Chapter 10

New Friends

Chandler OK

January 11

~2 pm

It hadn’t taken me long to catch up with the herd.

When I rode even with Beau, Lonk, who was running next to Beau said, “I am glad that you have returned my Lord.”

With a sigh, I responded, “Me too Lonk, me too.”

Returning to the front of the herd, we continued the long march west. We didn’t pause but continued our journey. Not stopping the herd for lunch, let alone to have a conversation about Stroud. Granny had a few bags of deer jerky and they were passed along to the team. Throughout the day, everyone gave me a curious glance, wanting to know what was said, but we were all needed in our positions to keep the cattle moving in the direction we wanted to go. I informed them that, Jim the Mayor said hello, and that we would talk more later. Everyone seemed to accept that for the time being.

As per our plan, we had switched over to I-44 after leaving Stroud. Traveling westbound on the eastbound lane there were a few abandon cars. I don’t think people realize how much traditions and training have been so ingrained into us. Wait until you go the wrong way on a freeway. Even though no cars are coming it still feels weird. The westbound side of the road was the bumper-to-bumper traffic that I had experienced last night. I had a passing thought, to wonder where all the people had gone. However, I didn’t want to invest too much of my time or energy into trying to figure it out. I didn’t see any movement from inside the cars and I was pleased to note that there weren’t many bodies lying on the ground. I took comfort with the thought that I was going to OKC to make this a safer place.

It wasn’t until just before the exit for Chandler that we saw what had caused the traffic. Two semi-trailers were turned over in the road. One was loaded with gravel rock and was spread all over the road, the other truck was carrying a load of logs that had rolled on ahead of the trucks. There were a couple of massive tow trucks, fire trucks, and police cars surrounding the wreck as they were all in the middle of the cleanup when the Release had come. After seeing the wreck, I completely understood now, why the traffic had been backed up so far last night.

At the site of the wreck is where the majority of the bodies were piled. I didn’t go across the highway to inspect the carnage. Seeing the splatter of blood on the opened read doors of the ambulance covered with blood was enough to make us want to turn away. I wished there was the hope of somebody surviving, but after two days, the odds were so long that they were not existent. I didn’t think I could bear the disappointment of not finding any survivors.

Wandering our way through Chandler, staying to the outskirts of town, we managed to get the field just north of the VFW building before it got dark. Without a chain or lock on the gate, it was easy to open it up and let in our herd. There were about forty Black Angus cows in the field, but our cattle rushed to the pond in the middle of the field to the water. Once the cattle were settled in, we started setting up camp. Beau stayed in the saddle to make sure all the cattle were settling in for the night. Even though most of the wood was wet from the rain this morning it didn’t take long to get it going by placing a magical flame in the fire. As soon as the fire was up and burning Granny was preparing the dinner.

Having stored all of the remaining ice in a cooler before stuffing the cooler with as much meat as it would fit, Granny thought we would have enough meat for the trip to OKC before we would have to slaughter a cow or find another food source. Leighann and the kids were looking for deadfalls to gather enough wood for the night as the temperature was dropping quickly as the sun descended beyond the mountains. I was trying to set up a few makeshift defensive positions around the camp in case we were attacked. When it was dinner time, Leighann saddled up a different horse and started riding patrol around camp. I had tried to make the shift, but I think Leighann took pity on me. It had been so long since I had ridden a horse, it was just painful for me to walk around. Everyone was sitting on the ground resting against their saddle when we heard a call from the darkness.

“Hello, the fire,” the voice called.

At the sound of the voice, Beau and I jumped up and rushed out of the firelight with Lonk right on my heels. Granny moving a little more slowly escorted the kids to one of the defensive positions that I had set up. I tried to find Leighann to see where she was, but she was on the opposite side of the pasture from the voice and wasn’t reacting to the call from the darkness.

The voice from the darkness continued with a dry raspy chuckle, “It’s okay folks, it’s just an old man looking for a friendly face. Names Ples Jeffers, but people call me PJ.”

“Thanks for calling out before walking into camp. Been a rough twenty-four hours since the Release. It would be terrible if we accidentally attacked you when you walked up. Can you please walk slowly to the edge of the campfire,” I requested?

A tall elderly native American man, wearing jeans, a brown tee-shirt, and a 1980’s Army Camouflage coat walked into the firelight with both hands slightly raised. His hair was in a long ponytail, dark black, but with streaks of grey. On his forehead, he wore a red rolled-up handkerchief. With his piercing dark eyes, he took a turn looking towards each of our defensive positions. I decided to examine him.

