Shadow Sun Survival

by Dave Willmarth

  Allistor ran toward the front of the truck, trying to get an angle across the hood for a clear shot behind Helen as she ran. The thing was gaining ground, though, and he wasn’t going to get it. So he cast Restraint on the creature just as it was about to leap atop her back.

  It managed to begin the leap before the spell took hold. So the creature’s stunned body left the ground and traveled about three feet before losing momentum and crashing back down to earth. The delay allowed Helen to make it back to the truck, and it gave Allistor a clear shot. He fired his shotgun, punching a hole in the creature’s chest and blasting off one of its arms.

  Urban Creeper

  Level 6

  Health 0/3,000

  The blast pushed the dead creeper’s corpse backward as if it had been punted. When it came to rest, two more of the things emerged from nowhere and attacked the body, ripping into it with sharp little teeth and tearing off pieces with sharp claws.

  Allistor cast Flame Shot at the corpse, the ball of flame engulfing the two others before they could react. The impact knocked all three back against the wall as it engulfed them. As the two still-living writhed in pain on the ground, he stepped forward and drew his sword. A quick chop severed the head of the nearest creeper. His first swing at the other one was off and simply sliced into its head. A quick second swing hit the target, severing its neck. Small amounts of xp flashed across his interface as he put the sword back in its sheath. When he bent to loot the creatures, another dropped onto his back from above. Its teeth sank into his shoulder as all four legs began to shred at his back. He straightened up, shouting in surprise as he attempted to reach over his shoulder with his left hand and pull it off of him.

  The creature let loose of his shoulder and grabbed hold of his hand, teeth sinking deeply into his wrist. He yanked his hand forward, slamming the thing into the wall. It didn’t seem to notice as it ripped a chunk of his flesh free. Blood sprayed from the wound. His health bar dropped by ten percent, and a bleed debuff icon appeared, blinking at him as if he didn’t notice the blood pumping from a savaged vein.

  Allistor slammed the thing down onto the sidewalk and stomped on it, holding it down with his foot on its chest. It thrashed and slashed at his boot as he increased the weight. As he clamped down on his bleeding wrist with his free hand, the weight of his body finally cracked the little monster’s chest, and it expired.

  Helen was right there, wrapping a bandage tightly around his wrist to slow the bleeding even as he cast a heal on himself. “What friggin’ hole from hell did these things crawl out of?” she asked as her eyes darted around, looking for more of the nasty little things.

  Allistor cast another heal on himself as he too searched the shadows. An ominous clicking reached them, sounding like many clawed feet on concrete. It was coming from just around the corner of the shop they stood in front of.

  “Back in the truck! Use the shotgun where you can!” he shouted at Helen as he stepped away from the building and into the street. He placed himself in an open area where Helen would have a clear view of him. She obeyed after a moment of hesitation.

  Allistor cast Flame Shot again, this time channeling the spell as the ball rotated just above his hand, growing larger by the second. He watched the corner, ready to hurl the spell forward.

  The first group of three creepers rounded the corner, moving fast. One lost traction, skidding across the concrete to slam into a mailbox before righting itself. Allistor waited two more seconds, then he hurled the spell at the sidewalk right by the corner of the building.

  As the spell flew the maybe thirty yards to its target, close to a dozen more of the creatures appeared. They rounded the corner just in time to be engulfed by the flames. Scattered like bowling pins, the creepers screeched and writhed in pain.

  The first three had escaped the flames as the fireball flew over their heads. They continued their dash toward him, two moving together and the mailbox smasher a second or two behind them. Allistor drew his sword and crouched into what he considered a cool-looking ready stance. One his game avatars had adopted a thousand times.

  Unfortunately, his skill with a sword didn’t match that of his avatars. He took a swing as the first two leapt at him. His timing was good, but he turned the blade mid-swing so that when he connected with the creeper mid-air, instead of slicing through its body, it was knocked backward by the flat of the blade. Luckily, his blunt weapon skill kicked in and did some damage.

