CHAPTER 96: On the Road
"L7,” shouted the spotter. “30 incoming!”
At the shout, men moved into their assigned positions. Defenders and melee fighters moved in front, while the few mages and support moved behind. This wasn’t close to their first time being attacked as they travelled, and it wouldn’t be the last.
The code that the spotter used just meant the left or right side, and which vehicle was closest to the attack. The people responsible for guarding that vehicle would form up, and then there were roaming parties that covered groups of vehicles. They would move to wherever the fighting was the heaviest.
When the caravan of cars and people were on the highway, they would move the vehicles next to each other to consolidate for easier defense. Highways were also in the open which gave more sight lines before the invaders and mutated animals arrived. Unfortunately, highways were also where the majority of the attacks happened.
On a typical road, the vehicles still went side by side using both directional lanes. It didn’t matter since they were unlikely to meet people going the other way. It was also unlikely for them to meet anyone else out here.
Chad got into his assigned position. All his skills felt very basic. At the arrival of the [System] he had chosen a [Mage] class since he was concerned too few people would make that choice. He had been right.
However, he had expected a bit more power from it. When he was ordered to assign skill points to boost his spells, it was never the attack spells that got stronger. The officers had him improve spells like [Air Shift] that allowed him to simply move the nearby air, or [Wind Barrier], which would need to be stronger still to be able to take an attack from a serious enemy. Even [Disperse Odor] was boosted, which sounded like a spell people might want after having an affair.
With those weak spells in his kit, Chad was surprised he gained a lot of approval from those in the convoy. Scouts wished he knew some stealth skills so he could accompany them. Attackers liked the way he would subtly affect the battles by slowing or speeding movements using wind to throw the enemies off balance or to give their attacks a bit more oomph. Everyone liked that the area around Chad didn’t smell like months old body funk.
The first of the attacking beasts arrived. They were lupine creatures that came up to most men’s chest. Fully back eyes looked at them in a way that was impossible to read. They gave away no intent or who they were targeting. The beasts snarled in feral aggressiveness as they seemed more driven by the sentient lizardmen at the rear.
Like always, Chad used focused wind to blast the sides of the monsters’ heads, giving people enough time to dodge the snapping jaws and long fangs. The warriors would slide to the side and jab them with spears and swords that had been made from the salvaged parts of other creatures they killed.
The wolves whined when their skin was pierced but it took quite a lot to bring them down. A purple energy would spark around then when they took damage, reducing any bleeding to allow them to keep going.
Chad saw one of the newer recruits falter at the sight of the large teeth, and the beast took the opportunity to lunge at him. A quick [Wind Barrier] didn’t stop the attack, but it did slow it so that the bite happened in front of the recruit instead of to him. It gave time for a defender to ram the beast in the side of its head with a spiked shield, drawing more blood from it.
The attacks while traveling felt easy compared to back when they were at the base. There was almost no rest at the base, but here, on the road, the attacks were sporadic enough that they were able to rest all night. Scouts and hunters brought back meat from beasts they hunted.
It was still exhausting. Spending all day walking, carrying packs weighted based on your Strength stat. It wore them down. Yet the memories of the base and the people they lost kept them moving forward.
Truthfully, Chad was sure that if there wasn’t constant talk of a safe city then many people would have just given up right there. Especially after they left the base. Another thousand people had died getting away from the monster waves, leaving them with just under 4,000 soldiers now.
The general kept them moving forward. He and the special forces showed how strong they could be, how determined they needed to be, to survive and find safety. It was there, the promise by the general. Safety. Life. People. Strong, organized soldiers and civilians.
Even Chad often felt himself descending to a fantasy when his hazy thoughts sought their own refuge. They would be among others. Buildings that could withstand their enemies. Fruit, seasoning for meats, even beer. Chad wasn’t even sure what he truly wanted, but at the very least a vacation from this madness would be welcome.
They might have lost a thousand soldiers in their escape, but they had gained 15,000 people so far. The general wasn’t going straight to the safe city. He preached that they needed to preserve the humans. That without saving those out there, they would be letting the invaders win. Plus, more people saved meant a bolstering of their forces. A rebuilding of the army.
It had been a week and a half since leaving the base, and those people that they found in their meandering route across the country were more than willing to accompany them. Most wanted to leave their hiding spots to fight and win in this new reality. They wanted to grow their class and understand the [System].
Those people didn’t have the despair in their eyes that the soldiers did as they had defended the base for two months with no end in sight. These people didn’t yet know the horrors of the invaders. Hope still filled these people, that if they just got strong enough, they could take back their place in the world. They didn’t realize it was a war for survival.
Most volunteered. Men, women, and children. There was no discrimination here. Those who volunteered were interviewed and assigned roles and classes that the officers fit them to. A few hours each night were dedicated to teaching and training. People needed to learn combat and their class.
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Some people didn’t volunteer. They were either forcibly conscripted or left behind. There was no room for slackers and no supplies for parasites, though they were given every chance to choose differently.
In the center of their caravan were three large tanker trucks of fuel. They would syphon gas station tanks when they passed through a town to keep them full. It felt like a Mad Max movie. The tankers had to be defended above everything. Without them all the other trucks in the caravan would be useless. Those other trucks contained their supplies and carried the people who couldn’t walk; those too old or young, disabled or injured in ways that healers couldn’t help.
Everyone else walked. Walked and carried more supplies. Each person was laden with as much as they could carry while still getting through the day’s hike. Each day was exhausting, but it had more purpose than defending the previously breached base. Plus, at the end of this journey was the hope of safety.
