Chapter 3

Hide and seek

“You see that, right?” I asked Janet.

“Yeah, I see it.”

“It kind of looks like some kind of military blockade.”

“Really? What the fuck? Why would they be blocking the road?”

“Fuck if I know. You want to just go around it?”

“I’ll follow your lead.”

I started jogging, then stopped and watched Janet run past me. When she made it back to me, she looked worried.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Janet asked me.

“Janet, I’m fine, but are you okay? Are you feeling well? Follow my lead? Wait! Are you an Ectovizzor? That’s it. You have been taken over. Hey, where are you going?” Janet hadn’t waited for me to finish. She had listened to me for a second, but when she realized I was just fucking around, she rolled her eyes and kept it pushing. I laughed and then sped after her. We stopped again when we were about a mile away from the barricade.

“So, how do we do this?” Janet asked me. As we looked out over the rolling hills toward what was now clearly a military barricade, I could even make out a Humvee with a gun mounted atop it.

“Well, im still a bit stumped on why there’s a military barricade out here in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. It is weird. Do you think the government is getting its shit together finally? Do you think they’ve been to Treehouse already? I mean, not these guys exactly, but like other military people.”

“Damn, Janet. You have a lot of questions that I have no answers for. Honestly, I think those are all good questions, and I know where to find some people who could answer them. Want to go get some answers?” I smiled at Janet, and she smiled back.

“Let’s go say hi and make some new friends. Sound good?”

“Sounds good to me,” Janet said, and we set off.

Once we were about two hundred feet from the barricade, we slowed our pace to a preintegration level, taking our time walking the final bit. We didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot by zooming up right in front of them. We figured that would probably scare the shit out of them, and that sounded like a quick way to get shot at. That would totally kill the vibe we were trying to go for.

They let us get about fifty feet from the Barricade before they stopped us. Four soldiers in full military gear were out in front of the barricade. They all had assault rifles that looked regularly used.

“That’s far enough,” one of the soldiers called out. He then proceeded to ask us what our business was on the road. We told them we were passing through. They then told us to wait. We waited about twenty minutes before a portion of the barricade swung open, and a man in a military uniform walked out. He was holding a few folders, and as the man walked over to talk to the soldiers on duty at the barricade, he walked with an air of superiority about him. I instantly got a felling that this guy was going to cause us some trouble.

We had been allowed to approach the barricade after the captain, corporal, or whatever rank he was finished talking to his people. We walked over, and the man first took a moment to look over the folders in his hands, writing something here and there. Then, when he seemed satisfied with his paperwork, he clicked his pen and looked over his clipboard at Janet and me.

“So Travis and Janet, is it?” The captain or corporal, or something like that, asked us.

“Yes, that’s right, sir. I’m Travis, and that’s Janet. We didn’t know if any of the military had made it through the integration. Are things starting to get back under control?” I asked the man. He completely ignored my question, just jotting something down in a folder before speaking again.

“What’s your reason for being on the road?” I looked over at Janet, a bit shocked that the man had blown past my question entirely, but I still answered him.

“We’re headed up north. I have some family up in Seattle I’m trying to find.” I told the man. The man let out a scoff and a short chuckle when I said this.

“What’s the matter?” I asked him as he made more notes in his beloved folders. He ignored me again, but just till he finished his paperwork. This time, when he snapped his pen closed, he looked at us and said,

“You’re wasting your time.”

“What?”

“I only mean I have seen many looking for loved ones, and most come stumbling back beaten, bruised, and begging us for help.”

“What are you saying?”

“Look, all I’m saying is that I wish you luck if you insist on continuing a foolish endeavor like that. We have a village about a mile from here that we have secured and keep under our protection. It’s safe there, and we can always use strong young people like yourselves. You would have to answer a few questions and show us your Stat Sheet, and then we could show you around if you’re interested.”

I looked at Janet. There it was. They wanted to see our Stat Sheets. That was not what I wanted to hear.

“Yeah, I hear you. Thanks for all the advice and the invitation, but I think we will take our chances out there. Good luck to you all. I’m glad to see the government stepping up and looking after people in this crazy time.” The man gave me a tight, annoyed smile but didn’t push us to join their town.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

It had been about an hour and a half now, and most of that time, we had been just waiting around. I was getting antsy to get back on the road. The officer had returned to his fellow soldiers and left us standing there for about thirty minutes for what felt like no reason. Now, however, he was finally walking back over to us, and it looked like we might be done with this entire waste of time.

“Well, we have almost everything we need from you to send you on your way. The last thing is a Stat Sheet check to confirm your identity, and we’ll be done here.”

I looked at Janet as if asking her what she wanted to do, but she just looked back at me as if waiting to see what I would do. All I could think was fuck. Then I decided we just had to book it. My decision may end up fucking us later, but for now, it was the best option if I wasn’t interested in letting everyone find out how insanely strong Janet and I were. I had made up my mind.

“Thanks again for all the help. We’ll just be going then. Have a good one.” I finished my words, and before the officer guy could say anything else, I grabbed Janet by the arm, and we took off into the countryside. We stayed away from the road for the next hour to make sure those soldiers wouldn’t find us if there were more in the area.

It was a good thing we did, too. About fifteen minutes into our trek through the countryside, we crested a hill, and a small town came into view.

