Robert got up and ran to Brent. "What do you mean 'they're coming'?"

"We were exploring the tunnel here Huang wanted to see where they went. He said we might be able to find treasure and experience. Everything was going well, we found a chunk of the Duckpond, some of Ring road, and most of the Environmental Sciences and Modern Languages buildings in another cave. Couldn't find anyone else in there though. Just huge buildings standing silent in the dark.

"We kept going. I think Huang really wanted to find one of the libraries. Ideally, the Davis Center. But there were a ton of branches and caves, and we couldn't go down all of them. Some of the passages are really small and tight, you would have to crawl through them, and that isn't even counting small holes that seemed to go on and on, but were so small you couldn't even fit a chihuahua. In places, the paths were blocked by water. We didn't go down those ways when something in the water attacked Julie. In other places, there were deep pits we'd have had to cross so we took different routes. We mostly kept to the bigger caves."

"I don't know how long we walked. It must have been hours. Oscar has some light magic so we could see and some space magic, so he knew where we were. He was drawing a map. We were about to head back when Huang said he saw a light. We had Oscar dim his so we could all see it. Huang said we should see what the light was, so we moved forward quietly in the dark.

Brent had stopped pacing back and forward. His arms were no longer] animated and gesturing. He'd looked frantic and scared when he'd first run onto the lawn, but now he quieted down and stopped like he didn't want to talk.

"Well, what is it. Go on what did you see." Robert demanded

"Around… Around the corner, there was this shimmering wall of green light. Have you seen Stargate SG-1? Do you remember that Stargate thing they walkthrough? You know what it looks like when it's was active? A wall of vertical water.

"Well there in front of us is something that looks just like that wall of light except it is green and not blue. I saw Oscar pick up a rock and before we could do anything, Oscar had thrown the stone into the light. That was just Oscar being Oscar.

"Then, this screen appears."

'Limited access for 294 hours, 42 minutes, 16 seconds.

Would you like to cancel? Yes / No'

"Someone must have selected Yes."

Brent stopped for a moment and looked around furtively. "Someone must have selected Yes. Anybody could have done it. It certainly wasn't me. Whoever did it must have done it by accident. Maybe they'd played too many online games and just clicked Yes by instinct. That must have been it. But I don't know who did it. Anyway, the green wall just went away."

"Except now we can see into a bunch of new caves. And this time it isn't only rocks. There are twinkling lights in the ceiling, and plants are everywhere. Huang is like, we've got to be careful here, who knows what's out there. And I say what if the green wall comes back? What if the wall comes back and we end up stuck on the wrong side of it."

Brent was pacing back and forth now, and everyone who had been there for the movie was listening intently. Robert takes a look around and sees a lot of scared people. Even some of the people who had been taking this whole thing as some kind of cosmic joke were listening intently.

"In the end, we all go through. Go through. Like that is that easy. Like I said, it is entirely different out there. Like we were changing zones. Juan is the first to kill something. This thing, like half squirrel half toad, hops up a bush. A single fireball. Juan blasted it. Then I raised it. Filled it with death energy. I can feel it moving around as long as I control it. I should have taken animate magic because it only moves around as long as I am directing. But it is like my first minion. Julie has analyze and tells me it is called a Zombie Squelch. Whatever it is, it is weak as shit. But it hops behind me and goes where I send it.

"We kill a few more. They are easy, you know. We're in this big cave, and paths are going every direction, and it is full of these hopping climbing things. I can only reanimate and control three. After that, I have to really concentrate to animate more. But we must have killed a dozen. And because we are slaughtering these things we aren't really paying attention to where we are going anymore."

"That's when they hit Oscar, and he is down. This group of things. I don't know what they are, and they are all different. They look human but aren't human. They are wearing clothes and armor. I gotta admit that I didn't really get a good look at them. One of them does something, and all of my minions are dead. Huang tries his freeze trick, and nothing happens. And I guess that's when Juan and Julie panic and turn and run back into the cave we came from."

"Huang is like 'Stop you, idiots. Hold your ground.' I don't know why. I turn to look, and they are advancing towards us. I turn to run too. Did I mention that they got Oscar first and he is the one with the space magic and the one who was making the map."

