Watching the night streets, I had taken over with Ghost on the second shift. There isn’t much to do really, we couldn’t talk nor craft, only silently watch the streets. We had started noticing the movements of these Husks were fairly straight forward. They would simply stumble around, not entering houses nor going underneath cars. We didn’t understand why, they simply stumbled around the streets, sometimes walking into cars or fences, but never entering houses.
This behaviour is unusual, even though they presumably couldn’t see they should still be going into houses, they do so at daybreak, so why not during the night? Is there a law against it? Is it magic? The lore of this world did mention magic and we had taken into account from the Jobs that magic is indeed possible, but what kind of magic would bar the Husks from entering buildings?
Why do they appear in large numbers at night? Does daylight weaken them? If so, why do they continue to come out in small numbers during the day? Are these really the only enemies we have to worry about, or are there more? At the moment, while we have a lot of problems, the Husks were honestly becoming a minor problem. A headshot kills them, though with the little amount of ammo we had we’d have to switch to melee weapons, though if we did end up being up to making automatic weapons and ammo, wouldn’t they become a non-issue?
We didn’t know enough. Leaning back in my chair, I nearly sigh as I run through my thoughts. The Jobs were powerful, the Husks were weak when isolated and according to the lore this world is in a loop, meaning it has occurred 471,282 before we arrived. Or we looped, which is a scary thought. Have we been in a loop this entire time, trying to save this world over and over? My only motivation right now is to keep Winter safe, along with my team. I didn’t see myself as some hero that can save a world, I only wanted to enjoy playing games with my friends and grow old with Winter.
I had assigned my four points for my Job earlier and received the next tier in the talent list. Firstly, I had maxed out the less materials node, saving me a small amount of materials. The next nodes were either +1 Utility Blueprint, +1 Defensive Blueprint or +1 Offensive Blueprint. I knew the Defensive and Offensive wouldn’t be weapons like guns, perhaps Defensive would provide upgrades like tesla coils or electrical fences and Offensive would be machines like robotics with blunt force.
Utility is the one I eyed though. Like the previous nodes, these had three levels, meaning I’d receive three Blueprints from this choice. Utility would indicate machines like the water purifier or generator. The low noise generator wasn’t the end-goal, it wouldn’t last for a long time and we needed far too much gasoline to fuel it. Utility could also lead to solar panels, stronger generators and more. Though it hadn’t happened with the last lot, it’s possible once I selected a node the others would be locked.
There is also the option to go back to the other row and get faster crafting and durability, perhaps one of those two would reveal more nodes that gave different types of blueprints. Ah, I’m doing it again, overthinking everything. Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I felt a pat on my back and looked at Ghost who gave me a nod. I must’ve been expressing my frustration and thoughts on my face again, and returning the nod to Ghost, I turned back to the window.
Soon, we both woke up the other three and switched with them. Falling asleep while thinking of the best choice, I soon woke up to see Winter had put me on her lap, stroking my hair gently. Enjoying the time alone with her, I turned my head upwards and smiled.
After some time alone, we left the room and headed towards the meeting room. Today we’d be heading to the storage unit that Sheep and the others found, and with a plan in mind I ate breakfast along with everyone else and informing them of the plan, we got prepared. The Glock and Colt were now secondary weapons, only to be used if the need arose. Our loadouts consisted of one melee weapon, bow and arrows and a slingshot. Storing the arrows and stones had been a challenge, but we used some cloth to make a sling for the stones and our backpacks for the arrows. The backpack had to be left open to reach the arrows but with no other choice this had become the best option.
I used the Deagle, which still had quite a number of bullets left and would be used for the storage unit. Our hope is that there would be more ammo, water and edible food within this storage unit, which caused us to be filled with anticipation. As we left the building, I kept my slingshot in the waistband of my skirt, bow over my shoulder and Deagle within hand.
