The streets were empty as the convoy thundered down the road. The recent road expansions, a remnant of a world that once thrived on progress, now struggling to survive. Distant gunfire showed that humanity was still hanging on to life.
Derek had his eye on the treeline and intersecting roads. The orc’s armor was a shoddy fit, still needing more adjustments after Jenny repaired the bullet holes. His weapon belt rested on his leg and he felt that was ready for anything. He and Leroy were the only two with armor, as everyone else would use spells or guns.
“I think we are going to have to remodel the house.” Derek said to Marie as she drove, following the lead vehicle.
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, if I’m going to have to power the house with a spell, I need two thick sheets of copper and we’re going to have to build a utility room to house the electrical.” James rattled on, explaining how he thought they should remodel.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to move to a bigger house before we start doing all this work?”
Derek shrugged. “Yeah, but where are we going to move?”
“The neighbor’s house across the street has to be 4000 square feet and they aren’t even there.”
“And it’s also not livable.”
“We could take one of the Legacy Height houses. Those things are massive.”
“Those things aren’t defendable. There are a few gated c…” Derek trailed off as the lead truck slowed.
“Blockade ahead.” Leroy reported.
Without hesitation, Derek responded, his voice steady yet alert. “Advancing,” he announced, opening the door and hitting the ground in a sprint. His senses heightened as he prepared to confront the obvious ambush.
A line of cars and SUVs blocked the road. Derek didn’t see anyone as he advanced. When he reached the barricade, he looked around, but still saw nothing. The remnants of storefronts stood like a ghost town. People didn’t block the road to stop monsters.
“Command, I got nothing. Requesting orders.” Derek said into the radio, glancing back at the convoy.
“Uh… Can you remove the cars?” Jenny asked, unsure.
“Is that a command or a question?” Derek answered.
Jenny hesitated, then spoke with more confidence. “Move the cars if possible. Everyone prepare for an ambush.”
“Roger.”
Derek grabbed the bumper of the first car and moved the front end out of the road, using his superhuman strength. The second vehicle was an SUV and Derek checked the ignition to see if there were any key, of course not. He grabbed the bumper and drug it off the road. He was starting on the third car when the cry came over the phone.
Janet’s voice cut through the chaos. “Orcs from the left!” Her warning was loud enough that Derek could hear her from here without the phone.
As Derek heaved the last vehicle aside, gunfire erupted, a discordant symphony to his task. Derek saw movement out of the corner of his eye at the nearby storefront. Half a dozen men with guns exiting the building, moving closer with their guns at the ready.
“Possible combatants from our twelve.” Derek’s voice was steady over the call, betraying none of his rising adrenaline. “I have eyes on six with guns.”
“You left your cars on the road.” Derek complained over the sound of gunfire from behind him.
His eyes glanced at the remains of the blockade they’d formed with a mix of frustration and tactical assessment. They approached in a military like fashion, but obviously not having received the training. All six guns pointed in his direction.
“On the ground. Now!” the lead man ordered with the voice of a drill sergeant.
“No.” Derek said in a tone that showed his unwavering defiance. After hesitating a moment, he half-raised his hands in a non-threatening manner, “easy boys, I’m not here for a fight.” Derek slowly moved to the side so that he wasn’t between the men and his people, which had the added benefit of splitting their attention.
“Last chance!” He bellowed, lifting his gun from the ready position to Derek’s face.
Seeing that he wasn’t interested in following commands, the man’s gun exploded as a bullet punched into Derek’s right shoulder, bypassing his armor like it wasn’t even there. Fortunately, the bullet stopped on his reinforced skin, but it instantly throbbed. They just shot him and it fucking hurt.
That single bullet released his accumulated rage. With no conscious command, his Aura: Bloodlust surged forth without command, as natural as drawing breath. An overwhelming aura of menace radiated from him, so intense it seemed to distort the air itself. The transformation was instantaneous; the steely resolve in his adversaries’ eyes dissolved into primal dread. In that moment, he was the embodiment of fury, as the berserker broke free.
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Derek, propelled by this torrent of primal indignation, surged forward. His eyes, aflame with the azure glow of mana, locked onto the gunman. In a fluid motion born of both instinct and ire, he seized the assailant’s weapon-wielding hand. Despite another futile attempt to shoot, Derek effortlessly redirected the gun, snapped the man’s elbow with a precise palm strike, and hurled him to the ground, all the while the air crackled with the chaos of gunfire.
Throbbing pain erupted all over his body as the extremely painful gunfire turned him into a target dummy. Derek didn’t stop moving. He dismantled them by breaking legs, arms, ribs, and crushing one man’s head into the asphalt. There was no hesitation in his actions as he shattered a man’s clavicle before sending him through the window of the store.
Inside were dozens of men, women, and children who were terrified of what they just saw. The men lifted their guns to shoot, but were too stunned by the display to react well.
“Don’t kill them!” Marie ordered over the call.
“You fucking shoot me and I’ll kill every one of you.” Derek said, holding a hand up to stop them while trying to contain the rage in his heart.
He wasn’t kidding. Derek had a spell had prepared as months of combat training turned him into a killing machine. He was ready to blast the entire room with fire. A fireball would likely kill all of them and collapse the building.
