AN: I had originally intended not to update again until next week, but the last chapter ended in such a way that it made me want to go ahead and retool the next one to show up here. So, this is the real last chapter of ETA until next week.

Ah, and for those who honestly don't like the fact that I work on several stories at once... I would like to point out that each and every one of them is a multi-volume story. (With the exception of one or two)

It will take YEARS for some of them to come to an end. Either, I work on all of them at once, or I'll be ninety when they are all done. Even if I were to say, work solely on Origin. I am not even to the halfway point on that tale. It's clocking in at over 300,000 words now. The same is true of Blackthorne more or less. Even if I focused solely on that story, it would have taken a year or more to get it done.

If my release rate is too slow for you, then I do apologize. I am not working on just one story. I am working on an entire multi-verse, and want to get the stories written before I die of old age. Heck, this one alone is already close to novel length at 8 chapters. So is Galactic fist.

Chapter 8: Pretty Meat

Whispers echoed through the shopping arcade as fifteen people chatted quietly among themselves. Scott had staked out an area near the arms and armor booth to lean against while he rested. He was tired but not particularly sleepy. He suspected that was due to his enhanced vitality, or maybe an overdose of his natural adrenaline.

After about an hour passed, Craig came over to ask a question. “Hey, how come you’re so strong?”

“I killed a lot of those things and got a few bonus levels doing quests.” said Scott.

“No, I get that, but it’s like you’re on a whole different level compared to the rest of us. Is there something you aren’t telling us?” he asked.

“Don’t know what to tell you, unless your profession just sucks. It’s not like I’m some wise sage or anything.” said Scott lightly.

“What’s wrong with being a cop?” asked Craig. “You got something against us?”

“Cop? No, your profession.” said Scott with a laugh.

Craig looked at him with a strange expression. “What the hell are you talking about, man?”

“You know, on your status. What profession did you get?” asked Scott, confused. Surely they’d gotten a profession book. He’d gotten one earlier.

“Status? You mean that little section that says Profession?” asked Craig.

“Yeah, that one.”

“Mine says none.”

Scott blinked at him. “Wait, you guys don’t have professions? Shit!”

He hopped up and waved at Craig to follow him. They had perhaps an hour until dawn if he had to guess right. “What is it?” asked Craig.

“Come on, we don’t have much time.”

“Time for what? Hey!” called Craig.

“What’s going on!” asked Frank when he saw Scott and Craig rushing over.

Scott shook his head. “Everyone needs to be gathered up, now. It’s important.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Frank.

“I’ll explain it to everyone, but you people are seriously in trouble if this place shuts down without hearing this.” said Scott.

“Right!” Frank ran off in one direction to get one group. Scott glanced to Craig and he did the same.

Daniel and the fourth officer, Martin, came rushing up. “What’s going on?”

“Do either of you have professions, and I don’t mean police officer?” asked Scott. The rest of the people in the arcade were streaming toward their position as Scott started to explain.

“What do you mean?” asked Daniel.

Scott shook his head. “Only enough time to explain this once. We need everyone here, first.”

It was not long before all sixteen people were gathered up in the front of the arcade. Scott began to explain. “Those of you here who do not have a profession attached to their status, please raise your hand.”

“What do you mean?” asked one of the nameless girls who’d come in while Scott was hunting.

“I mean, did you gain a profession today? Something like warrior, or sage, or something.”

No one knew what he meant. “Shit, that must have been a rare drop. Look, there’s a book over in the skill booth called The Big Book of Professions. You all need to get that book and use it before this store closes.”

“Why, what does it do?” asked Martin.

“It randomly assigns a profession. You might get something that sucks, or you might not. Either way, you’ll have access to professional skills and higher stats.” said Scott.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” asked Daniel.

“I didn't think about it until a minute ago. There’s no time to complain about it, though. It’s a cheap book.”

“How cheap?” asked a man that Scott had not seen earlier.

“Fifty daemons.”

“F-fifty?! That’s a small fortune.” said the man.

“Shit… that’s right, money is hard to come by if you can’t kill a lot of those things. I can cover a few people, can anyone else help?” asked Scott.

Frank and Craig dug around in their pockets. They pooled their coins and came up with another eighty coins.

“Fifteen times fifty. We need seven hundred fifty. I’m good for about half.” said Scott.

Craig’s eyelid twitched. He had seen Scott buy a lot of stuff. “You rich bastard… How much did you have?”

