From what I could see through the downpour we were in a pleasant residential neighborhood: long clean driveways with expensive vehicles parked in them; once-maintained lawns filled with green grass and bushes that needed trimmed but were no doubt beautiful additions to these mostly two-story homes. I could see what it once was, and all of it came together with a roundabout at the end that screamed ‘community!’

I knew the result before we even entered the house but didn’t crush Richard’s hope. If another human was present, Jessica would have said something. We shared a look and I could tell she agreed with me. The excitement visible on Richard’s face said no amount of cold reason would keep him from searching the house for his brother. I could only shake my head and follow Richard inside. How fickle life was now…

“Mark! Are you here?” Richard yelled through the home, pushing open doors and checking bathrooms. In the end, he accepted that Mark wasn’t there, but at least there were no bodies or evidence of any attack. It was too clean.

“It looks like no one was here when the Apocalypse happened,” Jessica said. The clothing, the shoes, everything was in a neat order. If you were abandoning your home surely you would take a small bag or some belongings with you.

I didn’t want to say it, but if Mark was out when this all started… the chance of him being alive was next to zero. While the original mobs spawning here wouldn’t have been level thirties, the sheer amount of zombies and ghouls and goblins in this area with the population so high… it would have been a bloodbath.

Inspecting the homes across the street and around the area showed that clearly. The neighbor just two doors down had a massive hole in his front door. Dried blood was caked along the entrance way as if someone had been dragged out. It was the same story for most of these homes in fact.

“He’s alive, I know so;” Richard insisted, “his car isn’t even here.”

“There’s a chance, but we don’t know where to look,” I replied. “We have to keep moving while we can.”

Richard was frustrated with that, but there was nothing to do about it. We couldn’t go on a wild goose chase.

“Next stop was our uncle, yeah?” Alan asked.

“How far is it?” Lucas asked.

It was Thomas who replied, “I don’t know for certain, maybe thirty minutes from here on foot if we had no obstacles? His shop is only five or six blocks from here, though.” The Apocalypse began mid-day, so their uncle was probably working at the time. It was unfortunate Richard didn’t know where his brother worked as if there was any trail to his whereabouts and possible survival, it would begin there.

“His shop?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Alan said. “I thought we told you guys that he’s an engineer. He works on cars and he has a garage he runs.” That… was an incredibly useful skill to have in the Apocalypse. It was still early, and even if we had to go 5 blocks or 20 blocks, there was enough time in the day as long as we could avoid endless encounters.

Previously, Richard had told us finding his brother was more important than his own life, which left me wondering what he was going to do now. He was silent, almost hollow as we left the house and moved back onto the street. I wanted to give some encouragement, but realized shallow words would probably just piss him off more.

It was actually Alan who stepped up, finding the right words to say. “Once this is over, if we haven’t died and got all we needed to do done—I’ll help you find your brother.”

I could see that Richard didn’t know how to react, but eventually his face morphed from confusion to a smile before he grabbed Alan and gave him a hug. After that, some of the energy in his step returned and we were back in business.

Alan and Thomas’s uncle was the next priority, and would probably be our last trip for the day. Still, our progress was faster during this downpour than it would be in good weather. It got me thinking that having someone specialize in stealth or camouflage would be insanely good for our group. I didn’t know if that was even a skill, or if there was a class that specialized in stealth, but it definitely got me wondering.

It took us five minutes to make it out of the neighborhood and return to the street we originally traveled. Thomas said it was easier navigating from here, as he had traveled this road many times before. We needed to go five street lights and then take a left, and head one block deeper into the city. From there we would find his shop on the right-side corner of a small plaza.

We were smooth sailing already; I had full confidence in Jessica’s abilities. She got more efficient as we moved, so much more so that I wondered if her tracking ability had improved. I wasn’t sure how it leveled up, because it seemed she was almost always using it.

Three blocks later we came to an abrupt halt. Jessica peered around the edge of a building corner. I wondered if she was having another Frogger moment. “Guys, what is this?” Maria suddenly asked. “And why is it so sticky?”

We all turned back to take a look at what she was talking about. Maria was standing there, and on her right shoulder was a strip of cloth, or fiber. It was some sort of fabric or bandage type material about the thickness of typical gauze. “I can’t get it off my clothes,” she said while grabbing it and pulling at it.

There were no enemies around, and so none of us were on alert. Like everyone, I assumed she had just walked into some random debris that was left over from this mess. There was trash everywhere—well, not such much with the downpour nearly sweeping the streets clean—so it could have been anything.

