Survivors

by Dave Willmarth

  Mace caught movement behind one of the parked Humvees and whispered, “Over there. Something or someone behind that vehicle.”

  Shari looked to where he was pointing. The vehicle was only about fifty yards from where they sat in Bertha. That was way too close for Shari’s comfort. She put Bertha in reverse and backed slowly across the large parking lot that surrounded the building.

  A zombie burst from behind the Humvee and charged at them. When Dakota barked hopefully, then whined again, Mace looked from the dog to the creature. What he saw made him want to puke. Or cry. Or both.

  “Oh, shit,” he said, as Shari hit the accelerator and Bertha moved more quickly to keep distance between them and the zombie.

  Shari saw it a moment after he did. “Oh, no. Is that? It can’t be.”

  Mace nodded. “It’s the sergeant. Danny. Dakota’s handler. No wonder the poor mutt’s confused. He sees his old master but smells the zombie.”

  His voice caught in his throat. From reading the man’s journal and talking about him with Griff, they’d felt a kinship with the man. They’d even mourned him as if he’d been a friend.

  And now here he was, about to try to kill them.

  Dakota whined again and Mace patted his head, then scratched behind his ears as Bertha sped backward and they gained some distance. Still, the zombie moved faster than a human should be able to.

  Shari cranked the wheel and Bertha spun to the side. She jerked the gearshift into drive and punched the accelerator. Their change of direction had cost them precious seconds, and the zombie was approaching quickly. As Shari steered hard and put him in their rearview, he roared and leapt toward the Jeep.

  Fortunately for them, Bertha’s acceleration was quick enough to place them out of the zombie’s reach. He missed in his bid to grasp the back bumper, falling onto his face and rolling on the pavement as Bertha sped away.

  Shari was already reaching for her rifle. “Mace! When I stop, you take the wheel. I’m going to jump out and shoot him.”

  “WHAT?” Mace practically shouted at her. “Are you insane? Let’s just leave. We’ll drive far away until he’s lost us. Then we’ll come back and you can shoot him from a rooftop or someplace far, far away.”

  Shari shook her head. “I can do this. I just need some distance. But be ready with your shotgun just in case.”

  Mace wanted to argue more. He was terrified she was going to get hurt. His gut clenched and his pulse raced even faster than it had been a moment ago.

  He hugged the dog tightly as Shari raced down the road. When she was maybe five hundred yards ahead of the zombie, she stopped and threw Bertha into park. Grabbing her rifle, she opened her door and stood on the running board, then put a foot on the door handle to push herself up onto Bertha’s roof.

  Mace jumped out with shotgun in hand, displacing the confused dog. Dakota fell out onto the road and crouched down, belly flat against the asphalt and head down, whining.

  Mace saw that Shari was laying prone atop Bertha’s roof, her rifle barrel resting on the back rail of the luggage rack bolted to the roof. She was already sighting in on the approaching zombie. Mace looked on, fighting the urge to run while at the same time fighting the urge to charge forward and blast at the thing before it got close to Shari. He raised his shotgun and took aim, though the thing was still far out of his range.

  A moment later, Shari’s rifle fired. The zombie jerked backward as if he had just bounced off a glass door. Neon blue blood splattered in a wet cloud behind him as a significant portion of his neck disappeared. Mace heard Shari reload as the zombie sergeant recovered and resumed its charge. Shari fired again and this time a chunk of his face disappeared. The zombie fell backward, screaming in pain, and Dakota whined in distress.

  Shari cursed “Shit! I can’t see his head now. I need to wait ‘til he gets back up.”

  Mace said, “Screw that!” He dashed forward, shotgun still pointed at the monster. Dakota took off too, staying at Mace’s side as they got closer.

  The dog barked at the zombie, as if expecting some kind of recognition. Mace was a mess of emotions ranging from fear to anger to pity.

  As he got within about ten yards of the downed zombie, he slowed down. Being careful to stay out of Shari’s line of sight, he moved to the side and fired into the body, which was struggling to get up. Dakota yelped in surprise, then actually growled at Mace. Danny might smell funny, but he was still Danny. And Mace was hurting him.

