《Cave Crawl》 A Dynamic Awakening It was disconcerting to hear people talking inside your house when you lived alone. Andrew slipped out of bed and quietly tiptoed over to the door. He pressed his ear against it and listened. Four voices, maybe more footsteps? He couldn¡¯t tell. The voices were coming closer, but something about the way they echoed didn¡¯t sound right. He glanced around the room for something to arm himself with. There was a spoon in an empty yogurt container on his desk next to his phone, some chemistry textbooks on his floor, and the vase full of decorative stones on his shelf. Those were all next to useless unless¡­ He grabbed his pillow from his bed and separated it from it¡¯s cover, then dumped half the contents of the vase into his pillowcase. He tied the opening in a crude knot, then stood in front of the door. He had been able to remain calm up until then, but as the voices and footsteps grew closer he could hear his heart thumping. He glanced in the mirror and noticed he was wearing his swastika pajama pants and a white tee shirt. He grinned at the irony of the situation. Here he was, probably about to fight a bunch of blacks, wearing his edgiest pants. The doorknob turned and he brought back his sack for a strike. The door opened almost casually, as if the intruder didn¡¯t expect anyone to be home. As soon as his face came into view Andrew swung his sack into it with a satisfying thump. The burglar fell backwards and laid limp on the¡­ red stone floor? Andrew shook his head and got ready for the next one to come. Whatever happened to his carpet could be dealt with later. Another one rushed into the doorway, holding a knife in one hand and a trash-bag in the other. Andrew quickly backed away from him and grabbed his phone off his in his free hand. The intruder took a few steps after him holding the knife in an underhanded grip. Andrew chucked the phone at his face, nailing him right in the eye. He cried out in pain and raised his hands to his face. Before the intruder could recover Andrew bounded over to him and smashed him across the side of the head with his pillowcase. It blew open and rocks spilled onto his body as he collapsed. Andrew dropped the broken sack and started stomping on the man¡¯s temple with his bare feet. After the first few strikes he went limp and dropped the knife. Andrew landed a few more for caution¡¯s sake, then scooped up the weapon and poked his head out the doorway. It was as if his apartment ended outside his bedroom. As soon as he crossed the threshold the floor gave way to a smooth blood-red stone. He clutched the blade tightly and looked to his left. His hallway was replaced by a tunnel of the same material. He looked to his right and saw two more men running towards him, one with a visible pot belly and holding a tire iron, and one in a track suit without a weapon.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it He shot out towards them, taking large strides and raising the knife. He feinted a strike towards the throat of the fat man then planted the blade in his stomach when he tried to grab his wrist. Andrew stared into his face as he heard the tire iron clang against the ground. His victim looked back at him with a terrified expression and started screaming bloody murder. Andrew turned away from him just in time for the other man to punch him in the nose. Andrew staggered back and let go of the knife. The stabbed man dropped to his knees and his companion was winding up for another swing. Andrew¡¯s vision was swimming and another punch was coming in. He clumsily parried the strike, making it only brush against the side of his head. He took a deep breath and forced himself to concentrate. Another punch came at him and he turned to the side to dodge it. As the punch sailed past Andrew grabbed his opponent by the arm and jacket and used his momentum to throw him into the floor. Thugs didn¡¯t know how to fall, and they weren¡¯t on training mats here. He hit the ground with a sickening crack. Andrew steadied himself against the wall of the tunnel and wiped at the blood trickling from his nose. His opponent was crying out in pain and clutching at his shoulder. He took a few more breaths and waited for his vision to clear up. What to do? There was an enemy beneath him. He looked like the last one for now, but there could be more coming. He walked back over to the screaming man and knelt next to him. ¡°Hey, I need to borrow that.¡± He recoiled from him in terror, trying to push himself away. The wounded man shrieked in pain as Andrew tore the knife out of his gut, then quickly went silent as the blood gushed out. The man with the broken shoulder was starting to stand up. Before he could finish, Andrew rushed over to him and stuck the knife in the side of his neck. He looked around, reflecting his handiwork, before he turned away and vomited. He stumbled away from his room, shaking. He had formed a bloody fist around the knife and his eyes were darting around to find it¡¯s next recipient. The tunnel seemed to be going in a relatively straight line until he noticed an alcove. Unlike the rest of the cave, it was in darkness. Light seemed to just stop. He would be completely hidden from passing intruders in there. He took a few steps forward, then collapsed. A Reluctant Companion He came to some time later to a rather pleasant smell and the feeling of something warm and soft against his face. The sensations of something once familiar, soft skin, a flowery smell... he was laying on a woman. He opened his eyes but still only saw black. He closed them and tried again. Right, the alcove. He wasn¡¯t dead, so she probably wasn¡¯t out to kill him. Maybe she knew what was going on. ¡°Hey uh Miss,¡± he felt her tense up as soon as he spoke. He put his hand near where his face was and realized he was touching her breast. ¡°Would you happen to know anything about this cave and burglar situation I¡¯m in?¡± ¡°B-burglars?¡± She stammered out. ¡°Yeah, bunch of guys tried to break into my room. Don¡¯t know where the rest of my apartment went.¡± ¡°T-they t-tried?¡± She started to squirm underneath him. ¡°Yep, I killed ¡®em all. I think anyway, one might still be in the process of dying. Head injuries can be a bitch like that ya know? I think I¡¯m in the clear legally. They were breaking into my place, so castle doctrine states I was justified in offing them. Though I¡¯m not sure what a judge is going to say about the ones I killed in the tunnel. If that replaced my home does it still count as mine?¡± ¡°You...¡± She trailed off in disbelief. ¡°Nice! We got past stuttering! Now I¡¯m guessing there aren¡¯t any judges here, but in case there are, I¡¯m going say all the tunnels are part of my home and that everyone in them¡¯s an intruder. Except for you my dear lady, you can be my guest. Now I suppose you have some idea what¡¯s going on here, so why don¡¯t you come back to my bedroom with me and do some explaining.¡± He pushed himself back into a standing position with one hand on her breast and the other on the stone wall behind her. She let out a short ¡°eep¡±, but then stayed quiet. ¡°I¡¯m holding my hand out in front of you, grab it and get up.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± she spoke hesitantly, ¡°My hands are tied behind my back.¡± He pondered this for a moment, then knelt down in front of her and felt around for her armpits. She started to protest before he found them and lifted her to her feet. He held her by the shoulder and led her out of the darkness. As soon as he crossed the threshold, light and vision returned to him all at once. He squinted, and tried to shield his eyes with his hand. For some reason it didn¡¯t make the inside of the tunnel seem any less bright. He turned around and looked at the woman. If he had saw her before he would have thought of her as a girl instead. She was Asian with the stereotypical young face and dark hair. Her shorts were all torn up and her tee shirt looked crudely ripped, showing off large portions of her cleavage. And there was a lot of it to show off. Lots of full, soft, squeezable¡­ He caught himself staring and looked back up at her face, expecting to see her glaring. She was staring at something too. Something below the waist. ¡°Like what you see?¡± He said with a grin forming on his face. ¡°Are those swastikas?¡± She asked incredulously.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about those Miss, it¡¯s just a meme. Come on now and follow me.¡± He gently led her by the shoulder back towards his room. As they started to round the bend, Andrew noticed a corpse¡¯s foot. He stopped and turned to face her. ¡°You should probably cover your eyes, it¡¯s not a pretty sight.¡± She gave him two drawn out nods then didn¡¯t do anything. Right, hands tied. He started to take off his shirt and she backed away from him with wide eyes. He stood in place and took it off all the way, then held it out in front of him. ¡°Put the shirt over your head if you will.¡± She stood motionless for a few long moments, staring at him. Eventually she walked back over to him and ducked her head to accept the shirt. The bodies still looked the same as when he left them, so he probably wasn¡¯t out for long. He stepped over a corpse, then his own vomit, and helped her over. He told her to stay put then dragged the body out of his room and doorway before he led her into his room. He reached to take the shirt off her head but then stopped himself. A quick glance around the room reminded him there were dirty clothes on the floor, which he quickly tossed into a pile in the corner. He took his shirt off her head and put it back on himself. ¡°What are you going to do to me?¡± She asked without looking at him. ¡°Just ask you some questions.¡± He sat down on the edge of his bed. And glanced over to his computer. The light on it was still on. Come to think of it, so was his ceiling light. ¡°After that?¡± ¡°Well, that depends on what answers you give me.¡± She was quiet at this. She shuffled her feet then looked away from him. ¡°So uh, what the hell is going on?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in The Caves.¡± she said plainly. ¡°Alright, now how did we get here, what¡¯s the situation here, and how do we get out?¡± ¡°I woke up and left my room to go to the bathroom and I was in a tunnel instead. I wandered around for a bit calling for help, then that group of men found me. I¡¯ve been their captive until now. It seems everyone else has woken up here. People fight and steal every day for food and supplies.