The rest of the walk into Redstone was blessedly uneventful. No goblins or other creatures appeared. Instead, simple silence, punctuated only by the rhythm of two men walking down the road. By the time they reached the outskirts, the sun had mostly set, only the faint reddish tinge of its last vestiges remained, washing out the dimmest stars in the night sky. Upon arrival, Bill and Frank were greeted not by the lights of a small town, but by darkness. No light emanated from lamp posts, windows, or gas stations. The whole town was without power.
This was basically what Frank had thought he would see, though the lack of any light was disappointing. A campfire or something similar would indicate the presence of others. He hoped there were others. The fact the group he had earlier fought was given the title of raiding party meant only one thing. He'd need more than just himself to clear a dungeon. It wasn't something you could leave around.
Bill, on the other hand, was visibly distressed. Despite his delusions, he'd expected, on some level, that they would reach Redstone, and it would connect him back to business as usual. That he'd go back to living his life, except way cooler. It wasn't to be, but Frank had no idea how to communicate that to him effectively. Or rather, he wasn't sure how Bill would react since his thinking was so off-kilter.
"Fuck man, fuck." Bill cursed, staring at the darkened buildings from the roadway. He just gazed angrily out at the town for a while, lost in thought. Frank let him, take it in. After a couple of minutes, Bill seemed to gather himself together. "I'm gonna head to the nearest motel. I'm fucking exhausted, fighting off aliens and all this fucking walking. They'll probably have a phone"
Once again, thought Frank, Bill had managed to arrive at a reasonable conclusion through his unreasonable thinking. It was interesting, how he seemed to throw darts in the dark and hit the target. "Yea I think finding somewhere to sleep is for the best. We've been on our feet for most of the day, and well, there's some stuff we should discuss." He replied. Frank felt more talkative since the fight. He'd guarded his words for a long time, years. It was like a sudden realization that he'd been in a bad mood, one that he only realized he'd been under the spell of because he felt better now and could compare.
They both trudged into town, looking for the closest motel. It didn't take long. Unsurprisingly, there was a little traveller's inn right on the outskirts. It'd do for a night. Normally, Frank would search out a more easily defended building, but his stamina was mostly depleted and it was already night time. There was a risk associated with sleeping in a motel room versus somewhere more secure, but there was also a risk simply walking around at night. A lot of the stuff the system threw at humanity early on was more dangerous at night, either being able to see in low-light conditions or simply being nocturnal.
The inn itself was unsurprisingly dark and empty. That the lack of light didn't stop Frank from observing its poor upkeep said a lot.
"Ah fuck, it's all closed up," complained Bill, seeing no one on duty. Frank just walked over to the reception office and glanced inside through the large window. The little room looked empty. He then opened the door, stepped inside, and haphazardly grabbed a handful of keys off the wall. Frank also made a show of checking the phone. It was of course non-functional. Then he exited and tossed a few towards Bill.
"Take your pick. Phone's dead."
"But there's no one to book a room from?"
"You just went through today and that's your biggest concern?"
"What if someone shows up knocking on the door tomorrow morning?"
"We could always just pay them for the room. Look at the cars in the lot. The place isn't abandoned."
Bill acceded to this logic, his complete exhaustion and state of injury making the decision easier. He stared the keys down, squinting in the darkness before figuring out which room they opened. Frank found a room as well, but before he went to sleep for the night, he gave Bill a suggestion.
"Put something in front of your door, in case those goblins make an appearance." He told him. Bill grunted an acknowledgement and went to his room. Frank then entered his and followed his own advice, barricading the door using the bulky entertainment center. The room smelled of cigarettes, but this did not impede Frank, who stripped off his clothes. Off went his pack, gambeson, boots, his pants, damaged by the spear Bill now had, and the t-shirt he wore underneath his armour. All were neatly piled on the floor. Then he removed his extra pair of underwear, before grabbing a bottle of water from his pack.
Sadly, there was no courtesy fridge in such a cheap and dingy motel, so Frank had to make do with the chocolate he'd stowed in his pockets. He broke off a square and ate it, the bitterness overwhelming. Forcing it down took a lot of mental willpower, and he only managed a couple of squares before it was too much. The bottle of water only did so much to remove the nasty taste from his mouth. It wasn't worth it to go foraging with how tired he was though. Meal attempted, Frank lay down to sleep on the queen bed, quarterstaff placed beside him for easy access.
Frank woke up early the next morning, right with the crack of dawn. It was habitual, but with only a regular human's vitality, he was feeling less than fully rested. Light entered the room through the curtain covering the small window that was the only source of illumination with electricity not available. This early, it was still not bright enough to see easily in his room, but that didn't impede Frank. He quickly dressed and then unbarred the door, before slipping on his pack, grabbing his quarterstaff, and stepping outside.
In the early morning light, he could see the immediate neighbourhood, and now that Sun had started peeking over the horizon, the town of Redstone was properly visible. It spread out before him, the motel conveniently looking down on the valley that contained the rest of the town. It was not a large community. In the center of the town, there was what looked like a commercial core, centred on a road that intersected the highway he'd walked into diagonally. It ran straight, two lanes each way, for several miles, the bulk of it to the highway's north. Most of the town was to the north of the highway.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The southern portion of the town was small, nestled between a river and the thoroughfare, maybe a hundred buildings, almost all of the houses. The ones near the highway looked to be small ranchers, single-story, while as the distance between the highway and the house grew, so too did the size. A few, lot adjoining the river, were mansions.
On the other side of the highway, the main bulk of the town spread out. Shops and office space lined the main street, dwarfed by one large and ornate building that was perhaps the courthouse, or city hall, or both. The kind built in the 1920s, a gaudy art deco construction. A block East, a school, the only one visible. The rest was just housing, mostly free standing single-family homes. Two low rise apartments stuck out like sore thumbs juxtaposed against them.
