CHAPTER 40_HEX - A Zombie Survival LITRPG

Ray

Ray and his team spent the next eleven days rescuing people from what he had rapidly begun calling Bandits. And it turned out there were many, many more camps and fortified structures than he thought. Some of which were on the upper floors of heavily infected buildings, making them nearly impossible to get up to unless you knew how.

Those were few and far in between though, usually taking a highly organized and dedicated group of more people than Ray was willing to tackle with his group. So he focused on the smaller ones, hoping that those who were hidden away made it through the Integration.

Everything had been going well, too well in reality. Ray had realized that each base was only lightly organized, with a leader, goons, and human slaves. Usually large groups of women and children. He rarely saw another adult man that wasn’t a part of the Bandit’s goon squad. Which made him worried and angry. It wasn’t like those who weren’t part of the enslaving forces were kind to their charges, not usually anyway. More often than not they rescued them as they were sick, starving, and in some cases dying.

It was after they had cleared the most recent building that everything changed, and it changed rapidly.

The group had just emptied out their eleventh building and were on their way down to the street level to escort their most recent rescues back when Josephine slammed her arm across Ray's chest, stopping him cold in his tracks.

“What? What's wrong?” he asked. Verrick and his squad and Jalla, along with two Draemon, were also with him on this run. They stopped as well, in turn stopping the group of people behind them.

She pointed outside, “There's a solid dozen men in the street. Some have guns, but most have clubs or blades of some kind or another,” she explained. She snuck up to an empty rack of goods and peeked out the grime-covered windows. “Guys on the roof across the way. I think they have … crossbows?”

“That’s a change of pace,” Ray muttered. He turned to Verrick. “Thoughts? You are the one with military experience. I think this situation is a bit outside our wheelhouse.”

Verrick frowned at the phrase but picked up the intended meaning. “We should not engage out the front Master, they have both the range and the high ground. You never strike at someone with the high ground if you can help it. We need to find rear exit, something that provides us cover.”

One of the rescued humans moved forward. She was taller than the other woman and seemed far more muscular than her starving counterparts. A possible new arrival to the pit she had been interned at.

“There's a rear door, but it leads into an alleyway. They usually fill those with walkers to prevent anyone from getting out. But you guys are armed to the teeth, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” she explained to Ray as his eyebrows rose at the new information.

“And, how would you know that exactly?” he inquired suspiciously.

She shuffled in place, “I was a part of Brett’s little empire. There are a few independents, but he runs all the raiding and stuff. I … he did things to some people I disagreed with. Horrible … bad things. So I stepped in and this was my reward. They brought me here a little while ago to rot like the others,” she explained quietly, standing there in shame. “I thought it was how we could survive, but it quickly turned into something else. Now … now I know that it wasn’t the way we should have chosen.”

“Gotchya, I think I have a good idea of what's going on now,” Ray said, surprising everyone. “Take us to the back door. Let's see if we can get out that way.”

The woman nodded and led the group through the building to a set of double doors that led out of what was once a loading dock for the stores within the structure. Ray signed with his hands for the survivors to stay put, and then followed the woman closely to the loading dock roll-down gate.

Josephine began to say something, but Ray cut her off as the woman reached for the bottom of the grate. She pulled upwards, leveraging the gate off the ground a few inches. Just before she pulled it straight up, Ray stabbed her in the back with his blade. He withdrew his blade and the gate crashed to the ground.

The survivors gasped, worried mutterings coming from them as Josephine pulled him back in horror. “Why would you do that?” she cried out even as the angry grunts of the men outside the gate caused her to swing her attention back to it.

“Get ready to fight, that gal was leading us into an ambush. There are a ton of them out there. Not undead, Bandits,” he explained as Verrick and his Rangers drew their blades. “I knew it was an ambush the minute she started talking. She knew the building too well to have just been brought here. That and there wasn’t a single wound on her. She was completely healthy. Well, as healthy as you could be in this shit hole.”

