ã€ŠDecimation Mortismã€‹


 Prologue

    I was getting ice cream with Camille at the ¡®B&B ice creams¡¯ when Allen came running to us in some weird clothes. I love him with all my heart as a friend but that guy is weird and sometimes plain crazy. I keep myself from ridiculing him, but it¡¯s so hard. He just gives me so much ammo to tease him all the time. God I hope he has a good reason for going native.

    ¡°Dude listen carefully before you make fun of me. Something similar to an apocalypse is about to happen exactly at 7:00 and we need to be inside the ¡°Foods Organic¡± before that. I don¡¯t have much time to explain, so hold this shield and cover me while Camille and I follow you. Also hold this pocket knife. It might come in handy. Camille, get into this armor NOW!¡± [Allen]

    Allen handed me something that looked like a chain ornate with teeth. Are those ears? Did he plan an elaborate hoax on me? ¡°7:00? that¡¯s like now¡±[Alvin]

    ¡°Allen, this is no time for games. Alvin is the usual trouble maker. I can¡¯t believe you would swoop to his level¡­.¡± [Camille]

    Camille was still skeptical about all this doomsday crap. But she still obediently listened to Allen and tried putting on the armor.

    I can usually follow Allen¡¯s logic in making fun of me. But this looked way different from his usual. He didn¡¯t seem to be joking this time. Whatever he was worried about rattled him enough to put him in panic overdrive. He went to the library a minute ago and came back running immediately with some weird stuff on him. That can¡¯t be a coincidence. He either planned all of this prank beforehand, in which case, I am so damn proud of him or it is as he claims. Shoving my mockery aside, I decided to do as Allen said. And he was quivering like a chihuahua in cold, so it must be true.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    While Allen was forcing his weird ¡®armor¡¯ on Camille, I took his shield and began examining it. ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll do as you say. Lets just move to the store and continue our conversation there. You got some serious explaining to do¡± [Alvin]. It was like a poor school project gone wrong. Duct tapes all over the place with torn book covers as far as I can see. The handle itself looked like it could break from a small impact. He better have a good reason for tearing up the library books. Sheriff is going to have a field day with us.

    Camille despite her strong-and-independent facade was utterly powerless against Allen. He doesn¡¯t know that she has had a crush on him from like when we were 10. She never expressed it to him and he is too dense to even notice her affection. Allen is usually talking to himself while Camille and I both pretend that we didn¡¯t notice such an obvious thing. When he was younger, he was more expressive with his thoughts, getting himself into trouble more often than I can count. After a while, he gradually just became pensive and just keeping to himself. Whenever we talked he only participated every now and more often too lost in thought to converse. May be another story for another time. Anyway, Camille was finally going to confess her feelings on her birthday. I can¡¯t wait to see the look on his dumb face.

    Allen jolted me from my thoughts and urged us to take cover in our grocery store. We all ran towards the grocery store while people jeered at us for being weird. I didn¡¯t mind. If this was Allen¡¯s prank, he would get payback several times worse than this. However, even if there is a slight chance Allen might be onto something, it was worth doing this. I don¡¯t want to ever lose my two best friends and I am not ready to end the time I spent with them yet.

    When we were about 10 feet from the grocery store, it happened. Cars started going whacky and people started screaming. Slowly loud thumping sounds and howling could be heard from a distance. I mustered myself to protect the two and run covering them closely to the grocery store. Allen, what have you gotten us into?. Things escalated real fast. Was that so wrong of me to just be the top of the board in donkey-kong?

 Chapter 1 - Ordinary day

    Chapter 1 - Ordinary Days

    Ordinary days are fine. Cycles of endless repetitions are normal. Somethings don¡¯t change no matter however much you wish for.

    ¡°Hi. How are you today? Did you find everything you need?¡±, I muttered with a plastered smile in my face. My hands continued moving items through the scanner occasionally looking up the monitor to see if it rang correctly. Sometimes life sucks

    ¡°I am good. Yes¡±, came a reply.

    Not even a how are you? Like I care lady, I thought in my mind and continued with my process.

    ¡°Its 25.12. Would you like to donate to children charity for hunger?¡±, some fucking bullshit software writer thought it was a good idea to ask people to donate food while they were buying food. Good job morons.

    ¡°Not today¡±, came a curt reply. She paid for her groceries and moved promptly without waiting for a receipt. I stood there like a dofus waving her receipt in air. Awkward.

    I get that nowadays people think not getting a receipt will help prevent deforestation or global warming or some shit like that. It doesn¡¯t really. While a couple of ¡°developed¡± countries may opt some new stuff to delay our planet¡¯s inevitable doom, other ¡°developing¡± or ¡°underdeveloped¡± countries don¡¯t. Considering the number advantage these developing countries have over developed countries, I would say Earth is pretty fucked.

    The next customer brings me back from my daze and I continue my cycle, ¡°Hi. How are you today? Did you find everything you need?¡±

    If I was one of those top minds, I would automate my job. Its simple, Display ¡°Welcome¡±. Proceed to ¡°Scan¡±. Then ¡°pay¡±. That¡¯s it. I wonder why the general populace can be so lazy to even go to the self pay counters. Are we too progressive as humanity or just too lazy to do the simplest of tasks. Well, another thing for a restless mind to worry about.

    After doing 5 hours of mindless work, my shift ends and I go to the employees lounge to relax and wait for my friend Alvin and Camille to finish their work.

    My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive. Just kidding. I am not the flash. Not even close. I am Barry Allen and I work in a grocery chain store ¡°Foods Organic¡±. My dad must have loved the flash comics so much that he wanted me to have the name. My first name is Allen though. Very confusing, I know. But hey, it¡¯s my name and I tell you how to call me. I may not be physically fast but I do have an extremely hyper active brain. It also makes me an insomniac and an introvert. Hey, I am not complaining. I got my best buddies Alvin and Camille. My school principal used to call us, Alvin and the chipmunks since we are like three squirrels or whatever. Not really a fan of chipmunks. Speaking of chipmunks are they squirrels? Do they really speak and sing? Damn it. Now I got another fucking thought. Like I said, I have a super active brain that constantly derails me from having a normal conversation.

    When I was younger, my father made me take the IQ test and it came up with your-son-is-uber-gifted score. I suddenly became this ¡®gifted¡¯ kid who got every teacher¡¯s praise and earned every mom¡¯s scorn. My childhood was least to say, Grey. Get it? You know, the opposite of colorful. May be colorless, but that just doesn¡¯t look right. Black seems racist and politically incorrect too. So, just go with quasi-color? This is my fucking life, I will use whatever color I feel like, shut up brain.

    Alvin was the first guy to approach me. Well, he and I were the only two kids who got bullied for no reason whatsoever. No, that¡¯s not true. I got bullied because I was smart and couldn¡¯t keep smart remarks to myself. Alvin got bullied because, well he is alvin. So, we just became best bullied buddies. After an year or so in junior school, Camille became close to us. I don¡¯t know why she became our friend though. Never asked her. She just fit right between us. Alvin was the quirky kid, trying stupid stuff and getting us into trouble. Camille was the voice of reason. I was, well quiet. Oh, Now I see it. Alvin is troublemaker, Camille could be simon, I am theodore? hence our names ¡®alvin and the chipmunks¡¯? Still don¡¯t get it. Fucking be quiet brain.

    As I was saying, we three have been together from the age of 10. That¡¯s 7 golden years now. Alvin wanted the three of us to have an awesome vacation before our last school term. So here we are. Working cash registers, cleaning aisles and talking to ourselves. That talking to oneself part is mostly me. I don¡¯t really believe it¡¯s just the vacation. Alvin wanted to celebrate camille¡¯s birthday and possibly propose his feelings for her. I have always thought those two got together really well with their constant bickering and swearing. It kept my mind focused and not wander too much.

    ¡°Hey Allen, whats up? How did the register ringing go? Hello mam, *Beep*, did you find everything you need? *Beep* that¡¯d be 20 dollars. Would you like this wrapped in plastic? *Beep*¡±, laughing hysterically and making vulgar gestures with his hands, Alvin entered the lounge followed by Camille who was trying her best to shut him up. I don¡¯t get it, how is that hilarious? Why would there be a beep after ¡®that¡¯d be 20 dollars¡¯. That¡¯s just stupid. For the love of god, shut it brain.

    I am not a psychopath who goes around murdering people and wrapping them in plastic. I am just an average kid with a split personality. May be. I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t murdered anyone yet or wrapped anyone in plastic. Besides, psychopaths don¡¯t have emotions. But I do. Thought for another time. I learned that I am the only guy, possibly there are others, that keeps talking to his brain or inner voice or whatever and says that shit to others. It got me into lot of trouble with Kidd. A stupid name for a school bully. Shouldn¡¯t have said that to his face though. I learned to control my anger and keep my emotions in check after taking up some self defense classes. Not really, I just understood I am different and mimic people like how they don¡¯t express their true thoughts and put up false facades. The self defense classes were helpful too. Should have seen Kidd¡¯s dumb look when he got face palmed by me. Hilarious, I know.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Oh, nothing. Same shit different day¡±, nice reference from dreamcatcher, I respond ignoring my brain.

    ¡°Camille says we should hit the arcade before going home. Are you in?¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°I never said that. All I said was, my mom would be late and we could go somewhere and return before 8¡±, camille said pouting like a child elbowing alvin while alvin pretending that it actually hurts. Gosh they are so adorable sometimes. Sometimes!

    ¡°Sure. I want to check out a book from the library though. You guys go first. I will join you guys soon¡±

    ¡°Book this, book that. All the time. Man, where is your love for adventure? Let¡¯s go beat that ¡®bbbb¡¯ for setting high score in ¡®donkey-kong¡¯. I can¡¯t have ¡®alvs¡¯ to be the second best¡± [Alvin]

    Wow. He is such a cry baby for losing ¡°Alright, then wait outside the library for like 2 mins. I will just return the book and join you guys¡±. I really have to return this book on theology. I have no fucking clue why I got this. I am not religious. I do not like religious fanatics. I neither believe in god nor in a heaven/hell concept. I am more like an agnostic. I just have to feed my insomniac brain some bull shit and tire myself to sleep every night for a couple of hours. If you don¡¯t sleep, the body functions will seize and you will eventually die. There are quite few recorded cases of death from insomnia. Sometimes my brain just agrees with me, possibly because it wants to live.

    ¡°Whatever you say professor. I will get us something to munch on while we wait. Camille with me?¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll keep an eye on this idiot before he does something stupid¡±, Camille rolled her eyes in frustration, ¡°again!¡± [Camille]

    We walked joking about our day and enjoying our fleeting moments of youth. I quietly listened and only interjected when needed so as to not interrupt alvin-camille duo. We reached the library in what seemed like 5 minutes. The library is state-of-art. It has automatic readers, shelving robots and even automated voice assistant. Awesome. Yet, you can¡¯t automate a grocery bagger!

    I entered the library watching the two run across the road to get some ice cream. Libraries always give this eerie feeling because very few people use books anymore and it is usually deserted at this hour. Everything is available online and no one really wants to be alone in a library. Perfect environment for me. It helps me calm my mind. With nothing to distract, I feel like I can control my brain, nah, not possible, may be somewhat. I promptly returned my book and quickly climbed to the second floor to check out my next to-read books. No harm keeping Alvin waiting. Camille is with him. I am not a sentimental person, but I am pretty sure the digital clock read 6:59 when i entered and it has yet to change to 7:00. And I have been here for more than a minute.

    God damn stupid brain, noticing minute details. Now I feel super scared. Is it the clock that¡¯s faulty or have I finally become loopy? I quickly grab my cell phone to check the time and see how the others are doing. The entire library suddenly becomes dark and all blood drains from my face.

    Did ALL of the lights go off at the same time? Cursing my batshit luck, I grabbed my cellphone and heard some noise behind one of those large book shelves. I quickly hid behind a bookshelf and stuck my head out slowly trying to sneak a peek.

    By the way, don¡¯t try this at home unless you have a strong heart. Slowly my eyes are drawn to something dark moving in the shadows.

    Is that a person? That¡¯s the ugliest mother fucking person I have ever seen. My heart races and my brain quickly comes up with an acceptable solution. I think the best option is to hide here and not make a single noise. Turn the phone to silent first, then message camille. She is the responsible one. Cover the screen or the light will give your position away. Move under one of those reading tables if you can. Take the heaviest book you can and stay still. My body did exactly as my brain ordered. Are you fucking serious? Why the fuck did the cell phone turn off? I just fucking charged it in the lounge. Something very weird is happening and I am right in the middle of it. Fuck, fuck. Calm your breathing. Okay, take a quick peek at that thing and check for exits.

    My stomach churns in fear. I gather all my courage to take a look at my hunter and quickly notice a couple of things. That thing is definitely not human. It looks like something alien, possibly a fantasy world character. It has a small shiny thing in its hand, possibly a weapon and might be hiding something more. It could also be a cell phone, but not likely. It moved slowly wary of its surroundings, possibly checking for threats. Definitely not friendly. The time still is 6:59, time has stopped or delayed for some reason. The automated robots are not moving either. There are 2 exits, both of which are past that thing. I could jump from this floor, likely breaking my ankle leaving me incapacitated. Any strange sounds will tip it off and the situation could get worse. If I don¡¯t do something in the next couple of minutes, alvin and camille may come to check for me and possibly be in danger. Surely Alvin wouldn¡¯t want to enter a library, so it¡¯s mostly camille that will be in danger. Not an acceptable situation. Think. It could be someone like me. Alone in the dark, moving carefully to not stumble upon anything and using their cell phone for lighting their way. However, my instincts and brain both screamed that¡¯s not the case.

    I run a couple of scenarios in my brain and simulate a decent outcome either me incapacitating that thing or escaping. I have no idea how strong that thing is or if my idea would work, but it¡¯s the best idea I can come up with. No amount of self defense prepares you for this! Reinforcing myself, I go over my plan. I distract it by throwing my cell phone. The alien thing hides itself behind the bookshelf observing the noise in which case, quickly push the bookshelf to trap it. If it goes to investigate that noise ambush it. Once it is down, whack it with a big ass book. Possibly an encyclopedia of some sort. Get the encyclopedia for ¡®s¡¯ that¡¯s gotta be the thickest. The gist is, First, distraction. Second, ambush. Third, the finisher. If nothing works, just take the distraction and run towards exit shielding myself with the thickest book. Wow, sounds super easy. I keep my wandering thoughts together and make move to throw my cell phone close to that thing, but enough for me to either use the distraction for ambush or escape. Sure enough ¡®the monster¡¯, let¡¯s just call it that, hides behind the bookshelf it was close to. Distraction success. I push the bookshelf as quiet as I can and sure enough it creates a domino effect and traps the monster between two bookshelves making all the books fall from their respective shelves. Thats gotta hurt that motherfucker. Ambush success

    I took strides, also being wary of my surrounds and moved as close as I can to the monster and couldn¡¯t believe myself that it was down. It looked like it was bleeding and may already have died.

    Then a terrifying thought hits me, however good I am, it is highly improbable for a simple plan to work out this good. May be all of this in my head. May be I saw a poor guy in the dark and killed that sucker in fear. Did I just murder someone? For all i know, this could be alvin trying to scare the shit out of me. If it was, I swear to god, ALVIN¡­

    I sense something breathing down my neck and a chill runs through my spine. Oh god, please let it be alvin¡­ Me and my fucking existential crisis¡­ Why can¡¯t today be the same fucking ordinary day?

 Chapter 2 - Trevor the friendly Neighbor guy

    Chapter 2 - Trevor the friendly neighbor guy

    With multiple tch sounds, the tongue clicking sounds stood a guy behind me almost breathing down my neck.

    ¡°Ah. That poor guy just wanted some water and you killed him. You didn¡¯t even attempt to talk to him¡±

    My heart felt like it literally jumped out of my body and my stomach just wanted to throw up whatever I had eaten that evening. Oh sweet allen, what the fuck have you done to another person. This is total murder. At least pray that is not Alvin or Camille. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do that. I really thought that was something alien and acted on the assumption that he was a threat. It was self defense¡±, self defense my ass. Like the guy said, you didn¡¯t even talk to it or make contact to establish motive. You are so fucked. This is involuntary manslaughter at best. 20 years to life with no conjugal visits! Sometimes I wonder why my brain knows so much in general, because you fucking read it to sleep everyday. Focus now.

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±, laughing like a maniac, ¡°I was just kidding. You did well kid. I am sure you had some kind of premonition that the warrior scout was going to hurt you. It was the right choice. Pray tell, how did you come up with that plan in the 5 seconds you had?¡±

    What? I had only 5 fucking seconds to think and murder that guy? Did he say warrior scout? What the fuck is a warrior scout? I am too scared to turn and face this guy now. ¡°I knew exactly how tall the bookshelves were. I come here often to check out books and stay in the quiet. I knew exactly where to trap that thing and then how to finish it off. All I needed was a distraction which worked out better than I expected. If the plan didn¡¯t go well, I would have made a run for the exit on the right because that thing was holding a weapon in its right, it would have had difficult time catching up to me¡±, who the fuck are you dude? And why am I explaining my actions to him?

    ¡°Oh my. That is surprising. I didn¡¯t even have any time to explain you what was happening and here you are, standing victorious. Congratulations. You have just killed a warrior scout of the ¡®Seruya¡¯ clan. They are not the brightest of the bunch nor the strongest to get done in by a falling shelf and some dusty old books. But you did well, so accept your reward and I will be on my way¡±

    I turned around sensing no malicious intent and feeling slightly confident. The thing that talked to me looks nothing like what you would have imagined. It had no shape and looked like that liquid robot from terminator 2. Damn that was a fine movie. Ask about what this shit is? What have I gotten myself into? Is this a deliberate ploy to humiliate me later? And what the fuck is a warrior scout? Seruya? Is that something like Oprah? ¡°Ok. Thanks for coming all this way. I¡¯ll be leaving now¡±, that dude is so fucking scary. I am not asking any of those questions. I¡¯ll be lucky if I even get out of here. And how the fuck did it breathe?

