Morning arrived earlier for Edwin than most of the other residents. He woke up bleary eyed and stumbled to the bathroom, before he was repulsed from the room by the stench. He’d forgotten the plumbing was out. Closing the door behind him, he rubbed at his forehead. He turned to the mirror by the sink next to his door. Baggy eyes greeted him as he regarded himself. Six days without shaving and his beard was growing in. It grew unevenly which is why he usually kept himself clean shaven. Now his neck played host to a thickening layer of bristly hair. While his cheeks were marked by patches of sparse growth. Around his mouth and chin were also looking patchy. He scratched at it with displeasure. A quick hop back into the bathroom with his nose pinched had him holding his electric razor and toothbrush.

The razor was dead, as he had guessed it would be, but had hoped otherwise. Running his tongue over his teeth revealed an unpleasant film across them. He had been lax in taking care of himself. Even now he was dirty and stank of sweat and blood. A quarter of his clothing was stained and reeked from the corner he had tossed them into. His first step to remedy the state he found himself in was brushing his teeth. Followed by fishing out his deodorant stick which he used more liberally then he would have normally. It was no substitute for a shower but he had no choice in the matter.

Edwin realized he was out of clean pants. He laid the few pairs he owned side by side for smell and sight comparison. He ended up wearing the cleanest set, thankfully free from blood stains. Fresh socks, underwear, and a dark blue shirt completed his preparations. Edwin grabbed his pistol holster and slipped it on as he set off down to Washaki. He stopped cold as he set foot outside the dorm. The previous night’s party had done a number on the area.

Bodies lay everywhere. People on top of others, some sprawled out alone and others curled tightly into themselves. Vomit, and spilled liquor pooled in various places on the concrete and grass. Empty chip bags, cigarette buts and lighters, and other trash intermixed with the mess that was the small grassy square between Whitehall and Washaki. Someone had even scaled one of the decorative trees and passed out among the branches in an extremely uncomfortable looking manner. Those Edwin found still awake moved like zombies among the sleeping. Trudging in pain and nausea. Edwin eyed the aftermath with a critical eye. He checked the entrances to the area and found none of Ava’s sentries still on duty.

The lax security brought to mind her failure to secure Thomas and Edwin felt his temper start to rise. His temper fizzled out as he let his eyes distract him. The scene around him glinted under the morning sun. A fine layer of dew covered the area, highlighting it. Edwin let himself be further distracted by thoughts of finding breakfast.

He entered Washaki and found the inside lit by a combination of the sun and more candles. Half a dozen early risers were already there and were already preparing breakfast. Edwin meandered over and joined the work without comment. A peaceful silence hung over the place broken only by the steady sounds of food prep.

He worked together with several people he didn’t know as they chopped and sliced vegetables for a salad. On another table someone was pouring crackers into bowls then ferrying the bowls out of the kitchen alongside cans of cheese whiz. On another counter someone was opening refried beans cans and plopping the contents into serving bowls.

Edwin eyed the assortment of food with a more concerned stare then the one he had reserved for the debauchery outside. If they were already into the bean cans then they must not have as much scavenged food as he had thought.

Eventually the salad was finished. Edwin carried a large serving bowl of it out to the buffet tables. He grabbed a plate and loaded it up with salad. He ignored the beans and crackers. He swung back to the kitchen and snagged a pear among the still mostly good pile of assorted fruits. He would have liked a dash of dressing to finish the salad off, or some cooked chicken. But it had been too long now and he didn’t want to risk food poisoning.

As he ate, his mind returned to last night. It had taken him a while to fall asleep. What with the music playing outside, his paranoia about Thomas trying to attack him, the anger he felt for Ava’s incompetent handling of the matter and just a general sense of anxiety about the known and unknown threats lurking out in the streets.