¡± ¡°So I just woke up in a violent free for all? You didn¡¯t say anything about getting out, so I guess there is no out. Well, no use being upset about that. We might as well take advantage of this situation.¡± ¡°Why do you say we?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re beautiful and you smell nice and you seem like a good person, so I think I¡¯d like to keep you around while I enjoy surviving in here. In return I¡¯ll keep you fed and safe. I think that¡¯s a good deal, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What does ¡®keeping me around¡¯ entail?¡± ¡°Oh you know, standard feminine comforts and affections: cuddling, hand holding, head pats, conversation, that sort of thing. ¡± ¡°You want to fuck me.¡± She said with disgust. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡± She looked up at him as she spoke. ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t have to do that just yet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not going to be a later thing either.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see, maybe you¡¯ll change your mind. For now though, why don¡¯t you come over here and heat up my bed?¡± He patted the spot next to him. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be your warm body.¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re going to be like that I can always tie you to the outside of my door and leave you to the next person that comes by. I bet they won¡¯t be as talkative as me. Or as gentle. If you don¡¯t want that I suggest you walk on over here. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± She slowly walked over to the bed and climbed into it. He pulled back the covers and got under them with her. He went to wrap an arm around her and she turned away. He held her anyways and buried his nose in her hair. He felt her tied hands clench into fists against his stomach and smiled. A Reluctant Companion 2 ¡°Huh, so it looks like my computer still works, no internet though.¡± He stood over his desk, leaning down to use the keyboard. ¡°What good is that?¡± She was sitting on the floor with the contents of his closet spread out on the floor before her. She couldn¡¯t help but look at a black and white checkered shirt. Most of his clothes were too weird looking for her to even consider wearing. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I had some survivalist files at one point. I don¡¯t have a printer here, but if we can find a room where someone does have one, we¡¯ll have a lot of handy reading material.¡± ¡°Nobody keeps a printer in their room. And why can¡¯t you just read them here?¡± She pushed a shirt aside with her foot. ¡°We really don¡¯t have enough food to doddle around here for that long. It¡¯s worth a shot to try and find a printer. My hard drive probably only weighs a couple pounds, so we can just stick it in a bag and hook it up when we find something.¡± He unplugged the desktop from the wall and started unscrewing its case. ¡°When will you untie me?¡± She examined a tee shirt featuring a drawing of a helicopter over the ocean. It didn¡¯t seem too bad compared to her other choices. ¡°I donno, when will you kiss me?¡± He reached into the tangle of cables and retrieved a silver box. He turned it over a few times in his hands then grabbed an old newspaper out of the trash. He wrapped the hard drive in it, then taped the paper together. ¡°How long are you going to make me keep trading my dignity for basic comfort?¡± None of his jeans were the right size for her. The only thing she could conceivably get into were an ugly pair of gray drawstring sweatpants. ¡°It seems to be working out pretty well so far.¡± He had recovered the knife from the burglar, but it wasn¡¯t much to rely on. He glanced around the room for a more suitable weapon, then settled his gaze on the wooden curtain rod. He pulled it down and looked out the window. There was a small space outside of it, surrounded on all sides by crimson rock. He brushed off the curtains and examined it. The rod was maybe five feet long with no distinguishing features. A few practice swings proved it weildly. She uncovered a shirt with a shooting range¡¯s logo.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Why are you playing with that stick if you own a gun?¡± ¡°Well, funny thing about that. I was cleaning my .45 in the kitchen and I didn¡¯t get to take that room with me.¡± ¡°Useless.¡± She scoffed. ¡°When¡¯s the last time you ate?¡± ¡°A few hours before you killed them.¡± She said this in an almost accusatory manner. Andrew raised an eyebrow, but held his tongue. ¡°Between what snacks I had in my desk and what those dead guys had, we have half a sandwich, five Cliff Bars, and a block of cheese. How about we have a little lunch date here, get to know each other a little better?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just force me to act like your girlfriend.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong babe.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°Will you untie me?¡± ¡°Sure babe.¡± Andrew motioned for her to turn around and undid the rope. He put down two cliff bars between them. She stared at it for long moment, then slipped the helicopter shirt on. He took the wrapper off hers, then his own. She immediately swept hers up and stuffed it in her mouth. ¡°My name¡¯s Andrew, yours?¡± He bit off a small segment of his bar and chewed on it slowly. ¡°Yui.¡± She didn¡¯t look at him as she spoke. ¡°What did you do back in the regular world?¡± ¡°Biology student.¡± She grunted out between swallowing chunks of food. Andrew quietly continued to work on his bar, waiting for her to finish hers completely before speaking. ¡°I was a chemistry student, looks like that¡¯s something we sorta have in common.¡± She half nodded at him, then looked up at him. ¡°Did you enjoy killing them?¡± ¡°Not at all. It was pretty disgusting.¡± ¡°Do you like hurting other people?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, though I suppose I¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± ¡°D-do you mean that you¡¯re going to...¡± She started to inch away from him. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt you Yui, but everyone else is fair game.¡± Resource Aquisition Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. A Reluctant Companion 3 ¡°Hey Yui, want to hear a joke?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Okay then. You know, I¡¯m kinda looking forward to meeting this merchant guy. We¡¯ll be able to get food, water, and maybe even a place to stay.¡± He did a little half skip. ¡°Great, another night with you.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh come on babe, isn¡¯t it nice to have someone to sleep next to?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just get a body pillow or something?¡± ¡°But it wouldn¡¯t smell nearly as nice, or be as warm, or be a beautiful girl named Yui.¡± ¡°Whatever. How much longer to the merchant?¡± ¡°Based off what Joey said it¡¯ll be a few hours. We should rehearse a dance number or something, make an impression when we meet him.¡± He moved to hold her hand but she pulled it away from him. ¡°A few hours ago you almost killed a man. How are you acting like nothing happened?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t worry about things that have already happened. And you know, can¡¯t really unbash a skull.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not that different from the robbers you killed.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t I nice to you?¡± ¡°You are, but only because you have a crush on me or something. And you¡¯re certainly not nice to anyone else.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Why does it matter what I do to other people? You don¡¯t even know anyone here so it¡¯s not like I¡¯m hurting your friends.¡± ¡°It matters because it shows who you are. God¡­ you¡¯re not even that nice to me. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve been kidnapped by one of those weird kids in class that¡¯s obsessed with video games and anime and tries to hit on me just because I¡¯m Japanese.¡± ¡°I mean I¡¯ve always been interested in adventure games but JRPGs were never my thing.¡± ¡°Listen to yourself! You can¡¯t take anything seriously! It¡¯s all a big fucking joke to you. Haha, I murdered someone. Haha I stole all their food and water and now they¡¯re going to die. Haha, I¡¯m forcing Yui to degrade herself. Haha, I¡¯m complete psycho and its funny.¡± ¡°Drop the bags. Now.¡± He stopped and glared at her. ¡°W-what are...¡± Her demeanor changed almost instantly. She quickly dropped her bags and faced him with fearful eyes. ¡°I thought we had a deal going here. I¡¯d protect and provide for you and you¡¯d give me companionship and affection. Instead what I¡¯m getting from you is rejection and insults. I don¡¯t know why you resent me killing your captors. They broke into my room with every intention of killing me. I just kept myself alive. And it wasn¡¯t like they treated you well either. They kept you in rags that barely covered anything. You know what, I didn¡¯t mind the view at all, but I knew you did. I gave you my own clothes so you could feel comfortable. When we only had enough scraps to eat for two days I made sure you had food before I had anything. Would they have done the same for you? And now you¡¯re mad at me for taking those things from that Joey guy and his friends. Don¡¯t you remember how that was going? They weren¡¯t going to give us jack shit unless I whored you out. Would you rather have done that than watch some asshole get a face full of wood? Or would you rather me play at being virtuous and have us starve to death?¡± ¡°Andrew I...¡± ¡°If you hate me and how I treat you so much you¡¯re free to leave. Just give me my bags and we can part ways. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have no trouble fending off marauders and gathering supplies by yourself.¡± ¡°No, please...¡± ¡°Please what?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave me here all alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I think you¡¯ll have to be more clear.¡± ¡°I need you Andrew. I can¡¯t survive without you. I-I swear I¡¯ll cuddle with you and hold your hand and¡­ maybe do other stuff. Just don¡¯t leave me, please.¡± ¡°Alright great. Promise to cut out this ¡®I hate you¡¯ bullshit and I¡¯ll keep you.