  Then the monster managed to sit upright, roaring in pain and anger at Mace as it did. Dakota let out a yelp and retreated behind Mace, tail between his legs. Mace didn’t blame him one bit.

  He was about to step forward when Danny zombie’s head exploded in a spray of neon blue blood and bits of tissue. Mace backed away quickly, not wanting to get the contaminated material on himself. Again.

  But Dakota saw his old master fall and ran forward. The poor, loyal animal walked right into the splattering of tissue around the zombie as Mace and Shari both screamed, “Dakota, nooooo!”

  But they were far too late. The dog’s feet were already coated in the blue grime as he moved forward to sniff at his dead friend. He whined pathetically and looked back toward Mace as if to ask why they’d killed Danny.

  Mace lost it. He dropped to his knees, sobbing. He could hear Shari crying behind him as she chambered another round in her rifle. Dakota turned, as if to head back to Mace, but Mace held up a hand. Between ragged gasps of air he said, “Dakota, sit!”

  The dog instantly obliged, his training kicking in. He cocked his head to one side, looking at Mace for further instructions. His ears just beginning to perk up as Shari fired.

  Mace closed his eyes and dropped his head to look at the pavement. He couldn’t look at the dog and his former master. He sat there, just looking at his hands and crying.

  A couple minutes later, he felt Shari drop next to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and he looked up at her face. Tears streaked down her face and snot ran from her nose. She buried her head in his chest, and he could hear her sob.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I had no choice.”

  Mace suddenly realized how much worse this must be for her. While he’d been falling apart at the sight of their contaminated companion, she’d had the fortitude to do what needed to be done. He played the scene back in his head. The dog had turned and was headed toward him. Shari had taken action to protect him, even though it meant killing the innocent dog.

  He nearly crushed her in his arms, hugging her tightly to himself and rocking her back and forth. They both cried for a while, until Shari separated herself from him. She sniffed, wiping the snot from her face onto his shoulder before getting to her feet.

  She looked around as she said, “We can’t stay here. Something might have heard the shots. We need to go.”

  Mace nodded woodenly, getting to his feet. He picked up his shotgun and turned toward Bertha. He didn’t have the heart to look back. When they were both back inside Bertha and headed home, he said “Goodbye Dakota. You were a good dog. A very good dog and our friend. I hope you’re with Danny in a better place somewhere.” Shari sobbed again but kept driving.

  *****

  Griff meanwhile, was having his best day in a long while. He’d completely shaken off the fear from the bear attack and was delighting in Lisa’s company. They moved through the woods together, talking about their lives as they hunted wolves and gathered herbs.

  Griff had begun by telling her the story of his death at the hands of the wolves, followed immediately by his run-in with the fuzzy bunnies. The story had made Lisa laugh so hard that she’d had to sit on a stump and catch her breath as she held her stomach. Griff didn’t mind being laughed at one bit. Lisa was simply charming.

  Her avatar had the same freckles that decorated her face in real life. She’d chosen to be a redhead, with her hair gathered in whimsical braided pigtails on either side of her head. Her face was round, with green eyes and a soft tuft of red peach-fuzz b
arely detectable on her chin. While her body was slimmer than Griff’s with wide hips and a pronounced waistline that accentuated her significant bust. Her shoulders were wide, her arms strong, and she stood nearly the same height as Griff.

  They spent half the day in the forest talking about little things as they hunted and gathered. When they had enough wolf pelts to complete the kill quest for both of them, they returned to the village and turned in the quest. Between the killings and the quest completion experience, Lisa was already up to level seven while Griff was level fourteen. At these low levels, the experience requirement was minimal and it wouldn’t be long before Lisa caught up to him.

  After completing some fetch quests and an odd quest to kill a weasel that had invaded a henhouse, they decided to stop at the tavern for a meal. Griff was giddy with anticipation of seeing her reaction to the food.

