Adric jerked awake the following day, nearly falling off the couch he had passed out on in his basement. “Why am I in the wine cave?” He thought confused. It took him a few seconds for his head to clear before remembering the previous evening's events. The first thing he did once it all came back was focus on the small box in the corner of his vision. Sure enough, the message displayed itself. “So, it wasn’t a dream," he said, minimizing the message and looking at his hand, "That would explain why I woke up holding a pistol,” Adric’s gaze drifted to the coffee table and the hunting rifle that lay on it, “and why the rifle is there too.
Before turning the TV on or checking his phone, Adric went about his morning routine of relieving himself and showering. He didn't even have to leave his basement. The house was designed so the basement could be used as an apartment if the owner wanted to rent it, so it was furnished with a full bath.
Adric was toweling off when his phone chimed. "Who the hell has this number?" he said, grabbing the phone off the bathroom counter and checking the message. It was a shelter-in-place and curfew alert for his area. "Oh, well, that makes more sense. I wonder why they waited so long, though. I figured the local government would have done that last night, not this morning.” He thought as he walked back into his wine room and threw on the clothes he had been wearing the previous night. Settling on the couch again, he turned the TV on to the local news.
Twenty minutes later, Adric shut the TV off in disgust; it was a waste of time. The only actions the government had taken were to enact a curfew and travel restrictions. All the local networks were doing was letting their talking heads postulate their theories as to the origin of the message and what it could mean; was it a cyber-terrorist attack? Aliens? Chemtrails? The heads babbled on and on. Not once did any of them mention where a food bank or medical shelter was staged or where frightened people might be able to go for counseling.
“Isn’t like I’m any better," Adric mused aloud, "I'm not exactly being inviting," he picked his rifle up from the table as he spoke. Slinging it over his shoulder, he went to his gun safe and placed the rifle back inside. Then he retrieved and strapped on one of the custom shoulder holsters he had made. Holstering his handgun, he checked it was secure, then grabbed three magazines and secured them to the slots on the off-hand strap of the holster. Satisfied with his current armament, Adric left his basement. He needed coffee.
***
Adric sat on his back porch thinking while he sipped his coffee. He was reviewing the message in his mind, rereading it several times. "If I'm reading this right, it sounds like this will be dangerous. Trials? Beasts? It’s a good thing I have a small arsenal and the training to use it. What else should I do? Or, I guess, how should I prioritize what I already know I need to do. Let’s see, I have enough canned, pickled, and fermented food for at least a few months…probably a year if I ration and supplement with fish and game.”
Adric rubbed his chin, thinking, “I need to board up my house…at least the smaller exits like the windows and all but one door. I should have enough spare lumber to do the smaller windows and doors. I have no idea what I can do about all the glass in the back, though. At least it's tempered glass." The breeze from the outdoor fan on his back deck made him look up at it, “Electricity! I’ll need to check the solar panels and the backup batteries today. I’ll see how long those two tasks take me. Good thing I just had that generator put in, too! I’ll trip the transfer switch off and only use it as a backup to conserve propane." Adric finished his coffee, trying and failing to squash the nagging feeling the world as he knew it would end in a little over two days.
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After cleaning his coffee cup, Adric grabbed his drill and a box of screws. He got to work with a few two-by-fours from his shed. Adric was confident the message and its words were real. In his mind, something so powerful that it could implant text screens in the mind of every human on the planet simultaneously would follow through on its threat.
***
It was barely eleven o'clock when Adric put his tools away. He reheated the leftovers from his dinner from the previous night, bringing it outside. As he ate, Adric went through possible scenarios in his head. Trying to prepare mentally for what might come. "Some people will freak out; hell, many of them already have. The question is, how will that affect me." Adric ran into the house and, after some searching, found the topo map that included the region he lived in. Outside, he opened the large map on his patio table, placing his cup and plate on a couple of the corners to keep it from blowing in the wind. Running back inside, he grabbed a marker.
Back outside Adric pulled out his phone and opened a map app to find the local landmarks and points of interest. Using the marker, he drew an X where his home was located. Next, he marked all the local roads, highways, gas stations, towns, and anything else that might be of interest. "At least I'll have this if we lose GPS and internet," he said as he carefully folded the map, placing it in a sealable plastic bag with his hiking compass. Weatherproof or not, he would take no chances with survival items. He had noted the population density, police force size, and religious and sociopolitical demographics of every town around him. If there was anything Adric's job had taught him through the years, it was that knowledge was power and to never underestimate a frightened human, especially one with something to lose.
While eating, Adric absently stared at his makeshift archery and pistol range. The small paper targets flapping in the breeze gave him an idea. After cleaning up his mess from cooking, Adric grabbed his chainsaw and cut shooting lanes into the forest surrounding his house in every cardinal direction except west toward the lake. It was almost dark when he finished cutting and clearing six lanes, each nearly two hundred yards long. Not wanting to end the day without finishing his plan, Adric put on a headlamp and started placing targets on trees every fifty yards down each lane as distance markers. The sun had already disappeared beneath the horizon by the time he finished; thankfully, the moonlight was enough for him to finish without using the batteries of his headlamp. After all, they may be a precious resource in a couple of days.
Adric defrosted a deer steak from his deep freezer while he cleaned up. After preparing a hearty stew, Adric returned to his wine cave to watch the news while eating. To his surprise, the news had some useful information. Apparently, people were getting random messages while doing various things. Some people claimed if they exercised for several hours using weights, they would sometimes receive a message telling them their strength had increased by one point. While others were given agility for performing gymnastic feats for hours on end. The list continued vitality for distance runners and even intelligence for researchers. One woman claimed she had gained luck when winning a casino's jackpot. Adric had trouble believing that claim but figured anything was possible.
Adric checked various online forums with his phone. People claimed they got messages saying they acquired skills like bladed weapons and archery. He remembered the meditation skill notification the previous evening. Adric believed these claims, but he laughed out loud when one guy claimed to have learned the Fireball spell, dismissing it as ridiculous, especially when the man refused to say how after people questioned his claim.
“Well, I guess I’ll find out tomorrow if any of this stuff is true,” Adric commented as he pulled out a shotgun from his safe, deciding against the rifle and instead opting for something requiring less aiming. As he did the previous night, Adric slept in his basement. His dreams were filled with visions of fighting alongside and against strange alien creatures of every shape and size imaginable.