Under the guidance of the two children, the group made its way to the village shop. Deszk was a small border village with only about a hundred houses, so apart from the church, it only had a shop and a school. The Csongrad county hospital was also located on the outskirts.
Since many people in the village had domestic animals, Novak had to cut his way through mutant chickens, pigs and cows. On their own, these creatures posed little threat, but they could become very dangerous if they attacked at the same time. It seemed that lower level animals lacked the intelligence of higher level ones.
Although the slain animals did not grant Novak enough experience to level up, his melee skill reached 2 and he gained two steel shortswords.
[Steel shortsword I]
One-Handed Sword
Common Item
Length: 52 cm
+1 Strength
A sharp sword, it can pierce through the hide of normal beasts
He decided to give these swords to Nathan and Emily.
Surprised, Emily asked, “Where did you get these?”
“Mutant beasts leave behind random equipment when killed. When you kill them, you also get stronger.”
“Wait, you mean we weren’t hallucinating when we saw that message?!”
“Why do you think Novak is so strong, Emily?” Nathan said, attaching the sword to his belt.
“That’s fucked up. It feels like someone is toying with us.”
Novak inwardly sighed. “If only you knew how right you are.”
Soon, Novak and the rest arrived in front of the shop. About half of the supplies had already been taken by the police, so they started stuffing their rucksacks with the rest. They prioritised small, high calorie foods like canned and dry meat, chocolate and protein bars.
Novak was thinking about what to do next, when the shop door slammed open and a policeman walked inside, pointing his gun at them. He shouted something in Hungarian, but only the two boys understood. They dropped their bags and kneeled down, holding their hands in the air.
Emily was scared, but she reacted first.
“English?”
The policeman understood that they were foreigners and frowned, answering with a heavy accent.
“That food is property of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You are all thieves. Comply imm-“
Before he could finish his sentence, Novak, who was closest to the door, leaped at him and slashed at his throat. His head came off clean and rolled onto the floor. Blood gushing everywhere from the severed neck, the policeman’s body fell. Everyone was in shock.
Novak crouched down, trying to pry the pistol from the dead man’s hand.
“Thank you for distracting him, Emily.”
Before she could reply, Nathan shouted: “What the fuck is wrong with you?! You didn’t have to kill him!”
“Of course I did. Had I not, we would all be dead right now.” Novak was calmly counting the bullets left in the pistol.
“He wasn’t going to kill us! We just had to comply and-“
Emily’s eyes were still locked on the headless body. “You saw what they did to those casteless, Nathan. He had it coming.”
Nathan tried to calm his breathing. He couldn’t accept what was happening. Nothing gave them the right to take that man’s life! That was, after all, a law enforcement officer. This wasn’t self-defence, it was murder.
“Emily, pick up your backpack. We’re going, I don’t want us to be anywhere near this murderer.”
However, Emily did not move.
Novak stood up and gave Nathan an icy look. “Take your share of supplies and keep the shortsword, you’re going to need it.”
Nathan looked at Emily again with a pleading look, but she was unmoved. He slowly walked towards the door and stepped over the body, leaving.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Meanwhile, the two boys were unaffected by the scene. They continued to stuff their bags full of chocolates and supplies. They had seen more than their fair share of violence at the hands of the local police, and seeing the dead officer secretly made them happy.
“Are you ok?”
Emily finally took her eyes away from the body. “Yea, I just-“ She breathed slowly in an attempt to calm herself. “I didn’t expect you to kill him either.”
“Do you wish I hadn’t?”
“No, I understand why you did. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Novak and the rest finished packing the food and prepared to leave.
“We should hide the body before we go.”
“No need.”
Novak opened the door and dragged the body by the collar to the front of the shop. Then, he picked up a rock and threw it at one of the shop’s windows. The loud noise of breaking glass got the attention of all the wild animals in the area, and they started to rush to its location.
“We should go quickly.”
After leaving the shop, they went around the back and avoided the incoming beasts. Soon, more than a dozen creatures were gathered near the broken window. Upon seeing the fresh body, they started fighting among themselves with vicious attacks. However, Novak and the three were long gone.
The boys were not used to having access to so much tasty food, so they were pretty happy. Emily was very hungry after not eating for more than 24 hours, so she was eating a pre-packaged sandwich. Zoran was tearing into a chocolate bar.
“Where are we going next, mister?”
“We need to prepare for the night.” Novak had a feeling that the beasts are more dangerous then, so his first priority was to find shelter.
