Seven figures sat on plastic chairs under the incandescent light of the bulb hanging loosely to the ceiling. Nervous energy coursed through their bodies, expressed in a myriad of twitches, glances and other minute gestures reflected in the shadows they cast against the plywood floor boards. A stream of dull thuds carried across the hollow surface as the occupants impatiently tapped their boots against the ground.

A stone block of a man sat at the center of the group which formed a rough semi-circle around him. He took one last drab on his cigarette before discarding the stub in a small dish filled to the brim with similar snuffed out remnants, “Everybody ready?”

It was spoken more like a command and left no room for objection. Taking the cue Roy ejected the magazine of what had been Mr. Stenson’s pistol to check its contents one last time. Several more magazines filled the pockets of his jacket, a drag grey attire lined with pockets, some of which had obviously been absent from the original design. Hasty stiches and dissimilar patches of color hinted at the many adjustments.

Agreement and acknowledgement sounded around the platform as the men and women began to stand from their seats and adjust the straps of their oversized backpacks. Roy followed, in addition to his bag a pitchfork hung from his shoulder by a thick nylon rope he had managed to acquire. The commotion during lunch meant his impromptu briefing had been delayed; the worry that he had been forgotten during the turmoil and would be sent out uninformed had nagged on his psyche.

But Madelyn, with all the suddenness he had come to expect from the girl, showed up just as he was about to delve further into his magical endeavors in the quaint comfort of his cubicle. He had been issued the bag, jacket, and boots he now wore, and then given free reign over his choice of weapons so long as he carried a firearm and a melee weapon. The pitchfork and pistol seemed like reasonable choices, and not only because he was somewhat familiar with both.

The mist severely limited visibility, making some of the larger gun’s range advantage moot, if he was only going to be shooting things from up close then the pistol seemed to be a good choice. It was light, easy to carry, and didn’t obstruct his movement, which would allow him to nimbly switch to close combat if a monster got too close. Close, but not too close if he had the superior range of his polearm.

Nolan stood from his seat and the others followed, splashing into the water and then dragging across the flooded interior of the store. Roy gave the tables laid out on the platform one last look, hesitant about not taking a few more weapons, the shotguns looked especially tantalizing and he had been given free reign over the options, so long as he didn’t take something already claimed by another group member.

But he peeled his eyes away and followed after the group, perhaps next time, if he got a chance to familiarize himself with the weapon. Beside the two more prominent weapons, he also carried two daggers, the one that gave him nausea just by wielding it, and another he had picked up from the tables. It was a matte black combat knife with a blade a hand span long and anuncomfortably sharp clip point; thankfully, it came with a sheath so he wouldn’t have to concern himself with any accidental injuries.

The short walk through the main hall of the store was uncomfortable as residents pulled into their rooms and quieted as the band or armed men and women passed by, their irregular equipment certainly didn’t help to improve their public image. Some relief washed over Roy when they finally exited through the front doors and into the awaiting mist, only to be replaced by the greater unease of a possible attack materializing out of thin air at any moment.

They waved to Greyson as they passed over the cobbled together barricade, various bits of metal and wood groaning and squeaking with the additional weight. Out of the confines of the building, the group settled into position. Nolan and Mato led the party, armed with metal trashcan lids and stout hammers. The brothers took the flanks and preferred an assemblage of guns, alongside the token spear for melee.

This formed a umbrella around Roy, Madelyn, and Lucy. The lady with the mess of blonde hair carried an exceptionally large backpack that jingled as she shuffled forwards, probably tools for whatever role she was supposed to perform. Besides that she carried a pistol and a short sword, the second one drew in Roy’s attention.

The rusty and chipped blade had seen better days, the color had long leeched out of the bit of fabric still wound around the hilt and the engravings along the flat of the blade had eroded away to leave only faint marks on the marred steel. That is, if the sword was made of steel, considering it had probably originated from the other world. Roy tried to examine it but he was too far away and interrupting the mission just so he could confirm his suspicions would likely get him shouted at by Nolan. So he committed that detail to memory so he could ask later.

With only those members the group would already appear ragtag, but with Madelyn it began to border on bizarre. The girl still wore her suit, but also donned a black greatcoat that was a few sizes too large and dangled into the water. The coat was unbuttoned and as the loose flaps swayed from her movements, Roy could catch glimpses of the dull spare magazines that lined the inside of her coat.