    Bursting out into laughter, that ball shifting its whatever that¡¯s flowing, spoke again, ¡°You got lot of spunk for a kid. I like you. I am Trevor, your friendly neighbor. You can call me Trevor. Now do you have any questions for me?¡±

    Why did he repeat Trevor twice? Is he mocking me? ¡°Alright good sir, could you tell me what were you going to explain before I killed that thing?¡±, safe question!

    ¡°Your world has entered the *****!!!!@@@ phase. I am the warden of the ****@@@@ quadrant. I came to inform you inhabitants that the assimilation has begun and all of you would have to fight tooth and nail to keep your life. Also, you can call me Trevor¡± [Trevor]The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Wow. what an asshole. Half the shit he said sounded like a bunch of made up stuff. Other half of that shit is making no sense whatsoever. May be I should ask for specifics. ¡°Um.. Trevor, would you be kind enough to elaborate on some of the things you said? I couldn¡¯t get everything in one go¡±, oh way to go myself. I think I am getting smart!

    ¡°Its understandable since you are all primitive life forms. Picture this. The universe as you know is quite large. It has more than one dimension and more than one form of energy. Some of those energies leak in between dimensions. The universal laws dictate they either assimilate these energies or eradicate them altogether. During assimilation, energies from inter-dimensional beings merge and sometimes adapt into a single dimension. This could be stable or unstable depending on a lot of factors. However, sometimes universal laws deems these changes to be too unstable and might completely eradicate or destroy everything altogether. You are right now in the former situation¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°So you are saying multiple dimensions exist and something is pouring into our dimension and we either die or we merge?¡±, how did I even manage to understand the shit he was saying.

    ¡°You are a clever one. Yes and No. But for all our purposes, you can take that as an yes. Now, if you would just claim your reward, I will be on my way. You see, I am a very busy neighbor¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°I have a couple of quick questions. One, is this event happening right now all over the world? Two, is there any way this can be prevented? Three, what happens from now and how do we merge?¡±, more than a couple of questions and why does he insist on neighbor so much? Is that like a title? [Allen]

    ¡°One, yes this is happening all over the world. Two, no this cannot be prevented. It is the universal law. Three, you fight for survival. Merging takes a lot of time. Your lifetime would possibly end before that even happens. Now, if you would just claim your reward ¡­.¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense. Why have there been no warning? What happens to all the people who cannot fight? What happens to other life forms of this planet? What is the reward that you keep talking to me about?¡±. I need a minute to process all of this. Did shit really hit the fan now? Why do I have lot of questions and not enough answers? Fuck I am going to go into overload and die of brain tumor or something. That¡¯d be a relief, wouldn¡¯t want to die to a monster like that scout guy there.

    ¡°I care nothing about your concerns. This is the way of the universe. It has existed long before your planet was created and would likely exist long after it is forgotten from existence. Think of it as a game that came to life. Only, you could die here for real. The reward is for killing the scout¡±, the ball seemed to point at that dead ¡®Seruya¡¯ or whatever. ¡°I wanted to give you a little extra for decisively acting before the game even began. Is that all your bickering? Can we proceed with the reward? I am losing my patience¡±. The ball either looked angry or annoyed, couldn¡¯t really tell.

    ¡°Can I have status windows? Do I get upgraded stats? Do I make weapons or armors? What about inventory slots and monster drops?¡±, shut it you game maniac.

    ¡°Hmm. I am not your guide or help. Figure those out for yourself¡±. Refusing to answer further, the ball materialized a box or something similar to a gift box out of nowhere and prompted me to accept it. ¡°This is your reward. It is a treasure chest. It could contain anything from the mysteries of universe to unappealing ordinary everyday junk. Make use of it however you wish. Well then goodbye¡±. The ball gave out a bright light and was gone.

    ¡°Man that was so surreal. I still wonder if that is a dream. Why did no one come even after this commotion?¡±, as I was murmuring to myself another bright light appeared and the ball was here again. I think it just wanted to bully me or may be scare the shit out of me. I am not going to agree that it¡¯s working. I may have peed a little

    ¡°I forgot to mention this to you. Time stopped in this place and the moment you step out, it will resume. The assimilation process begins at 7:00 your time. So, you have plenty of time to warn your friends or whatever. Bye. Also, don¡¯t go into thinking you are special. There are at least a couple of hundred thousands who have already begun¡± and the ball just poofed away.

    Wiseass. Fuck. I totally forgot about Alvin and Camille. What happens now? Should I go out and try to warn them? I have one fucking minute, not plenty of time to warn them. I can¡¯t even make a call from here, my cell phone is still switched off. Trevor said time stopped here, what if I stay here indefinitely, would that work? No. It¡¯s not that simple. Time will still find a way to flow. I cannot possibly hope to delay the doomsday. It¡¯s happening and it¡¯s time to accept that. I can only improvise on the given situation and come up with a plan to survive at least the next three days. It is the first 72 hours of any pandemic that will cause the most damage. Mass hysteria, riots and governments unable to maintain order all happens within the first 72 hours. After which, either everything is in chaos and we adapt or the governments with a show of force retakes order. I got a library of books, indefinite time, treasure chest to ride out this apocalypse. And a dead monster of ¡®Seruya¡¯.... God damn it

 Chapter 3 - Hand Swinging and Cursing

    Chapter 3 - Hand Swinging and Cursing

    I was going to make full use of the time stop phenomenon. I am going to completely understand the system and leave only when I can comfortably use it. However, I think for the past 20 or so minutes, I was getting nowhere. None of the standard cliche commands worked. ¡°System, show status¡± or ¡°Status menu¡± or ¡°Open options¡± or ¡°Open Status¡±. Nothing. Nothing worked in any of the 5 languages that I tried. I know, 5 languages seem a lot, but it is not. On average I meet people who can speak spanish, english, mandarin or more commonly called chinese, hindi or the indian people and my favorite from watching animes, japanese. Did you know mandarin has like a lot of different dialects and it¡¯s very hard to master all of them? Also, did you know India has over 24 officially recognized languages. Boy oh boy, 5 doesn¡¯t look like a lot now huh. But that has not stopped me from trying to learn additional languages. I tried learning french to impress the girls. Especially charlotte. She was my first crush. She borrowed my eraser when we were 13 and she has yet to return it back. I guess she just treasured it forever. Sweet charlotte. Now that the shit really hit the fan, I guess I can save the day and swoop her in my imaginary knight armor. I guess you can actually get knight armor, now that this has really become a game. Fuck, no derailing myself.

    I brainstorm with myself to come up with solutions. I think this is not called system. From all the information I have, the status window features may not even exist in the first place. It stands to reason even if it did exist it might not even work like in those novels. It would be foolish to simply wave hands trying to grab the air. I should probably plan for something concrete. Let¡¯s start with the obvious. First to survive we need a shelter that can be defended from whatever that is pouring into our world. Trevor said dimension. It could be something bigger than just our world, but let¡¯s focus on the shelter for now. Library is a good shelter. It has solid brick walls and can easily spot attacks from the outside. Has two exits. Second, we will need food supply. Grocery store is a perfect spot for that. Has an excellent stock of food to last for a while, can easily be barricaded and defended. Good. Grocery store it is. ¡°Foods Organic¡± here we come. Finally, we will be needing personnel, ammo & weapons. Guns are good I suppose. If books could kill these suckers, guns will shred them. Problem- the sheriff station is about a mile away from the grocery store and we may not even reach there without a fight. Hell, even the Grocery store option is going to be hard to achieve with just one minute left on the clock. Alvin and I can easily run to the grocery store. Camille might have a hard time catching up to us. Once we reach there first priority is to get the emergency pistol. It should be enough to ward off initial attacks. If we are lucky to find others with guns, we might go to sheriff station and gather whatever is available from there. If we can gather more people in the store, we might have enough firepower to stay safe for as long as we can before coming up with a solution together. Staying as a community is way better than taking these things by myself. Sounds good.

    Originally I planned on reading some of the books hoping to get useful tips on survival. It doesn¡¯t look quite good now. I am getting tired and hungry, which means I could starve and die here. That would be anti-climatic. Better to be safe than sorry. I have to convince Alvin that this is real and it¡¯s happening. He might just think I am making this shit up. I will just take some of the useful books out. It might slow me a little, but would be worth it if it can increase our survival chance even a little.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I walked around the library to find anything that may be useful. I found a small medical kit, some candy bars, two backpacks, a duct tape and a couple of usb drives and a pocket knife from lost and found. Who even has a lost and found in a deserted library? And what am I gonna do with usb drives now? I also grabbed the fire extinguisher. Now is definitely an emergency. A broken table leg might serve as a weapon.I quickly abandoned the idea since there were plenty of other options in the gardening section of the grocery store.

    I got this really crazy idea of making an armor out of the books. Not the entire books, but just the thick cover sheet. If I could just make something that looked like an armor or shield, it could considerably dampen any blow from these small sized monsters. If monsters that exceeded human limits were to hit me, I would be pulverised with or without the armor anyway. So I gathered most of the really ¡®useless¡¯ books, like english literature and tore their covers apart.

    I got two wooden planks, more like broken wooden shelving units from the bookshelves and stuck them together using the duct tape. I then proceeded to stick the hard covers using the same duct tape, which might help with additional shield integrity. Is this even going to work? I am not a master smith, okay. I just make up stuff from what I know. I broke a small piece of wood from the broken bookshelves and attacked it similar to a handle. It is not the most comfortable shield, but it should keep us safe till we reach the grocery store. This is better than nothing I guess. Alvin might even enjoy this for a cosplay of Captain America, who knows.

    I stuck two hard covers together in the hopes that two is better than one. I had made enough of those and combined into a makeshift armor by tying those pieces together with some curtains and tried my best to keep them functional. Not so fashionable. It is little hard to move around with, but it gives a sense of protection. I tried piercing the ¡®hardcover armor¡¯ with the pocket knife and it wouldn¡¯t penetrate them. This could at least offer protection against one or two strikes. I might just give this to Camille. She needs this more than I. I am in over my head here.

    I glanced around and found the dead ¡®Seruya¡¯ scout and took a closer look. He looked like what would be a goblin. Guess they are the weakest of all. He had a small dagger in his hand that seemed really old and rusty. I don¡¯t think you can even pierce someone with this. At best, they might die of tetanus. To make a solid argument with alvin, I might need additional stuff to convince him. Hopefully an ear or two would be enough to show this is real. The rusty knife was totally useless against my hard cover armor. Mwahahaha ..

    I immediately got to work in dismembering the corpse. I made an incision, yes incision, I read medical books too, at the abdomen to study the internal organs. Surprisingly nothing looked different from a human anatomy, or at least as much as I can tell. Upon closer look, the goblin corpse looked bulky but short and it had a small horn attached to his waist. I pulled the horn out hoping it could be used as a signal for something. Apart from a couple of teeth necklaces it wore, the goblin had nothing of value or importance. I took the necklaces just in case, to further prove my case to Alvin. Readying myself to dash through the library door, I adjusted my shoe laces and put the rusty dagger in my waist belt. Everything was riding on whether I can convince Alvin in the next one minute or so.

 Chapter 4 - Camilles backstory

    Chapter 4 - Camille¡¯s backstory

    ¡°Hi, my name is Camille Weywards. My dad is a firefighter and my mom is a store clerk. My dad fights all sorts of crime, but mostly fire emergencies. He saves people when they burn their houses or when someone else burns their houses. He even saves their cats. And dogs too, if they have dogs. He saves all of them. He saved my cat Lucy once when she climbed on a tree and couldn¡¯t get down. He takes me sometimes in his fire truck. It¡¯s a big red fire truck. It has sirens and bells. It has big pipes and some hoses for blowing off fire. My mom is a store clerk. She works on an antique store. They sell really old stuff. Mom loves dad very much, just like I do. My dad is a hero¡± [Camille-9 years old].

    I finished reading my assignment loud in front of my teacher and sat in my desk with a proud smile while everyone was clapping for me.

    ¡°That was very nice Camille. You should mention your parents¡¯ name next time and may be talk about your mom more¡±, the teacher said clapping her hands for my presentation. She motioned for others to continue on with their presentations. Time flew by.

    School bell finally rang and everyone started packing screaming and shouting to go home as soon as they can. ¡°Remember children, next math assignment is due friday. Go safe. Don¡¯t run and don¡¯t push¡±.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Dad¡­.d¡­y¡­¡­.¡± and I ran screaming into him trying to catch him off guard. [Camille]

    ¡°Hello honeybear. How was your day? Daddy missed you too¡±, he held his arms wide open and took me swinging in the air. [Robert]

    How does he do that? ¡°I missed you too dad. I had my assignment today. I told my class, ¡®My dad is a hero¡¯ and they were all so jealous¡± [Camille]

    ¡°Is that so? Good good. Though, dad is not a hero. I just help people when they are in trouble. There are many others who work twice as hard as I in saving people, like doctors¡±, he winked at me and continued, ¡±and your mom¡± [Robert]

    ¡°Well, they are not you¡±, to me you are my only hero. [Camille]

    ¡°Enough both of you love birds. Go wash yourself Robert. You are drenched in sweat and you miss, go do your homework¡± [Lisa]

    ¡°Alright honeybear. Time for mommy and daddy for some ¡®grown up¡¯ talk¡± [Robert]

    And he winked at me. Gross, mom and dad get some room. But I was too happy to say that and I ran to my room right away giving those two some space.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Robert pulled Lisa into his embrace while lisa coyly tried to push him away.

    ¡°Lisa dear, I missed you very much. I was waiting for my day to end and be with you soon. How was your day my love?¡± [Robert]

    ¡°Always with the sweet talk¡±, she said with an excitement on her face, ¡°My day was fine. I sold a couple of victorian lamps for a good price. Even got a 5% commission on my sales. I was hoping to save it for our anniversary this year¡±, she elbowed him a little and continued, ¡°unlike someone who couldn¡¯t remember it even once¡± [Lisa]

    ¡°Oh forgive me my dear¡±, pretending it hurts, robert continued, ¡°This time, it will be a blast along with Camille¡¯s birthday. Can¡¯t believe we are both married for 10 years and camille is 10 this november¡± [Robert]

    ¡°Well, you did propose to me during her birth. You said she was the most beautiful person ever seen, even though I was right there screaming in labor¡± [Lisa]

    Smiling gently, robert kissed Lisa¡¯s forehead and continued, ¡°She is my dear. You gave her to me. I had to give my everything to you. That is why I proposed. Although I should have done it quite sooner. Forgive me my love. May be I can make it up to you¡±. [Robert]

    Robert started kissing her with passion while his hands wandered to Lisa¡¯s butt and assertively expressed his interest to continue their ¡®talk¡¯ in the bedroom.

    Lisa gently pushed him away with a smile and continued, ¡°No amount of sweet talk is going to get you away with that sweat stinking uniform mister¡±. She lightly slapped his butt and motioned towards the bath, ¡°Now go wash yourself while I prepare dinner¡±. Kissing him one final time, urging him to go soon, ¡°wait after Camille¡¯s asleep for your ¡®grown up talk¡¯¡± and she went to the kitchen moving her hips in a teasing manner.

    Before going to the bath, he stopped as he remembered something and said to Lisa in a quiet voice, ¡°I forgot to mention¡±, he pointed her to come closer, ¡±I got Camille a model of our fire truck with her initials on it. I had to call in some favors to get a 1:10 miniature custom build like the one I took her around, but I made it done. She will be surprised to finally have her own fire truck. I hope she stays the same and never grow up¡±. He thought to himself, I also have a surprise for you.

    Lisa just waved her hand to bath quickly or else he wouldn¡¯t be getting any pillow talk today. Robert thought to himself how lucky he was to have the two most beautiful, kind and caring women in his life and vowed to love them unconditionally as long as he lived.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I was so proud of my dad being a hero that I didn¡¯t understand how dangerous his job could be. It hit me the hardest when one day he didn¡¯t come home. Mom said we lost dad when he tried to save some children from a hospital fire. Everyone praised him. Even the tv and news reporters said he died a hero. He somehow managed to save all but not himself? I hated my dad for leaving mom and me. Who was I kidding? He was the best dad I could ever hope for. But why did he have to die a hero? If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    In his wake, every one of our relatives, friends and even people we didn¡¯t know came to pay their respects. They were all flocking towards mom and me trying their best to ¡®act sympathetic¡¯ for our loss. I may be 9, but i am not stupid. Mom might fall for their condolences, but i won¡¯t. Everything they do and say is fake. They are not fooling me.

    ¡°Camille. You have to be strong for your mom now¡± [teacher]

    ¡°We are all with you Camille. You can talk to us if you need anything¡± [aunt]

    Hmph, I don¡¯t even know how I am related to this aunt. I have never seen her before, neither have ever heard mom or dad talk about her. ¡°Yes Ms.Rosie and Aunt Elizabeth. I will stay strong¡±, I pretend like an obedient little girl. Dad always taught me to act courageously. I will stay strong for the both of us now.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I didn¡¯t go to school for the entire month. I wasn¡¯t ready to move on just like that. I needed more time to mourn. Everywhere just reminded me of the time we spent together. My mom missed him more than I did. She put up this brave face urging me to continue my life because that is what dad would have wanted. But I knew she was hiding all her pain. She cried everyday alone in her bed. I could hear her sob herself to sleep. She didn¡¯t drink or do drugs to forget the pain. She endured it. I will be strong for her. I promised to myself, I will be strong for the family.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I started going to school after a week. I will be 10 next monday. I don¡¯t know how I am going to react to my birthday with my dad gone. May be he is in a better place, but mom and me are definitely not. I hope I grow up soon and give my mom a shoulder to lean on.

