Everyone was looking in anticipation at Lukas and soon saw Clay's stiff face relax, as he finally felt what he was looking for. Lukas heart, if weak, was still beating.

“It seems like he is going to be fine. His heart is stabilizing and he has stopped convulsing. Looking at his body it seems like he lacked energy for the transformation, but I don’t know why. His body fat and water seemed to have been used as fuel so we should, first of all, give him some water,” said Clay with a calm face.

Hearing the explanation Charlotte was quick to act and got one of the water bottles from her backpack and slowly tried to give him some water. After a short struggle, Lukas seemed to be drinking alright.

Seeing this Clay slowly stood up and nodded in approval. “Someone should continue to slowly give him more water, while the rest search this place. I don’t want to stay longer than needed in this place. It is way too dangerous.”

Seeing no problem with Clay’s proposal Charlotte and Dennis decided to stay behind, while the rest looked for everything that could be useful. While leaving Jim could hear Max mumble to himself, “...is he a doctor or what…”

The museum, if holding some rather useful weaponry, was neither large nor well protected. Churchville was a secluded city that hadn’t many visitors and everyone knew each other after all these years rather well and the last time they had something resembling a crime was months ago.

This secluded city was boring but for that, it was more peaceful than most places. The museum only had one floor which mostly presented various weapons and armor of the glorious middle ages of Churchville.

Agreeing with Clay, Jim didn’t want to stay any longer than he needed to. The museum had only one entrance so if someone would block it they would be trapped like a bird in a cage.

Like the others, he roamed around the museum looking at the various weapons and armor, but he didn’t really feel like getting another weapon. They were various weapons ranging from swords to spears, daggers, bows, and shields.

Most of these weapons didn’t really pique the interest of Jim who felt comfortable with his machete, even if a sword would have a better reach and an advantage in thrusting attacks. Way more interesting for him was the shiny armor that reflected the light from outside.

On his way, he found a collection of armor sets but most of them were full-body suits of plate armor which would be way too heavy to wear. He just needed some protection that didn’t hinder his movement too much.

After searching for a couple of minutes Jim found a cool looking dagger that had a black blade, with a mesmerizing dark green pattern on it resembling scales, which surprised him. It was rather hard for him to understand why you would forge a black blade in the middle ages.

After reading the description under the pedestal, the dagger was presented on, he found his answer. This dagger was apparently used as the ceremonial knife for something called the blood snake.

The blood snake was a method of execution their city used, where you would cut the back of a person open in a pattern resembling a slithering snake.

It was a very painful death and only the worst of scum was executed like that so they made the knife black and with a dark green pattern to resemble a snake that lived to this day in the region surrounding Churchville.

It was a rather harmless snake that used some paralyzing poison. They chose this snake because in this execution your spinal cord was served, paralyzing you permanently and turning you into a cripple.

Then you sit there on a podium in the middle of the city in full consciousness, while everyone can see how you slowly bleed to death, unable to move to end your suffering. Truly the most gruesome execution their city had come up with.

Even though the history of the dagger was dark Jim could see that it was of the highest quality so he grabbed it as his secondary weapon. At least he could tell a story when someone asked him about it.

A secondary weapon was really useful in case he loses his machete or use it as a tool. After another short walk, he finally found what he was looking for.

It was a leather armor, which was reinforced by metal plates on the most vulnerable places of the human like the chest, arms, and legs. He was born and raised in Churchville so it was a given to know the history of it and one rather interesting invention of the time was this armor.

Churchville was famous for its equipment and this armor and those who wore it were one of the reasons why. The army of Churville consisted of two parts. The house guard protected the castle and the scouting troop, was used to ambush in war, scouting the environment and keeping the surroundings of the city safe.

Churchville had not without reason so few visitors. The region around Churchville was surrounded by high mountains and thick woods. Churchville was geographically almost completely enclosed in mountains and very hard to traverse in.

On the foot of some mountains were a few small villages but apart from the roads leading from Churchville to the villages, there was only one main road that went all the way from the city out to more civilized regions.

The Mountains were in the past good protection but also the best hiding spot for bandits so the soldiers had to be protected and still be able to move freely in the uneven ground of the woods.

Like one could have guessed this was a very dangerous job and had the highest mortality rate of all the jobs Churchville provided. At some point, one of the best craftsmen was annoyed at having to always make armor in different sizes and came up with an interesting concept.

This armor was essentially a construct of leather straps that can be changed to your size, it didn't hinder your movement a lot, while still protecting the most vital parts of the body.

You just have to put the armor over your normal clothing and pull the straps so that it sits comfortably on your body. The protruding straps would be wrapped under various metal pieces like the wrist protection, chestplate, or thigh protectors.

Jim tried it out and it was really easy to wear and the armor fitted him perfectly. He could still move around comfortably and had another layer of protection.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

He happily looked through the rest of the museum and found a round shield which he strapped behind his back.

Other than the knife Jim didn't find any other weapon which he wanted to use so he returned to the reception hall where everyone was already waiting.

Jim was not the only one who knew this armor was good as he previously noticed that some of the armor stands were empty.

Max was wearing similar armor to Jim but had additionally chainmail under his armor. He gave Charlotte the scouting armor especially made for archers, she had a quiver on her lower back. This armor was even lighter than Jim’s and she also held a shortbow on her shoulder.

Charlotte and Max were both in the archery club and with this Charlotte would finally be of help from the distance. Compared to Charlotte, Max didn’t use a shortbow but a longbow and a larger quiver.

Lukas, Dennis, and Jim were wearing the same armor. Jake was wearing full leather armor with metal embedded in it.