“Now’s not the time. Can anyone cover their own costs? If so, go ahead and buy that book.” said Scott.

Four people headed in that direction after a moment of confusion. The remaining people raked and scraped to come up with the rest of the money. One of the people who had left, returned with the book and showed it to Scott.

“Yes, that one! Say, do you have thirteen coins left? Everyone can get a book if you do.”

“I’ve got like four, but you can have them.” she said before handing them over.

Scott handed over two hundred coins to the police officers. They had butted heads a little, but they at least knew how to fight. “You guys go ahead.”

“Hey, home come you’re deciding who gets to do what?” asked one of the other men.

“This needs to get done. If we come up short this morning, the people with the best combat skills or actual training need to get their professions. Or would you rather leave it up to chance?” asked Scott.

Another of the first people returned and Scott asked if they had any coins. The new arrival had a single copper left.

“Eight short. Who here is only level one?” asked Scott. Two people held up their hands.

“OK, the rest of you come here and get your coins.”

“What about us!” exclaimed a level one man.

“One of you can get a profession, the other one has to hold out and hope for eight more coins.” said Scott.

The man started cursing and the teen girl in his same level one group spoke up. “Just give it to him.”

“You sure?” asked Scott.

“Yeah.” she said nervously.

Scott passed out money to everyone except for that one nice girl and waited. He was able to collect six more coins total. They were two coins short.

“Is everyone sure they don’t have another coin?” asked Scott.

No one had anything else. More than a half hour had passed while everyone received their money and gained a profession. There was a lot of hub-bub about that in the shopping arcade. People had acquired professions ranging from warrior to blood sage. There were no other arcane slayers, but at the same time, most of the professions seemed to either be generic such as warrior, or unique sounding. The unique professions were literally that. No one else in the group had that profession.

Scott walked toward the lone girl and handed her the coins in his hand, and then headed toward the entrance to the building. He was a bit tired, but he decided to clear away a few ghouls in front of the building while also hunting for change.

He managed to score several coins and head back just as light started to break over the horizon. He tossed the coins to the girl and shouted, “Go! Go!”

She ran toward the skill booth as fast as she could. Several tense seconds passed and a book appeared in the air. She snatched it up just as all of the lights in the building died.

“Hurry up and use it!” called Scott before turning toward the door.

The girl read through the little blurb quickly and announced that she requested a profession. Not long after that an overly perky sounding announcement echoed throughout the shopping arcade, the first that they had heard. “Attention arcade shoppers. The store will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please take your final purchases and escape. If you are here when the doors close, you’ll die horribly.”

“Shit, what do we do?” asked the middle-aged man who Scott had helped earlier.

“We need to go. I’ve cleared the way forward, but there is no telling how long that will last. Either way, we can’t stay here.” said Scott.

Daniel muttered something that no one else could quite make out, and Scott ignored it. He assumed that the man was still sore about being dropped to the floor the day before.

Scott helped everyone get out of the building. There was a staging area that he had cleared during his hunting earlier that night. “Just up ahead, there is a convenience store with steel shutters. We can try to get there and hole up for a while.”

No one had a better idea at the moment, since the group did not want to split. They formed up with the weaker people in the center, Scott at the front with two of the officers, and the other two officers at the back.

Several ghouls began to shamble into the area, and a few people became skittish. Just before the group left two people broke off and ran back into the arcade then tried to pull the doors shut.

Daniel and Frank shouted for them, but they refused to come out once they managed to close the doors. In the end, they were forced to leave them behind. The remaining fourteen people moved swiftly toward their goal. Scott, Martin, and Craig acted as the head of their moving people spear and punched through the random shambling monsters in the area. The convenience store they were heading for was just up ahead.

They made it inside and secured the place with a few minutes to spare. People were frightened, but spirits were high. The ones who had rushed back into the store were together as a group to begin with, so no one was particularly worried about them beyond the fact that they were fellow survivors.

“Hey!” hissed the tired woman from the night before. She waved at the group. Several people, Scott included went to see what she wanted.

They peered through a slit in one of the metal shutters. It required a proper angle, but if they looked out of the hole just right they could see the shopping area in the reflection of a nearby window. The reason that the tired woman had called to them was what she had seen in that window reflection.

The two people who had ran back inside earlier were now outside, and surrounded by dozens of monsters. The big one from the day before had returned as well. Scott watched quietly as one of the two was smashed under the broken street lamp that the thing wielded.