    All the adults around me act like they know me. They keep advising me and pretending to care for us. None of the relatives that came for the wake helped us after. I don¡¯t know how mom is doing financially, but I can see she is struggling. Especially now that she is the only one making ends meet. I try to help her with the household chores, but she firmly denies me any opportunity when she is home and urges me to make ¡®friends¡¯. Like that is ever going to happen. All my classmates avoid me or bully me, calling me names. None of my age kids understand me. I am not inviting any of my friends for my birthday. I wish I can make friends with someone who understands what I go through.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Today is my birthday. I am 10 now. I always loved my birthdays because my dad used to tell me the story of how he proposed to my mom. I enjoyed watching mom blush even though they were married for so long. To her, he was her everything. Same as me.

    This year was the first time dad was not here to celebrate with us. I wonder if I will ever get over this dreadful feeling. I couldn¡¯t fathom how we will ever get over his loss. Mom made me a small cake. She wanted to celebrate with at least my neighbors, but I urged her not to. I needed to spend time alone. Just me, mom and the memories of my dad. In retrospective, mom would have been comfortable around others.

    As we were preparing our day, the fire chief visited us. He had a huge box and some envelopes.

    ¡°Hi Justin. Come in. Did you come for Camille¡¯s birthday celebration? I am sorry I didn¡¯t invite anyone and this is a pleasant surprise for us both¡± [Lisa]

    Mom urged him to come in and he was reluctant at first. But agreed to come in for a quick visit as he needed to talk about something

    ¡°Lisa, I know this is not a good time for me to show up with something like this. But this is what Robert wanted¡± [Justin]

    The chief handed one envelope to my mom and waited she was done reading while eyeing me and exchanging pleasantries with me.

    I was curious about what the envelope contained and what my mom was reading more than telling Justin about my school life.

    Mom¡¯s hands started shaking and she cried so much that her knees gave up and she fell onto the sofa dropping the letter she was reading.

    ¡°Dear Lisa,

    I wanted to surprise you. I quit my job today and will start my own ¡®Lisa¡¯s Bakery¡¯ with you as the chef while I managing the counter. I enjoyed your cooking all my life and was selfish enough to not share it with the world. All that changes today. Today holds a special meaning for me. The very same day we brought an angel into this world. The very same day we agreed to share our life and be each other¡¯s soul for life. You and I have talked about this job and I wanted to hold on to it since it provided us with everything we have now. However, the job is dangerous and I have seen you pray everyday for my safety. I want to lessen your burden a little and spend my time with our family. I will help around the shop doing menial jobs while you can keep an eye on me. I saved a part of my paycheck for something like this and it has now become a decent sum. Your dream will be my gift for our anniversary.

    Your Dear

    Robert Weywards ¡°

    ¡°Robert had this written and wanted to mail it to you so it reached you before he came home. I am sorry things didn¡¯t turn out as expected¡± [Justin]

    The fire chief also handed a couple of envelopes that contained an anniversary greeting card for mom and a birthday card for me. The letter was a big shock for me. I cannot even imagine how big of a shock it would be to my mom. I never noticed how much mom worried for dad¡¯s return everyday. I was too stupid. I was in my own world of fantasy of heroes and villains. Life is not as vivid and colorful as a fantasy setting. Mom pulled me out of my self loathing and smiled with a genuine and sincere expression of hope.

    ¡°Robert is always with us. In heart and memories, we hold him the dearest. Although we will miss him, we will be alright and we won¡¯t ever forget him¡± [Lisa]

    Mom seemed to have overcome her grief. She probably got the closure she was expecting. Knowing that dad cared for us deep enough to quit his job must have made mom happy. While mom and justin exchanged some more envelopes, I read my birthday card.

    ¡°Dear Honeybear,

    You are 10 now and I expect many boys to flock around my angel. I am a protective dad and you should promise me to never have a boyfriend without my approval. With lots of love.

    Honeybear¡¯s PapaBear¡±

    Guess dad never changed till the end. He was an over protective jerk to promise him to never have a boyfriend. I cried and started opening the box Justin gave me.

    A fire truck. It had Camille¡¯s initials on it. ¡®Camille¡¯s Fire Fighting Hero Agency¡¯, dad used to joke about it. It proclaimed her to be some sort of hero. That is not who she was. She was a fraile little girl who lost her dad before she was even 10. She didn¡¯t know how fragile she was till he was gone. His absence made her vulnerable.

    ¡°Your dad made this exact replica of the truck you and robert drove around before I caught him and reprimanded him¡±, justin said with a wry smile on his face. ¡°He called in a lot of favors to get it exactly matched and added your initials. Said you wanted to be a hero¡±.

    I couldn¡¯t control my tears anymore. What a stupid dad did I have? Making me cry on my birthday with the best ever gift no less. The fire truck even had a small teddy bear on top of it. I was always my dad¡¯s honeybear.

    ¡°Lisa, Robert not only saved his paycheck, he also had a couple of life insurances. Here are the details. I have spoken with the insurance agencies and made sure every formality and forms are completed before meeting with you. All you need to do is sign this form and you can take the cheque paid to your account. Robert also talked to a real estate agent in getting your bakery set up. The entire fire service men have contributed to fixing your place and it is waiting for you whenever you are done grieving¡± [Justin]

    ¡°Seems like Robert planned everything for us to continue knowing this would happen one day. I still cannot believe that my Robert did so much for his family even when he is gone¡±[Lisa]

    Mom wiped the last of her tears and signaled me to come closer for a hug.

    ¡°We are both very grateful for what you have done for us Justin. Although Robert planned all this, you and everyone in his group helped us more than you think. We are done grieving. All our sorrows have melted away. Camille and I look forward to all the good things that life holds for us¡± [Lisa]

    ¡°I am glad lisa. I will leave you both now. Please don¡¯t hesitate to ask anything of me. I owe Robert my life¡± [Justin] and he let himself out leaving me in my mom¡¯s embrace.

    I stayed in my mom¡¯s loving embrace for a long time. She sobbed all her tears and we felt everything would be okay from this point. Dad didn¡¯t leave us. He gave us his everything. Even after he was gone, he still took care of us in his own way. He is a hero. I hope I can be like him; be a hero even after death.

    That was the last day me and my mom cried.

    ¡°Camille, Camille. Are you okay? You were in shock after that thing fell in front of us. We are okay now. We are inside the store. Allen is manning the door with other adults. He seems to know lot more than he is letting on. He carried you in and saved us both by warning ahead. I will go help with the situation and we can talk about it after everything is stable¡± [Alvin]

    I see, I was out after something came crashing before our group. I had read somewhere that your life flashes before you when you are about to die. I probably had my most precious moments shown although not before death but from just the shock.

    ¡°Allen .. is he okay?¡±, I can barely hear myself speak and my vision goes dark in relief as alvin assured me that allen is okay. I don¡¯t want to lose him too.

    Dad, I am not strong enough. Please give me strength.

 Chapter 5 - Alvin and the Chipmunks - Part 1

    Chapter 5 - Alvin and the Chipmunks - Part 1

    ¡°Mama, can we go to the park on the way?¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°Babie, we have to be home before your dad comes¡± [Mom]

    ¡°But the park is right there. I won¡¯t take long. Just a quick peek and I¡¯ll be back¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°Alvin, we are not supposed to go there. There might be people who don¡¯t want us there¡±

    After a brief moment of hesitation and lot of pleading and puppy eyes from me, mom brightly smiled and we went to the park. Everyone was gawking at us. My mom is a caretaker in St.Auster¡¯s hospital. May be she has admirers?

    Mom held me as close to her as possible. It didn¡¯t bother me at all. Every now and then she holds me close and tight. She must think I will run around. I am an obedient kid and I love her so much.

    As we were walking, I noticed a group of people smoking and shouting words I haven¡¯t heard of. I was curious to go over there, but mom strictly forbid me to ever go there and never to repeat what I heard.

    Uneventfully our park trip concluded. I still managed to get a glimpse of a kid who was looking at a board game. Mom later told me that it was chess and we were not supposed to play that. May be that game is too costly for us? [Alvin - 7 years old]

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    ¡°Hey, y¡¯all are not allowed here. Papa says y¡¯all should eat over there¡± [Kidd]

    The place he pointed to was a bench where the brutality of the sun was at its maximum. I saw a couple of other kids eating over there. It¡¯s always a good idea to do what your elders say. Especially one so much bigger than you.

    I moved to the bench and tried to make friends.

    ¡°Hi, I am Alvin Payne¡±

    ¡°I am Olivia Darthy. Nice to meet you Alvin¡±

    ¡°I am Andy Garson. Nice to meet you Alvin¡±

    Two is better than nothing I guess. They were about my age and continued eating quietly when Kidd glared at them.

    Half way through our lunch in silence, I saw a kid being beaten by Kidd. The kid probably didn¡¯t do what Kidd said and is getting himself kicked. ¡®Mama said to do as they¡¯all say¡¯. ¡®Its for your own good boy¡¯, papa said. They are wise people. [Alvin - still 7 years old]

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    ¡°Y¡¯all. From today, this little shit will be eating with y¡¯all¡± [Kidd]

    And he literally dragged a kid almost half his size towards our table and motioned us to be quiet or else, he signed something about his thumb going across his neck. He is big, but he has mud for brains.

    During our lunch, none of us spoke and the new kid didn¡¯t introduce himself. He must be shy. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll ask about it.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    That night when I was playing with Mr.Anderson, that is my teddy bear, I heard some quiet whispers. Papa and mama got it for my 6th birthday. All of my friends had to go to the dentist that day. Poor kids. The dentist let me off the hook ¡®cause it was my birthday. Lucky me.

    ¡°They¡¯re going to brand him like us¡± [Dad]

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t notice everyone jeering at us. He is so innocent and naive¡± [Mom]

    ¡°Bah, he has to know. We have to tell him¡± [Dad]

    ¡°No. Please let him be till he has no more innocence left¡± [Mom]

    ¡°I tell you woman. You are spoiling him too much. When they come for him like they did for us, he wouldn¡¯t know what to do¡± [Dad]This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Let it be. If things come to that, we will tell him. No sooner¡± [Mom]

    ¡°Hmmph¡­ you are by yourself. I won¡¯t always be here. When you tell him, tell him to obey them. He is a good kid, they won¡¯t trouble him if he keeps his head down and do as he was told¡± [Dad]

    ¡°I know. He is meek. He will be fine¡± [Mom] .. she muttered after dad left, ¡°At least I hope he will be¡±

    Mr.Anderson and I slept with wonderful dreams.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    I am 8 years old now and I am noticing things. First, Kidd hates me for some reason. Not only me, there are quite few others like Olivia and Andy. He despises us. I don¡¯t know what his problem is, but someone might have done something very bad to him previously.

    The kid that eats with us, the scrawny little kid, he is called Barry Allen. He insists we call him Allen. If his name was Barry Allen, we should call him Barry. He doesn¡¯t know even this small thing. May be that is why Kidd beats him everyday. Allen eats quietly and every now and then talks to himself. He must¡¯ve been messed up in the head.

    The town folks act ok in front of me. Their behavior changes terribly when I am with mama or papa. Mama and papa slouches in front of Mr.Gilmore and Mr.Peters. Mrs.Gilmore gives us vegetables from her farm and Mrs.Peters bakes our bread. Papa does a variety of jobs. He is a construction worker when there is construction going on. He also fixes people¡¯s pipes and electricals. He knows everything. I came to know that the church we go has lots of other people like us who also slouch and do everything like my papa does.

    I managed to meet Mr and Mrs.Darthy and Mr and Mrs.Garson. Olivia and Andy are now my best buddies.  Life couldn''t be any better.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    I am 9 years old now

    Allen, Kidd and I are all now in the same class. I sit in the last desk while Kidd sits somewhere in the middle. Allen was at the first desk when the term started. He however moved close to mine after Kidd beat him up.

    Allen is very quiet usually. His habit of talking to himself and disobeying others has not changed. Kidd beats him up everyday for some reason. One day, he beat up Allen for his milk, the other day he beat up for his jelly. Kidd must really like beating Allen up.

    Maths is a boring class. The teacher writes something and asks us to solve it. Allen is able to come up with solutions so fast even before I can copy the question. Teachers praise Allen a lot. I have seen Kidd¡¯s mom scorn Allen while scolding Kidd for being dumb. I think I now know the reason why Kidd beat up Allen so much.

    ¡°Hey Allen, why do you let Kidd beat u up so much¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°Because he is dumb. He wants things to go his way and others to bow down to him¡± [Allen]

    Allen replied and continued with his book. It was a huge book on some fan or motors.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you bow down to him? He is big and mama says to do as you are told¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°That will not change anything. You bow and they treat you like crap. At least by disobeying you are doing what you want¡± [Allen]

    Unable to understand his logic I continued, ¡°Papa says to call others with respect and keep my head down. Kidd doesn¡¯t trouble you if you do that¡± [Alvin]

    Allen looked at me with shock, surprise and a hundred different emotions. He shook his head left and right. He waited for a second contemplating what to say and continued,

    ¡°Alvin, they treat you like a slave because you are black. Your mom and dad also might have had bad encounters with the town folk. That is why they teach you to keep your head down and behave proper. Is that what you want to be? Tiny minded, obedient, oxygen wasting moron that the town folk take advantage of?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°What is black?¡±, was all I could come up with in my anger. Frustration and pain soared through my throat. A cry of fear and panic all visible in my face. All the times people jeered at us flashed before my eyes and I fell down only to be shaken by my teacher asking, ¡®Are you alright?¡¯. I guess I am not. Let me just sleep.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    <hr>

    ¡°Y¡¯all need to feed him proper. He fainted in class today. Y¡¯all are more trouble than use. He might be dismissed¡± [Teacher Betty]

    ¡°Please Ms.Betty, we feed him well. He must have not slept well yesterday. Please, I beg you to consider again. He won¡¯t be useful without them studies¡± [Mom]

    ¡°Yes Ms.Betty. I do gardening for Mr.Mike, the principal. Give us one more chance. I will discipline the boy¡± [Dad]

    ¡°I will let him off this once. Take him home before he becomes a problem¡± [Teacher Betty]

    Nodding meekly papa and mama brought me home. They explained to me, we were black and our town doesn¡¯t sit well with black people. That is why we keep our heads down and do as they say. As long as we do as we were told, they let us be.

    I felt like my entire being ripped out of existence. Why should we do as they say? Who are they to tell us what to do? I couldn¡¯t understand anything anymore. Mama and papa were not wise. They were just scared. I hate everyone now. Everyone that did this to us.

    My hatred trumped by my exhaustion, I sleep tired holding Mr.Anderson in my hand. That night, I didn¡¯t have any pleasant dreams.

    .............

    Only someone was slapping me, huh?

    ..........

    ¡°Alvin. Alvin. Thank god I thought I lost you¡±, where am I, Mr.Anderson? What¡¯s this thing in my hand? It¡¯s not Mr.Anderson.

    Someone is screaming something to my face. All I hear is the beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep sound ringing in my ears. Whats happening? Why is the ice cream shop on fire? Fuck. I want to sleep with Mr.Anderson and my vision slowly fades.

    Shaking me by my shirt collar, ¡°Alvin, you have to move. We have to get into the store. We can¡¯t fight like this in open. Get us ass off. Camille has fainted. We need you with us. Get your ASS OFF!¡± [Allen]

    That is Allen saying Camille fainted. What? My brain scrambled as fast it could. Yeah, we were getting ice cream while Allen came running from the library. Something about end of world and a broken wooden shield. Where is it? I have the handle but where is the shield?

    ¡°Useless fucking shield and armor. Alvin, I swear to god. If you don¡¯t wipe that stupid look off your face, I will force your own piss down your throat¡± [Allen]

    Allen hasn''t talked to anyone like that in ages. Really must be the end of the world. ¡°Alright. I am sorry I blanked out. Something flashy fell in front of us and I got knocked off. That stupid shield you gave me must have broken. It did nothing to stop that impact¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°It did its job. You and Camille are alive. Deputy officer Bran shot that thing 6 times and it still didn¡¯t die. It went off chasing him. We are safe for now, but we have to get inside the store now. Help me carry Camille¡± [Allen]

    Confusion, chaos and panic ruled the town. Everyone was trying to get somewhere inside. I saw something come out of the ice cream shop with blood all over its face and a shinny little sword in its hand.

    Allen and I carried Camille as much as we could. I was already hurt somewhere and we didn¡¯t have time to figure out where. Allen carried Camille like a princess and laid her down near an aisle of clothes. He made a rough pillow out of those clothes and rested her head gently. He sighed a heavy relief and instructed me to stay with her till she was conscious again. He quickly checked for my injuries and went to gather whatever medical supplies he could find. It was not life threatening, but anything could happen when huge monsters roam around beating the crap out of deputies.

    Allen broke me out of my shell. This is my time to repay him and I can''t be a burden. Besides, the shitty town is already in flames. That is a bonus.

 Chapter 6 - Alvin and the chipmunks - part 2

    Chapter 6 - Alvin and the Chipmunks - Part 2

    Emotions rushed inside me catching me off guard. My memories drifted back to the time I felt ashamed of being black. I was 9 years old when Allen revealed that I was black and the town folk hated people with my skin. It came as a shock and I took it as good as any other kid in my neighborhood did.

    I noticed lot more details. Vivid images of people like me slouching and refusing to make eye contact until the other party acknowledged. Things like, sir, mister and pardon us became trigger words for my hatred. I hated calling anyone sir or pardon me for something I didn¡¯t do. It just didn¡¯t make sense.

    Arguments with papa and mama got me nowhere and I still had to attend school from Monday like none of this ever happened or everything is normal.

