Several hours had passed since Wayne and Sarah set out on their journey. They traveled in a determined manner, exploring the world around them, seeking connections with other communities, and navigating the enigmatic system that had transformed their reality. Their companionship grew, as did their understanding of the challenges that lay ahead. They chose to move through the wilderness, slightly away from the road, to avoid potential dangers and to also to experience the natural world that still existed beyond the confines of the system. The air was thick with anticipation and the scent of pine as they approached the next town on their journey. As they neared the outskirts of the town, signs of a recent struggle became apparent. The once bustling road now bore the ominous marks of violence—a smeared trail of blood and a lifeless body at the edge of the woods. It was a grim sight, stirring a mix of fear and concern in both Wayne and Sarah.
“Sarah, we need to be cautious. It looks like there was a fight here, and it looks like it was recent.” Wayne spoke in a hushed tone, his senses heightened.
Sarah nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of her weapon, a silent agreement of their shared wariness. They carefully approached the scene, ready for anything. The dead body was of a young man, his face contorted in pain and fear. The blood around him was still fresh, the vivid red a stark contrast against the greenery.
“That looks like a stab wound, a few actually. You see these a lot living on the streets. But it doesn’t look like they took anything from him, just stabbed him and left him to die…” way almost mutters to himself but loud enough for Sarah to hear.
Sarah: “You think another human did this?” – She asked in a quite voice.
Wayne nodded then said “And I doubt they’ve gone far, probably to the town we’re heading to. We should stick to the woods and slowly approach the town to see if it looks safe.”
As they ventured cautiously through the woods, staying concealed from view, the tension in the air palpably thickened. The woods, once serene and peaceful, now carried an unsettling undercurrent, a sense of foreboding that weighed on their every step. They catch glimpses of movement between the trees. Shadows flitting, bodies darting. They weren't sure if they were real or figments of their imagination, but they remained on guard. Wayne and Sarah kept their senses sharp, each rustle of leaves, every snapped twig, setting their nerves on edge. The shadows seemed to dance and shift, revealing just enough to keep them alert. Silently, they moved, the presence of an unseen danger growing more evident with each step. The feeling of being watched intensified, as if unseen eyes bore into their very souls. As they approached the outskirts of the town, a menacing figure emerged from the shadows. Wild eyes glinted in the dim light, revealing a face contorted with malice. It was a human man, or at least it used to be something had changed him His face bore a blank stare, eyes lifeless. In one hand, he clutched a blood-soaked knife, and his other hand was blackened, the nails elongated and sharp. Not wanting to attract more of whatever this was, Wayne and Sarah readied their weapons. Sarah tensed, her grip on her weapon tightening. Wayne felt the adrenaline surge through his veins, readying himself for the confrontation ahead. The man lunged with an animalistic snarl, its movements erratic and aggressive. Wayne tried to jump out of the way and Sarah swung her weapon down trying to hit the man. The man swung his knife wide swiping at Wayne but missed by inches, Sarah's weapon came down and bit into the mans shoulder leaving a deep gash, a thick gel like substance began to leak from the wound, the man let out a scream that sounded like bones or sticks snapping. Sarah dropped her weapon and grabbed her ears, a prompt appearing to tell her she was disoriented. Wayne taking advantage of the moment of distraction lunged forward thrusting his machete forward, luckily for him, the previous owner of this weapon thought he was a “bad ass” and had sharping the tip to the extreme, Wayne has a few Knicks on his thigh and holes in his pants thanks to this. The weapon pierced the humans’ flesh and sank in. Wayne was coming from the side only got a few inches in before hitting the ribcage. But was deep enough to puncture the lung. Another scream escaped the mans throat and Wayne stumbled backwards.
PROMPT:
You hit Human (Feral) for 10 points of piercing damage, Human (Feral) is immune to bleeding.
Human (Feral) has a punctured lung and will have their movement and actions degraded.
You are hit by Human (Feral) wail, you are disoriented for the next 3 seconds.
As Wayne drops to the ground Sarah recovers, picking up her weapon and this time swinging at it’s head. The Human attempts to move out of the way but due to it’s punctured lung it isn’t fast enough, Sarahs machete bites deep into the neck of the man. The man is now panting and barely able to stand, Sarah swings 3 more times before the head comes off the body still trying to get to her for another second before it drops to the ground. At this point Wayne has recovered enough to stand.