“It- One minute it was empty there and in the next the things just appeared, poof!” said the tired woman.

“You serious? Poof? They didn’t walk in there?” asked one of the girls nearby.

“Yeah, just poof. The same thing happened with those two poor people who went back inside. They just appeared out there.”

Scott sighed. “It’s a reset or a respawn, has to be.”

“Respawn?” asked the tired woman. Scott had to learn these people’s names at some point.

“I heard that monsters just appeared out of nowhere when this all started. Today the monsters from yesterday reappeared here at dawn even though they had been drawn away.”

“Like a game, right. It’s like the levels and the stats?” asked the girl he had given the fifty coins to earlier.

“Seems so, everything that’s happening… It’s like some asshole wants to force us all to play some sick game.” he said.

“You seem to know a lot about it.” said Daniel in an accusatory manner.

Scott glanced at him. What was his problem, anyway? Did getting his ass kicked a little really cause him to turn into a dick? “I don’t know much of anything outside of what I picked up here and there.”

“Right.” said the officer.

“You got a problem with me?” asked Scott. “Do we really need to have a conversation about that sort of thing in the middle of an escape attempt?”

Daniel snorted then looked like he was about to say something, but Martin put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Let it go.”

“Fuck that. This asshole has fucking armor and had more money than all of us combined. He should hand it over.” said Daniel after a brief moment of angry reflection.

Scott’s eyebrow quirked. “Are you serious?”

“Damn right. Why the hell should a civilian have better equipment than the police?” growled Daniel.

“Why should a civilian give a flying fuck about the police anymore? These people had to fend for themselves, where are all the civilians you helped? I only saw the four of you.” asked Scott.

Daniel gripped his weapon, a solid looking baseball bat, in his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “Think you’re so damned smart?”

“No. I think this is a waste of time. Stop waving your damned dick around, so we can figure out our next move.” said Scott quietly.

“Fucking punk.” growled Daniel.

“Five or six hundred.” said Scott.

“What?” asked Craig, trying to get into the conversation and calm things down.

“That’s why I get this fucking armor. That’s about how many of those things I've killed on my own." Scott snorted at Daniel then shook his head.

"You got a problem with that? Well, it ain’t my problem. The best items go to the people who earn them, otherwise they’re wasted on useless self-entitled assholes.” replied Scott.

A blue battle light flared out as Daniel ran forward with his bat upraised ready to strike Scott down. The cheerful announcer called out, "Mr. Badass VS Daniel Sourous! Fight-O!"

Scott watched impassively as Daniel's movements slowed to a halt. The angry man was forced to walk forward three steps at a time until he got within range. People all around them cried out for them to stop fighting.

The bat whipped forward with bone-crushing force, but all Scott did was snort and let it hit.

- 0

The sound of a loud smack echoed through the building. Scott looked at the surprised man then slowly shook his head. “A shotgun blast to the face barely irritated me, and you thought your weak ass would do better with a bat? How about I cleave you in half and tell your family that you died an idiot?”

“You leave my family out of this!” snapped Daniel before he attacked Scott with another useless strike.

“Your family is alive because I rescued them. I’m the one who saved their lives and led them to safety. Most real men would be thankful for someone doing that.” said Scott, not the least bit phased by Daniel’s anger. A few days ago an angry police officer would have been a serious issue. Now, he was just an asshole in a uniform. The world had moved on, but he had not realized that his authority had moved on with it.

The enraged officer's turn came around and he attacked once more. This time, however, Scott chose to act. He deflected the bat with ridiculous ease then casually whipped the back of his hand around to slap Daniel hard across the mouth. The man was sent sprawling from the blow, an action some might refer to as a bitch slap.

-27

"Counter!" cried the announcer voice.

Daniel looked up at Scott through bloodied lips, confusion welling up in his eyes. He coughed once then spat into his hand, several broken teeth fell into his palm. For a moment he stared at the broken pieces of his teeth. His confusion turned to rage. He looked as though he was going to attack again, but his buddies who had been coming to try and break up the fight managed to arrive in time to drag him away. The other nine people in the room were left shocked and distinctly uncomfortable.

Scott heard grumbling among the various groups. Several of them agreed with Daniel. The police were obviously well-trained and should have the best equipment. The fact that some random guy could do that to an officer of the law terrified them. If they had realized just how close to death Daniel had come from that one casual slap, they would have been even more frightened.

