CHAPTER 32_HEX - A Zombie Survival LITRPG

CHAPTER 32

Ray

Their departure from the dock was uneventful. It would only be a couple of hours to the island, then back to work fortifying, scavenging, and working towards getting ready for the integration. Ray was standing at the railing, staring over the calm river towards Governor's island, the shoreline of which he could see from where he was at.

The barge was gently rocking, moving back and forth on the steady flow of the river. Ray could feel the chugging of the engine below decks as they slowly but steadily moved towards their destination. Everyone was stowed away safely. The dog they had rescued was in the cabin with the Orkin, the big green lugs having taken a strange liking to the animal.

He was lost in thought, thinking about everything they had to do. Between expanding their holdings, building defenses, and taking care of the tunnel that Kevin had confirmed was going to be a huge pain in the ass, they had a lot to do. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even see Josephine sprint towards him and shoved him to the ground.

He landed with a curse and turned to see what the hell was just going on when she hit the deck next to him. It was then he saw the spines in the decking where he had been. Long, thin, spindly lines that reminded him a lot of a porcupine’s quill. A foot-long porcupine quill.

“What the fuck? Where did those come from?” he asked.

Josephine gestured to the water, “Jalla saw them come out of the water. They arced up and out, like artillery,” she explained, still prone.

The barge lurched to the side as if it had just struck something, causing everyone on board to stumble or fall. Ray and Josephine were the two lucky ones, having already been on the deck. So they simply slid further to one side.

“What did we hit?” Ray called out, receiving a shrug from the Orkin at the helm. The half dozen Goblins running back and forth across the deck had nothing to add in their guttural language either. They were, for all intents and purposes, in the dark about what was happening.

While the boat had struck something, it hadn’t stopped them from moving.

Ray rolled to his feet and moved to the railing just in time to see a long, skinny shadow dart under the boat. “Was that a fish?”

“It is quite possible that whatever water life was present within this body of water has begun mutating,” Jalla said, moving next to him. “I doubt your aquatic life was capable of hunting birds.” He pointed to a nearby seagull floating on the winds.

It didn’t float for very long, as several spins shot out of the water and pin-cushioned it. The second the now deceased bird stuck the water, the calm surface boiled into a free for all for whatever was waiting for the food to come down.

“Holy shit! It's like a pack of missile-firing piranhas are hanging out down there,” he said in wonder. “Ugh, maybe an island wasn’t the smartest idea?”

Jalla shook his head in disagreement even as Josephine joined them at the railing. “Those look like pike,” she said. Seeing the other two look at her quizzically, she clarified. “Pike. The fish. Long, kind of snake-like. Big teeth. Sharp fins. Tales abound of people losing toes and fingers to them. How accurate that is, I don’t have a clue.”

“I believe your choice was the correct one, however,” Jalla said, bringing their attention to him. “An island surrounded by voracious sea life tends to remain a safe island surrounded by voracious sea life. Not to mention it is a ready source of food and NEX.”

Ray couldn’t disagree with that.

The group watched the waters silently, waiting for something to spring out and attack them. However, it seemed that this encounter was going to be the exception, rather than the rule. Who knows how dangerous sea travel could be in the future, however right now it seemed this was more of a probing attack than anything. The murderous fish didn’t seem to be interested in something they couldn’t kill and eat, so they had moved on.

“This is wild. Even the fish have changed … mutated? Whatever,” Ray said, exasperated. “Well, hopefully, they don’t get bigger. Or develop longer range. Or fucking learn to walk on land.”

Jalla laughed that tinkling laugh of his. “Wouldn’t that be amusing to see. Fish walking on land. You continue to amuse me, Ray,” he said with an affable smile.

Ray hadn’t had a chance to try to analyze the sea creatures. Honestly, he didn’t know if you wanted to. So much was changing, and so rapidly, that he was worried he wouldn’t recognize the world after the changes were all done with. To be honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he recognized the world now.

While they stayed on edge, being careful to stay alert for any additional events, they reached the island all too soon. The old barge sailed up to a much longer, thinner dock located further up the eastern side of the island. This enabled them to embark and debark much faster, as well as placed them closer to the fort itself.

As they approached, Ray could already see changes having been made to the fort. While they had only been gone for a few short hours, the Miasma-cracked earth had been sealed over. The grass was even growing in some places. The fort itself had been turned from a tourist attraction into a more defensible location.

Ray could see it looming above the surroundings, a full story taller than it had been. Derrick and Gale had been working hard, particularly if they had achieved this much in such a short time. They didn’t have a whole lot longer before the integration began, but what they had already achieved was praiseworthy.