His already low opinion of Ava had slipped further down. Yet no feasible solution presented itself to him for how to deal with her. Any halfway decent idea still left him in a worse position than if he stayed here and maintained the status quo. For the time being anyway. He expected the atmosphere among the group here would turn for the worse once the alcohol ran out.

For now, Edwin intended to grin and bear it. He would keep a wary eye out for ambushes and do his best not to be near Ava should a dangerous situation arise. He would be looking for somewhere else to seek shelter if things continued as they were here.

People filtered into the cafeteria while Edwin ate. LJ dragged Jason in and Shaun stumbled his own way in not far behind them. Zoey arrived and sat across from him with a quiet greeting. Her plate was an even mix between crackers, beans, and salad. She had procured a can of orange juice from somewhere as well. The flow of breakfast goers picked up and Edwin missed Teresa as she grabbed her own plate and went to sit by herself.

Ava swooped in not long after Edwin finished eating. He sat and idly people watched. Ava came straight toward him without grabbing a plate for herself. “Edwin, Zoey” she greeted them politely. “I am glad to find you both well this morning.”

“Good morning Ava,” Zoey returned after swallowing a cracker.

“Edwin if you have a moment?” Ava fidgeted before continuing, “I would like to discuss the box you brought back the other day.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that thing,” Edwin answered with some interest. “What about it?”

“Well you see, we managed to get it open and found some sort of egg shaped device inside. There is a screen or a control panel or some such on it but nothing we tried elicited any reaction. Would you have any ideas on the subject?”

Initially Edwin wanted to tell Ava off, but he had eaten a pleasant breakfast and so he allowed the calm atmosphere to keep his demeanor subdued. He hummed and stroked his chin. “Does it look like a piece of technology?” He asked after a minute of pondering.

“In a way, but alien or advanced beyond anything I am familiar with.”

“When Jason is more awake,” Edwin said and pointed towards where Jason lay with his head sideways on a nearby table. “I’ll ask him to give it a look-see. How’d you manage to get it open?”

Ava regarded Jason with a quirked eyebrow. Edwin hid his amusement as she tried to puzzle out what Jason could possibly do about the device. He cleared his throat to remind her of his question as the pause dragged on.

“Yes, right,” she replied to refocus herself. “You may not have heard but one of the residents, a Micheal Barns, acquired the talent to open small portals through objects. When he was inside the box he did something and the container folded itself away into space and the device was left behind. We stored it behind the counter in the lobby”

“Curious.”

“Yes,” she nodded her head in agreement. “It is indeed curious. Thank you for your time. Now, if you will excuse me, breakfast awaits.” Ava said then turned and walked off.

LJ roused Jason at some point and got him through eating. As the pair stood up Edwin moved to intercept them. Jason held a hand to his forehead and had an expression of suffering on his face. Edwin let a snarky grin creep onto his face and it filtered into his tone as he greeted them. LJ seemed to have come through the night in much better condition.

“Are you going to be alright Jason or do you need to lay down?” Edwin asked after some good natured ribbing.

“Laying down sounds real good right now,” Jason groaned.

LJ matched Edwin’s grin and shepherded his friend towards the door. Edwin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Then said, “before you lay down do you think you could use your skill on something really quick?”

Jason moaned inarticulately and slumped his shoulders. “Whatever man. Make it quick.” Jason, LJ, and Zoey followed him over to the lobby and they wrapped around the counter to the door behind it. Walking in, Edwin saw the egg shaped machine standing upright on four legs. As she had said there was a screen or something on the top of it.

“Use your skill on this thing,” Edwin said and pointed.

Jason slumped to his knees by it before turning and looking at Edwin. “What the hell is this?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping your skill can tell us. It’s whatever was in that crate we brought back the other day.”

Jason sighed but laid a hand down on the screen. A yellow glow sprang up around his bicep and raced down his arm into the device. His eyes flickered through the air before him as he read the information his skill provided.