Frank committed the basic layout to memory, then went to go wake up Bill. He rapped at Bill's door and called out to him. "Bill? It's Frank. It's morning, and I'm going to go into the town proper. Still nobody here at the motel." Frank always declared his identity. It was a good habit to have.
BIll for his part, took a moment to respond. The first thing Frank heard was a groan. Then a muffled reply.
"Give me a minute..." Bill trailed off. Frank waited patiently. It took Bill ten. He stepped outside, bleary-eyed and exhausted, his steps still pained.
"Let's see if we can find someone. And something to eat." Frank said.
"Fuckin rights, I'm starving, and I want to get back home."
Bill clutched his spear, Frank his quarterstaff, and they went down the road. It didn't take long, fifteen minutes on foot to get down the hill and to the main street, Frank had earlier spied. As they approached it, a police officer approached them. He'd been invisible, hidden by a nearby building, until they got close to the intersection.
The cop eyed them both, noting especially the quarterstaff and spear held by each, and the somewhat tattered state of Bill's attire. "You two just stop there a second, alright?" He said, the phrase turned into a question but the tone indicated he expected to be obeyed. "Some really weird stuff has been happening, and I have a few questions for you."
Bill's eyes narrowed, blatantly taking offence to being told what to do, and probably further being suspicious of the cop on the basis he was a cop. The stress of the situation undoubtedly did not help either. Frank saw this and preempted any argument.
"Go ahead," Frank replied.
The officer thought for a second, seeming to struggle to actually ask what he wanted. "Have you folks uh, seen any little green looking creatures?" He was embarrassed like he felt the question was so ridiculous it undermined his sense of authority to voice it.
"The goblins? Yea. We got jumped by them twice coming into town yesterday." Frank replied. "Got the spear off one of them after we took them out." Frank volunteered information, but much like his interactions with Bill avoided revealing he knew more than anyone else. It'd be a good way to make someone immediately suspicious, to let slip something that made it seem like he knew what was going on.
The officer's nervousness largely disappeared, and he started to question Frank in earnest. "Can you tell me about what happened to you yesterday?"
"Woke up, got dressed, and then was suddenly in some sort of hallway. Got attacked by a bunch of things, left the hall, and found myself standing in the woods." Frank paused for a moment. "Then I made it to the road, followed it to here, slept at that motel up top because it was pitch black by the time I made it in. Met Bill along the way." He scratched his head, feigning confusion. "Kinda seems like a dream or something, you know how sometimes in a dream you change location and it doesn't make sense?"
"You get any sort of messages or anything?" Again, there was a bit of nervousness.
"Yea, weird stuff, like a hologram or something," Frank said, using the same adjective the cop had. That was a deliberate trick, you mirror their language to imply agreement.
Bill took that moment to enter the conversation. "This shit is all nanobots and the government man. The aliens are here, and if you got that shit happening to you they must've chosen you too. Think about it. You get the nanomachines inside you, they can fix you up from the inside, make you stronger, and you've got those little green men running about."
The cop, to Frank's dismay, seemed to seriously consider that possibility. But after a moment he shook his head. "Doesn't explain why cars and electronics don't work, or why everyone disappeared. Why don't you two come along with me, I've found about a dozen people so far." He motioned to them. "I'm Jim by the way."
"You got anything to eat? I'm starving. Maybe a phone? Gonna be hard to fucking explain shit if I don't get in contact with people." Bill replied, before blinking and introducing himself. "I'm Bill."
"Frank."
It seemed that his previously authoritative attitude may just have been a front to hide his unease at asking the kind of questions he had wanted to. He led them down the road, to a little shop. "Grab something to eat. Greg decided to go get a_hold of a barbecue, so whenever he figures that out we'll have something to cook with, but for now, you might as well hit the coolers up. I went and shoved all the bagged ice in with the food this morning, but a lot of it won't keep for too long anyway. Just tell me what you took so Terry can bill city hall later if need be." He looked down for a moment. "I hope Terry is alright. Haven't seen him yet."
He continued to talk as Frank and Bill raided the cooler of its ready prepared meals. Two sandwiches, a pepperoni and cheddar stick, bottled protein shake, and an apple were snagged by Frank. Bill pilfered a similar pile for himself. "Once you've got what you want, lets head over. Eat on the way. I don't mean to rush you, but I want to get back to the highway and keep a lookout for people. Hopefully, the government shows up soon and tells us all what the hell is going on."
Frank nodded, biting into his pepperoni and cheese stick as they walked down the road. Jim started explaining the situation so far. "Everyone is gathered at the city hall right now. Except for Greg and Laurie. Greg is looking for a barbecue unless he's already found one, and Laurie is going door to door right seeing if anyone is around. We haven't done too much yet. Authorities'll probably be here to sort it out." Jim sounded more hopeful than certain.
They soon arrived at the art deco building, which was, in fact, the city hall. A set of steps radiated out from a large double door made, wooden with glass panels in the center of each side. The door was propped open with a piece of wood. Upon arrival, Jim shouted into the building. "Got two more people turned up, I'm sending them in." He then turned to Frank and Bill. "Just head right on in and upstairs and introduce yourselves. People are a little, uh, on edge, but everyone's good folks. If Laurie or Greg get back, tell em about the goblin things you dealt with on the highway, they'll probably want to know."
With that, he turned around and left as if he didn't want to be anywhere near the city hall. That raised a massive red flag. Frank frowned, and entered the building, more warily than he would have had Jim not left in a hurry and avoided going inside. Bill followed afterwards. Frank unhurriedly checked the rooms on the first floor, finding them all vacant, before heading upstairs.