The walk to breakfast was surreal. There weren't any bodies laying on the street, just large patches of dried blood and smears where bodies had been moved. I saw a few houses with doors that open into dark interiors. "Where are all the bodies?" "The dogs took care of more then you'd expect." Mike answered quietly. "My dad got a few neighbors together last night. They used wheelbarrows and moved the bodies into an empty backyard on Gilbert. They finished burying them a few hours ago." Neither Mike or Stew seemed to want to talk more about dead bodies. I remembered the people I saw die yesterday and I didn't feel like talking much anymore either. It didn't take long to get from Stew's house to Hudson Street as it was only two streets down. At the end of the street were three folding tables set up and covered with food and drinks. Someone had even provided some plastic table cloths.

"Nice." I started making a beeline for a pile of paper plates I saw. Ravenous was an understatement. Someone stepped in front of me, I managed not to use my crowbar on them.

Stopping I saw Mrs. Peterson with a smile on her wrinkled face and a tiny dog held in her arms, Sam stood next to her a look of resignation on his face.

"Hello?" I said, trying not to make it obvious I really wanted to just walk around her and get some food.

"Dave, this is Mrs. Peterson. She managed to heal you up with her ability."

"Oh tosh, it wasn't any big deal."

"Thank you for doing that. I'm feeling much better now."

"I'm glad to hear that because my ability takes so much out of me and I had to do it over and over last night. But after what I heard about what you did I just had to do my part too."

Stew and Mike came to my rescue. Coming up on each side of me they grabbed an arm each.

Stew commenced talking. "Mrs. Peterson you really outshine us all." I think her dog knew we were going to get away, that's why it started barking then and not earlier. "But after everything he has been through, Dave really needs to get something to eat, especially since I hear you made some scrambled eggs for everyone."

Her attention split between her barking dog and the praise for her cooking she smiled distractedly at us. "Of course. I'm glad you're doing so well. You'll have to come by and see me later."

"Of course." Once we were out of earshot Stew leaned over and whispered at me. "She told us how she got her 'ability'. Her dog wrangled with one of the shattered squirrels and got away. It was hurt bad but got inside. She said she felt a holy light come down and fill her, after that she could do her ability. Mike thinks it's a spell."

"She uses up all her MP when she does it. Still only heals for like 10HP. That's why she had to stay around." Mike rotated his head and staring at Dave and used an intense whisper. "You owe us."

While we ate I finally asked Stew why he was still holding Stacy. He told me they had a bonding moment last night so figured she was OK for a baby. He refused to say anything else about it. Mike whispered in my ear that they don't know when but Soccer Mom had left last night and nobody has seen or heard anything. We had a meal with a wide variety of foods, not just breakfast. Turned out most people had brought whatever they had because they were worried about how long their fridges would last. Power would only last for so long before something happened. Finding Sam, without Mrs. Peterson, we made our way towards Meagan's training ground. Sometime in between me trying to die last night and now she had found a pair of jeans that fit and a gray long-sleeved shirt that was only a little too big. She also now had a five foot long wooden closet rod that she whirled around.

Her training seemed to consist of jumping around using various attacks wearing out her Stamina until her shirt was stuck to her back with sweat. I had to admit I was impressed. She was very athletic and I enjoyed watching.

It didn't last long before she noticed us. Walking over to a bag laying on the ground she took out a towel to wipe the sweat off then pulled out a granola bar.

Shouldering the bag she looked at us. "We ready?"

Stew handed Stacy over to his dad. "I'm always ready."

Mike unsheathed a machete he had found then nodded.

I turned to Sam. "So you're staying here?"

He nodded. "Someone has to keep an eye on Stacy or Stew would have a fit." Sam had a small smile as Stew scoffed and turned around.

"We need some baby supplies if you can get them. Diapers maybe cups, though we can get some of that stuff from families now that people are out. Basics though. Flour before cookies, Stew. Also gardening supplies. Seeds and the like, consumables. Do a run through of camping but I doubt there will be much. We don't know how long this will last so one thing is more important than anything else."

Sam gave us all a hard look before he continued. "Keep yourselves, and each other, safe."

While we walked down the street towards the store Meagan told us about her practice. In an hour she managed to raise [Sprint] 3 levels, [Charge] 2 levels, and gain a level in [Silent Running]. She also gained 3 levels of Staff Proficiency, and 2 levels in [Leap] and [Jump], she did mention that the higher levels had been slower coming. This netted her a total of ten Skill Points.