Brent stopped talking, and the lawn in front of the library started buzzing with conversation as people started talking to the people they were sitting with. Robert heard snatches of what was being said.

"So what does he mean 'they are coming'?"

"Something was keeping them out, and it's down?"

"Damn, Huang."

"Quiet! Everyone Quiet." Robert shouted. "I can't hear what Brent is saying over your noise."

Then Robert said, "I think we all have the same questions. What do you mean by 'they are coming? How many of them are there? Do you have any idea how strong they are?"

"I ran. I ran, and I ran. I got lost. The last thing I remember was something coming out of the wall. I must have tripped a trap or something. Then I was back here. Haven't Huang, Kelly, Oscar, Juan, Anna or Julia shown up yet? Maybe they got away. We left the green gate thing open, where else would they go. It is only a matter of time."

"So you were panicking, you don't know if something is coming or not?" Leslie said.

"Don't be stupid, Leslie," yelled Fiorello. "Of course, they are coming. What else would they do."

"Mansplain much Fio?" Leslie yelled back.

"Why is it that whenever someone disagrees with a woman, they are mansplaining," Fio yelled back.

Claudia stood up and said, "Shut up you two. Can they be bargained with? Are you sure they want to attack us or are they just attacking because you guys attacked first? This could be our chance to find a way out of this cave. To find out what it's like out there."

Robert nodded. There was a lot they still needed to know. "I really want to know what happened to Huang and the rest of them. If they are dead, they should have respawned already. Who knows maybe they are just in their rooms or the cafeteria. Even if they didn't die, we need a plan to defend ourselves. Who here have long-range magic attacks? Stand to make a group over there. If you have earth magic, stand in a group over there. If you are a close-range fighter stand over there."

People just stood there in shock. Then Fiorello said, "Robert, who died and made you boss?"

"Nobody. But we can't just stand around with our thumbs up our ass. If they are coming, we need a plan of action. That means we organize and prepare to defend ourselves. I would think that you would think defense and attack would be the right thing to do. Remember that squid thing that sucked James and Li's brains sucked out of their head. So yeah nobody made me leader, but I haven't heard a lot of good ideas recently."

Leslie said, "For Pete's sake, let Robert take the lead for now. If he fucks up, the worst he can do is kill us all. And if that happens, we can decide on someone else taking the lead."

"Me too. Rob's an ass, but if he fucks up, it's on him. I don't want that kind of responsibility, and my bet is a lot of you, don't either." Neil said.

"He's steered us right so far. Made hard decisions, good and bad. Nobody else is even trying." Andrea said.

"He's been working hard making lights and trying to get everything going when most of us have just been fucking around. I'm for Robert." Gary said.

Leslie spoke again, "Like I said, let's hear what he has to say. If it makes sense, I say we do it." It was Leslie's input that swung the crowd. While we were known to be friends, pretty much everyone was aware we'd had a falling-out recently. Leslie was kind of the mother figure of the dorm. The person people would listen to if they had a bad day, or go to for milk and cookies.

One fuck up and this group's resolve would splinter into different little clicks and factions. They needed to stay together if they were to survive this. He honestly believed that. And right now that was the worst thing that could happen. He needed to hold them together.

"Okay, thanks for the votes of confidence. I think that everyone who did not use their gemstone needs to get into the chapel. Supposedly it is a safe spot. I don't know how much we can trust that, but it is better than nothing, especially if you can't respawn. Anybody who doesn't want to fight should go there too." Robert said.

"Neil, I don't know if you can respawn or what happens when you die, but I'm putting you in charge of defending the chapel. You are the last line of defense if whatever is coming decides it wants to engage in mass slaughter. Remember, at least by the wacky rules that govern this place, you are one of them. Try to talk them out of anything hasty."

Neil was about to say something, "but…"

"I know you want to help Neil. But this is important. We can't lose you."

Neil nodded.

"Joan and Ahmed, do you think you can gather anybody else with Earth magic and try to build some barriers and trenches. Layout a wedge shape centered on the road. Something for those of us who will be shooting magic at whatever comes out of those to hide behind. Dig enough of a trench so that anybody who comes at us has to slow down. Then try to build up the sides of the road so that anybody coming out to the caves needs to keep move forward and not off the path.