The new fort was no longer made of brick, but some kind of smooth, grey-mottled concrete material. Possibly plascrete, a concrete and liquid metal blend that made up most modern-day buildings and roads. It was strong, durable, and elastic. And it lasted damn near forever.

Ray wasn’t sure what kind of fortifications were on the inside, but he could see the first exterior curtain wall was almost a quarter done. Rising half the height of the fort itself, it was also made of the same mottled grey material. He really wanted to know what it was made of and reminded himself to ask Derrick later when they weren’t so busy.

As the barge touched the dock, the Orkin deployed the gangplank, allowing the small group to disembark quickly onto the pier. They rapidly made their way to the new base, and as Ray passed the first curtain wall a huge notification popped into his vision:

FRONT LINE FORTRESS

FEATURES

BEDS: 450

MILITARY CAFETERIA: 2

OFFICES: 50

OFFICER'S QUARTERS: 30

MILITARY OFFICERS MESS: 1

MEETING ROOMS: 10

COMBAT TRAINING GROUNDS: 1

COMMAND CENTER: 1

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER: 1

CUSTOM FEATURES

LARGE GRANARY: 1

MATERIALS WAREHOUSE: 1

ARMORY: 1

UNIQUE FEATURES

CORE VAULT: 1

SYSTEM SHOP: 1 – LOCKED

A FULLY OPERATIONAL FRONT-LINE FORTRESS MEANT TO PROTECT KEY POINTS OF INTEREST FOR FACTIONS. THIS FORTRESS BOASTS REINFORCED PLASCRETE WALLS WITH NUMEROUS UPGRADES, TWO FULL CURTAIN WALLS, WEAPONS EMPLACEMENTS, AND ENOUGH STORAGE SPACE AND TRAINING FACILITIES FOR A HALF-BATTALION OF TROOPS AND OFFICERS. FURTHER UPGRADE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.

“Holy shit,” Ray said in awe. Even Jalla looked mildly impressed. Josephine was, as usual, observing the area for any threats. But if he had to put a label on it, Ray would say she was happy with the developing situation.

As they entered the gigantic building, Ray marveled at what had been accomplished. The courtyard itself, however, looked nothing like it had. Gone were the paved civilian streets, grassy picnic areas, and trees. In their place was a drill yard that looked like it could fit fifty or so people in it, a rack of training gear, an outdoor area for observation, and a sparring arena. He could also have sworn the inside was a bit bigger than it had been.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Inside, he saw that there was definitely a second story now. Walkways crisscrossed the interior, leading from one side of the new courtyard to the other. Orkin, humans, and Goblins were moving from one side to the other using these walkways, carrying materials and other items he couldn’t identify.

As they entered through the main gate, Derrick and Gale met them immediately as they had been waiting in the main courtyard. “Hey there boss man,” greeted Derrick with a grin. Gale gave a slight bob of her head in greeting to him as well. “We’ve uh, been a bit busy with the fort here. Let's get you down to the core room, then we can get you the full tour. From what Gale tells me having the core offline for any length of time isn’t the greatest idea.”

Ray could definitely agree with that point. “Yeah, lead on. Let's get this thing installed quickly and get back on track. Things to do.”

Derrick led the group to the far side of the fortress from where they had entered. Walking inside, Ray was sure that this place was much larger than it had been. The wide, grey hallways were marked with colored lines on the walls. Ray stopped to examine them even as Gale spoke up to explain.

“Derrick has explained to me that these are called route guides. Each colored line is a guide to a specific destination. Red being for the armory. Blue is for various meeting rooms, while green is for the mess halls. Yellow is for administrative offices,” she said, explaining.

Nodding his understanding, Ray could see the value in an easy to grasp map. Without having to examine a floor plan with a, ‘You Are Here’, sticker people could navigate far quicker. Looking slightly closer, he saw that a short list of rooms was under each line.

“It’s a list of rooms in the section of the fort,” said Derrick, “it makes it easier to know where you are at and where you need to go. A throwback from my time in the Navy. The area we are going to, though, isn’t marked at all.”

Leading them further down the hallway, he stopped in front of a hallway with multiple guard posts that hadn’t been staffed yet. “This is the hallway going to the false core room. See? It's marked, easy to find, and completely fake.”

“Fake?” Josephine asked, “Why the need for a fake room?”

Derrick touched the wall just past the second security checkpoint. Depressing slightly, and sliding open silently, the wall opened to reveal a narrow staircase spiraling downwards.

“Security Jose, security. This room isn’t exactly well advertised, but it's defended enough to ensure everyone knows there’s something of value here. Set up a fake core, with guards, while hiding the real one, and you have an easy way to defend what’s really important,” explained the engineer. “That and I’ve always wanted to build a secret room. That’s just cool.”

