Ray
Ray snatched his multi-tool up and converted it into the large hammer. More force would be needed for this, and since the size of the tool didn’t affect the weight at all … this would be fine.
Turning to Gale he said, “You need to help. Advisor role aside, if I die it's all over for you. I have already agreed to bring your people here. So you need some skin in the game.”
“I will not give thee my skin!” Gale said, highly affronted.
Ray rolled his eyes, “It’s a phrase. A saying. It means investing in what you value, or something like that. Anyway, we don’t have time for this! I need you to fight with us. Get Grok, whatever Goblins we have left, and head towards the choke point that leads out of the Hex. If they get inside, we are screwed!”
Gale hesitated slightly, digesting Ray’s instructions before nodding and moving away to comply. While the Drakling was getting the group together, he opened the shop’s interface only to see that he had been locked out.
SHOP IS NOT AVAILABLE DURING AN INCURSION
“Son of a bitch!” he cursed. “Going to have to do this the hard way then and hope no one gets hurt too badly.”
After all, his last encounter with that Skinwalker monstrosity ended in his death. His only saving grace had been the countdown on the core next to him. If that hadn’t happened … he would either be a shambling flesh-loving creature or on his way to the next life.
He slapped his cheeks and hefted his hammer. “Fuck it, let's go kill everything we can.”
Jogging out the front door, he was in time to see the rear formation of the forty-odd Orkin, Goblins, and Gale as they headed forward towards the breach into the Hex.
Just passed the old converted rail bridge he had crossed to get here was the canal that had been put in to accommodate the increase in water travel. This canal essentially created the perfect chokepoint coming into the center of the Hex. The single, four-lane wide bridge, was the only entry point into the back part of the small island that the core was located on. This made a great defensive point for defending the core, and anything that tried to get to it.
Unfortunately, Ray hadn’t invested anything into building a wall or defensive installations as of yet. This meant they would be fighting in a line, and hopefully not getting overwhelmed. If they did, and the undead got to the core, Earth and humanity were fucked.
Moving quickly to the front of the group, Ray took his place between Grok and Gale. They moved quickly to the bridge, ensuring that any undead didn’t sneak past them and onto the island. Luckily, they arrived with time to spare.
It was only a short, ten-minute jog to the bridge. When he pulled up his map, Ray could see the undead hordes icon wasn’t even a third of the way to them yet. Although the map didn’t track individuals, it meant that they had time to do what fortifying they could before the main horde got here.
“Grok, get the Orkin and Goblins to bring anything they can over here to form barricades,” Ray ordered. The Orkin nodded and belted out orders while taking action as well. Turning to Gale he said, “What can you do? I know next to nothing about you or your capabilities.”
“Ah yes, thou hast not inquired as of yet,” Gale agreed. “Mine wings are capable of flight and I doth have decades of fighting experience. Mine proficiency with mine Drakken Blade is extensive. Not many retain the power and ability to best my in a fight.”
“Got it. Thanks for the summary,” he responded. “Can you fly and scout? Maybe let us know if something is coming our way? Scouts, fast movers. Or anything else?”
“Indeed. I can do this,” the Drakling said, spreading her silver wings wide. With several powerful flaps, she shot into the air and headed toward where the main incursion was taking place.
“Fuck, I need wings,” Ray lamented, watching his advisor flap off into the setting sun. “Shit,” he grunted out, realizing they had another significant problem. It was going to be night soon. While the Orkin and Goblins had decent night vision, he was going to be nothing but a liability. With his Nemesis gunning for him, he would need every advantage he could get. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see a way around this issue without accessing the store.
Then he slapped himself in the face. He didn’t need electricity for light. Fire would work fine.
“Grok!” Ray called out, causing the Orkin to swivel its green head in his direction. “You know what a fuel tank is?” The Orkin nodded his understanding, so Ray continued, “Find a couple of them that still have fuel in them and drag them out onto the bridge. Stab them a few times in the bottom and get that bridge nice and soaked!”
Grok grinned ferally, fully understanding what Ray had in mind. He had to admit, at first his lead Orkin had seemed like a dumb brute. But the more time he spent around the imposing guy, the more he realized he was as calculating and sneaky as he was savagely brutal. Grok would definitely bear more investment if they survived this.
Nothing would make it easier to see than lighting a good portion of that big, flammable group of undead on fire.
