CHAPTER 20_HEX - A Zombie Survival LITRPG

Ray

The next six days passed quietly. There were two more incursions, but they were far smaller than the one led by the Nemesis. Grok alone was enough to annihilate both of them. During this time Josephine stayed by his side. Acting as both protector and caretaker, she was wholly devoted to him and his recovery. It made Ray more than a bit nervous, having such zeal directed at him.

During his recovery time, Ray and Gale discussed many different options for achieving his goal of claiming Governors Island as their home base. From means of travel to hiring groups with their now decent levels of wealth, they now had options to pursue the revivification of Humanity.

He quickly approved a Level 1 shop to begin resurrecting people. Foremost among them was the engineer he had found earlier, amongst other specialists. It took a whole day for those prior to the collapse of Humanity to come back into being, and another day to bring them into the fold. They were surprisingly accepting of their situation. Ray suspected that Josephine had spoken to them at some point as well.

The second largest problem was transportation. There was only one current means of traveling to Governors Island, and that was by ship. And although they only had the resources to fully focus on one mode of transportation, Gale was quick to offer a much more versatile method. Air travel was the only way to travel, and she was quick to explain why.

“I believe, Ray, that thou must focus on air superiority. This will enable thee and thy budding group to cover much great territory, as well as possibly find other survivors within thy reach,” she said. “There are several ways thy can reach this level of development quickly. First and foremost is to obtain flight-capable troops. Troops such as the Draklings, Gargoyles, Vampires, or Harpies. These are but a few examples.”

Ray shook his head as he sat in bed. His room had been moved to the rear of the second floor and cordoned off. Goblins were less than clean, after all.

“No. I want to focus on Humanity and bringing us back from the brink of extinction,” he said, wholly determined on this aspect. “We can invite in your group, but I am not going to invite others in until we have more people united under a single banner. I don’t want to get killed, overthrown, or otherwise deposed and lose all chance of bringing back my people.”

Gale shook her head, exasperated, “This is what I am attempting to explain to thee. Thou does not need to do it now, only be prepared for it in the future. Currently, thy retains enough wealth to purchase several zeppelins. These are craft that utilizes the abundant energy that the System brings to each world it uplifts.”

Derrick raised his hand. As a newly resurrected, and the chosen spokesman for the two dozen people brought back so far, he was incredibly intelligent and capable. Ray nodded to him and he spoke with conviction.

“What kind of energy? Will we be safe?” he asked aloud.

Gale nodded, “A good question. Each world is different. However, thy world, the one we are upon, seems to be receiving it well as none of you have died yet.”

Ray blinked at that. Then he slapped his forehead or tried to anyway as the hand he was missing wasn’t there. Looking at the stum sadly he asked, “The core gives off this energy, doesn’t it?”

Gale smiled at him happily. “Indeed, it does. Thou art correct. While it does not discharge as much energy as a node, the core is still a viable charge for System interfacing. And since thou controls it, thy can issued System level commands.”

“What is this energy called?” Josephine wondered aloud.

“It is simply called energy. Not many give it actual designation, there is no need. Although there are individuals who possess the ability to wield it as a weapon by converting it to a state known as Mana,” Gale explained.

“Right out of a storybook or video game,” mused Derrick, who had already admitted that he had been a huge gamer in his past life. “I’m assuming leveling has something to do with this? With the energy part that is.”

Gale nodded, “Mine own mother would be better able to answer that question, but yes. This energy is the Systems method of connecting to each of us. While thee will always contain our own System when disconnected, we cannot utilize System commands or services such as the shop system.”

“So it's like a wifi signal,” said Ray, much to Gales's confusion.

Ray and Derrick spent the next half hour explaining what wifi was, what it was used for, and a little bit about what they knew about how it worked. By the end, Gale was nodding thoughtfully.

“Indeed, what thou has explained sounds remarkably similar to how the System communicates. In fact, this has given mine mind several new ideas on the application of System level goods,” she said, muttering the last bit.

Ray dismissed her musings and brought the conversation back on track. “Zeppelins. How do we get them?”

“They are available to thee inside of the System Shop at level 1. They are not sturdy, by any means. However once this world is integrated and System energy is abundant, they will fly well and cheaply. I recommend that once we get to thine island, we purchase several and wait until the timer expires. Then thou wilt have a ready fleet of early exploratory vessels that will not have to fight through hordes of the undead.”

