Chapter 17

The same sonic vibration Daniel had experienced started up, but louder than before, because of the open pinhole. Trudy slammed the lever down. There was a hiccup to the noise till it restarted at a different pitch, broken but not dead.

Annoyance flashed on Trudy’s face, but she yanked the plank of wood up and down again. Another pause in the buzz, then it started up, stopped, stuttered. It sounded like an engine without quite enough battery to start. The hum would start up and then splutter to silence. Trudy used the lever, wrenching it up and down like the old way of pumping water from a well. The noise ceased completely, and she slammed the lever down twice more.

Daniel got up and walked over and then held the club over the pinhole. He could feel it using its powers to assess and confirm the moth was dead. “It’s dead.” Daniel informed them. “Usually you would wait five minutes monitoring to make sure, but because I’m here, we can go sooner. “

Abruptly, Priscilla’s thoughts were prodding him. Asking him to open up a connection.

“Moment, he said and then shut his eyes and let her in.

And -

Almost jumped backwards as a giant mouth came towards him..

Priscilla crackled in glee at his moment of panic and then the giant mouth bumped into him… The overlap of his human sensibilities and the mouses perceptive was terrifying. That muzzle was the size of a minibus. Then it licked… nudged… Daniel’s heart was thumping even though he knew what he was seeing was Finigan.

The image disappeared, but the connection didn’t

Come, come.

There was an impression of them fighting together as a family. Priscilla, Finigan, Daniel and even the club were welcome. A large part of him regretted the decision to allow Finigan to be upstairs to fight with the others. Priscilla had been required, but the dog hadn’t been and they had only been connected for a few hours. It would have been nice to spend time together in order to bond more fully.

Priscilla was oblivious to his feelings, or maybe she wanted to reveal in the fact Finigan was with her instead of him. It was hard to tell. She started up sending vision. Finigan was crouched down, lying on his stomach, and Priscilla was positioned between his front paws.

The mouse then looked around and there were a lot of people standing, ready to fight. Then her eyes went further. Restraint nettings were in place and traps were on the ground. Even though he could not see her, Daniel could imagine Janice opening the door and then retreating into a cavity and letting the spear hide her while the Zombies were prodded by the sudden noise and probably smell to attack.

“What is it?” Trudy asked.

Daniel disengaged from the connection. “They’re about to fight some zombies up stairs and Priscilla wanted to know if I could come and join them.”

“They’ll be okay.” Trudy told him. “Plus, they need the confidence to fight without you and Luke’s no idiot.”

I can’t come now, he thought back to his cute mouse.

But… but… another image of the dog and the offer of a chip from her next packet if he came straight away.

Daniel shot back with the counter of the big bad zombies below them coming up the stairwells and getting free if Daniel did not keep working. It was only sort of lie what he was doing now would let him focus on the feral problem below during the afternoon.

There was an immediate image of Priscilla growing huge like the other dog had done and then stomping on the big bad zombies and flattening them. Daniel was not sure about the physics because if she got that big, she would not fit in the hotel corridors.

Really? He thought back.

A sense of embarrassment. Priscilla acknowledged did not have any skills that would let her grow. That she might have been exaggerating.

But come soon. She cut the connection hurriedly.

Daniel shrugged. “They’ll be fine.” He muttered.

“They certainly will.” Trudy agreed before she expertly pulled apart the trap, cleaned it and reset. Daniel monitored and when it was all done. “I can confirm it’s ready.”

She pulled up the trapdoor and Daniel went back to Jordan. Of the flowers he had previously grown, all but one had been processed.

“Didn’t need that,” Jordan said gruffly at his look. “I’ve planted the seeds, and I want three flowers for each of them.”

Priscilla reached out again, sending an image of Finigan. He had red liquid on the muzzle and Daniel could sense how proud the mouse was of her mount.

A second image appeared of Finigan attacking a zombie covered in earth armour. The dog leapt and grabbed hold of a wrist that had been holding half a chair to be used as a weapon. Earth armour cracked under the assault and the teeth had dug in. The surprise attack had pulled the zombie off balance and then radiating out from Finigan’s attack the earth armour had failed and everyone else had piled on. Then they were back to real time, and Priscilla casually glanced around. He got the impression of sprawled zombies, broken netting and an empty corridor. Then she looked further and Luke was chatting with Tamara, Ivey, and Dave.

The connection died.

Internally, he replayed the brief flash of images. At least four dead zombies. There had been no concern or fear by any of the people walking by. Tamara had been in animated conversation with Luke. “They won the battle.” He said out loud then under his magic the flowers blossomed just like he had been asked to do so. “Anything else?” He asked Jordan.

The plant research shook his head. “No, I’ll be right for a half hour.”

