"Good job, nice recovery there," Beth said, patting Sabs on the shoulder. "Here, clean your daggers," she continued, handing Sabs one of a number of rags she had brought with her this time. This time, there was definitely a noticeable blush from Sabs as she responded with a fast "Thanks!"
As Sabs started wiping her daggers clean, the others walked over. They waited for her to finish, then Beth led them out of the copse and into the field of the farm. The group was rather surprised by the large mound.
"I take it this is the enemy base of operations," Zack questioned as the others made some surprised noises.
"Yeah, that's right. We should avoid it for now, though," Beth replied.
"And why is that?" Zack asked. Beth was sure he knew but was likely using this to drive home the point to the rest of the group.
"It's not just full of ants, but level four ants. You saw how Sabs had difficulty with one level three. Well, level fours are even tougher and faster. They also always show up in groups in there, so it's not somewhere we should just be wandering around," Beth answered.
"Alright, where are the closest enemy combatants?" Zack continued, nodding at her answer.
"Either east or west of the mound a little ways are a group of two level three ants. Those would probably be the closest to us unless one walks out of the nest while we stand here," Beth replied.
"Let's head eastward," Zack ordered.
Beth led the group to the east and then turned north. They approached the group of level three ants Beth had seen the day before. When they were close, she used Identify just to make sure.
Common Ant Level 3
Common Ant Level 3
It was like she thought; two level three ants. She motioned to the group to stop and looked at Zack questioningly.
"I want to try something," he answered the unspoken question.
Following this declaration, he undid the safety strap on his holster and drew his pistol. "Stand back, and you'll probably want to cover your ears. Beth, I want you to keep a lookout; I don't have a silencer on this, and it is going to be loud," he instructed.
The group, except for Beth, backed up and plugged their ears. Beth moved to the side a little bit, but didn't even bother with plugging her ears. She knew the weapon would be loud, but she both needed to get used to all kinds of noises in combat as well as needing to be able to hear if anything approached making a lot of noise. She also knew that her much higher END would let her ears endure the noise without really suffering any damage.
Zack took a few steps forward and lined up on the ants. It would be a long shot for a pistol at about fifty feet, but he was a talented marksman who had earned expert badges in both the service rifle and pistol classes. Even after his retirement from the service, he had diligently maintained both his physical fitness as well as his weapon proficiency.
Zack lined up on the closer ant and fired. The shot hit the ant in the thorax and pushed it to the side slightly. The other ant turned toward the source of the disturbance and began skittering forward. It locked on Zack as it got closer and charged towards him. He calmly lined up on the second ant and pulled the trigger again. There was another sharp report as the ant's left eye exploded in a fountain of ichor and gore.
The second ant collapsed dead on the ground, leaving only the first ant that was painedly staggering at Zack. He lined up on the ant as it approached and calmly squeezed off a third shot, the bark of the pistol happening almost simultaneously with a burst of gore from the back of the ant's head. He had drilled a hole clean through it, and the ant's head's exoskeleton was much the worse for the attention, cracked and warped all over.
"Well, that's two ugly bastards down. Oorah!" he said, checking the chamber before holstering his pistol. He also spent a moment looking for the casings of the rounds he just fired, not wanting to leave loose brass lying around.
Beth looked northwest toward the ants beyond the mound of the nest. She didn't see any movement from that direction. She then glanced to her left, looking toward the nest itself. There she did spot movement, an ant trundling down the ramp and toward them. She knew this could be trouble and started jogging toward the nest.
"Beth," her mother called out, but Beth waved her off. As she got close, she used Identify on the new ant.
Common Ant Level 4
Luckily, she had spotted it and moved to intercept. Zack would likely be able to take it out, but she also wanted the experience. She left her sword sheathed and charged Crush in her right hand and wrist. Closing with the ant, she stepped forward and to the side, smashing her fist into the side of the beast's head. There was a loud *Crunch* as the left side of the ant's head splintered, ichor oozing out.
