough son of a bitch back in the day.
"Great! So we look up Carl and see if he can help us with what's going on. Then we can hopefully find a place to stay the night in the city. We can hit up a vending machine while we are there and try to be as ready as we can for the quest. I'm guessing it's going to be a big fight." Tom said.
"Alright, time to set up watch rotations. James and Clay, you are NOT allowed to be on watch together. I believe Kiera offered to babysit you this time James." Derek said.
"That's right, you are going to make up for last time," Kiera said.
"For saving you from the bad guys?" James asked smugly.
"No for fucking off and letting us get captured dipshit!" Kiera said.
"Tomato, potato," James said laying back on his bed roll.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
What the hell does that even mean?" Kiera asked.
"Don't go there. The mind of James is a dangerous and terrifying place to be. Best to just let it go and make him suffer." Tom said.
"Oh, he'll suffer alright, Won't he Squirrel?" Kiera said stroking the wolf affectionately.
Squirrel growled at James as he stared and him and showed his teeth.
"How the hell is everyone better friends with my pet than me?" James asked.
"Alright people, let's turn in for the night. Got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Get as much rest as you can." Derek said.
With that, everyone turned in for the night except James and Kiera who had first watch.
Much later in the night Bobby came over and woke up Tom and Derek.
"We got some company," Bobby said in a whisper.
"Where?" Derek said.
"South. Moving pretty fast, but they are trying to be quiet. Probably goblins, but no telling." Bobby said.
"Alright, get the others up and get ready," Derek said.
Once everyone else had been woken and were ready to go Derek formulated a plan.
"Jay, get out there and stealth around and see if you can find out what we're up against. Don't forget Inspect. Anything you can get us information-wise will be helpful." Derek said.
Jay nodded once and took off.
"The rest of you get a half ring ready with the vehicles at our back and the spell casters in the middle. When they get close try to control them with spells while we attack. There are quite a few of us now, so we should be able to handle just about anything." Derek said. "But don't get cocky. The first moment you think you have something in the bag is the first time you get killed. Always assume they're stronger, and never stop til they're dead."
The whole group nodded and moved into position to wait. Hunkering down to make themselves smaller against the backdrop of the vehicles, they watched for any signs of movement.
Five minutes later, Jay appeared out of the bushes running as fast as he could toward the group.
"What is it? What did you see?" Derek asked in a hushed tone.
"It's goblins alright, but these aren't ordinary goblins. They were more organized. Like they were being led by someone. And they've got scouts. One of them saw me so they knew which way I went. Almost got an arrow in the back for my troubles." Jay said.
"Looks like we need to work a little more on those stealth skills. Still, great job, Jay. Any info is better than going into a fight blind." Derek said. "Alright, looks like goblins, but expect them to be organized and ready so pretend their people. Assume they're smart and act accordingly."
About ten minutes later an arrow shot out of the trees heading straight for the team. Graham caught it on his shield and it bounced off. Moving slowly out of the trees a pack of at least thirty goblins came into view. Still as ugly as sin, these goblins seemed to have better equipment than the others they had encountered.
From the back of the group came one goblin in particular that was taller than the others by about a head. It was wearing nearly full plate armor and carrying a battle axe.
"Hehehe...We kill you now. Take stuff and get stronger." The big goblin said.
"Holy shit it speaks," James said from the back.
"Yes, me speak. Me smart. Better than other goblins. Me use machine, get stuff. Kill other goblins for money." It said to them.
"Shit, they're learning. It never occurred to me that they would use the vending machines to get stuff too." Derek said.
"You die now," The goblin said and raised a hand and the other goblins began to move forward.
With a flash of green light, vines rose up from the ground and grabbed only at least a half dozen of the goblins and the group charged yelling battle cries. After she had used her vine spell, DeeDee transformed into a bear for the first time in front of the group and charged in as well.
The Goblins stopped in their tracks at seeing the bear and their eyes went wide. Kevin yelled at the top of his lungs and activated his rage ability as he swung at the first goblin, sending it flying off to the side with the powerful swing.
James began firing from the back line and hit target after target with his red-dot sites. Kiera brought out her lute and played a rock tune on it as she buffed the others. Squirrel stood protectively in front of her and growled low at the goblins.
Activating his strength Tattoo, Tom stepped forward and activated Cleave as three goblins moved in to attack him. Slicing horizontally across them, he cut all three of them in half without the blade even slowing. Black blood flew into the air from their wounds as they screamed and tried to keep themselves together. Their legs gave out as the connection to the brain had been cut and they fell to the ground, their organs spilling out of their abdomens onto the ground.
He next activated his draining tattoo and began to take life from each of the goblins nearby. They noticed and moved to attack him in return. Bobby, Kedron, Graham, and Clay were right there to help take on the other goblins. Graham was a force of nature with his attacks. Blocking, slicing, bashing, and tearing the ranks of goblins apart with his knowledge of fighting. Bobby also fought like a man possessed as he cut down goblins.
Kedron was battling with a goblin and was locked in combat when another goblin began to run up from behind him. He fell to the ground limp before he got there, a bullet in the back of his neck.
"It's not a dickshot, but it'll do!" James yelled.
Derek was doing a great job of blocking attacks from goblins but got a little overwhelmed and a knife dug into his thigh. He hissed in pain and bashed the goblin in the side of the head with his mace. A white light began to cover him as Briana sent a healing spell his way and the pain began to ease.
"Thanks for the assist!" He called out.
They began to push the goblins back and the bigger goblin began to get angry.
"Stop you weaklings! Kill them!" It said.
Seth ran up to him as he called this out.
"Hey there handsome, how about you and I dance," Seth said and slashed down at him.
Raising his axe up, the goblin blocked the attack. They exchanged blows in a flurry of motion as they fought. Most of the other goblins were being killed by the rest of the party and soon the only fight left was between Seth and the big goblin.
"Do we step in and help?" James asked.
"I think Seth would be mad if we did," Derek said smiling.
"What? What do you know?" James said.
"Seth is toying with him. Just watch how he moves." Derek said.
Little cuts were appearing all over the goblin's body as Seth danced around him.
"ENOUGH!" The goblin said as a force of power erupted from around him, sending Seth backward and falling to the ground.
It stepped forward to slash down at Seth when a shot rang out and it grabbed its crotch.
"Dick shot mother fucker!" James called.
It looked over at him in rage, grabbed a necklace around it had hidden under its armor, and extended a hand out to him and a fireball shot toward the group.
"HIT THE DECK!!!" Derek called as people began diving out of the way to avoid the fireball.
"Oh shit!" James said right before the fireball hit.
It exploded as it hit a barrier that had been erected right in front of his face. The barrier began to crack and then shattered as flames then licked over his body. The damage had been mitigated though, and while he was burned, he wasn't dead. Briana rushed over to him to start healing.
Seth had taken advantage of the distraction and was back on his feet and taking the fight more seriously. Gashes now opened up on the seams between his armor and he suddenly lost an arm. Then the other arm. Then a leg. Lastly, the goblin fell to the ground as his last leg was cut from his body.
The goblin lay on the ground screaming as Seth stood over it and stabbed his katana down into its throat, silencing it.