You have examined, Ples Jeffers, a Human Warrior

Race

Human

Class

Warrior

Level

2

Faction

?

Title

?

Maximum HP

?

Mana Well

?

“It’s nice to meet you PJ. I welcome you to our fire. Are you alone or are there others with you,” I inquired?

He smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Did they give themselves away or are you a good guesser? There are three good men out there who came to the VFW after the Release. They all served their nation, and we own the small herd of forty black Angus cattle that are in this fence as well. We are incredibly grateful that you have come and plan to stay the night here. The last twenty-four hours have been rough for us as we have had to drive away from several attacks on our herd”

I was extremely impressed with his statement. While pointing out that we had driven our cows into their field, he did so in a non-accusatory way. I wondered if he had been selected to come to talk to us because he was a natural diplomat. Deciding that I wanted to show a little trust in him, I walked out to the fire and invited him to sit down. We had just sat down when I saw a startled look on PJ’s face, and he started to stand up. Looking at what his eyes were focused on, I realized that he had just seen Lonk. I didn’t think about the fact that Lonk would be following me and sat down next to me.

“It’s okay, PJ, this is my goblin servant Lonk. She is safe and won’t hurt anyone. Would you like some coffee,” I asked?

When he nodded cautiously, I told Lonk to serve him a cup. Once he saw how relaxed and comfortable that I was with Lonk, he calmed down slightly. However, the smile had left his face and his hard eyes still followed her around the campfire. Hoping to reduce the tense moment, I told Lonk to bring us some coffee and sit down with me. I thought that he would settle down more, but even when Granny and the kids came back, he still seemed agitated.

“Did you have a run-in with some goblins,” I asked PJ?

He nodded to me before he slowly responded. “At first, we fought another monster called Orc. Slim figured out what they were called. He used to play some videogames and got a skill called, Examine.” He looked at me to see if I believed him seeing me nod that I understood he continued.

“The three orcs were so intent on stalking a cow that they didn’t see us coming up behind them. We killed them with our hunting knives and took their weapons. The goblins though,” he paused to shake his head with regret, “the goblins caught us by surprise. We killed four of them, but Slim got cut up pretty bad and Austin got an arrow in his shoulder. Do you think you folks could help,” he implored?

Standing up immediately, I glanced around to see what I needed to take with me. There wasn’t anything I needed since I was going to help them with my magic.

Not wanting to cause any problem with the other men, I turned to Lonk and said, “You stay here and help Granny.”

Returning my attention to PJ, I instructed him to lead the way. Beau came out and watched me walk away into the dark.

The walk to the injured men wasn’t far. In the parking lot, I could still see the sign for the VFW. Against the building, I could see the shape of a man standing up as we got closer. PJ called out to him and let him know we were coming in to help.

PJ showed me where each man was laying in the dark. Starting with Slim because abdominal cuts were more critical than the arrow wound to the shoulder. Bending down, I cast Flame so that I could see the damage. Before I could look at the bandage around Slim's abdomen, all three of the men let out a startled grunt and looked at me with wild eyes. I didn’t realize till that very moment how comfortable I had become with magic in just the past twenty-four hours. I apologized to the men for not warning them before I used magic.

Slim grimacing in pain, stared at me with a weird look asked, “I haven’t heard of a healer that could cast fire magic. Are you a Priest or a Mage?”

Chuckling, I responded, “PJ told me you’re a gamer. However, the magic that I got is a lot different than the video games I played or the fantasy books I read. Real-life is rarely like the fantasy adventures I read, but this may be as close as it gets. If you give me a minute or two, I think I can get you fixed right up.”

I started casting heal and I was surprised to see that it was going to take 20 MP to heal his wounds. I completed the cast and told Slim to rest for a few minutes and that I would be back to check on him. Moving over to Colton, I inspected his shoulder. The arrow had not gone all the way through but was bulging on his back. Cutting a small slit on the back of his shoulder, I gently pushed the arrowhead through the skin. Colton’s face had gone white and he had forced rapid breathing from the pain. I removed the arrowhead from the shaft and then gently pulled it back out. His teeth were gritted together. Immediately a lot of blood started pouring out the holes in his shoulder. Responding quickly, I cast Cauterize to prevent any additional blood loss. Cauterize only cost me eight points of MP. The Flame spell had been burning through my MP. I canceled it because I only had five MP remaining.