“That … doesn’t sound horrible,” Ray said, thinking about the idea. “Can they carry people and cargo?”

Gale paused at that question for a moment before saying anything. After a moment she said, “Indeed. Zeppelins can vary widely in size. Mine own experiences with them are extensive, as many worlds use them for terrestrial travel. From the small, scouting size vessels carrying a dozen crew to large freight capable of housing small towns. Varieties are as numerous as the list of versatilities.”

“Definitely useful then. I mean, shit, if they can carry a small town then we could pick up entire encampments of survivors!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“I have … so many questions. From a scientific perspective of course,” said Derrick excitedly. “Then he glanced at his watch, ‘Ugh. I have a meeting with the others right now. Can I … meet with you later Gale? I really want to discuss this in depth. The more information the better.”

The two carried on their discussion as they walked back to the stairway and headed to the first floor. Derrick and his team had been instrumental in designing the shop as well as helping Grok identify ships and smaller boats for repair. They would only need a few to get over to Governors Island initially, but Ray was a void craft engineer and knew very little about water or terrestrial craft.

At some point, they would return to space. Probably not in his lifetime, but it would happen. He had no doubts about it. As Josephine stood guard, he opened his menu to take stock of everything they had gained over the last few days.

MASTER TAB

BUILDINGS

RESIDENTS

VEHICLES

RESOURCES

He tapped the buildings tab, opening it to look at the two buildings that he had constructed here. Gale had told him that they would both be demolished to recover most of the resources used in their construction, but he was still proud of the minor achievement.

BUILDINGS

Choosing the first of the two listed, Ray opened up the HQ building. Broken down inside were the specifications of their slapstick headquarters:

RAMSHACKLE TECHNOLOGICAL HEADQUARTERS

BEDS

KITCHEN

OFFICES

CUSTOM ADDITIONS

CORE ROOM

WAREHOUSE

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

THIS IS A TEMPORARY HEADQUARTERS MASHED TOGETHER WITH THE REMAINS OF A TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION. REINFORCED WITH PIECES TORN OFF VEHICLES, RECOVERED FROM COMBAT, OR PULLED OUT OF VARIOUS BUILDINGS, IT IS A DANGEROUSLY BUILT YET SOLIDLY EFFECTIVE FORTIFICATION.

Following the headquarters breakdown was the shop. That had far less information, whether it was due to it being a System generated building or just its simple services, Ray was unsure:

LEVEL 1 SHOP

THIS IS A BASIC LEVEL 1 SYSTEM SHOP

Ray rolled his eyes at the System description of their current home. His pride remained, even if it had been slightly wounded by the harsh reality of what he and the others had built so far. Oddly enough, the shop description stood out to him. But he supposed that the basic level of the building had little if anything, else to impart information-wise. So he moved on to the residents' tab.

RESIDENTS

HUMANS

DRAKLINGS

ORKIN

GOBLINS

That was about what he had expected. The System could account for every being on the planet easily, so seeing his small group listed here was no surprise. Moving to the next tab, he was curious about the vehicles. He had driven a car at one point and wanted to see if it was still counted as one of his possessions.

LAND VEHICLES

AIR VESSELS

WATER VESSELS

VOID CRAFT

Apparently, his abandoning it counted as him losing it. A strange mechanic, considering he could just go back and claim it again, but he couldn’t argue the result. He was pleased to see that Grok had gotten a hold of a ship or boat somewhere. One that operated enough to be counted as something other than scrap.

Grinning to himself, as he imagined Goblins staffing a ship, he moved on to his resources tab.

NEX

84,980

RAW MATERIALS

114 TONS

Overall everything was looking good. They were doing well on NEX, and Grok had accumulated a truly impressive amount of raw material. The tab had a breakdown of the hundreds of different components, but Ray wasn’t about to go through all of that. Knowing he had a stockpile of material that was usable was good enough for him.

Depending on the size of the water-going vessel that Grok had procured, they may not need a second one. However, it was all down to if they could even get it running. Parts were not in short supply, as the Hex they were in mostly occupied shipping and rail yards. Both of which would be of supreme importance later on.