The town took up a few square miles, surrounded by a large, maybe fifteen-foot wall. It was impressive. Nothing compared to the city of Treehouse, but it was a good start. We stayed there and watched them, and during that time, many Humvees came and left. Traveling in different directions down the interstate. We were too far away to see what was going on in the town, the living conditions of the citizens, or the movement of people, so after only ten minutes or so, we had moved on.

We only knew we were safe to get back on the interstate after we passed another barricade manned by soldiers with their own Humvee waiting to intercept travelers. We gave them a wide birth and only got back on the road after we were well out of view. They had looked more alert than the group we had first approached, and I’m sure the word about Janet and I blowing around the barricade had gotten around.

We had stopped to eat a quick snack when we were about an hour away from our new military buds, and I was mid-sip of water when I felt an odd sensation coming from one of my bags of holding.

I finished my sip and found the offending bag. I snatched it off my belt and looked inside. As I popped the inventory screen open, I felt as much as I saw a small coin humming and glowing with a faint blue glow. I focused on the item and used my identity ability on it. It was the Dungeon Coin, and the description said it would help us find dungeons as we explored the world. Maybe this was the coin trying to help us find a dungeon like it was letting us know there was one nearby. I was so preoccupied with the dungeon coin that I didn’t immediately respond when Janet tried to get my attention.

“What was that?” I asked her.

“I said, why were you so set on not showing them our Stat Sheets? We could have just shown them our sheets and been on our way. We will probably be marked as wanted, if not people of interest, you know, like the military will probably be looking out for us at any other town they run. Did you think about that?”

“I’m sorry, Janet. There was no time, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t want them to see our strength. They might have tried to force us to help them or work for them or some shit. I don’t know. Maybe it’s my inherent dislike of authority, but I didn’t want them to have that information. It feels too personal now. They just gave me a bad vibe. You know?” Janet was quiet for a second, then she spoke.

“I can kind of understand that. I mean the part where you said that information feels too personal to share. It feels like part of who I am, and I get it. Showing those military assholes my Stat Sheet would feel kind of like baring my soul for all to see. As far as forcing us to work for them, Travis we’re like superhero strong now. I doubt they are on our level yet or even close. So, them forcing us to do anything is a joke. Unless they had Treehouse by the neck or something, we could just leave or kill all the leadership and take over the town if we didn’t like what was going on.”

I blinked and thought briefly about what Janet had said, and she was right. We could have totally just done that. It made me realize that part of it was that I didn’t want to get involved in the whole situation. Was that selfish? Yes, but was it my responsibility? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, what was done was done.

“What’s that you’re holding.” Janet’s words pulled me from my thoughts, and I had to think about what she said for a second before I could understand what she was talking about.

“Oh, this? It’s the Dungeon Coin we got from completing the dungeon that first time. It started humming softly and glowing faintly, so I thought maybe a dungeon was nearby.” Janet blinked a few times as if my words took a few moments to register. Then, with a spark in her eyes, she started digging through her bags of holding until she pulled a small coin from one bag with a look of triumph.

“Found it.” She said.

“Found what?”

“My Dungeon Coin. And you’re right; mine is humming and glowing a bit, too. Cool!” I chuckled at Janet’s reaction to the coin and returned to look over the small two-inch coin in my hands. The coin was covered in intricate scenes of battle on one side, but as I flipped the coin over to the back, I noticed that it had changed from something decorative to something more practical. There were concentric circles getting smaller and smaller as they approached the center of the coin. The outer ring, however, now had a softly glowing light on one side of the coin, almost as if it was pointing in that direction. Sure enough, as I swiveled my hips, the faint light moved to remain pointing in the same direction wherever I turned.

“You see the side of the coin with the rings on it. You think...,” but I didn’t get to finish my thought before Janet jumped in.

“They’re pointing towards the dungeon like a dungeon map quest. Come on, let’s go check it out.” Janet said, and she threw all the snack stuff back in her bag and started heading out.

“Hey, wait for me,” I called after her.

“Well, hurry up. Come on.” She called back to me. I just shook my head and ran after her.

Janet’s enthusiasm lasted only so long, and when we had been traveling what felt like east for about three hours, only one more ring had lit up, and Janet was losing steam. I wasn’t as disappointed as Janet, but the dungeon was farther away than I thought. The range of these little coins was great. I ended up having to convince Janet to keep going. She was starting to get over the whole dungeon hunt thing. After the first full day of traveling, the coin was still only halfway lit up. We had covered a lot of terrain as well. It wasn’t like we had walked a few miles and got tired. No, we had covered at least a hundred miles, and I’m pretty sure we had already crossed the state line.

It was dinner time, and we were relaxing under a tall tree at the edge of a vast plane. Unlike Janet, I had been getting increasingly excited as we approached this dungeon. While Janet was setting up dinner, I had been looking at the Dungeon Coin again. There were seven rings on the back side of the coin, and we had lit up four so far. Janet called me over because dinner was ready, and I should come and get it before it got cold. I gripped the Dungeon Coin tightly before I tucked it into one of my bags and got up to join Janet when the world exploded, and I was flying through the air.

At one point in my flight, I’m pretty sure I saw a piece of cheesecake keeping pace with me before I landed in a heap on the ground. Then, yep, it had definitely been a piece of cheesecake. How did I know, you ask? Good question. A moment after I hit the ground, the cheesecake I saw in the air landed right on my face.

I had to close my eyes and sit there for a moment. I couldn’t help but stick my tongue out and taste the cheesecake. It had raspberry sauce. Fuck that was my favorite dessert we had in the bags, and we only had four of those cakes left. I was pissed off now.