"Dan take your laser pointer and the amplification lens and get set up the roof on top of the library as a kind of watchtower. If you can't get in break down the door. I think I saw Claudia with a crowbar yesterday. You're on overwatch. If there is anyone else with access to a laser pointer, go with Dan. Dan try to make as many magnification runes on glass panes as you can. I think I saw some more spare glass in the maintenance shed.

Dan spoke up, "I can draw out the runes, but I can't enchant them. I don't have light magic."

"Bring them to me then when you are done, with the runes. That's the part that takes the longest anyway."

Claudia spoke up, "So we are just going to fight? We aren't going to try diplomacy?"

"What do you suggest?" Robert said.

"If someone or something comes here I would like to meet with them. I can't believe that anybody is as horrible as you are making them out to be. Huang probably attacked them first. If they would just understand that we have been kidnapped maybe they will guide us away from here." Claudia said.

"I want to go with Claudia too," Darlene said. "Maybe in a new world, the people in it can accept me for who I am and not some set of social and gender constructs." As he stood there, he stroked his own fur and twitched his bright pink tail.

"And I want to meet these people. Maybe they can help my sister. Maybe they can lead us to someone else who can help. And if Claudia thinks that they know a way out, I want to leave this place." Sophia said.

"No, Sophia," Robert said. "Claudia and Darlene can go. If they get killed, they will respawn. You haven't used your gemstone. If you die, you die."

"Robert, I don't care about your ridiculous patriarchal tribalisms. We don't even know if the rest of the people with Brent died. Maybe if every first contact were made by women, the world wouldn't be in such a terrible way." Sophia said.

"Whatever, Sophia. Whatever. If you want to go, go. For all I know you might be right." Robert said. T

Then he turned to Sarah and said, "can I ask a huge favor? Would you mind going with them? You specced yourself as someone who fights up close and personal. Swords and body magic. Right? These idiots need someone to defend them if things go wrong. You might even save some lives."

Sarah thought about it then said. "Sure."

Then Robert said, "Okay, how many people took life magic, healing, or body magic."

Nearly 25 people, mostly women, raised their hands. Robert shouldn't have been surprised. One of the focus of the residence was social work, a lot of the girls who lived here were studying it, and Robert had been very vocal about what might make a healer when he was talking to Leslie.

"Leslie, would you mind leading a healing group? Set up a hospital in a couple of classrooms. It is the summer semester, so there should be a lot of spare beds and mattresses. Hopefully, we won't need it. Best to prepare."

Leslie nodded. "Makes sense. It is something we should do anyway. Do you want to volunteer to get cut, so we can practice healing on you? I, for one, would enjoy slicing you up. Neil, you want to help?"

"No, damn it, Leslie," Robert said.

"But Robert…" Neil said.

"I said no."

"Darnell, you mentioned you took trap making? Would you mind setting up some traps in the cave entrance."

"I already started this morning. I was going to mention it to you, but we've all been busy. I was also going to get some of the Crafter's guild together help make a bunch more. I suppose we can speed up our timeline."

"Crafter's guild?" Claudia asked. Leslie also looked confused.

"That's what we've been calling ourselves," Darnell said. "We were also thinking about starting an adventurer's guild. Dan thought it would be funny if while we were being attacked by an adventurer's guild, we had our own. We all had a good laugh at the idea of assigning tasks like 'kill 10 slimes' or 'defeat a party of adventurers.' As dungeon monsters, it seemed so meta. Besides a lot of us don't like thinking of ourselves as monsters. Adventurers seemed more benign."

"Exactly the reason why we should establish a peaceful dialogue," said Claudia.

Robert nodded. "I'm not shooting it down. Who knows, maybe the real Adventurers Build could establish a real Adventurer's Guild branch in our caves."

"Not as long as killing us gives experience," said Fio. "I've played MMORPG. You kill everything that gets in your way."

"Hopefully whatever these things are will consider us to be more than just computer code. We are flesh and blood, we have hope, dreams, and feelings. It would be morally unethical to kill us. After all, we are not AI, UI, and algorithms." Claudia said.

