Warbreaker's Risk: A LitRPG Apocalypse Adventure (The Connected System Book 2), page 24
Darren leaned back in his chair.
“I really wish I’d been invited to the meeting with your father,” he said, sounding a little bitter.
And tired.
Overwhelmed.
Harper could hear it in his voice when he talked. Darren was drowning. He’d been put in a situation that he was ill-prepared to deal with. The man was looking for any lifeline he could get and was thinking Harper and Davis might be it.
“But I wasn’t,” he continued with a shrug. “So I have no idea what you’re supposed to do.” He held up a hand, stopping Harper from interrupting. “Yeah, you two are the strongest here now since you have the Classes and Levels, but I don’t know how to work you into the watch.” He pointed at the whiteboard. “I could just have you go out there and stand on the wall.” He chuckled, then sighed again. “But that might mean your strength isn’t there at night. Keep you on the night watch? What if something attacks during the day? Split you up? That seems to make the most sense.”
He looked at the two of them, waiting for their input.
“Sorry,” was all Harper could think to say.
“For what? It’s not your fault or your dad’s. Finding out what happened with that other group is important. So is getting supplies. But if I’m really supposed to do this job and help keep everyone safe, I need to be in on those meetings and decisions.”
Harper glanced at Davis, wondering if Darren was this open with everyone or if they’d just found him at the right moment and his vent wasn’t really at them.
“How did you get this job?” Davis asked.
Harper almost elbowed him. That question could easily offend Darren.
It didn’t. The other man almost seemed relieved to be asked. It seemed to be something he wanted to get off his chest, a way to admit his own shortcomings and that he maybe shouldn’t be doing the job.
“My parents were Ed’s neighbors from down the street,” he said. “I was home from college when the Connection happened. My parents, they…” He stopped, took a deep breath, and continued. “I’d been in the Navy for a stint, using the GI Bill to go to college. When it happened, a few of us on the street got together, and Ed convinced us to come here. More and more people started showing up, I suggested to Ed that we probably needed guards to watch for monsters. This was before the first attack.” Darren stopped, shaking his head. “Never thought of myself as a psychic. Anyways, Ed put me in charge. Said my military background made me a natural for it. No one else volunteered to be the guy, so I got stuck with it. Not really a hard job. Just gotta organize who is where and at what time, making sure to give them plenty of time to sleep. Also, gotta make sure they’re fed and got plenty of water. That’s the hardest part. It’ll be easier now that we got these,”—he patted the sword on his desk—“Thanks for that. And since this damn Connection downloaded some basic skills about how to use them, we won’t cut ourselves by accident. I keep hoping one of the town cops will show up. Or anyone with more experience. There’s so much more I could be doing, but I just…” He stopped, holding out his hands.
“I like the idea of splitting us up,” Harper said, feeling bad for Darren.
There were probably going to be a lot of people like him, forced into situations they weren’t trained for, forced to make decisions. Her father was one of them. He hadn’t wanted to be the strongest or have to make decisions because of that. But he’d been put in that position and was going to do the best he could. Darren was trying to do the best he could. Harper knew she had to help him. “It makes the most sense.”
She noticed Davis looked a little crestfallen. He probably wanted to spend more time with her. She did too, but the safety of the survivors came first.
“Okay,” Darren said, leaning forward. “Who wants night, and who wants day?” He pointed at the whiteboard. “There are more on at night, but that’s also the most dangerous.”
“I’ll take night,” Harper said.
“Thanks,” Darren said, standing up. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the others.”
“What’s it like?” Amber asked.
“What’s what like?”
Harper stood next to the woman, the older woman, near the tree line at the back of the parking lot between the two buildings, near where she’d killed the coyotes. The moon was up, the constant wind blowing through the trees making branches creak and leaves rustle.
Amber was one of the guards. A volunteer like the others. When Ed Turner had put Darren in charge, he’d asked for people to step up. About twenty had. Amber was mid-thirties, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and very pretty. She had been a fitness instructor, so she was in great shape. And she’d just been driving through town when the Connection had occurred. Lived in Concord, was on her way home from Dover where she worked.
There had been no one waiting for her in Concord, her family not even in the state, so she’d decided to stay in Northwood with the other survivors.
She held a sword, watching the trees.
“Having a Class.”
Harper shrugged, then realized the woman couldn’t see it in the dark.
“Scary,” she admitted. “But exciting at the same time. I have this energy running through me all the time. It wants to be used. The Abilities are just…” She paused, not sure how to continue.
“I saw you fight those coyotes. It was pretty crazy.”
“Crazy. Yeah, they are that.”
“And you just know how to do it?”
“That’s the really crazy part. The knowledge is here in my head. I know how to Activate it, what it will do, even a countdown of how long it’ll be active and how much of my Spirit is being drained.”
“It took me a long time to get good at what I do,” Amber said, a bit sad. “Imagine being an expert instantly.”
“It’s not quite like that,” Harper said, trying to find the words. “You know how to do it and can do it pretty well. Good enough not to die on the first attempt,” she said, chuckling. When had she gotten to the point that she could laugh about that? “But you still need to practice.”