None of that detracted from the fact that she was wielding not one, but two pistols. Roy liked movies and games as much as the next guy, but dual wielding handguns was something that belonged solidly in the realm of fiction. As if to add insult to injury, she spun the weapons around like a cowboy from a western, occasionally tossing them into the air for added flavor.

Every time the metal landed in her hands with a soft slap Nolan twitched, the man seemed like the military sort and the girls fooling around was probably grating on his nerves, only his focus on the task at hand prevented him from spinning around to unleash his fury against the offender.

Roy wasn’t feeling too good either considering his life was on the line, but the girl was triple his level, she knew what she was doing, right? Turning his attention away to preserve his sanity, Roy observed the passing scenery, which consisted of a steady slideshow of dark, blur resembling, houses. They had headed east upon exiting the store, away from the town center and soon past the car dealership Roy had broken into.

To his left the outline of the community center rose out of the murky distance, its sky blue coat of paint shifted into a light grey. As they trudged past, a sound from inside the building disturbed the silence. Nolan and Mato moved first, they turned to face the building and the rest of the members pivoted around the center so that the umbrella braced against whatever would follow the disturbance.

Roy’s muscles tensed as he held the pistol in his grip; technically it was his role to reinforce the other members if they found themselves overwhelmed. But he was also expected to contribute to the first volley of fire against whatever they encountered, if he could get a clean shot, the two men in front of him made that task difficult.

The front and the flanks were around five meters distant from the center, and the two men leading formed up close to each other, expecting any flanking attacks to be countered by the two brothers. So Roy moved left, allowing him a good angle around the human obstacle. The brother covering the left flank didn’t seem to mind, Roy wouldn’t either considering there was strength in numbers.

“Alright, Lucy go check on the source of that sound,” as soon as the words left his mouth the shaggy haired women began to creep towards the building, her steps surprisingly quiet against the water, “The rest of you, this place is nice and open so get ready to engage on my signal, we don’t want a monster prowling around this close to the camp.”

A round of confirmation sounded as everyone except Madelyn kept their eyes glued to the massive backpack Lucy carried. Meter by meter she sidled up to a window, with every step the tension mounted, ready to let loose a volley of fire against a monster, imaginary or otherwise.

Lucy peeked into the window before moving on to the next, careful not to disturb any of the inconveniently placed bushes, their rotting leaves forming sludge like blankets around the many prickly branches.

The seconds stretched into minutes as Lucy took meticulous care to not make a peep, it was appropriate considering a misstep might bring the monsters out prematurely. It probably took a quarter hour for her to inspect every nook and cranny, occasionally pulling out a shoddy looking periscope to look through the second story windows. The rickety looking device was probably slapped together by her hands.

“Anything?” Nolan asked in a whisper that still sounded like a shout as the women walked past the two point men and back into the defensive umbrella.

“There were, I think, two brutes? I mean, I only saw two but it was really dark in there so maybe there are more? But those guys come in twos right? At least so far,” she rattled on, as she held out two fingers and then shrugged her shoulder.

“That’s good enough,” Nolan took a deep breath before addressing the rest of the group, ”Brutes, remember, they pack a punch but they're slow in the water. If there are more than two once we start firing we pull back towards the store.”

Nolan turned towards the store, shuffled his feet into a wider position, and then struck his hammer against the edge of his shield. The metal lid rang like a gong for a second before fading into a quiet hum, the response from the community center was immediate. Great limbs crashed through wood furniture and drywall in a rush towards them.

The sounds of destruction grew until with a shattering ring a Vineborn Brute burst through the window, its gorilla like form leaping down into the water, another soon followed it and sent up another geyser of water. The scene sent a tremor through Roy’s body, his mind flashed back to the scene in Madelyn’s house when the hulking monstrosity leaped onto Simon and engulfed his head in one foul bite. Then he reeled forwards, to him emerging victorious after rescuing the others, he had downed one alone and now he was with a group, with that thought in mind he quickly fought down the momentary terror and aimed his pistol at the brute on the left.

Sounds of gunshots rang out around him, a continuous chain of bursts responded by the staggers and flinches of the two beasts hurtling their way. His hands were shaking from applying too much pressure on the grip and his shot flew wide, sending a spray of white into the air as it struck the water behind his target.

