ACT I ­­– Zach

Reality

Zach ran through the forest, his feet carrying him farther and faster than ever before. A part of his mind noted that he had left Ryun behind him, but he didn’t stop—even if it was foolish, he couldn’t stop. He recognized the voice that had screamed as Linda’s and he was not about to run and hide.

Finally, he reached them, jumping over a large root and stepping into the clearing. There were six monsters surrounding Linda and Melody. On the ground in front of them, two were ripping apart Henry’s body. Zach felt his stomach churn, but he pushed the feeling down, his eyes were on the girls and the four monsters that were growling at them. Melody had a long staff in her hands, and was swiping with it in front of them, keeping the monsters at bay. All of them were the same type as the one that he and Ryun had killed, Young Aniwye, their levels between two and three. He hoped that leveling up had given him enough of an edge to fight them even when outnumbered. He unsheathed his sword and jumped forward.

One of the monsters noticed him and turned, but not fast enough. Zack used |Strike| and his blade flew through the air. However, he missed a step and instead of taking the monster’s head, he cut it on the shoulder. It yelped and jumped back, but he didn’t let it recover. He followed, yelling unintelligibly at it. His sword swung back with another |Strike| and cut into the monster’s side as it tried to evade, opening a large gash in its side. The other monsters charged him and his eyes widened as he saw five of them running at him.

Then Ryun was there. He jumped from behind Zach and stabbed one of monsters, cutting into it with his sword. The one Zach cut open collapsed on the ground, but the others were circling them now, trying to surround Ryun and him as they stood back to back. Then Melody stepped from behind them and smashed one over the back with her staff with a sickening crunch. Zach took the opening as the monster yelped and jumped away from her to attack. He slashed at another monster, cutting its back, and Ryun did the same on the other side. Three more monsters fell quickly, leaving only one, which growled and turned to run away. Then a small ball of fire the size of a baseball struck it in the side, producing a sizzling sound as it burned a hole into its flesh.

Zach’s eyes opened wide as he saw Linda keeping her hand pointed at the monster. Then she collapsed on her knees. A moment later, Zach was next to her, helping her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Zach, oh god…” She went weak in his arms. “This isn’t really happening, is it?”

“I think it is,” Zach answered.

“Oh, oh god, Henry, we need to help him, he—”

He interrupted her. “I don’t think Henry made it.”

“No, he was just—” she started, but then she looked at the body, the ripped-open stomach, the blood. Henry was gone. She retched, and then vomited next to him. Zach held her and kept her hair out of her face as she started crying. “This can’t be happening.”

Zach didn’t answer. Instead, he slowly circled his palm over her back and held her as she sobbed. He didn’t know what to do. He glanced over, seeing Ryun and Melody standing a bit away talking. Melody, leaning on her staff, looked like she was taking things a bit better than Linda. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but Ryun was kneeling before some kind of a brown chest. He had it opened and was looking through it. As soon as Linda had calmed down, he led her to them.

“What is that?” Zach asked Ryun.

“Loot, I think. It appeared once we killed the monsters,” he answered and pulled out a small pair of gloves, which looked to be made out of leather.

“They have anything special about them?” Zach asked.

“Nah, it says that their rarity is common. Leather Gloves.” Ryun looked them over a bit before offering them up. “Anyone?”

When no one responded, he shrugged and put them on, and the chest disappeared immediately after. It looked as if it collapsed on itself. “We should sell the monsters, get some Essence,” Ryun said and walked over.

“Sell the monsters?” Linda asked. “That is what you are thinking about? Henry is dead, right over there!”

Ryun blinked at her, looking as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Zach already knew that Ryun was about to say something stupid and insensitive.

“But he is dead,” Ryun said. “There is nothing that I can do for him, but if we want to survive in this new world, we need to follow its rules.”

“How can you be so cruel? He was our friend! Don’t you feel sad?” Linda asked.

Ryun blinked, looking around at the others. Melody looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t look like she was all that shaken to see Henry dead. Zach himself didn’t know how to feel; he didn’t know the man well. A part of what Ryun had said was right—they had to think about themselves. Still, seeing Linda so shaken, he spoke.

“We should bury him at least.”

Ryun frowned and looked at Zach, but a look from Zach prevented him from speaking.

“Sure,” Ryun said at last. “Right. I’m sorry, Linda. I’m in shock, everything is happening so fast, and…you know?”

Linda looked a bit guilty, which nearly made Zach open his mouth and tell Ryun off, since he was pretty sure that he was bullshitting her. But seeing her calm down a bit made him hold his tongue.

The two of them used their swords to dig open a shallow grave. It didn’t take them nearly as much time as he had feared, as Zach found that he was much stronger now than he used to be. His strength stat seemed to have something to do with that. Once they gathered Henry and laid him down, they started covering him up. Zach did his best not to look at the man’s face. His stomach had still not settled, and he didn’t want to provoke it. Once they were done, they moved back to the girls, who sat against a tree with Ryun’s and Zach’s packs. Linda bandaged Melody’s hand where one of the monsters had scratched her; their bodies were gone now, as they had sold the corpses to the shop after Ryun had told them how.

“It’s getting dark,” Ryun said. “I don’t think we’ll find a road before night, let alone get back to the city on foot. If there even is a city.”

“What do you mean, if there is a city?” Linda asked. “Of course there is! We need to go and find a road—people will send rescue!”

Zach grimaced. He knew that a rescue was unlikely.

“I don’t know,” Ryun said slowly. “We were on the road when this happened, but now there is no sign of civilization anywhere. The roads might just be gone. Or we could not even be where we used to. Anyway, we will not get anywhere before the night. We need to find shelter.”

“I think…” Melody started. “I think that there is a cabin nearby.”

“A cabin?” Zach asked.

“When we were running from those things, I think I saw something in the distance. I’m not sure, but it should be that way,” she said, pointing deeper into the forest.

“That might be our best bet,” Zach said.

“Right,” Ryun agreed.

Linda looked helplessly between the three of them, but didn’t voice her opinion again.

With that, they gathered their things and started walking. They walked in a line, with Ryun taking the back and Zach the front. They kept their eyes on the forest around them, looking for more monsters. While they walked, they talked quietly, and Zach learned that both of the girls had taken Classes. Melody was a Fighter, a common Class, and used a quarterstaff. It looked like she’d had some martial arts training, so she had purchased the staff from the Dealmaker just like Ryun had with the sword. Linda had an uncommon Class: Firebug, which seemed to focus on magic. But they didn’t have the time to get into it before they found the cabin. They inspected it for a while making sure that it was empty, and then all of them got in.

“Why is this still here, but the roads are not?” Ryun asked once they were all inside.

“I have no idea,” Zach answered.

There was not much conversation afterward, as each of them was drained both physically and emotionally. So, instead, Zach looked at his stats. He had gained three hundred Essence from the fight with the monsters. A lot less per monster than before, but he didn’t know if that was only for the ones he had killed or for the entire pack; but as Ryun and the girls had all gotten the same amount, it was probably for them all. Still, it was not enough for him to get the next level, but he was close. He needed one thousand Essence for level ten, and he had four hundred and fifty. The knowledge that he would need to kill more monsters to get that Essence filled him with dread. He had seen that he was stronger now, that he could take the monsters on, at least one on one, but he still feared for his life. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he could die at any time.

All four of them were huddled next to one another in the cabin’s living room, on the long couch. Melody was leaning on Ryun, and Linda on Zach. He saw that the others were already asleep, but he couldn’t let himself close his eyes. Instead, he watched through the window, looking for monsters.