Ghost, as usual, led the way while holding a wooden club, his preferred weapon when it came to melee situations. This would be the first time we’d be engaging Husks with melee weapons, so nerves were a bit high however we were a bit confident because of our prior experience, though not with our physical bodies.
“I’m surprised you know.” Turning to Sheep who walked next to me, I looked at him with a questioning glance.
“Surprised?” Returning to look around us, I responded back.
“That the two of you had a lapse in judgement causing a lack of awareness of your surroundings.” Shooting him a glare, he shook his head. “Seriously, you two didn’t bother hiding your voices or moans, you could’ve attracted Husks. I said it yesterday, if you two need time let me know and I’ll take Ghost and Lemon out to do something. You can leave that to me, Ruby.”
Understanding what he meant, I had to agree with him. In hindsight, Winter and I had been overcome with our emotions yesterday, leading the two of us to make love without anyone on watch. Though we hadn’t exactly planned to do so, that isn’t exactly a good excuse.
“Thanks, Deven. Sorry, we let our emotions take over.”
“Yea, I understand. I am envious of the two of you though.” Deven sighed. “I just hope I can hold Diana again…”
Diana, Deven’s wife of three years. Married out of high school, they were constantly at the butt of their families and told they had made a terrible mistake. The two cut their families out of their lives and had lived so happily with one another. Diana was a really wonderful woman, she didn’t really understand what we did as a career, she hadn’t been raised near video games, but respected the fact that Deven trusted me and Winter. I do remember her thinking I wanted to steal Deven before finding out about Winter and I. Smiling at the memory of Diana apologising frantically while we laughed about it, I turned to Deven.
“She’ll be waiting for us. If we arrived here then that means there is a way back. We’ll find it.” I know it wasn’t the most logical answer, and Deven knew that, but he still smiled and nodded.
“Then we’ll keep an eye out. Hell, perhaps if we do save this god forsaken world we can ‘get what we wish for’ and I’ll just ask to go back to see her.” Deven smiled sadly before slapping his cheek. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get all emotional, thank you, Ruby.”
“Mm, anytime Deven. Everyone here is in the same position, just remember that and don’t think you need to hide your emotions.” Sharing a smile, we turned our attention back to our surroundings as we continued to watch. My thoughts turned to my Mum, the only one who I had left behind excluding a few friends. She had always supported me no matter what, never once turning against me, unlike Rebecca’s mother when we came out to them.
Mum had welcomed our relationship, in fact most of our wedding had been planned by her. She insisted on paying for the wedding and wouldn’t let either of us put a cent towards it, even though we earned more than enough. I felt bitter that I wouldn’t be able to wed Rebecca with Mum walking me down the aisle. She had hidden the details of the wedding from us and we knew it would be amazing, and knowing that we’d likely never see it stirred my emotions once again. Pursing my lips and stopping the tears, I refocused on our surroundings.
Walking down the sidepath of the desolate streets, I had to admire the view of our surroundings. Plantation slowly eating away at the houses and paths, the silence being broken by our footfalls and the emptiness. It’s creepy but strangely beautiful. Danger lurks around the corner of every car, within every house and even under our very feet. The gamer within me would’ve loved this kind of fulldive survival game, but to actually have to live in it is not what I wanted, but we’re here now.
Looking at the sky, it’s blue like the sky in our world and in the distance I could see some heavy dark clouds. Perhaps we’d get rain at some point?
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“I wonder why this town is so similar to our world…”
“Actually, Lemon had a fairly solid theory about that.” Turning to Sheep as he spoke, I gestured for him to continue. “Remember the ‘lore’ about this world and how it talked about magic? Also those Jobs that mentioned it like Mana Refining? Yet we’ve seen nothing that suggests mana or magic in this town, at least to our understanding of it which is rooted in fantasy. Everything we’ve come across is mechanical in nature and similar to our own world.
“Lemon’s theory is that we’ve been purposefully brought to a location that we’d find familiar, so that we’d have an easier time adapting to this world, gathering resources we understand before we look into mana or magic as an alternative and understand the System.”