A buzz of energy came down his bond.

Priscilla?

There was a brief image of the mouse fleeing down the corridor. She glanced back and there were multiple zombies chasing her. After running around the corner, there was a view of a clump of humans. He saw lightning, fire and bent bows. Amusement radiated from the mouse even as she cut the connection.

She was busy and having fun!

Daniel finished the first sapient seed weapon and started on the second.

There was a flash of excitement from the mouse. Had Luke concluded the battle. At his prompting Priscilla opened up visual, and he saw two white paws heading for his head. She zipped to the side and then dodged the paws again before pouncing on a fluffy brown tail. Priscilla scrambled up the tail even as the dog spun around and tried to dislodge her. Then she reached just between the ears.

The dog stopped spinning and charged forward, jumping up and down. Sheer joy came from Priscilla as she rode the small animal. Daniel thought it was how he would feel if he was riding the dragon from the never-ending story. As the dog sprinted, he could see small groups of people spread out along the corridors, no doors missing through some clearly forced open.

The image being sent to him ended with a final burst of happiness.

Given the way they had been spread out in the hallway the floor had been cleared and they were checking for any useful loot probably mainly food supplies.

Humming to himself, Daniel returned to create a seed weapon. This one was going to be a shield. A basic version because he wanted additional practice before creating Luke’s one. The first stage was complete. He had the design; the wood had been reinforced to the right levels of density, strength and flexibility along with a single hulk core that was centred in the middle of the shield. His mana was full, and there was nothing else to do but pump the special energy into the spell. The image was about protection and survivability by the shield. Under his careful focus, energy soaked in and all too soon his mana was empty, but when he touched it, the wood was moving internally.

He checked all the traps and was happy to discover than none of them had degraded as far as he could tell. Borris’s one had actually been improved them.

Jordan called him over and his seeds grew and flowered then Jordan did his thing and Daniel, with a flick of his mind created the extra flowers he needed.

Jordan looked up and then cleared his throat. “You have a visitor.”

“What?” Daniel followed his gaze and saw it was Tamara, looking regal and like a true sorceress with her fancy staff. “Excuse me,” he said absently, standing and walking over to her.

“What’s up?”

She beamed at him. “I came to say sorry for earlier and to bring your queen and prince back.” She handed Priscilla over to him. Finigan was behind her. “Also about breakfast.” She hesitated. “Jayden can be a prat sometimes, but his hearts in the right place.”

“I’m going to have to disagree.”

She caught his eye, smiled sadly, and then nodded. She knew there was something wrong with her relationship. “Fair enough. How’s everything down here?”

Daniel glanced back at the four volunteers Ivey had sent. “Everyone’s got at least one kill. Jordan and I are making progress on a better food solution.”

“Jordan?” She looked over at the man and her face showed horror. She looked away hurriedly and lowered her voice. “I still can’t believe that happened.”

“Beau?” he guessed, figuring that was the only thing that could have got that response as she linked Jordan with the other man.

“Yes.”

Daniel shrugged. It had disturbed him too, but there was no point dwelling on it. Sometimes it was best to sweep the ugliness under the carpet. “Society breaking down does funny things to people.”

“How can you be so blase? Not only did you not exile them. You’re working with one of them.”

“Shh,” Daniel cautioned and shot a look over toward Jordan who was purposely not listening to their conversation. “He feels bad. When we spoke earlier, he was trembling. Was absolutely terrified of me.”

“So he should.” Tamara stated passionately.

“I wouldn’t have,” Daniel hesitated, trying to find the words. “Expected you to be so violent toward someone.” Tamara was on edge. There was a savage current running through her. “Is something bothering you? Is this about Jayden this morning?”

“No.”

Her face was flushed, and she was not making eye contact with him. His guess was accurate.

“Wait, are you embarrassed now?”

“No.”

She definitely was. Rattled by the change in the world and the overlap with the changes in her relationship and then embarrassed about the second when Daniel pointed it out. For a moment he wondered if subconsciously she was aware of that mind control.

“The event changed people.” Daniel told her gently. “What worked pre-event doesn’t now. Societies changed, everyone has changed. It’s all different, but it can be hard letting go of the past.”

Tamara did a little shudder and shut her eyes, and her hand at her side found his. Their fingers linked momentarily.

“I know Dan. But the past is hard to let go. How have you done it?”

“I stay busy. And I don’t have any reminders of my past nearby to bind me.”

Her hand left his to flick away a strand of hair. “I should try that more.”

“Busy?”

“And not be bound by the past.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to give up morals and concepts that no longer make sense. Move on. Embrace the new reality.”

“I’m not good at that.”

“Nor am I.”

She was looking down. “Should I break it…”

“ITS ALIVE!” Trudy screamed.