The creature still wasn't dead, despite Beth's now improved stats compared to the day prior. She wasn't deterred at all and rapidly drew her fist back, empowering it and her wrist again. With a quick rotation for extra force, she slammed her fist into the already crushed side of the ant's head. This time there was a soft cracking sound followed by a loud squelching noise as Beth's lightly armored glove plunged through the ant's head, stopping right before the other side.
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Common Ant Level 4 slain.
Crush Copper[4] acquired.
She was very happy with this result. The ant didn't give much experience toward level five, but the extra level of Crush would be immensely helpful. Realizing she still had a hand submerged in ant brains, she quickly jerked her fist out of the ant's head. Muttering a quick curse under her breath, she pulled out a cloth and used it to wipe down her glove.
The rest of the group joined her and looked at the even bigger ant. "Level four?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, they're tougher and quicker than level threes. Takes me a couple hits using a good skill to kill them," Beth replied, nodding to Zack as she finished cleaning her glove.
"Alright, we'll head back for a rest and some chow. Let's move," Zack ordered.
The group followed Beth back through the little wood, across the field, and through the woodlot. They emerged near the Bells’ backyard and headed through to the street. The ditch digging crews were nowhere in sight as they had moved on from the area to other parts of the development. The group walked the streets to the meeting hall, where they found several people gathered, all readying food and drink. Zack stepped away to get reports on what was happening and assess the situation.
The rest of the group disbursed through the area, with Sabs joining Beth and Rachel at one of a number of picnic tables set out around the building. They stopped to grab some snacks and drinks first. Beth sat opposite her mother, and Sabs sat right next to Beth on the bench.
Beth started tearing through a huge quantity of food while Sabs watched, a little wide-eyed, beside her. "You eventually get used to it," Rachel commented, shaking her head at her daughter. Beth just grunted in reply and kept working through the wraps and bowls of fruit that had been stocked in two refrigerators brought to the meeting hall from somewhere else.
Sabs slowly worked her way through a wrap as Rachel ate some fruit and granola, still glancing to the side at Beth's massacre of food. Beth finished her slaughter as Sabs was about three-quarters done with her wrap, and Beth took a huge drink, draining a nearly full sports drink. She leaned back with a satisfied belch before blushing a little and excusing herself. Her mother just glared at her while Sabs bumped her shoulder against Beth's, brushing their upper arms together.
Beth smiled at the girl, really taking a good look at her. She was short and petite, with a round, pretty face containing bright blue eyes, a button nose, and small, plump lips. Her hair was a platinum blonde styled in a slightly long pixie cut, not falling past her jawline at the longest, and Beth could see that, at least in the ear closer to her, Sabs had a piercing in the upper part of the ear.
Holy hell, she's super cute, thought Beth, blushing a little and looking away. She saw her mom was staring at her with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, which certainly wasn't helping any. She continued looking around, noticing that Zack was surrounded by a small group of people, all gesturing and talking at various times as he listened and made notes.
"I guess it might be a little while," Beth said while nodding at Zack, before mimicking Sabs’s shoulder brush move with one of her own while both other women were distracted. Sabs blushed a little herself, quickly glancing at Beth before looking away again.
"You should just take some time to rest," said Rachel, nodding at the two of them. She then got up and walked over to see what the meeting was about under the large pavilion.
"Hey, sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Sabs said shyly.
"It's fine. My mom's always on my case anyway. Also, I'll deal with my mom any time to hang out with someone so cute," Beth answered firmly, giving Sabs another shoulder brush. Sabs giggled at that, a light, mercurial sound that made Beth's heart beat a little faster.
"So, what's up with the knives?" Beth asked, trying to steer the interaction in a little less embarrassing direction for a moment.
"Oh these?" Sabs asked, pulling them out and putting them on the table. "They're my dad's. He collects a lot of strange stuff from all over. His job has him travel one week a month, sometimes two, and he finds odd stuff in all kinds of places and brings it back. I sometimes really wonder how he gets some of this stuff back. Apparently, he found these at a market in India and brought them back in his luggage. Don't know how he got them by security."
