The next station south was Grand.

I rarely went farther south on the Red Line than Chicago Station. There wasn’t much need to since everything I needed was in Andersonville, and my job was a station north of here, but Grand was one of the larger stations, and I figured that if I was going to find something that might help Tori and me, I’d find it either there or at Lake.

My money was on Lake, but Grand was on the way, and I needed to get off the rails before the Redline Wyrm returned anyway. As I jogged down the tracks, I hummed some Led Zeppelin riffs. I missed my old MP3 player and broken headphones.

The rails themselves were odd. The Redline Wyrm was slowly consuming the entire tunnel, one layer of rock, dirt, and concrete at a time. So why were the rails still there? I couldn’t figure it out, but it felt like an important detail to note.

The moment I pulled myself off the tracks and onto the platform, I knew I was right. The wide, curved station was filled with the signs of Rat Men. My plan was pretty simple; I’d find lone monsters, try to pick them off, and thin the pack out until it was manageable. If things got bad, I’d try outrunning them; Lake wasn’t that much farther, and if I could get there, the Redline Wyrm might take care of the monsters for me as they pursued.

Or it might take care of me instead.

I dumped Tori’s armor on one of the stone benches near the platform. I’d come back for it later, but for now, I needed to be light and fast.

Then I crept past the stone benches, keeping my head down. All the signs pointed to a much larger population of Rat Men than the three I’d fought at Chicago Station, and I wasn’t any stronger than I had been.

As I rounded the first storefront, something made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I froze, spear tip a few feet from the gaping cave entrance. A second passed. Then another. And then, a Rat Man stepped through the door.

Rat Man: Level Three Monster

It didn’t even look toward me, and I jammed his spear through the thing’s back. The second I made contact, the monster started screeching in pain. I pulled the spear out, stabbed again, and stepped into the cave.

There were four more—all in various states of surprise. The one in the back let loose with a deafening screech.

I was too busy charging the closest Rat Man to respond. I hit it before it could reach the spear it had propped against the head-high stone wall that ran the length of the store, driving it to the ground with my good shoulder before bashing it in the head with my spear.

Level Up! One to Two.

The orb hit me as I spun to fight the next monster, but the Rat Man lunged toward me teeth-first before I could get set. Its jaw clamped around my shoulder; its teeth punched into the leather armor I’d cobbled together. The armor pressed into my older, tender bite wound, and I bit back a scream.

But it held.

I punched the monster, holding onto the spear with my other hand. Its jaw’s grip loosened, and I kicked the thing away, stabbed it, and picked up the next orb as I pulled up my status menu.

Just like I’d planned, I dumped both points into Mana. Three names appeared. The first and third were both a light blue, while the middle was pinkish.

Power Surge

Inertia Ball

Lightning Bolt

For a second, I thought about picking Inertia Ball. On the other hand, Lightning Bolt would probably give me a ranged attack—and I was really missing not having one of those. But the real pressure wasn’t to have the best spell but to have one that’d get me out of this.

I wished I had more time to think about it—or even to read the spell descriptions—but as the Tutorial’s info on magic popped up, one of the remaining Rat Men rushed me.

I picked Lightning Bolt, hoping it’d be strong. I’d done some electrical work at Cindy’s, and more on my station wagon, so I knew enough about it to not fry myself.

Hopefully.

I swiped the tutorial message away and held out my hand as the first monster surged into the room. An aura of blue-white energy formed around my fingers. It looked like plenty to take out the Rat Man, but how did I fire it? Could I punch the monster with it? Or did it need to be a ranged attack?

Maybe it was as simple as willing it. I made a finger gun, pointed it at the onrushing Rat Man, and fired, feeling ridiculous.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The blast arced in the air, and I shut my eyes against it, but the dozens—hundreds—of forks burned a tree pattern into my eyelids. They seemed to form loops and circuits in the air, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them. Then, suddenly, everything went dark, and I opened them again.

The monster froze in place as sparks arced across its charred, mangy fur. It wasn’t dead, though, and I hefted my spear. I channeled the electricity still dancing around my hand toward the spear tip, then thrust into the monster. The Lightning Bolt fired a split second before the crude stone tip punched through the Rat Man’s chest.

It screeched. Then it faded away, and its orb floated toward me. I didn’t feel ridiculous about the finger gun anymore.

The last Rat Man rushed me, too, but I saw it in the corner of my eye and spun. I blasted it with my magic, and a moment later, it, too, was dead. I backed off and took the last orb.

Level Up! Two to Three.

“Okay, magic’s pretty cool!” I said to myself as I put a point in Body and one in Awareness. The last sparks went out on my hand and spear, and I looked down the row of storefronts. I felt drained all the way through, like my whole body had given its all for those two attacks. “Let’s check these out. Maybe I’ll find something as useful as the leather.”

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

I got to Lake Station just as the earth started rumbling again.

The central platform shook as the Redline Wyrm ripped by, shredding concrete and rebar as it passed. I squeezed on the straps of the cheap backpack I’d filled with odds and ends from the stone-shelved convenience store I’d cleared at Grand.