Soon, they found a suitable house. It had a tall stone wall facing a side street, and tall wooden gates.
“Wait here. I’m going to take care of any animals inside.”
The household had its own area for domestic animals behind the house, so Novak had to deal with some mutant dogs and pigs. When he found them, the animals were surrounded by human bones. The dogs had lost all signs of reason from their eyes, turning into manhunting predators. It was tragic to think that this apocalypse turned man’s best friend against them.
“The situation must be even worse in cities, with so many pets…”
Looking through the house, he was not able to able to find much of use. The gas, water and electricity were not working. After checking that it’s safe, Emily and the boys joined him inside to spend the night. The house was spacious, but they all decided to sleep in one bedroom. In case of an emergency, they would be able to move quickly.
Seeing that they have finally reached relative safety, Novak allowed himself to relax. He went outside and lit a cigarette. He liked to smoke sometimes, so he picked up a pack from the shop.
Emily prepared the bed for the boys and soon joined him. Novak noticed her downcast look.
“Something on your mind?”
“I’m just wondering if Nathan is going to be alright on his own…”
“He made his choice, you know that.”
“I know. It’s just… We’d been together for almost 1 year. Met him at the school where I teach, he’s a swimming instructor. He’s a nice guy, you know, it’s just that…”
“You are no longer a teacher, Emily. And he is no longer a swimming instructor. The world has changed overnight, and those who don’t adapt won’t survive.”
Emily bit her lip and looked at Novak. “Do you really think that policeman would’ve killed us?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But at the end of the day, that policeman pointed his gun at us, and I wasn’t planning to wait for his mercy.”
Novak put out his cigarette and headed back inside with Emily.
“You can sleep in bed with the boys, I’ll get some blankets and sleep on the floor.”
Emily hesitated. “Are you sure? You’re the one who’s been doing all the fighting, you must be exhausted.”
“I’ll be fine. Make sure you’re well rested, tomorrow is going to be harder than today. Some of the wild animals will soon return from Szeged, and they’ll be looking for new prey.”
The next morning, Novak woke up at 6 am. He checked his personal status in his mind and saw that his Stamina was fully recharged to 21. He washed his face with some bottled water, grabbed his sword and prepared to go outside.
Despite his attempts to be quiet, however, he woke Emily up.
“Where are you going?”
“Training.”
Emily was still sleepy, but she recalled their conversation from the day before. You kill them, you get stronger. She looked at Novak with a determined gaze.
“I want to come with you.”
A few minutes later, the two left the house and started wondering the streets. Soon, they came across a small pack of 3 wolves. It seemed like Novak’s conjecture was right, and the wild animals were returning.
[Level 12 – Mutant Wolf]
Scavengers that like to hunt in packs. Much stronger than mutant dogs.
The mutant wolves were fast, aggressive creatures with strong jaws. Novak decided to try out his Sharpen ability and expended 5 stamina to activate it. He slashed at the first approaching wolf, and his sword faced almost no resistance. The wolf was split in half, and soon the next two met the same end.
[Melee skill increased to 3]
Novak then deactivated Sharpen. The skill was powerful, but its stamina expenditure was quite high. If he activated it 4 times, he would be completely out of stamina until he rested again. The wolves left behind a Steel Shortsword II.
[Steel Shortsword II]
One-Handed Sword
Uncommon Item
Length: 62 cm
+3 Strength
A very sharp sword, it can pierce through the hide of normal and elite beasts
Novak decided to strap this sword to the other side of his belt. It never hurt to have an extra weapon.
The two continued walking and soon came across a pack of 5 mutant dogs feasting on the carcass of a mutant cow. It seemed like beasts did not only attack humans, but still respected the food chain.
Seeing the two approach, the wild dogs forgot about the cow and started sprinting towards them, large amounts of saliva dripping from their mouth.
Novak sprinted towards them and made short work of the first 4, leaving one for Emily.
Seeing the rabid dog, Emily’s knees were shaking and she gripped her shortsword as hard as she could. The animal was terrifying, and the girl had never been attacked by anything in her life.
The dog started sprinting towards her and. With a resolute look on her face, she slashed down with all her strength. Luckily, the attack connected and the animal fell with a bloody gash on its head. It was still shaking and snarling on the ground, trying to inch closer and bite her ankle .
“Now finish it off.”
Emily approached the wounded animal. She had a kind soul and did not want to hurt another being, but she knew that sort of thinking would get her killed. She gripped the sword with both of her hands and pierced the animal’s chest.