Josephine stared at him in open shock as she quickly realized he was right. There had been way too many inconsistencies in the woman’s story and her condition. Not to mention the men that were now trying to get into the roll door.

“Jalla, I don’t think you can throw fireballs in here. Take your team and get those people back inside. Cover the front door and burn down anyone who tries to get in,” Ray ordered as the horned man started moving. “Verrick, when I give you the signal, whip that door open, and let's cut these fuckers down. We can make a run for the Ferry Terminal. We have enough food and water for everyone until the barge gets here.”

Verrick nodded and directed two of the Rangers over to the sides of the door. Once they were in position, and Ray and the others had lined up, he gave the signal. The two Aelvin whipped the roll door open, surprising the nine men on the other side. Ray’s side cut into them like a combine into wheat. The fight was over before they even had a chance to fight back.

“Well, that was short and sweet. Let's get the others-“ the bolt struck him in the shoulder, spinning him completely around off his feet. He had just hit the ground when he heard the signature twang of bows returning fire, and the cries of pain from the man down the alleyway who had shot him.

“Get him up, now,” ordered Verrick. “Get the humans out here and get them moving. Rangers change to bows. Lady Josephine, take point and eviscerate anything in front of us.”

Josephine nodded as she drug Ray to the side. Realizing the shock of his wounds must have knocked him unconscious, or possibly the landing on the pavement, she left him in the care of Jalla. Who had just returned with the rescued residents. Over the last ten days, Verrick had quickly become Ray’s military go-to, always advising on deployment actions and tactics. This had resulted in a startlingly low fatality rate since their expedition had begun. Only a single Goblin had died, and that was only because it had thrown itself at a person with a gun and gone over the side of a building with its target.

The group advanced out of the docking bay and immediately the Rangers took down two more crossbowmen. The weapons seemed to be getting more and more common as of late. They were slow to reload, but powerful and had a decent range. Perfect for fighting in the tight confines of a city.

As the group got out onto the main road, they heard the breaking of glass and the tearing of metal. The entire group, including the twenty or so people they had rescued, got low to the ground, hiding behind several car husks in the road. They watched as the group of Bandits in front of the building forced their way inside.

After several minutes of watching, most of the fighters were inside of the building. Verrick signaled his Rangers and they killed the archers with a single, well-placed arrow to the head. As their bodies hit the ground the remaining guards turned to see what was going on. They didn’t have time to cry out as three more imbued arrows ended the threat.

“Move quickly. We must get to the ferry terminal outpost to treat Master,” Verrick said, speaking low and fast.

The group nodded and began moving across the intersection with the Rangers providing an overwatch for threats. It wasn’t long until they were past the building and moving quickly down the street. They were only four city blocks from their destination, but they had taken out so many Bandit groupings between where they were, and where they had to be, that the number of locations for a possible ambush were numerous.

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Verrick was paranoid about being jumped by any waiting groups that were left behind as a security measure. It would make more sense to catch them in the open with a large group than in a building with numerous possible chokepoints.

His suspicions were realized when they made to cross the intersection one block up from the outpost, and a half dozen bolts slammed into the cars and people around him. Two of the human rescues went down immediately, dead before they hit the ground. A Goblin next to Josephine also died. The other bolts missed, skidding along the ground or getting lodged in the debris surrounding them.

Ducking back down, the escorting warriors corralled their charges into cover while firing back. However, there was hardly any cover in the spot they were in. More refugees went down, killed by the more accurate crossbow fire. Several Goblins tried to charge out but were met with actual gunfire. The Bandit's bullets had to be running low by now, but they apparently knew how dangerous one of the little green guys was.

After nearly a hundred of shots, the crossbows fell silent. Verrick was breathing hard as he snapped a bolt off mid-shaft, leaving the protruding bit in his thigh. It wasn’t fatal, but it would hamper his mobility for the foreseeable future.

A voice called out over the devastating scene.