    He had wallowed away the weekends with his new found wisdom that ¡®He was black¡¯. He was not ready to face his class the next day. It would be a shame. What would the kids say? What was he supposed to say to them? Nothing came out of racking his brains. At least he had Mr.Anderson with him. Hoping everything would work out by itself, he melted away in his quilt crying himself to sleep.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    School was the same. Nothing changed. No one seemed to bother he was black. They acted just as they did before he knew he was black and was different. May be they all knew and acted the same anyway.

    Alvin was able to segregate the behaviors of his peers, teachers and even the school guard, all too timid to say black people didn¡¯t deserve even their attention. The disparity grew more in class. He was just figuring out that the black students sat far away from the black board and the others were at the front of the class. Only exception was Allen and that was because Kidd forced him to sit here in the hopes of insulting Allen. Being black or being with black people was not an insult. Alvin had to prove it somehow, but he was not sure how.

    ¡°You are frowning too much. Was the class difficult to understand?¡± [Allen]

    Allen asked Alvin about his class. Was he deliberately mocking him for being a slow learner? Why was Allen able to understand everything so easily?

    ¡°No. I am just thinking about ¡­. ¡°, he can¡¯t be openly saying ¡®how to make people treat black people normal¡¯. So he continued, ¡°..stuff. You know and maths. Yes, Math is tough¡±. He was not lying anyway. Math was really tough for him.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok. If you practise hard enough, it will come to you¡± [Allen]

    That¡¯s all he said and he continued with a different book. This time, it was on some history. War of babylon or something like that. May be I can ask him about my problem. He is smart, he would probably help me. Probably.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Hi Allen. Hi Alvin. I heard what happened to you last friday. Are you alright?¡±, Olivia asked with care and concern. I heard my papa and mama talk to their friends. They might have finally realised I know who I am now.

    ¡°Yeah, my mom said you fainted. Are you alright?¡± [Andy]

    Andy is sweet on olivia. He didn¡¯t want to feel left out and followed in our conversation.

    ¡°Yeah guys, I am alright. Thanks for your concern¡± [Alvin]

    Our conversations ended with exchanging pleasantries and none of spoke about how black we were. My mind was still racing looking at the situation now. We black kids were under scorching sun most of the year while the other kids enjoyed their lunch in shade. To add salt to the insult, Kidd took our jellies or milk or whatever he wanted that day. He even had more bullies with him to beat the crap out of anyone who dared to cross him.

    ¡°Alvin is fine guys. He only had a panic attack after finally realising he was black. Nothing was physically wrong with him ¡°[Allen]

    Allen can be a heartless jerk. He just threw the B bomb and continued as if our shocks and exasperations didn¡¯t matter at all. Allen ignored everyone¡¯s gawking and proceeded with his lunch.

    ¡°Allen, I think you should restrain from saying such things. I don¡¯t want to get into trouble¡± [Alvin]. Yeah, the least I want now is to get into trouble especially because of a white kid. Everyone would just blame it on me and I would be the one getting dismissed. Papa and mama work so hard to keep me in this school. I am not letting this stupid bastard screw it for me.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok. The politically correct term is African-American. You are all american and I doubt you even know where Africa is. Being black is not a crime. You simply have more pigment cells that fight UV rays than we have. If sun scorched the earth, you people will survive and I would either be hiding from the sun or died long ago due to cancer¡± [Allen]If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Is this guy even a kid like us? How does he know all this stuff? UV rays? What are those? He said something about sun. Is that why Kidd puts us here? Because the other kids will die in sun?

    ¡°What are UV rays?¡±, Andy asked curiously.

    ¡°UV rays are sun rays with harmful properties to human. Did we not study this in our science? You were probably sleeping in the class¡±, Olivia with her smart remarks.

    ¡°True. UV rays are ultraviolet rays, one of the sun light spectrum. They are very harmful to all life on earth¡± [Allen]

    ¡°If that is true, why are all those kids fine? I seen them play in the ground after lunch¡±, some black kid, i guess his name was Justin answered.

    ¡°Earth has an atmosphere filled with gases and a layer of ozone to protect us from most of the sun radiation. Earth¡¯s magnetic field also deflects lot of radiation from space. Some UV rays still pass through all our defenses and enter into our planet. Human skin has internal protection against UV rays due to our pigmentation. The darker you are, the higher your resistance against UV ¡°, Allen answered in one breath and continued eating all the while glancing at his big book.

    Everyone ate in silence not understanding any of what allen mentioned. To be honest, even Olivia didn¡¯t understand most of it, which means he read it somewhere and this is not taught in our class.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Should I talk to Allen about it Mr.Anderson¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°He might help you alvin. He is your friend after all¡± [Alvin voicing for Mr.Anderson]

    ¡°You are right Mr.Anderson. He is my friend. Friends do help each other. Thank you Mr.Anderson, you are the best¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°I know. Alright Alvin, time to sleep. Full sleep for a fresh start¡± [Alvin voicing for Mr.Anderson]

    I slept holding Mr.Anderson to my chest and slept. No dreams today.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Allen, I have something to talk to you. Do you have some time after Lunch?¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°Sure. I want to check out a book at the library. Its quiet. We can talk there¡± [Allen]

    He might seem aloof and quiet. He however understands everything thats going on around him. He even felt that I needed to talk to him in private and suggested a meeting place. It was the right choice coming to him.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We didn¡¯t actually get to talk after lunch. Allen did something stupid and Kidd beat the shit out of him. Allen¡¯s clothes were dirtied and he had to wash himself. All the other kids were simply ignoring what Kidd did. Kidd¡¯s dad is the sheriff of the town. None of the town folk wanted to antagonize him. So they left Kidd to his activities, which more than often involved beating some poor kid.

    After school ended, Allen and I decided to meet and talk in the library. Neither of us had anywhere important to go and the staff was more than happy to show us to the ¡®black-people-read-here¡¯ area.

    I watched Allen stumble carrying some big book which was different from the one he was reading. Did he finish the book or just got fed up that he couldn¡¯t understand it? Not sure which, but my instincts tell me that he moved on.

    ¡°Allen, do you despise me?¡±. I didn¡¯t have any subtlety and blurted out my thoughts.

    ¡°No. Why would you think that?¡±, Allen answered without peeling his eyes from the book.

    He is allen after all. Common sense & subtlety don¡¯t apply to him.

    ¡°Kidd despises us. Not just me, but all black. Do you also do?¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°No. Like I said, you are darker because you have higher resistance to UV. I don¡¯t. If anything I should be jealous¡± [Allen]

    Little shit, saying he wanted to be black. Which part of me makes him jealous? He didn¡¯t harbor any negative feelings. He genuinely didn¡¯t care about my color.

    ¡°Do you think I can be like you? Like other kids? And get treated normal.¡± [Alvin]

    ¡°No. That is not possible. Because you are not like other kids. You are different¡± [Allen]

    A dry lump formed around my throat and I gasped at my own stupidity for confiding my worries to Allen out of all the people.

    ¡°Why do you say that? How am I inferior to them?¡±, stupid pride of a 9 year black kid.

    ¡°Nothing. You are not inferior. You are just different. Everyone is.¡± [Allen]

    Stupid bastard, at least answer clearly and give me a glance instead of looking at that stupid book.

    ¡°Allen, I am serious. Can you explain to me what you mean by that? I am not smart and I don¡¯t understand what you meant¡±. There, I said it. Now spare me a little of your time.

    Allen looked at me with disbelief and said, ¡°You are plenty smart. I have seen how you react to situations. You are aware of everything that happens around you. Every one of us is different fundamentally due to our upbringing, thoughts and actions. We behave different. It makes no sense to call anyone different just based on color of their skin. Although, it might be a factor. For example, black people, correction, african-american people are inherently more talented in sports. Their body is molded to perform athletic activities at a level far higher than people of any other color¡±

    May be because he saw my dumb expression or he genuinely felt pity at me, Allen continued, ¡°What I am trying to say is, if you want to be like them, be like them. Nothing is stopping you. You can be whatever or whoever you want to be. You just need to put your effort towards that goal. Don¡¯t feel down because you realised you were different. I knew it before, I know it know. It doesn¡¯t change the way I look at you. You are still the slow-learner kid who is bad at math. People¡¯s perception changes with how we act, not with how we look. True you may have made an impression at first, but your actions will change their minds. What else did you want to talk about? I got this book to finish this week.¡±

    Is this what they call clarity? Mama and papa, I think I am in love with this kid. Mr.Anderson, I found us a new best buddy. You will like him. He may be quiet and rude, but he is my best friend. At least I hope.

    ¡°Do you want to be friends with me?¡±, I mustered myself to utter those words. My snot nose and teary eyes might repulse him, but I don¡¯t care. I am Alvin Payne, son of Darvin Payne and Leila Payne. I am black and I am proud. I will do what I want to and no one can say otherwise.

    ¡°Ofcourse. We are best friends¡±, Allen took my hands, spared a glance and gave me a tissue.

    I wish I was born a girl, I could have married him and be merry. The jerk, making me cry and giving me a tissue. I hope he stays friends with me forever.

    ¡°So, what are you reading? Can you show it to me?¡±, if he can understand it, may be I can too.

    ¡°It¡¯s a book on astrophysics. Um, Star alignment. This book is called Hyperspace, by Michio Kaku. It¡¯s about the tenth dimension and a scientific journey through it ¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    Everything else blurred out as he became this shiny knight rambling over his conquests. Why can¡¯t he just read books on sheep and dragons? They are always fun.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..

    Camille came about for the second time after her abrupt fainting the first time. Her eyes wandered around the store before falling on me, searching for something or someone. Mostly Allen. Her one true love.

    ¡°Easy there tiger. You fainted from shock are in and out of consciousness. You are lucky to have no bruises. If you weren¡¯t wearing that thing Allen gave you, your ribs might have shattered on impact. No external injuries, but we don¡¯t know if you have any internal injuries¡±, I pointed towards the door and continued, ¡°Allen went to help people and bring us some medical supplies¡±

    We three are together and that is enough for me. For now.

 Chapter 7 - Through the peeping hole

    Chapter 7 - Through the peeping hole

    10 minutes before SHTF

    Wei Bing is the floor manager of the local ¡°Foods Organic¡± store. He had worked there for about 25 years and only recently got his promotion as floor manager. As a manager his pay raise was a significant 3% with almost twice the workload. He had to take care of everything the store needed from opening the shutters early morning 4 AM to closing them again by 1 AM. The company chain saved costs in shutting the store for 3 hours due to lot of government restrictions and tax purposes. They essentially operated close to a 24 hour store. Wei Bing has a son and a daughter both twins.

    Wei Bing was happier today, since his son-daughter both score above average scores in their SAT and could easily get into their choice of college. He wife made him dimsum and the entire family planned to celebrate this occasion in the store lounge. He was waiting for his usual group of troublemaker-trio to leave so he and his family could have some special time.

    Today was no different that every other day. The three came in, did their work, joked around a little but Wei put them in their place. He vigilantly watched their actions trying to figure out what made them the talk of the town. Allen was the quiet type. He could do registers with his eyes closed. He could easily calculate exact amount of cash including the change in any counter he worked that day. He even helped Wei rearrange the aisles saying something about ¡®most purchased products together¡¯ or ¡®easily sellable goods¡¯ or something of that sort. Little did Allen know, Wei¡¯s son Wong and daughter Lin both scored excellent SAT scores and both on their way for university education. One that Allen probably could not get into.

    Alvin did not fit well in this town. As an asian himself, Wei still found it hard to integrate among the town people with their fake smiles and false faces. No wonder Alvin had trouble following authority here. Except the occasional drink spilling, flirting with a customer and loudly chatting away his work hours he seemed normal. At least none of his actions were detrimental to the store or to Wei.

    Camille was the sweet child he never had. She reminded him of his own daughter, Lin. Camille was courteous to the customers, took well with authority and also got into everyone¡¯s good graces. She sometimes brought cakes from her mom¡¯s bakery and shared it among everyone in the store. He has also caught her blatantly staring at Allen. The poor kid must be sweet on him. That inconsiderate fool didn¡¯t even notice her longing gaze. Such fools she hang around with.

    6:55 - 5 mins before SHTF

    ¡°Finally those three left. Come closer children, Dad is so proud of u both. Wong, Lin, you are both my precious gems. You have done well .. ¡°, tears welled up on his happy face. He toiled too long on this deadbeat job and now he has something to show for his efforts. Although he didn¡¯t achieve anything on his own, they were his children and that gave him immense pride.

    ¡°Pei, let them be. They are exhausted from cram-school. They still have to take college level courses before university begins. Otherwise, they will be left behind. Its no time to celebrate.¡± [Mei]

    ¡°Mei my sweet wife. Let the children have this one day. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?, huh¡± [Wei]. Mei had run away with him here when they were young and persecuted by their country. She had been obedient and took care of the family without expecting anything in return. She hadn¡¯t voiced out even once when times were hard and both of them had to work long hours sometimes going on without much food.

    ¡°Yes mom. We both know this is just the beginning. In fact, we are just celebrating this for the both of you. You and dad have never done anything for just the two of you, always doting on us to be our better selves¡± [Lin]

    ¡°Enjoy this time as a family, for who knows where we might go for college. I am definitely leaving this beat up backwater town¡± [Wong]

    Wei pulled his loving wife into his embrace and whispered words of gratitude and how much she deserved this long sought break. Mei snugly hid herself into her husband¡¯s chest and reflected on the arduous journey her family took to reach this point. Good things were coming for them soon.

    7:00 - SHTF

    Store fire alarm went almost instantly as the clock struck 7. Wei instinctively shoved his family aside and put himself between them and the direction the sound came from. As the seconds slowly passed, people started screaming and run towards the back of the store as if trying to escape from something. Wei instructed his family to stay behind while he went ahead to check the chaos. His current goal was to reach for the pistol hidden under the cash register in customer service and if the situation warrants, the shotgun from his room. Customer service was just closer and he also needed to verify the situation.

    7:01 - SHTF

    Wei was in terror he saw something brown and ugly looking, completely inhuman, brutally dismembering the corpse of Mrs. Linda, the poor old woman who sometimes worked in the cash registers. His overwhelming fear paralyzed him for moments freezing his mind from making quick decisions. He felt himself staring at the bottomless void when the creature tilted its head and caught his attention. The creature¡¯s eyes were devoid of any semblance of humanity. He knew if he didn¡¯t act, he would end up just like Mrs.Linda. May her soul rest in peace.

    He steeled his resolve to fight this creature and give it hell before it took him down. His resolve was completely shaken when he saw the creature¡¯s jaw opened and a bright red organ, presumably from its previous victim, dropped to the ground with a thump. God, what am I going to do?

    The creature moved slowly towards him evaluating him as a threat or just a prey waiting for it to feast upon. Wei prayed for a miracle to get him out of this bind. His prayers fell upon deaf ears as nothing happened and the creature kept steadily moving towards him. It was his decision now to either run for it or fight like hell. Fight ¡®that¡¯? With what? The shotgun was in his office and at least 30 feet away from his position. The best choice was the pistol which was at least 10 feet behind that thing. Either options looked like certain death.

    While he was racking his brain, he heard the shotgun go off from his office. It squarely hit the creature and the creature was thrown back a few feet from the impact. Wei saw his son, Wong had fired the shotgun. How did he get there? Was it over? Is he finally safe? Before he could voice any of his questions, the creature got up on its feet and darted in the direction of his son.

    ¡°Wong-er Careful ..¡±, his voice was masked by another shot from the shotgun and immediately followed up by sounds of bullets reloading.

    ¡°Got it dad. Thanks for buying me time. I wouldn¡¯t have made it here if you had not kept it distracted. You were brave dad¡± [Wong]

    Brave? He was not brave, he was just paralyzed similar to a mouse when a rattlesnake sneaked upon it and the mouse had nowhere to run but to wait for death to put it out of its sweet misery. Wong came through. He saved him and by extension saved his family. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Ohh.. Those things, what do you call them.. Hmm, Guns. They are very handy huh. Nice shot from way over there ¡­ I am Trevor, the friendly ne¡­.¡°

    Shotgun rebounded with a loud shot scattering its shells upon a liquid shape shifting thingy was talking. It tore a hole and poked more smaller holes, which the liquid covered up instantly.

    Wong stood there in shock with his mouth open. He quickly gathered himself and asked, ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°No patience for the young here. Before you rudely interrupted, I was saying, I am Trevor, the friendly neighbor guy. I am the warden of the **@@@@***@@ quadrant. Your world has entered the *****@@@@@** phase. You either fight or you die. Now claim your reward for your kill and I¡¯ll be on my way¡±

    Wei wondered if his hearing was impaired from the shock or the shotgun shots, because he couldn¡¯t make out few words however much he tried to.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you said. Are you an alien?¡± [Wong]

    How true, the young know no fear. Wong was asking the thing that just ate a shot close range from a shotgun shell like a piece of juicy bacon, who it was. Oh dear god, is the child right on his head? Why can¡¯t he just leave the talking ball alone? It brought him no good to antagonize a being like that.

    ¡°You are a curious one aren¡¯t you. Yes. I am an alien. I cannot however tell you more about what is happening. It is up to the natives to figure that out. I have wasted too much time already. Here is your reward¡±, a gift box materialised out of nowhere. Was that magic?

    ¡°It contains a gift for your bravery. Use it however you wish. Now, cya¡± and with a bright light, the ball disappeared. Did it appear here the same way?

    ¡°What was that? Dad, do you know anything?¡±[ Wong]

    Wei¡¯s vision blurred as he saw himself falling towards the floor. His legs had finally given up and his body shuddered violently before hitting the floor. He had passed out.

    7:10

    Wei came about after disgracefully passing out in front of his son. His son however had risen to the occasion and valiantly taken down some alien thing and even received some gift for his bravery. Wei had brought shame upon his family by being a coward.