“Hot damn!” Jason exclaimed. “This thing is crazy. Listen to this, it says it’s a shield generator.” Jason gestured towards his skill generated panels that only he could see. In front of his eyes the panels were populated with options and information.

“Oh whoa!” he exclaimed again. “It’s different from that dead phone. There’s a menu here.”

“What’s on it?” Edwin asked as he digested the knowledge that this thing was a shield generator. Jason didn’t get a chance to respond as a hair raising scream came from outside. Following it up were more shouts and calls for help.

“Fuck,” LJ swore.

“Let’s go check it out,” Edwin said and drew his pistol from the holster. He led the three of them outside in only a moment. Expecting an attack Edwin came to a halt when he realized there wasn’t a fight breaking out. Instead six wounded people were panting just inside the sandbags by one of the openings in the rubble wall. One of them was hollering Dan’s name over and over. Edwin recognized him as Roy when he ran over to try and help. Roy held a thin wound on his head as it sheeted blood down the side of his face. His other hand was cupped by his mouth to amplify his voice. Besides Roy, the others were just as battered. The two least injured of them had collapsed on the ground to rest after they set down a third, motionless figure. Everyone among them sported bruises and gashes. They looked like they had been run off in a fight.

Dan came sprinting out of Washaki with a bowl of beans in his hands. Someone ran behind him with another bowl. Dan grabbed a handful from his bowl and called out to Roy as he approached, “Open wide. Drive by beans incoming.”

Dan slowed down as he reached Roy and when Roy hesitantly opened his mouth Dan pushed his bean filled hand into the other’s mouth. Roy recoiled but got a mouthful. Dan moved past him and towards the next closest person. There was nothing for Edwin to do as he watched Dan sling beans around. Dan swore violently when he reached the prone figure and realized they were dead. One of the two who had carried them broke into tears. Dan stood up and stomped away swearing under his breath. He had been too late to save everyone.

The ruckus drew more and more residents over to investigate. Many mirrored the shell shocked expressions on Roy’s group as they watched the girl wail. Her sobbing grew in intensity until someone stepped forward to comfort her. They got her to her feet and led her away. Silence reigned in their departure. Until Ava broke the atmosphere by snapping her fingers in front of Roy’s dazed face.

Edwin listened as Ava got the story out of Roy. There had been ten of them initially. Yesterday morning they set out to explore northward. They hadn’t done much looting, more looking for other people and strange things. They were ambushed when they stopped for lunch by centaurs. They had driven them off but one of the group died and most of them were injured in the fight. One girl had been stabbed severely in the stomach to the point she could barely walk. They couldn’t do anything for her so they decided the best thing to do would be to rush back to the dorms. A couple of them had levelled up from the fight and helped her hobble along. Until they came face to face with more centaurs and were chased into a nearby house. They had barricaded the doors. The monsters couldn’t get in through the windows and it turned into a siege. They ended up staying there through the night.

Come the next morning the centaurs looked to have cleared out. The girl with the gut wound wouldn’t wake up but she was still alive. They tried to sneak out while carrying her but they were ambushed again. Another one of them died during the fight and two others were taken captive when the centaurs retreated. None of them levelled up from the fight so they had limped back to the dorms with all their injuries.

No one said anything when Roy finished his story. Edwin looked around and saw his team starting to congregate together so he made his way over to join them. He started to say hello before Teresa rounded on him and exclaimed, “my family lives over there! We need to go check on them right now. If the centaurs are taking prisoners they could be in danger.” Edwin recalled the address she had given him and it was around where Roy claimed to have holed up for the night.

Jason swayed where he stood. “You want me to walk how many blocks?”

Shaun sighed before walking away a bit and picking up a half empty vodka bottle that someone had discarded. He returned to the group and said, “I’m way too hungover for this shit. If we’re doing this then I gotta get hammered.”

He unscrewed the cap and raised the bottle in a salute. “Rally on! Or whatever shit people say when they do this,” he grunted before swigging. His face screwed up in disgust and he paused to burp wetly. “Fuck me,” he groaned before drinking again several more times.

