DARTHKECKS here : Thank you for reading my story so far. I am delighted that still people keep on reading :D

Chapter 9

The harbor itself was a typical for a holiday destination : one part was for the bigger charter ships, cruiser and also cargo, while the other was a marina. Of course, this division had been before yesterday, as the tsunami had all existing ships and yachts jungled up and also thrown some onto the docks. Most of them were aground, had destroyed sails and were also leaking.

“Doesn’t seem trustworthy.” Spoke Nils out what all of them were thinking.

“I don’t care. The only thing I want is that we find a suitable vessel for the 10 kilometer sail to Norddeich, and that before midday. Afterwards you can be as gloomy as you want, but don’t talk about shit that didn’t even happen.” Snapped Arn back.

“May the Lord be with us.” Said Sebastian

“Yes, yes, and Chutlu or whatever ..” replied Arn to that.

*DING

CthulhuBeliever101 has sent you an assignment

As I wrote you previously, convert to the great church of Cthulhu. Believe upon him

And you will be rewarded in the afterlife. It is not too late.

“Not again” sighed Arn about this message. Jesus, it was like the witnesses of Jehova, only with the direct link to your face instead of the already annoying door ringing.

“Anything usable in sight ?” asked Leon. “And furthermore, any monsters?”

“No” said Giselle

The group was standing in the moment at the top of the navigator tower, which was situated on the dividing dock between the marina and the port. They had made their way as fast as they could and were sure to have shaken off the horde of troglodytes before they entered the tower. From the third floor they had a pretty 360 ° view over the harbor. Naturally, they also saw their previous cruiser, or more precisely: its remainings. The ship had been burned and sunken aground until only the blackened observation deck and the coal black bridge were visible. Arn was glad that they were successful with their improvised flee yesterday. He also noticed that another escape hangar for a lifeboat was empty. Someone else also got away from the ship after their departure.

But the task of the moment was to find a damn undamaged ship. This shouldn’t be so difficult, thought Arn. The whole marina had been full as well as 3 cargo ships. If this fucking tsunami hadn’t queered them the pitch!

“Maybe I found something. Look straight at the first cargo ship. You know what that is?” said Giselle

The four guys turned their heads to her and shook them for a no.

“This ship is a yacht transporter. As this harbor has a marina, some people let their yachts be transported. I bet it has some yachts on board and one could maybe be used to get away from this island. My father used something like that for our yacht to be brought to the caribean” Informed Giselle them.

“How do we then proceed? I suggest that we go over in a crouching position. The rubble on the quays is in favor for us. Maybe we get a ladder to enter the ship? The gangway is not there.” Said Leon

“Well, first we go over and then solve this problem next. Only one at a time. Otherwise we will only overthink things.” Said Arn

As the group wanted to go down, a message from Nils came, who had stayed downstairs at the tower entrance.

“Seems like we will get visitors. Some shark men came ashore and are looking around. Also, some troglodytes came from the city. We should be careful to not alarm this 2 groups. Their levels are higher than previously, between 6 and 8.”

“Ok, so let’s get over to the pier without getting their attention” decided Arn.

The group descended the stairs down and regrouped with Nils.

“Remember, the gun only if they are already swarming.” Said Arn to Nils.

“Yeah Yeah, I remember, Giselle instructed me this morning”. Replied Nils. The group advanced in a loose formation.

*Bang* A pistol shot was heard.

“What?” sent Nils as the whole group turned to him. “It wasn’t me, I swear”

“He is right. That came from the direction you told us of the troglodytes. I bet there are other survivors” Rescued Giselle him

“Damn, the sharks are moving faster and reinforcement is coming the ramp up where we landed yesterday. Also, the troglodytes are running to the east side of the harbor in direction of our destination.” Reported Leon, who was the foremost.

“Seems like if we stay here the sharks will surround us sooner or later or we attack the troglodytes at our destination.”

The group decided to face the latter option, so they run after the troglodytes in a crouched position as fast as they could. And truly, Gisele had been right. 3 persons were struggling with several troglodytes, several dead already layed around. Under the dead were also 3 dead people. As the group came closer, Sebastian suddenly ordered to take cover.

“Zachelmann and his group is in front of us.Seems like he and another one still have bullets for their guns while the third is using a spear.They are about 15 meters in front of me and my prognosis is that they will survive the attack. How do we proceed?” asked Sebastian.

“Kill him. I had him as a tutor and I hate him. Also, don’t forget the incident at the ship. He wanted to sacrifice us like the sailors.” Gave Nils his opinion.

“I don’t know him, so you can do what you deem right.” Was Giselle’s response.

“I also don’t care. But I agree that he was an asshole at the ship and I personally wont lift a single finger if I could prevent his death.” Leon

“Come on guys, there are human fellows struggling and you want forsaken them your help?” was Sebastians opinion.

*Ding*

TheGamblingHermes sent you an assignment

Kill the group and let it look like it their death was inevitable.