A lot of people nodded their heads. Mostly the people nodding were the ones who had never played computer games before. Maybe they were right, though. Hopefully, they were right. But Robert had his doubts. Not to belittle their peaceful, happy feelings, the simple existence of dungeons seemed to imply a more kill or be killed attitude.

Which wasn't to say that he wouldn't let Claudia, Sophia, and Darlene try a peaceful approach first.

Out of nowhere, Mark said, "Screw this. This is total bull shit. If you want me, I'll be in my room." He walked off, and a dozen or so other people nodded and left. A couple people even said "Sorry" as they departed, but Robert wasn't sure if that out of any genuine regret or just a few people being Canadian.

Continuing on, "I don't know how long it will take for the Adventurers to get here. But we might as well get started. Someone should also try to track down Huang or Oscar. Oscar at the very least should have respawned by now. You're sure he was killed, Brent?"

"I'm not sure of anything, but I saw him go down when they killed my minions."

Robert shrugged and said, "I'm gonna go put up light runes around the mouth of the cave so we can see who comes through. If you need me for anything, I'll be there. Otherwise, everyone, let's get productive. If you don't have anything specific to do, help Leslie move mattresses for a hospital. And just remember, as far as we know, we always respawn, but dying really hurts and this preparation may save our lives."

After that, they went off in their separate directions. Robert would have brought all of the movie stuff indoors, but a girl he didn't know came over to him and said, "Do you mind leaving it here. We'll put it away when the movie is over, and I swear we'll help out, but there are a few of us that want to watch it to the end. We just need to pretend that everything is okay and normal still."

So twenty-five or so people stayed laying on blankets watching the end of The Waterboy.

Robert went to the cave opening and began drawing out the runes for light magic on the sides of the cave walls. There was work going on around him. Joan and Ahmed had found four other people who had Earth Magic, one of whom, Rebecca was a civil engineer who was a senior in her last semester of school and who had, even better put some points into ritual magic.

The group was channeling and combining their Earth magic through Rebecca and under her direction, and the beginnings of a limestone wall were rising on either side of the road.

Robert thought it was incredible how quickly they were working. The walls rose as a whole, growing upward several inches per minute.

Eight hours later, and the entrance to their cave looked considerably different. Solid three-meter tall rock walls were on either side of the road. The tops of these bulwarks were wide enough to walk on top of with another meter high wall facing inwards towards the street compete with merlons to stand behind.

The walls continued for thirty meters were merged into a gatehouse, with no gate, mainly it was a massive walled platform on top of a series of arches that spanned the road. This was far better than the embankments and trenches he'd asked for. There was even talk of adding towers in the future.

Robert had drawn light runes on all of the Merlons, and as a result, the road was bathed in light. Sally had come through and enchanted sound runes in the final section the path before it opened up into their main cave, and then Darnell had drawn Dark Magic runes on those same walls. The final result was a section about 10 meters long where there was no light and no sound, only deep impenetrable blackness.

Speaking of Darnell. When he'd started laying traps all up and down the path to their cave, Claudia had overridden him, saying that, "We have no proof that any of these things Brent claims are coming mean us harm. But undoubtedly they will if we hurt any of them with these traps you have planned."

As a result, besides some motion-sensing alarms, there was nothing that any hapless adventurers could trip on as they wound their way towards them. Darnell did, however, manage to take down the closed-circuit security camera that the administration had installed outside their office area. Darnell had hidden the video camera about 100 meters into the pathway. It had been a total bitch finding enough ethernet cable to install it, but once they had, it was totally worth.

A field hospital was set up in the classrooms across from the library. Robert hoped that they wouldn't need to use it. Or instead, use it for its intended purpose. A lot of the people who'd been helping fortify the way into their cave were crashed out on the beds in the hospital taking a quick nap. Hospital / Barracks same thing really, right?

Now it was just a matter of waiting.

Who knew how long it would take these adventurers or wandering monsters to get here. According to Brent, the Modern Languages, Environmental Science buildings, and duck pond were on the path to get here. Robert hoped that whoever was coming didn't trash those buildings too severely.

Leslie, Susan, and Claudia had set up a table on the overlook and were playing cards.