PROMPT:
You have helped slay Human (Feral) you receive 5 Experience points, As you were not the one to cause the killing blow or most damage you receive less experience.
‘Wow that’s the most experience I’ve ever gotten at one time, I wonder what made this… thing give me such high experience.’ As Wayne was thinking this Sarah got her own prompt, and she gasped loudly. Thinking more of these things were coming Wayne snapped his head up and looked around quickly. Not seeing anything he looked over at Sarah confused.
“I just got 25 experience for defeating hi… that thing.” A look of regret flashed across her for only for a moment then settled into acceptance. She knew, or at least as of right now, that there was nothing she could have done for him.
“Holy shit! What level what this… thing?” Wayne walks over to the body and starts looking it over for clues or anything he can spot.
PROMPT:
Human (Feral) -- Dead (Beheaded)
A thick black substance is leaking from all the wounds inflicted upon it. You feel a sudden urge to try and pick up the substance.
Before he could even fully read the prompt it was like something took over his body, he started reaching for the black substance, luckily Sarah was close and grab his arm.
“What are you doing?” she almost screamed at him, pulling his arm back.
Wayne looked over at her and blinked a few time.
“Uh what just happened?” he asked confused, shaking his head. Now getting to read his prompt he says “Uh don’t look at the body, or the black substance there is some kind of attraction to it if you were not here I probably would have ended up as one of these things. Lets head into the town hopefully we will find non-feral humans.”
As Wayne and Sarah made their way into the outskirts of the town, the eerie silence grew more pronounced. The shadows cast by the dying light of the day seemed to stretch longer, engulfing the streets in a sense of desolation.
"Sarah, we should proceed carefully. Where should we look?” Wayne asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“The town hall, follow me.” She replied, also whispering.
The woods had been unnerving, but the stillness of the town amplified the feeling of dread that had settled in. As they moved through the desolate streets, the town hall emerged in the distance, a beacon amidst the darkness. However, as they ascended the steps, a figure in a well worn police uniform stepped out, eyeing them with suspicion and vigilance.
"Hey! Hold it right there!" the police officer called out, his hand resting on his holstered weapon.
Wayne and Sarah froze, both of them raising their hands they were both still holding the machetes. The officer eyed them, unsnapping the buckle on his pistol holster.
Officer: “Slowly put the weapons down and take there steps back.”
Both Sarah and Wayne did as they were instructed. After they were done the officer relaxed a bit but still kept his hand on his pistol.
"State your business," he demanded, tension evident in his voice.
"We're not here to cause trouble," Sarah spoke up, her tone calm and reassuring. “We’re from a town a few hours away from here, I just wanted to meet with the Leaders here and try and stablish some form of communication, I know phones no longer work, and the roads are unsafe for vehicles but we need to get back in contact with other towns and settlements.”
The officer remained wary, eyeing them both for any signs of deception. It was a tense moment, their fates hanging in the balance.
“What town?” the officer asked in a demanding tone.
“Abbeville.” She replied not looking away from the officer.
After another long minute the officer nodded. “Okay come on in but I’ll be holding onto your machetes.”
“That’s fine.” Sarah said, as Wayne nodded.
Once inside the town hall, Sarah and Wayne were led to a room where the leaders of the town awaited. The atmosphere was tense, and the leaders, a group of men and women in their late forties to early fifties, wore expressions of concern and weariness.
"Thank you for seeing us," Sarah began, her tone respectful. "My name is Sarah, and this is Wayne. We come in peace, seeking to establish connections between towns and gather knowledge about what's happening in the world."
The leaders exchanged glances, deliberating on the strangers' request. Finally, one of them, a woman with greying hair and a stern yet kind demeanor, spoke up.
Leader 1: "We are cautious for good reason. But we know officer Thompson wouldn’t have allowed you to enter if he thought you were here to cause problems. What can you tell us about things outside this town? We haven’t had the chance to send others out. We sent out two officers a few weeks ago but they never returned, and we’ve seen no sings of them or the car they took.”
