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When the world ends, Don't forget the coffee.
Chapter 22 - A bigger better group

Chapter 22 - A bigger better group

Holding tightly onto my weapons haft, my grip assisted by my gloves, I'm lifted a few feet off the ground by the Troll who has grabbed onto the pike and then leaning back is dangling me in the air. Leverage is my enemy today, back and forth I swing as the the Troll shakes the pike which is stuck in his blown open chest. I can't imagine that feels good. At this point Corbie the lazy Raven, who must of been waiting for his moment, appears above in a cloud of shadow and attacks the bulbous rage filled face.

Razor sharp wings and talons pierce the tough green gray skin. The shadows that follow Corbie settle over the head of the troll obscuring his vision as the savage attack on his face continues.

Switching to defense the Troll releases my pike to protect his face, his hands flailing through the mist like shadow he has little luck clearing it out of the way. Back on firm ground I pull my pike free and taking a step back, set myself for another thrust as a whip of fire streaks past and wraps around one of the flailing arms, twisting and burning into the skin, it wraps around the arm with liquid flame. Drips of super-heated troll fat splatter to the ground and sizzle, It smells bad like real bad.

In stories you hear of trolls regenerating or bursting into flames when exposed to fire, neither one seems to be true as the damn thing only seems to be getting angrier as his wounds pile up. Remembering a bit late that the pike has a lightning enhancement I send my Mana Energy into the weapon resulting in veins electricity shooting up the shaft arcing off the head of the pole-arm, waiting for the optimal moment I thrust upwards at its neck.

The first strike does not have much effect, the pointy bit just bouncing off the skin then sliding across his throat. My rage gets the better of me and I back up a step then moving forward and thrusting with the full attribute level of my strength, which is sitting at 15, I'm not sure what that is the equivalent of but it's at least 15x human normal. My full strength overcomes his skins toughness and combined with a bit of Luck it all comes together in a bloody strike as the pike slides right into his neck slicing through muscle and tendons. Then with a blinding flash of light and a boom of thunder the weapons Lightning Attack fires off blowing chunks of Troll neck in every direction. The body teeters over sideways as finally there is enough damage to cause the thing to die. Looking down at the body covered in open wounds and fire melted skin, the head is held on by just a few tendons and strips of stretched skin.

Kicking the head away from the body, just in case it can reattach itself, the attached skin stretches like a rubber band and snaps back leaving the head next to the body. That's annoying!

A quick glance around and I read the highlights of my notifications.

LEVEL 5 HILL TROLL KILLED - EXPERIENCE SHARED TO PARTY - 6 MEMBERS

SKILL LEARNED - PIKE THRUST

SKILL LEARNED - BASIC - PIKE

LIGHTNING AFFINITY ACQUIRED

LEVEL UP

-1 CLASS POINT

-CLASS ADVANCEMENT AVAILABLE

I knew I was close to a level up, but it's all the sweeter to level up on a tough enemy. Kicking the corpse again I realize the core was....eaten by Corbie...."Glutton, you know someone else may of wanted that!" Over on the roadway I hear "Fu....ckkkk man, that sucked" Sam must be up.

Examining the body for anything useful and then using my Scavenging Skill and my Belt Knife, I collect a few bones and, a whole swath of skin or would this be hide? My inventory is getting filled up with bits of crap from beasts, I wonder if I can fit them all in a box, then stuff em in inventory. "Well that gave me a Level, just the bit I needed to get to five, anyone else?"

With affirmatives from all around I add, "take a short break, Sam do you need a healing?"

"I'll be fine if we are taking a break, just need to catch my breath and heal the last few hit points, that was messed up! I missed the fight."

"I wasn't much help." This from Elise standing near Sam "It happened so fast."

Looking in the dropped sack the troll was carrying confirms my suspicions of it having more heads, at least 7 but I'm not rooting through the bag, that's just gruesome. Walking up the small hill to the trolls hiding spot I discover it is a very shallow depression, barely a cave, and it's full of decapitated bodies, It looks like he just ripped each one off after bludgeoning the people to death.

Maybe I'm getting used to this new grizzly reality with gore and horror around every corner, but after a cursory glance at the corpses I start picking up the dropped system Items scattered around. Fourteen bodies 17 items and a few hundred coins in their neat little pouches, the largest item was a set of cooking pans with utensils, a 15 piece stack-able set. The best weapon like item is an extendable cattle prod, The only thing I considered adding to my kit was a nice ring for storing weapons.

(sys) Ring of Weapon Storage / Utility / Holds up to 10 medium sized items considered weapons / No Mana Energy cost to remove or store weapons

The ring was next to a vintage looking switchblade straight out of a 1940 or 1950s movie.

Leaning against the wall is the weapon I expected to see a Troll using, the massive club is made out of a dark colored stone and is almost five feet long shaped roughly like a fat baseball bat. The end for smashing things has jagged bits of gemstones embedded randomly around its width topped with a crude dull spike of stone. I'm very glad he wasn't using this thing.

Let's see I have multiple rings already on both hands, I wonder just how many you can equip. Removing my left hand glove and sliding the ring on an empty finger, I watch with a bit of wonder as it glows briefly with silver light then shrinks to fit my finger. The metal changes slightly to look like an old plain wedding band, going so far as be slightly beat up and scratched. Must of been a sneaky guy who bought this thing, secret ring with a switchblade in it, if the knife and ring went together. Wondering how it works I touch the oversized club and will it into the ring....nothing....figures. I'll work it out later.

