“Where to?” Heinz asked.

The creature - Musical chair, had come from the north east. Off the main road and into the heart of the zone. It was a sure path to finding more Swarm.

“We need to find a base.” Phil began. “Somewhere we can retreat to if things go wrong or we are overwhelmed.”

“We can retreat to the wall. We should follow the musical chair.” Louise said.

“I think yesterday and this-” Heinz gestured back towards where the fight had happened. “Shows us that the wall isn’t a safe area like it used to be.”

“We can’t see well. Phil’s right. We need a fallback if things go to shit.” Shane said and started leading them down the road.

“Follow the road until we find a house?” Tara suggested. She was still winded from the fight.

“Did you bring your lockpicking tools Phil?” Heinz asked.

“Yes.” Phil patted his pocket. “You think that we should search the houses?”

“We can always use more food. Somewhere to sleep wouldn’t hurt.”

“We’re here to fight swarm.” Louise interjected. “We are falling behind and need to catch up, remember?”

“Maybe we could clear the area around the house until the sun rises?” Heinz suggested. “I know we said we would make the most of the time but we do have 12 hours. It’ll be easier and safer to work in the light.”

Louise looked around at the rest of the group but she didn’t get much support. They were all running on little sleep. She didn’t look happy at the change in plans.

“Alright then. Find a defensible house, clear it and the area then rest until first light?” Phil summarised.

They got into formation. Heinz was on the left with Louise as usual and Tara led the group in the middle. Heinz tried to start up a conversation with Louise but she didn’t seem interested in talking.

The first house they came across was a small cottage just off the main road. They checked it out and killed the two small swarm they found there but left soon after. The cottage was recessed in the ground with a hill behind it. It was small and had little visibility around it. They needed something better.

The dead Seed and Spore provided them with more information on the Bounty system. The small rat-like Spore gave Shane a single credit when he crushed it. The Seed gave a total of 10 credits between Heinz, Phil and Tara. They weren’t going to get rich quick but there was potential here.

The next few houses continued the trend set by the cottage. They didn’t scout or enter any of them- they were getting further and further from the wall and didn’t want to take any risks. Instead they decided to raid them for supplies on their way back out.

“Get down!” Tara hissed and waved Louise and Heinz over to the right side of the road.

They followed her over to Phil and Shane. Tara crouched down into the undergrowth and gestured for them to do the same. She held a finger to her lips.

“What are we hiding from?” Phil whispered.

Tara tapped her finger against her lips furiously and signalled for him to stop moving.

Heinz couldn’t hear any hissing, growling or warbling but he held still and tried to focus. He thought he could hear faint crunching in the distance. It was faint enough it could have been leaves rustling in the wind.

After a minute Tara gestured for them to stay before slowly standing up to peek over the ditch. Just as slowly she crouched back down and motioned for them to stay.

As the wait extended, Heinz focused on his breathing and tried to relax. He felt vulnerable crouched in the dirt at the side of the road.

Tara could have seen anything. Had they stumbled on a corpse mound?

It was unlikely that another group was under attack. Tara would have said something if people were in danger.

Tara gestured to them to rise after her next check. She kept a finger on her mouth and led them further down the road, hugging the hedgerow the whole way.

“We should be fine to talk now but stay quiet.” Tara said in a whisper as she gathered them in a huddle.

“What did we hide from?” Louise asked.

“I don’t know. It was too far to make out but it was huge. The size of a van.”

“So?” Louise hissed.

“Why were we-” Heinz coughed as the whisper caught in his throat. “-hiding if it was so far away?”

“I think I saw something move in the sky.”

Heinz flicked his eyes up. They hadn’t seen any flying swarm yet and he hoped that wasn’t going to change. The musical chair was a sign of the swarm diverting into the unknown.

“Where did it go?” Shane asked. He was watching the skies too.

“South east.” Tara said with a shudder. “Not directly along the road but in the same direction.”

“We continue then.” Shane said and stepped back from the huddle.

The next house they came across was a large two story house. It was a modern design and it seemed to have a stone veneer based on the shifting greys. A large flat garden circled the house. There were no cars in the drive and none of the windows were broken at the front.

“Phil and Shane get the door open. Heinz and Tara, you're with me. We’ll check out the back of the house.”

Heinz followed Louise around the left side of the house. The garden was neat. It was new enough that the grass was behaving and the flower beds were uniform. A climbing frame and trampoline took up the left side of the garden.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Swarm!” Louise called and gestured over to the right.

Heinz flicked his halberd off his shoulder and stepped away from Louise and Tara. He had trouble spotting the swarm at first. It was only when it moved that he realised it wasn’t a rockery.

Craggy patches shifted as the creature turned toward them. It lifted itself off the ground and tilted to the side as it began to step towards them. It was about the size of a sideways wheelie bin and a jagged tail trailed on the floor behind it.

“Spread out.” Louise called and backed away from Tara.