Sarah took a moment to compose her thoughts, choosing her words carefully. She spoke of the dangers they had encountered—the feral humans, the crumbling infrastructure, and the struggle for survival.
Sarah: "The world has changed significantly. Resources are limited, at least we haven’t seen any delivery trucks on the road. The animals are becoming more aggressive, and we believe some humans are trying to take advantage of the Chaos. We have seen almost no cars on the roads but we have heard some driving very fast, you can hear guns being fired and tires screeching. We have avoided roads for the most part on our travels here. But even more dangerous is we ran into something called a Feral Human.”
As the words left Sarah's mouth all of the leaders looked at one another and began talking in hushed bur rushed tones. Sarah looked back at Wayne with a questioning look on her face, he just shrugged unsure.
This time another member spoke up an older man in his early fifties, showing sings of his age could bee seen on his face, his hair was all grey and there were large bags under his eyes.
Leader 2: “What did this Feral Human look like?”
Sarah: “Hm well he was about 6 feet tall, dark hair, blood shot eyes. He was holding a knife in his right hand but his left hand had turned all back and the nails where long and pointed. He moved like an animal when he attacked and there didn’t appear to be an iota of humanity left within him. He was covered in blood and something else so it was hard to see any defining features. In the end we were forced to kill him.”
Again all the leaders looked at each other, then the man spoke up again.
Leader 2: “You were able to slay this… thing? All by yourself?”
Sarah looking back and Wayne, who just nodded, then facing the leaders she spoke.
Sarah: “We fought it together, it was quick and used a type of scream that disorients you if you’re too close to it. If Wayne had not jumped back to avoid a slash from the thing it would have gotten both of us with it’s cry and I have no doubt we would both be dead. But luck was on our side, as I went down Wayne was able to stab it in the chest. It used it’s cry again and he went down, but by them I had recovered and I was able to finish it off. After it was dead Wayne inspected it and we discovered the blood, or whatever that substance is, has some type of allure to it making people who see it want to touch it. We believe this is some method to spread it self but we aren’t sure.”
This time the first lady speaks up.
Leader 1: “This is troubling news, We had seen what you described lurking around the woods on the outskirts of town, but it never made any move to come into the town and when one of the officers went to check on it, it just ran away. I hope there are not more of these things out there. If there are we need to eliminate them. If only the phones worked, we could try contacting the guard or some form of military.”
Sarah: “That would be nice, but we have to work under the assumption that those forces are either fully occupied somewhere else or are, no longer available to us. I would like to establish some form of trade and comms with this town, but I don’t think we will be able to do this if we can’t even safely travel between our towns. It took us almost 8 hours to walk here from where we started and though we didn’t encounter anything until we reached this town that doesn’t mean much. We Could have just been lucky.”
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Leader 1: “We would be interested in setting something up, but not until we can be sure the path would be safe, or as safe as possible. Would you two be willing to take officer Thompson and another officer out in the morning and show them the body of the Feral Human?”
Sarah: “I have no issues with doing that. I can’t speak for Wayne but I am willing.”
Wayne just nods, knowing that the fewer he says the less attention will be directed his way.
Sarah: “Alright, do ya’ll have somewhere we can stay tonight though? I really don’t think it would safe for us to sleep in the woods.”
Leader 1: “You can both stay here tonight; Officer Thompson likes to get up early thought so be warned. He might come knocking before the sun has fully risen.” She said with a little chuckle.
With that Sarah and Wayne were shown to a small room with a few beds, there were told they could leave their things there. They were then shown to an area with some food and were offered dinner. While they were eating officer Thompson said their weapons would be returned in the morning. After they finished Sarah and Wayne made their way back to the room.
Sarah: “I really hope there are not more of those things out there.”
Wayne: “Me either but something had to make that first one, and by the looks of it, it spread through the blood so something had to give it to the first gu….” A sudden look of panic crossed his face. “You don’t think… that first person we found… they.. they won’t turn into one of those right?”
Sarah shot up and started pacing, a worried look now on her face. After a minute she stopped and sat down, looking over at Wayne.