  The creeper’s partner latched onto his sword arm and scampered up toward his face with unbelievable speed, leaving tiny bloody scratches and gouges in his skin as it went. Distracted by the imminent face-eating, he didn’t see the third creeper leap at him. That is until a shotgun blast and the subsequent explosion of the tiny menace in midair about two feet from his face caught his attention.

  Dropping his sword, he grabbed the creeper on his shoulder by the neck. Pulling it off him, he used his free hand to grab a leg and stretch the creature out. He lifted a knee and with both hands slammed the outstretched and struggling creature down across it. The creeper’s spine snapped, and it quit moving.

  Another shotgun blast rang out, and Allistor turned to look at Helen. She was firing toward the corner where the burned monsters were starting to regain their feet. The creeper he’d battered with the sword was back in action as well, clawing its way up his leg.

  Retrieving his sword, he stabbed the little beast in the face, widening its mouth with his blade. When it let go and fell, he whipped his sword forward, flinging the thing into its comrades as it flew off the blade. The desperate move knocked down two others as the rest moved toward him.

  Another blast knocked two of the creatures across the pavement as body parts and blood flew in multiple directions. Allistor backed up, waving his sword to keep them at bay while he tried to think. At least six of the little bastards were still coming at him. Worse, they were spreading out to surround him. A single Flame Shot wouldn’t even get half of them.

  Still, he cast it. Dealing with three was better than six. This time he cast it as a pillar of fire crashing down from above to engulf three of the already-burned creatures. He heard another shot and one of the creatures moving to his right disappeared.

  A moment later, a fierce growl behind him caused him to spin around. Fuzzy was there, his bear cub jaws clamping down on the neck and shoulder of one of the creatures. As soon as he had a grip, he shook the little thing violently, its legs and arms whipping about like wet noodles. When he was done, he used a forepaw to pin its legs, then lifted his head and ripped the thing in two.

  “Right on, buddy!” Allistor shouted as he turned back to face the remaining monsters. The three that had been burned twice were still alive, but not moving other than the occasional twitch of pain. One of the others was moving toward him, and it leapt up to grab hold of his sword arm. Once again, dozens of tiny teeth and claws sunk into him. They penetrated his shirt with seeming ease, blood welling up from the small wounds.

  Fuzzy was there again, standing on his hind legs and snatching the creature’s torso between his jaws. Letting his weight drop him back to all fours, he pulled the thing free from his human and crunched on it even as another of them jumped on his furry back.

  “I got you!” Rage filled Allistor as he grabbed the creeper that was hurting his pet by the neck. Using all the strength he had, he simply squeezed his fist tight, until a popping sound could be heard. It went limp, and he threw it into the burning pile of its friends.

  Seeing that Fuzzy had dispatched his second mob, Allistor spun around, frantically searching for more of the creepers. He heard Helen call out, “I think we’re clear.”

  Casting a heal on Fuzzy first, then himself, he stepped over and sat on the front bumper of the truck. “It’s official. I hate those things.”

  “They looked like little albino Gollums, only meaner,” Helen agreed.

  The fight finished, the two of them went and looted the bodies. Fuzzy moved to a small patch of yard a
nd began eating grass, presumably to get the taste of creeper out of his mouth. Allistor tossed him a piece of snake meat. “You more than earned that, buddy. Saved my butt!”

  When everyone was finished and loaded back into the truck, they found their way to the rib joint where the meeting with Dean’s group was set. As they pulled up in front, Annie burst out of a gate to the side of the building. “Where’s Fuzzy? I have something for him!”

  Allistor opened the back door of the truck, and Fuzzy hopped down, green doll once again gripped in his jaws. Annie crouched down in front of him and threw a leather loop over his head. As she tightened it slightly, Allistor could see several shiny stones and some glitter attached to it. His cub had just been blinged.

  For his part, Fuzzy strutted around like he was a supermodel, showing off his new attire. Helen snorted, then when the bear turned toward her looking hurt, said, “You look fabulous, Fuzzster!”

  Annie led them all through the gate to an outdoor dining area enclosed with a low picket fence. Smoke was already drifting around the corner from the grill in the back. Allistor excused himself as Annie scratched the bear’s belly, to go deliver some snake meat to the grill.