“It fits the description of the creatures that took out the I38-4P clearing group.” Heinz said as the swarm made slow progress towards them.

“Pangolins.” Tara confirmed.

“Heinz, see if you can pierce it.” Louise instructed.

Heinz stalked forward, keeping an eye on the slow creature in case it was hiding its speed. The Pangolin paid him no mind as it continued towards the others. The craggy patches overlapped like scales and he circled the creature until he was behind it.

He raised his halberd and stabbed at an overlap. His halberd barely sunk in before a crunch sounded. He could push it in no further. The Pangolin let out a grating hack and collapsed, falling towards Heinz.

Heinz jerked his spear back and jogged quickly away from the oncoming creature. Its momentum ground to a halt near him and the Pangolin shuddered before lifting up again and continuing its plodding steps.

Out here in the wide garden the slow creature was easy to avoid. Its faster sideways rolls could be avoided without issue too. But Heinz could see how deadly it could be in a crowd or small space. The craggy scales that lined the Pangolin’s back were sharp.

“I don’t think piercing will work.” Heinz shouted to Louise and Tara. He flipped his halberd around and brought the counterweight forward. Louise’s shear blades and Tara’s axe wouldn’t help here. “One of you get Shane. All you’ll do is dull your blades.”

Heinz began a slow dance. He would dart forward and slam the metal counterweight against the Pangolin’s back then jump back as it fell to the side and rolled towards him. He aimed for the flat side of the scales now. Either to crack them or hammer into the creature.

Shane joined him and blow by blow they wore it down until all the scales between its forelegs were exposed. Aside from one close call that ended in Shane’s fishbox shield being crushed under the creature it was easy.

“Tara!” Shane called as he ran away from the rolling creature. As the creature teetered to a halt Tara ran forward and raised her axe up. The blow came down true and the Pangolin let out a grating hack that sent a shiver down Heinz's spine.

“Again!” Shane darted forward and slammed a blow of his own against the scales nearby.

Three axe blows later the creature collapsed forward.

User I38-3NA5 - Fighter-R

Seed Bounty

Credits

3

“That was a seed?” Heinz asked, dismayed.

It had taken about 5 minutes to kill the creature. Jackals were seeds.

Tara shrugged at him. “It gave a lot of energy.”

Heinz reached for his status.

User I38-3NA5

Credits

37

Classification

Fighter-R

Energy

Threshold

127

700

Agility

3

Channel

3

Endurance

6

Recovery

6

Strength

9

It was the highest energy increase from a Seed but it didn’t match up to the effort.

“How does something so hard turn to gas?” Tara asked as she poked the back of the dissolving swarm.

Shane grunted in response. “Let’s see if the others got inside.”

This side of the house was all glass so it was unlikely they wouldn’t have seen them but they took the excuse to leave the dissolving corpse behind.

Louise was pacing back and forth while Phil worked on the door.

“No luck Phil?” Heinz asked.

“No.” Phil slapped his tools down and flexed his hands out. “It’s a newer kind of lock and I can’t get it.”

“We break it down then.” Shane smacked his sledgehammer against his palm.

“That would defeat the purpose of a safe base.” Louise said with an exhale.

“We can barricade the door from the inside.” Heinz suggested. “Move a cabinet behind it to lock it.”

“That won’t help if we are chased.” Phil said and he stood up. Heinz winced remembering the trap at Aiden’s farm.

“Ehm.. guys?”

They turned to see Tara holding a rock in one hand and a key in the other. She placed the rock back into place in the stone veneer.

“We could just use the key.”

They settled inside in the kitchen/ living area. A musty smell permeated the house but at least there was no rotting food lying around.

They left their helmets on the kitchen countertop and their bags on the ground beside it. They kept their weapons close. Heinz’s halberd was laid on the floor in front of stylish couches.

“We have about two hours until the sun rises.” Heinz said with a yawn and plopped down on the couch. “Get what rest you can.”

“I won’t be able to sleep.” Louise said and picked her bag up. “I’m going to check out upstairs and keep watch.”

She turned and left the room before anyone could say anything. Heinz raised an eyebrow at Phil but he shook his head.

Heinz leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. He began to steady his breathing. Inhale for 1-2-3-4-5, hold for 1-2-3 and exhale for 1-2-3-4-5. His shoulders relaxed.

“Any news about your niece?” Tara’s voice rang out in the quiet.

“No.” Shane said. His voice was gruff.

Heinz opened his eyes. “I put a notice up in the outdoor centre but no Healys have checked in there.”

“She might have a new surname.” Phil said cautiously.

Shane stiffened. “I know.”

“Hopefully someone will recognise the name soon.” Heinz offered. A shaky silence descended.

Heinz was deep in meditation when the peace was disturbed next.

Louise ran into the room.

“Someone’s outside.”

Heinz shot up and grabbed his halberd.

“What kind of swarm?”

“No, not swarm. People.”