Taking a second to calm his breathing and loosen the death grip he held on the gun, Roy flashed a glance at the others. Nolan and Mato and widened their stances and faced the two charging brutes with their makeshift shields at an angle, the brothers took slow but precise shots, the impact from their rifle rounds ripping into the plant tissue and severing off chunks of vines with every hit.

Compared to their steady and deliberate pace, Madelyn fired without pause, alternating shots between her two pistols as they recovered from their recoiling motion. The target was the monster on the right, who sat stunned into place by the ceaseless barrage, every round finding the center of its hunched over torso. Within the time it took Roy to finish his breath the stream of bullets ended and the creature flopped into the water like a puppet with it strings cut, now nothing more than a loose tangle of vines protruding from the water surface.

Turning his attention back to his own target, Roy aimed and fired again, the creature was much closer now and the shot struck true, ripping of a small tangle of vines as the projectile penetrated through its fibrous form. Roy emptied the rest of his magazine in quick succession, ignoring the many misses his haste induced. For within a few steps the brute had neared Nolan and readied its body to lunge at the older man.

Roy’s eyes opened wide, disbelief that the man would meet that hunk of jagged plant matter head on. He stood with legs apart and as still as a statue, one arm raised towards the sky, the hammer readied to strike with crushing force.

Roy stuffed his gun into his pocket as quick as his unsteady hands could allow him, then with a practiced motion he swung his pitchfork around and charged; ready to run through the brute with his farming implement.

The brute impacted against Nolan’s shield like a sack of bricks, wooden hooves clanging and jagged thorns screeching across the metal. Nolan leaned towards the attack, lowering his center of balance as the charge pushed against him with ungodly force. But the man’s feet barely budged an inch, the monster recoiled with shock like that of crashing into a ton of solid stone.

In one fluid motion Nolan pushed back and struck with his hammer, the steel head ramming into the mass of plant like a battering ram. The force of the strike sent the monster reeling and Roy was upon it in the next instant, the momentum of his dash carried through the polearm as the metal tips punched into the beast.

With one last jerk of its lumbering limbs the monster stopped, the vines that made up its body loosening and turning into a patch of dangerous plants as opposed to a dangerous plant monster. His momentum carried him forwards; bringing the jagged bramble a bit too close for comfort before the friction between his feet and the asphalt carried him to a halt.

A few awkward motions kept him from falling over onto the knife like patch of vegetation, and a careful tug dislodged the tip of his weapon. His heart hammered in his chest as he backed away from the corpse. The monster had taken a beating before he had charged in, but neglecting to check its health before committing to that attack could have costed him life and limb had the monstrosity survived.

The rest of the group took kept their weapons and cautiously approached the two monster corpses. Lucy took the lead, stopping a step away from the bodies; a water bottle size glass vial of red liquid appeared in her hands after staring at the second corpse of a second. She was checking to see if they were really dead, the loot menu was a good indication.

“Alright, good work everyone, we’ll take a short breather before moving on” Nolan announced in his booming voice, if the sounds of fighting had not attracted any monsters then his voice probably wouldn’t either.

Battle over, Roy slung his weapon over his back, loaded a fresh magazine into his pistol and leaned back against a nearby mailbox. The two brothers chatted in the middle of the street as they checked over their weapons. Nearby, Lucy tucked the potion, which Roy recognized as Swamp Berry Juice, into her bag after a brief command from Nolan who stood ever vigilant and inspected the surrounding,

Madelyn played around with her two deadly implements, performing various spins and tosses as if the weighty metal devices were plastic replicas. As he looked over his new teammates several blue screens appeared before him, obscuring his view.

Ability Up!

Charge LV 0 > LV1 (Novice)

Skill Up!

Pole Weapon Mastery LV 3 > LV 4 (Novice)

Creeping Beryl Blooms Have Spread!

Trait Changes:

-1 CON

+0.005/s HP Regeneration

With that the accumulated losses in CON from the Creeping Beryl had risen to three, yet he had not leveled once since he gained the trait, which meant he was being outpaced. The thought that soon he would be reduced to his previous unhealthy state by the ever expanding fungi sent shivers through his body. The reprieve from the heat and humidity would disappear and the climate would give him hell, he could already feel himself tire just a bit and the air become just a bit more suffocating.