"What are you playing?"

"Go Fish," Leslie said.

"Mind if I join. Four people make for good Euchre."

Leslie looked at the other two girls. "Mind if Robert joins us."

Susan shrugged, and Claudia said, "Whatever."

Robert pulled up a chair, "Where's Akiko?"

"She wasn't sure what she could contribute to what was coming up, so she went off to take a nap."

"Oh."

"So you and Andrea," said Leslie.

"I guess. I don't know how serious it is."

"Pretty serious. At least according to her. She came over earlier to mark her territory."

"Ugh," Robert said as he sorted the cards less than 8 out of the deck. "Mind if I deal?"

"Go ahead," said Susan.

"She was kind of snarky to me," said Claudia. "We've barely spoken before, but she came at me with some major trash talk."

"Sorry about that," Robert said.

"Don't be sorry. You gotta keep your bitch in line," said Claudia.

Robert turned and stared at her.

"Your face," Claudia said and began laughing. Susan and Leslie joined her.

Reluctantly Robert laughed, then he began dealing.

"What do you think will come through here. Nobody's been able to find anybody who went with Huang. If they were dead, they would have respawned, right?" Leslie said.

"I don't know. I don't know what's coming and I don't know what happened to Huang. If he was leading the people they ran into, they should be back already. For all we know, both groups went their separate way, and nobody will be back for a while. I hope not though. It'd be damned irresponsible of Huang." Robert said.

They played cards for a little while. Around forty-five minutes into their game and this round, Susan was going it alone when the sound of a distant Tuba rang out. Then rang out again.

"That's the Alarm," Robert said, and got up and ran down the stairs.

At the base of the stairs, a table had been set up with television which was connected DVR and to the video camera down the entrance pathway. Darlene was blowing frantically on her tuba, her pink fur standing upright like a cat while her tail jerked nervously.

"I saw them. They are walking quickly. They'll be here any second." Darlene continued to blow on her tuba, and people began rushing around.

Sophia came running out of the library, and was waiting down below for the other’s to join her. She was panting and out of breath.

Robert yelled. "Everyone, they are coming to get into your position. Neil and everyone who hasn't used their stone, go to the chapel for safety. Dan and the laser pointer team, up to the top of the library. Claudia, you and the girls are up. Let's see if we can't establish friendly relations with whoever comes down that path."

"You're not joining us?" Claudia asked.

"No. I'm going up top on the platform. If they kill your group, I want to be the first to start blasting them with lightning. If things go well with you, I'll come down."

Claudia, Darlene, Sophia and Susan made their way onto the road. Only Susan had a weapon with her, her katana, and it was still in its sheath. They stood a polite distance from the entrance to the cave, waiting.

A minute passed.

Then another minute.

Then yet another minute.

A white sphere came out of the darkness. It hovered in the brightness of the light magic, before floating upwards. It then moved to where the three women were standing and waiting. The sphere circled them, once, twice, three times, before drifting upwards and moving towards where Robert was standing on the platform overlooking the road.

Robert's instinct was to blast the sphere with lightning, and electricity arced across his fingers like a Jacobs ladder. But Claudia called out, "Leave it be. It's just scouting the place."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Robert called back.

The sphere floated over both walls. It examined every one of the people standing on top of the wall or the platform looking down. Then the sphere turned around and went back into the darkness.

A minute passed.

Then another minute.

Then six figures stepped out of the darkness. All six were humanoid.

The first one was massive, at least seven feet tall and dressed in black metal armor. From where Robert stood, he could see human-like hands hold a sword and shield at the ready, but the beings face and head wasn't human. Instead, if Robert had to take a guess, he would have said that the head was the perfect likeness of a Havanese dog.

Three of the beings who stepped out of the darkness looked human, at least from where Robert was standing. They were dressed in various kinds of leather or cloth. Stereotypical mage and rogue gear Robert supposed.

The next figure looked like a giant twig. Or instead on closer inspection, it looked like the kind of insect that camouflaged itself as a stick to protect itself from birds. It was, however, four and a half feet tall, and far more nimble than what Robert imagined stick insects would be.