When the boss vanished, I headed toward the main station to see what I could fight.

Lake was supposed to have stairs. But it didn’t anymore. Where I remembered them being was a massive cave. Its dark maw loomed over the whole station, and I hurried to get off the platform before something inside saw me. As I ducked into one of the smaller storefront caves, a raspy smoker’s voice greeted me. “What the hell you doing here?”

I froze. A second later, the smell hit me—a stale, boozy stink, but also something underneath that was a lot more pleasant, in a familiar way. My eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness in the store cave, and I saw a pile of rags stand up. A second later, I realized what I was seeing and lowered my spear.

The L—the sometimes-elevated, sometimes underground light rail line in Chicago—had lots of long-term riders. They’d beg a couple of bucks, get on the train, and ride the lines all day to stay warm, cool, or out of the wind. This guy looked like one I’d seen today, except that he’d camouflaged himself in scraps of clothes so he looked a little like one of the scattered supply piles I’d been finding. The Level One over his head was a dead giveaway, though.

He’d killed something, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to kill anything else.

As my eyes adjusted to the bright torches burning around the cave, other signs of life became more obvious. Open cans of food, a burned-out fire in the corner, and even a pair of rolled-up, tattered sleeping bags—in the old reality, this guy would have been a bum.

In the Hardcore Tutorial, he was rich.

I stuck out a hand. “Hal Riley,” I said in my best Nebraska accent. The Midwest farmer schtick wasn’t my favorite, but it was disarming. Mechanics had a reputation for being swindlers—not at Cindy’s, but in general—but no one mistrusted a farmer.

Sure enough, the man stepped across the room, carefully not kicking any of his cans over, and offered a hand in return. “Calvin. You’re the other guy on my team, huh?”

This close, the smell was a lot stronger. I kept my face together, but just barely. One pump, release, nod—a polite, firm shake—then disengage. I glanced at the food longingly, even the half-eaten, no doubt cold can of baked beans. My stomach rumbled, but I ignored it. I pointed at the cave entrance. “Listen, you know what’s going on, right?”

“Sure,” Calvin said. His hand dropped to his waist, and I stiffened up, gripping my spear. He pulled out a lighter. “You’re a little jumpy, huh?”

I lowered the spear and laughed to try to break the sudden tension. “Sorry, Calvin, I’ve had quite a day.”

“I bet.” He blinked once, lit a cigarette, and popped it into his mouth. “Where you from, Hal?”

“Cozad. Little town in Nebraska.”

“And do you know who Tori is?”

Could I trust this guy? “We’re…friends, but we got separated when this all started. Listen, we’re all on the same team, right? You’ve got food. I’ve got stuff. Maybe we can work out a deal.” I shrugged off my backpack.

Calvin stared for a moment, one eyebrow raised. Then he nodded slowly. “You’re talking my language, Hal. Sit down, pull up a rock, and tell me what the hell you two are doing in the Hardcore Tutorial. I got beans, beans, and—get this—a half-can of green beans. No booze, though, and no silverware except the can opener. The System giveth, and the System taketh away.”

I ended up trading one of my water bottles from the convenience store I’d fought my way through for some of his food. He handed the two cans of beans—one baked, one green string beans—over. “No fire, so it’s gonna be cold.”

I didn’t mind.

Calvin just laughed. It wasn’t a polite laugh. It was genuine—the laugh of someone who’d had nothing to lose and now had something to share. “We’re all in the nightmare together, right? Why’re you here, though?”

“I followed her in,” I said honestly. “We were between Chicago and Clark and Division when the train crashed. She picked the wrong tutorial, her mom picked the right one, and I followed her here to make sure she didn’t die. She’s a good kid, but she’s too impulsive and rebellious. You know how that phase is,” I finished.

Calvin looked over my still-hurt arm. The Body levels had helped with the injuries, but the infection was slower to heal. “And how’s the not dying goin’?”

“Badly,” I said frankly. “But I’ve got some levels now, and that’s helping. The last few fights weren’t too bad. If you’ve got something to deal with infection, I’d trade my whole pack for it.”

“Got nothing. I’ve only killed one thing,” Calvin said. “It was in here—some kinda slime monster. Maybe from the river, but I dunno. It sucked. I lit it on fire eventually—used the last of my fuel for the stove, but the stuff wouldn’t burn. Nothing bigger than my lighter will. Plenty of food behind it, though, and a level.”

“What did you put your points in?” I asked as I fished out some stringy green beans from the can. I really was hungry—if I was back at Mrs. Faren’s, I’d have had a pack of ramen with eggs or that can of soup, and I’d probably be in bed.

“Don’t have to tell you, and I ain’t gonna.” Calvin’s face closed up for a moment. “What I am gonna tell you is that there’s something in that cave, and it’s not a slime or a rat—at least, not from what I’m guessing. I’ve seen some of them, but they don’t go too far in. I got as close as I could, but couldn’t see inside past the smoke and fog. I think it’s the first boss.”