Only a small handful agreed with Scott, if someone earned something they should keep it. In fact, only four people agreed with him out of the entire group. The middle-aged man and his two girls, the people he had shared his healing potion with, plus the girl that he’d given the fifty coins were the only ones who actually agreed with him. Had he not chosen to share his personal loot with them their situation would have been worse. If he’d tossed all his stuff to a hot-head like Daniel, who knew what would have happened?

The group began to segregate itself into two camps. Slowly, the people who sided with the police out of habit migrated to their side of the store, while the other five people were left on the opposite side.

That division was a serious issue as far as Scott was concerned. Most of the people with the other group had a level of at least three, while the highest leveled person in his group other than him was only level two. There was a single level one straggler over with the police, and a level two person. Everyone else was slightly better off.

Daniel regained his cool then noticed the numbers. He could not keep the smirk from rising up. “Looks like most of the people here agree with me.”

“That’s nice. I don’t agree and that’s what counts.” said Scott.

“Just give them the armor and stuff. You can get more!” snapped the level one guy from earlier.

“No.” said Scott. “That just ain’t happening. I didn’t hunt all night just to turn over what I earned to an asshole that sat on his thumbs and pretended he was in charge.”

“I am in charge! All you’re doing is confusing people.” snapped Daniel.

“That badge is confusing people. Those people with you haven’t figured out that it doesn’t mean a damned thing anymore.” said Scott.

Before Daniel could open his mouth, Scott continued, “What’s your game plan, Mr. Leader? Where are you planning to take those people that’s safe?”

Daniel glared hatefully at Scott. “Like there’s anywhere safe.”

“My house is safe enough for your family. Steel-reinforced doors, metal shutters, concrete walls, and it’s out in the suburbs.” said Scott.

“Yeah, across the fucking river! You can’t cross the damned river, remember?” People started to murmur and move closer to Daniel. Crossing the river was suicidal, most people knew that.

“I’ve crossed it twice. It’s dangerous as hell, but doable.” said Scott.

“Maybe with the shit you’re wearing, but what about these people? You won’t share, so what are they going to do?” asked Daniel.

Scott shook his head. “I crossed the first time wearing nothing but a t-shirt and jeans. That was a little over an hour or two after all this started.”

“You got lucky! These people will die if they follow you.” said Daniel.

“Probably.” said Scott. Honestly, he did not care much if anyone followed him. He was tired of this conversation. “I can make no promises, but unlike you I won’t even try to claim that I can. No matter what you say, most of us will probably be dead inside a week.”

Scott’s admission made everyone in the room uncomfortable, especially the handful of people who had gravitated toward him.

“Some fucking leader!” said Daniel with a laugh.

“Who said I was a leader? I said I know what it takes to survive longer, and I refuse to give a useless asshole my stuff.” remarked Scott.

Daniel’s face turned bright red and he gripped his baseball bat tight in his hands. “Think you’re so smart.”

“No. A smart man wouldn’t argue with a mentally challenged fucktard who thinks being in charge is more important than surviving.” said Scott.

“Do you have to talk like that?” asked the tired woman from last night. Several other people nodded. What was his problem anyway?

Scott glanced at her then snorted. “What I do is my business. The same with you. I’m not special. I’m not the fucking messiah or whatever. I’m at the level that I’m at because I went out and fought.”

That got everyone’s attention. “I put my life on the line to become stronger because I did not want to lie down and die. That’s what you have to do to survive now, and there is a strong chance that you won’t survive even if you do that. I can’t even count the number of times that I nearly had my throat torn out.”

He looked around at various people in the room. “You let a shiny badge and a uniform dictate what you do, and you better hope the one wearing it is worth a fuck.”

Daniel snorted. “Fucking puke. I bet you have a criminal record a mile long.”

“Probably. Since this started I’ve killed hundreds of former people, looted several abandoned houses, and shoved my finger in a mermaid’s ass. Gonna arrest me? Try it. Just remember, I’ve let the shit you do go twice now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” asked Daniel before he dabbed a bit of cloth at his bleeding mouth. It didn't help stem the flow of blood in the slightest. He needed gauze or a healing tonic.

“There ain’t a third chance for you. I don't want to hurt other human beings. We've all been through enough. However..."

Scott pointed his kaiser blade at Daniel to emphasize his point. "If you come after me again, I’ll treat you just like anything else that comes at me.”