“That…makes sense, huh. I wonder how big this world is then, are we talking the size of the Earth or smaller than it? If it’s bigger, that's going to be a headache.” Sighing, the theory Lemon had come up with made a lot of sense. If this System truly wanted us to save this world, then it would of course guide us down the path to ensure we would grow stronger faster. Thinking of discussing this later with everyone, Sheep and I returned to keeping watch over the three in front of us.
Very soon, we reached a district that had been built up as a shopping area. A large shopping mall, at least from the looks of it, sat in the middle with various buildings surrounding it. Ghost led us around it slowly, and behind it we saw a large storage building, about the size of a two story house.
“It’s like an unloading bay, perhaps it’s storage for a shop?” Muttering while looking at it, I continued to keep looking around in case anything came up and surprised us.
“The only way in is through the rolling door. Which might be loud and possibly locked, we’d have to have a closer look.” Ghost spoke while pointing at the storage building and narrowing my eyes I could see a roll up metal door. Pursing my lips, I knew opening it could be risky. Though it’s strange that there are no other doors, I knew this building could be filled with either amazing things or absolutely nothing of worth.
“It could also trigger an alarm if there is a battery operated one in there. Alright, let’s check the door and plan from there.” Saying this to the others, I get Ghost to once again lead the way, and entering the property through a hole in the fence, we made our way over slowly while clearing everything around us. Arriving in front of the roll up door, we found no locks or ways to open it. Sheep crouches and lifts it slightly from the bottom and found it wasn’t locked, which meant we could open it right away.
“Okay, plan time. Ghost, you’ll open the door, the rest of us will surround the door about twenty metres away. The moment those doors open you’re to leg it, Ghost. Sheep will take the Glock, if there are any Husks clap the one on your side. If there are many, we’re retreating.” Getting ourselves into position, Ghost looked back at us and after I gave him a nod he rolled up the door, which screeched loudly as it rolled up.
As he runs back towards us, we watch the inside of the building and fail to see anything coming out. There is light coming through into the building, from the looks of it there are sunlights, and after waiting several minutes nothing came out.
Moving forward, we slowly entered the building and found rows of shelves that reached nearly twice our height. A stale smell hung in the air and light slowly drifted in from above. We made our way through the warehouse slowly, checking every dark corner and shelf to ensure there is no threat to our lives. After clearing the entire place which took nearly an hour, we came back to the entrance.
“Alright, Ghost and Lemon you’re on watch. As for us three, we’ll search through the selves and see what we can find.” Wanting to get Lemon more experience in keeping watch while also getting training, I decided to start pairing him with Ghost who had been teaching Lemon prior to us being stuck in this world. “Winter, Sheep and I will go through the shelves and see what we find. Come back here once we’ve looked through everything and we’ll decide on what to prioritise.”
The shelves were packed with all sorts of boxes, bags and crates, and moving down the aisle, I started looking at the contents of the shelves, quickly finding dozens of tins. I can’t make out what it said on the label, but the image made me feel extremely excited. Popping the lid and piercing through the foil seal, a familiar smell hit my nose as I looked at the powder within.
Coffee! Instant shitty coffee, but coffee nonetheless! My heart beats in excitement as I remember that coffee is non-perishable as long as it’s sealed, meaning we had coffee! Grabbing a handful out of the tin, I sniffed it while looking it over and saw it hadn’t spoiled in the slightest. Resealing the tin as I brush my hand off, I look directly above the coffee and find white powder bags, sealed completely.
Sugar…and a lot of it. Non-perishable goods meant that we could potentially have hit the jackpot with this warehouse. I knew this would only be the beginning even if we had a lot here, it wouldn’t solve all of our problems but it would sure as hell alleviate some of them so we can focus on the others. As I slowly searched the shelves, I came across what I believed to be powdered milk, more canned food that I couldn’t be certain of and yet more coffee. As I’m about to continue looking, I heard an excited voice coming from Sheep.