“Marie! I need you. If they shoot me again, I’ll kill them,”
His rage burning like fury. How fucking dare they treat him like this? It wasn’t even a minute later until Marie came running into the building to stop at the look on his face.
“Okay,” she said loud and clear, speaking in a calm voice. “Please lower your guns, please don’t shoot.”
A gun fell to the floor, causing everyone to almost jump. Fortunately for everyone, nobody was trigger-happy.
“Derek, please go outside and let me handle this.”
Derek looked from her to the men still holding weapons.
“I swear to all the fucking gods, if anything happens to her. I will flatten this goddamn planet.” Derek growled and forced himself to turn away.
“Jesus christ, Derek.” Phil said over the call.
“Fuck off, Phil. They shot me. Fuck them.”
“Phil, get your ass in here and help me.” Marie ordered.
Derek walked over, grabbed one of the cars on the other side of the road, and flipped it end over end, trying to expel his fury. He spent the next several minutes sending cars off the road as his rage abated.
It sounded like the battle with the orcs had wrapped up just as quick as it began. Soon, the convoy pulled up to the broken storefront. Carson, Phil, and Marie were helping heal most of the damage Derek caused. Derek looked upon their pain and the waste of resources with disgust, but attempted to hide.
As he returned to Marie’s side, the man she was healing looked up at him as if he were the grim reaper.
“Your scaring them.” Marie said.
“Better than dead…”
“Derek! Be quiet!” She snapped at him.
Derek’s frustration simmered as he made his way back to the truck, the sounds of reconciliation behind him a stark contrast to the turmoil within. He slumped into the seat, the weight of the confrontation and its resolution pressing heavily. Outside, the world continued its chaotic dance, but within the confines of the vehicle, Derek allowed himself a moment of reflection. The encounter had peeled back layers of his resolve, revealing the raw edges of his anger and the constant battle between his nature and the expectations of society.
As the dust settled and the last echoes of conflict faded, the group silently regrouped, their movements heavy with unspoken tension. They climbed back into their trucks; the engines rumbling to life. The convoy rolled forward, leaving the scene of turmoil behind.
Marie’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, her focus on the road ahead, but her mind clearly on the weight of Derek’s actions. She glanced at him, the tension palpable in her demeanor. “They thought you were a demon.”
Derek’s response was curt. “Fuck them. I gave them a chance.”
Marie’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Your complete disregard for human life and suffering is disturbing.”
Derek’s grip tightened on his weapon belt, a silent reaction to the frustration boiling within. He understood Marie’s perspective, yet the primal instinct to survive, to protect what was his, overshadowed any semblance of empathy for those who had become threats.
“It’s not like I feel nothing. It’s about survival.” Derek argued, failing to keep the heat from his voice. “They made their choice by shooting me. If they had shot me two days ago, you would be burying my corpse right now.”
He glanced at Marie, wishing he could make her see the harsh reality through his eyes, the world where every stranger could be an enemy, every decision a matter of life and death.
Marie’s gaze faltered, and she sighed, “Still, you didn’t have to be so ruthless…” she finally murmured, leaving her sentence to hang unfinished in the air.
“And what’s the alternative, Marie? So, just to clarify, you would prefer to have living strangers over having a living husband?” Derek demanded. “Do you think I was kidding when I said I would flatten everything if something happened to you? Well… I wasn’t.”
“I know!” She screamed at him. “I fucking know you weren’t! How am I supposed to feel knowing that you will kill everyone for the sake of me? They are people too, Derek! They aren’t just some damn mooks in your books, waiting for the protagonist to come along!”
“You don’t think I know that?” Derek replied, heat entering his voice.
A sharp wind of cold air hit the truck, causing it to sway slightly. Outside the desolate cityscape of destroyed homes and businesses, a constant reminder that the world had changed, and not for the better.
“Some times I wonder, because you treat them like they are beneath you.”
“That’s because they are! I don’t go around shooting people who are trying not to harm me. Just like that god damned trailer trash from the store. If anyone points a fucking gun at me, they put their lives in their own hands.”
His words hung heavy between them, his vow to shield her from the world’s cruelty, no matter the cost, almost as terrifying as the threat of bandits, thugs, and the monsters themselves.
“What about Phil or Carson or James or Janet, huh? Are they beneath you?” She questioned.
“No, they aren’t. And to this day they haven’t shot me.” Derek replied.
“I hate to defend Derek, but I would like to chip in and say that if anyone pointed a gun at me, I wouldn’t hesitate. Whether or not I had horns.” Carson said over the call. “Especially when I had my hands held up and was telling them I didn’t want to fight.”
Apparently, they hadn’t been muted. Derek didn’t say anything. Carson’s defense was enough that Marie immediately dropped the topic.
Marie’s voice softened, a hint of regret weaving through her words as she addressed the group. “I’m… sorry you had to hear that.” Her soft, teary eyes met Derek’s hard, resilient eyes that still burned with leftover power.
Carson’s response came after a brief silence, his tone laced with an understanding borne of his own experiences. “No need for apologies. We are all facing our own trials that we couldn’t have ever imagined.” His words were not just a balm for Marie, but a reminder to the group of the extraordinary circumstances and the harsh world they navigated together.