  He wasn’t disappointed. They ordered a couple pints of ale and braised short ribs. When the meal arrived, it came with piping hot bread fresh from the oven. Lisa inhaled deeply.

  “Oh gawd, this smells delicious!” she gushed as she grabbed the small loaf of bread and pulled one end off. Tearing a bite from it, she stuffed it into her mouth without ceremony. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she mumbled with her mouth full. Griff couldn’t make out the words, but he got the idea.

  “Wait till ye try the meat.” He motioned toward her plate. Lisa set down the bread and swallowed her mouthful before pulling one of the short ribs apart from its neighbors with stubby-but-strong fingers. She brought the rib up to her mouth and tore off some of the succulent meat. Her eyes widened as she chewed slowly.

  A moment later, she reached for mug and took a gulp of ale, at which point her eyes widened again and she inhaled sharply.

  Setting the mug down with one hand and the half-eaten rib with the other, she said, “Oh god, that’s the best food I’ve tasted in me life!”

  As Griff chuckled and dug into his own delicious meal, she tore through the ribs in record time and requested seconds. She also ordered a pitcher of ale and worked her way through a good portion of that, too.

  When she was done, she sat back and rubbed her belly. With a somehow-polite belch she looked at Griff, smiling. “That were better than sex!”

  Griff snorted. “That don’t say much about Evan then, does it?” He grinned at her and winked, making her laugh.

  Shaking her head, she said, “No, no. I mean…”

  She decided maybe Griff was right and just laughed herself. The twinkle in Griff’s eye made her laugh even harder.

  He paid for their meals and secured her a room of her own upstairs, then the two of them retired to their beds and logged out.

  Griff took his time leaving the lab. He needed to sort some things out in his head while he was alone. He got out of his pod, used the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. In just the last few days, he’d gone from incredibly lonely and nearly suicidal to having friends, having a purpose. He’d nearly died and been eaten by a monster. And he’d met a lovely girl who was, much to his chagrin, involved with someone else. It was a lot to take in.

  Eventually exiting the lab, he found both his new housemates in the kitchen. Evan had indeed unloaded all the supplies, which were now stacked on the countertop as Lisa took inventory.

  Evan gave him a polite nod when he entered, saying, “Saw the damage and the blood. That thing must’ve been huge.”

  Griff let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Yeah, mate. It were bigger than the Jeep. Didn’t even see it coming. Just all of a sudden, blam! it nearly knocked me off the road.”

  Just as Griff was beginning to think Evan might not be so bad, the man smirked at him. “Well, I hope ye lost it like ye said. Anything that big could destroy this place in a day.”

  Griff tried not to bristle as thoughts of putting a bullet through the man’s head and living happily ever after with Lisa danced through his head.

  “I was careful. And the next rain will wash away any scent it might try to follow. I’m sure we’re safe.” He spoke in his best soldier voice, trying to reassure Lisa and back Evan down a bit.

  Evan changed the subject. Motioning toward the food supply, he said, “This is a good haul. But with three of us, it won’t last long. We’ll need to make another run. I cleaned up the blood on the Jeep, so we can use that.”

  Griff agreed. “I found a Tesco’s close by. Maybe we can go there in the morning. Just after sunrise?”

  Evan nodded and reached a hand out to Lisa. As she took his hand, he led her out of the kitchen.

  Nearing the door, he said, “I hauled it down here, you can put it away. It’s getting late. See you in the morning.”

  Lisa smiled apologetically at Griff as she was led away.

  Griff turned to the pile of supplies. He was slightly hungry. Though his body hadn’t actually done much, the day of adventuring had convinced his mind that he should be hungry, so he was.

  He located a package of beef jerky and began to nibble on it as he moved groceries from the counter to the pantry. He grabbed himself another soda as he worked, and thought about the future for a change.

  Chapter 9

  Possibilities

  Mace and Shari sat on the bed in his quarters and he rubbed her back as she leaned into him. There was the occasional sniffle from each of them as they thought about Dakota, and Danny, and the others they’d lost.

  Eventually, Mace spoke. “We can’t tell Griff.”