The last adventurer to enter their cave was an 8-foot long cockatoo. Pure white with a pink crest.

Claudia stepped forward and said something to the group. She spoke with a voice that was loud enough that Robert could hear her, even though he didn't understand what she said. The things at the entrance to the cave didn't say anything. When they didn't make any indication of understanding what Claudia was saying, Claudia tried something else in a different language.

The cockatoo cocked its head and said something. The Havanese headed human spoke without looking back. To Robert's untrained ears, the language sounded similar, and it must have been since Claudia spoke again. She for a longer duration this time, gesturing to Robert and the dorm behind them.

Then Claudia turned around and said, "Robert, come on down. I think we can make peace."

Impressed by Claudia's initiative, Robert moved away from the merlon that he was leaning behind and began to walk towards the stairs down to the road.

He'd taken three steps when hell broke loose. He saw the cockatoo take flight and start swooping around the cave. The Havanese in armor pushed his shield in front of him and yelled something. A globe of translucent light surrounded the group.

One of the humans in the back raised her hand, and three balls of fire shot out. Two of the fireballs killed Claudia and Brent instantly. Susan somehow managed to dodge. And she drew her sword and charged the dome of light. She managed to make it about three feet when she was struck by an arrow shot by one of the other humans. The arrow ripped through her shoulder, and she spun around from the impact as she was flung backward.

By now the cockatoo was making flybys strafing lighting down on everyone still standing on the walls. Robert, who was already in motion, turned and shot a bolt of lighting at the damned bird, but missed. Streaks of lightning shot from the cockatoo streaked at him in return, and when these electric currents hit the platform, the rocks exploded.

Robert went flying backward. Landing on the asphalt of the road was painful. He landed on his right leg and then his back and how he managed not to break his spine was a mystery he had no time to think of right now. He could see the bone in the lower part of his right leg sticking out of a tear in his pants.

Just looking at made him scream in pain.

He screamed again.

Overhead he saw Dan and the two other people with laser pointers waving their arms and pieces of glass frantically. Luckily one of them managed to bisect the cockatoo. Bits and pieces of bird, a rain of white feathers began to rain down on the ground.

Robert rolled over. What he saw down the road was disgusting. One of the adventurers was skinning Darlene. Her fur was mostly off, but the woman doing it was still cutting through the fat and muscle like Robert would have skinned a deer. Carefully peeling the epidermis from the underlying meat.

The Havanese man had cut open Claudia's shirt and was digging around in her chest where her heart should be, iron gloved hand covered in blood. Finally, he pulled something out. Even from where Robert was laying, he could see it was a gemstone.

A short distance away, two of the other human adventurers was doing the same thing to Susan and Sophia. They’d cut off their tops, and had their hand up to his wrist in their chests chest. The one working on Sophia was sloppy though, unlike the Havanese knight, this leather-clad adventurer was pulling out bits of viscera and discarding them as he searched for the gemstone.

Then Robert realized that Sophia didn’t have a gemstone. She hadn’t become part of this damned dungeon.

Balls of fire, bursts of ice, lighting, these were still raining down on the invading adventurers. But their force shield still held. Behind it, they seemed to be invulnerable.

Robert pushed along the asphalt until he managed to belly flop to the corner of the limestone wall corner of the. The pain was immeasurable. And he almost went into shock.

Laser beams began raining down on to the road. The library didn't have the best field of fire over the walls and behind the tower. It didn't matter. One of the laser beams managed to cut off the head of the stick insect. It didn't go down though.

Seeing this, the Havanese knight raised its shield and tried to reflect invisible beams of light. But the shield was made out of black metal, and the light cut right through it, cutting off the knight's arm, and continued down bisecting the knight's colossal body. The shield of force surrounding the adventurers fell. Robert wanted to cheer, but instead, he began shooting his most powerful lightning bolts at the team that was attacking their home.

It was too late though, the insect had found where Dan and the other laser pointer warriors were shooting from, and a massive fireball shot through the sky. The roof of the library and most of the building exploded. Glass shrapnel exploded outward and rained down on the lawn and the road. A wave of heat past overhead.