Jason turned and stumbled away before vomiting. Which prompted Shaun into guffawing. Ava approached them while LJ tried to help Jason. She eyed the comedy bit taking place with concern.

“Edwin could you try and go check out what’s happening with the captives?” She said with a soft voice.

“I’ll see what we can do, but I’m not promising any heroics. And there’s even odds they’re already dead.”

Ava exhaled a sigh. “Whatever you can manage. Do make sure to keep yourselves safe.”

Jason regained his footing during their discussion and Edwin talked to him first. “Jason,” he bit out harsher than he meant to. “Can you come or not?” The rest of them crowded around. “We’re leaving in five minutes. Go grab your gear and get back here. Bring some food in case we end up trapped out there.”

“I feel a little better after puking,” Jason said with a shaky voice. He visibly steeled himself before declaring, “I’ll come.”

Edwin hurried up to his room with Zoey in tow. Her gear was still stashed there. He grabbed a box of 9mm and dumped it into his backpack along with restocking his snacks and water bottle. He spared a glance at his closet and wavered with uncertainty. Zoey prompted him back to action with a quick “Edwin, c’mon.” He turned back to the counter and started to load a spare magazine cartridge. Zoey mimicked his actions. They had collected quite a few spares at this point and between him and Zoey they loaded ten of them. He took two and motioned for Zoey to take two as well.

“That should be enough,” Edwin said. “Put the rest in your backpack. I’m going to hand out these pistols to the others, but I want to do it a little ways out so no one sees.”

Edwin tucked the pistols into his backpack before slinging it over his shoulders and grabbing his spear and shield on the way out.

Shaun was waiting where they had left him. His shield and hatchet on the ground between his feet. His head lolled in their direction and he grinned for no particular reason. The crowd had thinned out since Roy’s dramatic return. Someone had taken the dead girl away and the rest of Roy’s team hadn’t hung around. Teresa was right behind them with her hatchet and backpack equipped. It took Jason and LJ over five minutes to return. Jason looked pale and shaky but when asked he expressed a determination to come along. No one felt like trying to stop him so they set off.

Heading north led them through the small sorority and fraternity housing area. A graveyard stretched out in front of them past the housing. Edwin stopped them on the corner there and distributed the guns and spare magazines, two per person, and however many Teresa was packing.

“I’m trusting you guys with these. Do you know how to use them?” Edwin asked before handing them over. LJ said he and Jason were familiar but Shaun admitted he had no experience handling one. Edwin took five minutes to run over the basics of gun safety. He was crossing his fingers here that Shaun’s drunk ass would get the message. Just for some small measure of piece of mind he let Shaun take the lead.

At the end of the graveyard the road sloped down to an intersection. Zoey pointed off towards a side road and hissed, “centaurs, get down.” They jogged over to a nearby house and took cover behind it. Zoey leaned around the corner to keep an eye out. “They are passing through the intersection, going perpendicular,” Zoey whispered a minute later. She turned back around and dragged Edwin to the edge of the house. “Look,” she instructed him. He peeked around the corner and saw the tail end of a huge group of centaurs trotting away. What caught his eye were the familiar looking crates they carried.

Edwin turned back to the group who were crowding over to hear what it was. “That’s a shitload of centaurs and they have some of those crates. I’m pretty sure those robots and the wizard guys have been searching for them so we need to be careful in case they are in the area.”

Everyone agreed and they waited a couple minutes to make sure the centaurs were really gone before proceeding. The walk to Teresa’s house didn’t take long and they didn’t run into anything else along the way. Though Edwin did note that most of the houses in the area had broken doors.

When they reached it the door was smashed off the hinges. A muddy hoof print stamped on the white paint. Edwin cringed and expected Teresa to freak out. Instead she turned to him with a deadly serious look and declared, “looks like we’ll be rescuing the hostages then.”