He decided to sacrifice some mobility for better protection, as he was something like their strategies he was after all the one who came up with all of their formations. Clay and Chris on the other hand were wearing a slightly other version of armor as they had a shield embedded in their arm.

It was not as big as Jim’s and resembled more of an oval shape than a circle. It looked like it was more for deflecting attacks than straight up blocking them. He could also spot multiple daggers strapped around Chris thighs and hip.

For the weapons, the most special one was Lukas as he was using a rapier. Max and Jake decided on a spear coupled with a slightly bigger shield than Jim’s. Clay, Jake, and Dennis were using normal arming swords.

Now they were really equipped for everything that this situation could throw at them. They now had the best weapons and armor they could ask for. Seeing that everyone was ready Jim asked, "So what are we going to do next?"

Hearing this Charlotte cleared her throat. “I don’t know what you guys think but in my opinion, we should first secure a safe place. Lukas still needs to rest and we need some sort of place where we can return to when we are injured.”

There was another moment of silence before Max began to speak, “I have to agree with Charlotte. The path to the museum should only have taken about fifteen minutes, instead, we needed over one and a half hours just to get here.

We can’t just go into the city in search of survivors and expect that the mutants are just going to watch. There are way too many for that. We have to take it step for step, slowly clearing a safe path.”

“I also agree. I don’t know how the mutants are at night, but I sure don’t want to find out. We are clearly at a disadvantage at night and need a place where we can rest for the night,” added Jake with a thinking expression.

Chris, who rarely talked, also made his opinion clear. “ I don’t want to dampen the mood but you all have seen the corpses on our way here. I know it’s hard but… but the chance that all the people we care about are still living… is low. Especially for someone like me who comes from a villager nearby. I alone would never even reach it in one piece.”

After some thinking about the place they could use as a base, they came up with some options. They could of course just choose the next best building but it would not be big enough to hold dozens of people in the scenario they indeed found survivors.

While discussing Lukas slowly regained his consciousness and after listening for some time slowly spoke, “Th..The school would be good.”

Charlotte looked surprised and happy at Lukas. “Great, you are awake! How are you feeling, you madman?”

“L-Like I just came out of a heart transplantation,” replied Lukas with a weak smile.

“Better alive than dead I presume, but what do you mean with the school?” Charlotte asked with an interested face.

“You know, after the spider blocked the main entrance to our school I realized something… It is the perfect place to defend. I mean we had a huge problem because we couldn’t get out anymore.

The spider only blocked the main entrance and we were trapped. Our school is on a small hill, has only one entrance, and is big enough to hold even hundreds of people,” replied Lukas while slowly sitting up, as he was feeling much better.

“That is true, but wouldn’t the size of the school be a problem?” Dennis asked with concern.

Joining the conversation Jim said, “That could be a problem, but at least we know that the school should be somewhat safe. After all the commotion with the spider, any other mutant would have come, and considering nothing happened the spider should have been the biggest threat. It’s the perfect place to defend and has more than enough room or has someone a better idea?”

They thought for a moment and didn't come up with any better ideas. There were a few other places that were safer like the church, but all these options were way too far away. Which made the school the perfect base for the moment.

Everyone checked their new equipment a last time to make sure everything was there and ready to use. They then made their journey back with Lukas in the middle of the formation; he was still weak and in no condition for fighting.

Fortunately, their way back was without further surprises and they arrived safely at the school.

Being back they first made sure there weren't anymore survivors or mutants at the school and then immediately got to work and started to block the main entrance by making a wall from the tables and some screws they found in the storeroom.

It probably wouldn’t hold against very strong mutants but it was enough for now. It also blocked off the sight to the entrance. A roaming mutant would have to go up all the stairs. Over the wooden wall and the main entrance, which they additionally could lock up, before it would be able to reach them.

The group even removed one of the doors from a classroom and built it into the wall so that they had an entrance.

This task could have been never accomplished if Dennis wasn’t so talented in woodcraft. His father had his own workshop and Dennis helped him out a lot. Thanks to that they could quickly build a relatively stable wall.

After this was done everyone came back together to plan for the next day. The wall took all day to build and it was already late in the evening when they got into a circle to discuss their next plan.

After settling down on the chairs Max was the first to speak, “Okay guys. I have thought a bit about our next plans and I think I have a good idea. The priority for tomorrow should be to get as much water and food as possible. We divide our team.

Lukas, Dennis, and I will stay back at the school to further reinforce it. Lukas is still not in a good condition for fighting, Dennis is not the best fighter and I will stay back to make sure we survive if we are attacked. The rest of you go to the supermarket not far from here and get everything that could be of use.”

After a moment Jake expressed his concern, “Isn’t it better that you go and I will stay behind? You are much better at fighting than me and I doubt that any mutant would attack the school.”

Jim looked gloomy at his best friend and said, “It’s always the same with you. I said it often in the past and I will say it again; stop underestimating yourself. You are right that Max is better in a physical battle but your tactical understanding of the battlefield is priceless.

Without your skill, many of us would be injured right now or even dead. You always know where the enemy is and how your team has to react to win with the least possible risk of injuries. Someone needs to stay behind just for the unexpected event that something is going to happen. The best candidate for this is Max as he is one of the best in our group.”

Max was nodding his head in approval and added, “Jake I don’t know why you think that you're less useful than me but I know for a fact that your keen awareness of the battlefield is only needed in one place; the battlefield.”

“Exactly. So does anyone disagree with Max's plan?”

The group turned their attention to Jim and shook their heads including Jake who was a little embarrassed about his thinking.

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Jim said, “Great. Then let’s get some sleep before we go to the supermarket tomorrow. We have to be in top condition. Our survival literally depends on this.”