“Hey! You still alive over there?” a man called out. “How about you just give up? You do that, and maybe we don’t have to kill you? Maybe you just take us back to where you came from and we can … discuss our options?”

Verrick tried to locate the voice but wasn’t able to pin it down. The intersection they were in had several large buildings surrounding them on three sides, and the river to their backs. He would have just had everyone jump in, but not only did the river flow the wrong way, but there was also aquatic life within in capable of seriously harming or even killing a person.

“We run. Run fast, run hard. Cover Ray. This mission is lost. We need to get back,” Verrick said to his Rangers, Josephine, and Jalla. “I will stay with the wounded and cover you. There's… about a twenty-second gap between bolts. If the Goblins rush them and I pick off some shooters, that should get you to the next block, and to the outpost.”

Josephine nodded, but Jalla seemed curious. “Why don’t I just drop a smoke screen and we all leave together? We can certainly do that. Draemon magic and tight spaces don’t mix, but out here? Plenty of room.”

“Do it quickly, Ray is bleeding out,” the Aelvin stated bluntly.

The Draemon Sorcerer nodded and brought his hands together, almost as if praying. With a sharp movement, a loud crack echoed through the quiet square as a red tear in the sky above them appeared. It belched out black smoke in a huge enough quantity that it made the Smog Snail look pitiful.

Cries of alarm from across the street sounded out as whoever was after them began blind firing into the smoke.

“Run! Run now!” cried Verrick as they took off, leaving their dead in the street. The wounded were supported by those who were whole. Gunfire erupted as they ran, the Bandits realizing they were making a break for it. A Ranger cried and went down, along with a Goblin and three more refugees. They moved as quickly as they could through the smoke and ash for several minutes, the dark smog spewing from the tear and covering the streets.

They heard the cries of the undead as they realized the sun had been obscured, the stomping feet getting closer to them. People from the back of the line cried out as they were taken down by the swarming undead. Those cries were silenced almost immediately as they were torn apart.

Verrick grimaced, unsure if they would make it.

Then they were through. The nearly blinding sunlight making them squint as the group realized they were only a few hundred yards from safety. They could see the fluttering white flag above the ferry terminal.

“Go. Don’t stop,” the Aelvin Ranger said tiredly. “When we get there we will seal everything and wait for the barge. This expedition is over.”

Josephine, who was carrying Ray along with one of the Draemon, nodded her agreement. While they had saved several hundred people their losses had been significant. There was an organization here that they couldn’t contend with right now. One that was cruel, evil, and violent. Not that they were much better, but they didn’t starve their people at least. This Bandit group, as Ray had taken to calling them, ruled through fear and violence. Something her Master would never do. Not willingly anyway.

The group struggled up to the gangplanks that had been dropped by the Orkin and Goblins inside of the outpost. They quickly ushered them in, Goblin medics tending to the wounded while the people inside assisted as they could. An early rescue from one of the Bandit camps had been a nurse, or the child of one anyway. That made treatment easier.

Setting her savior down, Josephine took a seat and watched the wooden bridge be pulled back up. Verrick was giving out instructions like they were candy. Coordinating the sealing of the building and preparation for defense. They would only be here long enough for the barge to arrive, then they would head back to their claimed territory.

She had no doubt that Ray would want to come back here after the Integration to set the remaining people free. He would come with fire and death, ensuring that those people would be safe under his banner.

And she would be next to him. Along with Jalla, Verrick, and any of their friends, he could bring them back. He most certainly wouldn’t be alone.

And Gods willing, they would be able to retake their future from dead hands that held it.

***

RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN

RACE

HUMAN

CLASS

NONE

NEX

CALCULATING

LEVEL

PHYSICAL STATE

WOUNDED

MENTAL STATE

UNCONSCIOUS

ATTRIBUTE

BASE

CURRENT

NEX TO INCREASE

STRENGTH

AGILITY

POWER

100

WISDOM

LUCK

400

JOSEPHINE SANCHEZ