We wasted no time going back to the safety of the cabin's boundary. The screeching was getting louder by the second.

As we reached the porch I relaxed a bit. It was not a second too late because the pack of monsters came out of the woods.

"We might be a bit screwed, " I said quietly, as I counted the Rabidashers that were staring at us from the edge of the safe zone. They were walking back and forth, resembling caged wolves more than rabbits. There were about seven of them, two of which were significantly bigger and meaner-looking than the others. I suspected they were at a higher level than the others.

"What's the plan?" Tobi asked, his eyes not breaking away from the mass of creatures milling about our front lawn.

"I've got nothing. Anyone else?" I said.

The three of us stood there in silence, plus Cloud who hadn't moved from his position in the grass. The alien sheep was watching the scene with boredom.

I wish I had his attitude, I thought, only a little jealous.

"Well, they can't cross the boundary. So we are safe, " I said in an excessively cheerful way. The mother and son duo just looked at me, their eyes conveying the same message.

"How are your arms?" Laura asked me.

I looked down at the offending limbs hanging by my side. I had forgotten about my injuries, as usual.

"They stopped bleeding. But I lost quite a few HP. It'll take a while for me to be able to do anything about... this, " I gestured at the monsters who didn't seem to show any intention of leaving any time soon. They were constantly screeching and periodically testing the boundary by slamming bodily at it, but it held.

I sent thoughts of thanks up to the cosmos and for one specific, slightly creepy alien.

Tobi sat at one of the porch chairs, and we followed suit, not knowing what else to do.

"You looted the Vulprax, yeah?" I asked Tobi.

He nodded and took out a bright orange pelt out of his inventory. The thing was huge, the size of a six-person dinner table, and the fur was especially luxurious-looking.

"We can sell this, " Laura said.

"I don't know any other use for it, " I said, my tone turning playful. "Although it would look quite nice in front of our fireplace."

Again, the two of them gave me a look. Tough crowd.

"I'll go try to make some dinner, " Laura said and got up, taking the pelt with her, and leaving Tobi and me to keep an eye on the monsters.

"Do you think they will get bored? And leave us alone?" he asked, his face etched with concern.

"I don't know, " I said, looking at a pair of Rabidashers who had started rolling in the dirt together and playing fighting. At least, that's what I hoped they were doing. The rest were still stalking back and forth, circling our little patch of land, trying to see if there was an opening.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

These bunnies were stubborn little piles of fluff and death.

----------------------------------------

After some time, Laura came out with a tray of roasted vegetables, the last of what we had until our first harvest. She also gave us a third of a Snack Packet each. My face scrunched up in disgust, but I took it anyway. Calories were calories, after all.

We all dug into our food, savouring the taste of the roasted vegetables. The monsters were still there, making a whole lot of noise, but not trying to break into our safe zone as much anymore.

"I've been thinking... I might have a plan, " Laura said uncertainly.

I immediately perked up.

"Yeah?"

She looked between me and her son before continuing. "These Rabidashers, they're kind of like rabbits, yeah?"

"Demonic rabbits who spit venom, but yeah? I guess?"

Tobi started coughing hard. Both of us snapped to look at him and he shook his head.

"Snack... packet.. too dry..."

Laura poured him a glass of water and turned back to me.

"I think I know how we can attack them. "

"What do you have in mind?"

"When I was a little girl and staying at the cabin with Uncle Sirius, he used to grow a small vegetable patch. It was nothing big and he didn't maintain it well, but he hated when rabbits would get in it."

I wasn't sure where exactly she was going with this. Rabidashers were sort of like rabbits, in the same way dolphins and sharks were like each other. Alright, perhaps that was a bad analogy, given how dolphins aren't exactly fuzzy little innocent creatures that totally don't assault other creatures for pleasure, and sharks are mostly harmless to humans. However, I had nothing better to propose, so I just gestured for her to continue.

"I remembered he would buy these tablets and put them inside burrows. They released a gas that would suffocate them or something. "

"So you think we could find something similar? I don't think those specific tablets would work in our particular situation. "

She shook her head. I looked around the Shop while preparing dinner. While I couldn't find tablets that worked like that, I found a canister of sleeping gas for 150 credits. I also saw that we could purchase some steel nets for pretty cheap. "

"How cheap are we talking? We're not exactly swimming in credits. "

She made a face. "A hundred credits each. "

"That's not cheap, Mom, " Tobi said, having finally washed down the dry food... thing.

"I misspoke, okay? Anyway, the Vulprax pelt sold for 350, so we can buy one of them and the sleeping gas."

An outline of a plan was starting to sketch itself out in my head.

"So you suggest that we throw the gas at them to get them to sleep, and then tie them up inside the steel net before we eliminate them all?" Tobi voiced what I was thinking.

"It might work..." I said cautiously.

Laura sighed and took a sip of water from her glass.

"Look, I know it's not a good plan. I have eyes, and some brains." she glanced toward the mess of fur and foaming jaws in front of our cabin. " I hope. "

I leaned over the table and squeezed her hand. "We'll give it a shot, okay? Besides, I think we are on a bit of a time crunch. "

"What do you mean? " Tobi asked, his eyes already wide in panic.

I sighed. I didn't want to frighten the boy more than necessary but life itself was pretty scary right now.

"This crowd might invite over a bigger crowd."

We sat on the porch a little longer, the last bites of our dinner forgotten.

Name: Diana Mond

Age: 25

Class: Homesteader

Level: 1, 90/200 exp

Strength: 4

Constitution: 6

Intelligence: 6

Wisdom: 4

HP: 54/60

Energy: /60

Points to distribute: 0