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Andrew picked up the backpack and handed it back to her. She averted her eyes and received it. He sighed and started walking again. Classmates You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The Diner Andrew and Yui walked behind Dan¡¯s group, holding hands at a distance. Yui was as far away from him as possible while still making contact. She nervously glanced between Andrew, who was wearing a stupid grin, and Ezra. Ezra was barely able to walk, being almost completely supported by one of Dan¡¯s men. He periodically grunted in pain as he shuffled forward. Andrew walked with a half skip in his step, seemingly completely unladen by his bags. ¡°So Ezra, how long you been in here for?¡± ¡°Fuck you, you stupid bag of shit.¡± ¡°Thanks, very informative. Dan-man, how long has Ezra been here?¡± ¡°About three weeks.¡± ¡°That¡¯s funny, ¡®cause I remember seeing him in class the day before I came here¡­ Weren¡¯t you looking at cuckold fetish porn on your laptop instead of listening to the lecture on Power Series?¡± ¡°Wait, how could that be the last lecture you were at if that¡¯s the last one I was at before I came here?¡± ¡°Ah, now notice that he doesn¡¯t deny what he was watching.¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up Andrew.¡± ¡°Well, guess there¡¯s some sort of weird time shit going on between the normal world and this place.¡± ¡°Come to think of it you¡¯re probably right¡± One of Dan¡¯s men chimed in. ¡°Nobody said they heard anything about suspicious disappearances before they ended up here, so its possible we all came here at the same regular world time.¡± ¡°You sound like a smart guy, what¡¯s your name?¡± Andrew asked while holding back a laugh. He lightly tugged on Yui¡¯s hand and she reluctantly came closer to him. ¡°Billy.¡± He looked to be pretty young, maybe only seventeen. Still, he was well built and had the bruised knuckles to boot. He looked at Andrew for a moment, trying to figure out whether or not he had been insulted, then gave up. Andrew nodded at him and kept walking. There was a sort of intersection up ahead, with one path seeming to go in the same direction they were already heading, and the other taking a sharp right turn to a much wider tunnel. Andrew glanced at Yui and saw a strand of hair hanging in front of her face. He reached over and gently brushed it behind her ear, then fixed his own hair. She looked at him quizzically, and he nodded back at her. Dan¡¯s group came to the intersection and turned into the wider tunnel. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Dan said, looking over his shoulder at Andrew. ¡°Start anything here and you¡¯ll be shot dead. Okay?¡± Andrew nodded at him, still grinning. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just skip straight to the shoot him dead part?¡± Ezra said with a scowl. ¡°We? Why don¡¯t you do it yourself? Lets get us some guns and have a duel. I¡¯m not sure you¡¯d want that though; Every Thursday I went to the range while you went to fag club.¡± Ezra grumbled something then looked away from him. ¡°Knock it off, you two,¡± Dan scoffed ¡°You¡¯ll both be killed if you start anything this close to him.¡± The walls of the tunnel got wider and wider the farther they went. They rounded a bend and the tunnel turned into a bustling cavern. It was as if they walked into a third world market. Scattered throughout the place was a network of tent like structures, sleeping bags, and shops. Various clotheslines, wires and ropes crisscrossed the space, with blankets, curtains, and whatever else could be used as a barrier hanging from them, forming individual enclosures of various shapes and sizes. People moved aside cloths to variously enter and exit tents. Andrew noted that none of them had anything over the top. He glanced up and took in the domed stone ceiling. They didn¡¯t have to worry about rain so roofs would be a waste of limited resources. Somewhat separate from most of the tents was a somewhat more orderly arrangement of shops. Some had their goods displayed on chairs, others on bookshelves. The poorest of the bunch had them spread out on floor mats in front of them. The commercial area seemed pretty busy and was patrolled by groups of men openly carrying rifles. The Merchant¡¯s guards perhaps? A closer look showed they were all wearing white armbands. As they walked further into cavern the smell of hundreds of people living in close proximity hit them. Andrew scowled, then looked to Dan¡¯s men. They hardly reacted to it at all, probably because they were used to it. Yui made an expression of disgust and covered her nose. Andrew could feel the eyes drawing to them. The normal day to day chatter of the makeshift village slowly turned to excited murmurs. He held his head high and squeezed Yui¡¯s hand as they paraded through. After they walked through a bit of the residential area and ignoring a few inquisitive residents, a rather out of place sight started coming into view. It was a 50s style mom and pop diner, with a neon sign and all. Around it there was a circle of roughly 50 feet where there were no structures, or loiterers. Dan started working his way towards the diner. Once they reached the entrance Dan motioned for them to stop. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to go inside and let the boss know what¡¯s up. Y¡¯all stay out here and don¡¯t start anything.¡± Andrew nodded at him and watched him enter the diner. Through the door he caught a glimpse of a few people lounging around in the booths. The door closed shut behind Dan. Andrew looked over his shoulder and found the entirety of the cavern gawking at him. Might as well give them something to watch, he thought. He gently pulled Yui towards him and gazed fondly into her eyes. She looked up at him with a mix of confusion and embarrassment, then averted her eyes. He touched the tip of his nose to hers. She looked back at him and blushed before he planted a short kiss on her lips. ¡°Can¡¯t you wait until you¡¯re alone to make out with your bimbo girlfriend?¡± Ezra spat. ¡°Isn¡¯t there an oven you sh-¡± ¡°Stop it, both of you.¡± Billy interrupted. Andrew glanced between him and Ezra, then looked back to Yui. He wrapped his other hand behind her back and she laid her head on his shoulder. They stood like that in silence for a few minutes until Dan came back out. ¡°Lovebirds, Merchant wants you inside.¡± Andrew half nodded at him. ¡°Everyone else, Ezra is to be shown to a room. After that we¡¯re going to go back on patrol.¡± Dan opened the door and motioned for him to enter. Andrew walked in, tugging Yui behind. He swiveled his head around, taking in as much of the diner as he could at once. The floors were a checkered black and white. The counter was immaculately clean, with two women in their forties sitting down at it. They were both dressed in out of date business attire, looking like secretaries from the 80s. Maybe that was when they were still attractive. One was behind a laptop plugged into a wall outlet, while the other was sorting through stacks of paper. They both spun around in their stools and stared at him. He tried to put on as much of bored expression as he could as he looked over to the booth area. A man stood up from a booth and walked over to him. He was tall and lanky, wearing a denim jacket, snakeskin boots, and a cowboy hat. Andrew glanced at his waist and saw two holstered revolvers. He looked back up to the man¡¯s face and smiled. ¡°Howdy partner.¡± ¡°Real funny there! So you¡¯re the new guy. They call me Gunslinger Sam, but you can just stick to Sam, or Cowboy if you like nicknames.¡± He spoke with a strong western accent and a friendly tone. He held out his hand. ¡°Nice to meet you then Cowboy.¡± Andrew grasped his hand and gave it a few quick shakes. ¡°So what do I call ya, Nat-si?¡± ¡°Andrew will do for now.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Dragon, Wiseguy! Come meet our distinguished guest!¡± He turned around and called out to the booth area. Andrew looked over his shoulder and made out four heads for the two names he heard. ¡°You guys must be pretty distinguished, what with having code names and hanging out in the Merchant¡¯s place.¡± ¡°Damn right we are! We¡¯re the best of the best, his strongest and coolest men.¡± Andrew¡¯s eye twitched at the sheer corniness of what he just heard. Sam smiled at him as if to say he knew before continuing. ¡°Everyone else has to run jobs for food and rent like independent contractors, but we¡¯re the salaried employees.¡± ¡°So guys like Dan and Ezra are mooks and you¡¯re the minibosses.¡± He saw a suave looking man in a black business suit get out of the booth. He was tall and well built, with dark hair neatly gelled back. ¡°A pleasure to meet you.¡± The man in the suit spoke slowly and with composure. ¡°I¡¯m Antony, but the people here call me Wiseguy.¡± He held out his hand for a shake. Andrew let go of Yui and shook his hand. ¡°And you dear miss, may I have your name?¡± He looked to Yui. ¡°The girl doesn¡¯t matter Wiseguy, The Merchant wanted to meet Andrew.¡± Said the cowboy. ¡°That¡¯s no excuse for being rude. Don¡¯t they know how to treat a lady out west?¡± He turned away from Sam and back to Yui. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that, miss. May I have your name?¡± ¡°Y-yui.¡± She stammered out. Andrew glanced back to the booth they were sitting at, still seeing the backs of three heads. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady.¡± Wiseguy reached to touch her hand, probably to do that thing where he kissed it. Andrew stepped forward and between them. Before he could say anything he saw a scantily dressed girl scoot out of the booth, followed by a very muscular and very tattooed man. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me there was a hot chick?¡± He asked Antony in annoyance while lumbering over. Another girl scooted out behind him and shot an offended look to the first. Andrew motioned for Yui to back up. ¡°You The Dragon?¡± Andrew asked, glancing over his muscular form, trying to figure out how the hell he¡¯d take him in a fight. ¡°No, I¡¯m just Dragon. That girl free or she yours?¡± He leaned so he could see around Andrew and ogle Yui. ¡°She¡¯s taken, so what¡¯s your deal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the strongest and baddest motherfucker in the caves. I got back from crushing Muslims in Afghanistan just in time to smash bastards for The Merchant. So is that chick your slave or your girlfriend? ¡®Cause if she¡¯s the former I¡¯ll buy her off you, just name your price.¡± The two girls dragon was with started glaring at Yui and whispering to each other. ¡°She¡¯s somewhere in between and not for sale. I would appreciate it if everyone would stop making advances on her.¡± ¡°Boys, you know the rules.¡± A man emerged from the kitchen area to their right. He was short and partially balding, but carried himself with the confidence of a world leader. He must be The Merchant, Andrew thought. ¡°Women and alcohol are allowed on the premises as long as you can enjoy yourselves peacefully with them. The second you can¡¯t, they will be removed.¡± ¡°Sorry boss.¡± Dragon murmured. ¡°Sylvia¡± The merchant turned to the woman at the laptop. ¡°Begin a new audio recording in ten seconds. Dragon, take the girls you already hired and use them outside.¡± Dragon nodded before quickly collecting the under-dressed girls and exiting. Sylvia turned around in her chair and gave a thumbs up. ¡°Mr. Andrew, you¡¯ve made quiet a splash since arriving in our little red home. I see you have Joey¡¯s bags. I trust he didn¡¯t just give them to you. Tell me how you got them.¡± ¡°Well, me and my girl were hungry, but somehow Joey ended up eating wood and I ended up dining on his sandwiches.¡± He rotated the pole in his hand. ¡°Wiseguy, confiscate that stick.¡± Antony walked over to him and put his hand on the top of his rod and tried to pull it away from him. Andrew held onto it. ¡°You¡¯re going to give me that stick.¡± He spoke slowly and clearly. Andrew considered his position, then let go of it. ¡°Thanks for taking that off my hand, it was getting to be a pain to carry.¡± He cracked a grin, Wiseguy didn¡¯t reciprocate. ¡°A few days ago my scouts reported that a party of bandits was clearing out a new section of rooms and had an Asian woman as a prisoner. Today I heard that same party of bandits was found dead in a pile outside a room. Now you¡¯re standing in front of me with an Asian woman behind you.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°How many people helped you fight them off?¡± ¡°None.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t go into details, but there was a¡­ very high level of brutality involved in the killings.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I just defended myself as best I could.¡± The merchant was quiet for a minute. ¡°And with Ezra...¡± ¡°Oh, I know him from school, we never got along.¡± He paused for a second. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s all the questions, I got some stuff I¡¯d like to sell to you.¡± ¡°Andrew, I¡¯m more interested in you than whatever trinkets you stole from Joey. Tell me about yourself. You mentioned school, what were you studying?¡± ¡°Chemical engineering, I got a book on it in my bag plus some more back in my room.¡± ¡°And your fighting, have you had any formal training?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done judo for a while, though when it comes down to it I end up mostly free-styling.¡± ¡°Any experience with firearms?¡± ¡°Yeah, once a week I¡¯d go to the range with my .45. Do kitchens ever turn up in this place? Because that¡¯s where my gun is.¡± ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever heard reports of a kitchen.¡± ¡°Well shoot.¡± ¡°I want you to work for me Andrew.¡± ¡°Like just for a job or¡­¡± ¡°No, as a full time agent and retainer. You¡¯ll just have to do a mission for me to prove yourself and you¡¯ll be compensated generously.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the pay like?¡± ¡°You get your own room in the area, three meals a day plus water, an alcohol ration, and a negotiable weekly salary of MP.¡± ¡°MP?¡± ¡°Merchant points. Essentially my own currency backed by the sandwich. Many others also accept it as payment.¡± ¡°How can you afford to back something with a sandwich? Won¡¯t you run out eventually?¡± ¡°Every night the entire diner restocks itself, there¡¯s a near infinite supply of food and water under my control.¡± ¡°Well ain¡¯t that dandy.¡± ¡°Do you accept my offer?¡± ¡°Honestly man, I¡¯m not a big fan of following orders or working for other people. I¡¯d like to keep on going as a freelancer. I¡¯m not opposed to taking up jobs from you, it¡¯s just that I¡¯d prefer to have the option to say no, you know?¡± ¡°If you work for me I¡¯ll put up your woman as well.¡± ¡°I mean that¡¯s fine and all but-¡± Andrew stopped, feeling Yui tug on his shirt. He turned to look at her and she spoke. ¡°Andrew, I don¡¯t want to keep wandering around and fighting random people. I want safety, security, provisions. I would be really thankful if you accepted his offer and got a place for me to stay. If you won¡¯t do it for yourself, won¡¯t you do it for me?¡± Andrew was quiet for a moment. He glanced to the rest of the people in the diner, scanning their expressions. Sam smiled and nodded at him. Wiseguy looked blankly back at him. Andrew turned back to The Merchant. ¡°Okay uh, how about this. I¡¯ll try being your guy for a month or two. At the end of that I¡¯ll decide whether I like it or not. Is that fair enough?¡± ¡°A forty day trial period?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Good. Welcome to the team Andrew. Your first assignment is going to be in two days. To make sure you don¡¯t into too much trouble or heavens forbid get cold feet, I¡¯m going to have to have you stay in a room until then.¡± ¡°I¡¯m under house arrest?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d hate for you to run into anyone else you know from school among my staff.¡± ¡°Alright, I guess I can do that. This should be a good opportunity for me and you to get uninterrupted alone time huh Yui?¡± He turned to her and smiled. He could feel her heart drop. Alone Time not happen you pervert.¡± She got all red and flustered while Andrew laughed. Guards recording w/ phone. Playing talk-show directly into it to mask our noise. Will gradually increase volume so they¡¯re not suspicious. Yui nodded at him, then looked away. After a few moments she looked back at him expectantly, having noticed he was still facing her. He was smiling fondly, gazing into her eyes. She tried her best to stay calm, deciding after a little too long to raise an eyebrow. Andrew leaned over to her and kissed her cheek, then laid back on the bed, taking in the unfamiliar ceiling. Yui scooted a few inches away then laid down as well, covering her red cheeks with her hands.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The Sad Cowboy Andrew¡¯s pleasant slumber was cut short by the sound of knocking on the door. He reflexively tried to sit up, but couldn¡¯t with Yui on top of him. He rolled on his side so that she slid off of him and walked over to the door. Yui mumbled something, still asleep. ¡°Give me a minute here and let me get some clothes on!¡± He picked up his phone and turned off the talk show, then shoved the speakers under the bed. A glance over at the computer reminded him that it was still on, so he rushed over and yanked out the plug. He looked around the room, checking to make sure there wasn¡¯t anything else suspicious in plain sight, then opened the door. Sam was standing on the other side holding a cloth grocery bag. The two guards were standing beside him. ¡°Hey Andy, mind if I come in? I got y¡¯all¡¯s food here.¡± Andrew cringed a bit at the nickname, then stepped back and motioned for him to enter. ¡°What do we have for eats?¡± Andrew sat down on the bed, glancing over his shoulder at Yui. She was still fast asleep. ¡°Your choice of a beef and cheese sandwich, sorta warm hash browns with eggs, or cold waffles with strawberries and syrup.¡± ¡°Why¡¯re there three options?¡± ¡°Well if you wouldn¡¯t mind I¡¯d like to eat dinner with you.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s alright. No way to warm the food up though?¡± ¡°Wiseguy has the only microwave outside the Diner.¡± ¡°And I guess he¡¯s not going to be too receptive to sharing it. I¡¯ll take the eggs and hash browns. We¡¯ll save the waffles for my girl.¡± Sam nodded and took a tupperware container out of the bag. He passed it to Andrew, the pulled out a sandwich for himself. ¡°Oh yeah, you also get 60 milliliters of vodka a day.¡± Sam fished out a short water bottle, then offered one to Andrew. ¡°No thanks man, I¡¯m more of a toker than a drinker.¡± ¡°Take it anyway, get some MP for your troubles.¡± ¡°Keep it for yourself, my treat.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Sam broke into a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s so cool of you Andrew.¡± Andrew smiled back at him and nodded. It would be worth more in the long term to get on his good side than to have a little more money. Sam took the cap off the bottle, then took a sip. ¡°So, where does the vodka come from? Is it replenished like the rest of the food in the diner?¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s a still set up a ways away from the diner. This here¡¯s potato vodka, courtesy of the restaurant stock. It¡¯s not the best tasting stuff but it sure drowns your sorrows.¡± Andrew shrugged and started opening up his container. ¡°So, what¡¯d you do on the outside?¡± ¡°The outside? You make it sound like we¡¯re in prison.¡± ¡°Well what¡¯d you do in the regular world then?¡± ¡°I was a security guard at a strip mall.¡± Andrew glanced him over again, trying to get a read on how old he was. Mid twenties maybe? ¡°What were you?¡± ¡°I was a chemistry student.¡± ¡°Huh, so does that mean you could make a bomb or something like that?¡± ¡°Maybe if I had an entire lab to work with. Honestly what I know probably won¡¯t be that useful here. I¡¯m used to getting my precursors in clearly labeled bottles and vials.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s a shame. If we had explosives we could deal with these bandits without losing so many men.¡± Andrew picked up the fork inside his container and started munching on the food. He hadn¡¯t realized how hungry he was until he started eating. ¡°So, were you always a mall cop?¡± ¡°I used to be a real cop.¡± ¡°What happened to that?¡± ¡°Actually, forget I brought it up. I don¡¯t want to talk about that right now.¡± ¡°Okay Cowboy, whatever you want.¡± ¡°So are you really a Nazi?¡± ¡°Not really. it¡¯s just that these pants are really comfy and I don¡¯t like the Jews.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make you a Nazi?¡± ¡°Alright man, so National Socialism isn¡¯t just knowing about the Jews, it¡¯s also a structure of very specific racial and metaphysical...¡± He trailed off, noticing Sam¡¯s eyes start to glaze over. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m a Nazi.¡± ¡°Okay Andy.¡± He took a bite out of his sandwich and washed it down with vodka. The stuff had a pretty strong smell. ¡°So, what¡¯s the hold up on this mission? Why can¡¯t I just go and do it right away?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m supposed to tell you that.¡± ¡°Because I might get scared and run off? I don¡¯t think you have to worry about that.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say what your mission is, but you¡¯re going to be working on it with another retainer. She should be returning from her last mission if all went well.¡± ¡°She? Well give me the details here, is she hot?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. She¡¯s pale, has short hair, pretty skinny.¡± ¡°How do you not know if a chick¡¯s hot?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you already have a woman to take care of? Why are you so eager to see another?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ve never had a harem before, but this seems like the time and place to start one.¡± ¡°Why the hell do you think that?¡± ¡°Well, I never thought I¡¯d kill anyone before I came here, and within five minutes of waking up I was looking at four or five bodies.¡± ¡°Christ, I¡¯d hate to be facing you in a fight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s good and all that we¡¯re on the same side.¡± Andrew looked down at his food and stirred it with his fork. ¡°For now at least.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that ¡®for now¡¯ bullshit Andy. There¡¯s no other side you could be on here. Those high and mighty folk up at The Settlement would probably kill you on sight. If you went down into bandit territory... well you already slaughtered some of them. Plus I don¡¯t think you¡¯d hold onto that precious girl of yours for long.¡± ¡°You¡¯re assuming I have to be on a side.¡± Andrew pointed out. ¡°In these parts you don¡¯t last long without one.¡± Andrew considered how much fighting he¡¯d been through since he arrived. ¡°Fair enough.¡± Andrew noticed Sam¡¯s bottle was empty. Sam reached into his jacket pocket and took out a flask. ¡°You¡¯re a big fan of that vodka.¡± ¡°I have a lot of sorrows to drown.¡± He looked down for a moment, his smile dropping. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about them, share the load a little?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a real sad story man, I don¡¯t want to burden you with it.¡± He unscrewed the top of his flask and took a long sip from it. Andrew hoped he watered that stuff down. ¡°Maybe it would be good to tell someone. It couldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Sam looked away from him, then set the flask down on his lap. ¡°Alright I guess.¡± He took a deep breath, ¡°Back when I first joined the force, I was the department¡¯s snack guy. Everyone would text me what kind of coffee and donuts they wanted and I¡¯d go to this shop out on the edge of town to pick up stuff for them. It was a small place, with just this guy and his fifteen year old girl working the joint. I¡¯d go in there all the time and get stuff for the whole department. They got to know me pretty quickly. The dad would always give me the ¡®ole respectful ¡®Mornin¡¯ Sir¡¯ while his daughter would just say hi real casually. She seemed so happy when she said it though. After a few months of traffic duty and fetching food I walk in to see a fence hopper roughing up the owner, trying to get him to open up the cash register. I take my gun out and he surrenders real quick. I pistol whipped the fucker a few times in the head for causing trouble, then haul him into the cruiser. On the way to the precinct the guy starts vomiting and making these god awful sounds, so I take him straight to the hospital. Turns out I gave the guy brain damage. The next thing I know I got some illegals¡¯ rights organization suing me for police brutality. I get to court and the man and his daughter are there to testify. They swear up and down that he charged me and I was only defending myself. There were security cameras in the store but the owner said he forgot to put in a tape that day. The jury couldn¡¯t convict me, and I got to go home. I¡¯m pretty sure the robber is still being carted around in a wheelchair and eating through a straw. When I went back to the shop they started giving me food for free, and on my breaks I¡¯d hang out with them. I guess we got close after that.¡± ¡°So you still feel guilty about crippling that guy?¡± ¡°God, I wish that was all there was to this story.¡± He picked up his flask and took a swig. ¡°So fast forward a year from the incident. I¡¯m spending time with these guys every day. Every once in a while the dad invites me upstairs to have a beer with him. Did I mention they lived upstairs in the shop? The girl was really into theater and would try to get herself into every local production she could. I tried my best to see every one of her plays. I¡¯d get her flowers every time, and when she could she¡¯d get me a prop as a souvenir, like this hat.¡± He pushed it up by the brim, showing more of his forehead. Andrew wondered why he was telling someone he just met about this. Sam was certainly past tipsy, but that couldn¡¯t be all of it. Was he just so lonely and tormented that he¡¯d talk to anybody that would listen? Andrew nodded at him and motioned for him to keep going. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m out on patrol on a Saturday night and I get a call. I answer the phone and it¡¯s her. She¡¯s crying and telling me that somebody¡¯s trying to break in. I tell her I¡¯ll be over as fast as possible, but I¡¯m on the other side of town. I radio in to the rest of the PD what¡¯s happening, but they¡¯re all tied up with a string of robberies. I put on my sirens and tear through suburban streets at sixty miles an hour. My heart¡¯s pounding and my hands are shaking when I get to the place. I didn¡¯t bother with the driveway, I just drove onto the grass and got out of the car with my service revolver in hand. The front door¡¯s locked so I kick it open. Inside the first thing I see is the dad slumped up against the wall, bleeding from his head. I look over to the register and I--¡± He choked up and tears started streaming down his face. ¡°I saw him crouching over her-- her remains with a knife in his hand. The bastard¡¯s saying something, the same thing over and over again. I couldn¡¯t tell you what it was, but I saw his eyes, and he was cracked out all to hell¡­ I don¡¯t remember doing it but I shot him. Three times in the gut. He didn¡¯t die. He just started screaming and howling. I realized how¡­¡± He gripped his flask and started openly sobbing. ¡°How wrong it was to let him bleed on her. I grabbed him and dragged him off to the other end of the room and shot him in the head until I ran out of ammo. I almost wished I saved a shot for myself. God. I waited for her to get up and end the act, but she didn¡¯t. I heard the sirens coming and covered her with my jacket. While the other cops were canvasing the scene and trying to ask me what the hell happened her dad woke up. God the sound he made, it was the most soul wrenching noise a man could make; the cry of a man how lost his only love and joy. The next day I was sitting in jail. I heard on the news that the father drank a bottle of Percocet and hung himself. They charged me with murder, but the police union lawyer got it downgraded to manslaughter. The prosecutor offered me a plea deal. I would have to resign, take anger management classes, and then I¡¯d only get five years probation. I took it of course.¡± Sam titled his head back and patted on the bottom of his flask to get the last few drops out of it. ¡°So that¡¯s how I lost my badge. Afterwards it was impossible to find a job. Nobody would hire the cop who made the news twice for bad reasons. I was close to buying another gun to end it all when the girl¡¯s uncle got in touch with me. He offered me a job as a security guard at his strip mall. Even though it was years ago I still see her in my dreams sometimes.¡± Andrew stared at him in awe for a minute, then hugged him. Sam sobbed like a child into his shoulder while Andrew tried to think of something comforting to say. He gave up and held him in silence. After a while Sam stopped crying and pulled himself back. ¡°T-thanks Andy, I guess I should be going now.¡± He stood up and stumbled a bit. Andrew got up with him and put an arm around his back to support him. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t want you to feel like this Sam.¡± He walked Sam over to the door and knocked on it. Sam wiped at his cheeks with his sleeve. After a moment a guard opened the door. ¡°Hey, Sam¡¯s had a bit much to drink, can you take him back to his room for me?¡± The guard looked at Sam, seemingly surprised to see him in this state. He said something to the other guard, then moved to receive him. Sam looked over his shoulder at Andrew and smiled through the tears. Andrew smiled back and nodded at him as he was led away. Once he was out of sight he closed the door and turned to face the bed. Yui was looking back at him. ¡°Andrew?¡± She said in a sleepy voice. ¡°How much of that were you awake for?¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Andrew shook his head and climbed back into bed with her. The stench of vodka still lingered in the room. Coworkers If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Weapon ID¡¯d by Dragon as civilian model AR15, chambered in 7.62. Just great. No wonder he was able to rack up such a high body count. Reports indicate traps involving falling heavy objects, trip wires, blades¡­ It¡¯s worse than a D&D game. All observed rooms had an attached bathroom. Well there¡¯s a useful bit of information. Bathroom¡¯s mean sinks, and sinks mean cleaning supplies underneath. Andrew spent the next hour reading the rest of the reports but failed to find any more useful information. Despite the sheer volume of it, all of the data was from one of the three encounters, so a lot of it was redundant. Coworkers 2 The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey, now we both know a secret about each other!¡± Frogman That¡¯ll be us in a few hours. Andrew looked down the tunnel and squinted. It was hard to make out against the stone, but it looked like a trail of dried blood led to the guy. Andrew rolled him over on his stomach with his stick, then used his stiletto to cut open the bag and spill its contents on the floor. They must have already been picked over; the only things left were some bloodstained clothes. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. not the time for antisemitism Andrew!¡± She shouted, red in the face and shaking. Spoils Andrew rolled onto his back and pointed the gun at the doorway. His ears were ringing and his hand felt horrible. Did he win? Did it eve- The bathroom door opened and hit him in the head. He cried out and sat up. ¡°Oh my God Andrew I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Sylph brought her hands to her face. Andrew rubbed his head with the back of his hand then got to his feet. He stared blankly at her for a moment then slowly turned away. He walked to the doorway with his gun raised, then stepped outside. She stayed behind, half afraid that the Frogman was still alive. A moment later Andrew returned holding a partially melted and torn rubber mask. ¡°You¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡°You don¡¯t want to see what¡¯s left of him.¡± ¡°We¡­ We did it!¡± Her eyes lit up and her mouth broke out into a wide smile. Andrew nodded at her and dropped his gun on the floor. It landed muzzle first on the carpet and bounced once. He threw the mask on the bed, then looked into Sylph¡¯s eyes. ¡°When we get back, we¡¯ll be treated as heroes! We¡¯re legends, we¡¯ve done what nobody else could do.¡± ¡°Beaten, stabbed, shot, gassed, then blown up... this Frogman¡¯s like a modern Rasputin. If I recall correctly everyone remembers him and not his killers.¡± Andrew said. ¡°What are you saying?¡± Sylph asked. ¡°Well, maybe we should downplay how hard it was to kill him.¡± ¡°Andrew you¡¯re new. You need to make a name for yourself. I¡¯m in the shit. I need to get back in The Merchant¡¯s good graces. It won¡¯t do us any favors to act like what just happened didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Okay but can we somehow leave out the whole gassing and bombing bit? I thought we came to the agreement that-¡± ¡°We can¡¯t keep that under wraps and you know that. You flooded a room with poison gas, and if it¡¯s as bad as you said it is out there he¡¯s probably all over the ceiling. People will know when they come here.¡± Andrew examined the wall as she spoke, nodding every few words. It was odd. The inside of his head was swimming, like he had just gotten off of a roller coaster. After she stopped talking he realized she expected a response from him. He hadn¡¯t listened to what she had said, so instead he changed the subject. ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll turn this into luxury housing or something?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean there¡¯s like bathrooms nearby, so you don¡¯t have to pay for a shower, you can shit outside of a pot...¡± Andrew took a step forward then paused, staring blankly off into space. The wall paper had a series of flowers on it. Were they tessellations? He couldn¡¯t remember. His hand hurt when he moved it or held it in certain positions. Maybe not doing anything with it was the best policy. Gunshots faintly echoed in his head. He closed his eyes. ¡°Hey um, Andrew, the mission¡¯s basically over, you can start calling me Amelia now.¡± He slowly turned to look at her. Two women in his bed, holding him in his sleep. That¡¯s why he wanted her. Was that past tense? He couldn¡¯t tell. She remembered her promise and even reminded him. Did she want it too? Did she know what he was? She¡­ She was expecting a response. ¡°Okay.¡± His head ached on the inside. On the outside there was a duller, more concrete pain. Did he have a bruise? He had to check. Appearances were very important. Weren¡¯t they? He walked past Sylph and into the bathroom. The lights were off and he instinctively flicked them on with his left hand. The switch went right into a ruptured blister and let out a trickle of blood. He stared at it. There was part of him on the wall. All of the Frogman was all over the walls. That¡¯s what he did that to another human being. He looked at the mirror and saw himself. Or what other people saw anyways. His forehead was bruised a dark purple and Sylph-- no, Amelia-- was watching him over his wounded shoulder. She looked concerned. Andrew moved his mouth until in the mirror it resembled a grin, then turned around. ¡°We still have to get the guns out of the safe before we celebrate.¡± ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡± She put on an equally fake smile and walked to the edge of the door. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. Andrew was still watching her from the mirror. She gave up the act and went into the bathroom with him. Amelia was going to put her hand on his wounded shoulder to turn him around. His wounded hand reached over his shoulder and lightly grabbed her wrist before she could. ¡°I¡¯m wounded. Please be careful.¡± He spoke to their reflections. She apologized, but then was still. Andrew let go of her, leaving a little blood behind. She led him out of the bathroom by his other shoulder. Her touch was so soft and delicate, even through the leather jacket. Once they got to the main room she scooped up the pistol and dropped it in her bag. Andrew stood still. Amelia didn¡¯t know about his scars. Yui didn¡¯t either, and neither did any of his other new¡­ coworkers. Ezra knew though. He was going to kill Ezra, but Yui stopped him. He couldn¡¯t keep hurting her like that, letting her see what he did. She needed to stay sequestered. Amelia walked over to the bed and deposited the mask in his bag, then carried it over to him. She put it over his left shoulder, then left the right strap hanging. She led him out into the doorway by the hand, then covered his eyes. Andrew didn¡¯t mind much being in the dark, especially when he could feel her touch. Amelia¡¯s hands were cool, almost cold. Although his sight was obstructed he remembered the scene vividly. ¡°Did you see?¡± As soon as the question popped into his mind it came out of his mouth. ¡°I¡¯d rather not see.¡± The image of the mask close to his face returned to him. If Sylph hadn¡¯t come to save him his head would¡¯ve popped like a squeezed balloon. Was it Sylph that saved him or Amelia? Did he need to keep talking? He spoke just in case. ¡°That was probably the smart thing to do.¡± The hand left his eyes and he felt¡­ disappointed. Whether more for the lack of touch or the lack of dark, he couldn¡¯t say. He looked over his shoulder and saw the curving tunnel behind them. There was no indication of the confrontation here. It was out of sight, but not out of mind. They were approaching a door at the end of the passage like the one they entered through, but a different color. Andrew stopped. ¡°I want to vomit.¡± Amelia looked at him and wrinkled her nose. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep going. You do it here then catch up.¡± Andrew nodded at her, then turned away. He squatted and hung his head. The acidic taste let him know he could vomit, but nothing came up when he retched. He needed to clear the burning feeling from his stomach though. He tried several more times, then stood up and bent over. A crashing sound followed by screaming cut him short. He turned around and sprinted towards the now open door. On the other side of it was an overturned bookshelf with her legs sticking out from under it. ¡°Help! Agh! Getitoff getitoff!¡± She broke down into a mix of inarticulate screaming and crying. Andrew knelt next to the shelf and grabbed it by the edge. He stood up with it, lifting it as he went. The books formed a heap on top of her by the time he was holding it at waist height. ¡°Get out from underneath!¡± He said with a strained voice. She just laid there crying. The pain in his hand was immense. He had probably ruptured half the blisters at this point. Blood was starting to dribble from where he was holding the shelf. He couldn¡¯t abandon her though. Summoning all his strength, he raised the shelf up to his shoulders, then pushed it so that it landed on its other side. He looked at his hand and saw it was almost completely covered in blood. He had undoubtedly fucked it up. Still, he got down on his knees and started clearing books off of her. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡± She whimpered. Andrew moved a dictionary off her arm and she screamed in pain. The shelf must¡¯ve broken her it. Among the books covering her, Andrew found a rope with some hooks attached. They must¡¯ve somehow connected to the shelf and turned it into a trap. Once he removed enough books, he reached down and picked her up. She was limp in his arms, only alternating between whimpering and sobbing. He carried her out of the room and back into the passageway, then sat down against the wall with her. Andrew whispered gentle reassurances to her as she buried her face in his jacket. After a long while she grew quiet and stopped stirring.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Andrew asked quietly. ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯m mostly better. Mentally. Arm¡¯s busted though.¡± ¡°Are you good to keep moving?¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Andrew started to move. ¡°W-wait. I¡¯d like to¡­ rest like this a bit longer.¡± Andrew nodded and closed his eyes. Rest sounded appealing right now.
Amelia popped two pills in her mouth then started tracing the contours of the safe with her hand. Andrew had recovered some gauze from a bathroom and was busy wrapping up his hand. He ran water over it to clean the wound, but he knew he would need to use an actual antiseptic eventually. That kind of pain was just too much right now, though. It felt better now that his hand was shielded from the outside. He glanced over to Amelia, who was doing something with a stethoscope. The way she had clung to him¡­ She made him feel wanted. Andrew smiled a bit and stood up. ¡°Amelia, I¡¯m going to go check the neighboring rooms, will you be good in here?¡± He asked. ¡°Thankfully I¡¯m left handed. Don¡¯t worry about me, I got this. Please be careful out there, Andrew.¡± ¡°I will.¡± He grabbed his pack and stick, then headed out. Now acutely aware of the possibility of traps, he used his pole to test everything he touched. With it, he opened doors, swept floors for tripwires, and moved piles of junk to search for ground traps. At times his caution bordered on paranoia. On one occasion he avoided an entire room because there were too many electrical wires on the floor. With a tangle like that it would be impossible to tell whether anything was a trap or not. Andrew went from bathroom to bathroom, raiding the medicine cabinets. For being in the middle of an opiates crisis he had to check quite a few rooms before he found some Oxycontin. He put a pill in his mouth, then washed it down with water from the sink. It occurred to him that he could refill his bottles from the sink, so he topped them off. He was going to have to review the pills he collected once they made camp. All of them would definitely be valuable, but some would be more useful as medicine than merchandise. Andrew went a little further outside the area the gun safe was in to the hallway just before the gas. He pushed a door open with his stick and a moment later an ax on a rope swung out at neck height. He nearly pissed himself out of fear, even though he was a good five feet from its arc. Once the trap stopped swinging he cautiously stepped inside. After spending a while scanning the room and finding nothing suspicious, he resolved to poke everything with his rod just to be safe. The entire bedroom proved safe, and he repeated the process with the bathroom. Finally coming down from his alert, he checked the medicine cabinet and found an extra large bottle of Vicodin. He initially considered telling Sylph about it, but then realized it would be more useful if kept secret. If they ever came into conflict with The Merchant, he¡¯d be able to sustain her for a while. She didn¡¯t need to know, and The Merchant certainly didn¡¯t need to know. There was one more room in the hallway, near the door to the bathroom. Andrew almost wanted to pass on looting it because of how close it was to the gas, but in the end his curiosity got the better of him. He tried the doorknob, but for the first time in the caves the door was locked. He frowned, then broke down the door with several well placed kicks. On the other side was a simultaneously disgusting and beautiful scene. All along the room¡¯s shelves was a large, lovingly arranged collection of colorful figurines and mecha models. The walls were covered end to end in anime style posters, ranging from cute to downright obscene. On the floor however, were piles of trash and dirty clothes. Poking out from under the bed were several bottles with yellow contents he didn¡¯t want to consider. Inside the desk drawers he found a few small bottles of liquor. Sam would like those. Andrew scanned the room. Whatever he took now would be free, and whatever he wanted later he¡¯d have to pay for at a huge markup. The only thing that made sense was to take everything remotely interesting. Whatever else he found he¡¯d just have to get a separate bag to carry. Over the course of an hour he stripped the room of DVDs, figurines, posters, bottles, and even the computer¡¯s hard drive. Just when he was about to check out the bathroom he heard a voice. ¡°Andrew? Where are you?¡± It was Amelia. He walked out of the room and answered her. ¡°I¡¯m over here!¡± He started walking to the sound of her voice, then saw her after rounding a corner. They walked closer to meet each other. ¡°What¡¯d you spend so long gathering? Your pack looks full.¡± ¡°Items for medicine and recreation.¡± ¡°You got drugs?¡± ¡°And anime.¡± ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re a fucking weaboo?¡± Sylph started laughing. ¡°The guy who casually reads Hitler watches anime.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more common than you think.¡± ¡°Heh¡­ You really crack me up. Anyway, the safe¡¯s open. There¡¯s a lot of guns so I got you a second bag to carry your share.¡± ¡°How did you learn how to do that?¡± ¡°Deal with safes? I was a professional thief on the outside.¡± ¡°Ever kill anyone on the outside?¡± ¡°Me? No way. Some of my partners did, but I only ever stole. Of course the second I showed up here that all changed.¡± ¡°Well, I guess similar story with me, except I didn¡¯t get into too much trouble on the outside.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s just another thing we have in common. Now lets grab these guns and get back home.¡± ¡°Yeah about that...¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well, you said that we have to tell The Merchant about the bombing and gassing because he¡¯s going to find out eventually anyways.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°So this whole secret trade thing doesn¡¯t really work out anymore.¡± ¡°What are you suggesting?¡± ¡°Did you see any .45 auto rounds in the safe?¡± ¡°Yeah a bunch. There was another gun just like the one you used in there.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking, you let me take half those rounds and the gun I already used. Neither of us say anything about it to The Merchant.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to check our bags.¡± ¡°There were some of those black alcoves along the way to this place. I say we stash a gun and some ammo there. That way the next time one of us gets sent on a suicide mission we can make the odds better for ourselves.¡± ¡°But if anyone checks the alcove it¡¯s right there for the taking.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ll duct-tape it to the wall seven feet off the ground in the alcove.¡± ¡°Okay.¡­ And you promise to never mention anything about my condition?¡± ¡°I promise. Oh! I just remembered I found some pain killers. Here.¡± He fished the bottle out of his pocket and offered it to her. She took a pill and dry swallowed it. ¡°Thanks Andrew, this arm¡¯s a bitch.¡± They went back to the safe and stuffed their bags with weapons. They walked back through the corpses with lighter hearts and heavier sacks. For a brief moment as they went down the ramp their hands accidentally touched, but neither of them pulled away. Detente Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The ceiling of the tunnel was about ten feet off the ground, so he expected the same to hold for the alcove. Andrew stuck his arm straight up and jumped, touching nothing. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t getting high enough off the ground? He grabbed his pole by the end and pushed it straight up over his head. Still nothing. He walked out toward the entrance of the alcove, with his rod held over his head. By the time he got to the very threshold he hit stone again. He traced it with the end of his stick, finding it to go from a sharp upward slope to a level surface almost instantly. He would have to come back later to investigate though; If he spent too long in here Amelia would be liable to ask questions. He used an old tee-shirt as a container for the loot, stuffing it inside. Then he taped the openings shut and stuck it to the wall some eight feet off the ground. He reemerged into the unexplained light. Autopsy how, though.¡± Andrew and Sylph were quiet, glancing at each other as if expecting the other to start. Just when she started to open her mouth, Andrew began. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Psycho Nazi.¡± Andrew half laughed. The Merchant ignored his comment and went to work cataloging the weapons. Andrew moved to grab his other bag, but Dragon stopped him. ¡°I almost died, like five different times! I¡¯m not fucking okay!¡± He shouted, pulling his hand away from hers. Wounds you prefer for me to eat before I talk, or while I talk?¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The worst I could find was this giant vertical circle. Basically you¡¯d get into a seat and it¡¯d send you around in a series of loops, over and over again. The whole thing had me petrified, but I knew that all I had to do was get on, and then I¡¯d be in it until it was done. I squeezed myself into the line and barely passed the height check. Everyone else in line was a teenager or college student. They kept bumping into me because I was so much shorter than them. When I got to the front of the line the operator just stared at me for a long time. He reeked of weed, but I didn¡¯t even know what that was back then. I think he was considering not letting me through, but the people behind me started yelling at him to hurry up so I got on the thing anyway. About then the lights flickered. did.¡± Scars Andrew tore the cabinet door off its hinges and looked inside. There were two jugs within, all white except for their handwritten labels. Ammonia and bleach. He stabbed holes in both of them with his knife, then turned to follow after Sylph. He pulled on the knob to the bedroom, but it was locked. He could hear the chemicals crackling behind him. No matter how much he kicked at the door, it wouldn¡¯t open. Heavy footfalls came closer and closer, and there was less air to breathe. Gas bit at his exposed skin as he raised his knife and charged through the cloud. His entire body erupted in pain and- ¡°It¡¯s not real! Wake up!¡± Andrew opened his eyes. Yui was kneeling over him without touching. Andrew turned his head, taking in the room. The burning feeling across his body had disappeared, but the memory lingered. Was that what chloramine felt like? He had read somewhere that you couldn¡¯t feel things in dreams that you hadn¡¯t felt before in real life. That would suggest that his dream was a distorted memory of- No. Can¡¯t think about that, especially not now. ¡°How long was I out for?¡± He asked, rubbing his forehead. ¡°About twenty minutes.¡± She looked at him with concern. ¡°Well, so much for sleep being better than staying awake.¡± He sat up, putting his good hand on Yui¡¯s thigh. She was still wearing the ratty shorts she had when he found her. They didn¡¯t exactly cover much skin. ¡°Uh huh,¡± She suddenly became very interested in the ceiling, doing her best to ignore what he was doing. He gave her a playful squeeze then kicked off the covers. ¡°You¡¯re so soft and squishy!¡± He said in an exaggerated childish voice. ¡°Thanks I guess?¡± He squeezed her again, a bit harder this time. ¡°Can you stop now?¡± He got out of bed and walked to the desk. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t take refuge in dreams, drugs, or flesh, so it looks like I have only one option left.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Attempt to relive memories of my favorite website through saved content.¡± ¡°What?¡± He hunched over the computer and typed in the password. With only one hand he couldn¡¯t do it from muscle memory. After entering all sixty characters, he hit return and was greeted with an error message. Invalid username or password. Fuck. Yui came up behind him and gently put her hand on his good shoulder. ¡°Let me do it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know my password.¡± ¡°I saw you put it in when you turned on the computer. It goes W-E-M-U-S-T-S-E-¡± ¡°Okay great!¡± Andrew said, trying to hide his panic behind enthusiasm. ¡°So uh, just enter that in here so I can look at my files.¡± He stepped aside. Within a minute she had it unlocked. ¡°Do you have photographic memory or something?¡± ¡°Is that when you just look at things and don¡¯t forget them?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I guess I do then. So, what¡¯s that password and why¡¯d you make it so long?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what it is?¡± ¡°I only remember what keys you hit. I don¡¯t know what it sounds like out loud, though I could probably work it out in my head...¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just not figure it out now!¡± ¡°Hey look a funny video!¡± Andrew used the Windows search bar to bring up a file he remembered, not wanting Yui to even have a glimpse of the rest of the computer. A short clip of an old man dancing in the street played. ¡°Is that really your password?¡± She asked as soon as it ended. ¡°I mean, you typed it in, you would know.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so...¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a meme.¡± ¡°Just like the pants?¡± ¡°Yep. You know, now that I¡¯ve thought about it more, I¡¯m not too keen on using my computer right now.¡± ¡°Well what are you going to do?¡± ¡°Can you take off your shirt?¡± ¡°What!? No!¡± She backed away from him, blushing bright red. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll settle for conversation then.¡± He sat down on the desk and looked down at his hand. It was still hurting, but when he kept it still it wasn¡¯t so bad. ¡°What do you miss the most from the real world?¡± ¡°My group of friends.¡± ¡°Any person in particular?¡± ¡°Not really. They¡¯re all much more pleasant as a group than by themselves.¡± ¡°I wonder if they thought the same about you.¡± ¡°W-what are you saying?¡± ¡°You know what I mean. Would you like to find another friend group here?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯d like that, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll happen.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Sam¡¯s severely disinterested with me, Dragon and Wiseguy want to¡­ well do what you¡¯re doing, and Sylph...¡± ¡°And of course you¡¯re not even considering all the other people because they¡¯re a lower social class than you.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± She started to get flustered. ¡°They¡¯re the unwashed masses, and you¡¯re the soon to be washed consort of a retainer.¡± ¡°Hold up, what¡¯s a consort, and what do you mean by ¡®soon to be washed¡¯?¡± ¡°It means girlfriend, and you¡¯ve been a while since a shower.¡± ¡°So have you. You smell like roadkill. And I¡¯m your girlfriend now? Like, one hundred percent? Zero percent slave?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Then why do you keep antagonizing me whenever we talk? You weren¡¯t like this an hour ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry babe, it¡¯s just my personality. I¡¯ll try to be nicer.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep acting this way with me.¡± ¡°You think this is just my hard spiky exterior that I use to protect my actual subtle and sensitive emotions?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yui, I¡¯m not a good person. I¡¯m honestly kind of an asshole.¡± She was quiet at this, not saying anything to contradict him. Andrew sighed. ¡°What do you want me to do? Talk about my past? My feelings?¡± ¡°That would be good. I don¡¯t really know that much about you.¡± ¡°Okay, then, my feelings. Well, you¡¯re mine and that¡¯s finally okay with you. I¡¯m so cruel and fucked up and you¡¯re so kind and beautiful, but you¡¯re still with me. Happiness. Confusion. Doubt. I have to go to the doctor because the boss man said so, but I don¡¯t like docs. Anxiety. I¡¯m an in house mercenary, so I¡¯ll have to kill more people. Maybe I¡¯ll feel like shit afterwards, maybe I won¡¯t. Resignation.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you like doctors?¡± ¡°Take off my clothes and I¡¯ll tell you.¡± ¡°N-nevermind. Why do you feel bad about killing the frog guy and not my captors?¡± ¡°I donno. With the burglars it was all very reactionary, not much thinking. With Brandon, I went through several thought out plans to kill him. I guess another thing is I talked to him. Maybe I just need to not do that, forget that they¡¯re human and all.¡± ¡°Andrew...¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough opening up.¡± He stood up and walked over to her. She had started to inch back, but then stopped once he pulled her into a kiss. She seemed half surprised, but her tension quickly faded away once their lips met. Although she was still clumsy, Yui didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to break away. Andrew pulled back a little, making a smacking sound as they separated. She kept her eyes closed, expecting more. He returned to her, and he could¡¯ve sworn she leaned in to him a little bit. He put his hand on the back of her head, as if to guide her. Moments later, she wrapped her own hands around his back. After a minute she pulled back. ¡°If you want to keep doing this you¡¯re going to need to do something about your stench.¡± Andrew nodded, then drew her back in. She was so fresh and tender. It made him giddy to feel her like this. A knocking on the door interrupted him. Andrew caressed her cheek while gazing into her eyes, then walked away feeling frustrated. He opened the door to see Dan on the other side. ¡°You got a check up, kid.¡± Andrew nodded at him and followed him out into the tunnels. ¡°Come in.¡± Andrew stood on the other side of the closed door, trying to prepare himself for going inside. Dan walked off, heading back the way he came. ¡°I said come in! Don¡¯t stand there!¡± After briefly considering going back to his room, Andrew forced a grin on his face and opened the door. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up Doc?¡± He said in his best Bugs Bunny impression as he walked in. There were several beds side by side in this room, with sheets hanging as dividers between them. The doctor was a man of about fifty, covered in wrinkles and sagging with years. Somehow he still had a pristine white lab-coat and stethoscope ¡°I just put the girl in a sling. She came begging for pain killers and said that you had a bottle of them. You have to deal with that later, but please run the dosages by me first.¡± He talked with a faint accent but Andrew couldn¡¯t quite place it. Eastern Europe maybe? ¡°Yeah sure. While we¡¯re on the subject, how much oxy do you recommend for a hundred fifty pound Aryan Ubermensch?¡± ¡°None, a true Ubermensch doesn¡¯t need medication to cope with pain.¡± ¡°Touche. Alright, so what¡¯re we going to do here?¡± ¡°Diagnose and if possible treat injuries accrued in the line of duty.¡± ¡°So whatever I had before I became a hired gun is my own problem?¡± ¡°Boss wants you healthy to fight. I¡¯m just giving him that.¡± ¡°I guess being healthy to fight means being healthy enough to maintain a harem.¡± ¡°Whatever floats your boat. Now if you¡¯d please,¡± He motioned to a bed. Andrew sauntered over to it and sat down. ¡°Thank you, now clothes off.¡± Andrew took off his jacket, grimacing as it rubbed against his shoulder and hand. He repeated the process with his tee-shirt. It used to be white, but after days of use it was starting to tinge a grayish brown. He held his arms out so his upper body could be inspected. ¡°Pants too if you may. You can keep the underwear on, unless you think something¡¯s wrong down there.¡± ¡°My legs are fine thank you. I¡¯ve only received injuries to my hand, head, and shoulder¡± ¡°Alright, just take your pants off so I can confirm that. I have to make a medical report for the boss and he¡¯s very passionate about thoroughness.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t want to take my pants off.¡± ¡°Why? You like one of those shy girls that won¡¯t show her body to anyone? Are the swastikas your security item?¡± ¡°Fuck you man.¡± Andrew scowled and pulled his pants down to his ankles. ¡°Oh...¡± Any semblance of mirth quickly drained out of the doctor¡¯s face as he took in Andrew¡¯s thighs. He pulled his pants back up. ¡°Acid, two years ago. Lots of damage to sensory nerves, motor nerves completely intact. Any more questions about my legs?¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°A really fucking negligent bastard spilled God knows what on me. I¡¯ll get back at him though.¡± ¡°Are you sure you-¡± ¡°Can you just clean my hand and shoulder?¡± Andrew sat still and ignored the pain as his wounds were cleaned and dressed. The humiliation had brought the memory fresh to his mind. Accounts were still unsettled, but fate had given him another chance. The doctor rewrapped his hand and covered his shoulder with gauze. He had him do a few basic tests then declared him not concussed. Andrew hardly payed attention to any of it. He had stopped and held off at first on account of Yui, but now he knew he couldn¡¯t do that any longer. That man¡¯s life was an affront to his own. He had to kill Ezra. Premeditation
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. An Update on the State of the Story I can no longer make the regular time commitments in order to keep posting chapters on any kind of schedule, so I''m not going to try to come up with a new one. Cave Crawl is still ongoing, and will continue to be updated, on a wheneverly basis. Maybe in the future I''ll start keeping a more regular posting schedule, but for now I can''t promise anything other than new chapters eventually, and that things are going to get more weird as the story progresses. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long. Chapter must be at least 500 characters long.