  Shari didn’t say anything for a while, then nodded, just slightly. “It would only hurt him. But I don’t want to lie. If he asks about Dakota we’ll need to tell him. But only if he asks.”

  A short while later, they both crawled into their pods and got back into the game. Despite their melancholy mood, there were things they needed to take care of in Elysia. They no longer treated it as a game. This was their future home. And they needed to prepare it.

  When they awoke in the game, they found that the boat had sailed with the dawn and was about to arrive back at Lakeside. Mace could see a small crowd of citizens gathered at the dock. He also noted that the centaurs had made it back and folks were unloading the overladen cart of iron and weapons. The armor and weapons looted from the slavers seemed to have boosted morale considerably.

  As the boat docked, Captain Charles walked down the dock to greet them. Raising a hand, he called out, “I hear you massacred those Black Flame slavers like they were the Tribe of Jeff!” he grinned a big ogre grin showing long tusks and sharp teeth.

  Mace looked confused.

  “Tribe of Jeff?” He looked to Shari, who shrugged. Layne helpfully filled them in.

  “They were a vegetarian tribe in the land of Kirshtein who subsisted mainly on pineapple from the groves they tended. Long ago, they fought a war with the leprechauns. It was a long and bloody war, but remained a stalemate until a primitive human tribe sided with the leprechauns. The Tribe of Jeff were slaughtered. Every man, woman and child were grilled alive on shish-kabobs with meat from giant ant-pigs. It was said they tasted like pineapple.”

  Shari made a disgusted face as Mace chuckled.

  “We didn’t do any roasting. But between the centaurs and the minotaurs and your guards here,” he indicated the two guards just stepping down the ramp, “they didn’t have a chance. And you’ve already seen their generous contribution to your armory.” He winked at the ogre.

  “Yes, thank you for that. Most outworlders would have kept the loot for themselves and sold it to us at market price. Or higher, knowing our need.” Charles bowed his head slightly.

  Shari spoke up. “Things are different now. There are so few of us, and we no longer need to compete with each other. Or have the ability to sell our unneeded loot to other outworlders. Our focus now is to help you grow. You here at Lakeside, the elves in my home city, and others we encounter whom we come to call friends.”

  Mace nodded. “And speaking of growing, we need to speak privately. There’s been a development y
ou need to know about.”

  Mace and his group walked with Charles to his home. Minus Brahm, who went to see to his people and make sure the iron was unloaded at the smithy. Once they were alone in Charles’ dining room, Mace informed him of what they’d found in the dungeon. The ant queen, the pool of water that gave permanent buffs, and the portal room.

  The ogre took it all in with a politely interested look on his face until Mace mentioned the portals. At which point his jaw dropped and he seemed to have difficulty speaking.

  “You… the… you mean to say… but there can’t be that many portals in one place. No city I know of has more than two!”

  Mace let him absorb the information for a few moments. “Needless to say, this needs to remain a secret. We are trusting you, but until we build up a more secure settlement around Darkstone, no one can know of its hidden value.”

  “Of… of course.” Captain Charles nodded his big ogre skull in agreement. “I’ll think of some reason to give the villagers and we’ll begin constructing a perimeter wall right away.”

  Shari reached into her bag and withdrew five hundred gold. “The iron you’ve been pulling from there is not valuable enough to justify that kind of investment. People will begin to ask questions. So let’s just say Mace is an eccentric drow who wants his new toy stronghold secured and is willing to pay.”

  She handed the coins to Charles, who chuckled.

  “Aye, there’d be few who’d doubt that after meeting our drow here.” He winked at Mace. “I’ll begin immediately.”

  They spent some more time with Charles, outlining some of their plans and talking about the crafting skills of various citizens of Lakeside. Mace handed the ogre a couple of books from the library that would help his people increase their mastery.

  Charles accepted the books with reverence, his big hands shaking as he held them in front of him. “Mace. This is… the value of these is beyond my reckoning.”

  You have gained +250 reputation with the settlement of Lakeside. Your reputation is now Revered.