  He found Dean back there, wearing a full chef’s apron and hat. He was mixing some kind of sauce in a deep stainless bowl with a whisk. “Ah, good! You have that snake meat?”

  Allistor removed twenty pieces of the meat from his bag and handed them over to Dean. The man began to spread them out in large flat trays, then pour some of the sauce over the top of each. “Give me a hand, rub this in. Then flip them and do it again.” He motioned for Allistor to take a position next to him. He quickly ground some salt and pepper over each piece then nodded for Allistor to work the sauce into the meat. “The secret to a good snakebecue is having the grill at just the right temp. Too hot and the edges char. Not hot enough, and the meat turns rubbery. The sauce helps with that, some.

  Allistor’s drool reflex kicked in. The sauce smelled wonderful, and he had to resist licking his fingers after each snake meat massaged. The minute he was finished he licked every finger he had, and his thumbs too. Dean laughed. “The base ingredients for that are a little bit of beer and bacon.”

  “It’s damn tasty. Family recipe?”

  “Yup. My pop taught me, his pop taught him…”

  “I take it you’ve picked up the Cooking skill, then?

  “Yup again. On the first day. Been cooking for the group as often as I can to raise the level. Annie told me about levels. Tell you what, stand here a bit, help me place these on the grill and tend to ‘em, and you might get the skill yourself since you killed this snake. I figured out a while back that the skill levels faster if you’re using meat that you’ve killed, or ingredients that you’ve gathered yourself, rather than prepackaged food or bottled spices.”

  “Awesome. And that’s great information. I’ll pass that along to Meg and Sam, and the others who craft using gathered resources.”

  As they finished preparing the pieces of meat, Allistor observed the man next to him. He was in his thirties, dark hair with a full beard. Allistor was about to ask him about his attributes when the man spoke. “I gotta ask. I’m looking at these chunks of meat… just how big was this snake?”

  Allistor chuckled. “In all, it was about sixty feet long, I’d guess. We didn’t stretch it out and measure it. And the system described it as an infant! I don’t even want to meet its mom. Baby snake nearly killed us both.”

  Dean just shook his head as he continued to prepare the meat. A few minutes later it was all on the giant wood-burning grill. The smoke smelled sweet and… well, woodsy. Allistor inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma. He wasn’t thrilled about eating the snake meat, but Dean had sworn he could make it taste delicious. There were fresh vegetables grilling on a smaller side grill, and someone had brought freshly baked bread. Checking on the veggies, Dean cursed softly. “Where’s the damn butter. I know we brought butter for these… Woman! Where’s the butter?”

  The loud call startled Allistor, who was flipping a hunk of snake meat and nearly dropped it through the grill into the flames. He turned as ‘Woman’ approached. An elfish woman approximately the same age as Dean, she had a lovely face and long dark hair. She wore a black T-shirt sporting a white unicorn with a pink mane and rainbow sparkles.

  She placed a hand on Dean’s back and reached around in front of him to the little grill’s side table. “It’s right here, mister grumpy.” She lifted a hunk of tin foil, wrapped inside of which were two sticks of butter.

  “You’ve saved the day!” Dean exclaimed as he gathered her in for a kiss. “Woman, this is Allistor.”

  Allistor shook her hand, a slightly confused look on his face. She laughed when she noticed. “My name is Sarah. Dean likes to pretend he’s a caveman, calls me Woman and grumps about, growling at people. But he’s really just a big softie.” She gave his butt a squeeze and kissed his cheek. “Nice to meet you, Allistor.”

  “And you.” Allistor smiled at her. He instantly liked the pair. “Your caveman is teaching me to cook snake. Something I didn’t expect to ever learn.”

  Sarah looked down, her face falling. “We’ve all had to learn a lot of new things since the Apocalypse.” She paused for a moment, lost in her own memories. Then she raised her head and smiled. “Annie tells me you’re going to teach all of us a few new things.”

  Allistor nodded. “Yeah, things have gotten rough. But I’m hoping by working together and sharing information, we can not only survive this first year but thrive.”

