It had taken Mark the better part of the morning to recover enough Prana to deal with all of their wounds. So by the time, everybody was ready to go it was already three in the afternoon.
Without wasting time they all rushed downstairs to the Walmart main entrance. The steel shutters were rolled down and no light came from inside.
Donny went up to bang on them while shouting.
“Hello is anyone in there, you’re safe now!”
When no response came a grim look appeared on everyone’s faces.
“Wait! Look!” Daphne exclaimed.
There in the corner of one of the side displays sat a small A4 card.
‘Living inside’ it read.
They all looked at Ethel.
“Well, we’d better find a way in, no use stopping at this stage,” she said.
They all spread out to search.
Mark came to a stop in front of the now-clear Bass Pro Shop. Walking in amongst the shelves, Mark heard the sound of glass breaking underfoot. Turning around he raised his weapon. Ethel stood there alone.
“Oh, it's you” he relaxed.
“I don't think you'll find an entrance in here, Mark,” she said jokingly.
“Yeah, I know. I was actually searching for a gun to be honest” he said.
He wanted to grab it before they found everyone. He wasn't sure how many people there would be so he wanted to claim a weapon before there became a shortage.
“You should grab one too. It never hurts to be prepared” he said.
“Well, I’ve never been very good with guns,” she said as she looked around the hunting section.
“This, on the other hand, I’ve practiced since I was a small girl”
She drew Mark’s eyes to a compound bow. Grabbing it and a couple of sets of arrows she came over to where he was.
Mark was looking at the gun display.
“Listen, Mark, I came to thank you for what you did for Boe,” she said.
Mark whipped his head around to stare at her.
“You have to be kidding, Boe jumped right in front of an attack like that without a second thought. You best believe that I would have healed him, no thanks required”
She laughed gently to herself.
“From what I’ve seen of you and Daphne you don't take compliments too well”
Mark blushed.
“You overheard that?”
This just caused her to laugh more.
“Mark it's a small room, unless you whisper we can hear most of it.”
“Right. Well. Thanks” he responded robotically.
“She was right though, you need to be careful how much you take on for other people. Others will happily take advantage of that kind heart of yours.” Ethel said.
Mark waited for her to say more but she didn't.
“I’ll keep that in mind” He nodded.
“Do or don’t, they’re just words” She said, before lapsing into silence. She began looking around the shop for anything of interest.
Mark turned his attention back to the display.
Most guns were kept in the gun safe of course, but a select few were kept out for convenience purposes. Mark brought a fire extinguisher down on the glass case. The glass shattered. Thankful that if there were alarms they were silent. His selections weren't big, however one did catch his eye right away. A Glock 19, his dad used to carry one just like it when he was on duty. Smiling he grabbed it, sadly that was where his luck ended a majority of the ammo would also be locked away. He went scrounging behind the counter and turned up two boxes of ammo. One was 9mm rounds while the other was shotgun shells. Slugs to be exact.
“Damn, so about 50 shots,” he said.
Packing them both in his backpack, right next to the Corrupted core.
He was just grabbing a holster and a set of two-way radios when the sound of glass breaking followed by a body hitting the floor made him turn.
Growling came from the Corrupted as it got up off the tiled floor and began crawling toward them.
“Well, I guess we missed a couple,” Ethel said. Drawing back her new bow and releasing an arrow. It went straight through the creature's eye socket and protruded out the back. It went still.
She went over to retrieve her arrow.
Seeing the Corrupted’s death made him think of his own kills. He just hadn't had the time to look yet.
He brought up his prompts.
4 x Corrupted Ordinator [chaos - 0] cleansed(8 + Sector reward: x4)
[partial experience awarded to (Grace Winters)(16)]
1 x Corrupted Guardian Broodmother [chaos - 3]cleansed(9 + Sector reward: x4)
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Dividing rewards among participants (Daphne Colt[7], Donovan Nox[7], Ethel Wilson[7], and Grace Winters[7])
Warning! You have landed the killing blow on one of the seven Guardians of the First Rite.
All future Guardians shall receive an increase in difficulty.
You have been marked for 24 hours
No guardian may be slain during this time.
Rite progression: 2/7
The kills made sense but Mark's blood turned to ice when he saw the red prompt. He wasn't sure what it meant but the system had never given him a prompt that was useless. Something was happening. His eyes traveled further down.
Item acquired: Corrupted seed
Item lvl: –
Description:
Contains an enormous amount of Corruption
Error-
Unable to store
World Inventory not yet implemented.
Current wait time 7:21:09
That timer was now old, it had been about four hours since he got that message. So at six tonight, the inventory would kick in.
Name: Mark Young (22 - M)
Level: 11
Next level: 99/121
Stats:
Resistance
Aura
Mana
Prana
50 (+3)
0
48 (+7)
96 (+10 +1)
Unspent stat points - 0
Corruption value: 3.78%
Skills: Meditation
Spells:
Passive Regeneration(Self)[1], Force bolt[5], Prana Pulse[2], Regenerate[1], Draw Corruption[1], Corruption recovery[2], Shape Mana(Force)[3].