“Hey, hey! Calm down, damn!” Craig lifted his shotgun and pointed it at both men, though he lingered more on Scott than

Daniel. “We don’t need to do this, shit.”

“The fuck we don’t.” muttered Daniel.

Scott stared at him impassively. Everything that needed to be said, had been said. He had promised to look for the man, and he had found him. Whatever happened now was up to him. It was hard to believe that the man acted this way, though. It was almost like he did not give a damn about his family.

"Please, just... Just give him your stuff." said one older woman fretfully.

Scott glanced at the older woman. He took several steps back, since they were all still inside of a battle field, and then did something surprising. He started to take off his chest plate.

For a moment, Daniel wore a smug expression. It was obvious that he thought that Scott had given in and would be handing over his items. The truth was a different thing altogether.

Scott put down his chest plate, took off his tunic and then his sleeveless bubba jacket. All that was left behind was a tattered shirt. "You think I'm going to give this stuff to some random asshole? It's not happening."

"You can just get more!" called the whiny level-one guy.

"To get what I have, I had to endure this..." Scott took off his shirt and revealed his naked chest. His body was a mass of angry red scars.

Several people drew back from him in shock. He merely looked at them impassively and said, "These scars are what earned my gear. I was alone when I earned each one of them. I've fought alone this entire time. No one with a badge came to hold my hand, or tell me it'll be alright."

He put his shirt back on then re-equipped his items. "Anyone who wants to tell me to give up my items can save themselves the trouble. It is not happening."

“I’m heading to the South bridge area to see if it would be easier to cross than the one nearby. Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome, but we’re moving out soon.” said Scott.

“You’re not going anywhere.” growled Daniel.

Scott shook his head. It was like the man had lost all sense of reality. “I’m done with you. Come with me if you actually give a fuck about your family. Otherwise, I don’t give a damn.”

Daniel looked like he was chewing rocks for a moment, or perhaps it was the remnants of his teeth. If looks could kill, the battle would be over.

Craig spoke up. “What about these people? They need to get to a safe place. There’s no way we’d all make it there and then to wherever your house is if we tried to move in a group like this.”

Scott rubbed his chin for a moment. “There are fourteen of us. If we split into three groups, each with at least one or two higher leveled people in a group, we could leave here one group at a time and make our way down to the bridge. There’s a large fenced in house near there. We could meet there.”

“What if it isn’t safe?” asked Craig.

“Strongest group goes first and clears the area. The weakest group goes second, and leaves here about a half-hour later. Second strongest group goes last about fifteen minutes after that group.” said Scott.

“Why have the weakest group go second?” asked the tired woman.

“The strongest group will have cleared most of the way. Unless something terrible happens, the second group will have fewer obstacles to deal with. The third group will act as a bit of a rear-guard in case more monsters show up.”

“Sounds like a good idea, but…” began Craig.

“Bullshit. It’s bullshit!” said Daniel.

“Of course it is.” said Scott sarcastically.

“Yeah, it is! We should not be splitting up. We need to all move together.” said Daniel. Several of the people on his side of the room agreed.

“Fine, let’s all go then.” said Scott with a shrug. “Either way, we need to get moving.”

Another argument broke out then due to the fact that some people thought that moving at all was a bad idea. A few of the people in the room also had other people that they needed to meet up with.

Finally, Scott made a suggestion. “There are still people known to be around here. One group of people should head out toward the bridge to clean up and check out the area. Another can go round up people here. The third would hold the fort.”

Daniel automatically disliked the plan if for no other reason than it had been Scott who had suggested it. However, for once more people liked something that Scott had said than disliked it.

“How will we know to come to the bridge?” asked Craig.

“The group that heads there will have to secure and scout the area and then at least two of them has to try to return here. Only people who are willing to take the biggest risk should go as there will be a lot of fighting.”

Craig nodded. “Are you going?”

“Yeah, either way I plan to head back to my house, so might as well move toward that goal.” said Scott.

Frank spoke up. “I’d go with you, but the people near here will probably feel better if a cop shows up to get them.”

“True, that might make a few of them feel more at ease. People who know the ones nearby should stay here for that anyway.”

As it turned out, all four of the people who knew of others in the area were with the police. The officers did not want to separate, and the level one guy refused to go with Scott. After a little deliberation, the people who had sided with him originally chose to stay as well. They were not confident in their ability to survive that trip as a fighting force instead of merely survivors. Scott did not blame any of them for that decision. If he were still level one or two he would not want to make that trip, either.