No, it was the skill and technical competency that would be required to repair and maintain any engines they got going. Unlike land vehicles, ariel and water-going vehicles often times required far too much power, so pure electric motors were impossible. There were a few, wealthier, shipping companies that equipped their planes and ships with barium power plants. Those were prohibitively expensive, however, and extremely difficult to maintain.

Deciding that he needed more information and that it was about time to get off his ass, he swing his legs out of bed and onto the floor. Standing slowly, Ray experienced some vertigo before the world settled into its rightful dimensions. Then he quickly located clothing and, once fully dressed, headed to the stairwell.

The first floor of their little HQ was bustling with activity. Ray was both happy and surprised to see that the people he had brought back had quickly claimed a Goblin helper. Goblins were stupid, but they handled directions well. It's what made them such good laborers.

And someone had figured that out early.

Derrick was directing the chaos as people, Goblins, and the occasional Orkin ran around completing various tasks. He wondered just what was going on for everyone to be so busy. Good thing he didn’t have to wait long to get his answer.

“Ah, Ray, glad you could join us,” said Derrick, setting down the clipboard he was holding. “This place is great! There’s a ton of stuff nearby to salvage. Once this planetary integration is completed I am confident that we can rapidly bring up our tech level. My conversations with Gale lead me to believe that there will be many, many, changes to how that tech works. But it's all the same in the end.”

Ray took another looking at the collaborating men and women in the room before turning his attention back to the engineer. “Yeah, I am getting a good feeling too,” he replied. “I saw through the interface that Grok has a ship now? How is that going?”

Derrick nodded and beckoned Ray over to a nearby table. Covering the top of it were books, schematics, and even a few rough sketches.

“We found an old garbage barge that wasn’t too damaged,” began the excited man. “The engines were toast, but we rigged a sailing system and have it mobile. It's slow, very slow, but working ok. I have no doubt that with some rowers we can get to Governors Island with little to no issue. Then we can start setting up your evil empire for galactic domination.”

Ray stared at him in confusion, causing the man to sigh. “Old series of movies. You know what? Never mind. You didn’t watch much media did you?”

“Not particularly,” admitted Ray. “I was always too busy working or going to school.”

“Fair. But we need to broaden your horizons. Particularly with this bunch,” Derrick replied, pointing a thumb over his should to the other scientists and engineers. “They are total nerds. Anyway, if you want to check out the ship it's actually at the end of the pier here. We just started loading materials into it now. We will need some to effectively construct our first bit of defenses when we reach the island.”

“Good stuff,” Ray replied eagerly. “I can’t wait to have a bit of a buffer between us and anything else that may want to snack on us. Once we get a larger home we can get some more people resurrected and begin making contact with survivors.”

Derrick grinned at that, “Oh yeah. Humanity is on its way back, baby. Booyah!” Then he paused, “Oh, can I make a request?” he asked solemnly. Ray raised an eyebrow, so he continued, “Please get some more of these Goblins. They are … simply fantastic as assistance. Dumber than a box of rocks, but once you give them direction they latch onto it with a single-minded focus that is, honestly, terrifying.”

“Yeah, I can look at doing that. We need to fulfill more requirements before the System will allow me to. There are plenty of restrictions. But I don’t see why not,” Ray said, feeling the idea out. “In fact, Gales people will be joining us as soon as we meet the requirements for their people as well. Then we can begin phase two and start claiming more territory. We are definitely going to need it.”

Derrick agreed wholeheartedly. “Well boss, go see Grok. He and his band of merry green men have been working on that ship almost nonstop for the past few days. I’m sure he is excited to show you the progress he has made.”

Ray patted Derrick on the shoulder and headed out the door. He was going to do just that. And soon, when they were fully prepared, they would make the move to the island in full. That would set them up for their first big goal: establish themselves in a permanent place from a position that was readily defendable. Then they could start in on contacting survivors. There was a lot to do.

And for some nagging reason that he couldn’t shake, not enough time to do it.

***

RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN

RACE

HUMAN

CLASS

NONE

NEX

CALCULATING

LEVEL

PHYSICAL STATE

EXHAUSTED

MENTAL STATE

STRESSED

ATTRIBUTE

BASE

CURRENT

NEX TO INCREASE

STRENGTH

AGILITY

POWER

100

WISDOM

LUCK

400

JOSEPHINE SANCHEZ