Alan came to take a look at it and Lucas cut straight to the chase—literally. He pulled out his Nodachi and shot a Wind Slash at the fabric. What I expected to happen didn’t happen, though. It didn’t cut and instead the Wind Slash did nothing.

“This… looks like spider web,” Lucas stepped closer to study the material.

“Where did you get stuck on this?” I asked hurriedly. “How long has it been on you?”

“Just now… right here,” Maria answered in confusion. We all looked around for more threads, and as I moved only four or five feet from where she was standing, I realized the entire street was covered. The webs had gone from one building and all the way across the street to the other, and climbed an unknown distance into the air.

We were near a giant web that climbed over sixty stories up, one that would put even Spider Man to shame. I looked at Jessica and so did everyone else, “I don’t feel anything,” she shrugged. “Just cut her sleeve off; we can find you a new one.”

Alan took out a knife. “Stop wiggling, stay still.”

“I’m not wiggling idiot, just cut it!” Maria barked back.

“Someone hold her still then! Look how much it’s moving.”

Lucas was holding onto the web with some wet newspaper, “I… don’t think that’s her.” The web was shaking sporadically and violently now, as if something was crawling across it.

“Enemies incoming!” Jessica said, “Cut the damn shirt already.”

Care with Maria’s clothing was the last thing Alan’s mind now. He stuck the blade into the shirt hole and slashed upwards, mangling the cloth but freeing her from the web’s clutches. The web whipped back a few feet where it was attached originally and started twitching violently.

We rushed back to known safety and prepared for battle. We couldn’t see or hear our enemies approaching, but Jessica filled us in, “Four strong mobs; at least elite level.” Alan and Richard moved forward and prepped their shields in front of them.

Everyone was completely still. My hearts was in my throat as we waited for our enemies to appear. Less than ten seconds passed from when Alan cut Maria’s shirt when the monsters started to come through that grey curtain of rain: four towering insects.

Spiders as large as two-door vehicles crawled from the street in our direction. The front legs were the first thing I could see: hairs and spikes thicker than pencils atop their carapaces. Then it was their eyes, a deep purple that penetrated the soul, life-sucking. Something about their eyes was so archaic, so innocent and yet deadly.

We were nothing but food to them: something to satiate their hunger. Their sharp fangs dripped a deadly green liquid that would no doubt assist them in doing so. Droplets of poison fell from the fangs and vanished with a sizzling smoke that was eventually washed away in the downpour.

Their abdomen was thinner and more elongated than I’d seen on any spider, the far tip of it containing two pincer-like spikes. It also seemed like their legs were longer than usual, despite them sitting so low to the ground. They reminded me of a water spider in some ways.

“Level Thirty-Four Elite, Prong Spider,” Jessica announced. “Just one passive. Venom Splasher: Your poison is explosive.”

“What does that even mean?” Maria asked frantically.

“I… don’t know.” I confessed. Poison was a nightmare to deal with. We didn’t have any item that cured poison, and standard healing probably wouldn’t remove poison affects. Four level 34 elites, each of which could probably spit venom from multiple locations on its body. “I think we need to run.” Even as I spoke I felt this was the understatement of the year.

“Jessica, lead the way!” I shouted while sending out all my undead. They were fodder now, and I fully expected to be using Shallow Grave to replenish them. This was a fight we could maybe win, but at what cost?

Anna began casting spells before I could say anything more, placing a Harrowing Storm in between us and the Prong Spiders. Quagmires were laid and Ensnaring Arrows were released. Everyone was already thinking on their toes.

“Stay behind me!” Jessica said before sprinting into the wall of grey. I was the last one to turn and follow, my necrotic vision ensuring that I wouldn’t lose them even in the bleakest of conditions.

Fleeing was the right call, as my undead all perished on combat start. I turned in time to see why: a skeleton general covered in poison exploded like a grenade had gone off. That explosion not only sent boney shrapnel flying in all directions but took out three skeletons just in proximity of the explosion itself.

The poison was unbelievably potent. It melted through metal and bone like hot water and sugar. I didn’t think an antidote would even be useful in that moment because the afflicted flesh would simply shave off.

“LOOK AHEAD!” Thomas yelled. He was right. Someone falling or tripping now would be a death sentence.

This was a fight not worth taking, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the curtain of rain came between us and the monsters. Thirty seconds of running was all it took to make it four lights, and for the Spiders to give up their chase. They weren’t very mobile off their webs, at least not enough to keep up with us when we were using the alleyways and stacked cars to our advantage.

“We’ve lost them.” Jessica said while scanning the surroundings. “It’s relatively clear here, how close are we to our goal?”