Sarah: “I don’t know, we will only know tomorrow when we go inspect the bodies. I know it’s hard but we have to try and not worry about it tonight. We need rest because I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.” She smiled over at Wayne trying to help relax him.
Wayne: “You have a point, ok let’s try and get some rest. I’m not looking forward to be up before the sun rises though.” He said with a small chuckle.
With that they both drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile…
In another room one of the officers was inspecting Sarah and Wayne's weapons. While looking them over he sees a spot of black, gel like substance, as he leans in closer to see it he gets an urge, without thinking he sticks his tongue out and licks up the substance. After that he drops the weapon momentarily confused. Thompson comes in hearing the clang and looks around.
Thompson: “Butler, you alright?”
Butler: “Yeah, butter fingers.” He chuckles picking up the weapon and placing it back beside the other.
And then morning comes…
Sarah and Wayne are awoken by officer Thompson knocking on their door.
Thompson: “Are ya’ll ready to head out?”
Sarah: “Yeah one moment we just need to get our things packed.” She said as she stretched, sitting up and putting on her shoes. Wayne does the same and soon they are ready to go. In the last minute Sarah convinced Wayne to leave his bag since they were probably coming back here anyways.
Wayne: “Yeah.. ok you have a point.” He said, not truly wanting to leave all of his possessions behind.
Once they leave the room Thompson speaks up.
Thompson: “Alright, you’ll have officer Butler and me with you today. Should hopefully be a quick trip out, see the body try and figure out what we’re dealing with then head back.”
Sarah: “Bodies.” She corrects.
Thompson: “You only mentioned one Feral Human yesterday, did ya’ll actually kill two?”
Sarah: “No it had slipped my mind but we found a dead body before we found the Feral Human, it had been stabbed, a lot, presumably by the Feral Human.”
Thompson looked at Butler, they both had a grim look on their face.
Thompson: “Ok, let’s inspect the Feral Human first then we can check the other body.”
As the morning sun began to cast its light over the town, Sarah, Wayne, and the two officers made their way toward the outskirts where they had encountered the Feral Human the previous day. The town had an eerie quietness about it, the streets devoid of any signs of life. As they reached the edge of the woods Officer Butler, in particular, looked increasingly uneasy, his grip on his weapon tightening. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his face was flushed. Thompson, on the other hand, seemed determined, steel in his eyes. Sarah led the way, her mind still racing with concerns about what they might find. Upon reaching the spot where they had faced the Feral Human, the sight was unsettling. The body was gone, leaving only stains of the dark substance that had leaked from its wounds.
Sarah: “This... this isn't right. It was right here."
Wayne: “Don’t look at the dark substance!”
Wayne examined the area closely, but ensuring he didn’t look directly at the dark substance, searching for any clues. He pointed to the ground where there were signs of drag marks.
Wayne: "Looks like something dragged the body away.” He pointed in the direction of the marks. “That way. Away from the town.”
Thompson: "Something else?"
Wayne hesitated, not wanting to cause unnecessary panic. He chose his words carefully.
Wayne: "Could be animals. It’s not uncommon for scavengers to drag away bodies."
Sarah sensed Wayne's skepticism.
Thompson: "Alright, let’s proceed carefully. We should check the other body you mentioned."
As they moved toward where the first body lay, they made a grim discovery—the body was missing.
Sarah: “This... this can't be a coincidence. Something is very wrong here.”
Suddenly, Officer Butler raised his head, as if listening intently. Without a word, he began walking in the direction of the drag marks.
Thompson: “Butler what the hell are you doing? Where are you going?” Thompson begins to step in front of Butler, but he just walks around him, like he was walking around a tree.
Looking back at Sarah and Wayne Thompsons face scrunches up with anger and confusion. Thompson grabbed Butler’s shoulder, attempting to stop him. But Butler spun around and struck Thompson’s nose, causing a sickening crunch. Thompson fell to the ground, clutching his face.
Sarah and Wayne reacted swiftly, drawing their machetes. Butler’s eyes turned bloodshot, and he sprinted into the woods. Sarah and Wayne exchanged alarmed looks before rushing to Thompson’s aid. With blood running down his face, and whistling nose he says, “We have to follow him.”
Wayne hesitated, weighing the danger.