“Looks like you’re on your own, fella.” said Daniel with a smirk.

“I prefer it that way. I’ll secure that place in front of the bridge if possible, and try to get your family there instead of coming back here. It’s bigger than my place.”

“You sure you want to go alone?” asked Frank. "We could always just fortify an area near the store and use it at night."

“Someone has to, there’s no way everyone can stay here, and this side of the river is a lot more dangerous than the suburbs at the moment. There’s a wreck on the bridge here that’s keeping most of the worst of it away.” said Scott. “The ghouls loiter there and their numbers keep a lot of things from crossing the river, I think.”

“Well, that’s something.” said Frank. Very little had happened that was helpful recently. "Staying near the store, though..."

“Can’t trust it for long, and then there's that big bastard. Even if we lead it off every night, he comes back in the morning. We're lucky he hasn't figured out that we're in here." said Scott.

"Anyone who wants to survive needs to get out of the city and find somewhere to fort up out in the countryside. It’ll probably get a lot worse soon.” he continued.

“Great, an optimist.” said Craig.

“Hell yeah.” said Scott flatly.

“How do you know?” asked a teenage girl who Scott wanted to call Cheryl, but he was uncertain about her name.

He looked over to her and asked her what she meant. She continued by saying, “Have you been out of the city? What if there are different kinds of monsters out there?”

“There probably are, but most of what we’re seeing here came from people changing. It’s possible that there will be fewer of them outside of the city.” he said.

It was not long after that before Scott was out the door and on his way. The world had become a strange place in only two days. For all his bluster and talk about forging ahead to clear that house, he had to admit that he was frightened by his surroundings. Every noise, every movement out of the corner of his eye, captured his attention. He had been all bravado and, “Fuck you” earlier, but the truth was that he knew it was a solid possibility that he would not live to see the sun go down again.

Scott tried to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, but he had a long way to go in this brave new world. The south bridge was eight miles away. That was a fairly lengthy hike even during the best of times. More than that, it would take him another ten miles or so to get home.

He had been up all night. It was highly unlikely that he would make it home before dark. He could only hope that the people in his house were capable of sitting tight and not doing anything stupid.

Surprisingly, it took several minutes before he saw his first monster. A small pack of ghouls were sniffing around a dumpster. He took them out easily enough then checked inside to see if anyone was hiding there. The largest rat he had ever seen hissed at him from atop a pile of garbage. The thing had to be the size of a Rottweiler!

“Nope.” He quickly dropped the lid. He wanted nothing to do with any of that today.

Scott continued on and tried to forget the rodent of unusual size. Briefly he wondered if he should have killed it, the thing had to have been a monster. In the end, he decided to just let it go. He had somewhere to be.

He had traveled about a mile and defeated another two packs of roaming ghouls before something new and exciting occurred. An envelope appeared within a column of light. Scott leaned his kaiser blade against a nearby wall and read the message that he had received.

[Walking Man’s Blues]

Tired of puttering around on your own two legs? Does the idea of cross-country travel get you down? Wish you had a car? Well, come on down to Swanky Dan’s! We have the sweet rides that make you smile.

[--]

There was a map attached, as usual. Unlike the previous letter announcing the shopping arcade, this letter offered nothing but a new location to explore. Swanky Dan’s looked to be in a location that Scott recognized as a car lot a few miles up the road. Not for the first time did he wonder at how this sort of thing worked. Was someone watching him, or did he have to clear an event? Was it simply that he was in the area?

He pocketed the new letter and kept moving. It would not be good to loiter around for long. There was no telling what was out here.

A few minutes later he slid along the wall of a destroyed electronics store and peeked around the corner into an alleyway. He had hear moans and shuffling, the common cry of ghouls everywhere. His eyes widened in frustration. The alleyway he wanted to take was a short-cut that would knock a half-mile off his trip. He could double back and still save a little time, but it would not matter. The next street over was crawling with strange creatures that he had not seen before.

The ghouls were actively fighting them, and the new monsters fought them in kind. However, they did so with something resembling tactics and they even used weapons!

He watched as one of the creatures threw a spear toward one of the ghouls then used a rope that had been attached to it to haul the undead monster closer. That spear had been modified, designed to pierce a certain distance then stop due to a cross bar. The creature held the ghoul in place while two more of its kind attacked it with what looked like fire-axes that had their handles wrapped in duct tape.