The warrior woman nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. Call me Jose again and I will bury you in this secret room of yours.”

Derrick had never agreed to something faster in his life.

Following the staircase down about thirty yards, Ray was impressed at how deep they had come. The group found themselves in front of a heavily fortified hallway. It wasn’t long, probably twenty feet or so, but it was filled with murder holes, firing slits, and traps. All of which were disabled, thankfully.

At the end of the hallway was a huge metal and plascrete door. It was featureless, having no keyholes, entry spots, or hidden buttons.

“Thank god that the System still allows us to build and upgrade buildings. I mean, I get the shop is down right now, but this would have been impossible to do without some serious help. We burned through most of our raw materials making this place,” explained Derrick. “The engineering team and I call this the Vault. I have more plans for it at some point, but for now, nothing short of a nuke is getting to whatever is inside.”

He gestured at the door, “Touch it, Ray. It's keyed for you.”

Ray walked forward and put his hand on the door. With no warning or sound, not even a lock opening, the door swung forward. He quickly realized it was more than a quarter of the length of the hallway in thickness.

“The entire room is only twenty by twenty. With the door open and the pedestal, it’s a little under two hundred square feet,” explained the engineer excitedly. “Only you can open the Vault door. The walls are seventeen feet thick and made of reinforced plasteel and plascrete. Don’t ask me about the plasteel. It’s a System thing and I have no idea what it's made of. It's just harder than hell and tougher than titanium.”

Walking into the room, Ray saw that with the exception of his group and the pedestal, it was completely empty. No marks on the wall, no other entrances, and no air ventilation. It was a solidly grey, non-descript room at the end of a murder hallway.

“Ok then,” he said as he turned to Gale. “Do I just place the core on the pedestal? Then hope for the best?”

The Drakling nodded. “Indeed. Thou will place the core onto the pedestal. Then hope it does not explode, killing us all.”

“The positivity for this action is immense. My curiosity, however, is pushing me towards staying here and observing to see just what happens,” Jalla said dryly.

Ray rolled his eyes and turned back to the odd look pedestal. He wasn’t sure how Derrick had calculated it, but the smooth, round receptacle base looked to be the perfect size for the orb. Taking it out from his inventory, he heard a slight intake from the group behind him. Minus Jalla, not much seemed to phase him.

The moment he held the heavy sphere in his hands a System message showed up in front of him:

CORE INSTALLATION

WARNING – ^#&%@$

RESOURCES REQUIRED

COST

NEX COST: 5,000

EXISTING HEX CLAIM BEACON: 1

CORE X1

“Uh, is the warning supposed to look like that? Should … maybe we should wait?” Ray said uncertainly.

No one knew what the cause of what happened next was. Gale swears that Jalla poked Ray. Derrick remembers him getting just slightly too close to the pedestal. Josephine wasn’t watching, too busy keeping her eyes on the others, just in case they pulled something.

Everyone present, however, can agree on one fact; the core left Ray's hands and landed perfectly on the pedestal causing everyone in the room to hold their breath. Except for Jalla, because he literally gave no shits.

Releasing his breath, Ray said, “Well that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Everyone stared at him in astonishment. Josephine facepalmed and said, “Fucking flag.”

Ray had never heard her outright swear before, and he didn’t get the chance to ask before the core erupted in blinding light. Everything was bathed in the hot, fiery light that erupted from the spherical object.

The light was abruptly cut short as the room was plunged into darkness. No one could see each other in the pitch black. Not even Jalla’s powerful eyesight could pierce the thick black that had permeated the room.

“Well … what the fuck just happened?” Ray’s voice sounded out. A chorus of replies came back to him. The simple response was that no one had a clue.

Collectively they turned to where the exit of the room was. Inching forward slowly, they passed the vault door and into the hallway. Once past the threshold of the massive vault door, the light returned to the world. Ray was first across the threshold somehow. Turning back, he could see the silver sphere floating in the center of an endless expanse of darkness. Whatever had happened, it was restricted to the room itself. For now at least.

Hopefully whatever it was didn’t affect anything else. They had just claimed the fort and the island. Being blind inside of it would suck and require them to more than likely abandon the structure.

Something he wasn’t willing to do.

***

RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN

RACE

HUMAN

CLASS

NONE

NEX

CALCULATING

LEVEL

PHYSICAL STATE

FATIGUED

MENTAL STATE

WORRIED

ATTRIBUTE

BASE

CURRENT

NEX TO INCREASE

STRENGTH

AGILITY

POWER

100

WISDOM

LUCK

400

JOSEPHINE SANCHEZ