“That makes sense. When I first learned Zumba, I watched instructional videos so I knew how to do it, but I still had to do it multiple times before I got good enough to teach.” Amber held up the sword, looking down at the slightly rusty blade. “When I picked up a baseball bat and attacked one of those Mutated Ants, it was like I knew how to use the bat as a weapon. I wasn’t very good, and that first hit didn’t do much damage. But I got better. Figure it’ll be the same with this.” She gave the sword a couple of practice swings. “I know what to do, but…”
“It’ll come with time and improve when you get a Class.”
Harper remembered Amber as the first person that had stepped forward to take one of the swords her father had offered.
“Quiet night?” a voice asked from behind.
Amber twitched, startled. Harper had heard the footsteps approaching, she even knew who it was. It was a new way she’d been using Shadow Sense, a way to view the world around her, kind of like a radar. It was an odd way, and she didn’t really understand how it worked, but she was able to get a general shape of anyone or anything entering and exiting the shadows that her shadow was connected to.
It was better in the daytime when shadows were stronger, but even at night, thanks to the light from the moon and other sources, the shadows still existed.
“So far,” she said, turning to see Darren approaching.
He held his sword down to his side. They really needed to get scabbards made, Harper thought. At least, that’s what she thought they were called. Sheathes? Was there a difference? She didn’t really care, they just needed something to hold the swords with. Something for her tonfas would be good too. They hung off her belt, but the blades were exposed. She could avoid cutting herself but could accidentally cut someone else if she bumped into them.
Not that she would.
Harper had noticed how much more agile she was, how much more graceful. Her reaction time and instincts were enhanced. When she walked, she saw how other people were moving and could anticipate where and how they could take their next steps.
It didn’t always work.
But she was improving.
Darren stood next to the two women, looking at the dark trees no more than ten feet in front of him. He was tapping the fingers of his free hand against his leg.
“Amber, how many axes do we have in camp?”
“I don’t know, five or six maybe.”
“Tomorrow during the day, I think I’m going to talk to Ed and see about getting some of the people to chop down those trees,” Darren said, pointing at the woods in front of him. “Clear some space so we can see better and can use the trees and branches to form a barricade.”
“Don’t think and don’t talk,” Harper said, making both Darren and Amber look at her. “You’re in charge of security, tell Mr. Turner that it’s what you need done.”
Darren chuckled, and Amber looked a little shocked.
Harper was surprised she had even made the suggestion. Where had it come from? Seemed her father was rubbing off on her. She found that she didn’t mind.
“Yeah,” Darren said, still smiling. “You’re right.”
“You need to be more assertive with Ed,” Amber said.
“I know, it’s just…”
He never got to finish.
Yells came from the far end of the parking lot.
Harper was gone in an instant. She skipped into the shadows, melting and disappearing.
At least, that’s how it appeared to Amber and Darren. To Harper, nothing happened beyond the dark of the night becoming shades of gray. The world was one color, but even with just one there were dozens and dozens of shades, revealing details and depth.
She still wasn’t used to it, even after skipping into the Shadow Realm dozens of times.
It still took her a moment to adjust.
Luckily, time was different in the world of Shadows. It was faster, the real world slowed down. That was really what made it look like she was jumping from shadow to shadow. For Harper, she was running through the Shadow Realm, moving from where she entered to where she wanted to exit.
She ran, moving past the dark forms that were the various people in the parking lot. She avoided the firepit in the middle, the fire a flickering mess of warm gray shades. The people were the only thing lacking details. They had shapes that matched their real-world bodies but no eyes or mouths, just a hint of a nose. Hair that was just part of the overall dark mass. And they were dark. Very dark. Almost black. People in the Shadow Realm were unnerving. They scared Harper.
But they were easy to avoid as they were moving so slowly compared to her.
The action was at what passed for the right wall, the collection of furniture and other items that came off the corner of the brick church. Two guards, dark gray human-shaped forms with long arms that had to be extended swords, were being attacked. The monster was large, six feet high, twice as long, and with segmented a body with bent legs on each side.
For some reason, monsters had more detail in the Shadow Realm. Harper had wanted to ask Cerie, but the fairy had said her knowledge of the Realm was limited. The Elven Silver Bark Clan didn’t have many members that had a Shadow affinity Class.
Harper burst out of the shadows near the wall.
She jumped up, planting a foot on a desk, using it to push her higher. Drawing her bladed tonfas, she used Evaluate on the monster.
MUTATED ANT
That was all the Skill told her. It wasn’t as high as her father’s, but his continued pushing on using it had sunken in. Eventually, it would have some use. Hopefully.
She landed on top of the monster, her hiking boots sliding across the slick carapace.
The ant didn’t react to her weight.
Leaning forward, trying not to fall off, Harper twisted her right-hand tonfa around, the blade extended past her wrist. She stabbed down, the sharp blade cutting into the ant’s thick natural armor. She felt the carapace crack, felt the blade slide into muscle.
The ant reared up, Harper sliding off the body, pulling her tonfa out.
Smooth, rounded, the carapace was hard to stand on.