Wayne: “Are you sure? He’s heading toward whatever dragged the other Feral Human’s body away... Perhaps he came in contact with the blood without us noticing. If that’s the case, he might be turning into one. Taking down one was hard enough, but if there are two or, God forbid, three…”
Thompson: “I won’t leave a man behind. I’m going after him. You two can head back to town if you want.”
Reluctantly, Sarah and Wayne decided to follow. Catching up to Thompson, they trailed behind for about 15 minutes until they stumbled upon something that would haunt their nightmares for years to come. There, in the dim light filtering through the trees, they saw the Feral Human, it was the dead body they had found yesterday, standing over a body. It was the Feral Human they had killed the previous day, sprawled lifeless on the ground. Something was horribly wrong, though—it was twisted in an unnatural way, contorted as if in the throes of an unseen agony. The head was on a stump a little bit away it was turned to look at the body that was spasming on the ground.
Sarah: “Oh my... What happened to it?”
Wayne: “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s as if its body is still changing, even after death.”
Thompson: “And Butler? Where is he?”
They looked around frantically, realizing Officer Butler was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, a guttural growl echoed through the clearing. They turned toward its source and saw Officer Butler emerging from the shadows, his eyes completely devoid of humanity. He moved erratically, like the Feral Human they had encountered earlier. His left hand was turning black already and the nails were visibly growing longer and sharper. They continued to watch as the walked over to the other Feral Human before dropping to his knees and bowing his head in submission.
Thompson: “It’s like he’s asking to join his pack or something…”
The Feral Human placed its rotted hand on Butler's head. After a brief moment, Butler rose and positioned himself behind the other Feral Human.
Thompson: “Okay fuck this, I didn’t want to have to use this but…” as he said it he pulled a grenade out of a pouch, pulled the pin, and warned, “You might wanna cover your ears.” He said as he threw it.
It flew through the air and landed with a thub beside the body on the ground. Both Feral Humans snapped their heads at it, and in a flash the first Feral Human grabbed butler and threw his body on the grenade. Luckily for them he was a bit too slow, the grenade went off and completely destroyed the body on the ground, Butler was hurled back several feet and the Feral Human standing was knocked to the ground. Giving his ears time to stop ringing Thompson drew his pistol and started moving forward. Wayne and Sarah pulled out the machetes and did the same. In the aftermath of the explosion, chaos ensued. The air was filled with disoriented cries and the acrid stench of gunpowder. Butler lay on the ground, severely injured and struggling to move, while the other Feral Human was hurt but still a formidable opponent. Thompson swiftly raised his pistol, aiming at the stronger Feral Human, determined to end this nightmare.
Thompson: "Hold on, we've got this."
Sarah and Wayne, adrenaline pumping, lunged at the abomination that was once Butler. Their machetes clashed against the creature's frenzied strikes. It was a brutal dance, the Feral Human fighting with a primal ferocity, slashing and thrashing. He was weakened but not fully out of the fight. However, its attacks were growing slower and weaker, allowing Wayne and Sarah to strike back. Sarah managed to land a solid blow, gashing the Feral Human's arm, making it recoil momentarily. Wayne seized this opportunity, driving his machete into its side. The creature emitted a guttural cry, staggering under the pain. Luckily for them it seems he hadn’t unlocked the wail ability yet if that was the case they might have been out of this fight. Meanwhile, Thompson fired shots at the stronger Feral Human, aiming for vital points. He managed to land a hit in its shoulder, causing it to falter. Yet, it pushed forward, its bloodshot eyes locked onto the group with a feral determination.
As the battle raged, black substances began to fall from the air. The explosion had sent it into the atmosphere, and now it descended like a macabre rain, the tainted remnants of the Feral Human’s body fluids. It was a grim reminder of the grotesque nature of the enemy they faced, and added a timer on this fight. The group knew they had to end this quickly and get away from the vile substance. Wayne and Sarah pressed their advantage, striking the weakened Feral Human with renewed vigor. It was a struggle, but their combined efforts overwhelmed the creature, and finally, with a resounding strike, Waynes’ machete cut deep into the neck of the Feral Human and a prompt appeared.