    ¡°Thank god, dad are you alright?¡± [Lin]

    ¡°Honey, you passed out after fighting that thing. Wong said he will go man the door with other people. Rest here. Don¡¯t try to strain¡± [Mei]

    Wei¡¯s family had taken care of him while he passed out. His felt a slight pain in his lower jaw, presumably from his fall.

    ¡°I am alright. Was it over? What¡¯s happening? How long was I out?¡± [Wei]

    ¡°You were out for about 10 minutes. Wong brought us out. He took your keys and said something about a gun under the cash register. He is at the entrance helping other people barricade the doors¡± [Lin]

    Mei held his hands holding back her tears. Poor woman, never had a good day for herself and when things finally started to look good, thrown out of her dream. Wei held her hands tightly, reassuring everything would be fine.

    ¡°I have to go¡±, his body refused to do as his mind said. ¡°I have to help Wong¡± [Wei]

    ¡°No dad, he is fine. You are still sore from your fall. Stay here with us. Wong has other people helping him. They have guns ¡° [Lin]

    Before I could refuse, my exhaustion hits me and my vision fades. I am a poor excuse of a father. I swear I won¡¯t let you down all, Lin.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Everyone listen up. Our first priority is to secure this place. Assume our families are safer in other locations. Some probably died, better not tell them that. As far as I can tell, the school gymnasium and the church are the two other places that have supplies and enough protection for survivors. We cannot venture outside without properly arming ourselves and understanding the situation better. And I need you fuckers to keep us safe till I figure out what to do next. Whoever killed a monster and met with the Trevor guy, please step forward and share what you know. Wish someone has better insight¡± [Allen]

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first. I am Wong. I killed the monster you all saw inside the store. Two shot gun shells and it died. After I killed that thing, a liquid ball calling itself Trevor appeared and said something about fight or die. It gave me this gift box. Said it was a reward for killing that thing. I haven¡¯t opened it yet. After that, I met with allen and his team. You all know the rest¡± [Wong]

    Looking at the crowd, no one else stepped forward, which could mean either none of them killed the monster or they never met trevor. They could also be hiding the fact, which was highly unlikely, since any information would only be beneficial. All scared little fuckers.

    Riding on the momentum, I continued, ¡°Good. It is very similar to what I did. I killed a thing, which looked completely different from this one inside the library. It died from a falling shelf and the books. It must have been a weaker one, oh thank god. After that, Trevor appeared and gave me a gift box too, a treasure chest, but let¡¯s keep that part out. He also mentioned that our dimension is being filled with energy leaked from a different dimension and we would have to assimilate together, get that bitches. This process of assimilation might be long and arduous, so all we can do for now is to survive the merge. No one? Not even a single science fiction fan?¡± [Allen]

    Guess not. Not everyone understood that. ¡°In simple terms, the world we know is overrun with monsters and alien things from another world. We have to fight for our place in the new world. Our team, me, alvin and camille encountered a monster which was unfazed by bullets. Guns may work against weak monsters, but that might not be true always. R.I.P. Officer Bran. Your valiance will be forgotten momentarily¡±

    Still uninterrupted, I continued, ¡°We are safer here, as much as can be expected. The store has steel shutters which might buy us some time to gather our bearings. We will survive if you all do as I say. Scare people about end of world and they even follow a highschool virgin. Assholes. First, break down the aisles and create a huge common area where we can set up sleeping areas for the people here. And we can use those broken parts for barricade. Accommodate the children first. Can¡¯t have them crying and terrorising others. Drug them if you have to. We have about 100 people here, 104 but who¡¯s counting. We¡¯ll take shifts of 20 in manning the door. Elders should form groups of 5 or 6 and patrol the store to maintain order. We don¡¯t have enough information or manpower to spare the elderly from labor. They are dead weight anyway. Wong, is Mr.Wei alright? He better be, he is essential in maintaining some decorum¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Yes, he is fine. He passed out after his stare down with the monster. He should be coming up soon¡± [Wong]

    ¡°He knows the store better than all of us. He¡¯s been at this dump for 25 fucking years. Can you ask him to gather some people and take note of inventory? Essential supplies include water, toiletries, food and medical supplies. Did I miss anything else? Also take a note of whatever things we can use as weapons, like kitchen knives, gardening tools etc. Ask him if he has a radio or something for long distance communication. No way this place has something like that. Not a bad idea to ask though. I am pretty sure the army would be broadcasting in some emergency frequency about shelters and what not.¡± [Allen]

    Wong nodded and left to find his dad.

    ¡°That¡¯s all people. If you think you have a better plan, share it with us. We are after all just high school kids and are very inexperienced in managing situations like this. If any of you have previous experience managing storm shelters or disaster reliefs, advice us on this¡± [Allen]

    No volunteers. That¡¯s what you get in this ghetto of a town. Full of backbiters and parasites. Fucking hell. ¡°If that is all, let¡¯s move people¡±. Our fight for survival has begun and these asswipes are ¡­..

    I walked aimlessly before reaching the employee restroom. I stared at the image of myself in the mirror tired, exhausted and looking older that I pictured.

    Now, what do I do with this gift box.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­..

    I have to meet this Trevor guy again. He gave me more information than to Wong. May be wong froze and didn¡¯t ask the right questions.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    I feel like I am only glimpsing at this entire thing through a keyhole.

    If we were pushed to our brink in under 10 minutes, that too from things that die to guns, what else was in store for us. Dread and anxiety overwhelms my calm demeanor and I ended throwing up what little was in my stomach. This looks like the prelude for something ominous.

 Chapter 8 - Careful what you wish for

    Chapter 8 - Careful what you wish for

    My bathroom break was cut short when someone knocked at my door.

    ¡°What is it?¡±, can¡¯t you people give me some privacy. I am just having some ¡®me¡¯ time. Well, no rest for the weary.

    ¡°Allen, it¡¯s Camille. I saw you go in half an hour ago. Just wanted to check up on you¡± [Camille]

    30 minutes gone and I reminisced about things that I can¡¯t control. ¡°I am fine Camille. Coming out now¡± [Allen]

    Washing myself one final time and reassuring my mirror self that everything will be fine, I stepped out. Camille stood there with teary eyes and a small bandage wrap around her elbow. Before I could voice out, she hugged me and cried into my chest.

    Dismayed by her actions, I looked around and saw Alvin beaming with a huge smile on his face waving his hands saying ¡®go ahead¡¯. Go ahead with what? She likes you dude. You blockheaded mule.

    ¡°Camille, it¡¯s going to be fine. This place is safe for now. I will think of something. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let anything happen to us¡± [Allen]

    Camille whimpered in my arms like a kid. I have never seen her cry like this before. Infact, I have never seen Camille cry ever. I heard that her dad was killed when he was rescuing some people from a hospital fire. I guess, she has never shown her vulnerable self to anyone after that incident. She must be pretty shaken up. Plunged into doom and getting your ass handed down by a giant may be played a big role.

    Caressing her hair gently, I said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to our area. I asked Alvin to set up a tent and he might be slacking off¡±. She held onto me with a tighter grip unwilling to move. I sighed and continued, ¡°besides, it¡¯s embarrassing. Everyone is staring at us¡± [Allen]

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about them. I am not letting you go. YOU got yourself mixed up in trouble. YOU did something stupid, not Alvin¡±. Her eyes fixated upon mine, she pleaded in a soft mesmerizing voice, ¡°Can you let me hold a little longer? I don¡¯t know what I would do without you¡±

    Before I get any weird thoughts, my brain screams at me You and Camille are friends. Nothing more. Just let her hold until she is better. She is shivering from the earlier encounter. Let her be. This keeps people away from you and gives you enough time to come up with something.

    Without protesting further, I stood as long as she wanted me to, staring at a distance awkwardly. Her shivering died out eventually and her grip loosened. She looked at me once more and said, ¡°Thank you Allen¡± and walked away towards our sleep area.

    Can¡¯t understand women.

    I followed her to our tent. It was a bright red tent, like taunting your enemies, look over here, this is our commander. Why attract so much attention to us? The tent looked comfortable though, so kudos to Alvin. I should thank him for that. He must have had trouble setting it up, considering he took most of the brunt from the earlier attack. If it were not for him, Camille and I would have been squished into human paste along the walkways.

    ¡°He must have been tired. He kept watch over me when I was unconscious. He is relieved knowing we both are fine. He must have fallen asleep¡±, Camille said looking at Alvin, who was sleeping like a baby. [Camille]

    That asshole. Giving me the go ahead and sleeping inside. Fucker. Focus Allen, Camille is your friend. ¡°Yes. He guarded us both with his body. We should let him rest. I am going to check up on our progress. You rest here. You also sustained some injury¡±, I motioned at her elbow. Come to think about it, was she hurt?

    ¡°I am fine. This is nothing but a scratch. Alvin applied antiseptics and covered the wound fearing it might get infected¡±. She flapped around her arms and did a ballad like movement. ¡°See, all good¡±

    Seeing my hesitation, she continued, ¡°I want to see what we are doing¡±. Her face dropped on her shoulder. She muttered looking at the floor, ¡±Do you think my mom is fine?¡± [Camille] This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Touchy subject. Camille¡¯s mom doesn¡¯t own a gun, so she probably is dead. She might have been with someone who could have helped her, but not likely. ¡°Yes, she should be fine. We managed, so she could have too. Lot of people here didn¡¯t fight the monsters¡±. I lied through my teeth and that made Camille better. I feel terrible.

    Camille held my hands and walked closely all the while fearing the worst. Poor girl, already lost her father to fire and now her mother might not be alive too. She never even got to see her dad¡¯s face one last time. It¡¯s awful to think she might go through it once again with her mother.

    ¡°Allen, dad brought all the essential supplies to the meat locker. We have power now, but we are unsure of the future. We have a backup generator and enough gasoline for a week if the power fails us and we use generator sparingly. I have two people standing guard in the generator room. Some people have expressed their concerns in ¡®kids¡¯ running this place. I don¡¯t know what to say for that. Dad has assured them we are doing our best and we have to do our best to survive till the army rescues us¡­...¡± [Wong]

    Looking at me and Camille, his last sentence trailed off with no confidence whatsoever. Can¡¯t blame that guy. He is the only other person to have killed a monster in a face to face confrontation. Assuming the army even knows of our existence, it would be tall order to expect them to rescue us within a week. He knows it too.

    ¡°That¡¯s ok. We can¡¯t please everyone. So, how long do we have before our food supplies run out? And what of our barricade and weapons?¡±. Let¡¯s focus on what we can accomplish. [Allen]

    ¡°We built a makeshift barricade. We had a few construction workers help us put this together. I have no confidence it would stop anything more than a slow moving car. The shutters are dropped and they might stop most of the force. At best, this buys us few more days. We have not encountered any monsters other than those dead in the road. We didn¡¯t meet the trevor guy either. May be he only rewards us once. Weapon pile is over there¡±. He pointed towards a small pile of metal objects and wooden objects. I assumed there would be more. Has kitchen knives, sticks sharpened as spear tips, shovels, pitchfork, some cooking oil¡±.He turned around and pointed at a group of people doing their best to attempt cooking with what they have. ¡°We have set up cooking camp over there. Some of us made holes in the walls for smoke to exhaust. It¡¯s not ideal, but it¡¯s manageable¡±.

    Hapless chap. Doing so much more than I could have asked. Still staring us, his eyes wandered to Camille, who was still holding my hands timidly. We might have looked like a couple taking a stroll criticising his hard work.

    ¡°Wong, this is Camille. She is a friend.¡± insisting on friend, I introduced the two of them.

    ¡°Camille, this is Wong. He is the other person who killed a monster. He also has a gift box¡±. Yes, what happened to it. Has he opened it yet?

    He gritted his teeth as if restraining his urge to punch me in my face. ¡°I have seen Camille work here. I know who she is. You are the one who doesn¡¯t notice other people.¡± [Wong]

    Bastard, insulting me in front of a girl. [Allen]

    He turned towards Camille and continued with concern, ¡°Are you injured? We have a nurse here. We could help her take care of you.¡± [Wong]

    ¡°No need for that. I am fine. This is a superficial wound. It¡¯ll heal. Please continue with your work¡± [Camille]

    Answering politely, Camille returned to holding my hands and ignored Wong who was still glaring at us with his death ray vision. In your face asshole. Atta girl Camille.

    Wong nodded after a while and left to do about his business. I should probably take a walk around the set up. See if I can improve on things.

    With Camille still stuck to me like a chewing gum, I strolled around the store. 100+ people inside a store that was not built for shelter is no small ordeal. Bathroom breaks had to be monitored. We only had 4 bathroom stalls and had to control the queue of people flooding almost immediately after their meals. The food was not up to pre-apocalypse standard. The people who made food have never catered to more than 10 people at a time. 100+ is a huge number no matter how you think about it. The quality of food dropped and people were still adjusting to their poor rations. The food here could last us for 10-15 days may be.

    Ventilation was a problem, which was solved by some quick thinking. A portion of the wall was taken down and exhaust systems attached. Fancy way of saying, fans were put to suck out air. I hope no one tries to break in through those.

    It was almost midnight and the occasional howling noise far or near, unable to discern the distance in the dark, haunted us. Everyone tried their best to ignore the noise, but one could only do so much. No new survivors came knocking. It either meant people found shelter somewhere else or no one other than us survived. I hate to think we are the only remaining survivors. I don¡¯t like these people very much. Neither do I trust the lot.

    Despite their mood swings and imminent death hanging around the corner, most of them adapted to the situation and consoled themselves that this would pass. There were some who took their share of food and lived like they owned the place. Some people are just born that way. Never to accept reality and trample on people who try their hardest to survive. I have to do something about these people before they damage the morale.

    Alvin finally woke up after his nap and signaled me to take some rest. I don¡¯t trust any of these people and who knows what they would do while we sleep. I told alvin to keep an eye and take turns to sleep. He understood my implications and let me and Camille rest while he took the night watch. Camille held my hands and slept through the night. I don¡¯t understand. Wasn¡¯t she suppose to be with Alvin? She must have been extremely terrified to have fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

    I was no good either. I slept as sound as can be. I saw sheep jumping through hoops. Pleasant dreams. I might have even suckled my thumbs like a baby.

    ¡°You are good. Building a shelter, barricading yourself, leading the ignorant and even making others work for you. As expected of you, should I say¡±

    What? Who was that?

    ¡°You know who I am. You wanted to meet me, remember?¡±

    Trevor? Why is he in my dream? Is he reading my mind.

    ¡°Ha. I knew our fate was intertwined. So, why did you want to meet with me? Most natives do not wish to see me again. I am magnanimous, so here I am¡±. His almost chuckling tone changed ever so slightly into a harsh warning, ¡°Don¡¯t disappoint me Allen¡±.

    Me and my stupid wish. Why did I not ask for drugs? Or sex.

 Chapter 9 - Keep your snotty remarks down

    Chapter 9 - Keep your snotty remarks down

    Pretend asleep. He will just ignore you. Even in dreams he is one scary MotherFuc***

    ¡°Kid, I know you are pretending to ignore me. Out with it before I change my mind and keep your snotty remarks to yourself¡±[Trevor]

    Alright. Ask him how he finds you in dream. ¡°Are you a god?¡±, ask him with subtlety you idiot. Why don¡¯t you just ask his gender and be done with it? [Allen]

    If the ball had eyes, it clearly rolled them and sighed before answering. ¡°No. There is no such thing as God. As far as I know. And yes, I have no gender. I am simply Trevor the friendly neighbor guy¡± [Trevor]

    There you go, you religious fanatics. An alien looking liquid metal tells you there is no such thing as god. It must be legit. Isn¡¯t guy like a male thing. Whatever. ¡°You keep calling us natives. If we are natives, what are those monsters called?¡± [ Allen]

    ¡°You are the species of this world. Hence I call you natives. The others are thrusted here, either on their own or through the assimilation. I call them invaders¡± [Trevor]

    Something is off. He didn¡¯t call them monsters, but ¡®others¡¯. ¡°What do these invaders want from us?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°The same thing every being in the universe wants. To survive. To flourish¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°Can they be friendly with us? We have a big world, we can get along fine¡±, that is not true at all. Humans, the homo sapiens killed 6 different species of humans ¡®homo somethings¡¯ before taking over this planet for themselves. Neanderthals won our trophy of remembrance, since they had huge heads. Our history is proof enough that we cannot coexist in peace.

    May be he felt that question was rhetorical. I waited for him to give me more information, but the good-for-nothing ball just stood there like it was no one¡¯s business. If this was an online game, I swear he was AFK most of the time.

    ¡°Are there other ¡®friendly neighbors¡¯ like you?¡±, what is a neighbor anyway? [Allen]

    I think the ball smirked. ¡°There is no one as magnanimous as I am. But yes, there are other neighbors, though I doubt they are friendly. That is all I can say about this matter. You possess neither the knowledge nor the capacity to understand the matters of beyond, yet¡± [Trevor]

    Hmm, so I was on the right track. I lack whatever is necessary to pry information out of him. I got time, I¡¯ll figure it out eventually.

    ¡°Something has been bothering me, you mentioned energy from a different dimension poured into ours. Can energy from our dimension flow to the other dimension as well?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Oh my, yes of course. Energy flows through wherever it can. Although energies from higher dimensions flow much faster, hence the term pour. Your dimensional energy reserve although large is still trifling in comparison, so, may be drizzles?¡± [Trevor]

    Unable to contain my curiosity, I blurted out, ¡°What are these energies? Can the natives (us) make us of them?¡±, like shooting laser beams from your eyes or magic or kill someone with spells. Avada Kedavra [Allen]

    ¡°...¡±, the ball just stood there frozen for a while before answering, ¡°I am forbidden to tell you about the energies. However, I can tell you that these energies can be manipulated by the natives with proper practice since they eventually assimilate together¡± [Trevor]

    Another dead end huh. At least got a valuable info. I can use these whatever mystical energies. Magic and telekinesis are not just pipe dreams anymore. Are Dragons real?