Sitting down, in the dark to rest for a few moments, I asked him, “How are you feeling?

“Most of the pain is gone now that the arrow is out,” he responded. I could tell that he was breathing much easier.

“Give me a few minutes to recover my MP and I will finish healing your shoulder,” I told him. While we waited, we talked quietly, and I learned about their careers in the military. Slim had been a mechanic in the Marines. Colton had been fascinated with the Patriot missiles shooting down the SQUD missiles during the first gulf war and had joined to be an air defense technician in the Army. Austin had been a cook in the Navy. PJ had been drafted at the end of the Vietnam war. The men had no living family and were in all reality each other’s family. They explain that this is why when the Release occurred all the men had made their way to the VFW, the one place where they would find each other. After I treatment that I gave them, no one had been surprised that I had been an Army Medic before I started fixing medical equipment. I could tell that they were wondering about my magic and wanted to know how I got it. I explained that I had gotten access to a magical sphere for quest completion and then access to the second spere at level five. They had accessed their character sheets and knew they were a few levels away from level five.

As we continued to sit there talking, waiting for my MP to restore, I asked them, “What are you going to do now?”

Everyone looked to PJ for the answer. I could tell how much respect these veterans had for him just in the way they were responding to him.

He looked thoughtful for a few moments before he responded, “This herd of cattle could feed the four of us for quite a while. However, there are only four of us. We don’t have the horses to move the cattle, nor are there enough of us to go looking for horses and to keep guarding the horses. I have thought of trying to drive the cattle on foot, but this would be risky. Do you have any suggestions,” he asked me?

I thought carefully as I responded, I didn’t know a lot about these men. However, the fact that they served to protect this nation, and the respect they showed to PJ, the oldest member of the group impressed me. Deciding to take a chance on them, I offered, “The way I see it, there are a few options that you have. First, you could learn and practice your sneak skill until you receive a magical sphere. Once you have that you could try the closest spots you know that have horses and see if the horses are available. Two, you could talk to Beau and see if he would part with a few of his horses. Or my personal favorite, join us for the cattle drive to OKC. Bring all your cows with you, once in OKC, maybe you can barter some cattle for a horse or two. However,” I glanced at the other three veterans with a serious look on my face, “there is one thing that you should know that I don’t think PJ has had a chance to tell you. There is a goblin in our camp. Before you get angry, she has sworn a Pledge of Servitude. In this new world, there is the power of life and death in the tongue. This pledge she has made will keep her from harming us or revealing my plans. If you agree to come with us, you have to agree to treat her with respect.”

I heard another ding and received a new system message.

You have learned a new skill Diplomacy. Diplomacy will help you when negotiating with others and help you to explain your points. Additionally, as the skill increases, you will be able to understand the other party’s' true motivations.

I was wondering if it was going to happen again, and I was not surprised this time when the ding of a new system message went off. The same cannot be said for veterans. They all had a surprised look on their face, then they got the vacant look in their eyes of someone reading a system message.

You have offered a quest to PJ, Austin, Slim, and Colton to add their cattle to the herd and join the drive to OKC. In order to accept the quest, they must agree to treat Lonk with respect.

Seeing them consider the quest and that I hadn’t received an immediate answer. I told them. “Let me finish Colton’s healing, then you can come over to the campfire, eat some dinner, meet everyone, and then decide what you want to do. We leave in the morning, so you have until then.”

Practicing stealth and night vision on my way back to the camp, I was excited to get a notice that my skills had gone up a level. If I could keep practicing on the way to OKC, my skills might be pretty high by the time we got there. Before we walked into camp, I announced myself so that there wouldn’t be any surprises. Glancing at the fire, everything was as I had expected. Granny had added some more food to the fire and there was plenty for our new guest. I introduced everyone as we came up to the fire.

Deciding that Leighann needed a break, Lonk and I went out and replaced her. At first, I tried to leave Lonk by the fire. However, she refused to remain. She informed me that it was not right for a servant to eat before the Lord. At first, I argued that she should do as she was told. When I saw the look on her face when I made that statement, I made a mental note to never use that point as an argument again. Giving up on the discussion, we moved off into the dark. I tried to pretend that I didn’t notice the other's laughter as we left.