Ray swore he heard laughter as he spun to look for the source. However, it was gone as fast as it had happened. He really couldn’t risk being snuck up on right now, but as far as he knew there were no threats this deep into the Hex. Narrowing his eyes, he walked over to a large truck that several Goblins were having trouble moving and bent his back to the work.
The small group moved more vehicles than Ray ever thought possible. It had hardly been a half hour and they had a wall of decrepit vehicles stacked two high across the entrance to the bridge on their side. The edges of the cars hung out over the water, ensuring that there was no way for anything to circumvent it. On top of that, the middle of the bridge was littered with discarded fuel tanks, the blue slick of oil being visible from where Ray was.
He nodded in satisfaction, they had done a lot of work very quickly. Peeking at his map, he noticed that the horde was only a short distance away now. He hadn’t heard anything from Gale and hoped that she was ok.
His thoughts on that matter were interrupted by the sound of wings. Turning, he saw the Drakling woman land on the ground gracefully behind the makeshift barricade.
“I was beginning to get a bit worried,” Ray said offhand, not missing the faint blush that crept across her cheeks. “I'm glad to see you are ok.”
Gale nodded, “Indeed. I am fine, thou art kind for thinking of me,” she muttered. Clearing her throat she spoke in a louder tone, “Thou hast several dozen undead ahead of the pack. Thou should be seeing them within a few moments. The main horde, however, is led by a monstrosity I doth have experience with. A Skinwalker leads them, and it doth seem to have evolved further from thy previous descriptions of it.”
Ray cursed. While the number of undead had increased, both generic and advanced, knowing that his Nemesis had gotten even stronger was not encouraging. He only hoped that the damn thing lacked any kind of tactile mindset. If it was capable of commanding the undead they were well and truly screwed.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Grok! Get the guys up here on the wall! We are going to have company soon!” Ray yelled down. No further instructions were necessary, as all the Orkin and Goblins nearby had heard him and scrambled up the sides of the barricade of vehicles. None of them wanted to be caught on the ground when the horde showed up. As dumb as they were, even Goblins understood it was a bad idea.
Ray took satisfaction to see that even as nimble as the little Goblins were, they still had trouble climbing up the sides of the barricade. If they had any level of trouble doing so then the undead would be hampered significantly. Unless they had some kind of flying undead or another Juggernaut. Ray asked Gale just to be sure.
“I didst not see either, several advanced undead are with the advanced group … there!” Gale said, pausing to point at a group of several hundred undead coming across the bridge.
The last Goblin had just scrambled to the top of the car wall right as the first dozen undead shambled around the corner into the intersection on the far side of the bridge. This coincided, not accidentally, with the last rays of light leaving the sky. As shadows fell across the world, and more undead came into Ray's fading sight, a vast cry went up.
Chilling in its depth and scope, Ray felt an almost surreal sense of rage in that cry. Like the dead were aware of what had been stolen from them, what they had lost when they joined the legions of undead. He was so caught up in the coordinated scream that he nearly missed as the first line of basic undead went from slowly shuffling bodies to outright sprinting at the barricade he was on.
Almost that was.
It was truly difficult to miss several hundred flesh-hungry monsters running in your general direction. As they crossed onto the bridge, he could hear the gnashing of teeth from the other side. Shivering at the thought of those slavering maws tearing chunks of his flesh off, Gale spoke up.
“That is … most disconcerting. Thy race is disgusting in undeath. Disgusting and terrifying,” she said. Then quizzically cocking her head to one side she analyzed Ray. “Although thine living specimens are … acceptable.”
Ray would have quipped back, but the small horde had already reached the center of the bridge. Almost immediately the first line went down as they sprinted into the thick oil slick. Unable to keep their feet while moving as fast as they were, the first hundred or so undead rapidly turned into a large dogpile in the middle of the bridge. But the slick wasn’t large enough to stop all of them, and those behind the initial rush used the fallen as a footbridge of sorts. Entirely bypassing the trap.
“Ya wantz ta set it off Boss?” asked Grok, turning to Ray.
He shook his head, “No. Wait for the main horde. If we need to use that now, on such a small group, then we are fucked anyway,” he responded cheerfully.
Over half of the undead had bypassed the oil trap only to slam into the makeshift car barricade. It creaked ominously but stayed upright. Goblins and Orkin slashed down into the group of undead, bisecting heads, arms, and faces. The undead fell rapidly without ever gaining a foothold. However, even with such small numbers, Ray noticed something that would rapidly become an issue.
