Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “On that note, I received a request from a... ‘Night,’ asking about explosives,” Susan said.

  “The Queen,” Kuro said softly.

  “What’s she looking for?”

  “Whatever I can whip up,” David said. “I just started on producing some yesterday. Her offer is too good to pass up, and she’s willing to trade goods at a discount, too.”

  “The Beatty settlement is getting in on it, as well,” Susan said. “Ely was trying to sell them excess guns.”

  “I’ll be getting another windfall soon, then,” Alvin chuckled. “Night is the Queen. She’s getting her things together for the war.”

  “You’ve been busier than a one-legged man at an ass kicking contest,” Frank said. “Didn’t you stop by the other places on your way back?”

  “No, we swung south and then up; missed all but the smallest towns. If we can get rid of that drake outside of Ely, it might be good, but I’m not in a hurry to face it.”

  “Don’t blame you,” Bill said. “We were just barely able to drive off the wyvern, even with the automated defenses. Things have better armor than tanks.”

  “On the plus side, the major changes should be done,” Alvin said. He gave them a fast recap on meeting Sammi, explaining what he knew about the changes that they might not have discovered yet.

  “We were wondering what happened to Jarvis,” Susan said. “I’m glad he’s still around— he was nice.”

  Terry yawned, then apologized, “Sorry. It’s been a long day for me.”

  “We should call it a night,” Bill said. “Some of us have things to deal with tomorrow.”

  “More explosives,” David said.

  “You three up for a little range time tomorrow?” James asked Alvin as everyone got to their feet.

  “We don’t want to embarrass you,” Alvin smirked.

  “Oh, a challenge?” Bill laughed. “We’ll have to do that after lunch.”

  “You’re on,” Becky smiled.

  Hugs and handshakes were exchanged as everyone got ready to take their leave. Kuro gave minimal hugs to the women present, but limited herself to simply inclining her head to the men. Alvin, Becky, and Kuro walked back to the inn with Frank and Terry in silence, saying goodbye again once they stepped inside.

  Chapter Three

  The three slept in late, curled up on the bed together, after slaking their needs the previous night. A soft knock roused Alvin just enough for him to hear Jarvis say he was starting breakfast. Lifting his head, Alvin chuckled softly; both of his arms were pinned under supple female flesh. Becky was laying on his left arm, using it as a neck pillow and holding it with one hand. Kuro was higher up on the bed, with his right arm under her waist. She was curled into a ball, facing him.

  “Ladies, it’s time to wake up,” Alvin said softly, breathing gently over Kuro’s ear.

  Kuro squeaked, her eyes snapping open to see him smiling at her. “Hero…”

  “Time to get up. Jarvis is making breakfast,” he replied before tickling her spine.

  Squirming, Kuro rolled away from him, “Stop that… please.”

  “Didn’t realize you were that ticklish,” Alvin snickered.

  “Hero, are you being mean to Mousie?” Becky murmured.

  “No.”

  “It was an accident,” Kuro said in his defense. “Jarvis is making breakfast, Gothy. Can I scrub you this morning?”

  “Of course,” Becky said as she got out of bed. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”

  Alvin rolled over to watch them go with a smirk on his face. What was that lyric? ‘Hate to watch her go, but love to watch her leave?’ That’s both of them right there. Shaking his head, Alvin climbed out of bed.

  After using the facilities, Alvin entered the shower just in time to see the women rinsing each other off. “Looks like I missed the show,” Alvin said. “I’ll have to catch the next viewing.”

  “We just wanted to be done by the time you got here,” Becky said, hanging up the shower head she had been holding. “Now, come here so we can do what we wanted to.”

  When they finally made it to the main room, Jarvis was waiting for them at the table. “I finished a moment ago.”

  “Sorry, Jarvis,” Becky said, heading for the table. “Hero held us up.”

  Alvin just shook his head as he sat down. “Thanks for the food.”

  “It is my pleasure, sir,” Jarvis replied, lifting the lid off the dish. “I have for you quiche with cheddar and flaze.”

  “I love me some flaze,” Alvin said, pouring coffee for himself. “Damned good food. Speaking of, what are you making for dinner?”

  “I’d like to keep it under wraps for now, sir.”

  “Fair enough,” Alvin said, taking the serving spoon from Becky. “No matter what it is, I know it’ll be amazing.”

  “You have two hours before your appointment to go shooting with James, Bill, and the others,” Jarvis reminded Alvin as he served himself. “I started breakfast late because I figured you’d be sleeping in.”

  “Good call,” Alvin said. He took a bite and grinned, “Damn, this is good.”

  “It’s an easy dish. Both Mousie and miss can make it without my input,” Jarvis said. “I do need to let you know, sir, that my latest request has been approved.”