    Trevor continued, ignoring me talking to myself, ¡°Think of it like your gravity or magnetism. They have always existed, but could only be used after experimentation and practice. It may take decades or centuries, but eventually these energies will bond. They may bring a new paradigm shift as your scientists would call¡± [Trevor]

    Holy crap. Is he talking about the end of world. Atleast he didn¡¯t say anything about judgement day. Vatican would have field day if they knew bible predicted this shit. But then again, they have been predicting this shit for a long time. [Allen-Mind voice]

    ¡°Come on, ask me what¡¯s been bothering you. I can get it off your chest¡± [Trevor]Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Yes, ¡°When you rewarded me the treasure chest, you mentioned, ¡®do what you wish with it¡¯. Does that mean, they also have other uses besides giving a reward?¡± Did he say the same thing to Wong? Damn, why didn¡¯t I ask him that.

    ¡°Clever one you are. Yes. The treasure chests have many uses. They can be used as payment. The treasure chests can be combined together to slightly increase the odds of getting a better item, though you might need two or more¡± [Trevor]

    Wong better not have opened his chest. Combining chests sounds like a cheat.

    As if reading my mind, he probably reads minds, trevor continues, ¡°The odds increase by an infinitesimally small amount. Also, you will have no way of identifying whether the item you obtained was due to combining or plain luck. I would suggest you either open them now gambling with your luck or wait till you can make much better use of it later¡±. His metal thingy flowed like a river before containing itself to its previous ball form and continued. ¡°Although, you might not live that long¡± [Trevor]

    Is that a warning? Am I in danger? Am I missing something important? Oh crap. ¡°This is about our base right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You know what happens to forts when the surrounding villages are pillaged? They are sieged¡± [Trevor]

    This fucking psychopath. Not telling such important information. My brain picked up on whatever scrap of information it got and formulated a theory. The monsters or invaders or whatever were hiding and hunting the stragglers. That is why there were neither survivors nor monsters roaming around. They may have also regrouped like us. If the monsters bide their time and attack in numbers, we won¡¯t be able to handle that. What happened to the other bases? Were they wiped out before they could even find footing. Unlikely, since it¡¯s only been a day. What if the monsters are much more intelligent than they look? Fuck, all these possibilities make me crazy.

    ¡°Are there intelligent and technologically advanced creatures from the dimensional rift?¡±, please be no. [Allen]

    ¡°Oh my, yes of course. Why wouldn¡¯t they be?¡± [Trevor]

    R.I.P. to humanity. Let¡¯s just make a huge sign board saying, ¡®Humans were here¡¯. Now that I think about it, why wouldn¡¯t there be other technologically advanced species from a different dimensions. Intelligence is just a relative term. I mean, come on.

    Only way I see out of this slaughter is to improve. And rewards play a huge role.

    ¡°How can I get more rewards?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Whatever you mean by that.¡± [Trevor]

    Feigning ignorance, the pretentious arrogant ball had the gall to insult my question. I rolled my eyes and explained like I would to a kid, ¡°To rephrase in simpler terms, from what we know so far, the monsters didn¡¯t drop any items except what they carried. They didn¡¯t drop skill books or gems and they didn¡¯t have any monster core either. However, you gave us a reward, which means these little treasure boxes and the items they contain exists somewhere. Since you granted these to us, the natives, that means we can obtain these or at least theoretically have access to these somehow. So, my question is, how do I get more of these items?¡±

    Smiling to himself, he answers, ¡°Like everything, these come from the all knowing. I go where I am told. I give what I am given¡± [Trevor]

    I know a ball can¡¯t smile, but it¡¯s creepy to talk to a weird emotionless ball. Makes you think everything was in your head.

    The what? What¡¯s this all knowing? Bastard, why he didn¡¯t mention it earlier? Is that a trigger or a trap? While I was pondering on how to capitalize his words, he waved his liquid metal thingy and a treasure chest materialized out of thin air.

    ¡°The all knowing has deemed that you should be rewarded. No doubt you already figured out, every time you transcend yourself, you get rewards. Courage, bravery, quick thinking, intelligence, manipulation etc are just means to achieving rewards. Improve yourself and you won¡¯t need to worry about trivial things¡± [Trevor]

    Transcend myself, no idea what that even means. So this all knowing is the ¡®cause and effect¡¯. How is that different from a god? This explains how he knows what I think and how he found me in my dream.

    ¡°Is the all knowing the concept of the ¡®consciousness of the universe¡¯?¡±, this is way beyond my imaginations. Scientists are still figuring this shit and here I am talking to one of its messengers. Mind fuckery is what it is I say. My jaws dropped down hanging in awe at my own discovery.

    ¡°You surprise me Allen. Although there are quite a few who put this together, no one managed to do this after a single statement. Alas, our time together has to come to an end I am afraid. Go on. I am expecting high things from you. Survive your trails and transcend. We shall meet again¡± [Trevor]

    And the ball poofed away. I am still not used to his shenanigans, he¡¯s like batman. There is a lot going on and we aren¡¯t even at the tip of the iceberg.

    I quickly formulated my activity for the next day. Since I wasn¡¯t a very social person, I ignored the expertise every single person brought. I will ask Wong or Manager Wei to create a registry for people to mention their name, occupation etc first thing in the morning. If that¡¯s sorted out, I can make better use of the people and their skills. Then, I needed to find more trustworthy comrades. I cannot simply get on a stage and say, ¡®hey guys, the monsters that terrorised us are amassing an army and probably coming to slaughter us soon. So, yeah. All the best¡¯. That would be the worst. I actually contemplated whether saying that would make everyone work twice hard, but the panic and civil disobedience it brings wasn¡¯t worth it.

    Needless to say, I trust no one in this town except Alvin and Camille. And that was because they know me and I know them for a very long time. My best candidate for camaraderie would be wong, since he actually fought a monster and also has two guns in his possession. I value him for his bravery, definitely not because of the guns, okay! Tsundere.

    Lin looks good, I mean not in a physical sense, I mean she is good looking but that is not what I meant. Insensitive jerks. Wong shares everything with his sister or at least i think he does since he and his family were taking care of almost everything operation-wise. I think that¡¯s because Manager Wei thinks he will get fired if he didn¡¯t manage company resources.To add to that, having two people in my age group relaxes me. Getting mixed up with adults hasn¡¯t been, the least to say, a pleasant memory. My suggestions get instantly knocked down as quirky remarks by an inexperienced kid. Doing something against their wishes were ¡®challenging authority¡¯ and strictly frowned upon. Unless the adult is mature enough to see my point, I don¡¯t think I can work with them.

    I drifted into my sleep while my brain did its thing. No sweet dreams for me. Oh, two treasure chests for me!

    ¡­

    Wait, how do I get my chest when I wake up? Won¡¯t it disappear from my dreams?

    ...

 Chapter 10 - Judgement Day

    Chapter 10 - Judgement Day

    I don¡¯t know what was worse. Waking up after learning that I might die from an alien wall or to Alvin¡¯s prank. I woke up cranky, not unusual, and naked. I remember watching Camille¡¯s face as sleep hit me yesterday. Today, I wake up naked to a silhouette of a person wearing a t-shirt. Oh my god, I am a monster. Not only did I lose my virginity, I did it with my best friend who is in love with my other best friend and I don¡¯t remember any of it. Was I good? Did I perform under pressure? Nada. I should hide somewhere and die of shame.

    That¡¯s when Alvin joined Camille giggling and the prank revealed itself.

    Why?

    Alvin had tried to cheer my mood and Camille went along with it. Good job guys, I almost peed myself, but it worked. I am now in a much better mood except the ¡®we-all-might-die-today¡¯ thing. I shared everything that transpired in my dream with the two. Both of them remained quiet and waited till I was done.

    ¡°So what should we do?¡±, Alvin held the two treasure chests in his hands and questioned me with an inquisitive look. [Alvin]

    Putting the two treasure chests away, ¡°I was hoping one of you might give me suggestions. I have no experience in leading a bunch of people¡±. I have to speak with Wong and get his input too.  [Allen]

    Camille asked earnestly, ¡°Can¡¯t we just leave?¡± [Camille]

    Was she even listening? Keeping my anger to myself, I shook my head. ¡°No. The monsters are hiding and hunting. We will likely be ambushed even before we reach the next working car¡± [Allen]

    Camille ran inside the tent and wept holding her pillow tight probably to keep the noise to the minimum.

    What did I say?

    ¡°She was worried about her mom ever since this all started. And now you tell her everyone is dead. Not cool man¡± [Alvin]

    Fuck you. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her everyone is dead. I said everyone else might be dead¡±, yeah, po-tae-to, po-ta-to. [Allen].

    ¡°The thing is, I am not sure, okay. We can¡¯t be sure. All I know for sure is that, an attack is coming and we are not prepared for it¡±. Looking around the store, I notice an air of tension that previously didn¡¯t exist or escaped my notice. ¡°How are these people holding up? and what time is it? I am starving¡± [Allen]

    Alvin looked at me with a surprised expression and said, ¡°You¡¯ve been out like a log. It¡¯s 2 in the afternoon. Our power¡¯s been down since 5 in the morning. We are managing with the generator. Wong said the meat locker is draining all our power and these people are sweaty and irritated. I wouldn¡¯t mess with them if I were you¡±. He pointed to a table, neatly arranged like a picnic lunch. ¡°Camille wanted us to eat together. She was up and working since 8, till you said those mean things to her¡±. He waved me to go console her inside the tent.

    Ah, why is this happening to me. Monsters are coming to kill us and I have to solace a crybaby. ¡°Hey, everything is going to be alright. We don¡¯t know for sure if everyone else is dead. They may all be holed up somewhere like us. Besides, your mom wouldn¡¯t want you to cry here¡±. Ouch, saying what her dead mom wouldn¡¯t want, idiot.

    Camille swallowed her tears, looked up to me and slowly whimpered in my embrace. She keeps doing that a lot nowadays.

    After a few minutes, she let me go, stood up and adjusted herself while walking out the tent leaving me hanging out by myself. Hey, whatsup, other me? Just chilling alone, you know.

    She quickly left me behind and went to the table arranging cutleries and serving something from a hot pan. She waved me to join the table and sat quietly staring at the gooey mess in our plates. Yew!

    I looked around and everyone was eating whatever mess they had in their plate with no complaints. Guess, I should dig in too. My ravenous stomach wiped the plate clean even though it was not as appetizing as I would have expected. I mean, we are going to die anyway, it doesn¡¯t matter what was in our stomach.

    ¡°I want us all to survive. Tell me what I should do and I will do it. I don¡¯t want to be helpless and waiting to hear the news of your death¡± [Camille]

    She is still haunted from her father¡¯s death. ¡°We will be fine. I promise. We will at least survive this. I have an idea. I need you to gather up Wong, Lin and like minded people. Try to keep the group small and within a certain age limit. Only invite people who we can trust. Someone with a family member who is incapacitated or someone with NO RELIGIOUS affiliation¡±. I insisted we keep the orthodox religious people out, since I have no way of knowing what would happen with people who don¡¯t act logically. [Allen]

    ¡°You want me to do all of this?¡±. Camille looked up with an expression of anxiety and gratitude mixed together. She probably felt cooped up and useless. With newfound purpose, she should be back to her cheery self in no time.

    ¡°Yes. Alvin is not suitable because of his .. er .. personality¡± [Allen]

    ¡°You can say it¡¯s because I am black. I don¡¯t take that as an insult. And like you said, we need every help we can get and won¡¯t have time arguing about my color¡± [Alvin] This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Yes. So, Camille, you are suited for this more than he is. Besides, I have other tasks planned for him. So can I count on you?¡± [Allen]

    Camille¡¯s eyes pleaded with enthusiasm and she nodded vigorously before eating her meal.

    I am a sucker for puppy eyes.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In a corner of the store, away from the majority of the group, in the midst of a few tents around a small camp like set up, some ominous things were brewing.

    ¡°Father Gale, is this the end of the world? Are we being judged for our sins?¡± [Woman-1]

    ¡°Is our lord god trying us for the sins of our ancestors?¡± [Woman-2]

    Chorus of¡¯ yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯ or ¡®we want to know¡¯ or ¡®why¡¯ and some cries were heard.

    Gale had been a faithful worshipper for as long as he could remember. His faith was rewarded with a good life and a good church. The good church going people were faithful, never losing hope even when the times were taxing. His world turned upside down when things .. came at him while he was shopping. He saw a vile creature attack one person after another, while he hid himself cowering in the face of death. He could only watch the slaughter when Mrs.Linda was gouged screaming in horror all the while pleading for his help.

    The yellow kid ended the creature¡¯s torment and gave mercy to Mrs.Linda. The woman was a true believer, so why was she abandoned by his Father? Was it his fault she died? No. The sins of others took brought this plague upon all.

    Something stirred within him, urging him to herd the sheep before they were slaughtered for the sins of the wolves. It was his lord god pressing him to guide the masses before judgement day tried them all. It was Gale¡¯s divine purpose to lead the innocents. To hell with the others, they will squarely be judged for their actions. He called upon the believers isolating them from the non-believers and arranged for an awakening ceremony for the masses before it was too late.

    ¡°Our lord god has deemed this world unworthy of his love. The sins we committed were too much for his son to bear¡±, he saw the heads nod for every word of his. Assuring himself he is doing the right thing Gale continued, ¡°The judgement day is upon us and the wrath of god will stop at nothing from punishing the sinners. We have to sacrifice them to the angels before they bring more of the vile creatures. Our lord has spared this shelter because his faithful children are here. His anger will not be appeased without the blood of the sinners. Are you ready to do what is needed?¡±

    Gale¡¯s words echoed back with a resounding roar of ¡®yes¡¯. The crowd went nuts over his speech. With their enthusiasm unhindered, he praised the lord and continued, ¡°We have to give him the wolves. It is his grace that keeps us warm in the cold¡±. He pointed at the group of tents in the middle of the store, ¡°Two of them killed his emissaries from hell, averting their punishment. We need to bring them to the hell spawns. The angels will reward us for our service to lord god. Who is with me?¡±

    A cheer of ¡®yes¡¯ followed by ¡®praise the lord¡¯ echoed through the corner.

    Power is a drug. It¡¯s so addictive and makes one feel supreme. Gale bathed himself in his power and concocted ways to bring the two heathens to the hell spawns. Wong and Allen, both of them will face the fury of his lord god. Salvation was reserved only for the worthy.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A small group gathered near Allen¡¯s bright red tent.

    No longer concealing his anger, ¡°The guys at the corner have been at it non-stop since morning. We just left them to their devices. I fear nothing good will come out of their bickering¡±. [Wong]

    No pleasantries and right down to business. I like him already. ¡°Let them be. We will take care of them when they become a threat¡±, which is sooner than you think. [Allen]

    ¡°Camille told me you wanted to speak with us. Has anything happened?¡± [Lin]

    Lin fidgeted while standing close to Wong exchanging conspicuous glances at Alvin. It¡¯s obvious that poor girl had a thing for Alvin, but too bad he is already taken.

    Wong interrupted me with a grunt, ¡°Yea. Some of us don¡¯t have the luxury of having a fair maiden take care of us while we sleep all day¡±.

    What¡¯s his problem. Fucker, insulting me at every turn he gets. ¡°I slept for a good reason. Damn it, now I am explaining my actions to him. I have something very important to share. I want your inputs, suggestions and whatever you think might help us deal with what¡¯s to come. If you have any objections, leave now. You staying here will be taken as your consent to my plans¡±. Including wong, lin, I have two new black kids, probably Alvin invited them. Justin Jr and Rebecca Crease. Justin is the fire chief, his son Justin Jr is our high school quarterback. He is older by 2 years and graduated just last year if I remember correctly. Rebecca Crease is a cheerleader who dated Justin Jr in highschool. both of them have found each other after the world went to shit. Can¡¯t believe how narcissistic people are. Naming their kids after themselves. Too much of vanity I say.

    Bunch of noobs, perfect. I shared with them everything Trevor told about the attack. I didn¡¯t give away everything. I needed some leverage if things go sideways. I informed them about the attack, how he gave me another treasure box, how transcending oneself is the way to get more rewards and magic might be real.

    ¡°Do you think we can rope some adults into trusting this information?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°My dad will help organize some kind of defense. The town folk are somewhat grouchy from the whole air conditioning thing. Are you sure leaving here wouldn¡¯t be safer?¡± [Wong]

    ¡°Yes, I am sure. Unless you have 50 more guns and some heavy armored humvee hidden in the garage. By the way, where are the dead bodies? How did you guys clean it up?¡± [Allen]

    Lin snapped at me saying, ¡°Don¡¯t bark at him. We are all just scared¡± [Lin]

    Hiding his disgust, Wong whispered, ¡°We have the corpses locked in an ice cream machine inside the meat locker. We were scared to dispose of them outside the store. For one, it will bring us more predators. Rotting corpses are sources of pandemics. Better to keep them frozen before deciding what to do with them¡± [Wong]

    That explains why the meat locker needed priority. Pre-med is doing well for this kid. I know a couple of people here, who would do anything for their family. Even assuming all hands on deck, we still don¡¯t know how many monsters lurk and how they plan to attack us. They could simply wait out till we ran out of food or water. At that point, we won¡¯t have enough stamina to resist anyway.

    ¡°Alright, no use mucking around. Wong, prioritize in people registry, we need to know what our strengths are. Lin and Camille, can you speak to people with families about a possible attack and they may need to help us. Don¡¯t be forceful. Just create an ideal outcome such that without their help everyone they know and love will die¡±. Too evil, but I am not exactly sympathetic. [Allen]

    ¡°I think dad had already started on the registry. He collected the names of the survivors saying the army will need it to find their relatives or friends. Just need to add their occupation and we are set. Let me check the progress¡± and wong left us to our schemes. [Wong]

    Camille joined Lin and both of them whispered ¡®stuff¡¯ to themselves. Finally both of them gave me a nod and left the rest of us.