“Mark!” Ethel called. Something in her tone told him it was urgent. He dashed out of the store. She was looking up to the second floor.
The sound hit him before he saw anything.
Corrupted were wandering into the building from the main entrance with Ordinators at the front of the pack. Scenting the air. Howls of the Corrupted rose into the sky. They could be heard all the way from outside in the mall parking lot.
“Shit. Move! ”
They both dashed toward where they had last seen the others. Stopping in the shadow just before Walmart. The others were there. It looked like they had been attempting to bend the metal shutters open. But hadn't made any progress before they had had to hide.
Daphne’s head whipped about like it was on a swivel watching the Corrupted slowly flood into the top level. They had ducked into one of the corners to avoid being seen. When she spotted them a look of relief washed over her face. Unfortunately, they were pinned, if they left that corner they’d be seen, and the same was true for Mark and Ethel.
Mark made a halting gesture towards Daphne with his hands. Looking around Mark saw that their hiding place would be discovered soon.
The Ordinators were moving deeper into the building.
Mark cursed quietly. Their escape route was entirely blocked off.
“Mark. Boe and I have been searching the place for days there is another exit. I’ll have Boe keep it open for as long as he can. Call em and let's go”
Mark nodded, choosing to trust her he started making a come here motion to them. They saw him.
At first, they didn't react, Daphne had pointed them out to the others, but Grace was saying something to her. For a moment Daphne looked like she was going to stay, but then shook her head and ran straight for them.
Screeches rose as the Ordinators spotted her. A veritable wave of Corrupted began to descend. Without any choice, Donny picked up Grace and dashed after Daphne.
They arrived quickly.
Corrupted were climbing over one another to get to them. Some were even jumping straight down to the bottom floor.
“Follow me!” Ethel shouted.
They moved into one of the side passageways, but not before the frontrunners arrived. Daphne turned and kicked out, sending one body into the next. Mark was about to start helping when he saw the horde. Their numbers were great and they were approaching so fast, but this was not what caught his attention.
No. Normally Corrupted went after the closest warm body, traveling the shortest route to their prey.
It’s what made them so predictable and the Ordinators so formidable.
What was happening now was completely different. Daphne was batting the Corrupted out of their path, but Mark saw that they weren't even attempting to attack her.
Every eye was on him.
They charged around the others aiming straight for Mark.
Grace was right next to him so when they got so close she freaked.
“What the- Move!” Grace uttered and brought down two bolts of lightning. Pushing them back. Carbonise corpses dropped and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
She had bought them a single moment. None of them wasted it. Dashing down the passage they could hear the Corrupted crashing in behind them.
“First set of double doors to the left, they’re reinforced they should buy us some time. Then up the stairs, we’ll come out right on the roof! There's a path to cross over to another building there.” Ethel shouted over the groaning.
Donny was still carrying Grace and dashed ahead. Mark and Ethel were in the middle and Daphne brought up the rear.
Four Corruped came around the corner just as Donny got there. Boe came dashing after, ripping into the back of one’s neck.
Grace screamed, sending a wind blade forward but poor aim sent it wide, only cutting through one’s leg.
Donny had been carrying Grace and as such his ax wasn't in his hands. He turned, cradling Grace to his chest, and allowed his forward moment to crash into the zombie. One went down but the other charged right past them toward Mark. The other two just kept crawling forward ignoring Donny and Grace completely.
A look of absolute bewilderment crossed her face and then realization.
Mark had seen what happened and had already prepared three [Force bolts]. Sending one forward he dodged the falling corpse. The second hit was the one Donny had crashed into, but Mark never had time to dodge the swipe of the last one. It clung to his leg. Almost ripping Mark to the floor. Bringing the last bolt forward he ended its life before it could sink its teeth into his flesh.
The delay cost them dearly, Daphne had to turn again and fend off the wave.
Mark threw his hands forward and cast [Shape Mana] with a full 35 Mana behind it. Pushing it outward through Daphne and Ethel, right into the Corrupted. Stalling their progress and knocking a good many to the ground. Unfeeling the back zombies crushed the front ones forward pressing them up against the construct, some even began climbing on top of one another.
For a moment the passage was separated by a single pane of blue force. Five survivors on the one side and a mountain of zombies on the other. Daphne moved back as did Ethel.
Mark could feel that stopping this many had already drained the construct to almost nothing and the weight was only increasing. Turning he bolted away. Trying to hold focus on the wall even as he ran. He felt the wall slipping and collapsing into Mana once more. Crashing into the wall had caused a great deal of disruption and the Corrupted had to disentangle themselves to proceed. Mark, Daphne, and Ethel charged forward meeting a yipping Boe. Rounding the corner they saw the door, Donny and Grace were just getting through.
Turning, Grace jumped down from Donny’s surprised grasp and grabbed the door frame.
“Sorry, Daph. Fuck you, Mark” She stated tenderly, ending with venom in her voice.
Then she slammed the door shut.