Markus cruised down the road as the sun rose beside him. Ever since he had hit the lizard thing that now sat in the bed of his truck, the road had been peaceful. Every once in a while, he would pass by cars as they sat by the sides of the road, perhaps they had been gotten by the lizards? Markus shook his head as he cleared his mind of the thought, he did not want to think about more death after what he had just witnessed.

Eventually, he reached the motel parking lot. Markus pulled into a space, the gravel crunching beneath the tires as he parked the truck. The morning sun cast long shadows across the empty spaces, and the motel seemed to stand silent as though it were waiting to see what he would do next. Markus cut the engine and sat in the truck momentarily, contemplating his next move. Should he call the sheriff to see the lizard in the truck? Should he go to the nearest National Guard station and show them? Hell, maybe he should show the townspeople and try and get their help.

As he sat in the truck and contemplated his options, Markus looked in the side mirrors and promptly jumped. Entering the parking lot and drifting slowly toward his truck was…something. A small blue square, only a few feet in width and height, rotated like a top as it spun its way toward Markus slowly.

“What in the…” he whispered to himself as it drifted closer to the truck before eventually stopping at the back of it. He continued to stare at whatever it was that now spun slowly behind his truck before he cautiously got out of the truck. Seemingly reacting to his presence, the blue square stopped rotating and turned towards him. Markus approached the square with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. He could make out writing on the front of it as it seemingly stared at him.

“Are these things aliens? He thought as he moved closer. He had heard about them from some of the more special patients he had treated, and he always thought they were crazy. Life out in the stars? Really? Yet as he looked at the square and the dead lizard in the back of his truck, he wondered if they might have been right. Thinking about it a little more, since he killed an “alien”, does that mean they are going to invade or something? Markus stopped thinking about aliens and the consequence of him killing one (maybe) as he finally got a good look at the square.

Looking at the writing written on the square, Markus had to rub his eyes for a moment to understand if what he was reading was correct.

Level up!

Lv1 --> Lv2

XP (0/100

"Level up"? "XP"? What the hell does that mean? Markus wondered aloud as he scratched his head, perplexed by the strange message. Thinking about it, he could have sworn he heard something about this once from some kids, something about some "games" they played at an arcade in town. Reaching out to touch the square, wondering if he could perhaps get an explanation as to what was going on, Markus watched as the square vanished instantly followed by a loud pop. The sudden noise caused him to fall backward as he scrambled away from where the square once was.

"W-what!?!" Markus said in confusion as he pulled himself off the ground, bits of gravel falling off of him as he did so. What had happened? Did he anger it? was he about to be blown up or something? As he thought in a panic about what could happen, he looked to the ground where a number of cards now sat. Looking around for a moment since he hadn't seen them appear, Markus leaned down slowly and picked up the cards.

Each one looked like a tarot but lightly modified. One held the colorful interpretation of a knight bowing before his sword, another held the picture of a wizard gazing into a crystal ball. On the bottom of the cards, stars were present. While many of them looked vaguely similar, the last one was just a regular piece of paper with the words “Pick One” scribbled on it in pen. Moving to the hood of the car, he placed them side by side as tried to figure out what to do with them. In total, he had seven of them.

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What to do, what to do… he thought as he looked at the cards. From what the paper said, he had to choose one but frankly, he didn't know why. Was he going to have his fortunes read or something if he picked one? Looking down at the assembled cards, he checked them over. He had a knight and a wizard card with 3 stars on the bottom of both, a card that he thought depicted a farmer with one star, a card that showed a soldier wielding a mace at two stars, and then three that he had no idea what they were. One had a being made of light blessing something, a priest maybe? Another one held a man in dark robes standing in front of a grave and the last held a man engulfed in flames. On the bottom of these three, they had 5 stars.

If he was going by what he was seeing, he knew he had to choose between these three cards, and why not? If they have 5 stars that must mean they are good, right? As he contemplated what cards to choose, another one fell on the hood of the car, startling him. Cautiously, he picked up the blank-looking card to see what it was. On it was two words: one minute.

“No way!” he yelled as he looked at the cards, he only had one minute to choose!?! He pushed the other cards away as he looked at the big three, trying to figure out which one to choose. Should he choose the priest? The dark robe guy? Or the burning guy? By now he only had 30 seconds left as he tried to choose before settling for an easier method. Closing his eyes, Markus hovered his hands over the cards as he counted in his head. 10…9…8…7…6, which one which one…5…4…come on…3…2…and…1…this one. Markus grabbed a hold of a card as the minute passed, his eyes still closed. Opening them slowly, he saw that he was now holding the card with the man in black robes. Before him, the other cards were gone, almost as though they never existed and as he held the dark robe card, he watched as dematerialized in his hand, leaving nothing there.

The parking lot grew silent as he waited for something, anything, to happen. Was he about to be abducted or blown up? Watched the surrounding parking lot carefully but after some time of nothing happening, he slouched against the car.

Almost causing me to piss myself for nothing? Fuck them Aliens he thought as he let out a small laugh, sinking to the ground against the truck. The area was still deathly silent as sat on the ground, wondering what exactly had just happened. Looking up at the open sky above him, Markus watched a vulture, something common in that area, circling overhead. They were probably here for the lizard in the back of the truck.

“Feasting on the dead huh?” he said as he watched one of the vultures swoop low, just a few meters above him. Just looking at them, he thought they were acting a little odd since they usually just dug in the moment they found something, I wonder wh-

A dark shadow loomed over Markus and looking up, he felt his heart stop. Standing on the back of the truck was the lizard, its skin and scales rapidly falling off as the bone underneath was revealed. Markus blinked a few times as he looked at the rapidly decaying lizard, a bright green flame now shining where its eyes would have been. Clearly, he must be seeing things right? Right?? Markus rubbed his eyes and looked again. The lizard creature was still there, its flesh deteriorating at an alarming pace, and the ethereal green flame in its eye sockets burned with an otherworldly intensity as it peered down at him. A cold shiver, colder than ice, ran down Markus's spine as he scrambled to his feet, his mind struggling to comprehend the surreal scene unfolding before him.

The vultures, sensing the unnatural presence, circled with increased agitation, their usual scavenging instincts overridden by an instinctual fear. Markus stumbled backward, his gaze fixed on the decaying lizard. The creature's movements were erratic, twitching and swaying back and forth as it looked at him. By now almost all of its skin had fallen off, turning to dust along with its organs as it leaped from the side of the truck and slowly made its way towards Markus who had fallen over in fright.

Scrambling backwards, he tried to escape but with how close it was to him, there was no way he could escape like last time. Closing his eyes, Markus waited for the inevitable to happen as he felt the skeleton stop in front of him…only for it to not happen. Peeking open one eye, he saw that the skeletal lizard had stopped and was now just standing there, peering down at him. Leaning down, the skeleton was just a few inches away from Markus’s face as its flaming eyes seemed to peer directly into his soul. An unnatural heat emanated from the skeleton as it was so close to him yet after a moment, the skeleton did something Markus hadn't been expecting: it lowered its head.

He stared at it, confused by its behavior before, by instinct, he patted its head. The skull felt smooth like he was rubbing his hand against a polished rock, and as he petted the skeleton's head, a wheezing noise like something from the depths of hell emanated from the skeleton…was it purring?...do Lizards purr?

Pulling himself up from the ground, he watched as the skeleton lizard stood at attention, its gaze unchanged as it looked at him. I guess it's cool now...? He thought as he gave a small laugh.

“I guess that card actually did do something” he laughed as he made his way to his motel room, he needed a new pair of pants…