As we were inside a fenced-in pasture, I gave my horse a break and walked around the perimeter. At first, I was moving slowly, being sore from riding a horse all day long. As I thought about it, I realized that the soreness of my muscles was just a buildup of lactic acid. The best treatment was plenty of water and some ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation. I decided to try to cast a spell to hydrate my body.

You are casting a spell, Hydrate. The minimal MP cost is 5 MP. How much MP would you like to expend?

I thought 5 MP and immediately, felt the cool feeling that started at my fingertips and then moved up my arms and throughout my body. It reminded me of the time that I had the flu and went to the ER. When they connected the IV fluid, I could feel the cool fluid flowing into my veins. I received a new prompt.

You have cast Hydrate. The cost per cast is 5 MP. Hydrate will fill your body with normal saline. For an additional MP cost, this spell can be modified to provide lactated ringers, Dextrose, or plasma to aid in the rapid healing of the body. Additionally, increasing or decreasing the volume of fluid will increase or decrease the MP respectively.

Immediately after I cast the spell, I could feel my muscles relaxing as the lactic acid was pushed out and returned to my bloodstream. I was going to have to find a boy tree around here soon.

Until my guard shift was over, I continued to practice moving slowly, utilizing any cover that I could find. Training my eyes to penetrate the darkest places that I could find. Hopefully, if I kept this up for a few hours, maybe I could gain some more skill points.

After he finished eating, Beau came out and replaced me. Before I sat down to eat, I went around to each person and asked them if I could cast a spell on them. Once given permission, I cast Hydrate on them. For Slim and Colton, I modified the spell to use a portion of lactated ringers as I knew that with their blood loss, their bodies needed the boost to fully recover.

When I was finished treating them, I went back to the fire and got some chow. We established the rotation for guard duty. With eight of us now, the shifts got considerably shorter. We still didn’t have a watch or know how to tell the time, but we would try to estimate the one hour of duty. Additionally, we picked out fighting positions so that everyone knew where to go if we were attacked. With everything sat in place, I went to lay down. It was going to be a cold night, just above freezing. Tonight, when filling out the guard shifts, I had assigned myself the worst shift. When one is in training in Basic Training, they are required to take turns at night monitoring the barracks. This guard shift is called fireguard. The four AM fireguard shift was always the worst. Because the shift is over at five AM, and then you try to go back to sleep, but when just when you fall asleep again, it is time to wake up. In Basic training, it was required that you went back to bed. In the morning, I planned to stay awake after my shift and start to saddle up the horses and get ready for day two of the cattle drive. Hopefully, it would be a good day.

Lonk was laying a few feet away. In the pale light from the campfire and the stars, I could tell that she was laying there watching me. I wondered if she had a family and what life was like on her home planet. Thinking about her family had brought my family to the forefront of my mind. Normally, I try to focus on the things that I can control and not on things that I could not. This compartmentalization skill had been extremely helpful to me when I was deployed and when I was on the reality TV show. Believe it or not, even though the reality show is much shorter than the deployment, the home visit on midtour leave was easier than the family visit on the reality TV show. I always suspected that this was because on the reality TV show, I was still in the middle of the conflict and I only got to visit with my dad. On the midtour leave, I got to go home from Iraq and visit with everyone, and again I could compartmentalize the combat zone as being on the other side of the world. Instead of continuing to focus on something that I could not control, I sealed them away with heartful wishes of safety and security. I said a prayer for them before turning back to something I could control, my interface.

There weren’t any changes to my Character sheet, but I decided to look at my Spell Tab and my Skill Tab before going to sleep.

Personal Interface Support System (PISS)

CHARACTER SHEET

QUEST

INVENTORY

MAGIC

SKILLS

TMS

HELP

Fire

Gas

+

Mineral

Liquid

SPELL:

Synchronization %

Learned Spheres:

Unlearned Spheres:

Flame

3

Fire

Gas

Mineral

Wall of Flame (WoF)

5

Liquid

Smoke Screen

1

Cauterize

2

Heal

5

Flame Blade

2

Flame Hands

2

Hydrate

2

Personal Interface Support System (PISS)

CHARCTER SHEET

QUEST

INVENTORY

MAGIC

SKILLS

TMS

HELP

Weapon Skill

Level

Skill

Level

Long-Handled

6

Examine

4

Bow

2

Sneak

3

Short-Handled

1

Night Vision

3

Acute Hearing

3

Detect Ambush

1

Intimidation

1

Horseback Riding

4

Diplomacy

1