    ¡°Justin and Rebecca. This is too much to ask the two of you, but please help convince your .. kin to join the fight. I know the town has been shitty to them and they would rather watch it burn, but trust me, this is a fight for our survival. We will need a united front¡± [Allen]

    Alvin spoke to the two of them and may be he convinced them, may be not. Either way, both of them reluctantly joined ¡®their¡¯ group of people and started gathering a crowd. I can only hope we made the right choices. Alvin led them to a corner. He is a better leader than I am.

    I walked to the restroom and adjusted myself in the mirror. The more I looked at myself, the more I felt like gagging.

    ¡°What the hell am I doing? I am way out of my depth. If only dad was here, he would know what to do. I am not prepared to shoulder the fate of these people¡± muttering to my mirror self, I washed my face hoping my fatigue washes away as well.

    My ostensible feeling of gagging was replaced by actual gagging. Some ragged cloth, probably a smelly old socks covered my mouth and a pair of strong masculine hands held me in place while I struggled violently before surrendering to his force. His hot musk filled my nostrils as my vision faded in his embrace. Be gentle with me.

    At least I won¡¯t die a virgin.

    ¡­.

    Oh wait, that was a fucking prank. Bull shit.

 Chapter 11 - Weird Obsession with Balls

    Chapter 11 - Weird Obession with Balls

    My shoulder hurts. My hands are tied behind my back. Throbbing pain soars through my neck. A smelly rag tied around my mouth blocking my airway. Slow and rough breathing through my nostrils kept me alive and barely functioning. My legs are tied up too. I see the ground beneath me. At least I can see. What happened?

    ¡°Good of you princess to finally grace me with your consciousness¡± [Wong]

    What the hell dude? I am stuffed with socks and you talking shit to me. ¡°uuuu¡­¡± , ah sure. I can¡¯t even talk back to this moron. I scuffled trying to free myself from my restrains to no avail. [Allen]

    ¡°They put sailor knots, connecting the ropes from your hands to your legs, so the more you try, the more they tighten¡± [Wong]

    Something forced my body around and I see Wong sitting against the wall untied and nothing restraining him as far as I can tell. How is this asshole untied? Near him were the leftovers of whatever had restrained him.

    ¡°The genius Allen, the savior, what plans do you have to save yourself from this bind?¡± [Wong]

    Dude, if you are untied, fucking untie me as well. What¡¯s the point of talking to a gagged guy?

    ¡°I hate you Allen. You are this uncaring, free-spirited fucking genius who never had to work hard for anything in his life while I have always been struggling to keep up with yo. The worst part is, you don¡¯t even see me as a rival.¡±. Reminiscing about something, Wong continued while I was still gargling with that rag in my mouth. ¡°I envy you. You had Camille, the one girl I liked and Alvin the one my sister liked. Why do you horde good things to yourself?¡±.

    Is he waiting for me to answer? This sadistic bastard.

    ¡°I was at my limit even before things turned out .. like this. I had excelled in my SAT¡¯s. I was planning to attend med school, ask Camille out and move to an apartment in the city, away from you and from this shitty town. My dreams came crashing when that monster attacked us in the store. Even then, I took up arms and even ended up getting a treasure box. I was sure Camille would finally look up to me. I wanted to be the shoulder for her to cry, the one for her to share her bed with¡±

    His eyes spew venom looking at me, ¡°Yet you hogged even more glory to yourself. Not only you managed to get a treasure box, you even saved Camille from a monster with your quick thinking. I didn¡¯t know whether to thank you or hate you for it. You sheltered all these people and even put up defenses while I was thinking of whisking Camille off her feet. Are you that ignorant of her charms or rubbing your fortune on my face? Then again, you were never the type to understand someone¡¯s feelings¡±

    ¡°I worked twice as hard in this hell hole, while you sauntered away the evening with Camille. You even had the audacity to spend the night with her¡±.

    Wong was dejected. ¡°You broke my heart. You broke everything I worked hard for. You even managed to find another treasure box like they were easter eggs hidden for children to find. How would someone even transcend in sleep?¡±

    I struggled to breathe, hiding my horror of what awaited after his monologue ended. He took pity on my plight and sit me up against the wall like how he was sitting.

    ¡°You came up with these ideas after ideas, trying to help us survive while I was just looking forward to the attack and let it be the end of my troubles. You made me feel disgusted with myself¡±. His shoulders dropped like they had given up. He sat staring at the ground between his knees and after a while looked at me with an invigorating look.

    He dusted himself and stood extending his hands towards me. ¡°I say all these because I don¡¯t want to start a friendship hiding my true feelings. I no longer feel any animosity towards you. Camille loves you dearly. Even a blind fool can see that, except may be you. I am happy for her. This apocalypse has given me time to think about what I want to do with my life. I am reborn. My purpose is to find strength and to live¡±

    He touched my restrains and they came off like melted candle. I was relieved to finally breathe free and awe struck at what he did. How?

    ¡°I have been caged since childhood never to fly free. I was a prisoner of my own making. Unable to let go of the restraints that pulled me down. I have transcended, Allen. The treasure box gave me a skill called, ¡®Unbind¡¯. May be it knew I was bound to my duties, my studies, my love, my parents and even myself. I am no longer abound. Nothing can restrict me. Now, tell me my friend, what do we do? We are in deep shit¡±. He smiled at me like everything was alright.

    Why do I get mixed up with sadists and psychopaths?

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I paid no heed to my gut telling me to stay away from this deranged lunatic and took his hands finally realizing we were away from the store.

    ¡°Where are we? What happened? Leave nothing¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Lin and Camille spoke to Reverend Gale and he invited me to talk with them about the specifics. I was only happy enough to indulge and the next thing I know, I was out in the streets with you lying unconscious¡± [Wong] Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Go on¡± [Allen]

    ¡°I untied myself and looked for a way to get back inside the store. Against my better judgement I had to quickly hide since I saw some monsters spying the store. We are two shops away from the grocery store. This place used to be a meth lab. I used to hide here watching them make drugs right over there. I dragged your comatose body away to safety. Everything that happened after that, you already know¡± [Wong]

    I wasn¡¯t in a coma. Why did Camille speak with the reverend, despite me telling her not to include religious people? It must be Lin. Stupid bitch.

    ¡°Did you happen to know why they left us for dead?¡± [Allen]

    Looking appalled at my question, Wong said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought it was up your wheelhouse insulting the religious and antagonizing the old. I thought I was just mixed up in one of your blemishes¡±

    So it was not him who brought me here. ¡°No dude. I didn¡¯t do anything. I even asked Camille to leave them alone. I suspected it was you who brought me here¡±. Averting his angry glare, ¡° you know, considering your .. monologue¡± [Allen]

    ¡°No. I would never do something that will make Camille sad. Anyway, we both know nothing more than we did earlier. Nice one genius¡± [Wong]

    Bastard admitting he would have done this if it wasn¡¯t for Camille. And stop with your sarcasm. ¡°We know it was the revered who did this to us. Considering their affiliation, they might have thought we were heretics or something and left us here. They might even convince everyone in the store that leaving us out was the right choice. Before everyone is brainwashed, we have to get in somehow or at least let Alvin or Camille know we are safe. Those two might do something out of spite¡±.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how we can do that. We can¡¯t go to the roads, they are being watched by the monsters. I don¡¯t even have my gun and even if I did, I don¡¯t know how useful I would be in a direct confrontation. What about you?¡± [Wong]

    ¡°What about me?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°What did you get from the treasure box?¡± [Wong]

    Oh crap. I could have done something if I had those. ¡°I haven¡¯t opened them yet. I was contemplating whether to combine them or save them for later. Trevor said they have other uses. I just need more time to figure it out¡± [Allen]

    Snorting like a kid, Wong continued, ¡°See, this is what I said. You act like you know better and you didn¡¯t even ask me whether I opened my treasure box. If you had asked me, you would have known and you might have gained a skill or two yourself¡± [Wong]

    No need to argue with him. ¡°Sorry. I will rely on others next time. Now, tell me how many scouts did you see out¡± [Allen]

    ¡°4 pairs of 2 monsters of same kind. How do you know they are scouts?¡± [Wong]

    ¡°You said they were spying. They are waiting for a moment to attack. These monsters are just here to observe and report. Which is probably why they were lax when there was no activity. That explains why we didn¡¯t die as soon as we were out. They were monitoring us and that means they will attack tonight¡±. [Allen]

    ¡°What, why? It makes no sense how you came up with that conclusion¡± [Wong]

    Ah, this idiot. ¡°If I were a monster, I would observe this place while I gather allies. Even after 12 hours, the situation has not improved and the humans have not come out. This doesn¡¯t mean much, except show that the humans are afraid. You follow me?¡±.

    Nodding his head like a goat, Wong gestured me to continue. ¡°This behavior could also be an elaborate trap. However, it is still better to attack than wait incessantly hoping that the human sustenances would deplete. Besides, the more the monsters wait, the better prepared we become. They should have attacked us yesterday, while we were still pretty shaken from their first wave of attacks. But the monsters might have been scattered and needed time to regroup. That leaves tonight the best time for an all out attack¡±.

    Isn¡¯t this an obvious conclusion people arrive at? I wonder how humans survived the prehistoric age.

    Crushed by his horror Wong loudly shouted shocking me by my collar, ¡°What are we going to do? They don¡¯t have anyone with monster fighting experience¡± [Wong]

    Idiot. Like we both had a lot of experience. My monster died to a book and yours to a gun. We will make absolutely no difference with our so called ¡®monster killing experience¡¯.

    His voice echoed through the warehouse and I heard some footsteps. Barely ducking Wong away from sight, we both hide some place cozy. Why cozy? Because it was fucking small for two people.

    Two monsters wielding spears entered the place through a door on the other side of the building. Their silhouettes dark due to the blinding light poured from the other side of the door. These must be the scouts. Are they hiding in the building?

    Following them, a bigger monster lazily moved around carrying a heavy club like the one from The Flintstones. This must be the boss. They are a clan, so chieftain may be. Right, correct the semantics when you die, you stupid fucking brain.

    The two monsters left after discussing something, probably just dismissing the noise as their delusion. The chieftain dropped itself to the ground with a loud thump and slept near its club. Its loud snoring resonating throughout the empty space.

    ¡°Dude, we are screwed. That monster is right over there. What do we do now?¡± [Allen]

    My body relaxed only after confirming that my life is not in any imminent danger. I turned around to see what my new friend was doing. Only to find him blushing and shy from looking me in the eye. What the hell dude? You were just, ¡®I hate you¡¯, suddenly now you are blushing at my touch?

    ¡°How long are you going to hold me? You can let go of me now¡± [Wong]

    Its not what it looks like.I had a really good reason for holding him. Fear of dying alone is not one of them, okay!

    ¡°That monster is the chieftain, I assume. Its taking a nap. We are stuck here unless a miracle occurs¡± [Allen]

    My mind was contemplating our next move while the idiot beside me squirmed like I was going to rape him.

    ¡°Buy me dinner before you have your way with me¡± [Wong]

    We both loosened up after his quirky remark. Risk of us both ending as fodder for the chieftain didn¡¯t stop us laughing.

    ¡­.

    God I hope he was just joking. I am not into men.

    ...

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Something breathed down my neck and a chill ran down my spine. Deja Vu.

    ¡°Hey Allen, we meet again¡± [Trevor]

    You gotta be fucking kidding me. What do I do to get rid of this guy? ¡°Hello Trevor. Good of you to visit me¡±.

    ¡°You were kidnapped and offered as a sacrifice to the invaders. By your own people¡± [Trevor]

    What the fuck? I am a what now.

    ¡°You are a sacrifice. They kidnapped you and brought you out to die¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°So what now? Do I wait till something ends my misery?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you. You can grab your fate by the balls or just die. I am here because the all knowing wants me to tell you, ¡®its yours if you will it¡¯. Nothing more, nothing less¡± [Trevor]

    And the ball poofed away, without as much as a goodbye. Why do I get mixed up with weird people and their unpleasant obsession with balls.

    Nice little titbit to know Trevor-the fucking alien ball, ¡®its mine if I will it¡¯. Makes no fucking sense. What is mine? How do i will it?

    I casted a spell waving my hand like a wand, ¡°Abracadabra, become mine!¡± [Allen]

    ¡°You know, if you keep doing that, I will really think you are aiming for my body¡± [Wong]

    Fucking shit. Where was this guy when the ball was here?

 Chapter 12 - Chieftain vs us

    Chapter 12 - Chieftain vs us

    Wong and I remained in our hidden spot mangled together like some star crossed lovers. How can I think with him blushing like a newlywed?

    ¡°We have to take that chieftain out. That will put the rest of them in disarray. May buy us couple of days¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Are you crazy? Take that thing with what? It looks like a cyclops. How are we two to take on that?¡± [Wong]

    Winking at him I replied, ¡°With our wits of course¡± [Allen]

    Barely containing his anger, ¡°Are you serious? We just barely outwitted our captors. How are we to outwit that thing?¡± [Wong]

    ¡°Can you be quiet and stop exclaiming at my remarks? I am working on it¡± [Allen]

    I just needed him to shut up for my brain to think. He was simply feeding it more stuff distracting from the elephant in the room. Get it? Cos that thing is huge, like an elephant.

    Few uneventful minutes pass by while I tried ¡®willing¡¯ whatever that was supposed to be mine. Nothing happened. I began to wonder whether the alien ball was just lying to get me do something stupid, which I normally wouldn¡¯t. Like fighting that monstrosity.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Allen & His Mind Voice

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Are you sure you want to do this? Yes.

    If you wait till they attack the store, you can use the time to sneak in, save at least Alvin and Camille. Or, I could just get killed or worse, let either of them get killed in the attack.

    You don¡¯t have to fight for those people. They haven¡¯t done anything for you. They are my friends. Besides, Manager Wei has been kind enough to us, despite his ¡®My kids are better than you¡¯ personality.

    I still think this is a very bad idea. Me too, but I got no choice.

    Alrite, you are the boss. That I am.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ¡°Wong, listen before you say anything¡±. Without waiting for his reply, I continued, ¡°I am going to fight that thing¡±, ignoring the shock and shushing him from exclaiming loud again, ¡°I know it¡¯s not ideal, but one of us has to do it and you have a family¡±. I said, ¡°Nothing you say will change my mind¡±, with a cold unwavering expression. [Allen]

    ¡°If you are going to fight, I can help too. I am the only one with a skill¡± [Wong]

    We both knew that skill is totally useless against a cyclops. That¡¯s what I am calling it. Or an Ogre. Yeah, Ogre is better.

    ¡°Your sentiment is appreciated, but I can¡¯t risk both of us dying. At least one of us need to get out of here to warn the others. While I distract it, find a moment to escape out of here. Save my friends first¡±, I don¡¯t care about the others. On second thought, two is better than one, ¡°If you think you can take that Ogre while I distract, have a shot at it. But your first priority is to get out and warn others¡±. Argh, I don¡¯t like second guessing myself.

    My plan was to scavenge anything that could increase my chance of survival. I had found a couple of beer bottles, soda cans, beer cans, matches, cigarette butts, drug syringes, tubes, so far nothing I can use definitively. My lucky find were a couple of house-grade propane tanks with very little fuel left on them. Enough to say bam and not go boom or ka-boom. Wong had managed to dig out a couple of burners and few lighters which still contained lighter fluids. Lucky bastard. I scattered the beer bottles around the warehouse so I won¡¯t be encumbered during the fight.

    I also managed to find huge commercial grade propane cylinders which were completely empty. They are as good as a wall decoration, but I could find a way to use them. Pleased with my work, I went over my plan with Wong one last time. He gave me an expression of disapproval, but didn¡¯t say anything;  just nodded quietly. Alrite, he goes nothing

    ----------------------------------

    The battle

    ---------------------------------

    I threw a beer bottle right at the ogre¡¯s face. It was slowly waking up from the disturbance. I threw another one and it looked around confused. I held my last bottle which I turned into a fire bomb using the lighter fluid and a piece of my cloth and shouted, ¡°Yea, you dumb ugly fatty. Wakey wakey¡± [Allen]

    The ogre finally realizing where the noise was coming from fixed its angry glare at me. It roared once more and got up holding its club. Oh god, please work.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°Hey big guy, look under¡±, and I pointed under its feet, unsure whether it actually understood what I meant. It was too angry to notice what I meant. Before it moved, I threw the fire bomb I held and it lit the propane tank which I placed under the Ogre while it was still sleeping and boom went the place. A significant amount of explosion, more than I expected, left the ogre more pissed off and dazed.

    The explosion had charred both its legs since they were directly above the propane tanks. The fire spread over its clothes and burned in left arm while the ogre squirmed with its club in the right arm trying desperately to put off the fire.

    The loud noise from the explosion had invited two smaller sized monsters, presumably from the ogre¡¯s clan to investigate.

    The two monsters saw their chieftain burning and ran towards the cause, me, with a battlecry. Totally planned. The Ogre was too furious to discern friend from foe and it slammed its club towards the two screaming. They fucking flew, holy cow, a good distance before being squashed into a pulp in the wall. I grabbed the spears, throwing one to Wong and keeping one for myself in case I needed it. A shield would have been better, but beggars can''t be choosers.

    ¡°Wong, fucking get to safety now. We can¡¯t take him together¡±, I had shouted my lungs off and ignored the Ogre, which by the way was no longer burning and making a beeline towards me.

    I barely ducked the club which passed above me blowing a gust from where my body was just there. Fuck, fuck, too fast. I had no more time to check on Wong. My adrenaline kicked in and my mind focussed at nothing but the enemy in front of me, the club of death.