The dumpster rat had been bad, but this was a whole new world of horrible. He had to double back. The people he had left behind needed to know what to expect if they came in this direction. There was a creature that lived in groups that was much worse than any ghoul.

He tried to see what level the green-skinned creatures were, but he could not. Either they were too strong or too far away, he could not be certain.

Quietly he turned around and started to head back. The moment that he did so, a bright red light flared brightly. Unable to move, Scott could only stare forward in wide-eyed horror as something descended on him from above.

Scott cried out in shock as a tentacle wrapped around his neck. Instinctively, he launched his kaiser blade upward and slammed it into the open maw of a flying eye ball.

The creature bit down on the offered treat, an action that negated his attempt at a counter attack, and tightened its grip on Scott’s neck. He could feel himself starting to weaken. It was going to choke him to death if he did not do something soon. Unfortunately, it had the advantage and would receive three full turns to do as it pleased while Scott could do nothing but attempt to counter.

"Mr. Badass VS. Flying Eyeball! Fight-O!" exclaimed the cheerful announcer voice. A whimsical soundtrack filled with perky upbeat music one might hear in an elevator began to play in the background while Scott make gurgling noises.

Status Affliction

Asphyxiation

Your air supply has been cut off. You will lose health each turn while you endure this state. You will fall unconscious in three turns if this status affliction is not removed.

-18

He tried using his [Flame Strike] ability, but he could not concentrate enough to activate it. He dropped to his knees and gasped for air while futilely trying to jostle the blade inside the beast’s mouth. As he did so, several more tentacles shot out and entangled his limbs. He earned a new status affliction, entangled that prevented him from moving or attacking. All he could do was struggle to break free, however, his strength and dexterity were not nearly high enough on their own to allow for such a feat.

Scott was done. There was literally nothing that he could do. If not for what happened next, this would have been his final battle and the end of his tale.

The eyeball gurgled a sound that sounded like half surprise and half shriek of agony. Four great gouge marks appeared across the surface of its eye and green ichor splurted out in a sickening display.

The tentacle lost its grip around Scott’s neck and he fell to the sidewalk. He panted heavily while remaining on his hands and knees. He was barely coherent at this point, but he still knew that he was not safe. Something worse than a flying eyeball had come.

He looked up as a shadow loomed over him and he could not look away. He was greeted to the sight of baleful yellow eyes, a wolfish smile, and a naked woman who wore pointy green ears as a necklace.

“Who?” croaked Scott.

The woman sniffed the air like an animal. Her tongue, a bit longer than it should be, slipped out of her mouth. She tilted her head to the side then panted like a dog for a moment. “Pretty meat.”

Scott’s eyes widened when he finally realized that there was more to her than her exquisitely barbaric feminine architecture and her overly sharp canine teeth. She also had wolf-like triangular ears and what seemed to be a fluffy tail.

The flying eyeball began to stir weakly and the wolf-girl growled at it in a threatening manner. “Looking Meat, not have! Pretty Meat, belong Sheena.” She kicked it in its ruined eyeball a few times and it stopped moving.

Several of the twisted creatures came rushing around the corner, obviously drawn by the activity there. Sheena roared at them then stood in front of her Pretty Meat in an aggressive, yet defensive, manner. “Sheena’s pretty meat! Long Nose, no take!”

Suddenly, several howls split the air. Shadows appeared nearby followed by feet hitting the ground.

“Why Sheena play with Long Nose?” asked a gruff masculine voice.

“Ercke need mind Ercke business. This Sheena fight.” said the wolf girl.

“Ercke strong. Ercke be chief soon, make Sheena business, Ercke business.” said the massive wolf man. Unlike Sheena he was almost hideously over-muscled, though his face was quite boyish.

Scott was taken aback. These monsters knew each other? The world only went to hell the other day and they were already making some sort of social structure among their various races? This was crazy.

The three new arrivals were all obviously male members of whatever monster race Sheena was. Their dangling genitalia did not leave any doubt of that.

“No! Sheena be chief. Ercke be bitch.” snapped Sheena.

Scott checked the status of the closest of the wolf-men as he finally had enough composure to do so. It was the one who called himself Ercke.

[Demon]

Kobold (Male)

Level: 5

Species: Beast

Profession: Hunter

[--]

The other two males were only level three. The way they flanked Ercke, they made it seem like he was their leader. Scott looked to Sheena while she continued to hold the ones she called long nose at bay, and argued with Ercke.

