Chapter 42
Breakfast
October 17th 2059
1 day Post Armageddon
Leo had intended to rest his eyes for a bit before seeking out the clinic to offer his services. When he woke up, it was morning, and Imp informed him he'd slept for over twelve hours.
“Why didn't you wake me?” Leo grumbled.
You needed the sleep, Leo. Though you have leveled up on handling sleep deprivation, that skill will only take you so far.
Leo left the empty room below the stadium and climbed the stairs, entering the stadium itself. He pushed through the crowd, ignoring angry looks. Some people were crying, others were staring off into space, still in shock from what they'd experienced. He didn't remember the misery in others from the last time around. He was sure the misery had been there, but he'd been too preoccupied with his own suffering to notice.
He spotted a flag with a red cross on it, which he assumed was the makeshift hospital where he needed to go help out. But first, he needed to check on Lydia. And he was starving.
“Leo! Leo Edwards! You asshole!” It was Brick.
You've got to be kidding, Leo thought. He turned and walked over to Brick, who was lying on a makeshift stretcher near the red cross flag. Brick's left arm and leg were covered with bandages. From the looks of things, Brick had been bitten multiple times by an Afflicted, but managed to escape. One of the few good things about the Afflicted was that they weren't contagious. Assuming Brick didn't die of infection or something, he'd be fine.
The effects of the Bio-Blessed Brick had taken before the Change were barely noticeable. Brick's teeth were longer and sharper, but that was it. He had been too poor to afford much Bio-Blessed, and some of what the dumb-ass had taken had been counterfeit.
“You don't look so hot, Brick,” Leo said, looking down at the larger boy.
Brick glared at him, trying to stand up despite his injuries. “Fuck you! You fucking loser. You lied to us. Why didn't you tell us the world was going to end?”
“I did tell you, and everyone else, repeatedly,” Leo said. “But you all thought I was crazy.”
“You should have tried harder.” A couple of Brick's wounds looked pretty severe, and some of his bandages were turning red, like they were bleeding again.
Considering what Brick had put him through, Leo felt little sympathy. He pulled out the envelope he'd been carrying with Brick's money in it. “Well, Brick. It's October 17th, and I promised you $1000.” He tossed the envelope, so it bounced off Brick's chest. “Here you go. $1000 in cash. Don't spend it all in one place. I was planning on also kicking your ass for being a prick, but you look like you've had enough already.” Leo looked around. “What happened to your cronies, Tanner and What's-His-Face?”
Brick started crying. “We were hanging out, and the monsters came from nowhere. I barely got away, but my friends didn't make it. I could hear their screams, but I couldn't do anything! Why didn't you tell us the world was going to end? Asshole!”
Leo turned and walked away.
***
Ultra Warrior Gunslinger 83: Your sister is fine, Leo. Lydia was asking about you. Apparently, she got tired of doing dishes and serving food in our cafeteria, so they sent her to help out in our makeshift hospital, at which point, she decided she didn't mind doing dishes after all.
Future Man 10/16: Thanks, Jason.
After a bit of searching and asking for directions, he found the cafeteria in a large room underneath the bleachers. From the signs on the walls, Leo guessed this had once been a bar. It was now a busy cafeteria with a long line of people waiting for food.
Leo pushed through the line and between a couple of large security people and entered the food preparation area. “It's okay. My sister works here,” he said, showing off his implant when security, food servers, and people in the line tried to stop him.
“Asshole!” someone shouted as Leo entered the kitchen area.
“It's okay. That's Leo,” Howie said from the kitchen. Leo found the large man working furiously on food preparation, hands moving far faster than they had any right to.
“Howie!” Leo said, surprised at how glad he was to see that the large man was okay, though that could have been because he was hungry. “You're keeping busy.”
“This implant is amazing,” Howie said, not pausing what he was doing. “I'm doing the work of five people right now. Lydia is in the back doing dishes.”
“I don't suppose I could get something to eat?”