    I rolled over to a spot where I had laid two bottles. I grabbed them and threw them one after the other before the ogre could turn. It has slow turn rate. I made a mental note to counter-attack when it missed its swing. The ogre turned towards me and swung its club again. I was out of its reach, however the blow was powerful enough to stumble me off my feet. Without waiting for me to get up, it raised its club overhead and smashed it directly at me with a deafening cry.

    I rolled around again missing the club by a margin and poking it with my spear tip. Nothing happened, the spear didn¡¯t even leave a mark on its body. My pondering ended as the asphalt beneath the club cracked and specks of broken debris flew around blinding me. Before I could figure out my next move, the club came sweeping the floor right at me. Crap. I blocked the club with the spear just in time to avoid a direct blow. The swing however was too powerful, splintering the spear shaft and threw me to the wall. I felt a few ribs cracking as I flew and crashed, leaving a significant crack in the wall. Coughing up blood, I struggled to gather myself before the next swing arrived.

    A big hunk of meat moved through the dust and debris covering its face with a burnt arm. Its charred legs and burnt arms giving off an infuriated aura. It was mad. If I took another one of those hits, I am 100% dead.

    Fear and panic brooded over me and my legs gave up, too shaken to support my body. I crawled towards the two propane cylinders I had arranged neatly near a gas burner. I straightened myself against the cylinders, ignited a lighter in my left hand and threatened to set fire to the cylinder, ¡°Come get me now you dumb motherfucker¡± [Allen]

    I figured, after the first explosion, the ogre would be cautious towards a second one, especially one twice as powerful. Only now, the cylinders are empty, but he doesn¡¯t need know that. Our joust came to a standstill, neither me nor the him willing to break the armistice. Honestly, I didn¡¯t have a plan after this point. I just hoped Wong would warn everyone and/or bring reinforcements. Did he get out safely?

    Moments trickled down nonchalantly as blood dripped from my eyebrows blocking my already blurred vision. My body ached like it was hurting and bleeding from everywhere. My hands were too agitated to hold the lighter in place and I was pacing in and out of consciousness. Time to talk to my brain.

    ** Allen and his mind voice again **

    You talk big to your friend and end up miserably after a single blow. Foolish choice to die for foolish people. I am not dying for those plebeians. I am doing this for my friends. Besides, that blow was like hit by a freight train. Me being alive is a miracle.

    And what are they going to feel about this? I don¡¯t care. I am simply trying to protect them my way.

    You know we can actually win this situation right? No kidding. If I knew that, why would I be dying like a dog in a ditch.

    You just have to remember, it¡¯s ours if we will it. You and me both. I thought u were me and what is ours?

    I am you, fool. Power is ours, if you will it. I think I am going crazy in my deathbed. Tell me how do I will this ¡®power¡¯?

    You grab it with your hands, *silly*. If I only knew how, *giggle*.

    Fucking shit, even my brain was mocking my disgraceful display of a fight.

    ** end of Allen and his mind voice **

    The lighter went out as my shoulders finally collapsed; the pain from the blow too significant to bear. My eyelids drew closer gradually and darkness clouded my vision each passing moment. I struggled to keep myself awake, breathing rough and ragged, extending my life as long as possible hoping for some miracle to no avail. I could hear the Ogre walk triumphantly towards me, no longer fearing the spark or explosion. Is this the end? I die a virgin? That was the only worry filling my mind while I surrendered myself to the beyond.

    My vision completely faded and I was standing alone in darkness, tired and dejected but alive nonetheless. A voice guided me towards two objects floating and radiating bright light. I walked shielding myself from the luminescence, they were the only source of light in an endless space of nothing. As I got closer the light dimmed out revealing two objects. These are mine.

    One was a flintlock single chamber gun. Like the ones used in the 14th century movies or more recently in pirates of the caribbean. It fired a single lead ball and required a gazillion minutes to reload. Totally ineffective in combat unless your enemy sat twiddling with thumbs up his ass. The other was a can of soda. Great. It¡¯s like the cosmos way of telling me ¡®You don¡¯t deserve a last meal, so here¡¯s a soda¡¯. What a pointless way of giving me two absolutely fucking useless items in a dark dream space.

    A familiar sense urged me to quickly grab both and I obliged, only to wake up looking at an angry wound-licking ogre. The Ogre was shocked to see something that I was holding. What was I holding?

    My lighter was replaced by the soda can and the flintlock gun laid near my other hand, which had collapsed earlier. What fresh hell is this?

    The Ogre picked up speed while I dropped the soda can and grabbed the gun hurriedly. I hoped to shoot it despite knowing the bullet would only bounce off its tough skin. One last act of defiance. A gun is mightier than a can anyway.

    I held it unsteadily and shot the charging Ogre, too big of a target to miss, bam motherfucker. A small dot of light travelled and hit the ogre somewhere in its body and imploded like an atom bomb. The explosion tore its belly and littered the room with flesh and blood, vaporizing everything from the knee up. An awkward silence passed and the club fell onto the charred knees walloped into a pool of blood and gore. I felt like Tom Hanks from Saving Private Ryan, the last moment where he shot a tank with a pistol and it blew up. Only, I was covered with gore and cakes of flesh and a flight blew up the tank. Bah, semantics

    All my adrenaline drained, I watched a creature, not a human, walk wearing an expression of awe and relief too hard to tell and jaws gawking at the sight of the dead ogre. I managed to catch a glimpse of it moving towards me before passing out from bloodloss and exhaustion. The world went dark one final time and I wanted nothing more than to sleep. A single thought lingered in my mind.

    Please don¡¯t drink my soda.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Chapter 13 - Sword Swinging Anthropoid

    Chapter 13 - Sword Swinging Anthropoid

    I woke up to a dark dusty mold infested ceiling with extreme pain in my chest and a throbbing feeling in my right arm. I didn¡¯t remember anything that happened from the moment my epic fight with the Ogre ended. Hopefully someone had saved me or the monsters are keeping me for a snack.

    Barely rising, I noticed I was in a makeshift bed made from dry leaves, grasses and some leather. I was in a small warm room with dusty walls that looked like they had been charred from a fire. The windows were covered with some newspapers and the sunlight barely lit the room. I was lying close to ground level and near my head were some bottles of water and a basin with some more warm water. At least now I know that I had been saved. Hopefully Wong brought some fire power and took pity on me. I noticed I was in a sheet that looked as bad as the bandages that dressed my wounds. It kept me warm, so I should be grateful. I was naked underneath, by body wrapped in bandages like a mummy. Is this Alvin¡¯s prank again? My savior was nowhere to be found, hopefully scouting the area for threats or bringing something to eat. I am starving. How long was I out?

    I tried getting myself up and sat up against the wall to take a better look at my surroundings. Yeah, this is some old house that might have caught fire during the chaos. Is there a bathroom here? I may want to pee by myself at some point.

    The two things that caught my attention almost immediately were the flintlock gun, which I used to blow up the Ogre, fine shooting if I say so myself and the can of soda, which was open and possibly empty. My savior must have been thirsty to drink my refreshment. It¡¯s not like I was looking forward to a drink after killing the fucking boss.

    I found a piece of stick which I used as a cane to stand myself up. It¡¯s so comfortable. I still felt some pain and my ached all over, but it was not as severe as the ones I felt after the Ogre wiped the floor with me. I no longer felt the blood gushing into my chest or ribs cracking. If I had to guess, the bones had mended and a complete complicated full body surgery had been performed leaving me energized instead of being fatigued. Something beyond our technology did this.

    My mind flashed the image of the humanoid creature that was there when the Ogre died and I passed out. Did that thing save me? What does it want with me?

    My mind scrambled and evaluated my options of flight or fight. Fighting in this condition is useless, however, I have the gun here. Why would it leave the gun here if it meant harm? Surely it saw what the gun did to the Ogre.

    Exhaustion took over me and I extended my hand towards the gun. Damn, that soda better have something left.

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    I came about the second time and noticed a young woman, may be in her twenties, humming some tune I was not familiar with. Is she my savior? What happened to that other thing?

    Lots of questions buzzed in my mind like how she managed to save me amidst the monsters, what was she even doing there. More importantly, how did she manage to patch me up this good? I tried voicing out and noticed, I couldn¡¯t speak. My throat was dry and every word I tried to say brought more pain.

    I extended my hand towards the bottle of water and sure enough, it tips it off informing my savior of my rouse. She turned and wow, she is gorgeous, she is so my type, looked at me with her gentle eyes.

    ¡°Rest, yes¡± [Woman]

    ¡°Hmm..¡±, moaning with a grunt, I tried to say, ¡°wa..te..r¡±. Before words escaped my mouth, my hands had already signalled her that I needed some water. She brought the bottle to my mouth, lifting my head slightly and poured it in sips.

    ¡°Drink. Slow. More. Bad. Yes¡± [Woman]

    She spoke one word at a time like a kid speaking for the first time hardly conveying its meaning.

    I couldn¡¯t voice out anything and only nodded in gratitude. I slept soon after listening to her humming and in relief knowing that I am being well taken care of. A beautiful woman taking care of my every need. A dream come true.

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    I don¡¯t remember how long I was sleeping, but I was dreaming about Trevor. I awaited for his visit in my dream space, since I had killed a monsters five times my size and at least fifty times stronger than me. That should be considered transcending, right?

    Trevor gave me two treasure chests and I managed to pull two items from my dream space, coincidence? I don¡¯t think so. I had somehow summoned my treasure chests when I was close to death and made use of whatever I was given. Definitely transcending. So, why was he not here yet. Should I make a wish?

    One would think that the alien ball pounced on every opportunity it got in scaring the shit out of me like a haunted halloween house. But no. Not this time. It looked it deliberately avoided meeting me. Or I could just be making up things.

    ¡°Wake.Yes¡± [Woman]

    I groaned and woke up looking at the beautiful woman at my bedside with porridge or some sort of a soup in a bowl and a spoon in her hand.

    ¡°Yes, I am awake¡±, relieved finally that I can talk again. [Allen]

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    She adorably blew away the hot vapor from the porridge and fed me which tasted better than the gooey mess I tasted in the store. We had canned foods in the store, so why was I eating gooey shit from a plate?

    I gulped down every spoon wolfishly, sipping water intermittently and even ravenously gulped a second serving.

    Once she was done feeding, she wiped my face with a clean cloth soaked in warm water and sat me up against the wall. For a second, I thought she wanted to give me a sponge bath. Not that I am complaining.

    She then went to her make-do kitchen and started humming the tune. The tune was melodious and had a sad rhythm to it. It gave me a feeling of something tragic happening in front of me and all I could do was watch, unable to interfere. Somewhere along the hum, I started crying and I felt for the first time in my life, helpless and vulnerable.

    The woman shushed me in quiet whispers, held me to the pillow and hummed me to a tranquil daze. I drifted into a deep slumber soothed by her hum, like a baby in a cradle rocked by a mother¡¯s gentle lullaby. I don¡¯t remember my mother. Dad told me she died when I was two. I imagined if this was how I would have felt when she was with me. I missed my mom terribly.

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    I don¡¯t know how many days have passed, but I was finally hale and healthy to move about. I helped myself to the porridge that previously my savior spoon fed me. I didn¡¯t think I would say this, but I miss her feeding me like a baby. I think it was dusk when I woke up. I couldn¡¯t hear any sound other than my savior humming the same sad tune. I think I am growing fond of it

    I mustered my courage and decided to ask her about everything that I had missed during my nursing.

    ¡°I can eat that myself. Thank you. May I know your name? And how did you find me?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°You. Kill. Bravos. I. Elana.**@@**¡± [Woman]

    I barely made out the last part of the conversation. So her name is Elana. I killed Bravos? Is that the name of the ogre. How did she know that?

    She held her hands like a fist and bumped my chest. ¡°Hurt. But. Strong.¡± [Elana]

    So, she helped the unconscious me and nursed me back to good health. She is like mother teresa. Still doesn¡¯t explain why she knew the ogre.

    Then a piffany out of nowhere comes to me. ¡°Are you from the same place as Bravos?¡± [Allen].

    She let out an aura of intimidation and stared at me. It was like someone looking directly into your soul. A sweet chill ran down my spine and I feared the next moment would be my last.

    She relaxed and with a slight nod continued in a deep voice, ¡°Bravos. Kill. My. People. I. Swear. Vengeance. You. Kill. Bravos. I. Grateful¡± [Elana]

    Multiple flags triggered in my head while I put together what little I had learned. Bravos killed her people and she wanted her vengeance. I killed Bravos and she felt she needed to repay me back. That explains why I am still alive. Has she killed humans too? Is she going to kill me for taking her prey?

    I swallowed my fear and asked her, ¡°Were you there when Bravos died?¡± [Allen]

    I wanted to her to tell me, although I had already figured it out. She was the creature that walked up to me in awe, looking at the dead ogre. How did she look like a human now? Did she shapeshift or is it magic? Is she a witch? I read witches can glamor? Is she like a 300 year old cronie like from Game of Thrones?

    She said in an excited voice. ¡°Yes. I. Saw. You. Kill. Bravos. With. Magic¡± and she handed the flintlock gun and encouraged me to take it. Does she want me to shoot again?

    ¡°I. See. No. Mage. But. You. Different¡± [Elana]

    I would have been extremely happy hearing that I had used magic, but I remember nothing. I know I had shot that ogre and it blew into pieces. There was no magic. May be she comes from a civilization where guns were advanced enough to be magic. Look here, I am a sorcerer. Bam bam. Cowboys would be legends.

    I sensed no hatred from her, so I continued my line of questioning.

    ¡°How long was I out? And thank you for taking care of me. I wouldn¡¯t have survived without you¡±. I genuinely expressed my thanks to her. However, I have to go to my friends. I don¡¯t know how long I was out or what the situation is in the store. I needed to know.

    ¡°Three. Moons. Two. Suns. Welcome.¡± [Elana]

    She was pleased with herself when she counted her fingers. There were five fingers, three moons and two suns, does that mean it was five days? Or just three days. Vague and unclear. She is so adorable.

    ¡°How do you speak our language?¡±. It¡¯s just been five days even if I go by a conservative estimate. So how did she learn english? [Allen]

    She pointed to the can of soda and said, ¡°I. You. Mate¡± and coyly smiled.

    What the fuck? Did she rape me while I was in coma? And what does that have to do with my soda?

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±. Give her the benefit of doubt, she only learned not long ago. She might have misspoke. [Allen]

    ¡°We. Shared..¡±, she thought long and hard about what to say next and decided to go with, ¡°Drink. We. Mate¡±.

    Oh, is that how it is? You drink my juice and you become mates? Like friends? I meant my soda you perverts. It doesn¡¯t look too bad then. I always wanted an alien friend who was totally my type and sang songs to me. Fucking bull shit.

    I didn¡¯t want to pressure more out of her, since she looked like she struggled finding proper words expressing what she meant. ¡°Do you know what happened in the grocery store?¡±. I imitated the ¡°foods organic¡± store as much as I could and asked, ¡°Did you see anyone come out or go in?¡± [Allen]

    She said with pride, ¡°Another. Go. In. No. Out¡± [Elana]

    That means wong made it in, which was good news. Now they would know an attack might be coming anytime. And from what Elana said, no one came out or went in after Wong.

    ¡°How did you save me from the other monsters?¡±. I was sure more scouts or even parties of other monsters would have investigated a loud noise. So, what happened to them?

    She pointed to a corner where a sword and a shield laid. She fisted herself in her chests and said with pride, ¡°I. Kill. Them. I. Stronger¡± [Elana]

    Damn girl. She is totally my type. She is beautiful, she can cook, sing and beat the crap out of monsters. What is not to like about her? Except may be she is an alien? Hello?

    Waving off my thoughts, I continued. ¡°My friends are inside the store. I have to tell them I am safe¡± [Allen]

    Seeing me trying to get up, she stopped me and said, ¡°You. Weak. From. Fight. Stay. Rest¡± [Elana]

    I know, but I have to get to them. ¡°I have to tell them about ..er..an attack¡±. I didn¡¯t know if I could say monsters to her. It could be the one taboo that destroys all our jubilant rhapsody.

    Elana shook her head in disapproval, ¡°Eat. Rest. Take. You. Next. Moon¡± [Elana]

    ¡°No, we have to go today. It¡¯s already night. I need to tell them I am safe¡±. I think I might have gotten used to this whole feeding me situation that I even acted like a stubborn child who wanted his candy immediately. [Allen]

    I think she understood that I wouldn¡¯t change my mind so she said with a sweet seductive voice, ¡°Sleep. I. Take. You¡± [Elana]

    How lovely, she is going to take me. Hah, if only those meant very different things. Something forced me to my sleep as I heard her hum the tune like a lullaby, one last time.

    I swear I heard her say, ¡°Rest. Allen¡±. How did she know my name?

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    Somehow, I felt everything was going to be fine. And then this happens,

    ¡°Hello Allen. How are you feeling?¡± [Trevor]

    Like this ball gives a shit about how I feel. If he was another person, I would have hugged and said ¡®I missed you buddy¡¯. I was that desperate for human contact.

    ¡°Nothing much. Just chilling in my dreams, you know, doing stuff¡± [Allen]

    ¡°Well, well, well. I see that congratulations are in order¡± [Trevor]

    ¡°Yeah man. I mean, that bravos guy was like wham and I was like bam motherfucker. It was a party.¡± I reenacted the fight scene and was looking at Trevor with how well I had done for myself. ¡°So, have I transcended?¡±[Allen]

    ¡°What, no. It was a good fight, but that¡¯s not why I am here. You have found yourself a mate. I wanted to congratulate you on that¡± [Trevor]

    Like my friend? Are we on the same page? ¡°What mate?¡± [Allen]

    ¡°The Elfeen girl you were with. Elana **@@**. She is your mate for life. Didn¡¯t she tell you?¡± [Trevor]

    Guy fights a monster, falls into a coma, wakes up to find a girl, she becomes his mate for life. Fuck my life. Fuck that ogre.

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