Backing out of the depression, the fresh air is wonderful, the Troll smell and dead bodies are very ripe. The creature had a good view from this position, both directions on the highway and out into what looks like a huge lake now with the buildings, trees, and Cell towers poking out of it, the water on the other side of the highway extends into the distance in both directions.

My small group is still where I left them, "I think the water is still rising, stay away from the edge of the road over there. I'm pretty sure there are creatures under the surface. I can feel us being watched and I see movement here and there."

"Anything inside the hole?"

"Victims and stink."

"What a day." Craig says "I don't think we can trust the stories we know, Trolls were supposed to regenerate faster than that, in games they were always big bad guys and you used fire on them!"

"Well, I think there's a lot we don't know, I'm pretty sure there are lots of surprises for us. Everybody good? We should get moving."

"We should be close to where my car is." Gazing out over the water covered area, he adds "I don't think I'm getting home though"

Elise asks "Should we get supplies? Where are we heading? Did anyone grab food for lunch?"

"Everything I need Is at my destination. If you guys are going that far with me there is plenty on site for a group, even if my friends beat us there it is stocked up for and more people than we planned on having and the house is big enough for a small army. We can stop wherever you want to pick stuff up though, we probably should get lunch. Does Anyone know the area?"

Three cell phones pop out as people try and do a quick search, Before they realize that most of the services are down, map programs work......but they don't update or locate without a connection.

"Haha you guys are funny, find the car first, then food and maybe supplies." I tell everyone. With one eye on the water to our left we continue on our way. Both sides of the highway change briefly to small hills limiting our view, Everyone is tense and scanning the slopes for anything strange or maybe another Troll. Like the day before there's gunfire and distant sounds of fighting from all directions, by this time it's become background noise. No planes or helicopters in the sky, I expected to get passed by a vehicle or two since we are walking but nothing so far.

Exit signs ahead indicate food, gas, and stores. "My cars gone, it should of been before the exit up here, I wonder if someone drove it away, The keys probably would still be in it. I didn't want much, just my vape pen and my stash."

"If that's the case the next stop can be supplies, Does anyone have a preference?" Waving at the signs. Looking at the cross street below the overpass I see that both the on ramp and off ramp on either side of the highway are sloped down and.....lead into water. "Anywhere not flooded would probably be best."

Sam and Craig speak at the same time, "Grocery store!" and "Slusseys Vape and Smoke" Looking at the two guys they are pointing up to the North where the road inclines up. Taking the off ramp we cut through the side to avoid the gently lapping water and trudge up the hill.

Looking behind I can sense something watching us, under the highway there is a suspicious pile up of floating trash reaching all the way to the underside of the highway above. Maybe it's good thing we turned off the road.

N McCarran Blvd is another empty street, a few cars sitting empty by the sides of the road. Ahead on the right the breakfast restaurant sits empty and another espresso place just beyond. There is some movement around both buildings but it doesn't feel threatening and they appear to be people. It feels like the calm before the storm, as if the zombies are just out of sight so the camera can pan around and catch them as they lurch forwards slowly chasing their prey. What we get is more empty areas, up ahead there's a whistle high pitched and short.

Stopping our group "We've been spotted, ahead on our left, at least two people maybe more."

"Are you sure?" Todd looks ahead holding his hand up to block the rising sun.

"There's one in camouflage on the hill there, he whistled, the other one is up by the buildings in the back of the blue ford truck."

"What do we do?" Craig moves behind me a bit, using me as a shield.

"Never split the group up, I think. We all go forward. If they are friendly we talk, if they aren't friendly we move along. We can eat over there if the grocery store is claimed." I point back at the restaurant and other buildings.

Approaching the sloped entrance to the grocery store and strip mall, I hold one hand up and shout "We come in peace." Well that is straight out of a bad movie.

"Come on up, there's a bunch of us so don't be surprised. It was a very long night, Did you see anything in the water?"

"See, no. Sense, yes. Lots of watchers down there. There's something in the garbage pile under the highway." I point back the way we came.

"That is one way to put it, small humanoid reptiles. They look like a frog met a monkey it liked, They showed up with the water and we had to fight off waves of them last night. Head on in, I need to keep watch, those things are sneaky and fast."

Just beyond the trees at the turn to the strip mall we see what he meant. The road continues into the parking lot but scattered around the slope are trucks and vans positioned as cover for the various armed people at each location. Just beyond them is a group of people who are....raising a wall from the asphalt parking lot and connecting the buildings together. As the wall is formed another group is putting together scaffolding complete with staircases for for easy access to the top of the buildings and walls.

"Ok, that is impressive" Todd says, no one stops us as we walk past the wall raising crew into the....

YOU HAVE DISCOVERED AN INCOMPLETE FORT*.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO CLAIM THE FORT* AS YOUR OWN?

Interesting, this one is a fort instead of a garrison. No reason to rush things I'll let them finish the wall and meet the people in charge before claiming their hard work. In the middle of the large open parking lot are five huge RVs Perfect end to end in a rough C shape or maybe a small u shape. The open space between the vehicles is filled with camp chairs, tables, and whiteboards. People are gesturing and pointing, in other words, I think we've found the people in charge. Wondering about the definition of a fort I check the asterisk.

*Fort - One or more structures with walls and other defensive measures made to withstand an attack by an enemy.

Looking around I see they are almost done with the walls, a second entrance across the parking lot, and there is another group making a heavy steel gate with portable welding equipment and lengths of steel. This group has their act together.

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