PROMPT:
Congratulations you have slain a Human (Feral) Aka Butler, You are rewared 12 experience poitns, Base 15, reduced for being higher level than Human (Feral).
‘Really you had to put his name on the prompt…` he thought sourly.
Thompson, realizing the urgency of their situation, turned his focus back to the stronger Feral Human. He aimed for the head, squeezing off shots with grim precision. One of the bullets found its mark, and the Feral Human went down, convulsing and then lying still.
Exhausted but victorious, the trio regrouped back where they first started the attack, their breaths ragged and bodies battered.
Sarah: “We need to get out of here. We can’t stay in this area.”
Wayne nodded in agreement “But first we need to destroy all this substance.”
Thompson: “Luckily it hasn’t rained recently we can make a fire and burn it.”
Wayne: “Maybe but we don’t know if the smoke will affect us the same way the substance does. But we also can’t just leave it unchecked. We also don’t know if they can somehow come back from the dead, or change into something else… There are just too many unkowns but we do have to do something… what if we dig a pit and burn everything in there then cover it? We’ll have to stay far back so we aren’t near the smoke.”
Thompson considered this for a moment. “Well it looks like the grenade made a decent little hole we can try and get as much of it into there then try and burn it.”
With a plan loosely set they got to work, ensuring they didn’t touch or look at the substance. Once it was all in the makeshift pit Thompson pilled a bunch of leaves and twigs and anything else he thought would burn on top and light it on fire. It only took a few moments for the fire to catch, then they all ran back and waited. After the fire died down and the smoke was all gone they slowly approached the pit. Looking inside they could still see the bodies but it looked like all of the substance had burned away.
Wayne: “It will have to do, now we just need to fill it in and hope nothing tries to dig them back up.”
They spent another hour filling in the hole and stamping the dirt down. All of this took several hours and was quite loud, they decided to hastily return to the town. On the way back Wayne checked his Status Sheet.
Status
Name Wayne Race Human Level 1 {EXP 25/158} Lifetime EXP 145 Strength 4 Wisdom 6 Speed 4 Defense 2 Luck 3 Survival Odds 0.02% Health 100/100 Stamina 73/100
That last fight have given him more experience than any other fight.
`I really hope that’s due to the thing being tough and not the fact that it was a Human.` He thought to himself
Speaking softly to Sarah Wayne ask “How much experience did you get from that last fight?”
Sarah: “I got 15 I’m at 49 now, I’m getting closer to getting a level.”
Thompson overhearing spoke up “I actually got 45 from the one I defeated, well it also gave me some for killing the one on the ground but that as only 10 and 5 from… the other one, so 30 from the one I killed and 15 from the grenade.”
Wayne: “Oh wow that’s the most experience I’ve ever heard of someone getting all at once. Are you close to leveling up?”
Thompson: “Eh I’m at 55 now, I only had 10 before this.”
Wayne: “Hm it seems like most people I meet only have around that much. I wonder why it’s so hard for people to gain experience points?”
Thompson: “What about you?”
Wayne: “Oh I’m only at 25 I didn’t get near as much from that fight.”
Thompson: “25 isn’t bad, at least I don’t think so… it’s hard to tell, the damn system doesn’t give any hints, well other then survival odds but that doesn’t mean shit, you could have a high SO and still get one shot from a bullet to the brain…”
They walked in silence after that. Once they reached the town hall Thompson headed off to tell the leaders about what happened and Sarah and Wayne headed to get some food. While they ate they talked about their plans.
Wayne: “I think it’s time for us to move on, you can settle up with getting someone to travel back to your town and start the trade and communication process but then I say we leave.”
Sarah: “I think you’re right Thompson is capable and should be able to handle the security around here. Let’s leave in the morning after I walk to the leaders.”
The door to the dining area creaked open, and Officer Thompson stepped in. He quickly scanned the room and spotted them. He made his way over, his face showing a mix of fatigue and concern.
Thompson: “Good, I found you two. The leaders would like to speak with you in the morning. They’re eager to hear about what happened today.”
Sarah: “Of course, Officer Thompson. We'll be there in the morning to report. After we talk with the leaders though we plan to pack up and head out, we have other towns we would like to visit and we need to make sure others know about these Feral Humans.”