“Sure thing.” Howie grabbed a tray and loaded it down with eggs, bacon, hash browns, a chicken-fried steak, and green beans. “We're running out of basic food supplies. Pretty soon I'm going to have to get creative, so enjoy this while it lasts. Coffee, right?”
“Yes, please, and could I get some extra food for my sister? I want to make sure she's eating.”
“She already ate, but sure,” Howie piled some more on, giving him a couple of bottled waters and a cup of coffee. “Your friend Jason has ketchup and Tabasco sauce, if you're interested.”
“Thanks, Howie. You're the best.” Leo headed to where people were cleaning dishes.
Leo sagged with relief when he saw Lydia. She was with twenty others, most of them kids. She slowly sorted out silverware before it ran through a large dishwasher, ignoring an adult telling her to hurry. It was clear she'd been doing this for a while. He looked around and saw food and water dishes for a cat in a distant corner, but no sign of Sparkles. Presumably, Sparkles was off exploring.
“Leo!” Lydia's face lit up. She ran over to him. Then she kicked him in the leg. Hard. Thanks to his armor, Leo barely felt it. She glared at him. “Ow! You hurt my foot.” She kicked him a second time, then put her foot down gingerly.
“So quit kicking me, stupid.” Leo held his tray away from her to stop her from jostling it. “I just came to make sure you're okay, but it looks like you're fine.”
“You ditched us yesterday to run off to do stupid things and get yourself killed!” Lydia said, pulling back her other foot and kicking him for a third time. “Cut it out!”
“You scared us when you ran off like that,” Jason said, joining them. “Thank God Shank got us to the stadium, but she was pissed. You shouldn't have done that.”
“I was trying to help,” Leo said. “I did what I thought was right.”
“Idiot!” Lydia said, kicking him for a fourth time.
“I brought some extra food, in case you hadn't eaten,” Leo said. “Are you hungry?”
“Come on people,” an older lady shouted. “They're running out of clean dishes. Get back to work.”
“I ate already,” Lydia said with a sigh. “I'd better get back to work before Doris kills me.” She turned and limped back to the dishwasher line.
“Come on. I'm eating over here.” Jason pulled him over to a corner table. “We can't eat in the cafeteria. People keep asking where we got the extra portions.”
Leo joined him and wasted no time stuffing food into his mouth as fast as he could. He hadn't eaten in over a day. “This is so good. I'm starving.”
“Do you really like it?” Jason asked, looking gloomy.
“Oh, hell, yeah,” Leo said through a mouthful of food while dumping ketchup on his hash browns. “Howie is amazing. These eggs have salt and pepper, cheese even. I wish I ate a tenth this well during my previous future.”
“I can't stand cheese on my eggs,” Jason said. “So Howie made me sunny-side-up eggs, but they're runny.”
“They're supposed to be runny,” Leo said. “If you don't want them, I'll take them.”
“Okay.” Jason moved his eggs onto Leo's tray. “And it's the wrong kind of bacon.. Mom uses hickory smoked bacon.”
“So what? It's bacon. Bacon tastes like bacon.”
“It's not how Mom makes it. Mom could be mean, but she was an amazing cook, and she made great breakfasts — and now she's gone.” Jason started crying. “I thought this world would be amazing. That I wouldn't have school, I could live how I liked and my life would be great. I was wrong. This post-apocalyptic world sucks.”
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Leo got up, walked around the small table, and put his arm around Jason. “Sorry, Jason. I did try to warn you.”
By the time Leo left the cafeteria, he'd gone from starving to uncomfortably full, having finished his own overfilled tray and all the food Jason didn't want.
Teach: Leo, we're planning on setting up a trap to reduce the Afflicted population and gain more Demon Tears. I was hoping you would help us out.
Future Man 10/16: I will. But first, I need to help at the hospital. I'll use my Group Heal skill to reduce the patient population.
Teach: Meet me after. I want to bounce some ideas off you.
Leo's next stop was the makeshift hospital.
Patients with minor injuries, like Brick, were on stretchers with blankets, and left outside to take in the fresh air and sun. The patients with more serious problems were in a large room underneath the bleachers, from which Leo could hear cries of pain.