[Demon]

Kobold (Female)

Level: 8

Race: Beast

Profession: Hunter

[--]

Scott felt despair well up inside for a moment. She was only level eight, but who knew what that really meant? She had easily been able to dispatch the flying eyeball that he could not break free from. He managed to get control of himself. They were a hell of a lot stronger than a ghoul, he was sure of it. But he had a higher level than any one of them, Sheena included.

“Maybe Ercke take Sheena new meat.” said Ercke before he pointed down at Scott.

“No! Pretty Meat belong to Sheena.” snapped the wolf-girl.

“This meat? Pretty? Sheena like weak meat?” asked Ercke, a smirk on his lips.

“Don’t I get a say?” asked Scott, his hand gripped his kaiser blade tight.

Ercke snarled at him and whipped a hand down to strike Scott across the face.

-14

Scott’s head rocked to the side then he looked up at the wolf man and grinned, a trickle of blood poured down the side of his face. “That all you got, Fido?”

The wolf man blinked then unleashed a low growl. He attacked Scott with another clawing strike, but missed him entirely. Scott had ducked down under the attack. He immediately lunged upward with a rising strike of his own. Ercke was fast and agile, but less so that Scott and he was off-balance from his attack. The blade of Scott’s weapon tore a large gash across his chest and abdomen that sent bright red blood spurting out into the air.

-31

Ercke fell back in shock and placed a hand to his wounded chest. “Ercke bleeds?”

“Ercke should go the fuck away, before Scott tears Ercke’s head off and shoves it up Ercke’s ass.” said Scott in an overly cheerful tone of voice.

“Meat make Ercke bleed.” The kobold stared at his blood covered hand for a moment then looked up at Scott. “Ercke Bleeds.”

The overly muscular bastard acted like he had never seen his own blood before. “If meat make Ercke bleed, then must be strong meat.” His eyes narrowed. “Sheena want strong meat, so Sheena get stronger than Ercke.”

“Sheena already stronger than Ercke.” she tossed her head lightly at the kobold then glanced over to Scott. “Sheena wants pretty meat for other thing.”

Ercke made a face. “Sheena want this meat for that?”

“Sheena like experimentation.” replied the beautiful kobold girl before cocking her hips to the side.

Scott blinked. That had been a pretty big word, six syllables at least. Her intellect score was not too bad, did that mean that these monster people were smarter than they sounded?

Ercke’s face turned slightly green. “Sheena into bestiality. That just sick.”

Scott was a little confused by that. Was he supposed to be the animal here?

The Long Nose monsters chose that moment to make a run for it. They were fine with attacking a lone human or even a lone kobold but four kobolds and a human strong enough to make one of the wolf people bleed were not something they wanted to deal with at the moment.

“No! Come back Long Nose! Sheena need meat for dinner.” cried Sheena. She forgot Scott for the moment and chased after her fleeing dinner.

Ercke saw her leave and chased after her. He stopped at the corner and glanced back at Scott briefly. “Ercke remember Scott Meat. Ercke eat Scott Meat one day.”

“Good luck with that.” said Scott, trying to sound cool. It was a more difficult task than it sounded. He had to fight the spasm in his legs that wanted to force him to sit down, not to mention the spasm in his bladder that wanted to unleash the contents of his bowels upon the world.

Surprisingly, Ercke’s mouth quirked into a feral grin. He touched the wound on his chest then said. “Good hunting to Scott Meat.” He then turned and ran off after their fleeing long nosed dinner.

Scott stood there staring stupidly for a moment before he realized an important fact. “Fuck, gotta go!”

He ran off as fast as his spasm prone legs could carry him. The area was somewhat clear of monsters, probably due to the arrival of the kobolds and whatever the long nose were. If he had to guess at the way things were going, they were probably goblins or something similar.

It was not until he had run a mile as fast as his stats would allow, that he remembered that he had planned to go back toward the others that he had left behind. He mentally cursed, but kept going. There was no way that he was heading back toward the kobolds and the other things right now. They were stronger than ghouls and even the low-level ones were not far from his current ability. A hideous realization occurred to Scott as he reached up and touched the side of his face. "Even with my defense... he still did that much damage to my hit points." It was obvious that kobolds were a race that specialized in damage dealing. In order to do that much damage Ercke's attack would have needed to be more than twice the amount that Scott could dish out.