“Gale! Try and find another gas tank. Like the ones out there,” he gestured to the discarded ones Grok had left behind. “The biggest one you can! Quickly, we don’t have much time!”
Gale leaped off the barricade and spread her wings. She flew down the road as Ray turned back, smashing another undead skull in with a violent spray of brain matter. He didn’t know how long he fought for, but it couldn’t have been long until the last undead was cut down from the group he faced. He looked up just in time to see the main horde come into the intersection on the far side of the bridge. It emerged right where the smaller one had.
“Shit biscuits,” Ray muttered under his breath as Grok snorted in amusement. A massive thud from behind him caused him to turn. Gale had two gas tanks she had, apparently, ripped right off of a transport truck. “Puncture them and dump them on the bodies at the bottom of the barricade. Spread it out as much as you can! Gale you take one side, Grok take the other,” he directed.
He kept an eye on the now massive horde that was now sprinting towards them. He took note of several odd shapes inside of the front row. He hoped those weren’t what he thought they were. If they were, they were going to get hit hard right out of the gate.
“Grok!” Ray called out, causing the big green man to turn to him. “You have something you can start the fire with?” The big man nodded his confirmation. Ray grinned, “When I tell you to, throw it at the oil slick!”
Grok nodded and turned to prepare whatever he was going to throw. During this time the first part of the horde had passed the midpoint of the bridge. Ray swallowed nervously, as even now the undead hadn’t stopped streaming from around the corner and into the intersection in front of where they were. He was about to issue some more instructions when a long, low howl went up into the air.
The lonely, almost sad cry ripped into Ray and the others on the barricade. The sheer sadness and loss even staggered the undead, causing them to falter for a moment. Looking around frantically, he couldn’t see what was making the noise. Until he did.
The Skinwalker came around the corner of the building. Ray guessed that it was towards the center of the horde, having let the fodder proceed it into their impromptu meatgrinder. And while he immediately recognized it, as the System labeled it his Nemesis, it didn’t look anything like it had before.
Gone was the skinless being he had fought twice before. It was roughly fifteen feet tall, although it was hard to get an exact measurement due to the distance and the dark. It was massive, with thick limbs, and powerful legs, and was covered in thick, almost chitin-like pale skin. And while it still retained a tail, it was much longer coming to a tri-tipped fork at the end.
The thing looked like a goddamn tank.
“What in the unholy name of thy gods is that monstrosity?” whispered Gale.
Ray blinked, turning to her in surprise. “I thought you saw it while you were flying?” he asked. “If it wasn’t that thing, what the hell did you see?”
He didn’t get a response as she merely pointed at the oncoming horde.
The Nemesis had cleared the intersection and was approaching the bridge, but behind it were more than a dozen pale white figures that were miniature versions of it. Unfortunately, Ray immediately recognized them. They were the white creatures that had ambushed him in the warehouse where their current base was.
“Those things are dangerous!” he called out, getting nods from up and down the line. “They dodge quickly, so try and kill them by surrounding them!” More nods accepted that piece of wisdom. After all, if Ray had killed one already who were they to argue?
Gale shook her head, “Mine doubts of attaching mine self to thy cause are growing rapidly. Pray, we doth not fall here.”
Ray was going to respond, but the first wave of undead struck the barricade with the sound of screeching metal. The entire structure wobbled, and he knew that if this was allowed to continue it would simply tip over, allowing them to be swarmed and killed.
“Grok, light it up!” Ray screamed, even as he bashed skulls in.
With a grunt, Grok hefted a Goblin, stuck a lit match to it, and watched for a moment as it burst into flame causing everyone, alive and dead, around it to recoil. Then he wound up and hurled the small screeching creature smack dab into the oil patch the Nemesis had just stepped on.
The entire world went up in flames.
***
RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN
RACE
HUMAN
CLASS
NONE
NEX
CALCULATING
LEVEL
1
PHYSICAL STATE
TIRED
MENTAL STATE
PANICKING
ATTRIBUTE
BASE
CURRENT
NEX TO INCREASE
STRENGTH
5
11
50
AGILITY
3
9
30
POWER
0
3
100
WISDOM
4
9
40
LUCK
2
5
400