“Rice!”
Forgetting about what I had been about to search, I quickly ran over to his side and saw Winter arrive at the same time. In front of Sheep is ten bags of white rice, about ten kilograms each bag, all sealed and correctly stored. I felt my head spin as I grabbed Winter’s arm. Food, actual proper food! It looks exactly like rice, and looking at the bags it looked pristine, meaning they hadn’t been touched by insects!
“Get back to searching, we’ll decide on what to take later.” Calming myself down as I spoke, Winter and I returned to our original spots as I continued to walk down the aisle, searching the shelves. There wasn’t anything like the rice, coffee or sugar, but I did find a few crates of water, albeit none of them had seals. Why in the world don’t they have seals? It’s so strange.
The shelves that were too high had been ignored, but looking up I didn’t see anything that could be useful to us for the time being. Reaching the back row, I looked through and found big fluffy pillows and quilts! Some had been unsealed and had insect bites but many hadn’t been touched at all. I wanted to cry with joy, after five days of nothing but horrible canned food and backpacks as pillows, we finally had found some food.
Meeting with the others at the front, we told each other of our finds. Sheep, in addition to the rice, had found utensils, jars and pvc pipes. Winter found clothing, both mens and womens, buckets, firewood, pots and pans. She also told us that this counted as looting a house or storage unit, and with what we found our situation would be stabilised for some time. Knowing we’d have to make multiple trips while only bringing back a handful of things, we prioritised what to take first.
Coffee, sugar, pillows, quilts, two bags of rice and two pots and pans would be our first lot to bring back. With our backpacks filled to the brim, we started to work our way back after closing the door of the warehouse. Thankfully we did not run into any Husks on the way back and making a second trip, we got two more bags of rice, firewood, two buckets and clean underwear. We wanted to grab the clothing and pipes last, and with the time we had left, we’d need to come back tomorrow. Hauling everything back, we found ourselves relieved for the first time in days, extremely happy we had explored the warehouse.
“Now, remember we still have a lot of problems like lack of ammo, the horde at night, lack of information on this world and so on, but with what we have gotten we have some relief.” Sitting down in the meeting room, I felt happy as we started to discuss our next lot of priorities.
“I think separating into two teams is the play right now. Ghost, Winter and Sheep are to continue scrapping and looting cars, Lemon and I will focus on machinery, plumbing and wiring the machines. With the clothing, I only need charcoal which is easily gotten from burning the firewood to make the filters for the water purifier. We also need a reliable source of gasoline, so while you three are searching for cars, make sure to keep an eye out for anything that resembles a petrol station.”
With everyone agreeing to this line up, and the plan for tomorrow to get clothing, we discussed Lemon’s priority when it came to his Job.
“I believe plumbing is vital right now, along with electrician. Carpentry we can put aside for now, we’ll focus on that later if the choice is available.” Sheep spoke and checked with everyone and they also agreed. Plumbing is vital for Ghost to begin planting his seeds and begin using his farming job. We can also, with enough water, start cycling plumbing through the water purifier giving us access to clean water for said farming. With two water purifiers we could potentially have another source of water for drinking, making coffee and rice and so on.
The only problem is the capacity of the water purifiers, at most it’s a litre. We weren’t sure on how long the purification takes as well, so it would be slow. We had nothing to store the purified water in if we were to purify a lot and it would need to be used as it came, though the buckets would help, it certainly wouldn’t be enough.
As evening slowly ended and with the sun setting, we were about to figure out who will be on watch first when we received a new quest, one that once again slapped us in the face with reality.
A Nexus Event is Approaching.
In twenty days for one night Husks will be empowered, given sight and will rampage as the Black Moon hangs in the sky for twelve hours. You must survive this night and in doing so you will be rewarded.
Countdown: 19 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes.