《Sky Rain A Journey Home》


 (1) System Shock

    May 14, 2025; Clay Benton lay asleep in his bed, one leg hanging out from under the thin oversheet. He couldn''t help but toss and turn in the uncharacteristically hot weather Chicago was currently having. The building''s AC units worked overtime to cool its occupants'' apartments but that wasn''t what had Clay sweating. He was having a very vivid nightmare about being chased by a strange woman who had four arms, smooth purple skin, waist-length raven-black hair, and almost glowing green eyes.


    He ran through a vaguely familiar forest shrouded in a dense fog that gave everything a weird ghostly appearance. He ran. She was right behind him. He could hear her soft white boots on the damp leaves only a few paces behind him.


    "You can run from me my love, but I''ll always find you!" Came the strange woman''s voice, sounding somewhat like his ex-wife. He tried to run harder as she let out a gleeful cackle from right behind him. He could almost feel her on top of him ready to pounce. A gnarly root caught the toe of his boot and he felt himself falling. He instinctively braced himself to slam into the ground hard, bringing his hands up to catch himself. But there was nothing.


    He had closed his eyes for a brief moment when he expected to hit the ground hard only to find himself floating in a bright white room containing nothing but a simple light green transparent screen that displayed various tabs and smaller windows with information scrawled in a weird flowing black script. Clay looked around to see if anyone was around. This didn''t feel like a dream.


    This felt completely different.


    This felt... real somehow. He looked down and could see he was dressed in a strange white suit with stylized gold buttons.


    "Hello?" He asked. He didn''t see anyone but he felt like there was someone or something just outside of his perception. He didn''t know why he felt like there was but something told him there would be.


    "Hello, Sovereign Clay Benton. Congratulations on being selected to receive the newest system seed." A sultry female voice said from just beyond the blinding light in a perky tone. "The greater powers of chance chose you, as well as a few others of your species to become this world''s Sovereigns in the trying times that will come for your planet. Your people will need your strength to survive the coming apocalypse. Please select a free boon from the tabs on the system screen."


    "System seed? Apocalypse? What the fuck is going on?" Clay asked, growing a little apprehensive after hearing the woman''s words.


    The voice was silent for a moment. When it responded it sounded serious, almost completely devoid of the perky demeanor it had just a moment ago. "The System Seed allows you to progress in power by leveling up. The higher your level gets, the greater your powers will become, either by defeating foes or completing system quests."


    She paused as if consulting with someone else before continuing. "After you leave here you will be able to access the system by selecting the small gold dot in the bottom left of your peripheral. As for the events that are coming, I can only say your world will become a very dangerous place, Clay Benton. Your technology will fail you. Animals, people, and plants will mutate uncontrollably and become dangerous and unpredictable. That''s what is going on." The voice said. It had changed from serious to almost dire in her intensity.


    Clay thought for a moment. "Oh." That sounded ominous indeed. "Okay. So who are you, an angel?" He had never been very religious but he didn''t know who else would deliver messages for whatever those greater powers might be.


    The voice let out a little laugh that turned into a giggle as it quickly regained its composure and replied, "No, no, nothing as grandouis as an angel." It paused and then continued, "I''m your designated System Administrator. It''s my job to help you progress as a new Sovereign of your species."


    That was pretty straightforward he thought. "Alright, what''s your name?" He asked. "If I''m going to have to talk to you then I need a name. And no I''m not going to call you Administrator."


    The voice was quiet, as if thinking, then hesitantly said, "At one time I think I was known as Kris. Now please select your free boon Sovereign. I''m afraid we don''t have much time left." Her voice had changed to almost an urgent pitch.


    Her urgency made him look back at the screen. There were hundreds of fucking tab''s! Each with different names and they seemed color-coded in some way too but he didn''t immediately see a key for the colors and they seemed to be mixed randomly. "How the hell am I supposed to pick anything? I don''t know what most of these things mean."


    Instead of giving him an answer he heard a "ding" and then the voice said, "Thirty seconds remaining for the host to receive their free boon. Please choose one."


    He started to panic. Shit, he hated rushing anything! It always bit him in the ass in the end. "Ahh fuck!" He exclaimed as he tried to read some of the tabs.


    Bone blade. Energy missile. Reflexive strike. Chameleon.


    "Ten seconds." The voice said. His heart started pounding and he got the distinct feeling if he didn''t pick something he would live to regret it. And he didn''t have long.


    "3...2..." The voice counted as he hurriedly tapped a tab that said "Adaptable Conversion." Whatever that was. As soon as he tapped it though he heard another "ding" and the voice said. "Congratulations. The host has chosen the Passive Ability: Adaptable Conversion. When the host absorbs or comes into contact with mutated DNA, they have a chance of obtaining a new Passive Ability or Skill the source possessed upon obtaining the sample." The voice chimed now back to the sultry, perky tone. "System Seed will now be integrated into the host''s body."


    "What''s happening?" Clay asked as he winced from the sudden brightness that enveloped him.


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    Then he roared in agony as it felt like something small seared into his left shoulder blade. The heat felt like it fused with his bone. Embedding itself into it. And an area the size of his hand felt burnt. Like he had been branded in the process. The pain didn''t stop there though.


    Oh no. It radiated through his body. His voice almost horse from his roar of agony. It felt like molten lava slowly inched through his blood vessels. Nowhere was spared and he found himself on his knees, shaking as his lungs ran out of air and refused to fill up again as he convulsed. His arms gave out on him as he finally was able to gasp for a bare minimum of oxygen, right before he landed face down on the clean, white floor.


    "Good morning Chicago! This is your local news and weather for your early morning commute..." His alarm/radio blared to life as his eyes snapped open. He was tangled up in the damn oversheet, and at some point had rolled off the bed, and hit the nightstand corner as he did so by the feel of his left shoulder. He shook his head as he extracted himself from the sheet and stood to go to the bathroom for his mourning routine. After a quick shower, he shaved and dressed for work.


    As he left his apartment building he couldn''t help but think about the weird dream he had had while he walked to the bus stop. He had a motorcycle but the traffic was atrocious no matter what. He quickly learned it was cheaper and more efficient just to ride the city transportation back and forth to work. It only took about thirty minutes, give or take and he was standing in front of the time clock at the warehouse with his punch card in hand as Jill gave him a flirtatious wink from behind her desk. He gave her a smile and a wink back causing her to flutter her hands like she was getting hot.


    It was a game they had played for the last six months he''d worked at the warehouse. Kimbul and Trine Logistics supplied many small mom-and-pop stores throughout the greater Chicago area. He spent all day loading trucks based on what invoices she handed him, and he was pretty good at it. "Hey Tonya, you have that.." He walked out of the office, not hearing the rest of Jill''s question to Tonya, with the newest invoice in hand he started his work day whistling a random tune he couldn''t identify.


    The morning flew by, and before he knew it he was sitting in the break room eating a microwaved ham and cheese sandwich watching as the TV in the corner usually set to FOX news channel started flickering as if it was getting static even though it was through a satellite. Then he heard someone gasp from the window as something bright flashed in the sky outside. Clay stood up with his sandwich and walked over to the window. The other man was Dillon, one of the loading dock managers, and thankfully Clay wasn''t under him. Dillon was an obese man who was nearly as round as he was tall. The man stood there, eyes as wide as saucers, he seemed to have forgotten about the warmed-up plate of what looked like lasagna in his hands.


    "What the hell?" Dillon said as he looked at Clay, in disbelief, or maybe the look was better described as dumbfounded. "Are we under attack?" He looked back at the TV as the screen cut back to a blonde reporter in a white blouse holding a FOX microphone. She was standing outside the Whitehouse and from the view of the camera, there were small meteorites exploding in mid-air like fireworks on the fourth of July. Some of them even flashed in odd colors as they detonated midair.


    The woman was speaking. "...NASA has stated this event was undetected and unavoidable. A nearby star has exploded..." The screen faded out as if the signal got much weaker before it cleared again. "... ejected across our arm of the galaxy. We wouldn''t have been able to avoid it. Experts claim the meteor storm will cause severe damage to the world''s space industry and satellites as well as the potential for moderate surface damage. Elon has released a statement offering to loan new Starlink satellite usage to the government. SpaceX will begin launching new satellites as soon as the threat passes."


    "Please remain calm. And listen to your local authorities. They assure life will return to normal as soon as our planet makes it through the meteor cloud. Meanwhile, the Internet has dubbed this event the Sky Rain..." The reporter continued as meteorites continued to rain down through the puffy white clouds over the capitol, a surreal sight to be sure as men and women in suits rushed here and there in the background of the camera''s view.


    "Ahh shit!" Exclaimed Dillon as he dropped his paper plate and waddled as fast as he could out the break room door. Clay took another bite as he watched a meteorite explode, smaller pieces raining down on the metal roof across from the warehouse where he worked. It sounded like bird shot hitting the tin and he could see paint missing and a small black spot that from this distance had to be as big as a softball or maybe even a cantaloupe.


    He looked down at the line of trucks backed up to the docks awaiting their loads or currently being loaded, and the parking lot adjacent to the warehouse opposite the one he worked in. People were rushing to leave and he witnessed a blue Ford Bronco side swipe a red Mustang convertible as it forced its way through the cluster-fuck that the parking lot turned into. Horns blared and he could see a fistfight between two women erupt. Clay just shook his head and finished his sandwich. On the way out he picked up Dillon''s mess knowing it would most likely be Jill that would end up cleaning up the slob''s mess.


    He clocked back in and surprisingly had a very easy rest of his day. There was a distinct lack of people and he managed to load five trucks by himself and was whistling, happy about the bonus he was going to be getting on this week''s paycheck when he heard Tonya cursing from the office. The Sky Rain had continued all day varying in intensity as the earth moved through the fast-moving meteor cloud and he had reported two holes he had found in the roof and was just getting ready to open the office door when he heard her.


    "What the fuck do you mean you''re leaving me Sarah? This will be over soon and everything will go back to normal." He heard a speaker phone crackle as the reception was horrible. He had seen what he thought was a satellite streaking out of the sky before crashing into Lake Michigan during his last break. He stood there, one hand on the door, not daring to open it and interrupt Tonya.


    "No, no, no wait Sarah..." The phone line went dead and he heard Tonya let out a sob as she ran into the bathroom attached to the office. He heard Jill stand up but he chose that moment to open the door and enter the office. The first thing he did was look at the clock above and behind Jill''s left shoulder. It was a few minutes till 4:00 p.m. and he looked back at her with his best smile.


    "Hey, Jill." He closed the door behind him. "I found another damn hole about as big as a basketball near the freezer section. I gave it a quick over and found this." He placed a still-warm piece of what looked like molten greenish-tinted metal that had been flattened on one side where it had struck the top of the freezer unit. "Can you put it in with the other reports please?" She nodded as she took out her phone and took a picture of the odd pitted greenish lump of metal he still held in his gloved hands.


    "Sure will hun. I don''t need that though." Jill said setting the phone down on her desk. She slid onto the edge of the desk, the slit in her dress showing off the top of her stockings as she smiled seductively at him. "So do you think you could walk me home tonight? The bus routes aren''t running right now and I know you live somewhere near my neighborhood." She absently played with her strawberry blonde hair with a finger, twirling it as she blatantly flirted with him.


    He gave her a wink and a mischievous grin and said, "Sure can babe. I''ll see you after work." He blew her a kiss as he turned to open the door and chuckled as her cheeks flushed red. He thought about throwing it away but decided to take it home. He might be able to sell it online and make something off the fucking thing so he placed it in his lunchbox and finished loading another truck before clocking out and meeting Jill outside the warehouse. The sky had darkened as rain clouds moved in. Thankfully by then the earth had rotated enough that only a random meteorite streaked through the air.


    "Ahh, there you are!" Jill exclaimed with a smile. "Let''s go, hun."


    "Sure thing dear." He winked as she hooked her arm in his and they started towards Jill''s. They talked about the Sky Rain and the various accidents and crashed vehicles and other things. Clay thought about asking her if she wanted to get a bite to eat as they walked past a small diner set next to a bus stop and a small park. He decided not to though as she talked about her aging mother waiting for her at home. He was ok with their current relationship. Jill was the first woman he had shown interest in since his succubus of an ex-wife took him for everything he was worth.


    That has been a rough time for Clay. He had lost his job, house, and relationships with people he had thought were his friends. It had been a very hard lesson for him to learn.


    But he had started over, and to be honest he felt a lot more confident in and about life now than he had been and was in no rush. Soon they were walking up to her building, and as he said goodbye she raised up on her tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek. "Thank you, hun." She said as she giggled and punched in the code to get into her building. "I''ll see you tomorrow." She purred as the door closed.


    He chuckled to himself and started to walk to his street, it was only three blocks over and he found himself whistling again deep in thought.


    He didn''t notice the two men following him until a third man stepped out in front of him, and he suddenly took notice of his surroundings. His face was hidden in shadow as he held up a hand and said, "Yo, Cracker, give us yo'' wallet and we won''t beat yo'' ass. Make a fuss we''ll leave you dead bitch." The man flashed a pistol that was tucked in his pants and Clay felt the two men behind him tense.


    This wasn''t the first time this had happened to him though and regardless these guys were going to more than likely hurt him even if he gave them what they wanted. So he slowly raised his hand and reached behind him, took out his wallet and handed it to the man with the gun.


    The man smiled and said, "Smart move, bitch." As he dropped his shirt and reached for Clay''s wallet.


    Clay dropped the wallet just as the man''s hand reached it and with a quick step forward and a snap of his hand, he drove his hand into the man''s throat violently and grabbed the pistol as he tried to pull his shirt up again to grab the weapon. "Fuck you!" Clay said as he pivoted, smashing the pistol butt into the first of the man''s two buddies'' right temple with a sickening "crunch". The man dropped, his feet twitching as the third man stopped, his eyes going wide before he ran away, ducking out of sight in a nearby alley.


    Clay struck the other man in the face who was on his knees choking, dropping him next to his twitching buddy before he kicked him a few times with his steel-toe boots to give him a little more to remember him by. Picked up his wallet and then paused, looked around and seeing the street was still clear of people quickly searched their pockets and was surprised to find a large roll of twenty dollar bills wrapped around twelve Benjamin''s and he quickly stuffed the wadd in his pocket and the gun in his pants before walking on. He was only a block away from his apartment.


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 1 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained. New skill acquired: Vicious Strike. The host can initiate a sudden attack that has a high chance of stunning the targeted foe. Cost: 10 Mystical Points." Said a sultry female voice. The same one he had heard in his dream.


    Clay almost missed a step as he heard the voice. "Holy shit. Your real?" He asked as he looked up-and-down the street and saw nobody around. After a moment he got a response.


    "Very real, Clay Benton." Said the voice.

 (2) Mutations

    May 14, 2025; Clay sat in his lazy boy recliner and looked at the roll of money in front of him and the pistol that did have the serial numbers ground off by a rotary tool. The clip and extra .38 bullet set next to the gun and money. "So this is happening?" He took a deep breath and nodded to himself and then remembered what the voice had said in his dream.


    He focused on a small golden orb just at the edge of his vision and after a second felt something give, like a water balloon except instead of water it contained information. Information flooded into his brain as he suddenly saw an interface overlay in green. The screen read.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 1


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 210


    Mystical Points: 20


    Strength: 14


    Dexterity: 12


    Intelligence: 12


    Wisdom: 10


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion


    Skills - Vicious Strike


    Remaining ability points to be allocated: 4


    "Ability points. Like for Strength or dexterity right, Kris?" He asked the voice. He thought that had been the name attached to the sultry female voice in his dream but his memory had been better! He had a lot to take in.


    "Correct. Just focus on the ability you would like to increase and the amount of points you want to put into it and the system will automatically assign them per your wishes." Kris said.


    "Ah, okay then. Let''s try it." He focused on his strength and decided to put 2 points into it. He saw the interface change. It now showed he had 16 in strength and 2 remaining ability points to distribute. He felt like he got a little stronger. He couldn''t explain it but he felt like he had gained strength.


    "Nice!" He remembered playing video games with his brother when they were kids that had a similar layout. He wished he would have been a little more interested in it now! "Okay, then let''s put the other 2 points into Wisdom bringing it to 12."


    He focused and watched the display change to 12 and the available points to be allocated disappeared. He watched as his Mystical Points rose from 20 to 24. He couldn''t tell that he''d gotten any wiser other than the numerical change in the display.


    "Oh, that''s nice. So raising my Wisdom gains me Mystical Points?" He asked.


    "Each point of Intelligence or Wisdom you gain will increase your Mystical Points by 2." Kris said. "At certain level milestones, you will gain a slight increase in your Mystical Points as well."


    He thought for a moment and chuckled. So this was fucking happening. "So we''re screwed huh?"


    Kris was quiet for a moment before she responded. "It''ll take a little bit, but yes."


    He sat there and looked at the table holding the roll of money and the gun for a long time before looking at his lunchbox, open on the floor holding the lump of meteorite. He finally decided he couldn''t do anything immediately. And if it was going to take some time before shit really got bad then he was going to damn sure try to get ready to survive whatever else was coming.


    He pulled out his tablet and started searching for things he knew he was going to need. He immediately noticed the Internet running extremely slow. So slow he decided he''d just look at the products and physically go to the store to buy them. At some point, he dozed off into a restless sleep.


    The next morning he woke to his phone vibrating as the name displayed read "WORK". He answered it half asleep and listened as a monotone voice said, "Work will continue as normal. Please leave early to ensure you are on time and ready to be a productive team member. Remember, the logistics of our company ensures..." He ended the call and looked at the time.


    "Seriously! Thirty minutes before my damn alarm." He fumed as he got out of bed. He showered and shaved as usual and made his way to work. He knew he had to walk so he stopped and grabbed a coffee at the corner and made his way down the street. He could see police tape fluttering and a chalk line of a person around where he had the altercation with the three thugs last night and made his way straight to work. He looked at the time and was a couple of minutes early.


    The day went by smoothly, even though they were understaffed and by the end of the day the bus routes were running again in the City. So he took the opportunity to go to a few stores and pick up some supplies. Including a good rucksack, a bedroll, and some sturdy camping gear. He didn''t buy to much though as he was riding the bus. Still, he felt a little better as he got home with some supplies.


    Tomorrow he would see what else he could gather. If he was being honest he was going to have to bust out his bike and go into the suburbs to a sporting goods store if he could find a decent one. He ordered pizza and watched the news as the night passed. The reception only cut out twice that he recalled.


    The next morning his alarm went off and he could hear a siren going off across the street as the fire department worked. He did his routine and left for work. The day was uneventful but being Friday he collected his paycheck with the substantial bonus and made his way to the bank. He was going to use the weekend to get some more supplies. He even grabbed another rucksack and filled it with supplies. Bought a crate of MRE rations that at least sounded decent, and several cases of water.


    By Monday the news was that strange mutations had begun showing up in everything except humans. Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Snakes, Mammals, Fish...everything. It begins to rain. Everywhere around the world. Some places it is only a light drizzle or a mist. Other places are hit by heavy downpours.


    And doomsday theorists were screaming the human species was next.


    Most everything had returned to normal though within the City and trucks were in and out all day leaving Clay exhausted as he punched out and made his way to the bus stop. He had done various things to try to level up over the weekend but hadn''t had any luck.


    The week went by pretty smoothly. He passed up an opportunity to have dinner with Jill on Friday but felt good with the kiss she had given him after he politely declined to follow her up to her apartment. He liked her a lot and didn''t want to make a bad impression on her mother. He hadn''t showered and had just gotten off work like her.


    The weekend crawled by. He still didn''t manage to gain a level and he had trained his ass off at the gym. He felt better though. The boxing instructor complimented him on his defensive skills and striking capabilities. He still didn''t gain a level.


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    Thursday, the 29th he woke up to a small golden orb flashing at the very edge of his vision. He sat up and could see a system notice with a flashing (!) off to the right side of it. He focused on it and it opened.


    "Worldwide System Seed initiated. New mutations activated. Congratulations. Your species genome is compatible with multiple other Sovereign species. The system has integrated the changes necessary and initiated the proper protocols." It read.


    "What the fuck?" He asked. It really wasn''t a question he was asking anyone. It was just his initial reaction. He read it again and closed it. "Well damn. I guess something is going to happen soon." He got up, got ready, and made his way to work. A lot of police were on the streets and several large green Lord of the Rings-looking orcs were being loaded up in a police van, not twenty feet from the bus stop.


    A woman on the bus had a golden halo around her brown eyes. She tried to hide them behind sunglasses after an older woman brought attention to her. By the time he made it to work and clocked in he was immediately called to a meeting. They were down by another third of their normal manpower and everyone was exhausted due to receiving the System Seed. So work was about as hectic as it could be and Clay was drained by the time he clocked out.


    Jill walked to the bus stop with him and she was quite excited about the new system. She had selected the Mystical Warrior starting class. Clay has no idea you could pick your class. He was almost jealous but then again she was level 0 and her stats were all 10 across the board. His starting package had been much better and he wasn''t going to complain. She asked about his class and he told her "Sovereign. And I didn''t get to pick my class."


    She was surprised for a moment but then asked him if it was a good class. He shrugged and said, " I think so. I gained a Passive Ability. Not exactly sure how to use it yet or how good it might be though."


    Her bus was pulling up and she asked him hurriedly. "Umm, Clay," her cheeks flushed crimson as she continued, "Would you like to have dinner with me Saturday." He was about to decline her invitation but she quickly added, "My mother is going to my brother''s house in California for the summer and I had the apartment to myself and I just thought..." She bit her lip as the bus stopped and opened the door.


    "Sure, Jill. I''d love to dear." He gave her a wink and she seemed to get even happier.


    She waved and giggled as she said, "Great! I''ll see you at 7, hun." As she got on the bus. She didn''t see or hear his sigh. It had taken a lot for him to accept her invitation. But he honestly didn''t see Jill ever turning into the bitch his ex-wife was.


    His bus pulled up right after her''s left and he was quiet as he went home, deep in thought. There was a much greater Police presence around the streets and he couldn''t help but think about heading home to Missouri. His brother Jake had been a survivalist and had even sunk a small fortune into a damn bunker he had given him an undue amount of ribbing over. Now Clay could only think about getting there and pretty soon too.


    "DING! System Side Quest activated. The host must return home. If completed, the host will be able to select from the following Abilities or Skills. Cast Iron Stomach. Minor Spatial Storage. Summon Familiar. Healing Light. Dark Bolt." Kris said.


    "Well damn." He said out loud as his bus slowed down for his stop. A few people looked at him, but quickly disregarded him when they seen he wasn''t speaking to any of them. He made his way off and started to his building. He was almost to the door when he heard a woman''s muffled cry from the alleyway. He knew he should just ignore it and go inside but it had started drizzling while he was on the bus and he was already soaked from the walk from the bus stop so he figured he would take a look.


    It was probably just a prostitute peddling her wares but you never knew nowadays. He peeked around the corner and could see one man holding a woman down and another forcing himself in between the woman''s legs. Something was shoved in her mouth and the first man was holding both of her arms pinned above her, one hand grasping her breast as she tried to thrash around. She had a dark red mark on one cheek from where she had been struck hard.


    "Hey, get off her you fuckin'' douchebags!" He yelled as he rounded the corner, already running towards them. As the first man looked up Clay realized two things. One, this was the same guy that ran away from him the night three of them had tried to rob him. And second, he was fucking green and much more muscular. And was that tusk''s?


    He didn''t think to much more as he swung his lunchbox right into his surprised face. The impact shattered the plastic igloo lunchbox but sent the man sprawling on the pavement. He turned to the second man and swung his fist as he said, "Vicious Strike!"


    His fist impacted the man''s nose and Clay saw it flatten on his pockmarked face. Blood gushed out of it as he crumbled to the ground, he had only been on his knees and the force of Clay''s strike knocked him backward. The woman scrambled up, pulling out whatever cloth was in her mouth, he thought he recognized her from one of the buildings nextdoor but wasn''t sure. She ran into the street crying as Clay noticed the first man scrambling up himself.


    He pulled a switchblade out and lunged at Clay. He barely managed to dodge it as he drove his fist into the orc-looking bastard''s sternum, driving the wind out of him. He grabbed a handful of curly black hair and viciously drove his knee into the man''s face. He heard and felt bones crunch under the impact and he instantly regretted it as his knee felt like it had been frogged. "Shit, you have a hard head!" The man didn''t go down though. The blow had stood him straight up and stopped him dead in his tracks.


    Clay dodged a swipe of the knife and slammed his fist into the side of the man''s head with a right hook. Followed it with a left jab and took the opportunity to disarm the dazed man, the blade clattered onto the asphalt. He dodged a wild swing from the man''s large green fist and seeing his opportunity from the man being overextended and wide open, swung a haymaker at the man''s square jaw. "Vicious Strike!" He said.


    The blow caught the man on the jaw and Clay watched as his head twisted at an odd angle, snapping violently as he heard a "pop". The green man with tusks fell to the ground in a puddle of dirty water as the drizzle picked up to a steady, slow rain. He could hear footsteps running up behind him and he went ahead and put his hands up. His pulse pounded in his ears as his adrenaline dumped.


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 2 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained." Kris said as he was roughly grabbed, handcuffed, and thrown into a car. He could see the woman he had saved talking to a Sargent and pretty quickly an ambulance showed up and then what seemed like twenty fucking more SUVs sporting Chicago''s finest.


    "Fuck. I might have messed up." He said to himself. "That guy was big, but maybe I shouldn''t have swung so hard." He shut up as he saw the sergeant stop talking to the woman and let her be led off to the ambulance. Another ambulance pulled up and the Sargent followed them into the alley.


    Ten minutes later he came out shaking his head. After speaking with a couple of officers he turned and made his way to Clay. As soon as the door opened he could feel the temperature was dropping. The sergeant had Clay''s wallet in his hand as well as several statement papers. "Mr. Benton?" Clay nodded, resigning himself to the worst.


    "Mrs. Winters said you saved her from those two." He nodded towards the alley and Clay noticed the man who he initially knocked out, was being led out by two officers, a gurney carried the big green man out in a black body bag. Clay winced.


    "You are pretty good with your hands Mr. Benton. Don''t worry, I''m not arresting you. I need a statement and then you can go home. We''ll send you a court date." Seeing Clay''s shoulders slump he added, "Don''t worry. You did a damn good thing! I''ll make sure you don''t get in any trouble." He clapped Clay on the shoulder. "Let''s get those cuffs off you."


    "It was the right thing to do Sir." Clay said as he looked at the body bag on the gurney. "I didn''t mean to do...that."


    The sergeant handed Clay a coke as he asked him questions about the encounter with the two men, starting with hearing the muffled cry through the fight, right up to the point he was detained. After that the sergeant let him go home. He couldn''t fucking believe it!


    He didn''t question it, he hurried into his building and feeling exhausted, took a hot shower and soaked. Feeling a little refreshed and famished he ordered some Chinese food through door dash and watched the News as he ate.


    So far two distinct mutations have been found among the population worldwide. Roughly a third of the 8 billion people around the world mutated into one of the two.


    The first mutation mentioned in the human genome is what people are calling the "Saint Mutation". These people look exactly like they did before the mutation except for a gold or sometimes silver halo that hung around their pupils. They can produce a healing aura through their hands, have enhanced Strength and Wisdom scores, and only need around 4 hours of rest to be fully rested. Clay whistled as he listened to the report.


    The next report was bad and pertained to the other mutation linked to our genome. The "Orc Mutation" as it was dubbed unanimously worldwide. These people develop pointed ears, larger lower canines, and excess muscle mass, and have enhanced Strength and Dexterity. Their skin turns a pale, pea-green and their eyes develop a reddish haze that allows them to see just as well in the dark. Worst of all, their initial transformation was very painful and caused an aggressive sex drive that was very difficult for them to control.


    However, roughly one percent of the mutated "Orcs" grows thinner. These people become passive and refuse to do violence, even when provoked or to defend themselves to their misfortune. People have already been reported for forcing themselves onto these people.


    The next morning he was feeling rejuvenated and after his normal routine, he made his way to work stopping to get a sausage-egg and cheese biscuit on the way. A lot less people seemed to be out. Especially for a Friday.


    He clocked in and said hello to Jill, picked up his first invoice and noticed Tonya hiding behind her desk. He thought Jill looked nervous but he didn''t say anything.


    At noon, though, a commotion down on the loading dock caught his attention but he was busy eating lunch. However, after he clocked back in and finished the truck he had been loading he found the office empty of all three of the company Secretaries. Something he''d never seen before. He could hear an argument downstairs and then a gunshot caused him to duck reflexively.


    "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" His brain screamed as the first thing that he thought of was an active shooter in the warehouse. That''s when he heard Dillon''s voice as he yelled over the screaming.


    "Shut the fuck up! The government declared martial law and every fucking thing is collapsing right now! This is my Goddamn warehouse now. You all work for me. Do a good job and you''ll be rewarded." Clay was close enough to see the group by a small storage closet used for cleaning supplies. Dillon motioned to the door. "I might even let you take a turn with one of them."


    He heard Mary yell from inside the closet, "Fuck you pig!"


    Clay heard one of the men standing nearby says, "Dillon, this ain''t right man. Let''s just let them..."


    Whatever he had been about to say cut off as a loud "BANG!" sounded amongst the crowd and he heard Mary scream as the man that had spoken up dropped clutching his stomach in pain.

 (3) Beastmen

    May 30, 2025; Clay''s heart beat in his ears as he heard Jill and Tonya join Mary in screaming at the top of their lungs until Dillon waved his gun at them and said "Shut up!" Before he slammed the door closed and locked it. Clay could see him clip the keychain onto his belt loop as he turned to everyone else, including Clay. He was still brandishing the pistol and Clay could see it was a revolver.


    "Now. You all work for me. Stop loading trucks right now. All nonperishables I want to be gathered up in bay C3. Does anyone have a problem with those orders?" He looked everyone in the eye including Clay and then continued, "Let''s see what we got. We can trade this stuff when we need something so let''s find out what we have exactly."


    "You two." Dillon motioned to two stragglers that were still lingering around the area. "Guard this door. Don''t go in, or let anyone in, and don''t fucking let them out!" He snapped, handing the bigger man a knife he took out of his boot. He then walked off towards the break room.


    Clay was already moving away from the scene. "That''s not good." He said to himself. He made his way down to the actual loading docks in time to see Dillon waving his pistol at a truck driver a heated argument raging between them. The truck driver suddenly reached inside his truck and grabbed a short sawed-off 12 gauge but before he could turn Dillon shot him twice in the chest. Then reached down and grabbed the shotgun. "Fuck! Now he has a scattergun to shit." Clay cursed as he turned and made his way back inside the warehouse.


    The sound of all the loading bay doors slamming closed one after another was defining and he decided to find a quiet spot. He soon found one on a pallet of what looked like boxes of thermal underwear. He sat down to think about what was going on and where to go from there. He hadn''t expected for fucking Dillon''s nuts to drop. The pudgy little bastard had always been a brown-nosing idiot more worried about doing the least amount of work. Clay thought that was why Dillon had stopped advancing in the company. The loading dock supervisor position was a job where you never really had to do anything yourself.


    That''s when he remembered. He had leveled up last night. He focused on the small golden dot and his status screen popped up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 2


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 220


    Mystical Points: 24


    Strength: 16


    Dexterity: 12


    Intelligence: 12


    Wisdom: 12


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion


    Skills - Vicious Strike


    Remaining ability points to be allocated: 4


    "Alright, now where do I want to put those points?" He thought to himself. "Let''s put all 4 in Strength." He focused and watched his strength score change to 20 and he felt a surge run through his body. He flexed and it almost felt like he needed a larger shirt. His arms barely fit in the sleeves and he had a feeling his muscle mass just increased everywhere. His stomach even felt harder.


    "Well, I should have put some in Dexterity but I have a feeling I''m going to need the Strength." He thought as he stood up. "Ok now, how to go about getting you ladies out of that room?" He meandered around the warehouse trying to think of something and acting like he was bringing the nonperishable supplies to bay C3.


    In reality, he had found a large duffel bag and packed it full of canned food, a couple of blankets and some clothes he thought might fit the woman if they needed them. He didn''t know what condition they were in, he hadn''t seen the women earlier.


    He was unable to get near the door during the night. The guards switched out and Clay could only watch throughout the night. Thankfully none of the men went into the room it seemed like the women had barricaded themselves into the room somewhat. Clay was sure the men could force themselves in but it would take a little time.


    By the next day, he had figured out that Dillon had been right. It had turned into utter fucking chaos outside, and it would be a miracle if martial law could be implemented. The steady rain had turned an odd blue-green color at some point around the world and didn''t seem to be stopping. The rivers were beginning to flood in places and Clay knew things were going to get bad, really fast. He couldn''t stay here much longer or he''d be fucking stuck in Chicago.


    He did find a way out though. One of the side doors was only used for a fire escape as it led straight to a small alley between the warehouse he worked in and another warehouse next to them owned by a different company that specialized in industrial-grade chemicals. Nobody ever used it. You could only open it from the inside. Of course, he still couldn''t figure out how to get the women out.


    He only managed to catch a few hours of rest, he couldn''t even call it sleep. Unrest was starting among the 9 workers still inside the warehouse and Clay made himself scarce as he heard a scuffle break out. A loud "Bang! Bang!" Told him Dillon had used the shotgun. He shook his head, he''d have to figure out how to deal with the revolver. He hadn''t seen Dillon grab any shells out of the trucker''s cab but he also didn''t keep an eye on the man. He could have retrieved some by now he thought.


    He was just finishing an oatmeal cream pie when he saw a figure look into the window of the fire door. He was mouthing something motioning to Clay to open the door. He hopped off the pallet and went to the door and stopped.


    What if he was hostile? Clay looked around and next to the door was a fire axe with a spike on the opposite side of the axe head. He swung it easily. Its wooden handle felt good in his hands. It had been a long time since he''d held an axe. He stepped to the door and asked, "What do you want?"


    "My wife. Mary." The man said. "Is she okay?"


    Clay grimaced and replied, "Step back." He said as he opened the door. "She is as of right now."


    "Where is she?" The man asked, worry dripping from him. Clay could tell this man truly loved his wife.


    He sighed and said, "Easy. She''s safe." He proceeded to explain how Dillon had locked all three secretaries inside a closet and killed several men in the last couple of days. So far the men had refrained from doing anything. But Clay couldn''t hope to overpower all of them and deal with a gun.


    The man shook his head and stuck out his hand. "Harry Mathis, Mary''s husband. I''ll help you."


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    Clay took his hand. "Clay Benton. I have an idea but it''ll have to be pretty quick. It''s almost dark and those assholes will be switching guards soon if they keep the same routine. Let''s go. I''ll explain my plan on the way. Here, put this on." Clay gave him a yellow safety vest to put over his shirt. "So you look like you belong at a glance. Do you have a weapon?"


    Harry nodded as he did as Clay asked, he pulled out a large butcher knife and said, "Okay, lead the way."


    Ten minutes later they watched from behind a pallet as what looked like the remaining men worked on forcing their way through the door. Dillon stood behind the six men brandishing the revolver as he yelled at them, "Hurry up you worthless sacks of shit. The first one in will get the Orc for themselves."


    He nodded at Harry. They were about twenty feet away from Dillon and the group of men. They had gone over the plan. Clay had the axe which gave him some reach. However, he needed to be closer. Harry was going to rush the men at the door. Regardless, everything hinged on taking out the gun, or Dillon.


    Clay burst out from one side of the pallet while Harry dashed towards the men at the door. Clay had already started to swing the axe at the arm holding the pistol when Dillon turned towards Harry and started to raise the gun. He heard a "Bang!" as his axe came down, biting deep into the fat man''s shoulder. Luckily the shot missed Harry. The gun clattered onto the concrete as Clay jerked the axe out and swung again as Dillon tried to dodge sideways.


    He was way too slow though, and his axe head slashed through the fat man''s stomach, laying it open as he stumbled and hit the ground. Clay was on him in a moment. He brought the axe down hard into the man''s arm as he tried to block the blow. But the force of the swing easily overpowered the fat arm and Clay watched Dillon''s head explode like a melon as the axe head connected with a solid, wet "thwack". Blood sprayed him from the blow but he didn''t have time to worry about it.


    Harry had stabbed two of the men but looked to be having trouble with the third man who also had a knife, and the rest had started to move around the man leaving the door. Clay reached down and grabbed the revolver and without looking raised it in the air.


    "CLICK!"


    "What the fuck?" He looked at the revolver and realized it was fucking empty!


    The damn gun was small and empty, so he shoved it into his jacket pocket and charged into the fray. He caught one man with the blade, only grazing his arm but it still cut it wide open as the man tried to dodge away, he managed to drive the other men back a little leaving Harry to deal with the man knife to knife. Clay quickly used the opportunity though to swing the axe around in a backhand that stuck the spike on the back of the axe deep into the knife wielder''s back.


    The man dropped like he had his body shut off and the man coughed blood all over Harry as the spike went into a lung. Clay ripped the axe free. His enhanced strength allowed him to easily retrieve it from the dying man''s body. He caught another man lunging at him with a haymaker and realized he was going to get hit.


    He braced himself and threw an uppercut. "Vicious Strike!" He felt the man''s fist hit him in the cheek just as he got the words out. He saw a burst of light as his vision disappeared, and he felt himself step back. However, he maintained his footing.


    His fist had hit the man in the chin. His head snapped up violently and his eyes rolled back in his head as he crashed to the ground like a sack of shit. Clay shook his head to clear the lights and barely dodged another swing from one of the remaining standing men.


    "Mary! I''m coming, honey." Harry yelled as he lunged at another man who managed to grab his hand as they began wrestling.


    Clay ducked another swing from the side. This man was the one he had wounded with a slash on his arm. He was too close for Clay to use the axe effectively so he did the only thing he could do. He held it out in front of him and dropped it. As the man''s eyes instinctively followed it Clay used the distraction to step forward with a blow to the man''s midriff with everything he had.


    The man seemed to fold around his fist as the air was suddenly blown out of his lungs from the force of the blow. He stumbled backward and fell to one knee. Clay kicked him in the temple with his fucking steal-toe boot, sending him sprawling onto the concrete floor, moaning in agony.


    The other man ran, leaving his buddies either wounded or dead on the floor as he fled. Clay picked up the axe and quickly dispatched the man wrestling with Harry, he had lost his knife at some point. The man gasped in air as he shakily got to his feet. The moans and groans of the wounded men on the ground were noticeable but the blood that covered the area made it look like the set of a slasher film. Clay also felt his adrenaline petering out as the altercation was over.


    Harry retrieved his knife. "Come on. Let''s get them out of there." He said.


    The woman couldn''t believe it was Harry and Clay that saved them. The sight outside the closet caused all three women to lose what little was in their stomachs. After they got the woman out though, Clay decided to put the men in the room and lock them in there. If they made it out, they made it out. After he finished he made his way to the others. The woman had been extremely thirsty and Clay had to tell them not to drink too much or it might hurt them.


    Jill was hesitant but took a nearby shirt hanging on the wall and started wiping the blood off his face. He gave her an exhausted smile and he heard Harry say. "We''re going to the shelter. Chicago set up a large quarantined area. Everyone is supposed to report there. We''ll be safe if we can make it." He was reassuring Mary but speaking loud enough to make sure everyone heard.


    "I''ll help you all get to this shelter," Clay said as he moved to retrieve the duffel bag he had prepared. "Then I''ll be heading home."


    "Wait, Clay, wouldn''t it be safer to head to the shelter and stay with ...us?" Jill asked, worry etched on her face. He heard the "me" she had replaced with the us.


    "No." He grabbed the shirt and wiped some more blood off him. It was starting to dry and she had missed some on his brow. "I''m going home. Everything''s going to shit. This new system has to be a set up for much worse things to come. Look at Tonya." He pointed and she cringed. Obviously she didn''t like the attention. "That can happen to any of us. How do you think people will react?" He nodded as they understood exactly what he meant.


    "Now let''s get you all to this shelter. Have any idea how far it is?" Clay asked.


    Harry nodded. "We should be able to get there in a couple of hours."


    Clay looked at the fading daylight and the steady rain outside the window and said, "Okay. Let''s get going then. Jill, Tonya," he looked at both of them now in their coats and carrying umbrellas, "Stay right behind me." He ordered and saw both women nod as he hefted the duffel bag and the still bloody axe and started out the door. "You can lead the way, Harry."


    They filed out of the alley shortly after that, heading north as they dodged roving bands of people. Some of them were violent and most were out actively robbing people and property. Harry informed them that there had just about been a complete, global crisis trying to deal with the mutations. That''s why the government had set up the shelters around the country. They deployed the National Guard to facilitate the safety of the population as panic struck everyone.


    They were just crossing the street well away from the last group of people who were in the process of smashing into a jewelry store. They hurried down an alleyway and Clay just noticed movement from behind a dumpster he had just passed when he heard Jill let out a cry of pain.


    He turned to see a stray dog that looked like it had rottweiler somewhere in its genetics had darted out and bit Jill on the back of her leg, blood obvious through her stockings. It was growling and luckily malnourished enough it couldn''t rip or tear, though it was trying. Clay immediately swung his axe catching it just behind the head, nearly severing it from the neck. The jaws let go instantly as it fell to the ground.


    Jill fell into him, a look of pain and fear on her face. "I... I..." She fainted in his arms. He lowered his shoulder and easily raised her on it.


    He looked at Harry and Mary who had stopped and said, "Keep going. I got her."


    They only made it one more block before Clay had to stop. He wasn''t tired or worn out, he had enough strength to keep going but Jill had started burning up and it was Tonya who brought it to his attention. They stopped at a bus stop using the shelter to shield them from the weird colored rain while he checked on her.


    Harry and Mary wanted to push on but patiently waited for them.


    Jill was burning up, her skin was red and she whimpered even while she was out cold. He checked the bite and exclaimed in surprise as it was healed. Completely. The blood was still there, and a scar. But the wound had healed. "Interesting, her wound healed." That''s when she let out a scream that was probably heard several blocks away. However, now that they were paying attention other screams were echoing through the tall buildings. Then her fucking ears disappeared, a very thin coat of almost indistinguishable hair sprang out of her on certain visible areas of her body, and two dog-like ears grow out of her head slightly higher and farther back than a human''s ears.


    "Holy shit!" Clay exclaimed as Jill mutated right in front of him. Her heartbeat was so loud he could hear it. "Come on, stay with me, Jill." He didn''t know what to do. Then it clicked. "The shelter! Come on we gotta get to the shelter." He handed the duffel bag to Tonya and picked Jill up in a princess carry and hurried after Harry who didn''t waste any time. Thirty minutes later Jill''s heart rate had decreased to closer to normal but he noticed she had clutched his shirt in a pale fist as she groaned, they finally made it to the checkpoint.


    However, things didn''t go so smoothly there. They were informed that only humans would be allowed in. No mutants. They looked to be ready to shoot Tonya and she hadn''t done anything wrong.


    "Why?" Was all Clay asked as Harry and Mary made their way inside. Harry was carrying her into the settlement as she was struggling and yelling for her two friends. Clay knew right then Harry had known about the humans-only rule but chose not to say anything to get his wife to the shelter. If she had known she probably would have refused to leave her friends out to dry, and Harry would have had to figure something else out.


    "Orders." Was all the man said as he leveled the XM7 at Clay who stepped back still holding Jill. "Get the fuck outta here with them. If you were smart you''d ditch''em and get inside where it''s safe."


    Clay backed away maintaining a nonthreatening posture as he extracted himself from the checkpoint. Many people were trickling in and Clay witnessed a man and a woman being dragged through the street and thrown out. The pair stood and made their way towards the store awning Clay and Tonya had taken shelter under.

 (4) Zombies

    May 31. 2025; The rain poured off the awning as the two figures made their way up to them. As they got closer, Clay could see one was a woman with light brown hair and freckles carrying a leather bag that looked like it belonged in another century. The man had the appearance of a squirrel and looked to have been badly beaten. Blood trickled out of his nose and lip as they entered the shelter of the awning, the woman trying to physically support the man.


    "Hey, they won''t let you all in? Well, you''re not fucking missing much. It''s so chaotic in there it''s like a bunch of idiots." Said the woman trying to wipe the water off her face with a soaked coat sleeve. Or at least get it out of her intelligent grey-blue eyes.


    "Don''t worry about it, Dawn. I''m sorry I got bit by the damn squirrel. I just wanted to sit down and eat something." The man said. Clay could see now that the man was closer he was rather well-built. He could also see the distinct imprint from a rifle butt now evident on his face. That would definitely put a man on his ass no matter how well-built you were Clay thought.


    "Fuck them, Luke, if they are willing to throw a doctor out of their shelter so casually then they aren''t worth our time." Dawn said. The two of them were on the other side of the awning a little away from them but still pretty close. So the man''s name was Luke.


    "They would have let you stay though! You should have just stayed quiet. At least then I''d know you were safe!" Luke said, his voice growing a little heated.


    "Bahh, I''m not leaving you behind. Asshole." She said the last and gave him a smirk. That''s when they noticed Clay''s group looking at them. The rain had started to let up a little bit and was no longer driving down. "Hello! Do you need any help, Sir? I''m a doctor, let me take a look if she''s hurt?"


    Clay nodded as the woman, Dawn approached. She examined her as best she could in Clay''s arms but soon said, "I''m sorry I need to examine your friend further but I can''t do it out here. Is there somewhere close we can go to for shelter and rest?"


    Clay looked at them both, then to Tonya who looked scared shitless, then down to Jill. "Alright, but let''s hurry. I don''t like this rain, it ain''t natural." He said gruffly as he turned and started towards his apartment. He needed to grab the supplies he had. Though he probably couldn''t carry it all.


    They hurried along, and within forty-five minutes they were walking down the hallway in his apartment their wet soles squeaking as they made their way to his door. Jill was still out. She had mumbled something but Clay couldn''t hear exactly what it was. She had buried her face into his chest though, hand still clasped tight in his shirt. She felt nice in his arms.


    The door opened and just as everyone settled in Clay flipped on the news. Dawn was examining Jill on Clay''s couch. The news was bleak. Several governments had fallen already around the world. Animals had gone crazy, biting humans and fleeing. The victims of these attacks suffer a painful mutation that turns them into a monstrous humanoid that looks vaguely like the animal that bit them, shortly after developing a very high fever. The experts were calling this mutation linked to our genome the "Beastmen Mutation". These people develop higher Strength or Dexterity scores.


    The news was still going in the background, the lakes and levees were inundated and the flooding was getting worse. He packed everything he could, and not wanting to waste it, he took all the steaks out of the freezer and started cooking them, some mashed potatoes and brown gravy and a couple of cans of green beans. A decent dinner, and he had enough for everyone too. He could at least feed the two of them and put them up for the night in exchange for Dawn looking after Jill. He couldn''t keep the frozen food anyway, and he was sure the power wasn''t going to last much longer.


    The night went by, and Clay fell into a deep sleep as his exhaustion finally caught up with him. He had been pushing himself hard for the last few days and now that he was in his apartment he crashed hard. He didn''t dream about anything though. Just blissful oblivion.


    He woke to something roaring over the apartment. His brain instantly linked it to a large plane flying very low and then before he could even roll out of bed to figure out what the fuck was happening he heard a loud explosion as the plane impacted into a building in the next block over from his apartment. The explosion blew his bedroom window in, showering him with glass but luckily he only suffered a few minor cuts. He quickly threw his boots on, and shirt, and tucked the gun into his waistband as he ran out of his room into the living area.


    Everyone was recovering from the large window being blown in from the explosion. He could see Dawn helping Tonya as she had a deep cut on her green cheek. Luke was standing, looking out the window and down at the street. He was praying and had ahold of a necklace as he did so.


    "What is it?" Clay asked. He could see he wasn''t looking at the plane crash. He rushed up to the window where rain blew in as the wind whipped it around the tall buildings. Hundreds of figures moved through the city below and the first thing Clay noticed was the condition of the people. They looked like walking dead people with pale skin and red glowing eyes shining with malis.


    "Zombies." Luke whispered, his voice horse.


    "Why fucking not. I mean we might as well throw the walking dead in with everything else!" Clay growled as he moved to gather what he needed. "Get your shit together. Jill, are you good, hun?" She nodded she was. "Good, here take this rucksack, Tonya keep the duffel bag for now. If it''s too much for you then say something. Hurry up people we don''t have much time!"


    They hurried and gathered everything they could, Dawn and Luke took the excess water and some nonperishable food Clay couldn''t pack anywhere else and within fifteen minutes they were standing at the door leading to the underground garage attached to his building. His motorcycle was fucking gone and he was a little bummed out about it but figured he couldn''t take both Jill and Tonya without a sidecar anyways. They hadn''t had any luck finding a vehicle or keys when Jill stopped them claiming she could smell blood.


    They followed her sense of smell, and sure enough, there was a dead man. He had been killed by a knife and his wallet was empty, lying on his chest. But he had a key fob clipped to his belt loop and when Jill took it off and pushed the button they saw lights flashing on a gunmetal grey Chevy crew cab.


    They quickly piled into the cab of the truck, Jill hopping into the driver''s seat and starting it. As she reversed out of the parking spot they saw a wave of zombies heading towards them. Jill dropped the truck into drive and smashed the gas pedal.


    Bodies of walking dead were run over or knocked out of the way as the truck barreled through. In less than a minute they were screeching up the exit ramp onto the street.


    The abandoned cars made it difficult to get through and Jill could only drive so fast as she wove the truck through the crowded street littered with stranded vehicles here and there. Jill mercilessly plowed through anything dead and still moving that ran in front of the truck.


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    They made it three blocks before the truck started to sputter, and then it slowed drastically. "I don''t know what happened!" Cried Jill.


    The engine clunked a few times as it finally seized up, steam billowing out of the hood. "Everyone out, grab our shit and stay together!" Clay yelled as he kicked open the door violently smashing an incoming zombie''s face on the window. He swung the axe as he stepped out, clipping another in the temple, shattering the thing''s forward momentum and sending it face-first into the asphalt off to the side.


    Everyone exited the vehicle and rushed together. He saw Jill pick up a piece of rebar lying on the ground that still had a chunk of concrete attached and swung it with enough force to smash the zombie''s head near her.


    "Holy shit I just leveled up!" Jill exclaimed as they made their way through the much thinner crowd of zombies. They were still heading south and pretty soon managed to fight their way into a tire shop. Inside they caught their breath and Luke took the handle of a floor jack as a hefty weapon with more reach than the knife he tucked away.


    Time passed quickly and before long they filed back out, hurrying along the edge of the street as close to the building''s shadows as they could get, and moving as quietly as they could. They made it two more miles, well into suburbia hell with entire blocks of identical houses, all painted the same, same trim color, same doors and windows. Even the same damn mailboxes. The zombies seemed to lessen quite a bit as they made it far enough Clay felt comfortable resting and allowing everyone to eat and sleep. It was nearly 3:00 in the morning though and Clay just ate a protein bar and a jerky stick and drank a coke. He savored it, he didn''t have many left.


    He didn''t sleep well, they had just helped themselves to someone''s abandoned house and he just couldn''t rest. Everyone else did though, however, when he woke up Clay noticed nobody else was awake. He looked around and realized they were still safe. He would have to fix that. As far as he was concerned they had been lucky.


    He looked at the clock on the wall ticking away and it read 7:32 A.M., he could see and hear it was still raining. "Damn, is it ever going to stop?" He muttered. Luckily the family had a coffee pot and some Folgers coffee and he put a pot on as he woke up the others. They had a cold breakfast, and a couple of cups of coffee before they gathered their belongings and started off again.


    It was easier to avoid the zombies in the daylight though and they managed to make it most of the day before their luck ran out.


    Around four in the afternoon a loud "BANG!" sounded not one street over from where they were currently sneaking through a yard. Then more, "BANG! BANG! BANG!" Everyone froze.


    They could hear multiple low growling sounds coming down the street in the direction of the gunshots. "Against the wall! Hurry!" Clay said just as the first zombies came running through. He figured there were a couple hundred of them running towards those gunshots.


    "BANG! BANG! BANG!" The gunshots sounded again. The stream of zombies running by slowed drastically as they heard a scream and another "BANG!" Then it went quiet. Soon the zombies still in the area went back to their slow, meandering wandering they were doing before the gunshots.


    "Okay let''s go." Clay said stepping around the corner ready to pick an easy route through the zombie-infested fucking suburbs. He had to get out of here!


    He made it two steps and stopped.


    In front of him stood a zombie well over 9 feet tall. It had elongated limbs and an oversized mouth filled with sharp teeth. In his hand, he held a fucking spear, and it was already drawn back to throw!


    Tonya let out a squeal as she ducked behind the corner of the house.


    Jill tried to dodge too but was way too surprised and luckily slipped on the wet grass in the yard.


    Clay saw the zombie''s arm snap forward and he knew he had to be fast. He would probably only get one chance with something like this. Its blue eyes bored into him and as the spear left its hand he twisted his body out of the way. He heard the fucking spear sail past his head, the tip spinning fast enough to cut the air as it flew.


    The giant zombie was only ten feet from him so he lunged forward as fast as he could, and swung the axe in a mighty one-handed, overhead chop aimed at the now-charging giant.


    It let out a roar.


    He felt the zombie''s humongous fist slam into his left side as his axe cut deep into the giant''s face. Black icor that smelled like roadkill splattered the front of Clay as he was violently hurled into the wall of the house.


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 3 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained. New Passive Ability Acquired: Eyes of Insight. Grants the host the ability to see another creature''s stats. This does not show the target creature''s abilities or skills." Kris said in his head as he tried to stand up.


    The zombie''s roar had drawn other zombies attention and he could see Jill swinging her makeshift mace as Tonya helped him up. He could barely breathe the zombie had hit him so hard. The zombie was on the ground though, a pool of black bile pooling under its head.


    He quickly regained his bearings and he could see Dawn swinging the spear the zombie had thrown, doing her best to hold the damn undead back long enough for Luke to pop them in the head ending their threat one after another. He swung his axe catching a zombie in the side of its head and dropping it as its head popped like an overripe melon. "We need to move, come on!" He called as Tonya helped him along. She seemed to easily manage the duffel bag and was supporting his left side. He still couldn''t breathe right.


    "What the hell was that thing?" Jill asked as she dropped another zombie. She wasn''t far behind him, he wasn''t able to move very fast even with Tonya''s assistance.


    "I don''t know but one hit ragdolled me. I don''t want to run into another one!" Clay said, swinging his axe at another zombie as they rounded another house. After two more blocks of fighting, the zombies finally thinned out again to where they could make their way around them, instead of having to fight all of them. There were still a few but by dark they had finally made it out of the sprawling suburbia hell surrounding Chicago and took shelter in a two-story house that was empty along the highway.


    They were soaked, and cold. The temperature had dropped low enough over the last few days they could see their breath outside. They managed to warm up and even took turns showering as the house had a separate generator and central air. They had noticed the street lights in people''s yards were flashing as the power stations started to be either flooded or overloaded.


    Dawn looked at his ribs. The area around where he had gotten hit was a sickly yellowish-green. She said something about being too strong for his own good under her breath and wrapped him up non to gently. He got the distinct feeling she respected him, but didn''t like him.


    He was okay with that. A doctor was going to be handy to have around. Thinking about that he decided to use his new ability. He looked at Dawn as she put her medical supplies away and focused on using his skill. His vision flashed.


    Dawn Grimmor, Human Female, Age 36


    Level: 1


    Class: Master Healer


    Health Points: 160


    Mystical Points: 36


    Strength: 9


    Dexterity: 12


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 14


    "You''re lucky you didn''t puncture a lung. Try to take it easy for a couple of days." She raised her hands. "I know, I know." She gestured outside. "Just try."


    He grunted as he tried to put his shirt back on. Surprisingly Tonya helped him with it. He made sure to tell her thanks which made the woman blush for some reason and rush off. Jill looked at her funny, eyes mere slits as she stirred a bubbling saucepan with something that smelled great, her eyes didn''t leave the doorway Tonya had disappeared through for quite a while.


    "What''s in the pan?" Clay asked, his mouth watering from the smell.


    "Beef stew with some extra stuff I found in the refrigerator that was still good." She waved a wooden spoon as she dished him a bowl full. He thanked her and made his way into the dining room to eat. Luke and Dawn were talking in the living room and Tonya had taken her turn in the shower as Jill sat down beside him with a bowl of stew herself.


    "I want to thank you Clay. You saved me and I want you to know how much that means to me." She said softly.


    He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You owed me dinner, Hun." He winked at her as she looked up at him. "Now let''s enjoy it." He took a spoon full and he had to admit it tasted as good as it smelled.


    "This doesn''t count!" She exclaimed. "I wanted to fix you a special dinner. I can cook a hell of a meatloaf."


    He chuckled and continued to eat. They enjoyed each other''s company while they ate and soon enough Clay was sitting on the couch watching the news as Jill slept snuggled up against him under a blanket. Tonya on the other side of him had thrown her leg over his and he could swear she wasn''t wearing a bra by the look of her rock-hard nipples as she slept on the other side of him.


    Luke and Dawn had the next two watches and then it would be his turn. He sighed as he focused on the small gold orb at the edge of his vision. Soon his status screen popped up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 3


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 250


    Mystical Points: 24


    Strength: 20


    Dexterity: 12


    Intelligence: 12


    Wisdom: 12


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight


    Skills - Vicious Strike


    Remaining ability points to be allocated: 4


    "Let''s go with 2 in Dexterity and Intelligence." He thought, focusing on the abilities. He saw them change. He thought for a moment and then looked at Jill using his Eyes of Insight.


    Jill Fairbanks, Beastmen Female, Age 39


    Level: 2


    Class: Mystical Warrior


    Health Points: 180


    Mystical Points: 30


    Strength: 14


    Dexterity: 14


    Intelligence: 12


    Wisdom: 10


    Hmm, not bad he thought, then looked at Tonya and focused on his ability again.


    Tonya Lovinngal, Orc Female, Age 33


    Level: 2


    Class: Enchantress


    Health Points: 140


    Mystical Points: 40


    Strength: 8


    Dexterity: 14


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 16


    Now that''s nice! He had no idea she had advanced that much. He wondered if he had missed something because he hadn''t seen her fight once since they had been traveling with each other. That just left Luke. He turned his head but couldn''t see the man and decided he''d take a look at his stats in the morning. He was beat, and if Jill didn''t feel good pressed up against him like she was he''d of preferred to lay down but soon was fast asleep.

 (5) Detour

    June 5, 2025; They had opted to stay at the house for two more days before leaving, allowing Clay''s ribs some time to heal. And he needed it too. He still couldn''t move his left side well. And the weight of his rucksack added to the feeling. "It looks like the rain is slacking off. But a dense fog is setting in." He said as they made their way down Highway 57 south.


    With any luck, they would make it to the City of Kankakee by nightfall. The highway was littered with abandoned or crashed vehicles, some with zombies stuck inside them. They spotted another group of people farther ahead of them but soon couldn''t make them out because of the thick fog.


    They had been walking for about three hours when a scream came from ahead of them. Then another one, this one sounded like it was running off to the right. The first one screaming stopped with an odd gurgling sound. The second one, a man by the sound of it just abruptly cut off.


    "Watch out." He whispered as he took a defensive stance. He could hear something and someone running closer. Their feet were loud on the asphalt and they splashed through puddles as they neared Clay''s party.


    He heard Dawn yell, "Watch out!" As she lunged forward and stabbed past Clay with her spear. A three-foot-tall grey pitbull that seemed to materialize out of the fog let out a pitiful "owrrlll" sound as she caught the flying mutated dog in the chest with the spear tip.


    The force knocked her backward on her ass, but the spear stopped the attacking dog almost dead. As its feet hit the ground Clay swung his axe, laying the dog''s thick neck wide open as blood sprayed him.


    "DING! Congratulations! New skill acquired: Frenzy. Grants the host a temporary 20% Health Point boost and an additional 5 points of Strength and 3 points of Dexterity for five minutes. Cost: 20 Mystical Points." Kris said in his head.


    Clay didn''t have time to think about it as he dodged a much smaller mutated dog that Jill quickly dispatched. Just in time for him to kick another away as it lunged for Tonya and chopped into a shaggy white-haired dog nearly as tall as he was.


    The dog let out a yelp and tried to flee. Jill stepped forward and smashed her makeshift mace as hard as she could with a baseball swing. The force sent it staggering sideways. However, another mutated dog lept on her, clamping down on the rucksack as she was forced to the ground. She tried to swing her mace but the large vicious dog whipped her back and forth violently, even slamming her into the asphalt a couple of times.


    Clay only barely noticed Jill''s dilemma. He had seen two humanoids run past. Another had been grabbed by the leg and he heard the figure''s head bounce off the asphalt with a hard-sounding "CRACK" and was immediately shredded by two more dogs. Clay swung a backhanded swing at the one on Jill''s back catching it in the side and laying it open with a long slash.


    Luke smashed its head with the metal jack handle and managed to wedge it into another mutated dog''s mouth as it snapped for his neck.


    Clay grabbed the dog still on Jill''s back and tossed it off her so she could scramble back to her feet. He even managed to bury the spike of his axe into one of the two dogs'' heads that had torn one of the other survivors from the other group to pieces.


    That''s when Tonya did something, he saw her eyes light up with an azure fire as she looked at a big ass mutated German Shepherd and said, "Protect me!"


    The fucking thing barrelled into the one Luke was struggling with.


    Dawn had gotten up and retrieved her spear from the dead dog''s body and with a pretty impressive throw, hit another dog as it got within ten feet of the group. It flopped about crying pitifully with the spear still sticking out of it. He saw her draw a knife and move towards it.


    He hesitated as the dog he assumed Tonya took control of somehow finished killing the last hostile mutated dog and turned to look at Luke who unfortunately couldn''t run because he had been backed up against a car with a female zombie stuck inside mulling at the window that was to Luke''s back. After a brief moment, the dog licked Luke''s face and turned to Tonya.


    "Go on your way my friend." Tonya said as she waved her hand. The dog wagged its tail and bounded off toward Chicago.


    Dawn had finished off the dog she had hit and retrieved her spear. As she turned to the rest of them she asked, "Anyone hurt?"


    Clay just shook his head as the rest sounded off they were fine. He saw the remains of the other group lying about. "We should search them for anything useful." He recommended. Ten minutes later they had a couple more days worth of supplies and Luke had found a sword he fancied. He kept the bar though.


    About an hour later they came across the city limits sign for Kankakee Illinois and after exiting the offramp they had to run into a bookstore to hide. They rounded a corner to see the flash of gunfire and the sound of people screaming. Then a deep voice yelled, "Forward. Keep your sector clear!" And then it sounded like a tank started moving forward with a clack-clack-clack sound from its tracks.


    "Is that the fucking army?" Clay asked as quietly as he could from inside the store.


    "It looks like it." Luke said.


    "Hey, we found a door to a basement." Tonya said from where she and Dawn had disappeared near the back of the store. He saw the first shadows of people entering sight in the window and he hurried to follow everyone else downstairs.


    Not two minutes after they had closed the basement door Clay heard a "Clear!"


    They spent the next four hours listening to large armored vehicles passing by heading to Chicago. By the time the sound of them moving down the street outside faded enough, they thought it would be safe to go out they heard more gunfire and decided it was already night outside, they might as well stay until morning.


    Clay woke up to more armored vehicles and worse, the heavy sound of boots. They were stuck in the basement all that day too. That night though they managed to sneak out. Instead of making their way through Kankakee, they had decided to make their way west.


    It was into some dairyland, but they would be less likely to run into the army. With the undead running around, Clay couldn''t blame them for shooting first. As fast as the fuckers could cover 10 yards once they locked on you was insane. Still, he didn''t want to become an unfortunate casualty along the way and avoid the trigger-happy military moving in mass.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    They traveled along a smaller highway. Managing several miles by the time the sun rose. Clay called a stop near a farm. They ate a cold breakfast and after about an hour of rest started off again.


    Around one in the afternoon, Clay heard Dawn ask, "What''s that?" And pointed off to their left.


    They were out in the open in-between farms and being in the dairy portion the landscape consisted of pasture and every now and then Clay could see a soybean or corn field, the plants stunted from the unseasonably cold weather. It had to be hovering around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Way too cold for June.


    "I think that''s a cow." Jill said squinting.


    Everyone stared at it as they walked along until it dawned on them it was getting close very fast.


    "That''s a big ass bull and it''s heading right for us!" Jill called out her eyes going wide. The bull had busted through the barbwire, tearing five posts out of the ground as it bellowed angrily. The massive beast didn''t even slow. It had to be 9 feet tall with horns as long and thick as Clay''s arms with wicked hooked ends curling slightly inwards. "Watch out!"


    The beast lowered its head, getting closer and closer to them and the last fence that separated them. The group scattered, or well everyone was supposed to. Dawn froze.


    Clay made it three steps and realized she hadn''t moved. He planted his feet and reversed his direction just as he heard the "twawawannng" as the fence snapped from the giant mutated bull''s powerful charge. He dove for her.


    He hit her full-on, knocking her backward and using his body as a shield in case he was too late. He landed on top of her as the spear clattered out of her hand. He had knocked the wind out of her but it was enough to get both of them clear of the charging bull.


    The ground shook as the beast thundered by. It blew through the other barbwire fence and skidded to a stop, whipping around on Clay and Dawn. He grabbed the spear as they both scrambled up and he gave her a shove towards the rest of the group who were still running towards a distant barn. "Run!"


    She scrambled off at a full run with her bag bouncing on her back. She looked back at Clay but then his focus snapped to the bull.


    It had already started to charge and he stepped forward to the edge of the highway and set the spear against the edge, leveling it at the beast and aiming for the neck. He prepared to roll as soon as it was close enough for him to feel it touch the spear.


    His reflexes were not as great as he thought they were though.


    The bull thrashed its head back and forth violently as it got near Clay. The spear pierced the bull''s chest, its momentum and body mass driving the spear right through its heart and lungs. Clay was caught, too slow to roll like he intended.


    The beast bore down on him and he felt his left shoulder ignite in fire as the bull''s horn hooked him because of the spear, as it came to a sliding stop he was pinned painfully under the front half of the bull''s body. It tried to move but soon let out a death rattle and slumped limp onto Clay.


    "God damn it!" He said right as he heard.


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 4 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained. New Passive Ability Acquired: Enhanced Virility. Host gains 3 Strength, and 50 Health Points, and begins to grow larger adding musculature. It becomes more likely for the host to attract the opposite sex for mating purposes." Kris said. For some reason, her sultry voice sounded particularly judging as she read the stats off.


    He felt the strength boost kick in and he let out a half growl half yell as he lifted the bull''s head to remove the horn from his shoulder and scooted back and forth until he was almost free.


    That''s when Jill and Tonya came running up to help pull him the rest of the way out from under it.


    "Clay!" Tonya yelled. As she reached him.


    "Are you okay?" Jill asked, worry evident on both of their faces.


    "Ahh, I fucked that up." He winced as he almost lost consciousness from the wave of pain that shot through his body. He could taste copper and he was pretty sure his shoulder was screwed from the blackish-red meat around the silver dollar-sized puncture hole in it. He stuck his finger in it, kinda in a daze as he tried to wiggle his fingers on his left hand. Blood flowed out steadily as his heartbeat. His thumb worked. At least there was that he thought as he fell backward.


    "Clay! Clay!" Jill called as he felt pressure on his arm. He was lightheaded.


    "Dawn! Hurry, I think he needs you!" Tonya called desperately.


    He heard the woman slide up next to him only a few seconds later and she grabbed his shoulder. "Hold him still! I don''t know how this is going to work I''ve never used it before." She was quiet for a moment and then said, "Healing Touch." He let out a growl as he felt hands restraining him and then it felt like someone shoved a firebrand deep into his shoulder.


    He went from nearly passing out to growling right on to outright screaming as his damaged bones, cartilage, and tendons reformed until there was only a nasty puckered pink scar. His heart was pounding a million over nothing and Dawn slumped into his lap unconscious.


    "What happened to her?" Asked Luke, worried.


    Clay was still trying to catch his breath as he had nearly screamed himself horse and the only thing that saved him was the lack of oxygen to maintain the screaming.


    "I don''t know. But I can''t make it too much farther." Clay grunted. "I need a minute." He looked at the barn up ahead. "Let''s shelter there for tonight. We''ll rest up and regroup."


    Luke nodded and Tonya helped him with Dawn as Jill helped pull him up off the asphalt. He was wobbly but with Jill''s assistance, he managed to make it to the barn. It was thankfully empty except for the loft which was full of hay and Clay quickly made a hole in the hay and fell asleep. His ribs and shoulder hurt like hell. And it didn''t take long for him to fall out after he managed to get comfortable and warm.


    Clay lay in what turned into a nest with Tonya slightly grinding on his leg in her sleep as she groaned. Jill was snuggled up with her back up against his left side, the warmth from her body soothing his ribs. He sighed to himself as he focused on the small gold orb at the edge of his vision. His status screen popped up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 4


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 140/320


    Mystical Points: 28


    Strength: 23


    Dexterity: 14


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 12


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility


    Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy


    Remaining ability points to be allocated: 4


    Unread System Message (1)


    "Let''s put 2 points in Dexterity and 2 in Wisdom." He said softly, focusing until the stats changed. "Then we''ll read the system message." He focused on it and it popped open.


    "Host has exhibited unknown potential to survive against the hostile world around them. DING! Congratulations! New Passive Ability acquired: Touch of the Devine. The host has drawn the attention of a Devine entity. For good or ill, you will find yourself in the middle of it all. Host gains 4 Dexterity and 4 Wisdom." Kris said.


    "Nice! I needed the boost." He said, and then he realized what it said and he scowled. "Son-of-a-bitch! What the fuck do you mean drawn the attention of a Devine entity?" He practically screamed at Kris in his head. "How?"


    Kris was quiet for a moment and then said, "I''m not a savant, but if I had to guess it''s because you keep fighting. And winning. Otherwise, you''re not a bad-looking guy you know." Kris said, he could of swore she was poking at him.


    "Well," he said after a few moments, "no helping it. It''s already done if I''ve gotten a fuckin'' message about it already." He chuckled, trying to stay upbeat. The movement caused him to wince as pain lanced through his ribs. He focused on the golden orb again and his status screen popped back up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 4


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 140/320


    Mystical Points: 36


    Strength: 23


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 18


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Devine


    Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy


    "Looking better." He said. "I guess I need some more skills." Tonya groaned as she rubbed on his leg. He tried to ignore her. As far as he knew she had been a full-blown lesbian only a week or so ago. Her hand dropped lower from his abs to his crotch and he found himself thinking about baseball...


    It wasn''t working! She was so fucking hot, like holy shit why aren''t you a model sexy! Even now with her light green skin and pointed ears she just looked exotic, and damn sure felt good rubbing against him. And her hand rubbing his crotch was...


    "Zzziiip." She slid his pants zipper down and he started to realize she wasn''t completely asleep! He started to move to wiggle away and found she was laying more on him than beside him like Jill was. Her hand darted in his pants as her head popped up off his chest.


    "I want you. I''ve never wanted a man in my life Clay." She whispered as her hand grasped his engorged member and tugged gently. "And I want you." She kissed him, passion evident in the way she just went for it. He was still caught off guard and tried to slow the situation down so he could regain control of the situation because right at that moment she literally had the situation in hand!


    "Tonya, I..." He started to say but she cut him off, she almost had his dick out!


    "You came to save me. I''ve never had a man willing to do anything like that for me." She kissed him again, this time she bit his lip as she pulled away, and he realized she had managed to work his engorged member out.


    "Tonya, I saved you because..." He tried again to say he was there to save all of them along with Harry, not just her, but she ducked under the cover as she placed a finger on his lips. Her lips proceeded to be wrapped around his member, so soft and warm. She twirled her tongue and sucked working her other hand back and forth in tandem with her mouth.


    Clay''s eyes rolled back as she took it all. All he could think of for some reason was, "Holy shit she''s really good at that for a lesbian!" As she made light moaning-sucking sounds as she proceeded like it was something she needed more than anything else in the world at that moment.


    He looked over at Jill and back down to the blanket bobbing up and down and groaned.


    Tonya took that to mean he was enjoying himself. Which he definitely was! What he was groaning about was he had been interested in courting Jill before the universe decided to give Earth the middle finger. Now he found another woman equally as attractive as Jill interested in him too.


    And she was going to fucking town down there holy shit! She hit the spot, then hit it again, and again as she felt his member twitch from the sensation and she doubled down. He was about to pull out and blow his load. "I''m about to.." But she fucking took it to the hilt, her tongue licking his balls as he blew his load.


    She didn''t stop until everything was cleaned up and put away. When her head popped back out she was licking her lips and said, "Thank you, Clay." And she sounded sincere as she snuggled up next to his right side again.


    Clay lay there, completely at a loss as to what the hell he was going to do. One thing was for sure. He had a lot to think about. And didn''t know where to even start.

 (6) Sis

    June 11, 2025; Clay lay there for what he would guess was roughly an hour and then decided he couldn''t sleep anymore. Tonya''s unexpected attention before she went to sleep still had him at a loss. The woman knew Jill was interested in him. They worked in the same office every day, so why would she do that to someone she thought of as her friend? Jill was a good woman, and he felt bad for letting Tonya proceed.


    But at the same time explaining that situation with his dick hanging out and already in her hand to Jill, after getting gored and nearly dying from blood loss didn''t sound like something he was likely to survive at that moment.


    He really liked all his parts. He was rather attached to all of them.


    He slowly extracted himself from between the two gorgeous women, Tonya instantly scooted into the spot he was in and threw her arm around Jill. He sighed and quietly made his way out of the little hole in between the hay bails they had made.


    He crawled out and found Luke looking at the sword he had found after the dog attack on the highway. "So, can you use that thing?" Clay asked, genuinely curious as he sat down on a bail of hay not far from where Luke was sitting. There was a small access door for the loft that he had cracked open so he could keep watching up and down the road. But currently, he was staring at the sword.


    He shook his head. "Probably not. I took fencing in college but I didn''t like it. I wasn''t quick enough. Too much muscle and not enough coordination." He shrugged. "But my class is Warrior, and I feel like I should be using this." He looked up at Clay.


    "But, isn''t the metal jack handle doing okay?" Clay asked. He had seen Luke doing pretty well with the improvised weapon.


    "Yeah, it does okay, but I can''t use my only skill. Piercing Strike." Luke shrugged. "My weapon has to have a point." With that, he picked up the sword and thrust it into the air. Clay could see the tip of it glow blue as he repeated, "Piercing Strike."


    "So where are you two going?" Clay asked nodding at Dawn who was asleep not far away.


    Luke was quiet for a minute thinking. "Hell if I know. I''m just winging it myself. Dawn seems to think if we can find a decent settlement that won''t discriminate against us then we''ll be fine." He said looking at Dawn. Clay could hear the unsaid "but" at the end of that statement.


    "But?" Clay asked.


    "But I don''t think we will find a place like that Mr. Clay." He waved in general to everything around them. "The world''s went to shit. I''m a fucking squirrel mutant of all things, and to top it all off, as far as I can tell, our fucking government is actively purging anyone not in shelters." He ran his hand through his hair. Clay could feel this man''s desperation. "Is there any place for us left?"


    Clay didn''t immediately answer. He had thought there might be a chance until his brief encounter with the guards at the gate where they had met. Something about the "human only" order from the government hadn''t sat well with Clay. Regardless of what happened to them, they had all been human at one time, right?


    It was wrong, and Clay knew it. He looked Luke in the eye and said, "Sure there is. You just have to decide to make it that way. Don''t worry about ignorant assholes, Luke. If you want something for yourself or your family, then make it happen. Don''t give anyone a chance to fuck it up for you guys." He gestured at Dawn''s sleeping form. "You''ll probably be better off without being in that shelter if you think about it."


    Luke nodded, seemingly deep in thought as he stared at the sleeping Dawn. Clay said, "Go ahead and get some rest. I''ll take watch, Luke." The man nodded absently and lay down not far from Dawn covered up with a thick wool blanket.


    Twenty minutes later, just as the sun popped up over the horizon he realized the temperature was plummetting, it had to be right around freezing now, or flirting with it. Looking to the West he could see flashes of lightning arcing out of a giant black supercell coming their way.


    "Awesome," Clay commented in a deadpan tone. "Just fucking wonderful." He had a bad feeling about what was coming. He looked at the barn, knowing they wouldn''t be able to stay there. They would have to find a house, and preferably one with a fireplace. He looked back at Luke who had just started snoring lightly.


    "In an hour or so." He said to himself as he took out his last jerky stick. "I''ll need to search for some more food and water pretty soon." He thought about their dilemma. Thought about it for an hour or so before he decided it was time to wake everyone up and get going.


    It hadn''t rained or snowed yet even with the thunder booming, deep rumbles shaking even the barn. Lightning flashed, in the sky and the wind started to howl as they made their way southwest as they made it to Highway 55, towards Pontiac.


    The storm seemed to stall over the top of them as they finally passed a few houses around midday.


    To Clay''s dismay, none of them had a chimney. The conversation was light if any, and by 2 PM the sky started to open up slowly as large snowflakes started to fall now and then. "We need to find somewhere to shelter until this is over." Dawn called over the booming thunder. He just nodded.


    "Come on, I think I see a house with a chimney, let''s hope it''s not just for looks." Clay said as he started angling a little off the road toward an old, small farmhouse he barely noticed from the highway. It was tucked into a small thicket of trees and hard to see.


    They made it to the house just as the flakes started to fly, and Clay was hopping there wouldn''t be anyone in the house once they got there. He had to dispatch a female zombie who charged at him as soon as the door opened. He stuck the spike of his axe in her head and jerked violently. The zombie didn''t move after that.


    They found the remains of the woman''s family in the kitchen. She had attacked, and eaten them for breakfast on the day the zombie problem started. She''d been stuck in the house until they showed up.


    Thankfully there was a fireplace, and enough wood stacked outside for a little while. Within ten minutes Clay had a fire started and Luke helped him remove what was left of the bodies while the women searched the rest of the house.


    Clay took first watch and made sure both Jill and Tonya were already sleeping before he went to sleep himself. He woke up to Jill shaking him softly. As he woke up to her beautiful smile she said, "Breakfast is ready, come on." She patted his leg affectionately. "It''s still snowing."


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    They had decided after some discussion that they would stay as long as it kept snowing. While they had decent cold weather gear, they didn''t have enough if it stayed cold and snowing their group would be forced to stay hunkered down somewhere while they tried to ride it out.


    Not a great solution but better than freezing to death on the road in case something drastic happens. After all, everything else was going to shit, why not throw a blizzard in just to add a little extra bullshit to everything else humanity was dealing with in this part of the world.


    Clay''s phone vibrated. It scared the living shit out of him too as he scrambled to get it out of his pocket and answer it.


    It was his sister, Glinna. "Hello. Sis?" He said. It had been three years since he''d spoken with any of his family. Since his older brother died in an accident with a drunk driver and their other sister Cindy had him already cremated and buried before he had finally been contacted by his brother''s lawyer and informed of his untimely death. He had inherited everything. His brother had not only inherited Mom and Dad''s property but bought a lot of land adjoining the old homestead that had been in the family since they had homesteaded it in 1836.


    Once Cindy had found out she hadn''t gotten anything, she had stopped talking to Clay and because of everything else going on with his recent divorce at the time he had shut everyone out. His little sister Glinna hadn''t done anything though.


    "Clay! Thank God you''re okay. Listen, we''re heading home...," There was a moment of static and she cut back in, "...already heading into Oklahoma." It went quiet for a minute and Clay thought he had lost her but then he heard, "What the hell is that Jim? Oh my God, did someone just nuke us?"


    He heard his brother-in-law''s voice through the phone and gasps of several other people, "I''m pretty sure that''s one of our bombers! Get down!" There was a crackling sound and screaming.


    "Glenna!" Clay cried out. That wasn''t good.


    "...Clay, we''re ok. I''ll see you at Jake''s. Did you hear me? Get to..." Glenna''s voice cut off as her phone went dead. He was down to 38% battery on his, thankful now for being able to charge it and his power bank back at the house with the generator.


    "Damn." He said as he shut his phone off. "Good luck little sister. I''ll see you there."


    "That was your little sister?" Asked Jill with a smile on her face. He really liked her smile, it made him feel warm and fuzzy for some reason.


    "Yeah. Well the one I can still get along with anyways, I guess." He patted her arm as he started to get up. "I haven''t talked to her in three years or so." He stretched, taking care not to aggravate his ribs or newly mended shoulder. "Since our brother died." He started towards the kitchen.


    They had done a pretty good job of cleaning or covering up the stains and if Clay hadn''t seen it before he wouldn''t be able to tell three people had been killed and devoured very messily in the room.


    Fried spam and the eggs were still good in the refrigerator. "That smells so good!" His mouth was watering as he walked into the kitchen. He just didn''t think about what he had to clean up.


    As they ate, he saw Dawn and Luke having a heated discussion and he caught Dawn shooting him hateful looks like he''d done something. From the snippets he managed to overhear, she wasn''t happy with a decision Luke had made for them after he had spoken to him the morning prior. He couldn''t think of anything he could have said to have her pissed off at him but if he learned anything in life it was to leave a pissed-off woman be or it was usually your ass that was paying for it.


    So he spent the day looking at an atlas and planning the rest of the trip. He wanted to memorize the roads they would have to take, and a couple of alternative routes just in case something went wrong. Like the army moving through Kankakee. The day passed without incident and Clay slyly took the first watch again.


    At least he thought he was being sly. He woke up the next morning sitting on the couch with Jill''s head in his lap sleeping, the fireplace was roaring, and he could see she wasn''t wearing a bra or underwear under her long nightshirt. He couldn''t help but notice the light shadow of stubble on her small mound, her shirt just bunched right to allow him a fantastic fucking view from where he was laying down slightly behind her. And she smelled good too. The blanket had worked its way in front of her.


    He made sure to take in an eye full before he moved to get up. But as soon as he touched her hip she moved them just enough to let him see everything from his vantage point. He couldn''t take his eyes off of it as she stretched. "Like what you see, Hun?" Came her husky voice. It was literally dripping with sexuality as she purposefully stuck it up in front of him to see clearly right before her shirt slid down over her bubble butt to cover it as she stretched.


    She looked around and with a mischievous grin then whispered, "I have an idea." She slid off the couch and unbuckled his pants.


    "Jill, I don''t want you to do anything you''re not ready for." He grabbed her hand as she reached his button. "I like you. A lot. I don''t want to fuck it up." He looked at Tonya sleeping on the loveseat remembering her attention a few nights back in the barn.


    "Then shut up Clay Benton, and let me show you how much I appreciate what you did for me." She pulled his engorged penis out of his pants and stroked it up and down while she looked around nervously. Then she started slowly, almost shyly for a few strokes as she figured out a rhythm. Then she flicked her tongue out and rubbed it up and down the large nerve cluster sending a pleasurable shiver all the way up to the top of his scalp. He''d never even noticed she had a damn tongue ring! As she flicked the head of it gently he quickly lost track of everything else for a short while.


    He had a very bright smile on his face as he left the living room to fetch some more wood for the fire from outside. Jill was humming to herself as she went to fry something for breakfast and he heard Dawn who was on watch ask, "What''s got you so perky?"


    Outside it was starting to turn from a snowstorm to flurries and the darker clouds had moved off to the East overnight. He started loading wood up on his arm thinking about being able to possibly move on to Pontiac and then Bloomington.


    "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Came a plethora of explosions from the direction of Chicago. He spun to look and he could see the city still way off in the distance to the north. The flat Illinois land, allowed him a damn near unobstructed view of what was currently dropping on Chicago.


    Large explosions ripped through the city as B1 bombers rained destruction on the Windy City. At first, Clay thought they were just dropping the bombs on the city. But then he saw a large, clawed hand reach up past the buildings and slap one of the unfortunate B1s out of the sky. The plane was torn into three pieces as it dropped like a rock. He noticed two parachutes pop open before the wreckage exploded somewhere in the city.


    That''s when he saw another large mutated beast climb over the top of a tall tower, it almost looked somewhat like a fucking porcupine. With a defiant roar, it suddenly released a wave of spines towards the other two bombers. One was struck through, and as it started to plummet out of the air two parachutes popped out.


    The problem was the spines had been launched skyward toward the planes that had been returning south after making their bombing run. Which meant the spines that Clay estimated in the hundreds and probably about twenty fucking feet long were all sailing in their direction.


    He dropped the wood and ran inside yelling, "Watch out! Incoming!" As he grabbed Jill and Tonya and ran for the back door. Maybe if they had enough of the house between them they would have a better chance.


    Just as they cleared the door Clay heard, "Fwunk! Fwunk! Fwunk! Fwunk! Fwunk!" The spines, falling at an angle, and being dispersed over a large area penetrated through the roof and walls of the house. They went completely through the house and stuck deep into the ground and floor inside.


    The splinters of the house that were shot out from the force of the spine''s impacting it turned into dangerous projectiles and Clay could hear Tonya let out a yelp and Luke was screaming like his fucking nuts were in a vice and someone was cranking on the handle!


    "Tonya?" He called to her as she fainted. He just caught her. A shard of wood was sticking out of her side, blood soaking her shirt in an ever-increasing circle around the wound. He eased her down to the snowy ground as gently as he could. "Oh no. Dawn!" He called.


    Luke had stopped screaming and soon Dawn staggered out of the door, her pants leg had a large torn, blood-stained hole in her right leg. "Damn it! Clay when I tell you to, pull that out from the back. And hold her still. This is going to be worse than your wound." She readied herself and said, "Okay!"


    As soon as she said okay, Clay pulled the sliver out as quickly and gently as he could manage, discarding it and holding onto her as Dawn''s hands hovered over the wound and she said, "Healing Touch!"


    At first, Clay couldn''t see anything happening. Then he witnessed the blood around the wound seeming to flow back into the wound as it reformed flesh and organs and then pink puckered fresh skin. About halfway through it, Tonya woke up and screamed. All he could do was try to hold her still and reassure her everything was going to be okay in a little bit. Her eyes locked with his and then her hand grasped his.


    Tonya''s next words caused Clay''s brain to malfunction for a minute.


    She was breathless from screaming and if Clay''s experience was anything to go by exhausted to the point of collapsing. "I think I love you Clay, could you be my prince?" She whispered as she clung to him.


    "What the fuck do you mean bitch?" Jill burst out at hearing her words. Clay just stared dumbfounded. "Oh hell no you didn''t just fucking say what I think you did? You don''t even fucking like men! Why the hell you gotta try to make a move on mine?" Jill yelled. She was pissed, and that was putting it mildly.


    Dawn was scowling at him even worse than usual. It might have been her exhaustion showing but he got the distinct feeling she was trying to find any reason to hate him more. Every time she looked at him he got a weird shiver down his neck like impending doom. He kept telling himself she just disliked him, she wasn''t going to murder him in his sleep.


    At least not unless he gave her a reason too.


    "We need to gather what we can and get out of here," Clay said to them all. "What happened to Luke? Is he alright?" He still hadn''t seen the man even though he had been screaming, hopefully, Dawn was able to save him. His screaming had cut out rather abruptly.


    Dawn shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. "He saw this," she pointed at the hole in her pants leg, "and started screaming like it was his leg. Fucking baby passed out when I pulled the sliver out to heal it." She shrugged as if it was normal. "He''s never been able to stand seeing something like that. He passes out every time."

 (7) Ferret Problem

    June 13, 2025; They hurriedly gathered up their supplies and quickly set off down the highway. By 9 AM they had entered and passed through Pontiac. The town was completely deserted and Clay took the opportunity to scavenge for some jerky and other supplies. Surprisingly the town looked like it had been evacuated before things got too bad and they easily restocked their supplies as they went through.


    Just as they made it through Pontiac Illinois Clay heard a low roar coming from the south and as they looked, a large missile arced overhead, flames billowing out of the engines as it consumed unfathomable amounts of fuel hurdling towards its target. Chicago was only visible at the very edge of the horizon as a mass of grey with taller shiny spires sticking up in the thick blue-green fog.


    "Don''t look at it!" He yelled as he turned away. "Run!" Something that big had to be an ICBM. He didn''t know what the blast radius would be, but he wanted to be as far away from the fucking thing when it exploded.


    "Oh my God!" Dawn screamed. Luke picked her up as she stopped to look back, scooping her up on his shoulder as he ran as fast as he could. He was surprisingly ahead of Clay, Jill, and Tonya as they ran as fast as they could through about a foot of snow.


    It was wind-packed snow though, so they easily traveled across the top of it farther and farther away. He couldn''t hear the roar from the ICBM engines anymore and he felt the impact as it exploded.


    The ground seemed to jump underneath them and Clay hit the ground hard. So did everyone else. The flash temporarily blinded him and even though they were a long way from Chicago, Clay still felt the heat of the blast.


    The snow melted so quickly near them the ground was steaming as Clay tried to scramble up. He was covered in mud from head to toe and as he glanced over his shoulder he could see a large triple mushroom cloud extending thousands of feet into the atmosphere.


    Behind them, about twenty miles or so, was the edge of a steaming, smoking shallow crater. Where Chicago had been was a raging inferno, two large masses writhed on the ground smashing what remained of nearby buildings.


    "Fuck!" He said as he got stood up again, he''d hit the ground hard.


    "That was one of ours." Tonya said wiping mud off her face. "What the hell are we doing nuking our fucking selves!" She screamed.


    "Look." Jill said, pointing at the two massive, writhing bodies. One managed to stand and take a step.


    "No fucking way..." Tonya said.


    The beast managed to take three more steps as it let out a loud, low, long roar that Clay could feel in his very soul, like a primal cry that made him instinctively want to flee.


    "Keep running!" He said as he turned them around and started off as fast as they could manage. Luke and Dawn had recovered and were right on his heels as they made it back onto the highway running as fast as they could southwest. He could see snow again in the distance but right now he was sweating, but he didn''t dare stop to shed a layer.


    He could still hear the creature that survived roaring, as it made its way south, in their direction. Every step it took covered more ground than they could run in the same amount of time. It was getting closer.


    They ran. Clay''s lungs burned and he didn''t care. They had to get as far away from that thing and whatever the military sent next.


    Because he didn''t know what was bigger than an ICBM except maybe a bigger fucking nuke! And he definitely didn''t want to be anywhere near that thing when they dropped it.


    So he ran, and surprisingly he didn''t have to keep urging the others on. By the looks of their faces, they felt the same visceral need to get farther away.


    Two hours later they finally hit snow again, but there was much less of it. He could see the city limits sign for Normal Illinois. He knew it would turn into Bloomington.


    He was about to call for them to take a break behind a short red-brick building that was one of the first they had run into as they got into the actual city. The houses on this side of the city were heavily fire-damaged and there were only a handful still standing, their black, scorched timber dusted with snow made an eerily surreal scene as they ran through.


    "We need to keep going." Clay managed as he caught his breath. His fucking ribs hurt so much, he didn''t know if he could manage much further.


    And then he was blinded as everything flashed. Almost instantly an invisible pressure wave hit them, the wall and pieces of debris-covered them as they were thrown to the ground. A loud screaming sound of superheated air rushing back the other way rushed past only a moment later.


    His ears rang. He was blind, trying to blink vision back into his eyes as he vaguely made out muffled screaming. He was on top of someone but he couldn''t tell who. He tried to raise up, but was wedged on something. "Come the fuck on!" He yelled as the heat seemed to take his breath. He couldn''t even hear his own words.


    It took several minutes before he could hear, and he was pretty sure shit was burning not far away from him. He was on top of Dawn of all people and it took several more minutes before either of them could see well enough to get his rucksack unstuck from a piece of metal. The piece of metal was stuck through the red brick wall that had been blown over on top of them. A dumpster and a now smashed Ford F-150 were all that kept it off of them.


    Tonya wasn''t moving, but thankfully Jill soon was able to crawl over to her and check. "She''s alive." Surprisingly she didn''t sound pissed at her friend anymore, only worry sounded in her tone. "She''s banged up pretty bad, but she''s not bleeding that I can see."


    "Okay, Luke, grab her and you three make your way out over there if you can. The wall isn''t stable, we need to get out from under it." Clay said. He made his way out, following Dawn. He has to admit she had nice assets, he could see why Luke liked her so much. Though it was weird they never slept under the same blankets.


    As they made their way out from under the collapsed wall. Clay immediately noticed large areas of rubble that had been a city only ten minutes prior now burning. The smell was indescribable as pillars of black smoke billowed into the darkening grey sky. "We need to keep going. We can''t stay here."


    They moved on as fast as they could manage. It was well into the night by the time they staggered into ground coated with a thin layer of snow instead of the muck and slush they had been moving through as they made their way away from the blast radius of the heat.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    They hadn''t said much. Luke had handed Tonya off to Clay as soon as they had made it out from under the wall. And he had packed her the entire way. He was past exhausted but kept putting one foot in front of the other.


    Finally, he could see houses grow more numerous. It was almost daylight and he made out a city limits sign just ahead. It read Lincoln Illinois. Clay made it to the other side of the city, going around the outskirts to avoid any zombies. He found a deserted house and after making sure it was clear. Passed out cold.


    * * *


    "Hey, little brother!" Jake yelled as Clay found himself suddenly airborne before he hit the ground so hard it knocked the breath out of him. "Come on, we need to get in the stand before daylight."


    He groaned as he rolled over onto his knees and raised up on his bed, shooting his brother a glare as he laughed at the look on Clay''s face before disappearing down the hallway towards the kitchen. "I have breakfast ready, let''s go! Imma get a bigger buck than last year I can feel it." He could tell his brother was extremely excited about going hunting.


    Wait, he was sleeping. He remembered this day. Everything that had happened since that weird dream where he had become a Sovereign and been given a system seed came flooding back into his mind and he felt a headache coming on.


    He dressed, making sure he layered with thermal underwear, it wasn''t going to get above 10 Fahrenheit with the win chill putting it closer to 2 or 3. And they were going to be up in the air. Layers were the only way.


    By the time he got downstairs and ate his breakfast, Jake had their guncases set out by the door waiting on them. Clay quickly finished, his brother impatient just like he had been so many years ago.


    "Okay, I''m sorry Jake but I can''t do this right now." Clay said stopping at the door. Jake came back to the doorway, a worried expression on his face.


    "What do you mean, little brother?" Jake asked Clay. Worry evident on his face.


    "I mean, I can''t do this right now." Clay took a deep breath. He didn''t care this was a dream. He had real issues to deal with in the real world. So why the fuck was he dreaming about a day that happened over twenty years ago?


    "Oh, you mean those two nukes you just survived?" Jake asked looking right at him with a smirk on his freckled face. "Yeah, I''d definitely be worried about my boys and how well things will be swimming if I were you, little brother. But we both know that''s not what your problem is."


    Clay let out a groan.


    "Come on. You can talk to me, Clay." Jake said motioning around at the darkened yard around Mom and Dad''s house. "The issue isn''t the nukes. Be honest."


    His shoulders drooped as he shrugged. "I don''t know what to do." Clay finally said. "I think I have inadvertently developed feelings for two women. And they''re friends. And I don''t know what to do..." Clay said after a long pause shaking his head.


    Jake stared at him for a moment and then whistled. "Holy shit little brother, you mean you, the conservative one of all of us kids, fell in love with two women? And their friends on top of it?" Jake shook his head. "That''s not a good way to have a long life little brother." He gave him a smirk.


    "It''s not like I''ve committed to anything yet with either of them." Clay said.


    "Maybe not. But you can''t hide your feelings from me Clay, I''m your brother. You wouldn''t be having this discussion, with me, your dead brother no less, unless you couldn''t find a solution." Jake shook his head.


    "Well, the problem is I don''t know how to deal with it. Somehow I''ve fucked up and now both of them are fucking interested in me. Fuck, I mean one of them just asked me if I''d be her prince right in front of the other! I seriously thought there was going to be a damn fight but we had to run and..."


    Jake just looked at him. Then let out a laugh that Clay hadn''t heard in years. After he recovered he said, "And how might I ask, can you fix a woman''s heart Clay?" He shook his head. "That''s not for you to decide, you can only influence it. And fortunately for my entertainment, you''re stuck in the good guy mode so you are either getting friend-zoned or inadvertently becoming that prince she was talking about." He shrugged.


    "But what do I do?" Clay asked, still at a loss.


    "Well, you have a ways to go yet before you make it home. Why don''t you just postpone it until you make it there, and then you can make a decision." He shrugged. "I mean two nukes, and did you see the fucking thing?" Clay knew it was a rhetorical question, Jake was dead and Clay had seen the fucking thing get back up after getting hit by one of the most powerful weapons in mankind''s arsenal and it took it and kept going. "You might not have to choose. It''s not going to be an easy trip. Hell you or them could die at any moment. Tell them you all need time to think about everything and you''ll give them your answer once you make it home."


    He stopped and squinted at Clay. Then added, "But don''t be stupid about it little brother. Don''t be the one that brings it up or you''ll for sure have both of them on your ass. And you said they''re friends right?" As Clay nodded, Jake continued, "Then wait until they''re arguing about it before you drop that bomb. It''ll give you some time to figure things out in that peanut-sized brain of yours." Jake laughed. "Now can we go shoot a dear, I''m tired of hearing about your girlfriend''s problems."


    * * *


    "Clay! Wake up. Clay." Jill said as he tried to crawl his way out of sleep, his eyes were matted shut and he tried to wipe them clean as he forced himself awake.


    "What''s wrong?" He asked, still struggling, he was well past exhausted.


    "I think we need to leave." She said urgently.


    "What?" He finally managed to look at her through stinging red eyes.


    "Here, let me show you." She quietly stood and went to a window and stood to the side of it looking East towards the still burning crater. As he stood beside her he didn''t see it at first. But then it moved. Fast! And it was big. He heard "Thud, Thud. Thud." As whatever it was hopped around like it wasn''t as big as a fucking aircraft carrier.


    "Get everyone awake." He didn''t have to say anymore. The beast was digging in houses and rubble, which can only mean one thing. Clay''s party was on the menu, and he didn''t want to wait to be served. The creature picked one screaming man up it dragged him out of a house kicking and thrashing as the beast popped him in its mouth.


    "DING! System Bonus Quest activated. The host must survive the rampaging ferret. Time remaining: four hours and fifty-nine minutes. If completed, the host will be able to select from the following Abilities or Skills. Mind Lance. Evasion. Infravision. Chameleon. Dark Bolt." Kris said.


    "Damn! Five fucking hours of dodging that thing!" He said to himself. "Well, I wasn''t planning on letting it catch me anyway."


    Five minutes later they watched in horror as a flood of people rushed out of a cellar scattering everywhere as they ran. Daylight popped over the horizon just in time to illuminate the beast. It was a ferret. It pounced around as it scarfed up a person here and popped in its mouth. Then hopped there for another one.


    Clay''s party ran as soon as they saw everyone come out of the cellar and scatter. Some solo people passed them as they fled. An orc man holding hands with a woman with golden halos around her eyes was keeping pace with his group. The Orcs eyes grew wide and he yelled at everyone, "Get down!"


    Everyone in Clay''s group saw what he was yelling for though and hit the ground, just as he heard dozens of massive booms. His ears rang they were being fired so close he was almost stunned. He quickly recovered though and started pulling people up and shoving them away from what had turned into a wall of Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicles. He could hear multiple bushmasters lighting the ferret up before another volley from the tanks was thrown at it too.


    He could see infantry taking positions as they ran through the chaos that erupted around them. The ferret hopped over to the line of tanks and casually picked one up and shook it like a toy, then tossed it into another one. The entire time it continued to take fire. Sometimes a tank round looked like it did something as it would let out a roar and keep fighting. It was bleeding but continued to hop around and wreck the battle line the army had established.


    They had made it about fifty yards when the first Abrams crashed into another tank just off to their right as they fled south, parallel to the battle line of the army, or as Clay could see, the Illinois National Guard at this point. The explosion knocked him and everyone else onto their ass that was nearby.


    "Fuck!" He cursed as he regained his footing and helped Jill and Tonya up and trudged onward, trying to get as far away as fast as possible as the sky got a little brighter. It never got past the dingy grey. The news reports said it could take years before the micro dust particles that were floating in the atmosphere would settle and allow more sunlight in. He was starting to miss the sun. You could see it through the grey haze. Just you couldn''t feel it.


    A soldier rushed forward and kneeled, placing a Javelin on his shoulder and firing. He could hear the explosions and screaming as they finally made it out of the area around noon. A few survivors like them trickled through. But not many.


    Nearby he found Dawn and Luke with the male Orc and Saint woman. They were resting in a small crater. The sound of the battle in the distance was still loud. "Hey Luke, we''re going to keep going. If they hit that thing..." He yelled over the sounds of battle. He left the rest unsaid. Nobody wanted to tempt luck a third time.


    "We''re right behind you Mr Clay." He stood, causing Dawn to stand with him. They shouldered their packs and turned to leave. That''s when the other man spoke up, the Orc.


    "You all traveling together? And no problems?" The Orc asked as if he was having trouble talking due to the bottom tusks that had grown out of his jaw. It had to be tough to talk. He wondered why Tonya''s were much less prominent.


    "Pretty much." He heard Luke say as they walked along with them. "Mr Clay let us come along with him so far. And if we hadn''t, we''d be dead right now." He pointed back towards Chicago''s ruins.


    "Where y''all headed?" Asked the woman, a distinct southern draw evident in her voice, if Clay had to pick a state he''d say she sounded like a Georgia peach.


    Everyone looked at Clay so he told them, "Missouri. Home."


    He kept putting one foot in front of the other. Kept pushing to get farther and farther away. He had to get home. He focused on the golden orb and as the status screen popped up he could see the time for the bonus quest to be completed still read thirty-eight minutes remaining. Another loud explosion nearby made them all duck as pieces of shrapnel and dirt flew everywhere.


    He heard people moaning as the Bradley that got hit by the turret of an Abrams back hatch opened. Several soldiers rushed out, one was left inside the burning Bradley. It looked like they were running away. That''s when he heard a single low jet. As he looked up he immediately identified the jet as a Warthog.


    "Help me! Please, somebody, I''m stuck." Came a muffled cry from the Bradley. He should keep going. He knew that. But he couldn''t. His conscious told him that if he didn''t try to help, then he would ask himself if he could have done something for the rest of his life.

 (8) Why Doc

    June 14, 2025; "Please help me, my fucking leg is stuck!" Came the muffled cry from the badly damaged Bradley. The sound was coming from the front of the vehicle where the Abrams turret had smashed into it. Crumpling the front of the fighting vehicle like a cheap tin can. Spark''s arced from electrical systems as he told Jill and Tonya to keep going, he''d catch up.


    "I''m coming!" Yelled Clay as he rushed into the Bradley. He easily found the person, a woman in uniform with her knee pinned. He looked around and found a bar, where it came from originally or what it belonged to he couldn''t say but it would work for a lever.


    "Please, I can''t feel my leg." The woman cried, her crisp blue eyes wet with moisture.


    "You''ll have to help pull yourself out, on three, ready? One. Two. Three." He shoved the bar into the collapsed area and grunted as he strained. He heard metal groan and after a moment felt the woman finally free herself. She was in fatigues, fully kitted out with vest and gear. He didn''t see that she had a weapon other than her knife. And her knee was fucked.


    It was a mess, and he could see bone. "I''m going to pick you up and carry you. We need to get away from here. Are you okay with that." He waited for her to nod, pain evident in her face. Another tank went tumbling past the door of the Bradley as he picked her up on his shoulder, the Abrams collided with another tank and exploded."Hold on!"


    He moved, he couldn''t run exactly, he was way too exhausted but he managed a slightly faster pace than a walk. The woman grunted in pain when he stumbled but never complained. He kept going finally catching up to Jill, Tonya, Luke and Dawn. And the Orc man and Saint woman. They kept moving. That''s when he heard the woman''s radio crackle.


    "Dropping ordinance on target. Clear!"


    "It''s fucking tossing those tanks like a two year old throws a hot wheels car!" Said the military woman on his shoulder. She wavered on the edge of consciousness but was still lucid. Somewhat.


    "Are we far enough away?" Tonya asked, worry evident in her tone.


    "We should be, it''s just napalm canisters. We used every fucking thing else on the bigger ones." She answered as she started to pass out.


    "DING! Congratulations! The host has completed the System Bonus Quest and survived the rampaging ferret. The host will be able to select from the following Abilities or Skills. Mind Lance. Evasion. Infravision. Chameleon. Dark Bolt." Kris said in his head. "Please select your reward." He didn''t really have the mental acuity at the moment to think about it much.


    He tried to see what they were but didn''t get any information other than the names. Something ranged might be nice. Mind Lance and Dark Bolt sounded like they could be used at a distance. "Fuck it, Dark Bolt sounded better." He focused and soon he heard.


    "Congratulations! New skill acquired: Dark Bolt. The host can manifest three mystical bolts of dark energy. The bolts can target enemies within sight and deal half the host''s Mystical Point total to the targeted enemy. Cost : 25 Mystical Points."


    "We need to check on her." Dawn said. Trying to get him to slow down. "She could be bleeding internally."


    "I''m not stopping until I can''t fucking see that thing or hear it." Clay said to nobody in particular. He felt the blast wave from this far as a warm breeze, as the military dropped napalm on the ferrets location. He could hear people screaming too. He didn''t stop and go back. He didn''t put the soldier down. He didn''t look.


    He kept moving until he didn''t see or hear any fighting anymore. Then he simply picked a house and after the others had cleared it of zombies or hostile enemies they settled in to rest. The Saint woman''s name was Amy and the Orc was John.


    The others had been talking while they walked. But Clay hadn''t payed much attention. Once he placed the soldier woman down on the couch where Amy and Dawn started examining her leg, he sat down in a cushioned chair and let out a sigh.


    Dawn and Amy were soon cutting the pants leg off. And between them Amy took the initiative and began doing something as her hands glowed while she kept them close to the knee. He could see Amy nod once to Dawn and the woman jerked and pulled on the soldiers leg, then held her down as she let out a bloodcurdling scream and then slumped back onto the couch, still unconscious.


    He heard something heavy hit the floor and as he turned his head he saw Luke had fainted in the doorway. Probably after he saw what Dawn had done. Clay grimaced as his ribs started aching from the overexertion.


    "Now I can heal it fully, great work." Amy said as Dawn just nodded. Jill and Tonya were having a discussion in the other room and John was watching at the windows for any potential trouble.


    He closed his eyes. Maybe he''d see Jake again...


    He was warm. And comfortable. He could smell something... almost like... flowers. Yeah flowers. It reminded him of wildflowers in a meadow. He tried to move but couldn''t. Something was preventing him from shifting his weight. It was dark. He couldn''t see two inches in front of his face.


    Then someone groaned from his lap as he felt the weight holding him down shift ever so much to get comfortable again and he could feel silky hair tickling the bottom of his chin as their head moved slightly before resting again on his chest. He could tell by the ear that twitched by his neck it was Jill, sleeping comfortably in or rather on his lap in the chair.


    His eyes adjusted a little better and he could make out Luke and John sitting by the door talking softly as they maintained watch. Clay worked himself forward enough to stand up and place Jill in the chair gently, covering her back up with the blanket before making his way over to the two other men.


    As Clay walked up he extended his hand to the Orc, "John was it?"


    The Orc grasp his hand and grunted. "Yessir Mr Clay." He looked at Amy sleeping nearby and pointed with his chin. "That''s my wife Amy." He looked at Clay. "If you don''t mind, me and my wife would like to travel along with you for as long as we''re able. I''m strong and can help fight. My wife can heal. I can assure you we won''t be a bother Mr Clay."


    Clay looked over at the Saint, he could see her peeking through slitted eyes as they spoke to each other. Probably, worried about her husband interacting with others. Clay didn''t give a shit that he was an Orc though. To him he was just another man stuck in the world''s shit show. Same as him or Luke or anyone else for that matter.


    Human, Beastmen, Orc, or Saint, it all boiled down to the same problem. They had to survive, somehow. And if Clay was going to be honest, it didn''t look like they were doing so well. Not if they had to resort to using nuclear weapons on population centers.


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    "Alright John, I don''t mind if you come along. And another warrior and healer joining the group couldn''t hurt our chances any." He took a seat next to them. "How much supplies do you all have?" He held up a hand to forestall him. "I know that telling us what you have would be trusting us without us having proven to be trustworthy. So I''ll go first, the last I knew of our supply situation was our group had rations and supplies for seven days." He said not mincing words.


    John looked at his wife and then back to Clay. "We have enough for us for three days. Unfortunately a lot of our supplies were left when the ferret attacked that bunker we were sheltering in." John shook his head in dismay. He probably thought that they weren''t bringing enough supplies to the group to be allowed to travel with them.


    "Okay, that''s enough to keep you going until we can scavenge some more supplies." He thought for a moment and added, "We''ll be coming into Springfield before dark if we get to moving shortly after daybreak. We can gather supplies if anything is available." Clay was pretty sure he remembered Springfield Illinois was being evacuated the last time he had been able to watch the news. But that didn''t mean everyone left, or other survivor groups didn''t move in.


    "Thanks for letting me rest Luke." He patted the man''s shoulder. "Grab some sleep while you can. You should too John. I''ll keep watch until daylight." John sat there for a moment and then grunted his acknowledgement before standing and walking over to his wife. He slid under the covers and cuddled with Amy as he started snoring softly within moments. He saw Amy still watching with one eye barely open.


    Luke went and laid not far away from Dawn. He shook his head wondering what the hell was wrong with them. He sat back against the wall watching the night pass outside. Nothing moving except the wind, and time.


    He focused on the golden orb to bring his status screen up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Level: 4


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 257/320


    Mystical Points: 36


    Strength: 23


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 18


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Devine


    Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy; Dark Bolt


    "I wonder if the fucking ferret quest was because of the Divine attention? I''ve never gotten a bonus quest before now." He pondered as time passed. He started to see figures moving as it just started to brighten on the horizon. They were in military uniforms, appeared wounded or fatigued, or maybe both Clay mused, as they wondered past the house they were sheltering in.


    While everyone was asleep he pulled out his phone and turned it on. He scrolled to a current news feed that showed a segmented screen with various different views of destroyed city''s as viewed from satellite. Seattle, L.A., Dallas, Denver, Chicago, D.C., New Orleans ...The list continued. In every city that was leveled, there was the same report. Gigantic mutated beasts had directly targeted humanities gathering points.


    Not surprisingly, the human-only policy had bitten the government right in their asses do to those policies. Estimates put the current remaining population of humans around 1 billion. Beastmen, Orc''s, and Saints estimated population around 4 billion combined.


    Everyone else was fucking dead. Whole countries had been wiped out by the mutated monsters when there only shelter was used as a larder by one or more monsters. Or worse, in the case of one shelter in New Mexico, it was confirmed that a giant mutated spider had used the humans inside to lay eggs in. That''s when the government decided to step in with the bigger WMDs to stop them before they started targeting the smaller shelters as well, or multiplying exponentially out of control like the spider incident.


    In another report, the military had used just about everything to kill as many mutated beasts as possible. Due to infrastructure collapse caused by flooding and the government collapse into anarchy the future looks rather bleak. However the military was able to save a couple of large shelters, those being two in New York, one in London, another in Sydney, and Tokyo. There is a rumor two other shelters survived in China and another in India, but those three could not be confirmed by the reporter.


    Apparently the president had mutated into an Orc and violently assaulted multiple white house secretaries before he had been removed and isolated with his family, and his vice-president had implemented the "human-only" policy almost immediately. The House and Congress had been effected because of the mutations, the capitol was a wasteland after being nuked to eliminate a giant mutated four armed gorilla, and as of June 14, 2025, the United States of America was in a state of complete anarchy.


    He shut his phone off to conserve power, amazed there was still News reports. And stood to stretch. His ribs still hurt, but they were getting better. Tonya started to stir from where she slept wrapped up like a burrito and he went to relieve himself outside before everyone woke up.


    He found a tree and was just turning to head back inside when he heard a low growl from the street. He stopped, and slowly turned to see a large mutated Doberman with a vicious looking scar that had one of its eyes a cloudy dead grey as it lowered its head at him and snarled as it continued to issue it''s growling. It stepped forward.


    One step. It was only twenty feet away.


    Clay slowly pulled his axe out of its temporary sheath in-between his belt and his waist. It took another slow steady pace forward.


    Clay readied the axe, he could feel it about to pounce. "Come on then." He said. "Dark Bolt."


    He watched three black orbs appear almost instantly and he sent them all at the Doberman. At the same time he dodged behind the tree as the dog lunged forward. He heard the beast cry out in pain as the dark bolts struck it.


    But it had lunged forward far enough that Clay stepped around the tree and swung at its left shoulder, "Vicious Strike!" He called as he buried his axe all the way to the handle just above it''s shoulder.


    He put all his strength in the blow, and as it struck he saw the beast go down hard. The blow had driven it down to the sidewalk and Clay could see three deep holes that he figured was caused by his dark bolt, two in it''s chest and one in it''s right leg nearly severing it.


    He quickly jerked the axe out and swung at the dogs head as it failed to snap at his leg. Even wounded as bad as it was the damn thing was still trying to get at him. The axe found its mark and the dog jerked twice as it died. He pulled the axe out to wipe the head of it off on the beasts fur.


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 5 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained. New Skill Acquired: Vicious Strike has evolved into Crippling Strike. The host can initiate a sudden attack that has a high chance of stunning the targeted foe and causes double the damage to the target. Cost: 20 Mystical Points." Kris said.


    "Well, that''s not bad." He said as he stood and walked back inside.


    Tonya was just getting out of bed, her shoulder length black hair naturally curling around her heart shaped face. Her natural full lips and light pea-green skin tone gave her a very exotic look. And her body. She dressed in the other room, right in front of the open door so he had a full view of her. He couldn''t help but seer the image into his brain.


    "When did you get up?" Came Jill''s soft voice from the chair as she stretched.


    That''s when Tonya chose to come out of the other room he had been looking into, she had just put a thin white almost see through top over her head and was still pulling it down.


    Jill was instantly on her feet. She was staring dagger''s at Tonya.


    Tonya gave her a wink, and then as she walked past Clay to the packs next to the wall. As she bent over Clay purposefully looked at Jill. If looks could kill at that moment, Tonya would have been a fried, smoking husk.


    He sighed. This was going to be rough.


    "We''ll wake everyone up in ten minutes." With that he walked outside to the porch. Not five seconds after the door closed he could hear the two women going at it, verbally. He just shook his head. "Are you sure that''ll work Jake?" He asked. Then turned back to watching their surroundings until he heard Jill and Tonya start waking people up.


    Twenty minutes after that they were on their way. When he was asked about the dead Doberman he said, "I had to take a piss." And just left it at that. John thought that remark was funny and laughed to himself for the next four miles.


    They stopped for lunch, ended up spotting a Costco that they scavenged from. Clay was glad he could find some more cola and bags of jerky. They got some good supplies by the end of their hour long raid and were soon back on the road to Springfield. The soldiers name was Hope Klairmont, 26, from Fort Lauderdale Florida originally. Her and the women got along great and she dispatched two zombies really efficient which Clay made a mental note to check everyone''s stats after they settled in to rest for the evening.


    Around four in the afternoon they made it to Springfield Illinois. And it looked abandoned. John and Amy took the opportunity to do some extra scavenging before dark, and Hope asked to join them after everyone agreed to meet back at a particular two story brick house. Clay went inside while Luke and Dawn said they were going to check for medical supplies.


    Which left him with Jill and Tonya. Alone.


    After thirty minutes of non stop bickering he decided to set them both down for a chat. He was nervous as hell but he couldn''t see these two friends going at each other like they were.


    "Stop it!" He pointed at the couch opposite where he was standing. "We need to talk." He gave them both what he hoped was a no bullshit look. Surprisingly they both stopped in the middle of there argument and listened. Though Jill didn''t seem to happy about it, while Tonya virtually hopped in the seat he had pointed at.


    "Look, I''m not good with words." He said after a moment of them looking at him. He ran his finger''s through his hair as he thought. "I didn''t intend on anyone falling in love with me. While I''m flattered you two think of me as someone worth fighting over, I would never interfere with anyone''s friendship. Unintentionally that is what I see I''ve done." He paused, and Jill tried to say something.


    "Clay I love you and..." She started, but stopped after he held up a hand.


    "As of right now I have decided I can''t worry about a relationship at this time. I won''t be interested in possibly establishing one with anyone until I reach my home and can provide for my significant other." He sighed this was fucking hard. "The problem is I like you both, a lot. I don''t know how it happened and it''s obviously too late to fix it without making one of you hate me. So I''m being upfront with you both. I''m sorry." He turned and walked out.


    He would give them a little bit to process everything and maybe they could work out there friendship now, it was still a long ways from home after all.


    "DING! System Bonus Quest activated. The host must save the Doctor from the Zombie Lord. If completed, the host will receive 10 Ability Points and be able to select one of the following Abilities: Minor Spatial Storage, Aura of Malis." Kris said.


    "Ahh fuck, why''s it gotta be doc?" He groaned as he turned to run in the direction Luke and Dawn had taken. He could see the hospital sign and knew that was were they had went. He just had to get there in time!

 (9) Zombie King

    June 15, 2025; He could see the hospital emergency room entrance from where he was currently standing. There was a problem though. In the street between him and the hospital entrance were at least a hundred zombies. And they were all clustered around the door like they had been chasing people right up to them before being stopped by a simple door.


    "Of course it won''t be easy." He commented under his breath as he looked at the zombies. He could see a door on the side of the hospital with a card reader on it but so far couldn''t find a zombie with a card hanging around its neck. So he moved further around the hospital and was rewarded.


    A male zombie wearing green scrubs had a card hanging at his waist as it slowly wandered around a pavilion. Not far away was another door that took a key card. Only two other zombies were anywhere near his target.


    Time being an unknown to save Dawn, and probably Luke too, he hurried to retrieve the card and get inside.


    He snuck as close as he could and then rushed his target easily smashing its head and dropping it. He moved quickly knowing the other close zombies would be on him in moments. He managed to catch the first charging zombie in the neck, nearly decapitating it. But the second charging zombie managed to get close enough to him that he couldn''t swing his axe back effectively so he imposed the handle in between himself and the zombie''s snapping maw.


    He could smell its rancid breath as it struggled against him. He barely managed to pull his buck knife out and stab it through the zombie''s right temple. It dropped to the side as he pushed it off him. "I don''t even think a breath mint could scratch that." He grimaced. "That was horrible." He hurried to the key card and retrieved it.


    "I don''t know if she''s worth this." He said shaking his head as he unlocked the door. He put the card in his pocket and kept his axe ready as he cautiously made his way into the abandoned eery fucking hospital. "I mean, I''m pretty sure I''ve seen some horror flick''s that sure as hell looked a lot like this shit right here..." He grumbled as he quietly made his way through the corridors.


    He didn''t know were to even start looking though so at first he just wandered aimlessly through the halls until he finally made out the distant sound of excited zombies. He picked up his pace as much as he could without being excessively loud, even dropping three more zombies as he made his way to what looked like a cafeteria.


    Through the slightly open door, he could see Luke near what looked like another set of doors on the opposite side of the cafeteria. The man was fending off four zombies and Clay noticed three others lying on the ground. And then Luke dropped another one.


    Clay opened the door and rushed to help. It didn''t take long between them, and all three of the remaining zombies had been dispatched. Luke was breathing hard as he said, "We have to help Dawn!" That''s when he stumbled. Clay noticed a deep dark bruise forming on Luke''s right shoulder. And the man looked like he was barely able to stand.


    "Where is she?" Clay asked. He helped him to a chair nearby and winced himself when he got a good look at the other side of Luke''s face. It looked like he''d fallen hard.


    "Two floors up, East wing, near the stairwell." He pointed at the doors he was by. "At the end of the hall." He tried to stand but Clay easily pushed him back down. Luke wasn''t a little guy by no means but he was too injured to resist much.


    "I''ll get her. You try to keep our way out open." He gestured at the other doors opposite them that Clay had entered through.


    Luke looked at him and Clay could have sworn it looked like he was about to argue before he nodded and turned towards the other doors. "Alright, Mr Clay. Please save her, she''s all I have..."


    With that Clay hurried through the doors.


    Only a few zombies were in between the door and the stairwell at the end of the hall and he easily worked his way through. The stairwell was a different matter.


    It took him nearly ten minutes to work his way to the second floor, and he wasn''t sure he could keep going when he thought he heard a woman''s scream from up above and redoubled his efforts as he fought his way through more and more zombies. Finally nearly twenty minutes after he first entered the stairwell he reached the third floor.


    The first thing he noticed was the access door was ripped out of its frame. "That''s not good," Clay said as he cleaved into another zombie''s head and made his way through.


    The hallway beyond the doorway was littered with corpses, some half eaten and Clay was very thankful the temperature was so low. The stench was still terrible.


    He could hear something heavy hitting the floor inside the room at the end of the hall. Then he saw something big move across in front of the doorway. It was only a flash of white but it had been big whatever it was!


    He gripped his axe handle tighter in anticipation as his adrenaline started flowing. He could hear his heartbeat loud in his ears as he approached the door.


    "Gggrrraaarrrrrr!" Came a roar from farther inside the room. Then he heard, "BANG!" Like something being slammed on the floor. "BANG! BANG!"


    Something metal and very heavy at that.


    He peaked around the corner. While the room was dark, he could make out a hulking zombie that had to be nearly ten feet tall with the remains of a doctor''s coat on. It was slamming what looked like a cat scan machine up and down. It had scooted the heavy machine across to the wall and was trying to reach inside but kept roaring and pulling its hand back out. Clay could see several fingers missing and some lacerations on his hand and arm from a knife.


    That thing was as big or bigger than the one that had fucked him up as they were trying to get out of the suburbs! "So that''s a zombie lord huh?" He said silently to himself. Made sense. "This better be worth it Doc."


    He took a breath to calm his nerves as best he could and as he stepped in the doorway he said, "Dark Bolt." And immediately launched all three bolts at the zombie''s back as he tried to cross the distance between the doorway and the zombie lord. It wasn''t far.


    The bolts hit the beast in its back, and it let out another roar as it turned to launch itself at Clay without any hesitation. Just what Clay wanted.


    This time he was ready for the beast to swing at him and easily timed his counterstrike as he ducked under the swing and jumped up to get higher. The force of the axe spike easily pierced the back of the zombie lord''s head, sinking deep into it''s head.


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    But it didn''t kill it.


    Instead, he was suddenly kicked backward and only barely managed to keep ahold of the axe handle and stay on his feet. The zombie lord roared again, though this time it wasn''t as loud. It''s eyes locked on Clay and he knew there was intelligence there.


    It cautiously tested him. Each time Clay managed to rebuff its attack with one of his own and he could see the creature was getting frustrated with each failed opening. But each time the zombie tried, it burned more and more of his stamina and having already fought to near exhaustion Clay knew he couldn''t keep going much longer.


    And then Clay acted. Having realized it was attacking in a pattern he took the chance and swung his axe as he said, "Crippling Strike!"


    The zombie lord managed to get its arm up in time to somewhat deflect the blow from its head at the cost of its arm. The blow still clipped it though catching it on its large distended jaw and cutting completely through its cheek. Black ichor sprayed over Clay as he quickly redirected his swing into a mighty backstroke as the zombie lord let out a gurgling growl. Its eyes shown with fear.


    Clay buried the spike into its forehead with a mighty backswing. The zombie lord quivered for a moment as if it wasn''t quite sure it was dead yet before crumpling onto the floor. Clay staggered to one knee nearly spent from exhaustion as his adrenaline dumped and he felt the kick he had taken. He bet there was a bruise the size and shape of the zombie lord''s foot on his abs. And his fucking ribs were on fire!


    "DING! Congratulations! Level 6 obtained. 4 unassigned Ability Points gained. Title Granted for slaying the current Zombie King: Zombie Slayer. The host radiates an aura that repels all lesser zombies." Kris said.


    "DING! Congratulations! The host has completed the System Bonus Quest and saved the Doctor from the evolved Zombie King. The enhanced difficulty grants the host the following enhanced rewards and abilities: 15 Ability Points. New Passive Abilities Acquired: Lesser Spatial Storage, Aura of Malis." Kris said.


    "Great..." He said trying to catch his breath.


    "Watch out!" Came Dawn''s voice from inside the machine. "There''s another one!"


    And she was right.


    Standing near the door was a female Zombie Lord in a tattered nurse''s uniform. It hadn''t made a sound as it had stepped in holding a bar it looked like it had torn off the side of a hospital bed. Now though it looked up from the other dead zombies face Clay''s axe still stuck in its forehead and let out a rage-filled roar as it rushed forward towards Clay, its blue glowing eyes filled with hatred.


    "Ahh fuck!" He jerked his axe free in the moment he had to react, blocking the bar and directing the zombie''s swing downward onto the floor. Tile exploded from the strength of the blow and he managed to stand ducking under the still-charging zombie''s other arm as it slid past him on the now slick tile floor.


    It slammed into the wall not far away, hard. And Clay tried to attack while he had an opening, but the damn thing managed to block his blow with the bar. The blow knocked his axe wide, and the zombie clawed three deep furrows down his chest, laying him open. "Ahh!" He cried as he just managed to leap back.


    He grit his teeth as he felt blood running down his stomach, soaking his shirts and pants. He had to end this quickly. But how? He had the gun, but that would draw the attention of every zombie in earshot like a school of piranhas attracted to blood. He wondered for a moment and as it again launched herself at Clay he drew the pistol and fired twice.


    The zombie was still coming even after he hit her twice in the head, and he dove out of the way to prevent the fucking thing from performing a full-body tackle and bearing him landing on him. Definitely not something he was going to let happen if he could help it.


    He rolled, his ribs lancing pain as he forced his exhausted limbs to work harder. He came up on his knees and spun to see what the zombie was doing.


    And sighed in relief as he saw Dawn pulling a knife out of the top of the zombie lord''s head and plunging it back in with a vicious twist. He couldn''t help but swallow hard as he remembered her shooting him that same look.


    He needed to get on Amy and John''s good side so he didn''t have to have Dawn patch him up anymore. She saw him looking at her and said, "Where''s Luke? Is he alright? Why the fuck did you fire the damn gun? We gotta hurry!" She didn''t even wait for the corpse to hit the tiled floor before she stepped forward and jerked him up to his feet.


    He groaned as his muscles just wanted him to collapse on the ground and sleep for two days! But Dawn continued, trying to push him out the door but he was too big for her to physically push so she just managed to shove herself backward slightly.


    "Come on!" She huffed as they both heard the roars and multiple feet rushing towards them on the floors. "They''re almost here, we can''t deal with all of them, run!"


    She tried again to push him but he was done. Done with it all. He grabbed her wrist with his free hand. It was covered in his blood and the ichor from the zombies and said in a very calm but assertive tone. "Enough!" And he walked out pulling her along behind him. As soon as he had grabbed her wrist he had noticed an almost immediate change in her demeanor. She was shooting him hateful looks but she wasn''t fighting or resisting him.


    In the hallway, a wave of zombies rushed towards them and suddenly slowed to a stop. As Clay continued to walk forward the zombies started shuffling back away as if they had encountered something they didn''t like or couldn''t stand to be near. They shuffled away as he moved towards the stairwell doorway pulling Dawn along.


    "Let me..." She said as she tried to pry his fingers off her wrist and he growled. Jerking her forward and scooping her onto his shoulder. As she let out an indignant yelp.


    "I said enough." He slapped the side of her thigh where he had ahold of her as she tried in vain to flail against his strength. She yelped as his large hand landed with a short, "POP" as landed on her skin-tight jeans.


    "Uhh, you fucking brute!" Dawn squealed as he continued into the stairwell and down. She went quiet though and then quietly asked, "Did you kill all these to save me?"


    He just grunted, too exhausted to give a shit about anything but getting to Luke so he could drag her contrary ass back to the brick house.


    The look on the man''s face when he came through the door went from dread to relief when Clay sat her on her own two feet. He rushed over and Clay stumbled to the chair Luke had just vacated, slumping down hard.


    He closed his eyes. His chest burned so fucking bad!


    And then he felt a hand on his chest as the stinging and burning became a buried branding iron and his eyes snapped open to see Dawn, her hand "Purge." He let out another groan as small black drops of liquid started being pulled out of the wounds on his chest gathering in a small ball of what looked like ink about the size of a cherry.


    As the black drops were drawn out he felt the deep burning sensation starting to become less and less until he could only feel the deep scratches, now puffy and irritated. They were going to leave a scar.


    Dawn finished drawing the black liquid out and as she moved her hand out from under the floating ball it dropped to the floor with a splat. It almost looked like tar to Clay. He nearly fell out of the chair, only barely being studied by Dawn''s hand.


    "Luke, I''m too exhausted to heal him right now. Can you help him?" Dawn said. "Where''s the bags?"


    "I left them outside the door when I managed to get up. That drop nearly killed me." Luke said as he helped Clay stand.


    "Thanks," Clay grunted as they walked out the other door.


    "No, thank you, Mr Clay. For saving Dawn." He winced as they opened a side door that led outside. Several zombies moved toward them as they exited the hospital but stopped about ten feet away as if they hit an invisible barrier.


    "What the hell''s happening?" Luke asked as he could see Dawn gripping her knife tight, ready to defend herself. Clay could see four large black duffel bags full to bursting lying beside the wall nearby.


    "When I killed that big guy I got a title. Zombie Slayer. Apparently, I''m like a fucking zombie repellent. At least to these weaker ones. I don''t think it works on the bigger Lord''s and King''s though." Clay said. He motioned for Luke to go ahead he could manage and the man hurriedly grabbed three of the bags as Dawn grabbed another and rushed back to his side.


    As they moved away from Clay the zombies had moved towards them still outside the ten-foot radius. Only barely. They clicked their gnashing teeth and swiped but weren''t near fast enough. "Come on. I feel like I need to die for a day or three..." Clay mumbled as he started back to the brick house.


    He caught a glimpse of Dawn staring at him. This time she had a puzzled look on her face as if she was mentally working through a problem. Luke on the other hand was hyper-aware of everything, and easily guided them through and around hazards. Clay didn''t mind that the man didn''t trust his ability to repel zombies, especially if it wouldn''t work on the more dangerous ones. Not that they''ve seen any.


    But none of them knew if drawing the attention of a bunch of normal zombies would draw larger, more dangerous ones out. And they didn''t care to find out.


    It took nearly an hour to make their way back to the brick house where Jill and Tonya were waiting, anxious at finally seeing him returning. He hadn''t told the two women anything before taking off. And they both wore worried looks like he had abandoned them.


    "You''re hurt!" Cried Tonya rushing up to take one of his arms to help support him. He was barely walking still.


    "What happened?" Jill asked as she examined his torn chest. "Dawn?" She looked at the woman who shook her head.


    "I did what I could. I managed to extract the poison." She slumped into a chair as they made it inside. "I don''t have the Mystical Points to heal him too. I''m sorry." She said to Jill.


    What the fuck? She actually sounded sorry to Clay. What the hell happened?


    His leg almost buckled as he made it to the couch and Tonya helped him sit. His ribs hurt so bad he almost had trouble getting a breath in. His vision was getting darker as he slumped onto Tonya. She managed to guide his head down to her lap as his vision went completely black.


    "Mr Clay?" He heard Luke''s worried tone.


    "Oh no, Clay!" Came Jill''s desperate cry from right beside him. He could feel her hand on his shoulder. He heard the "thump" as he dropped his axe to the floor.


    "Do something!" Tonya cried.


    He knew they couldn''t. Dawn was spent. Luke needed to be healed too. "It''s just a little scratch..." He mumbled as he felt his consciousness slipping away. Tonya was running her soft fingers through his short hair and it felt oddly nice. He couldn''t seem to "Breathe..."


    He felt his legs get lifted onto the couch arm and small hands quickly stripped the remains of his shirts off.


    "Oh my God. Look at those bruises. How the fuck has he kept goi..." That was Dawn''s voice.


    Her hands felt surprisingly warm as she examined his injuries and were being uncharacteristically gentle.


    So did Tonya''s.


    And who was holding his hand?


    The sweet bliss of oblivion finally took him as his exhaustion and fatigue slammed home, rendering him unconscious.

 (10) Stats

    June 17, 2025; "He''s been asleep for a while now. Should we wake him up?" He heard Jill ask softly. She was lying on his right. And someone else was lying on his left, his arm was being clung to like he might run away suddenly.


    "No, Dawn said he needed to rest as much as possible. Amy used everything she had and was only barely able to touch those injuries with her abilities." Tonya said back softly. "Why didn''t he say anything?"


    "I don''t know Tonya. I don''t think he knows how to quit." Jill said as Tonya snorted.


    Clay continued to keep his eyes closed. His body, especially his abdomen and ribs felt like he spent ten rounds in a boxing ring taking body shots the whole time.


    "I think that''s a bit of an understatement, Jill. By what Dawn and Amy said he shouldn''t have been able to move at all, let alone go through what Dawn and Luke said he did at the hospital." She caressed his bicep, tracing a large vein lightly with her index finger from his shoulder to the crook of his elbow. "What did Dawn say? She had never met a man able to ignore pain, and fatigue, and treat it like it didn''t matter. She said he packed her from the third floor because she was being difficult." Tonya said with a giggle.


    Why the hell was that golden orb flashing? He focused on it, still maintaining his breathing and keeping still. He didn''t want to be awake yet. His status screen popped up.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Titles: Zombie Slayer


    Level: 6


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 73/360


    Mystical Points: 46


    Strength: 23


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 18


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Devine; Lesser Spatial Storage; Aura of Malis


    Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy; Dark Bolt


    Remaining ability points to be allocated: 23


    Nice let''s see what those new Passive Abilities do. He focused on Lesser Spatial Storage and the information screen for the skill popped up.


    Lesser Spatial Storage: The host can store up to 250 cubic feet of nonliving material, items, or other resources. This space is accessible at the will of the host, though to place something in the space the host must touch the object. The host can take something out at will, though only one object at a time and the host must designate within a ten-foot radius where he wants to place the object. This space is roughly 15.8 feet by 15.8 feet in size and exists entirely in another dimension.


    You know that was going to come in handy. He looked at the Aura of Malis.


    Aura of Malis: Once the host''s adrenalin begins to flow a natural Aura of Malis radiates from them causing weaker creatures to flee as they sense the intent of the host to cause significant harm or even death.


    That''s fucking sweet! He spotted the number of available ability points and mentally whistled.


    Damn, he had to distribute some ability points. He thought about it and then focused on the abilities and how much in each.


    Clay Benton, Human Male, Age 40


    Titles: Zombie Slayer


    Level: 6


    Class: Sovereign


    Health Points: 73/360


    Mystical Points: 66


    Strength: 30


    Dexterity: 26


    Intelligence: 20


    Wisdom: 22


    Passive Abilities - Adaptable Conversion; Eyes of Insight; Enhanced Virility; Touch of the Devine; Lesser Spatial Storage; Aura of Malis


    Skills - Vicious Strike; Frenzy; Dark Bolt


    He couldn''t help but shudder as he felt himself grow in every stat.


    "I think he''s waking up." Tonya said.


    Damn it! She had felt him shiver from the stat gain. He was going to have to get up now. He sure as hell didn''t feel like he was tired after gaining the stats. But that health point number was fucking low. He needed to heal. And apparently, Doc and Amy already did what they could. He dismissed the status screen.


    He let out a yawn that wasn''t entirely fake and opened his eyes slowly. Jill and Tonya both leaned over him, smiles on their faces as he "woke up" finally. His throat was dry but he tried to say, "Uh, ladies, is everything okay?"


    He got two grins that said everything was great now, and then they both looked at each other and nodded, then back down at him. Their looks changed after that glance at each other and he heard warning sirens going off in his head as they both smiled sweetly at him.


    Then they started getting closer until he couldn''t extract himself if he tried. Their ample cleavage damn near spilling out on his chest, though they weren''t putting any actual weight on him.


    "So, Hun, you drop a bomb on us like that and then damn near get your fool self killed?" Jill said, her voice dripping with honey and something else. Something dangerous if the hair on the back of his neck was any indication. Her sweet perfect smile never left her beautiful face.


    He started to reply, to try to disarm that loaded statement with a different train of thought. After all he didn''t know how long he had to save Dawn he couldn''t wait around or take extra time. At least that''s what he was going to say but Tonya hoped right in over the top of him.


    "How are you ever going to make it home so you can be my prince if you fucking die my love?" Tonya batted her eyelashes and licked her lips seductively, still stroking his arm.


    One heartbeat. Two. Three.


    Jill didn''t bite that was a really bad sign. What did these two agree on to make them suddenly get along again that quickly? Whatever it was it had his danger sense going fucking haywire right at that moment. He couldn''t even enjoy the great view sitting on either side laying on his chest like they were having a contest as to which woman had a better rack.


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    It was too damn close! If their shirts could show any more, their tits would be literally out on his chest! He swallowed, hard. "Uhh, I''m sorry." He said hesitantly. He half expected them to keep going. This sounded kinda planned to a point with the way they''re acting together.


    "That''s okay. Apology accepted. Now don''t run off like that again without letting us know, Hun." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "You''re not going anywhere, so don''t even think about it. We''re safe right here for now. I''ll get you some food you have to be starving."


    As she said something about food his stomach decided to roar like a mini T-Rex, which caused the women to laugh. Before Jill got up and disappeared from view.


    "It''s not a conspiracy Clay. See, you were right. We are friends, and we both have fallen in love with you. And if what you said was true, then you like us both. That''s not a sin Clay." She eased down next to him resting her chin lightly on his shoulder. "We''ve worked our differences out, and we''ll try to wait for you to figure things out for yourself. But we can both tell you have feelings for us, and we''re not going to just sit by and let you build walls as Jill says that''s what you''re probably trying to do."


    Son-of-a-bitch! That was the same fucking thing his shrink had said he was doing after his divorce. Fuck! He could kinda see it though, she was right. "Look, I had my heart ripped out of my chest and my livelihood stripped away, my home taken, my life savings drained. By the woman I thought I loved. I did love. She didn''t feel the same way." He looked her right in her eyes. "Jill''s right. I''m sorry. I''m not worthy of either of you. You see, I''m really just a coward that can''t afford to risk those feelings again."


    He grimaced. "I''m broken." He looked back at her. "So please, don''t worry about someone like me. You could both find someone much better." He rolled away from her, easily shaking her free of his arm as he stood up. He only had his fucking boxers on! He could see his rucksack against the wall so he walked over and pulled out some clothes. It was chilly outside those blankets and his muscles were so stiff he had to limber them up with some use or he''d pay for it later.


    Tonya let out an exasperated sound and said, "Damn it Clay, you need to rest!"


    "I need to get home. That won''t happen if I''m lying about." Was his response as he shoved a leg in a pair of pants. He could feel her eyes on him as he dressed. He hoped she found a better person to love than him. She was a nice woman, and so was Jill. They both deserved better.


    "Grr, your fucking... Impossible!" Tonya huffed as she threw the blankets off and started putting her shoes on.


    He finished dressing and picked up his rucksack, thought about storing it in his spatial storage, and it disappeared. He could sense what felt like a thread attached to the rucksack through his mind. He knew that all he had to do was think about it and where he wanted it within ten feet and it would appear. He did the same with his pistol. Stuck the axe down through his belt in its now normal spot.


    "Where the fuck do you think you''re going?" Came Jill''s voice from the doorway. Clay looked up and saw her holding a bowl of steaming food, a scowl on her face. His stomach growled of its own volition.


    "Oh, he says he needs to get home and he can''t do that lying about," Tonya said, sarcasm dripping as she gave him a deviously sweet smile. "Oh, and he''s not worthy of either of us apparently." She hopped up having finished putting her shoes on. God that smile was loaded!


    Jill''s eyes narrowed to slits and his danger sense kicked into fucking overdrive as she slowly turned back from Tonya to Clay and strode up to him. "Hun, eat your food. Then we''ll finish this conversation." She handed him the bowl. Everything about her screamed danger! "Hey Tonya, can we have a little chat while Clay eats? I would just love to hear why he doesn''t think he''s worthy."


    She turned to Tonya and held out a hand which she took, then gave him another look before both women walked out. He could hear them start talking softly as soon as they left his sight. He stared after them for a good minute. His brain tried to work through everything until it clicked.


    "Damn it! I think I just made it worse." He grumbled. The chili in the bowl was pretty filling as he scarfed it down. He could have probably eaten another two bowls though. Well, it wasn''t going to fill itself. "Shit," he sighed, "I guess it''s inevitable. Like ripping a bandaid off Clay. Just get it over with and move forward." He composed his thoughts and went to find more food.


    It was pretty easy. Amy was stirring a pot over a gas stove so he just followed his nose down the hall into the kitchen past the living room where Jill and Tonya were sitting on a couch talking quietly between themselves.


    When Amy saw him with the bowl after seconds she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder after filling his bowl for him. "I''m sorry I couldn''t heal you anymore Mr Clay. Your internal wounds were so severe I didn''t know if we could save you. You need to rest." She said.


    "The longer we stay, the more dangerous the journey is likely to become. I need to get home." He said starting to eat his second helping.


    He took the opportunity to use his Eyes of Insight ability on Amy as she talked about how severe his injuries had been. He knew they had to have been pretty bad, he still felt like he''d been run over by a semi.


    Amy Smitt, Saint Female, Age 30


    Titles: Combat Medic


    Level: 4


    Class: Healer


    Health Points: 220


    Mystical Points: 78


    Strength: 10


    Dexterity: 18


    Intelligence: 20


    Wisdom: 24


    Oh wow! Level 4 that was pretty decent basic stats too. "Damn. I need a skill to see skills." He said to himself as he kept eating. And she had a title.


    He nodded as she asked if he was breathing better, she kept talking while stirring the chili. Soon he had his fill and politely took his leave. But as he turned around to walk to the door he was met by Jill, her arms crossed in front of her and a look on her face that said, "Go ahead and try it, see what happens."


    " I need to use the restroom." He said innocently.


    "Sure, I need some fresh air myself." She reached down and grabbed her makeshift mace and casually said, "Let''s go, Hun." And slid her arm into his as she gave him a wry smile and winked at him.


    He grumbled to himself as they made their way outside and he really had needed to relieve himself so after he no longer felt like his eyeballs were floating devices he took his time and tried to stretch some muscles. He could see a few corpses nearby but nothing like the area had been around the hospital. And they had all been killed.


    He could tell several of them had been killed by a heavy blunt object, some by a sword, and others by knife wounds. But nothing was close to the brick house they had sheltered in at the current time. At least nothing Clay could see.


    While they walked he went ahead and took a peek at her status screen with his Eyes of Insight ability.


    Jill Fairbanks, Beastmen Female, Age 39


    Level: 5


    Class: Mystical Warrior


    Health Points: 280


    Mystical Points: 54


    Strength: 24


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 16


    She gained three levels!


    Holy shit what did he miss? Jill acted like nothing was wrong as they walked around. But the only time she let go of him had been when he had unzipped his pants to urinate and only long enough for him to finish and zip back up. She wasn''t going to give him a chance to do anything without her.


    Not that he felt like it to be honest with himself. He did need the rest. And where were the others? He hadn''t seen Luke, Dawn, John, or Hope anywhere and he finally asked, "Where''s everyone else?"


    She lay her head on his shoulder as they walked back towards the front door of the house and said, "Scavenging, of course." She opened the door as they got to it even though he initially went for the doorknob, she beat him to it.


    He made his way to the living room and was surprised to see Amy and Tonya sorting a lot of supplies they had stacked along one wall. There was a lot of clothing and even several large backpacks already full of supplies. Probably enough for a couple of weeks at least.


    He took a seat on the couch. They probably weren''t going to let him do anything if he tried, at least Jill and Tonya wouldn''t. So he settled in and soon Jill left his side to help the other two women sort through everything. It almost looked like they just grabbed everything they could and brought it back not sure what might be usable, except for the food.


    He focused on Tonya with his Eyes of Insight and let out a mental whistle as he saw her stats.


    Tonya Lovinngal, Orc Female, Age 33


    Level: 6


    Class: Enchantress


    Health Points: 220


    Mystical Points: 112


    Strength: 10


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 24


    Wisdom: 20


    For the second time on the same day, he realized how much information his Eyes of Insight ability omitted by not giving him anything about their skills. But level 6!


    He groaned inwardly as he sat wasting time.


    Over the next two hours, the others in his group started returning. First was Hope, she had recovered a crossbow and a quiver of bolts from somewhere and at least three more knives he could see on her person. She brought back a large duffel bag of jerky, pork-n-beans, and oysters she found in a small grocery store that had already been mostly ransacked.


    He used his Eyes of Insight.


    Hope Klairmont, Human Female, Age 26


    Level: 4


    Class: Ranger


    Health Points: 280


    Mystical Points: 54


    Strength: 22


    Dexterity: 16


    Intelligence: 22


    Wisdom: 16


    Ranger for a class. That was new. He couldn''t remember for sure but he thought that sounded like she was a ranged warrior. That could be helpful. Pretty soon Dawn and Luke returned too. They had two bags of food, some antibiotics and some other fancy worded things only Dawn and possibly Amy knew what to use them for.


    Eyes of Insight.


    Dawn Grimmor, Human Female, Age 36


    Titles: Witch of Asclepius


    Level: 5


    Class: Master Healer


    Health Points: 240


    Mystical Points: 116


    Strength: 15


    Dexterity: 20


    Intelligence: 28


    Wisdom: 19


    Wow, she got a title too. Sounded kinda like her personality. He wondered who the hell Aesculapius was but he wasn''t going to ask her about it. Or anything else for that matter. The vision of her twisting the knife in that zombie lord''s head with the exact same look she was giving him now flashed through his mind, and he instinctively shivered.


    And then it clicked. Oh shit, she was walking right up to him. Damn.


    "I hope you are resting Mr Clay." Her eyes narrowed as she looked him over with a discerning eye. Then nodded as if seeing something satisfactory and said, "Well your ribs are right again. You heal pretty quick, but you really do need to heal." She waved her hand as if dismissing any argument he might have. Not that he had any. He had already seen how far Jill was willing to let him go. Hell for a second there he had thought she was going to try to help him piss!


    "At least take it easy while we gather what we can from here." Dawn continued.


    "Yeah, there''s still some stores we haven''t searched yet, Mr Clay." Luke said with a gesture at the various supplies lying around. Clay could see he had what looked like a different sword. This one looked very old, and well taken care of.


    Clay used his Eyes of Insight on Luke. So far he hadn''t looked at the man''s stats.


    Luke Grimmor, Beastmen Male, Age 38


    Level: 5


    Class: Warrior


    Health Points: 300


    Mystical Points: 62


    Strength: 26


    Dexterity: 22


    Intelligence: 14


    Wisdom: 12


    That was surprising. He hadn''t expected the man''s strength to be so high. He absently waved his hand, dismissing what Luke said and just replied with a sour tone. "Don''t worry. I doubt I''ll be healed up for a day or so anyway. And I seem to not get a vote in the matter regardless." He gestured at Jill and Tonya, both of whom shot him a look.


    He shook his head and retreated to an empty room in the house and locked the door. He pulled out his rucksack and took out his phone, turning it on. He saw an unread message and clicked on it. It was a picture of the Missouri State line down by Joplin. It was from his sister Glinna.


    He read the message.


    "We made it to Missouri. Be cautious of people. Love you, Clay. Please be alright. If you get this, I''ll see you at Jake''s."

 (11) Spider

    June 19, 2025; It was daylight, finally he was continuing his journey home. Jill and Tonya were close behind him, neither of them happy.


    He had stayed away from everyone yesterday. Jill, Tonya, and even Dawn had come by the room to try to check on him. He had told them to go away. He''d be coming out at daybreak to resume his journey regardless. One more day was as much as he was willing to give up.


    They had stood at the door and tried to talk him into staying just one more day for the rest his body needed. He had told them, "You all can stay then. I will be leaving at daybreak. It''s been good traveling with you if I don''t see you before then." Then he had ignored them. He was determined to make it home. And the longer he took, the more dangerous the journey was going to be.


    And he was already convinced the system was trying to kill him. Kris had assured him it wasn''t, but it sure felt a lot like it was!


    He had woken up at 4 AM and gotten what he needed ready. Putting all of it in his spatial storage except his weapons. Jill had not been happy he hadn''t said anything to her about it. And he was sure the lot of them had left scavenged goods they wanted to keep behind at the brick house. He hadn''t waited or looked back. If they came with him, so be it, if not, probably better for them in his opinion.


    "Clay..." Jill tried to talk to him but he just kept heading south along Highway 55. From now on his only goal was to make it home. She and Tonya looked worried.


    Well there wasn''t any reason to worry about him.


    "Mr Clay, can we slow down a little bit." Hope asked, she was carrying three bags of supplies and sweat poured off her forehead as she tried to maintain the pace Clay had been maintaining.


    "I''ll stop for a break at lunch." Was his response. He never looked back or slowed for long.


    When he walked into an ambush from a group of three-foot-tall mutated groundhogs he didn''t hesitate as he said, "Dark Bolt." And dropped three of the four groundhogs with one skill, and casually ended the last with a downward chop that stopped its squealing fruitless charge at him. He didn''t even slow down.


    He heard the others talking quietly behind him as they saw him react to the ambush, but they had let him walk ahead a short distance and he couldn''t make out their words.


    Maybe they were thinking about going their way finally.


    At noon he stopped, took out a chair a bag of jerky and a cola he had put in his space, and sat down to eat while the others caught up. He didn''t pay them any attention. Jill and Tonya sat close by, their heads close together as they ate their meals. The other two couples were chatting amiably with Dawn still shooting him those looks.


    After about an hour of rest, he stood, put his chair back in his spatial storage and hefted his axe onto his shoulder and started walking south again. The sky was a constant gloomy, hazy gray that the sun only ever briefly showed through. Fields along the highway were stunted with a slight dusting of snow. There wasn''t any accumulation on the ground though and by nightfall Clay had wrapped himself up in a corner of an abandoned house near the highway and after everyone else made their way inside he simply passed out sitting there.


    He woke up about three in the morning and softly told John he would take over until daylight. John grunted in acknowledgment and hurried off to the room Amy and himself had claimed for their use. Jill and Tonya were cuddled up together on the couch, not surprisingly where they could easily keep an eye on him.


    "Am I doing the right thing by trying to make them hate me?" He asked himself, thinking about everything that had happened since the start of this, from receiving the System Seed and Kris'' voice. It had said something then that he hadn''t thought about. But it kept running through his head as he tried to sleep.


    "Your people will need your strength to survive the coming apocalypse." She had said. What did they mean? He sure as hell wasn''t a leader.


    But the more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him that everyone had been, and still was traveling with him. He hadn''t even thought about it. Why the hell were they following him? He hadn''t told a soul about the bunker his deceased brother had spent a fortune on so no one knew why he was so hell-bent on getting home.


    He spent the next three hours on watch contemplating everything that had happened and asking himself the same question, why? He found himself looking at Jill and Tonya sleeping and felt his heart drop. He hated being a dick to them.


    "Mr Clay, can I have a word?" Came Luke''s voice as the man walked into the living room from a hallway. His boots weren''t laced yet and he was shrugging his muscular shoulders into an insulated Carhartt jacket.


    The temperature wasn''t getting very much warmer after the nonseasonal snowstorm. Another reason to get a little farther south.


    "Sure, it''s still a free country as far as I''m concerned." He waved to a chair at the table he had sat down at not long ago.


    Luke chuckled, nodding as he took a chair. He looked at Clay and said, "I''m glad you''re alright. We were all worried about you." He stopped as if thinking about his next words carefully. "Mr Clay, in what little time I''ve known you I''ve never once seen you shy away from helping others." He started tying his boots as he continued.


    "But," he looked up from his laces, "you don''t seem like you like accepting when others are trying to help you." He finished tying his boots and stood, stepped around the table and placed a hand on Clay''s shoulder.


    "I''m not a very smart, or wise man Mr Clay. But I can tell you are a good person. So can everyone else. I don''t know why you''re in a hurry to get home, but I''ll do my best to help you get there. It''s the least I can do for you saving Dawn." He patted his shoulder and headed outside.


    Soon after that, everyone else started waking and getting ready. By seven they had started again. Clay didn''t quite set the same hard pace he had the day before but they managed another full day''s travel and he could see Granite City Illinois ahead. He wasn''t far now but it was dark, or pretty close to it.


    John found a small house nearby and it had a fireplace. As he watched Hope and Luke get the fire started and Amy and Tonya started boiling water. They were having MRE rations tonight it looked like. Clay ate quietly, though he didn''t go off by himself he didn''t really talk either and soon said a simple, "Goodnight." Before covering up on the floor in his bedroll and an extra blanket not far from the fireplace and falling asleep.


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    * * *


    "Plunk!" Came the sound of a lure hitting the top of the water. Clay realized he was holding a fishing rod, and sitting in a boat. As he looked around puzzled, he realized Jake was sitting at the front of the boat rilling in a line slowly.


    "Don''t look so surprised little brother. Since you seem to need to talk so badly, I figured fishing was a better scenario for this than our hunting stand." He chuckled, "Now what did you do?"


    He took a breath, resigned himself to the criticism he knew he would get from Jake, and told him all of it. From the point he had told them both he couldn''t worry about a relationship until after he made it home. To having the system issue the bonus quest to save Doc. And having to defeat a Zombie King and a Zombie Lord, unlike what the system said.


    Jake had commented that the zombie might have evolved due to something the system hadn''t factored in, or maybe the King wasn''t supposed to be there when he got there, i.e. he had rushed as fast as he could to get to Dawn. Regardless he''d been reimbursed with both abilities and gained a title.


    Clay thought about that and agreed that might be the case, but it still didn''t sit right with him.


    Then he got to the poison, and Jake''s look turned more serious. He went from grinning smugly to worry for his little brother. Then Clay explained what he could remember of the injuries he had received throughout the journey so far that had finally caught up with him.


    He had been unconscious for two days and thanks to Jill and Tonya''s "babying" as he called it, he was stuck for two more. He told him of waking up to both women and what he had said to Tonya and their reactions. He whistled as he pulled the lure up and cast again.


    "Yeah, but you''re a grown-ass man and could have left. Be honest with yourself, you needed the time." Jake said. "As for your girlfriends, and the way they reacted..." He stopped rilling his line in and looked right into Clay''s eyes, "I think you fucked up little brother."


    Clay couldn''t deny that he felt the same. "Why though? I''m even acting like a complete dick to them."


    Jake laughed. "You really are fucking dense aren''t you Clay. Think about that statement. You are acting like a complete dick. But they both fell in love with the real you. The one that rushes to help others. Even nearly dying in the process. And you think they don''t know it''s an act." He shook his head.


    They were quiet for a while. Clay could hear the grasshoppers and cicadas in the tall grass surrounding the pond and it was oddly relaxing as he slowly rilled in his line.


    "I think you''re putting too much thought into it," Jake said finally. Clay looked over at him and he shrugged. "Just let things be. Everything will work itself out. By the time you get home, you are bound to have an answer to your situation one way or another."


    He sat in the boat for a while thinking about that as everything faded away.


    * * *


    "BANG! BANG! BANG!" Came the sound of gunshots from the highway outside the house.


    "Whoever''s in the house, come out now without a fight. We just want your supplies and you can leave without anyone getting hurt!" Came a gruff voice from outside.


    Clay had rolled out of his bedroll as soon as he heard the shots. He could see John at the window as several lights showed into them from outside. "I only see four." He said as Clay went by him to the other side. He could hear Luke and everyone else hurriedly getting dressed or ready to fight. He looked himself and had made it to 6 people standing around the man that was speaking when the man started talking again.


    "Times up!" He could see the six men rush forward, and at the same time, he heard Luke cursing from the kitchen where the back door was.


    He summoned his axe and pistol from his spatial storage and rushed to the front door to take a position beside it. John gripped a metal baseball bat tight as they prepared for a fight.


    The door jarred hard from the first blow as what sounded like a body bouncing off. The second blow busted the door jam and the man, a Beastmen with the looks of a fucking minotaur staggered through! Clay let John have him as an orc came through right behind the minotaur Beastmen, a machete in his hand. His axe was already in motion and he caught the orc in the shoulder cutting deep as it plowed into the back of the minotaur.


    "Phonk!" Came the sound of John''s bat as it collided with the side of the Beastmen''s head just below his ear the muscular brute went down on one knee as its head wiped sideways and into the drywall from the force of John''s blow.


    The Orc was on its knees, clutching at its neck as blood freely flowed down its blue jean jacket as another Beastmen with the characteristics of a boar barreled through the door already swinging a crowbar at John.


    Clay drew the pistol up and fired, "BANG!" The boar Beastmen''s head exploded as the .38 round pierced its temple and it crumpled into the Orc and minotaur Beastmen with its momentum. That''s when Clay got hit by a wolf-like Beastmen''s tackle. Clay immediately sent the gun away into his spatial storage and called out his buck knife.


    He landed on his shoulder and rolled with the wolf Beastmen''s momentum crashing into the couch as they struggled in a grapple, Clay''s knife only inches away from its eye. He heard another, "Phonk!" And then Tonya''s voice from behind the Beastmen.


    "Get the fuck off my man!" He saw her drive a foot into the man''s kidney. His knife instantly found its mark in the man''s eye as the blow had cost him his life. Clay could hear more feet running towards the house as he rolled the Beastmen off the top of him and stood up with Tonya''s help.


    Tonya immediately pointed her finger out the door and said, "Mind Blast!" Just as the next enemy, an Orc wearing a skull bandana dropped to the floor in the doorway with a pool of dark blood quickly spreading from where it lay. And immediately her eyes glowed azure fire as she said, "Bewitching Gaze!"


    She waited for a moment as more boots hit the porch outside. Clay could hear fighting in the kitchen too. John was dealing with the minotaur again. It had a machete now. Then Tonya said, "Protect me!"


    Outside the door he witnessed a bear-like Beastmen grab an Orc that had just jumped to clear the body in the doorway and brutally smash its head into the porch pillar next to it. Another Orc started fighting with it and he heard the man outside yelling to keep pushing.


    Clay stepped up to the door and raised the gun, "BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!" He dropped four of the five charging enemies as they got near enough he was certain of his shots.


    The last charging Beastmen was attacked by Tonya''s charmed Beastmen and Clay looked back just as he saw John let out a yell as he finally managed to overpower it and snap its neck. Clay could see he had a long cut across one arm and his hand was bleeding badly.


    He looked out the door just in time to see the man that had been yelling outside, fall to the ground with a crossbow bolt stuck in his chest.


    His ears still rang from the gunshots and he felt Tonya walk past him and through the door where the bear Beastmen was standing smiling at her as if smitten. She gestured for him to bend closer as if for a kiss and slammed the knife she had hidden behind her under the man''s chin and stepped back drawing it out.


    His body landed lifeless at her feet. And she casually bent down to wipe her knife off on the man''s shirt.


    Suddenly it was quiet except for a couple of painful moans from the kitchen before they went quiet after a "No, no, no pleas...."


    And then near silence fell.


    Then they heard the sound of something big running towards them crashing into, or through a house nearby. He couldn''t make out what it was. "Get inside." He said to Tonya who was already backing up towards the door.


    "Fuckers drew''em to us," John stated stepping up next to him. He was holding his bat again.


    "Yeah. But what the fuck is it?" Clay asked.


    "It''s big," Tonya added. "Really fucking big."


    That''s when a house across the road seemed to implode as a giant spider-like creature crashed through it.


    Tonya let out a cry as she saw it and backed farther into the house. "I fucking hate spiders!" She said, fear in her eyes as she looked at the massive beast.


    It came closer, inspecting the bodies and even dragging the ones off the porch to inspect before tossing them into a pile and turning back to the house Clay and the rest were still hiding in. It lowered itself as if to look inside the door from outside the porch, chittering and Clay knew it was aware of them. He took a breath and said, "Dark Bolt!" He stepped out and launched all three bolts into its face. And immediately followed by another, "Dark Bolt!" And sent those three right behind and slightly higher than the first three.


    The first three hit the mutated spider''s face, tearing off a large mandible and puncturing one of its eight eyes, as the third one sank deep into the beast''s head as it instinctively tried to raise away from danger. But that only caused the fourth bolt to slam into the underside of its chin, squirting out a purple-colored mist of blood under high pressure that covered Clay and the front of the house.


    "DING! Congratulations! New Skill Acquired: Web Bomb. The host launches a condensed ball of web the size of a basketball up to a distance of 30 feet. When the ball strikes anything it explodes in a ten-foot radius covering everything with thick, sticky webs that hamper movement and can trap smaller, weaker opponents. Cost: 5 Mystical Points."


    The second and third Dark Bolt from the second volley struck the spider in the abdomen. Both cleanly punching through its thick carapace as it whipped around with unrealistic agility as one leg smashed down through the roof only missing Clay by six inches or so. But he did receive a splinter of wood that pierced down into his shoulder deep.


    He swung the axe at the leg as hard as he could manage one-handed. He was rewarded as the blade cut through the rigid leg like a hot knife through butter. The top portion of the leg slipped downward as the bottom portion was no longer supporting the weight and the spider''s squeal echoed for miles as it tried to strike again.


    "Imma kill you, bug!" Came John''s roar as he charged out the door and launched himself at the spider''s abdomen, his bat already in motion.


    "Mind Blast!" Tonya said stepping up to his right. He could see the beast stagger, and then a thick leg flashed forward right at Tonya. He stepped into her knocking her out of the way as he swung his with everything he had at the limb coming at him. His axe struck the side of the appendage, his angle being all wrong as it cut into it.


    But it wasn''t enough to divert the blow or even lessen the force as he was hit in his right shoulder, the tip piercing through it as he heard. "Noooo!" From Tonya, who was looking up at him from the floor where he had shoved her out of the way.


    And then he was flung sideways, through the drywall and several wall studs as he slammed into a dresser with a groan. He heard the beast squall in pain again, by the sound of it Jill and Clay had entered the fray. He managed to rise onto his knees using the axe he somehow managed to maintain a grip on to finally stand.


    He limped out of the room, he was losing blood and he knew it. He saw Tonya on the floor, blood-streaked her beautiful pea-green face. He looked up and saw Jill thrown away like a toy, though she crushed one of the legs before it clipped her, sending her flying.


    Clay felt his heart twist in his chest and something snapped inside him.