A lot of volunteers were going between patients trying to help, but from what Leo could tell, aside from bringing the patients food or water, or helping them to one of the nearby Porta Potties to relieve themselves, they knew very little about patient care.
The rows of cots were filled with patients with serious injuries: arms or legs missing, infected wounds, ailments, and illnesses Leo couldn't identify. IVs were hung in less than sanitary conditions and heart-rate monitors were beeping. One patient had a horrible-sounding cough and had red flakes on their mouth and pillow. Most of the patients were children.
“What do you want?” a tired-looking nurse asked as Leo walked up.
“I'm Leo Edwards, the Guardian. I have a Group Heal skill.”
***
“Hey Isabelle,” the tired-looking nurse called out. “It's Leo.”
A second nurse saw him and rushed over to join them. “Leo?”
Leo nodded.
“Nice to meet you,” Isabelle said. “Trent told me about you, and we could use your help. What kind of healing skill do you have? and what's your skill's cooldown time?”
“I can heal twenty people for a bit over two vitality points or thirty percent of their total vitality, whichever is lower. The cooldown time is around half an hour.”
“Is your healing skill cumulative?” she asked. “Meaning, if you healed someone once and raised their vitality by two points, could you heal them a second time for a second two vitality points?”
That was a good question.
Leo shook his head. “I think it tapers off quickly. For example, I could heal two Vitality points the first time, then next time maybe half of that, and so on. It's good for surface injuries and bruising. I believe the skill was made to get wounded soldiers back into battle. But it won't grow back a leg.” Leo knew this because he'd tried to heal a badly damaged leg yesterday with no success.
“I see.” Isabelle smiled tiredly. “Tell you what. Why don't you use your skill on everyone in the hospital, and we can go from there? A few of us have a stronger heal skill, but it's only good for one patient at a time and has a longer cooldown period. When you're finished, I know Trent has been dying to talk to you.”
“You know Trent?” Leo asked.
“I'm his fiancee,” she responded with a laugh. “He's been talking about you for the last month, 'that creepy damn kid predicting the end of the world'.”
“Wish I'd been wrong,” Leo said. “I'd better get started healing people.”
***
After spending the next several hours doing a Group Heal on everyone in the hospital, and a bunch of other patients with minor injuries, the hospital wasn't empty by any means, but the sick population was down to a more manageable level. He even healed Brick enough so the large bully could walk without assistance.
“You suck,” Brick grumbled before walking off.
When Leo emerged from the hospital, Trent was waiting for him.
“Isabelle told me you were here, and I wanted to talk to you,” Trent said, walking beside him. “Mind if I smoke? I keep trying to quit. But since the world has ended...”
“That's fine. Go ahead,” Leo said as they made their way to the stadium's unofficial smoking spot.
Trent took a cigarette out of a mostly empty carton, put it in his mouth, and inhaled, the end of the cigarette glowing red as Trent lit it with his mind. “I owe you one for last month's warning.”
“Glad I could help,” Leo said. “I just met your fiancee, and she seems like a nice lady. Are the kids okay?”
“They're fine. Helping out in the cafeteria. After your warning a month ago, I told my Imp to do what she wanted with my Demon Tears. She did, and it's worked out great. My question is, should I keep letting her build up my skills? Or do I take charge of them from here?”
“Well,” Leo said. “If you don't know what you're doing, letting your Imp run things is probably for the best. But keep in mind that your Imp will choose the most conservative options.”
Trent took another drag on his cigarette. “I see.”
“From what I've seen, you have a very large power well, a decent ranged attack, and I'd guess a decent shield. If you have some idea what you want to accomplish in the future, you'll want to go on and do your own thing.”
“Good. I need a stronger ranged attack. What happened last night with that High-Level Boss was embarrassing. Oh. And there’s something I wanted to show you. Look down.”
Leo did. Trent was hovering an inch off the ground.
“My Flight/Levitate skill is still low level, but I can fly. This is amazing.”