  “What request?” Alvin asked.

  “I can now use the kiosk,” Jarvis smiled. “Since I can, I’d like to bring up the idea of wages. You said before that I’m the ‘best butler ever,’ so please keep that in mind.”

  Alvin laughed and set his plate aside. “I have no idea what a butler should be paid. Why don’t you start the negotiation? Remember, though, I upgraded you far enough that we can even have this discussion.”

  “Well countered, sir,” Jarvis smiled. “I would think that my services are worth at least as much as those provided by an innkeeper, before they get the percentage for services sold.”

  “Fair,” Becky said around her fork.

  “Don’t undermine my bargaining power, Gothy,” Alvin chuckled. “I’d agree with that, but you do more than the minimum so let’s double that for now. If things feel unequal at that point, we can revisit the deal.”

  “You can set it up to deduct my pay automatically from you once per day, sir. There is a safeguard that will not allow the deduction to send you into a negative balance,” Jarvis said.

  “We’ll do it after breakfast, then,” Alvin said, pulling his plate closer again. “Do you clean the automated rooms, too?”

  “A light cleaning, but yes.”

  “We’ll see about giving you more if I keep expanding the base, then,” Alvin added.

  “Very generous, sir, thank you.”

  “Maybe we should chip in,” Becky said.

  “I’m sure the extra I get from the kiosk network can cover it easily,” Alvin told her.

  “Point,” Becky nodded.

  ~*~*~

  Alvin, Becky, and Kuro walked out of the inn almost an hour later. Alvin waved back to James when he called out to them. “We’re not late, are we?”

  “No, you still have an hour. I thought you might like a tour of the place, though.”

  “Sounds good,” Alvin said.

  The tour took up most of the hour, covering the exterior buildings of the settlement. All of the old buildings were still being used for their original purposes, but were now following the new rules. The auto shop had a mechanic working on James’ car when they walked by.

  “I heard you were back,” Justin Brand said, coming out of the shop. “I’m glad you’re still around. Joanna was bouncing off the walls last night when she heard that you were back.”

  “Kids can be a handful,” Becky said. “Is she doing okay?”

  “She’s doing great. The older kids have been teaching her the basics.”

  “We don’t exactly have a school here, so the teens have been tutoring the smaller kids. They get a stipend for doing so, which helps pay off that ridiculous XP penalty they start with.”
>
  “That’s good,” Alvin said, wondering briefly if Karee had recovered from her ordeal.

  “What are your plans, if I can ask?” Justin asked with interest.

  “Taking a week off, at least,” Alvin chuckled. “I’m sure the stories about what we’ve been up to will be getting around shortly. We’re heading over to the range to have a bit of fun with target practice.”

  “Oh, I still need to get in my hour. Give me a minute to get things closed up, and I’ll go with you,” Justin said, heading back into the shop.

  Justin was back shortly, and the group headed toward the range located at the back of the settlement. During the walk, Justin kept looking at Kuro, who glared back at him.

  “Sorry, but... are you an Elf?” Justin blurted out.

  “She is,” Alvin replied for Kuro. “She also hates men, so keep that in mind.”

  “A follower of the Spider Q—”

  “Stop,” Alvin said with enough force to cut Justin off. “It’s not the same. The Elven men follow the King and are raping, evil bastards.”

  “Oh… sorry,” Justin said. “I was just shocked to see an Elf. My daughter has been hoping to meet one, and—”

  “Foolish babbling male,” Kuro spat.

  “Mousie, be nice. Justin isn’t a bad guy,” Becky told her. “He isn’t leering or making advances. His only comment has been that his daughter Joanna would like to meet you.”

  “Sorry, Gothy. Too many of the men here remind me of my old home.”

  “That’s because you’re liquid sensuality,” Becky replied, putting her arm around Kuro’s waist. “Ignore them as best you can.”

  “If anyone tries anything, Bill will eject them from the settlement,” James added. “We have a really dim view on assault here.”

  “Which is a good thing,” Alvin said.

  “There they are,” Bill said from the range. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “No Susan?” Alvin asked.

  “I’m coming,” Susan said from behind them. “Had to make sure everything was done first. Being in charge gives me very little free time.”

  “Better you than me,” Alvin replied.

  “We can all agree with that,” Bill laughed.

  “Yup,” Becky agreed. “Otherwise, I would never have found a Mousie.”

  “We doing this?” another guy asked, smirking as he eyed Kuro and Becky.

  “Yeah, just a little friendly range time,” Bill chuckled and picked up the stack of targets. “Susan’s been nice enough to put up a thousand XP for the best shot out of us. We’ll be dropping a person every round— ten shots per round, so make them count. We’ll be moving the targets back once everyone has had a turn.”

  “I shouldn’t be here,” Justin frowned.