I will gift you then with something better than your tiny spear……

“From my opinion, it seems if we rescue them like last time, they will try the same shit again. If the monsters win , but loose some members of their tribe, we will have wasted exp by doing nothing. Nils, can you do it and shot them and that distance? Decided Arn

“I can try it, but I am uncomfortable of shooting them.” Was Nils response.

Everything has to be done by oneself was what Arn thought as he crouched over to Nils and took his gun. While he robbed forward to Sebastian, more shoots could be heard, but also some cries from creatures and human alike.

Arn made himself comfortable, rested his hands on a side of rubbish to take aim, and fired after a deep breathtaking. The bullet hit one of Zachelmann’s helpers in the torso, who went down and dropped his pistol. The second and third shot missed, but the forth one hit by luck Zachelmann’s head and smashed his brain and skull all over the place. The last human was overwhelmed by the monsters. But they didn’t survived their battle triumph for long, as the rest of the group emerged from their hiding position and made short work of them.

After the loud gunshots, the fighting roars, screams of pain and clashing of the weapons, an eerie silence filled the quay.The group started to loot the dead. Arn was still laying at his position, a little bit surprised about how calm he had killed another human. On one side,there was a complete absence of disgust over his actions as well that he accepted the task to kill Zachelmann so easely. On the other side,it deemed him that with this, he had also overstepped an unseen border. Sure, when he killed the sharks, he got the message about killing him another sentient being. But Zachelmann, despite his actions, had been still a human, one of his kind. What was even heavier for him, it felt like he had combined a chance for personal revenge with the possibility to get a personal advantage by selling himself to the unknown system. But his engineer side, which was joyous over the pragmatic and practical solution, prevailed in the end. So he stood up and moved over to his comrades.

*Ding*

Congratulations! You have been awarded the title:

Killer of the own kind.

New people thatyou get to know will be wary of You and distrust you more easely

5% more exp for kills of your own kind

*Ding*

Congratulations

Your efforts by shooting and killing with a pistol have been recognized. You have aquired the skill small arms mastery novice lvl 1

5% more accuracy when aiming,

2.5% more accuracy when shooting from the hip

*Ding*

TheGamblingHermes

HAHAHAHAHA, that was nice to see. Thank you for winning my bet that you would kill him and not vice versa. You will find your new gadget in your inventory. I think it will fullfill one of your secret dreams.

“Inventory”Arn

Beside some minor health potions from the ship and his suitcase, there was something new in it. He pulled it out and looked full of happiness at it. In his hands was a Luger pistol, known all over the world as a nazi pistol for the evil nazi officers in many movies.

The pistol Arn had in his hands was a special edition with an extended barrel, a big wooden shaft and a drum magazine for 32 bullets with an automatic function. Another glimpse in his inventory also stated that he had 2 spare magazines and over 500 bullets in one slot.

“What happened?” asked Leon, who saw Arn now grinning like a 5 year old in front of Santa Claus.

So Arn held out his new trophy and told the rest as they came together after the loot-picking from the assignment.As he ended, Sebastian had a slightly angry facial expression, but didn’t say anything. So Arn asked if they had found anything interesting.

Apparently, the loot was not that bad. Beside the spears from the troglodytes and 2 more guns with a few bullets from the humans, the troglodytes had also dropped 2 health potions.

The more interesting part was that the humans had things all over their bodies like 2 backpacks full of water and food as well as a signal pistol and some keys.

“Seems like if you die, your inventory also drops.” Was Leon’s comment when they gave the backpacks to Giselle to store them in her inventory.

“Should we switch our formation? Asked Nils

“How so?” Sebastian

“Now we have 4 guns for 5 people, meaning that we can still let you 2 be in front, one with a melee weapon, the other with a gun. But me and Arn will now walk at the same distance behind you, one securing to the left, the other one to the right, while Giselle still secures the back.” Was Nils’s suggestion.

The group agreed to the new arrangement and continued their way to the yacht transporter with a slightly faster pace than before the fight. The possibility existed that something or someone had heared the fight and would be coming to the scene, maybe with the intention to fight.

As they stood about half an hour later in front of the transporter, the first problem that arised was how to enter the ship. The ship itself was still upright and not aground, but was floating around 20 meters away from the quayside. Not enough, as a ship designed for the sea, it had a hull and the railing was towering 12 meters above the group.

“So, and what now?” asked Nils

“Seems like we have to swim back” was Arn’s sarcastic answer.

“When will be the low tide?” was than Giselle’s turn to ask.

“I don’t understand. What will help us the low tide in this situation?” was what Arn wanted to answer to her, but he was brushed off in the middle of his sentence by Leon. He who had been sunken in deep thoughts, just said

“Brilliant. That will work”

“Could somebody fill us in?” demanded Nils

“You will see. How long?” was Giselle’s answer to him while she looked at Leon

“Around 2 more hours or so I think.” (Leon)

“Perfect. Let’s picknick here.” Said Giselle