Robert shot lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the woman in leather. And she twitched and shook as the electricity coursed through her body, the leather of her armor turned black and began smoking while the bits of metal on it glowed red. The only thing holding her up was the white glow that formed around her body. The glow was coming from one of the humans. A healer.

Out of the of his eye, he saw the insect thing summoning another massive ball of fire.

Quickly, Robert summoned his brightest light and cast it right in the middle of the force shield. For just a second it was like a dozen flashbulbs went off at the same time, and that moment happened to be the very moment the stick insect shot a fireball at Robert.

Instead of hitting him, the fireball hit the support for the gatehouse. Tons of rock came tumbling down and backward, burying Robert under a massive pile of shattered limestone. The debris crushed his body, they broke his bones, smashed his arms, legs, stomach, skull. And in a flash of pain more debilitating than he had ever experience before in his life, and he died.

He woke up in the chapel. It was filled with people.

"Robert. You respawned." Said Neil.

"Is the attack over?" Robert said.

"No, it's still going on. They are burning down the residences. The bastards are trying to drive anybody hiding in their rooms out. You are one of the few people to respawn. They didn't get Dan here, and his buddies from the roof are napping on the pew over there, a couple of people respawned after the makeshift hospital exploded and the room they were in caved in, but that is about it."

"Did they try to come here?" Robert asked.

"Yeah they launched a couple of fireballs at the chapel, but the place glowed red, and their magic didn't do anything. I can't even cast healing spells near it, though it lets me in." Neil said.

"Okay, I'm going out."

"No. Robert, you should wait. It is dangerous out there. I mean really dangerous. You know. When I killed you, I didn't want you to die, and I was so relieved when you didn't. But out there… Whenever they kill someone, they stop and dig a gemstone out of their body. I think that is making people not come back. I think those stones stop people from respawning." Neil said.

"He's right," Dan said. "Susan and Claudia haven't come back. Neither has that furry person."

“Sophia is dead for good, I think. We owe it to them to try to kill those fuckers. You got two, Dan. That means there are only four more to go." Robert said.

"Good luck then. I'm not going out there." Dan said.

"Neil. I guess you stay guarding these people."

"No, Robert, I think I'm coming with you. If Sarah and Claudia can die for real, then it doesn't make sense for me to worry about respawning. I'm coming with. I'm a Paladin of Chert. I'm supposed to protect the weak. It goes against everything I've metamorphosed into believing in to hide in a chapel away from danger."

"Okay, then. Do you know where they are? I've got a plan. Do you have your keys?"

"I'm pretty sure they're on the green, upfront. They already burned down the women's side. And yeah I have my keys."

"Then come on. Let's get those fuckers."

Robert charged out of the chapel with Neil racing after him. Instead of heading towards the front of the building where the invaders were supposedly bombarding the men's residence, Robert ran out back to the parking lot and directly towards his car.

"Here's the plan. We both get into our cars, we drive around the corner, and once we see them on the green, we hit ramming speed. I'll go first. You come about 30 seconds behind and run over anyone I miss. Simple and easy. Let's get going. You're a paladin, think of this as jousting." Robert said.

Robert got into his Prius, and Neil headed over to his F-350. Starting the ignition, he rolled down the window, then backed out of his space. Driving out of the parking lot he built up speed, but not too much. Once he was on University Campus Lane though, he gunned it.

Up in the distance, he saw the group of genocidal bastards clustered on the green. The stick thing was lobbing fireball after fireball into the dorm. Most of the library had caved in, and the fire was bringing throughout it.

There were bodies of his friends lying all over the lawn. People he had known for years. People he barely knew. All of them had their chests cut open. Some of them were burnt. Some of them were naked or in their pajamas. Some of them looked like they’d gone out fighting. All were dead. The smell of burnt flesh was everywhere.

Robert stepped down on the accelerator until the petal was touching the floor. Then he stuck his arm out the window and began to blast lightning ahead of his path.

They didn't know what hit them, and Robert managed to plow into the group going well over 150 km/h. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough room to break after he bounced over their now flattened bodies, and instead continued forward breaking down a small tree and hit the side of the building.

His Prius' airbags deployed, but the front of his car was entirely crushed in, and Robert's body was pulverized, and he died yet again.