  “It’ll give you a goal,” Bill said, slapping Justin on the shoulder. “Focus on the shots.”

  “Okay,” Justin said.

  Alvin looked down the line and could see that the range had ten firing lanes. Justin, Bill, Susan, James, Alvin, Becky, and Kuro took up seven of those spots. Men that Alvin did not recognize stood in two of the lanes, and the last held a familiar face.

  “It’s been a while,” Megumin said. “I hope you have been well.”

  “Megs,” Becky smiled at the Asian woman, “we’ve been very good. We should catch up once this is over.”

  “I would like that. I heard a rumor that you were back, but I didn’t see you in the cafeteria last night.”

  “We were having dinner with them,” Susan said.

  “Okay, everyone to the line,” Bill said, coming back from hanging the targets. “We’re starting at a hundred feet. Pistols only for the first few rounds,” he added, seeing the rifle Alvin had in his hand. “An M82?”

  “Yeah, got it from that asshole in Bridgeport,” Alvin said, letting it vanish. “Problem is we don’t use pistols anymore. We gave ours to Mousie.”

  “I’ll allow you anything that isn’t a rifle or shotgun, then,” Bill said.

  “Oh, then I guess I’ll use this one,” Becky said, her MP5 appearing in her hand.

  “I’ll match that,” Alvin agreed, holding his UMP.

  “Both suppressed, as well,” Bill chuckled. “Fine, but don’t blame me if you accidently toggle them to full auto.”

  “We know better than that,” Becky laughed as she took her spot.

  Justin was the first to be eliminated; all of his shots hit the target, but were nowhere near as tightly grouped as the others. Shaking his head, Justin put his gun away, “That’s what I figured. I’ll stick around, though. Maybe I’ll pick up some hints.”

  “Let’s move the targets back to the next spot and change them out,” Bill said. “Guns down, people.”

  Everyone let their guns vanish— except for Kuro, who holstered hers— while the targets were changed and moved farther down the range. Once everyone was back behind the line, Bill called for guns and the next round started. The targets were standard silhouettes, but the point locations were smaller and placed in kill zones, with the head worth the most points. This time, the targets had to be examined a bit more carefully to determine who had lost the round. Once the points were totaled, one of the new guys was out.

  “Letting them use guns other than pistols is the only reason why,” the man complained.

  Alvin snorted, “You want to back that up?”

  “Only if it’s worth my while,” he replied.

  “Two grand of XP from each of us. Winner takes the pot,” Alvin said, “and moves on.”

  “I could use two grand,” the man said.

  “But can you lose it?” Alvin said with a challenging grin.

  “He can,” Bill replied. “Joshua there is one of the best hunters we have.”

  “He’s not good enough,” Alvin replied, pointing at the three-gun course off to the side. “Let’s do this, but let’s do it right. Mousie, I’ll need the IMI back for a minute.”

  “Of course, Hero,” Kuro said, handing the gun over.

  “I’ll need your shotgun, too, Gothy.”

  “You can have anything you want, Hero,” Becky winked as she summoned the gun to hand.

  “Thanks,” Alvin took it, giving her a quick kiss.

  James shook his head, “So much for friendly.”

  “This is friendly,” Joshua laughed. “A sucker is born every day.”

  “You have that right,” Becky laughed. “Don’t make him cry too much, Hero.”

  Joshua laughed. “Dude, you make them call you a hero?”

  “I never asked them to,” Alvin shrugged, “they do it on their own. Hmm, I haven’t worked on static targets in weeks, so you might have a chance.”

  “Talk it up as much as you want,” Joshua laughed.

  “Man, I wish the others were here for betting,” the second man said.

  “How much would you like to donate to us?” Becky asked with a smirk. “I’ll match any bet you want to make.”

  “Oh please, you can’t match the twenty grand I have,” he said.

  “Twenty?” Becky asked with feigned shock.

  “Yeah; we’re both part of the best team this place has,” he laughed.

  “So little?” Becky continued with a smirk, dropping the act.

  “What?”

  “Eric,” Bill shook his head, “you should reconsider. These two are the ones who helped us found this place.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Eric snorted. “Founding doesn’t mean shit except that they were here.”

  “I’ll match all twenty of it,” Becky grinned. “That’s only a fifth of what I have, so…”

  Eric’s jaw dropped for a second before he laughed, “Sure it is.”

  “If you want this to be serious, she can prove it, but I’ll want Bill to hold the XP tokens,” Alvin said.

  Both men went quiet for a minute, moving a few feet away to hold a whispered conversation. Kuro shook her head and leaned in to whisper to Becky, “They are debating the pros and cons. They think if
they win, they might win ‘points’ with us.”

  Becky bit her lip to stop her laughter, “This will be amusing.”