“Yeah. It is,” Leo said, momentarily envious. “I'm guessing you're at the tenth level?”
“Eleventh level. I leveled up a second time during yesterday's fighting.”
“Nice,” Leo said, forcing a smile while wanting to cry. “There's something I've wanted to ask you for a while. Do you really believe in God?”
Trent laughed. “I'm guessing you're one of those guys. The how-can-a-kind-loving-God-do-so-many-horrible-things-to-people-who-don't-deserve-them guys?”
Leo nodded.
“Gretchen explained it to me. God's goodness and love have little to do with how humans define the terms. God is good the way the weather is good. The hurricane that brings flooding and disease that kills thousands also brings water for plants and crops.”
“Your god seems brutal,” Leo responded.
“I'm not saying I'm happy about it, Leo, but getting upset with God is like getting upset with the weather. It doesn't do you any good. I prayed for God to help me with my alcoholism, and God delivered. Then I met a great woman. Even more amazing, God sent you to me, Leo. God sent a 62-year-old boy to warn me of the world's ending. I did nothing to deserve that. I'm no saint, a lot of the time I'm not even that good a Christian. But God sent you to me, anyway. I need to do what I can to be worthy of that.”
“I see,” Leo said. “Want to join me? Mr. Osmond wants to set up some traps, and I need to stop him from doing anything stupid.”
“Maybe in a bit. I got three people messaging me on my implant screaming for a Pyro Mage.” Trent grinned. “It's good to be in demand. And I've got to level up my flight skill.”
***
Badger 22: Future Man. Leo? Are you here?
Future Man 10/16: Badger from the Agency? Are you okay? Sorry I couldn't help you. But things have been completely insane since the world ended.
Badger 22: We can talk later. Right now, I need you in front. My rescuers are very angry, and they want to kill Desiree.
It took Leo a few seconds to figure out what Badger was talking about.
Future Man 10/16: Oh. You mean Shank. Shit. I'll be right there.
Leo started running.
In front of the stadium, Shank and a small, bespectacled, dark-haired man stood in front of fifteen people whose one-armed condition meant they were obviously implant wearers.
“I want to kill that bitch!” shouted a one-armed man, holding a ball of electricity in his remaining hand.
“Easy people. I was just following orders.” Shank had her arms raised with open hands in a placating gesture, while making her implant glow violet, trying to calm down the angry mob. “If I'd said anything, they'd have thrown me in prison, too.”
Leo ran over and stood in front of Shank and the other man. “I'm guessing you were stuck in that Agency prison, and the end of the world allowed you to escape? Sound right?”
“Yeah.” Electric Man said. “We escaped with that Badger guy,” he nodded at Badger. “With no help from you dipshits.”
“I'm Leo. End of the world guy. I'm sorry we couldn't help you earlier. Things have been completely insane around here, with the world ending and all.”
“That's nice. We're here for that bitch,” the man responded. “She tortured people.”
“I don't like her either, but she has useful intel and we need her alive.”
Electric Man's response was to throw a ball of electricity at Leo.
Leo had just enough time to review his skills and find that Time Freeze was still on cooldown, and think oh shit, before the ball of electricity hit him.
His armor protected him, but not enough. Pain shot through Leo. His muscles spasmed, and he fell to the ground, twitching.
“Try that again, and you'll be a head shorter,” Shank said, motioning towards three spinning-bladed weapons floating behind the mob. “Are you okay, Leo?”
With a groan, Leo nodded.
“Please settle down, everyone,” Gretchen said, stepping forward and applying her voice of influence skill. “We need all the help we can get, and we can't afford to fight among ourselves. I'm Gretchen, the shelter's temporary leader.”
The mob of angry implant wearers calmed down instantly. “That bitch tortured people,” Electric Man said, sounding sulky and defensive.
“We know,” Gretchen said. “And we will deal with that at the appropriate time. Why don't you join us for something to eat?”
With another groan, Leo got to his feet and sighed. If he was going to keep dealing with people, he needed his Shield special skill. If only he had another level and more Demon Tears.