No one said it, Chad only occasionally thought it, that the promise was a placebo. That it was baseless. How could a whole city have survived in this chaotic war? With daily attacks coming no matter where they traveled, it seemed impossible for there to be a truly safe place. Even the people away from the cities, or the people who had hidden, spoke about the destruction of their comfortable lives. As well as the hunting squads of invaders that could show up at any moment to take the humans away. They had to believe in the safe city because otherwise their minds would break. That, and because the general promised it was there and that they would reach it.
Chad stayed focus as he continued to use his skills to influence the small battle. It really didn’t take long, since the roaming squads were able to surround the beasts. The lizardmen who had been controlling them fled before the fight’s outcome was even determined. Chad found their attack and retreat odd, but he also had heard enough historical stories of armies being harried as they moved, and the ways it affected them.
Of course, each pack of invaders, weak compared to the waves from the base, strengthened their little army. The more they could kill, the faster the new recruits could level and the stronger those with experience could get. Level wasn’t everything but add it to the experience and skill they had from weeks and months of constant fighting, and those levels meant even more.
Chad was now at level 23, and he was far from the highest. Rumor had it that the strongest in their army was Commander Rexus, at level 45. The second strongest, Gregor, was at level 38.
Once the short battle was over, the caravan was brought to a halt and preparations for the night were made. The sun was setting. Food was distributed. The traditional line of people desperate for Chad to use [Disperse Odor] on them was forming. In the whole 19,000 people currently in the caravan, only three had the spell, and one of those was kept close to the officers.
Chad dreamed of the day he would be able to shower once again, and the day he was around people able to shower as well. One of Chad’s more closely cherished items was a bar of soap that he didn’t use, he just took it out to smell every time he needed a pick me up. He would fight with his life on the line to keep that bar of soap safe. The city they journeyed towards couldn’t come soon enough.
The line of desperate but grateful people receiving Chad’s spell was longer than he could see in the night. Most knew he would run out of magic power before he got to them, but once more the whisper of hope kept them lined up. At least until a large, muscular man, splattered with blood and clothes shredded to almost indecency headed their way.
Unsure why everyone was scared of the man, Chad pulled two metal crates from the nearby truck and sat on one of them. Gregor the Berserker sat on the other crate. His size, strength, skill, and power gave him a confidence and knowledge that he could have whatever he wanted. Usually, he didn’t take advantage of that, but when it came to making sure Chad cast [Disperse Odor] on him, it was a nightly occurrence.
Gregor didn’t have friends outside of the special forces except for Chad. For some reason, not just the smell cleansing, Gregor visited Chad every evening. He even brought their dinners, making sure Chad got as much as a physical fighter.
“You were in today’s fight, huh?” asked Gregor as he handed over a tray.
“It wasn’t much. Barely a skirmish. You could have taken them on solo,” responded Chad. Gregor chuckled.
“True. Not much to challenge me now. I’m barely even getting XP anymore. You probably aren’t either. It shows how much the top brass value your skills that you’re still in these places soaking up what XP there is. Keeping the newbies safe.”
“They aren’t the only ones who value my skills,” Chad joked as he hit Gregor with [Disperse Odor]. Gregor let out a sigh in relief.
“It isn’t like I want to eat my meat raw or be splattered with blood every fight. I just get so angry when I fight. I feel like I can run through any enemy. My power feels like it comes from just letting myself go out of control.”
“It scares most people,” said Chad.
“But not you, Chad. I can see it in your eyes. You just don’t care. That’s why it’s nice chatting with you. It feels like it brings me down to earth.”
“You don’t get that from the others in your unit?” asked Chad.
“No. With them it’s all business all the time, or dick measuring contests to see who’s the strongest. Doesn’t matter to me.”
“Probably because you’re the strongest.”
Gregor burst out laughing.
“Not even close so long as Commander Rexus is around. That guy is a beast. Facing him would even scare me,” acknowledged Gregor as he nodded to himself. “I swear that guy could kill a Tier 3 if we faced one. No, I’m fine with any rank so long as I get some challenging fights, and we can reach Jackson.”
“Jackson…” said Chad wistfully. “Is it really going to be there when we arrive?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’m just going by what the officers say to me. I hope for all our sakes that it’s still there.”
“How long before we arrive?” Chad practically pleaded.
“It’ll be a few more weeks. We have to avoid populated areas and easy to travel roads. The general also wants us to collect as many people as we can find, so we’ll be going to a lot of remote communities.”
“Most people are just thinking of their own safety, but the general is still thinking of everyone else. I can’t imagine how hard he must have it.”
“Yeah, but that’s what it’ll take for humanity to survive. He began gathering people before the invasions even started and brought a lot of critical information with him,” Gregor said, looking to the future. “Say Chad. What are you looking forward to the most in Jackson?”
“Not wanting to retch from everyone’s body odor,” said Chad, getting another laugh from Gregor.
“You’re probably the person in this army that has to worry about that the least. Thank the officers for those skills of yours.”
The rest of the evening was spent chatting about what they might find in Jackson, Tennessee. Once more Chad felt hope blooming inside of himself…thanks to the general.
***
An arm reached out of the river. It grabbed the long grass at the embankment. Pulling himself up wasn’t easy.
His forearm was broken and swollen. His knee also felt twisted. Who knows how far he was from where he had started.
Getting onto dry land caused him to wheeze from exhaustion. Hiding, fighting, fleeing, it had burned him low. He was going to need to sleep, and if something came to kill him, then he was finished.
His clothes were soaked, causing his body to shiver in the December air, though he doubted the leather of his armor would suffer from the wet. It didn’t matter, he wasn’t up to stripping it off his body even with the cold shakes. Starting a fire also seem like a bad decision. Instead, he pulled out a waterproof ration pack from an inside pocket and tore it open.
Once he was fed, he set his back against a tree, close enough to the water to throw himself in again should he need to escape. With one final hope for a better tomorrow, Lamar closed his eyes and drifted into oblivion.