CJ dropped down the last few feet to the alleyway below. Although he was still mad at Monty’s less than stellar attempt to open his eyes about his ability, he did learn something. Not regenerating his base mana would be an issue he’d have to solve with incoming attacks or find a way to regularly siphon kinetic energy. Maybe he could extend his ability around cover while they were being shot at or learn to block with his arms hoping the physics of the attack didn’t overwhelm him. Did the bullet take him off his feet because of an instinct to protect himself or did it hit that hard? CJ shuttered at the thought of asking people to shoot him so he could assess the theory.

The air in the town smelled like burning coals from the fire on the north end. CJ guessed it was around fifty degrees outside. The others made their way down the ladder and joined him. The sounds of fighting between the mannequins and cicadas had softened since the amalgamation was killed. The brick walls of this alley were dotted with old boxes and dumpsters for the respective businesses. Behind them was employee parking and ahead of them was main street. CJ crouched down and peeked around the corner out into the street.

The Trinchar’s van was now on their left. From this side CJ could see all the scratches and dents from their mad dash away from the warehouse. The back left tire was flat. That let CJ know they weren’t going to fixt this and drive away. It would all have to be on foot.

“Hey Rubio, I never asked. What year is that van?” whispered CJ.

“It’s an eighty nine. I kept it in great condition before all this went down. Got it real cheap,” Rubio proudly answered.

“Let me guess, roll up windows, no tape deck, and a mostly empty interior when you got it?” questioned CJ.

“Yes, that’s about right. I had CB in it for a few years in the nineties, but I got rid of that,” replied Rubio.

“Manual transmission?”

“Yes. What’s with the twenty questions all of a sudden?” Rubio spat.

“Building a profile. Anything with a circuit board in it went dead once this all started. I had the lights in my apartment on, but they were just a bulb, and wires connected to a switch. Something must have kept the power flowing even after most electronics went dead. Any vehicle old enough will probably still work but I doubt fuel supplies will last the year. People will have to siphon gas from wrecks. What were the roads like before you got down here?” asked CJ.

“Long stretches with nothing and then massive pile ups. We ended up using the shoulder for the worst of it. One bridge was completely blocked up and we had to cross using the opposite side. Normally that would be impossible but there was enough room to get around what cars were there. I see what you’re getting at now. Vehicles like our van will soon be hot commodities. I have an idea. Wait here a second,” said Rubio before darting over to the van.

He popped the hood while tossing mannequin parts to the side. Monty and Elena sidled up to CJ to see what was happening. All the while CJ didn’t hear a peep from the monsters still roaming the area. He feared all the clanging Rubio was doing under the hood would attract the bugs. Then Rubio popped up with a round object in his hands. It had a few small tubes extended out of one end. He pocketed the object and jogged back over.

“I got it. Let’s go,” said Rubio slinging his rifle around to the front of his torso again.

“Wait, what was all that about?” asked CJ.

“I pulled the distributor cap. Anyone who tries to take the van will have to give up immediately. Then we can come back for it later. I said it before, she’s family,” Rubio explained.

“Papa, that was reckless. CJ how do we get back to the reservoir with those things in the way?” asked Elena.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Good question. We aren’t going that way. At least not right now. Monty and I need to check out that park. Feel free to come with us or you can hold up in another building. If our guess is right, that park might be a Bolster dungeon. If that’s the case, I need to try and clear it,” replied CJ before putting his back to the store front wall and slinking his way toward the park.

Elena and Rubio shared a quick look before her father nodded at her. They both fell in line behind Monty and followed CJ deeper into the town.

“We’re coming with you. I need to make up for that punch,” commented Rubio.

“Great. I don’t know what will happen when we get there but it looks like we’ll have to dash across the street to reach the entrance to the park. Stay hot on our heels or paws in my case,” said Monty as he followed along behind CJ.

CJ made it a block closer to the park before he heard the rhythmic thrumming of the cicada song again. He gave up all pretext of sneaking at that point and just ran across the street. The other three following closely behind him. A shot barked out from Rubio’s rifle as a cicada jumped off the roof the building they just broke away from. The bugs carcass crunched to the ground as they kept running.

As CJ’s right foot crossed the boundary between the asphalt of the road and the concrete of the sidewalk, he received a slate message that brought him up short. Unfortunately, everyone else was still running behind him. They all plowed right into him crossing the boundary as well. Reality swam in technicolor all around the four travelers. Once the psychedelic imagery solidified, CJ found himself and Monty standing amidst a copse of trees. It was now nighttime. The tree line ended before them in well-manicured topiaries. They were trimmed to resemble leafy balls on top of bark sticks. Some had one ball other multiples. CJ could only see them as plants because torches lit up along a wall deeper within. The only path through them led up to a wrought iron gate guarded by two disgusting looking slug monsters. The gate was part of a long rock wall that looped around a two story castle. Something big moved around in the single room on the second floor. CJ could just barely make it out through the window.

The slugs had humanoid torsos at the top with droopy jowls around the mouths. They wore iron helmets with two holes in the top for their eye stalks. From the waste down they were typical slugs. They each held a spear in one hand as they stood sentinel. Monty grabbed CJ’s pant leg and gestured for him to get down.

“What did the message say?” asked Monty.

“The message? Oh, right the slate message. Gimme a second,” said CJ as he pulled it back up.

Bolster dungeon: Queen’s Gambit- Retrieve an item from the queen’s bed chambers to complete the dungeon. The better you’re rating the better the reward.

Rank C: Successful item stolen. Class specific item.

Rank B: Successful item stolen, and no alarm is raised. Class specific item and a new spell.

Rank A: Successful item stolen, no alarm is raised, the queen must survive. Class specific item, a new spell, unlock Quest Pillar.

Good Luck.

CJ thought this was a very strange notification. The rankings were upside down to start with. Monty broke his ruminating by rapidly punching his leg. Good news was that gave him back another five mana.

“Share it with me you goon. Look at me and think share,” said Monty once he got CJ’s attention.

CJ did so. After a minute or two, Monty looked up at him. Shock was plastered across the rabbit’s face. That made CJ’s eyes open wide in alarm before Monty finally spoke again.

“We need to get the best rank in this challenge. We are going for Rank A. Unlocking that Quest Pillar will purify the corruption in this area. It’s probably big enough to do the town. Do you know what that means?” asked Monty.

“You know I don’t.”

“It means we can make this town a safe area. The barrier that keeps monsters from coming into the park would extend around the town. I guarantee no one else has done this yet. It’s rare to see this offered in a Bolster dungeon if memory serves. Usually only offered in challenge dungeons and definitely in city dungeons. Too good an opportunity to pass up. Must have something to do with the broken integration. We’ll have to ask Lord Wukong about it. What’s your plan?” asked Monty finally calming a bit.

“I don’t really have one. I just got here. We get over the wall somehow. Probably sneak around a bit. Be nice if we had some salt. Wait a minute. We grabbed that round box of salt from the kitchenette. We could use that,” replied CJ to Monty who just shook his head.

“That was maybe two cups of salt. It has that little metal lip to control the amount that comes out. Those slugs look to be standing at least six feet tall. That doesn’t count the slug bits that trail out behind them. Not gonna cut it,” said Monty.

“Attacking them would probably fail the test. Where are the Trinchars? Let’s look around and see if we can find them or spot these alarms the text told us about,” commented CJ as he began to circle away from the slug guards.