It seemed that while practice could improve our abilities, Megan felt that they increased faster while fighting.

Walking out onto Lombard Stew gave us his view on our discussion. "Duh, of course. We level up and allocate points. It isn't us getting better, it's the system giving us more access. Just like selecting where to put an attribute or pushing a button in our interface. Intensity. You can really want something, even work yourself to death, but if you don't want it so intensely that you're willing to kill for it as well." He shrugged. "That's the system we have now. I know dad thinks that the police or maybe the National Guard will come around and connect us back up to everything, one day, but they won't. Some dill weed will probably come along and tell everyone how he wants it."

"It's pretty bad when Stew can figure something out before we can." Mike said.

Meagan was staring at Stew with an astonished look. "Pretty damn scary, too."

"I'm tired of living in someone elses world." I started across the street and towards the store.

To the east I could see the bridge that carried Lombard across the small ravine and railway. West down Lombard went towards St. Johns and the St. Johns bridge that crossed the Willamette shortly before it joined the Columbia river. Reaching the other side of the street, we stopped and studied the store.

"Looks a little more rock-like than before." Stew master of under statement. The concrete facade had turned into a twenty foot tall eighty foot long squarish rock. The built in overhang that the employees used for cover when they took smoke breaks was no longer connected and had crumpled to the ground. We walked west along the sidewalk towards the nearest entrance, as well as the sounds of people arguing. Nobody mentioned that we kept the parking lot between us and the changed building.

We stopped when we could see a group of people standing around amongst the cars in the parking lot. Mostly men, with a few women, seemed to have split between two groups over some disagreement.

The store entrance now bore a striking resemblance to a cave.

"So in a video game that would be our first dungeon, right?" Mike looked at us.

"Sometimes a cave is just home to a bear." Stew said

"I'm not sure that's better."

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you."

"Anybody see anyone they know?" I wanted to get back on track.

"A few neighbors." Meagan said.

Stew had more luck. "Justin and his dad are over there."

"Lets go gather information." We set out.

As we made our way through the stalled and crashed cars and closer to the group we heard more of the argument. One group wanted to head in with a bunch of guns and the other just wanted to leave a few guards to warn people away. Justin and his dad seemed to be with the group who didn't want to run in shooting. When we arrived at the edge of the group, I felt a twinge from my new sense. I looked along the store and saw that about fifty feet down the rock altered further into smaller rocks that had been mortared together. It looked like a very square castle attached to a short cliff. I could see that the other entrance looked like a squat tower. Whatever I could feel was lurking at the top of the tower.

Other than a few looks, nobody had seemed to care as we approached. Arriving at the edge of the crowd we stood next to Justin, a red haired stereotypical band geek. After a few seconds I motioned Stew to start talking.

He gave me a dirty look before he started. "Hey Justin what's going on?"

When Justin turned and saw Stew he smiled. "Hey Stew. Glad to see you made it." Then he looked at the rest of us, giving Meagan a double take.

Mike bumped Stew's elbow to get his attention then motioned to the rest of us, trying to indicate he should introduce us.

Stew gave him a confused look. "What?"

Meagan rolled her eyes so hard I could hear it. "Introduce us, idiot."

"Oh. Justin these are my friends Mike, Dave, and Meagan. Justin and me hang out at assemblies sometimes."

"Yea, I recognized Meagan. I just had no idea you two were friends."

Meagan answered before Stew could. "It's been a pretty intense sixteen hours." MEAGAN THOMAS - RUNNER ATTRIBUTES Megean Runner HP(Regen) 84 (2.4/15Min) Str 6 Int 5 Per 5 XP Human Level 3 MP(Regen) 24 (2.4/Min) Dex 8 Wis 6 Cha 6 195/300 18 Job --- Stam(Regen) 30 (2.8/Sec) Vit 12 Res 4 Lck 2 3 Skill Points Buffs:

SKILLS Skill Level Martial Art Level Martial Art Level Running Mastered [Running] 1 [Jump] 2 Basic CPR Mastered [Sprint] 4 [Leap] 2 CPR 5 [Silent Running] 2 [Crush] 2

Ability

[Broken Running] 1 [Analyze] 7 [Stomp] 3 Proficiency Level [Grind] 3 Staff 3 [Charge] 3 Improvised Weapon 2