Thompson’s face took on an expression of consideration, and he nodded. "Alright then. I’ll let them know."
With that, he excused himself and left the dining area, his steps echoing down the corridor.
Wayne: “Seems like they’re interested in what we’ve been up to.”
Sarah: “Yes, and it’s a good opportunity to convince them to send someone to our town”
Wayne nodded in agreement, and didn’t miss that she said our town, they continued with their meal, mulling over the events of the day and the decisions that lay ahead. Once they finished eating, they decided to find a place to wash off the remnants of the day's events.
They located a nearby building with facilities for bathing, thankful for the chance to cleanse both their bodies and minds. The warm water was a comfort, washing away the grime and tension of the day. As they scrubbed, they reflected on the battles they had faced and the uncertainties that still lay in their path.
Tomorrow would bring a meeting with the town's leaders and the opportunity to discuss their future plans. For now, though, they relished the simple act of cleaning up, hoping that the morning would bring clarity and direction. Once they got back Wayne packed up everything but his sleeping bag, making it easier for himself in the morning. He pulled his booths off and laid on the cot as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, the pale light of dawn began to filter through the window of the room where Wayne had rested. He slowly awoke, stretching and preparing himself for the day ahead. The events of the past few days had taken their toll, leaving him feeling a mixture of exhaustion and determination.
As he got ready, he noticed Sarah was already up and packing her belongings. The sense of purpose seemed to radiate from her; she was ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
Sarah: “Good morning, Wayne. Are you ready for the meeting with the leaders?”
Wayne: “Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be. Let’s just get this done and continue on, I’m getting that feeling that I’ve been here too long.”
With their belongings gathered and packed, they made their way to where the leaders officers were, they were promptly greeted by Officer Thompson. He led them to the room where the town’s leaders awaited. Inside, the leaders were seated around a table, a map of the surrounding area spread out before them. They looked up as Sarah and Wayne entered.
Leader 1: “Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat. Officer Thompson spoke highly of your efforts yesterday.”
Sarah and Wayne exchanged a glance and took a seat.
Sarah: “Thank you. We’re here to share what we’ve discovered and to discuss our plans moving forward.”
Leader 2: “We are most interested in understanding the threat these 'Feral Humans' pose. How organized are they? How dangerous?”
Wayne: “From what we’ve seen, they seem to be more of a chaotic threat. They’re aggressive, violent, and seem to act more on instinct than any sort of coordinated plan. However, they are formidable in combat, and their strength and resilience are a cause for concern.”
Leader 3: “And what of their origins? Do you have any insights into how these creatures came to be?”
Sarah: “We suspect it’s some sort of infection, but we can’t be sure. The presence of a strange substance in their blood suggests it may be contagious. We found that the substances appears to has a strange allure, attracting people to touch it. This is all speculative, of course.”
The leaders exchanged concerned glances, absorbing the gravity of the situation. The conversation continued, delving into their experiences, the battles they had fought, and the implications of this emerging threat.
After a thorough discussion, they agreed to send a representative to Abbeville, Sarah and Wayne’s town, to establish communication and trade. It was a small step toward solidarity in the face of an unpredictable and dangerous world.
With the meeting concluded, Sarah and Wayne prepared to leave the town. They had shared their knowledge, and now it was time to continue their journey, to gather more information and seek out other survivors. As they stepped out into the daylight, a sense of determination settled upon them.
Sarah: “Let’s go, Wayne. There’s much more to discover, and we can’t afford to be idle.”
Wayne nodded in agreement, and together they set off, ready to face the uncertain path that lay before them. Before they could get to the bottom of the steps Officer Thompson came out and called to them. They stopped and waited for him to walk up.
Thompson: “I would like to join you, this town has plenty of officers left and I feel I need help spread awareness of this new threat.”
Wayne and Sarah shared a look then both nodded.
Wayne: “We’d be delighted to have you join us. It’s a lot of walking and a lot of woods I hope that’s ok with you.” He said with a chuckle.
Thompson visibility relaxed a bit, “that’s fine with me I’ve already got my things packed.” He said as he jogged back up the steps, grabs a bag then came back down to meet them. Together the three of them headed north/north east into the new unknown.