“Only about a minute away,” Thomas replied. The excitement on his face was visible, a welcome change from the gloomy look he had maintained since we all heard the latest announcement. Alan was always bouncing off the walls lately, but right now he was still. He did his best to hide the jittery excitement he was no doubt feeling.

“We can make it directly there then,” Jessica said while taking to the front. We walked one block inward and a plaza became visible through the rain. A welcome sign contained the names of at least twenty stores and even a movie theatre; it was not a small plaza by any means.

After thirty seconds Jessica stopped us, “Two people ahead.” She hadn’t given any warning previously, so this was definitely promising.

Thomas could barely contain his excitement and broke into a run.

“Slow,” I said, “We have to be careful above all else.”

It was unlikely there would be two True Believers on their own out here, but I couldn’t rule out that possibility completely. We slowed our pace even more, and eventually found ourselves outside of an auto-repair shop.

“They are inside.” Jessica stopped. The rain was the perfect cover for us as we approached, and there was no commotion or movement inside. We walked the outer edge to the door, only to find it had been barricaded from within.

It was eventually Thomas who broke the silence, “Is anyone in there?” He yelled out.

“They moved.” Jessica let us know they were aware of our presence.

“Uncle Glen?” Alan yelled a second later.

A weak voice came from within, “You know me?”

“It’s Thomas!”

“And Alan!” The two were shouting in unison.

There was an excited commotion from within, barely audible through the rain but we could hear it clearly: the sound of metal being hustled out of the way, and another hushed voice asking Glen to be sure of what he was doing, if removing the barricade was the right call.

Eventually, there was no barricade between us, and the door opened revealing the two men inside. One man wore a mechanic’s outfit still dirtied from oil. His face held a thick beard that barely hid obvious signs of malnutrition. The other man waited further back, out of the light and much more concealed.

Glen’s expression was of disbelief, while Thomas and Alan could find no words. They opted instead to rush him and squeeze him where he stood. So much so that a few groans escaped his mouth.

“How did you survive?” Thomas asked eventually.

“You call this surviving? We’re barely living here.” Glen managed to joke. Alan didn’t wait to pull out Ration after Ration and stuff it into Glen’s hand. “These are Rations?” He asked. “We had some of these originally, when the monsters were goblins and zombies, things changed quickly though.”

“They’re both Level Six.” Jessica whispered to me.

“Mark, come on up here,” Glen said, “these are my nephews.” I could see Richard suddenly twitch when the name Mark was said, and suddenly I felt like a coincidence this big couldn’t be possible.

The man walked forward out of the darkness, and like Glen his face was covered in hair, barely able to hide his hunger. He scanned over everyone, and the rations, and then his eyes went white and round as saucers, “R-Richard?”

Richard couldn’t even find the words. Instead, he just started crying. It was the most ugly cry you could possibly imagine. He was howling along with the wind and rain for a dozen seconds before Mark was hugging him.

This was an emotional reunion, and it took a good few minutes before everyone was settled enough to calmly sit down and talk. Mark and Glen were both given multiple Rations, which they snacked on while telling their stories.

They were both in the shop when it started. The two managed to close up the shop and fight off the goblins and zombies that came their way the first few days. Other people came too, intent on robbing the tools, but a stern warning and the blood from the monsters splattered about the area made any with weak stomachs think twice about trying their luck.

They barricaded themselves in and eventually realized there was no more easy prey. Killing enemies for Rations or levels no longer was an option, not with just the two of them. The enemies changed from goblins and ghouls and zombies to much stronger foes and they had fallen too far behind. Initially though, the Plaza had plentiful supplies to keep them going.

Besides the two vending machines Glen had on site, they had ransacked several others. About a week ago though, things got way too rough and it wasn’t possible for them to venture outside. The two of them hadn’t eaten anything since then.

Mark then went on to explain to Richard how he was here. He was having car trouble, and found Glen’s shop by chance while going to the movies. He brought his vehicle in the day of the apocalypse, and was actually waiting for his ride home when it all started. Needless to say, the two had become good friends since then.

They had survived two months in this small little shop on what they could salvage from vending machines. They had saved water for some time, but when the drought came they were barely making it by on just a few sips per day.

This rainstorm had given them renewed hope, at least enough to keep going and trying to survive, as bleak as that was. Another week though and they would have both kicked the bucket no doubt. Our arrival in time was a silver-lining to the farm being ransacked and burned, albeit a dark one.

Even a few days of extra waiting may have been the difference between Glen and Mark surviving, and us reuniting with them here instead of finding two fresh corpses.