  “I hope you’re right! I’ll leave you two man-children to play with the fire and burn our food. See you both in a few.”

  Dean grumbled under his breath. “Burn the food. As if. I’m an artist!” He grumpily flipped a few of the snake steaks. Allistor grinned to himself and did the same.

  When the food was prepared and the two men delivered it all to the tables, there was a quick round of introductions. Helen had apparently already met everyone. Allistor was never good with names, and he promptly forgot them as each new person shook his hand. They shared a nice meal, folks enjoying the food and each other’s company. Initially, Dean had posted a couple guards to watch for monsters, but Helen had assured him that Fuzzy’s nose was a better sentry than any human, so the two men took seats and ate with everyone else. Still, everyone had a weapon handy, just in case.

  When the meal was done, they rearranged the chairs in a circle, and Allistor spoke to them about the System and the game-like mechanics that ruled their world now. He covered the attributes and the list of skills that they’d discovered over the past weeks. A few of the new group chimed in with new skills that they’d learned. One had learned Engineering, another got Carpentry, and two of them had earned Edged Weapons. All of them knew how to fire weapons, but apparently using Earth guns didn’t grant a skill within the System.

  Then he switched to Strongholds and Outposts. This was where he needed to ask the big question. When he’d explained how territory was claimed and the resources needed for the different sized structures, he paused and took a deep breath.

  “Which brings me to the reason I’m here talking to you. I’ve managed, mostly by accident, to achieve a noble title. I’m a Baron now, with ownership of nearly three million acres of land here in Wyoming and Colorado. With that title comes the ability to establish multiple Outposts, Strongholds, and even Citadels.” He got to his feet and began to pace as he collected his thoughts and let them absorb what he’d said.

  “Helen and I are exploring the area, with plans to establish our claim over as much territory as possible before our one-year Stabilization period is over. Because when it is, the aliens from all the other worlds in this Collective will descend upon us. So far, they’ve treated us like less than nothing. Vermin to be exterminated from this world so they can make it their own. If we’re weak and without resources when they arrive, my guess is we’ll be little more than slaves to them. Or maybe just another food supply like cattl
e. I can claim half of the US in a year, driving from place to place. But I could never hold it. The only way I see us being strong enough to stand up for ourselves is if we work together.”

  Again he paused to watch them take that in. When he saw most of the heads nodding along, he continued.

  “This morning Helen and I established a Stronghold here in Cheyenne. The entire Frontier Mall is now a walled fortress. There’s power, water, and living space for a hundred or more people. I am here today to extend to all of you an invitation to join me. To offer you a safe place to live, protection from the aliens – both the monsters that are here already, and the ones to come when our year is up – and the benefit of whatever knowledge and resources we accumulate as a group. Now, this does require an oath of loyalty to me. In order to remain among us, you’ll have to follow our rules and laws, which right now are the same as they’ve always been here. Don’t kill people except in self-defense, don’t steal, you know the drill.”

  He stopped when Dean made a shooting motion at him with one hand. He was being told to talk about Twitch and friends. Allistor had given Dean a brief report when they arrived.

  “I have come to trust Dean and Annie in the short time I’ve known them. And by extension, all of you. You would be welcome additions to our community. But not everyone will be. Earlier today we went to visit another group over in the warehouse district. They turned out to be thieves who tried to kill us when I refused to hand over my truck. Helen and I were forced to kill them. I’m sure all of you heard the gunfire.” He looked at them one by one to gauge their reactions.

  “I can’t have people like that within our community. They are a threat to all of us. If you are willing to contribute to the community, follow the laws, and help make mankind stronger to face the coming challenges, you are welcome. If not, you will be barred from the safety and benefits of our holdings. I know that sounds harsh, but this isn’t a game. This is about survival. The System has taken from us most of what made us the apex species on this world. Our numbers, and our technology. We cannot afford to be anything other than a united force if we’re going to continue to survive. And I don’t plan to just survive. I want us to THRIVE! I want us to be able to grow our own food, raise our own herds. I want us to become master crafters in every trade imaginable, and create items both useful and valuable. Earth is ours, and I’m not ready to give it up!”