She managed to get her feet against the armor, pushing off. Somersaulting through the air, she landed on her feet, back to the ant. Whipping around, she deflected a stabbing leg with her tonfa. The monster's strength pushed her back.
Another leg whipped out.
Harper bent back, feeling the air pressure as the thick limb passed over her. She kicked up, coming into a roll. Springing up, she pushed off, launching herself into the air. Landing on the ant’s back, legs spread for balance, she stabbed down with both tonfas. The blades sank deep into the monster, bright light leaking out around the cracks forming in the carapace. Smoke started to drift up, along with the smell of burnt flesh, as lightning crackled through the monster's body.
It spasmed.
Harper Shadow Skipped, disappearing off its back.
Popping back into the real world, she saw that the two guards and now others were attacking the Mutated Ant. They had spread out around it, not attacking from one direction. Smart. She wondered who had drilled that tactic into them, doubting they had come up with it on their own. The one thing they were doing wrong was attacking at once, not waiting for one to distract the ant, and then the others all strike.
The five were still successful, scoring some wounds on the monster, avoiding the counterattacks. They were hurting it, but slowly.
Eventually, the monster would hurt one of them.
As she thought it, it happened.
On the left, one of the guards slipped on the ground, now covered in ant blood. He lost his balance, not able to recover, landing hard on the ground. The others all paused, distracted. The ant attacked, driving a leg forward into the guard in front of it. He saw it coming just in time, raising his sword and twisting to the side.
Instead of spearing him, the leg slammed into his side, knocking him down, sword flying from his grasp. The man landed, hitting his head against the material of the wall. He lay there unmoving, the ant ignoring the attacks from the others, focused on the hopefully unconscious man.
Harper ran forward, diving into a slide. She felt the pavement scraping against the parts of her skin that were exposed, wishing she had a full set of armor like her father. Sliding past the ant, under its head, hearing the mandibles as long as her arm clicking, she stabbed up with both tonfas.
The blades pierced the thinner carapace, dark blood gushing out.
Harper’s momentum carried her past, the blades pulling out, cutting deeper wounds.
The ant’s body shivered, the monster pausing. It shook, more blood leaking out.
Angling her feet to stop her slide, Harper let her momentum spring her up. Dancing in a circle, she came up with tonfas crossed, ready to defend.
One of the guards had darted in, slashing at the monster’s leg. She managed to hack it off. The limb fell, the ant shifting at the loss in balance. Another guard got another leg.
Harper jumped up onto the monster’s back, near the neck, using a leg as a springboard. Tonfas cut into the joint between head and body. As the ant jerked and bucked, Harper pushed the blades in deeper, moving them side to side. Blood flooded out, covering her hands and legs.
She jumped off, the monstrous body slumping to the ground.
The others all ran in, hacking and slashing.
Sparks of light drifted up from the body soon after. Most of it flowed into Harper. She could feel the experience enter. Almost to another Level. Smaller groups of sparks drifted into each of the guards. One of the women’s eyes shot open, her body giving a small shake, eyes losing focus as she looked at her Status.
She had Leveled up.
Harper thought she’d probably hit Level Four.
A scream and more yells came from the tree line.
Cursing, Harper Activated Shadow Skip.
She burst out of the shadows landing on top of a Mutated Coyote. Her weight knocked the thing down, the twin tonfas stabbing into its neck. She twisted, lightning crackling around the wound. The monster was dead when it hit the ground.
Harper leaped off, looking around for more.
There was only one other.
It lay on the ground dead, Darren standing over it. He looked frozen, shocked.
“Darren?” she asked, worried.
He turned to look at her, smiling.
“I Leveled,” he said. “I hit Level Five.”
“Congrats…” She stopped, quickly looking around. “Where’s Amber? Is she…”
Harper couldn’t finish the question. She saw Amber.
The other woman lay on the ground a few feet away. Unmoving. Darren’s smile dropped as he turned to look, cursing. Harper didn’t want to, but she did, walking forward. She could see the bloody ruin that was Amber’s chest and stomach. Her arm lay outstretched, death grip on the hilt of her sword, the blade covered in fresh blood. Amber’s eyes stared up into the night sky, no longer seeing.
Harper cursed.
“Healer!” Darren yelled, screaming into the camp. “We need a healer.”
Harper knew it was too late.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They pushed hard in the morning.
Loch wanted to get to the hardware store, set up a camp, and start their search. He had told Harper they’d only be a day, but he had a feeling it would end up being more. He wondered if there was a way to send her a message, not wanting her to worry if they were late returning.
He had said a week but never specified if a business week or true week.
That wouldn’t be fair to Harper, making her try to guess if he had meant five or seven days.
Brian was ahead, Jenny behind. Loch walked next to Piper, Cerie once again on her shoulder. He kept his eyes on the woods and homes around them. The Gray Gaunt Houndsman had been hidden until attacking, there would be other monsters capable of the same. Harper had a kind of perception Skill. Davis, with his Spearhead Class, probably did too. Both Classes were geared for scouting, Harper’s Epic Class having the addition of assassination added to it.