Beth picked up one of the daggers and weighed it in her hands, looking closely at the blade. "These are pretty neat. What are they called, kukri right?" she asked.
"Yeah, they're a type of traditional knife from, uh, Nepal, I think? They're used by a type of really respected soldier from there called…what was it…oh, uh, Gurkha. They're used as a general-purpose knife by them for all kinds of stuff, but a lot of people in the area use them, even using them as machetes," Sabs explained.
"Get all that from your dad, huh?" asked Beth, brushing her shoulder again.
"Well, uh, some of it. And, uh, I know it's weird, but I like history. So, I, ya know, read about some of the stuff he has and he brings back," Sabs answered, looking down as she reddened again.
"Hey, I'm not poking fun. I think it's neat. Also, neat that you can use them so well. It's cool," Beth hastily answered, patting the smaller girl on the back.
"Thanks. How'd you get so strong? Is it just because you're a lot older?" Sabs asked.
"Uh, not really. I just kinda like fighting, and I have some training by going to the boxing gym. I'm not really much older, I don't even turn eighteen until December," Beth answered.
"OH! Uh…" Sabs responded, looking down and reddening further.
"What?" Beth asked.
"Uh, I just turned nineteen…" Sabs muttered quietly, still staring at her lap.
"Oh…well…huh. I guess I just got, uhm, my growth spurt early," Beth stammered, suddenly embarrassed that she had assumed the smaller girl was younger.
"It's fine, I think it just makes you cooler," Sabs said, glancing at her quickly before looking off to the side.
"What, being a dope is cool now?" Beth retorted with a raised eyebrow.
"No, no, no. That's not what I meant!" Sabs exclaimed, holding up her hands.
"Don't get so flustered," Beth chuckled, wrapping her right arm around the girl and giving her a squeeze. Sabs was quite a deep shade of red by this point and stared determinedly at her hands.
"Nice that you two are getting along so well," said Rachel, standing directly across from the two of them.
"Eep!" they both exclaimed with a jump, Beth quickly letting go of Sabs in a flailing motion.
"As long as you're not bullying the younger kids," Rachel continued.
"She's nineteen,", "I'm nineteen," Beth shot back and Sabs mumbled at the same time.
"Right. As long as you're not bullying the older kids," Rachel said, giving Beth a look.
"It's not bullying! She's…well, uh…" Sabs immediately stuck up for Beth before embarrassedly fumbling.
"See nosy, there's no bullying here," Beth declared, wrapping her arm back around Sabs' shoulders.
"Right, well, if you two are done bullying each other, we're heading out again," Rachel replied, eyes narrowing for a moment, before turning and heading back to the large tent.
"Thanks," said Sabs, briefly grabbing Beth's hand before standing up from the picnic table.
"No problem. Like I told you, she's always on my case," Beth answered assuredly.
The two of them moved over to the tent as well, Sabs sticking close to Beth's side. They had regathered the initial morning group. There were a number of other people around, but they were either the grocery group reporting back or runners moving back and forth from the digging/wall groups. Beth did a quick Identify on the morning group. They all read as level one now excepting, of course, her.
"Alright, listen up. This is how we're going to do this," Zack said, getting the hunting group's attention. "For now, other than Beth and I, everyone gets one day at this. Then you have to spend at least part of the day helping other groups. So, it's just before 1200 hours right now. We're heading out and will aim to be back by no later than 1800 hours. We'll move as a group, but keep the time frame in mind. The goal is to SAFELY get more experience while culling ants. Any questions?" Zack finished his explanation and looked around at the group.
"No questions? Then fall in," he continued.
"Fall what?" asked Sabs.
"Never mind, just follow," Beth replied.
The group followed behind Zack, returning to the woodlot north of the Bell household. Once there, they followed behind Beth as she led them to near the ant nest. After arriving, they formed up around Zack to listen to the plan.